Hop into Easter with Mira Mar Vets! Please be reminded of our public holiday opening hours over the Easter period. As always, our super vets are on standby to assist with any after-hours emergencies.

We hope you enjoy this 'food focused' edition of our newsletter, but it does NOT mean your pet can over-indulge on chocolate or hot cross buns this Easter!

From all of us here, we wish you and your loved ones (both people and pets!) a safe and happy Easter.

These guys are our March Puppy Preschool graduates...  And seriously, what an adorable group of puppers!

Congratulations to Chewie, Georgie, Honey, Molly, Olli, Toby and Winnie for putting their best feet forward and learning new pupskills!

If you think your puppy is a good fit for our Puppy Preschool program, please give the clinic a call on 9841 5422

Did you know that our domesticated feline friends may need a little extra help to stay healthily hydrated?

Why are some cats at risk of dehydration?

• Some cats may not drink enough water on a regular basis, as:
• Cats can be naturally sensitive to water tastes and may have very specific drinking preferences (such as running water from a tap or water pooled in the shower)
• Anxious cats or cats in multi-pet households may feel vulnerable whilst drinking
• Cats in the wild don’t naturally drink water when eating wet food or fresh prey
• Cats have a reduced thirst drive compared to dogs
• A single lap gives your cat only about 3/100th of a teaspoon of water!

How can I encourage healthy drinking in my cat?

It may surprise you to know that many high-quality, veterinary-approved dry cat foods have a mildly increased salt content to help promote drinking.
So, if your cat is on a dry food diet, ensure they are always provided with fresh water daily, the way they like it (e.g. their preferred bowl type, or access to the shower!). It may also be worth trialling some flavoured water options, particularly more viscous liquids that cats find easier and more appealing to drink, such as feline-safe gravies or milk.

However, suppose your cat has been diagnosed with a lower urinary tract disease (such as bladder stones or inflammatory bladder problems) or kidney disease that requires even more hydration to support their condition. In that case, it may be worth chatting with our vets about swapping to either a 100% tinned food diet or a prescription therapeutic diet.

For more personalised information on the healthiest diet and drinking habits for your fussy feline, ask our knowledgeable vets.

“Is my puppy a healthy weight?” We field this question pretty commonly from new pet owners. It can be hard to tell if your new furry family member is in healthy body condition or not, particularly with some puppies being very fluffy and/or sporting loose skin rolls or little round bellies full of food! Here’s how to assess your puppy’s condition, and what to do if you’re concerned.

How to assess body condition score
With “normal” puppy weight being extremely variable based on breed and natural variation between individuals, we tend to look at overall body condition scores instead.

You can assess your pet’s body condition score by gently palpating (finger tapping) over their ribs, waist and belly to assess their fat coverage, as demonstrated on this chart.

Bear in mind that some puppies may have a temporary round belly after eating a big meal, so it may be worth focusing more on their ribcage area for assessment!

Uh oh, is my puppy overweight?
If you think your puppy might be overweight, we’d advise having them checked by one of our vets to ensure your assessment is correct before we look at potentially altering their diet or feeding routines.

Being overweight during growth can negatively affect joint development, particularly in larger breed dogs.

Why might my puppy be underweight?
If you think your puppy might be underweight, we’d advise a prompt veterinary assessment to confirm this and to look for the underlying cause.

Puppies may be underweight due to:

• Insufficient food quantity or quality
• Internal parasites, such as roundworms
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Congenital issues, such as a portosystemic shunt (a liver blood vessel problem that some puppies can be born with)

If we diagnose your puppy as being underweight, we may recommend dietary changes and/or further diagnostic testing, such as poo analysis or blood tests, depending on their general health.

For more information on healthy puppy body condition and home care, contact our helpful team.

What should you do if your pet is showing signs of an upset tummy? Do they need an immediate vet visit?

Read on for practical tips on what to do when all is not well with your pet’s tummy.

What are the signs of gastrointestinal upset in dogs and cats?
Pets with upset tummies may display:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea, which may or may not contain clear mucus or blood
• Reduced appetite or pickiness with food types (e.g. only eating treats)
• Subtle signs of nausea, such as lip licking/smacking
• Audible gurgling tummy noises
• Smelly flatulence (more than usual!)
• Tummy pain, which may be seen as frequent abdominal pain-relieving stretches, similar to a “downward dog” yoga pose

What should I feed my pet if they have developed an upset tummy?
It’s recommended to offer your pet only small, frequent drinks of water for several hours if they are vomiting.

Once any vomiting appears to have settled, it’s best to start your pet on a bland diet. If your pet is on a prescription hypoallergenic diet, offer small frequent meals. For most other pets, you may try a home-cooked bland diet, fed in three-to-four small daily portions. This should involve:

A bland, low-fat protein, such as plain cooked, skinless chicken breast, tinned tuna in springwater, or low-fat cottage cheese
A bland carbohydrate, such as boiled rice, plain-cooked sweet potato, or pumpkin

When should your pet see a vet?
We’d recommend a prompt vet visit if:

• Your pet is very lethargic
• Your pet is a young puppy or kitten, or an older pet with other health problems
• Your pet can’t keep down water, has vomited multiple times, is passing copious diarrhoea or has been unwell for more than 24 hours
• Your pet is passing black or bloody diarrhoea or vomit
• You suspect your pet may have eaten a toxin or foreign body (non-food item)

For more food for thought on your pet’s gastrointestinal health, contact our friendly team!

Did you know that about one in four cats is likely to be overweight or obese?
Here’s how to recognise whether your cat is overweight and how you can help them attain a healthy body condition score.

Assessing your pet’s body condition score
Given the large variety in body size between various cat breeds, we recommend assessing your cat’s body condition score (BCS) rather than simply measuring their weight. If you are unsure about your cat’s score, please book your pet in for an assessment with one of our helpful vets.

Once we’ve determined your pet’s condition, keeping an eye on their weight can be a useful at-home monitoring tool thereafter.

Why is a higher BCS concerning?
Unfortunately, being overweight or obese can affect your cat’s health in many ways, giving them an increased risk of:

• Reduced heart function
• Reduced respiratory capacity
• Insulin resistance and diabetes
• Arthritis
• Kidney and urinary problems
• Liver problems

So, how can I help my overweight cat to lose weight?
Helping your cat to lose excess weight effectively and safely can be tricky, so we’d recommend consulting our vets on how to best achieve this. In terms of general tips, we’d advise:

• Aim for between 0.5% to 1% loss of total body weight per week. More than 2% per week can be unhealthy for cats.
• Weigh your cat every two-to-four weeks on the same set of scales.
• In consultation with your veterinarian, feed a high-quality feline weight loss diet, strictly following the instructions and weighing out portions (and taking any extra treats into account!)
• For some cats, feeding a tinned food diet may prove beneficial to weight loss
• Encourage at least 10 to 15 minutes of increased activity per day in your cat with the use of puzzle feeders, interactive toys, and vertical climbing (e.g. the use of a cat tree)

With some steady persistence on your part plus some professional assistance from us, your cat will be feline fit n’ fine!

Charlie’s Angels - the Tasmanian trio coming to the aid of rescue dogs

It’s a common hope when we find ourselves lost or in trouble, and in need of help, that somewhere out there is a guardian angel who’ll come to our rescue. Well, united by their passion for dogs in need, their deep capacity for kindness and their love of morning walkies before coffee, Christina Darkiewicz, Diane Jordan and Janice Buttery are three modern-day guardian angels who have taken in a staggering 11 rescue dogs between them. They even call themselves “Charlie's Angels”. “Charlie is just the most beautiful dog and we all love him. But he's so timid. He needs a lot of love. It took two years for him to be able to sit on Christina's knee, and he's just gorgeous. We just want to highlight the plight of rescue dogs. There are so many old dogs and sick dogs. Hopefully, the people we meet go to a shelter and get themselves a rescue dog," said Ms Buttery. "People just ring me and say 'can you take a dog?' and the word 'nooo' wants to come out but 'yes' comes out instead," said Ms Dankiewicz. The Angels and their dogs are commonly seen walking along the Mersey River walkways, some on lead, and some enjoying the ride from a pram. “Quite a few people say to us, ‘Oh, gee, they’re in a pram. They must be lazy!’, but [the dogs] have health problems. Some heart problems, some arthritis. It upsets me when they don’t know the story behind the dog,” said Ms Jordan, “they’re our furbabies, we love them, and they’re just our world!”

Read more about the Charlie's Angels rescue group on the ABC News website.

(photo: Rick Eaves - ABC News)

True ‘Luv’ - man celebrates 54-year-friendship with pet cockatoo

They may say that dogs are man’s best friend, but that’s not the case for every man. John Gale of Bundanoon, NSW, and ‘Luv’ the sulphur-crested cockatoo enjoyed an epic 54-year-friendship. Mr Gale was looking forward to passing Luv on as a pet to his grandchildren (cockatoos in captivity have been known to live for up to 120 years), but sadly for the Gale family, Luv recently passed away of old age. Her actual age, while definitely older than 54, was unclear. "When she was given to me, she was already mature with a vocabulary, so she might have been 10, 20 — who knows?" said Mr Gale. “Birds get to know you on a different level, they have a sense of intuition, which is very different. You're not an owner — you're a friend.". Together, Luv and John experienced John’s childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, meeting and getting married to his wife Heather, starting a family, and even becoming a grandparent, making theirs, a ‘Luv’ story for the ages.

Read more about John and Luv’s story on the ABC News website.

Meet West Wyalong High’s newest asset

Did you ever ask your parents for a pet pony? Even though that dream is out of the question for the average family on a quarter-acre block, the students of West Wyalong High School were fortunate to recently welcome a pet donkey onto their grounds. Cared for and beloved by the students, and agricultural teacher Julie Maslin, Bria the donkey has had a resoundingly positive impact on the wellbeing of students since she arrived. Particularly those children with disability and behavioural issues, those experiencing high levels of stress related to study, social and emotional wellbeing, as well as students affected by recent floods which have devastated many families in the small community. "Doing the HSC there is a lot of stress and anxiety, and Bria just calms you down and makes you forget about everything," said Year 12 student Brianna Hanrahan. "We have had a tough 12 months with floods and hardship in the community. It is just nice to have students of all ages come out and have a bit of relief," said Ms Maslin, who coordinated Bria’s adoption through the pest donkey rehoming program, Last Stop Donkey. “To be able to see the kids' faces, the enjoyment they get out of being around the donkey and patting it, is quite a privilege and a great opportunity for us all," said Ms Maslin.

Read more about Bria’s impact at West Wyalong High on the ABC News website.

Want to make a positive difference for urban wildlife, and keep your pet cat safe from cat fights and vehicle accidents? Pressure from local councils is mounting for state governments to designate more suburban ‘cat-free zones’ and encourage pet owners to keep their pet cats contained indoors - as roaming cats continue to devastate our native wildlife population. Recent research shows that feral cats in the bush kill about 790 mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs a year. If you allow your pet cat out to roam and hunt, the study estimates their average body count, while lower, still comes in at a whopping 186 wildlife kills a year. The study estimates that pet cats are collectively responsible for the loss of over 340 million native animals a year. "Pet cats kill wildlife but a lot of pet owners aren't aware of that because they don't see their pet cats hunting. But your cat will only bring back on average 20% of what it kills. So for every bird you find on your doormat, there's another four lying somewhere under the bushes on average," said Professor Sarah Legge, a wildlife ecologist at the Australian National University.

Read more about the benefits of cat containment for local wildlife on the ABC News website. 

This email contains comments of a general nature only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary advice. It should not be relied on as the basis for whether you do or don't do anything. 

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