Companion Animal Vets's blog

What is the cruciate ligament and why do we care?

You would be forgiven for thinking that dog nasal surgery would be primarily aimed at the large nosed breeds such as Bloodhounds, Germans Shepherds or Basset hounds but in reality, it’s not. Dogs requiring nasal surgery are usually of the flat faced variety - Bostons, Pugs, Frenchies and the like and it’s not cosmetics that brings them through the clinic doors.

Short faced (brachycephalic) dogs are predisposed to a number of respiratory - related issues including:

Periodontal disease is the most common dental disease in pets and is largely preventable. It is caused by the accumulation of plaque, a bacteria-nurturing gunge, that sticks to the teeth (that ‘furry’ feeling on your teeth if you haven't brushed for a while) and helps destructive bacteria to proliferate in the mouth. The plaque can then become mineralised, forming tartar/calculus that allows even more bacteria to attach and grow. While visible tartar is unattractive, it is the plaque and tartar that lies under the gum line that causes the real damage.

In some way it would be great to wrap our pets in cotton wool to stop them getting hurt or sick. In my experience, there a few animal that this would be more difficult do with than a cat. Since bundling them up (not to mention herding them away from danger) is not really practical, we have to rely on other disease prevention strategies and the cornerstone of these is vaccination.

Vaccination is at the heart of disease prevention in dogs. We at CAVH recommend for most dogs, that they receive a C5 vaccination, to best protect them from preventable diseases in our area. While most people are aware of the Parvo component of our vaccinations, many people don't know what other diseases their dogs are covered for.

What's in a C5 vaccination?

The 5 in “C5” refers to the 5 different components of the vaccine, each one covering for a different cause of disease.

Diseases have been around for a long time, longer even than microscopes and genetic testing. This has resulted in a number of names for illnesses that are not very helpful, some can be even misleading.

Misleading Names

‘Cat flu’, for example, is actually a number of different viruses and bacteria (none of them influenzas) that can cause similar symptoms in cats.

‘Kennel Cough’ is much the same in dogs and not many dogs that get it have actually been in kennels.

Alot of problems arise when assumptions are made. The more common ones we run across in vet science are those of anthropomorphising (assuming animals are just people in small, hairy suits).

This can lead to people doing things like:

A common question that I get, often after advising a patient to lose weight, is 'How much should I feed?'  This is usually followed quickly by the observation that the weather has been a bit wet and they’ve had an operation and their mother isn't well and ....... “I haven't been walking her much”. 

A lot of pet health revolves around feeding and this is especially the case for rabbits. While rabbits have a few breed related disorders (dwarfs can have altered head shape resulting in dental issues), infectious diseases (calicivirus and myxomatosis ) and husbandry issues (flystrike and heat stroke for example), alot of the problems we see are directly or indirectly related to the food they eat.

Rabbits are an increasingly common pet in Australia, along with their teddy bear looks, they have a wide spectrum of personalities and eccentricities that endear them to their owners. While not requiring routine intestinal worming, like dogs and cats, they can be affected by a number of external parasites. Outside rabbits are more prone to parasites however even inside bunnies are not immune, as the little critters often hitchhike on feed and bedding.