Companion Animal Vets's blog

As well as helping make dogs look cute eyes, ears and noses are good for other things too. Here are some interesting facts about them in dogs:

Cats, Exercise- The two words are not often seen together, however exercise is important to your cat for a number of reasons.

Cats have not changed much in the 10,000 or so years since their domestication started. Until recently, they were roaming the countryside earning a living. For example, a scottish wild cat can have a territory of up to 40 square kilometers to patrol!

As well as food and exercise, this activity provides another essential component to cat welfare - mental stimulation.

Dogs eat a lot of things, which isn’t the same as saying you can feed your dog anything, far from it!

Dogs are living longer and longer lives and this has much to do with the diets we feed them now. Modern foods are well balanced and provide dogs with age appropriate nutrition. Even though there are a number of great foods out there that dogs thrive on, many owners can’t resist giving their pets a few treats off the plate as well.

Rabbit Calicivirus, also known as Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV), is a viral disease first released in Australia in 1996, in an effort to control feral rabbits. There are a number of different strains in Australia.  A new strain, RHDV1 K5, is to be released in the Illawarra and over 600 sites across Australia in early March. This timing corresponds with peak feral rabbit numbers.

How does it spread?

The virus is spread by rabbit to rabbit contact, flies and fleas, as well as contaminated clothes and environment.

Itchy dogs are a very common cause of both vet visits and owner frustration.

Unfortunately,  there are a large variety of reasons a dog will scratch. In addition, they often occur together. This makes finding the cause and stopping the scratching a challenge.

Some causes can be found with simple tests, however others may require a more involved investigation.

Having said that though, the bulk of our patients fall into 2 main categories -

Inflamed, painful and infected ears are a common problem for many dogs. While the long, thin and bent ear canal contributes to the problem, not every dog is affected.

The difference between a normal ear canal and and inflamed one is often a "trigger" that tips the scales allowing inflammation and infection to take hold. While there can be many triggers, in the Wollongong area the most common triggers are allergens: