The Magic of a Blood Test

Blood tests can give us a wealth of information about the health of your pet. They provide an insight into the health of many organs, help detect disease and can also confirm if your pet is safe to undergo anaesthesia.

From a blood test, we can work out if your pet is dehydrated, has underlying kidney disease or liver changes, and assess your pet's red and white blood cells. All of this helps improve the level of care we can provide to your pet.

So, what actually happens when we take blood from your pet?

Chocolate Toxicity - what to do

Most dogs love chocolate and with their strong sense of smell they are very good at finding it! The problem is, dogs are not able to metabolise theobromine, a derivative of caffeine found in chocolate.

Ingestion can lead to an increased heart rate, vomiting, diarrhoea, agitation, tremors, seizures and even death. Cooking and dark chocolate are the most toxic but ingestion of ANY chocolate can be a problem.

Not surprisingly, Easter is one of the busiest times for chocolate toxicities and if your dog happens to eat an Easter egg, here's what we will do:

SNAKE BITE - WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

With changing weather patterns as well as a wet start to summer for many parts of Australia, snakes are being seen in urban areas previously thought to be 'snake free'.

It's a good idea to be remind yourself of what to watch out for when it comes to snake bite.

Remember that different species of snakes possess different types of venom so these can cause varying symptoms that appear anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours after a bite.

WHY DOES MY PET LICK THEIR FEET?

Licking and chewing of the paws is a common problem for our pets but it definitely shouldn't be considered normal! Cats tend to pull at their toe nails and dogs like to lick in between their toes.

There can be many causes:
Allergies: This is a common cause of foot chewing. Ingestion of a food, contact with grasses or plants and inhalation of pollens are common causes of itchy skin (especially at this time of the year)

Parasites: mites can burrow into the skin and cause irritation and flea bites can cause generalised itching