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Caring for pets over the holidays

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. If you are heading away, now is a good time to start thinking about what plans you need to make for your pets.  Will you leave them at home and get someone to come and care for them?  Is booking them into a cattery or kennel a better option?  Or, can you take your pet away with you? Leaving your pet at home You may decide to leave your pet in the comfort of its own home, with a neighbour or friend either house-s...

Calf weaning tips

To meet their weaning weights, calves need the appropriate amount of feed and to be properly prepped. Weaning can be quite a challenging, transitional time for calves since their main source of food changes from liquid (milk) to solid (pasture) and they are going to be exposed to new bugs when they go into new areas of the farm. Before weaning, some factors need to be considered:  Is the calf eating enough?  Has its rumen developed properly?  Is it meeting its ...

A look at internal parasites

In general, worm larvae are swallowed from contaminated pasture once calves start grazing it. The larvae have overwintered in the pasture or cowpats, from the previous cattle/calves on the pasture. They then complete their lifecycle inside the calf, either in the gastrointestinal tract, or, in the case of lungworm, they burrow into the body and let the blood carry them around to the lungs.  Depending on the type of worm, the lifecycle may take about 28 days, from egg to egg-laying adul...

Choosing the right pet

Pets bring so much joy to a family. They give affection and love, make us laugh, and have a positive effect on our mental health. However, before choosing a new furry addition, it is important to put thought into what kind of pet is the most suitable for your household.  Things you need to consider are:  Your lifestyle Do an honest assessment of your lifestyle and think about how a pet will impact this. Your daily routine with children, work hours and other commitments, as well as...

Itchy dogs

Is your dog scratching, biting, licking, rubbing his skin, or rolling on the ground? Allergic skin disease can cause significant discomfort to companion animals and is a common reason for dog owners to seek care for their pets. The cause of the itchy problem will most commonly be due to: ectoparasites (usually a flea allergy); food allergy; bacterial infection, or an environmental allergen, such as tree and grass pollens, moulds and dust mites. This condition is known as...

Using technology to combat antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Since many drugs are used in both sectors, it's crucial for all of us to use antibiotics responsibly.  To help guide treatment choices, antibiotics are classified into three categories, based on their risk of resistance and importance to human health: Green - first-line choice Orange - second-line choice Red - last resort. For most cases of mastitis, penicillins like Intra...

Optimising non-cycling cow programmes

Synchrony programmes play a key role in helping you improve reproductive performance and animal efficiency and reduce on-farm emissions. Treating non-cyclers is one tool in the toolbox.  Over the last 12 months, new studies have looked at tweaks to the standard non-cycler programmes, adding some confusion around what the best programme looks like. Profitability from using non-cycling programmes comes from getting your cow in-calf early, through Generating more days in milk;&n...

Wishing you a successful mating

There was a significant range in our clients’ mating performance last season and, despite the reduced use of CIDR’s, the mating results actually showed a slight improvement - as they did right across the country. Nevertheless, there are still gaps in most mating programmes that can always be improved upon. Here are some of the basics to focus on: Attention to detail Dedicated heat detection and monitoring (experience counts here); Accurate execution of synchronisation protocol...

Anxiety in dogs

Anxiety is a normal emotion experienced by all dogs from time to time.Some dogs, however, are more prone to experiencing it than others. If they display disproportionate levels of stress, there is a risk they may develop an anxiety disorder, which may lead to behavioural and other issues. Some of the most common causes of anxiety in dogs are fear, separation, and aging. Fear Fear-related stress can be brought on by different things, including loud noises, strange people, or animal...

Stress-free vet visits: Preparing your pet

Getting any sort of treatment can be stressful for your pets, no matter how great our vets are!Travelling into clinic and being exposed to a new environment can also be challenging for some of our animal companions.  While we work hard to ensure your pets are at ease in-clinic, there are also several things that you can do to prepare them and make vet visits a more positive experience. Exercise before the visit If possible, take your dog to a favourite place, such as a park o...

September/October- the season of sick cows

As calving calms down, production ramps up and cows start cycling. The lush grass and unpredictable weather breed the perfect conditions for cows to succumb to various conditions. If you have a cow who has rapidly become unwell, some of the things we may find include Mastitis (especially black mastitis),  Badly infected uteruses, Gut issues/twisted stomachs - such as left displaced abomasum (LDA), right displaced abomasum (RDA), or mesenteric twists, Acidosis, also ...

Worm your way out of thin animals

Parasitism is a major cause of production loss in livestock. Based on current information, many New Zealand farmers are using anthelmintics in a manner which will result in drench-resistant worms and drench failure. Once present on a farm, worm resistance to anthelmintics is permanent. Therefore, selective drench use and herd management is key to delaying the presence of drench resistant parasites.  Every farm is unique, so effective worm management may differ for each farm. Compl...

Pre-mating prep: Get your herd service-ready!

With most farms over halfway through calving, there’s more time to slow down and think about mating, which usually happens at the end of September or early October for most spring dairy herds. We want to make sure that as many cows get into calf again this season, so preparing them for mating is vital, especially for the new batch of heifers. Here are some tips to prepare your herd before planned start of mating (PSM): BCS – We want our mixed-age cows to be at least a 4.0 BCS ...

Is your cat a Fat Cat? Avoiding feline obesity.

A trend of increasing numbers of obese cats has been seen worldwide, and New Zealand is no exception, with one in four cats here classified as overweight or obese.  This extra weight has an impact on our feline friends’ health and quality of life. Many health concerns are linked to obesity, for instance arthritis and diabetes. It is common for owners not to recognise when their pet is overweight, or the health implications of being “cuddly.” This is backed up by research tha...

Mastatest and HiSCC in early lactation

Reducing mastitis in the colostrum herd is key to preventing future mastitis cases in the milking herd. Wash teats, if they are dirty, with a low-pressure hose. Teat spray colostrum cows before and after milking to kill bugs, improve teat condition, and assist milk let down. Strip quarters to check for mastitis at every milking.  Agrihealth recommends: Rapid Mastitis Test (RMT) each cow at the eighth milking after calving (10th milking for heifers); If any quarter is RMT posi...

Thoughts from the sideline: Dealing with an international vet shortage

Internationally, veterinary practices are struggling to attract and retain quality veterinarians, and New Zealand is no exception. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of young people wanting to be vets, but tertiary funding streams are bottlenecking supply. Thankfully, a number of new vet schools are popping up in places such as the USA and the UK, but the supply volume is unlikely to correct industry shortages in the next 5-10 years.  New Zealand has a high dependency on inte...

Calf vaccine regime – Lepto 4-Way

Calving will be well underway now. The best time to book calves in for disbudding is between 2-6 weeks of age. For some farmers, there will be some big changes to the calf vaccine protocol with the new Lepto 4-Way vaccine. Your KeyVet should have discussed this with you at your RVM consult. Here is a refresher of the vaccine programme we recommend for calves: From 2 weeks of age: Covexin 10 (clostridia protection), often given at time of disbudding.   From 6 weeks of age: Covexin 1...

Is pet insurance worthwhile?

We were recently asked about the value of pet insurance, so here are a few thoughts. As we all know, having a pet in the family is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and a privilege that comes with great responsibility. They give us unconditional love and loyalty, and in their time we all wish for them to receive proper care. Pet owning families hope that a serious accident or illness will never happen to their pet, but it often does. Pet insurance is a proven method to allow pet owners to be ...

Spring with calves: Diarrhoea

Each season, we see outbreaks of scours in calf sheds. In some cases, the setup of the shed exacerbates the problem, with inadequate systems in place to separate sick mobs from healthy ones. Some calves may also not have access to water, which prevents the dehydrated calves from being able to self-medicate.  With cases of down calves and scouring, we will collect samples to confirm the cause, which is often rotavirus or Crytosporidium. Once we have identified the root of the problem, w...

Magnesium – Why you should supplement

Magnesium (Mg) is important for nerve, muscle and immune function in the body. A deficiency can be seen in cows with sudden aggression, staggering, recumbency and even death. Magnesium is also required for the production of hormones that assist in the absorption of calcium from the gut and mobilisation of calcium from storage in the bones. This is important when calcium is in such high demand from a lactating cow directly after calving, which correlates to when cows are at the highest risk ...

Calf Care 101

Spring calving is just around the corner, which means the sound of mooing calves will soon be filling the air. These calves are the future of our farms, so making sure they have the best start in life is important to ensure the longevity of our dairy herds.   There are two concepts to remember when caring for your calves:  Maximising defence  Minimising challenge...

Puppy nutrition

Our animals rely on us for their health and wellbeing. Getting nutrition right for a new puppy is essential for growth and ensuring they get the best start possible for a long and healthy life.  Puppies grow rapidly, hence why they need an adequate and sufficient diet to support their bodies during this phase. It’s important to remember that the food puppies can eat is not the same as what you would give to adult dogs (or humans). As they grow, play and learn, puppies need ...

Arthritis in cats and dogs

Osteoarthritis - also known as Degenerative Joint Disease - is a chronic, progressive, minimally inflammatory disorder of joints that leads to damage in the joint structure. It affects one in five adult dogs and is even more common among older dogs. Cats can also develop arthritis as they get older, with around 90% of cats over 10 years old suffering with it in at least one joint.Many cases go undiagnosed because owners interpret the subtle changes in their pet to "slowing down" or "getting...

Keeping our pets warm in winter

As it's starting to cool down, we want to look at our pets to ensure they have everything they need to be warm and comfortable over winter. Just as we are grabbing warm jackets and beanies before braving the outdoors, our pets may need some special care too....

Cow wearable tech update

The last five years have been good for cow wearables, with the number of farmers using the tech jumping from 3% in 2018 to 16% in 2023 - a growth rate of 50% per year. If this kept up, all dairy farms would have wearables within the next five years. But there's a factor that may put the brakes on - running out of drafting gates! The main idea behind wearables is that they notify you when something needs to be done with an animal - heat detection being the major use case. The issue is that s...