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Keep your furry friend smiling

Nothing warms your heart more than your happy, smiling dog welcoming you home at the end of the day. Just like us, to keep that happy smile, cats and dogs rely on healthy teeth and gums for their overall health and wellbeing.The build-up of dental plaque (a sticky film of bacteria that constantly forms on the teeth) can lead to oral health issues in your pet, such as gingivitis, periodontal disease and tooth loss....

Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy procedure now available

We are now able to perform Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy (TPLO) at our clinic! An advanced orthopaedic surgical procedure, TPLO is used to treat cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) rupture in dogs. The CCL is the main stabilising ligament in a dog's knee/stifle joint, and when it ruptures the joint becomes unstable, painful, and prone to arthritis. ...

Preparing your pet for stress-free vet visits

Getting any sort of treatment can be stressful for your pets, no matter how great our vets are!Travelling to the clinic and being exposed to a new environment can be challenging for some of our animal companions. While we work hard to ensure your pets are at ease in the clinic, there are also several things that you can do to prepare them and make vet visits a more positive experience....

A healthy guide to feeding pets

When feeding your beloved pet, whether it be a new puppy or kitten, or an older cat or dog, there is such a thing as ‘loving them too much’. Overindulging your pet can lead to health problems if they become overweight, so knowing how much, how often, and what to feed them is important.Also, spayed or neutered pets are more likely to feel hungry more often and gain weight more easily. This quite commonly leads to overfeeding. Pet food bags have feeding guides on the back which help you w...

Emergency vet visit or not?

We always have on-call vets available to provide your pet with urgent/emergency care outside of our clinic's normal business hours – even in the middle of the night or on days like Christmas Day.But how do you tell when your pet needs emergency attention?...

Lameness: Trimming during the risk period - Part 2

Following on from our article covering routine corrective/preventative hoof trimming, we’ll now look at treating specific foot issues beyond the routine trim. In the part 1 article, we covered Steps 1-3 of the Dutch five-step method. In this part 2 article, we’ll cover Steps 4 and 5 of this method, but firstly we’ll go over some common lesions, their appearance, and how they can occur.  ...

How we can help with mastitis and high somatic cell counts

A number of us on the team have now completed an advanced mastitis course – meaning we have a full toolbox of tips and tricks we can share with you if you ask us for advice.I found the course really great as it covered all of the environmental, shed equipment, milking management, and bacterial factors that can cause mastitis or a spike in somatic cell count in a cow.There are several services we can provide to support you to milk quality excellence:  Culturing milk – we c...

Monitoring parasite burden

With a constant stream of decisions to make and work to be done on-farm, new technology that makes it easier for farmers to manage their animal health needs gets a thumbs up from us!We have just received a new faecal egg count (FEC) machine – called a Parasight machine – that will be able to give us results in less than 5 minutes, which we are pretty excited about.This machine is highly sensitive, detecting egg counts as low as 4 eggs per gram. In comparison, traditional microscopes ran...

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) update

BVD bulk tank antibody results for most of our dairy clients seem to be generally dropping, which means herd testing has had a positive influence on the amount of BVD circulating in our local herds.We’ve made a graph of the last 10 farm’s results that have come over the desk, to take a look at any trends....

Tick or treat

Theileriosis is becoming an increasingly prevalent issue on New Zealand farms.  Caused by the blood-borne parasite Theileria orientalis, the disease is transmitted from cow to cow by ticks. Once inside the bloodstream, the parasite damages and destroys red blood cells, leading to anaemia.  Clinically, affected cows may show pale or yellow mucous membranes, lethargy, reduced appetite, loss of body condition, and a noticeable drop in milk production. In more severe cases, par...

The Mystery Moo: Phantom cows explained

As the mating season continues, there will be cows or heifers that may be struggling to get in-calf. You may have heard the term ‘phantom cow’ being mentioned to describe some of these cattle. But what exactly are phantom cows?The term ‘phantom cow’ is used to describe a syndrome where a cow doesn’t return for a second insemination after it’s had a first insemination, even though they have been declared ‘empty’ during an early pregnancy scan or ...

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...

Careful with pets and Christmas treats

Christmas treats are something we all look forward to, but for our furry friends, some of these can be extremely toxic, so it is important to keep them out of reach. If you have a pet with a penchant for opening gifts, this may mean not putting wrapped treats under the tree!Some festive foods to be cautious of around pets include:1. ChocolateWhy it's toxic: Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which are stimulants of the central nervous system and heart. They also act as diuretics, ...

Why pet dental x-rays matter

From the outside their teeth might look clean, white, and free from any obvious tartar or inflammation. But beneath the gum line can hide problems like infection, or even bone loss and furcation exposure – signs that periodontal disease is happening that would otherwise go undetected. That’s where dental x-rays come in. They let our vets see what’s really going on – the roots, the jaw, and all the structures you s...

Lameness: Trimming during the risk period - Part 1

Between wet weather conditions and post-calving changes, the spring months tend to bring an increased risk of lameness issues on farm. Here's an overview of mobility scoring and corrective/preventative hoof trimming techniques to give you some guidance when dealing with lame cows. ...

Bull ratios

Bulls are a key part of the process of getting good mating results.  Having enough bull power over mating is very important. The number of bulls required depends on how many cows need to get pregnant. For many, you may need to ask yourself how many cows you expect to not be pregnant after your AB period finishes?A good calculation for the ratio of how many bulls you need per cows is: decide how many cows there are to get in calf, multiply that number by 3%, and round it up to get the numb...

CIDR programme timing and return on investment

As with every CIDR programme, there will be different details and therefore results for every farm. However, using basic numbers we can still review general trends in the return on investment for our 10-day non-cycler CIDR programme. The data shows:Inserting CIDRs 9 days before planned start of mating (PSM) gives a return on investment (ROI) of 197%.   Inserting CIDRs 7 days into mating gives a ROI of 71%.  Inserting CIDRs 21 days into mating just breaks even, with a ROI of ...

Cattle and parasites – what the FEC?

Data from faecal egg counts (FECs) taken from cattle poo samples, and shared by vets in a recent Wormwise forum, has shown Ostertagia worms that are resistant to triple oral drenches in 45% of tests!It’s also known that Cooperia parasites are becoming commonly resistant to double and triple drenches. Fonterra has picked up on this and has added a question about whether you are doing FEC tests in their Animal Welfare Plan – so it’s definitely something our farmers now need to start con...

It’s time to prepare for mating

The key to achieving good repro results is being proactive and addressing any issues before mating starts.Many things go into making mating time successful, here are some to consider: ...

Keeping your pets safe and calm during fireworks

Fireworks can be a beautiful sight, but they can also be stressful for our pets. Here are some simple, practical tips to help keep your animals safe, comfortable, and calm as possible during firework displays.  ...

Understanding ear infections in dogs 

The most frequent type of ear infection canines experience is called otitis externa, which simply means inflammation of the outer ear canal. While dogs with floppy or hairy ears (think cocker spaniels and poodles) are more likely to be affected, it can happen to any dog.  ...

Why is my pet so itchy?

Itching, also called pruritus, is a sensation that makes your dog or cat want to scratch, rub, lick, or chew their skin. While occasional scratching can be normal, persistent or severe itching often signals an underlying issue that needs attention.  ...

Body condition: Calving changes and mating impact

A lot of cows were in great condition pre-calving this year, what we'd consider body condition score (BCS) 5.A loss of one BCS – down to BSC 4 – is expected in the first 7-8 weeks after calving, as the cow adjusts to producing milk and is ‘milked off their back’, while their appetite increases. After this time, cows start to gain body condition again.Remember though, any cows with BCS 5.5 or higher are more at risk of subclinical and clinical ketosis after calving, so don't let them get ...

Metrichecking is an investment worth making

Cows with even mild infections in their uterus at mating cost you money (and time), with more non-cyclers, poorer conception rates, higher empty rates, and fewer days in milk overall. These 'dirty' cows can take up to four weeks longer to get in calf and have empty rates 10-30% higher than 'clean' cows.  Metrichecking is the most efficient way of finding 'dirty' cows to allow treatment. If an infection is detected, we use an intrauterine antibiotic to treat it.   We recommend che...

Disbudding with a dose of compassion 

Disbudding involves carefully and safely burning out the horn buds of calves. Removing the buds means they won’t grow sharp horns as an adult, helping prevent nasty injuries to herdmates and handlers. It's much less painful and stressful on the animal getting them done while they're young, as the buds are still only in the skin level.At Vet Clinic Morrinsville, when we disbud calves we do it under sedation and give anti-inflammatory pain relief (Metacam), on top of using local anaesthetic.Rese...