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Chocolate - the sweet but deadly treat

Chocolate is delicious - to both humans and dogs. Unfortunately, dogs are much slower to metabolise theobromine, one of the chemical components in chocolate, making even a small amount potentially toxic for them.While at the time it might seem funny that Fido the golden lab has had a good nosh on the block of chocolate left on the table, within a few hours, we might not be laughing so much. ...

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.Pet food bags have feeding guides on the back which help you with the ‘how much’. This healthy amount of food can be tailored to suit your pet and could be split up into many feeds throughout the day, depen...

Winter tips for pets

The seasons have changed, and the togs have been replaced with jackets and hats. Not only do we feel the change, but so too do our pets. During this time please consider what you can do to keep your pets happy and healthy.Here are some key things to keep in mind for our pets this winter.Older Pets: Senior pets are likely to struggle more, particularly if they have joint issues such as arthritis. Keep them warm and comfortable in a snug bed with extra padding. Check-in with a veterinarian if you ...

Poison of the season: Rat bait

Every autumn and early winter we see a number of cases of rat bait poisoning in dogs, either via direct ingestion of the rat bait or less often by ingestion of rats/mice that have died from eating the bait. It is clear that dogs find these baits very tasty. Cats on the other hand are fussy about what they eat and prefer their prey to be alive and therefore are less likely to be poisoned. ...

Ukraine's Paws & Peeps Fundraiser with New Zealand vets

Times are tough at the moment, but can be and are even tougher for others.With the current situation in Ukraine, we did our bit with a fundraiser from NZ to support animal welfare and those that provide it in Ukraine.What is more important in this situation: animals or people? It’s a tough call, but we know we can do a little something to ease the suffering so far away.We are stoked to share that our business along with our generous staff, clients and the NZ community, we raised $3,000 in...

VCM proud to support Meat the Need

Vet Clinic Morrinsville are proud to be a sponsor of the Meat the Need charity, a kiwi based operation aiming at connecting the dots and getting New Zealand meat into our food banks.Whilst there has been a need for a charity like this, to date, there has been a missing link between the willing farmer with livestock and the community organisations with the demands for a regular, reliable supply.Here at Vet Clinic Morrinsville, we are Here for Good, which means we are here for the long term and fo...

What does the traffic light system mean for vet clinics?

We are currently operating at Traffic Light Orange and committed to keeping all animals and communities healthy. We’re following the Ministry of Health’s recommendations and requirements. We respect your personal circumstances, so let us know if you have any specific needs. You are welcome in our shop, and we ask you to follow the usual requirements of wearing face masks, contact tracing, maintaining a distance of 1m from other people and limiting the numbers in store at any given ...

What does Level 4 mean for vet clinics?

As you will be aware, the Covid-19 Alert Level has been raised to 4. Veterinary services are classified as an essential service, as previous, we will be partially restricted in how we operate. It is a legal requirement for both employee and customer to wear a face mask at business or service. Please take time to read the information below.Small AnimalsAs an essential service, we will continue to offer animal health services, however, we will operate as a closed clinic with no entr...

2021 scanning results

The final average (mean) empty rate for this season was 17%. The median was 14%. Many farmers have had an increase in their final empty rates this year and only a small number improving on last year. Repro performance is multifactorial and there is a lot that can be looked at with a good thorough investigation of MINDA data, as long as aged pregnancy testing has been done. Please chat to your vet if you would like to look at this in greater depth. A couple of potential contributing factors that ...

She's a bit loose

Johne’s Disease is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, which causes thickening of the intestines, preventing them from uptaking nutrients. This results in the classic presentation of a chronically scouring poorly conditioned cow. However, these cows are just the tip of the iceberg - for every clinical case, there will be 10 - 20 subclinical cows, who can still spread the disease. The disease as a long latent period and usually 5-8 year old animals are affec...

Pesky parasites

Young cattle are still developing their immune system until they are 18 months old, so are the most vulnerable to worm infection as well as being the main source of pasture contamination. We often see clinical disease in spring-born young stock associated with high parasite burdens in late autumn. The aim of parasite management is to limit the larval intake and reduce pasture contamination. Reducing intake can be achieved by avoiding paddocks grazed by young stock the previous season, avoiding h...

Blood-Sucking Barber's Pole

Barber's Pole worm (Haemonchus controtus) is the vampire of the parasite world. The parasite infects sheep and goats, sucking so much blood it causes severe anaemia. Goats and sheep with large burdens will be lethargic, pale, scour and may develop bottle-jaw, with death not being uncommon. The first time you know you have a problem may be when you see dead animals. Barber's Pole worm replicates very quickly in the hot, humid conditions of summer. It has a 14-day lifecycle and adults lay up to 10...

Maintaining body condition in summer

Keeping an eye on body condition year-round is important to maintain good animal health and have them in the best shape for calving and mating next season. Cows at target body condition score (BCS) will have reduced illness, better fertility and optimal milk production.Target BCS at calving are 5.0 for mature cows, and 5.5 for first and second calvers. From calving to mating, BCS should decrease no more than 1.0. No more than 15% of the herd should be below and no more than 15% should be above t...

Sunburnt and sore

This time of year Facial Eczema is on everyone’s mind. However, you may be seeing signs of photosensitivity (“sunburn” or “scald”) despite the spore counts still being low. At this time of year, brassica summer crops (forage rape, turnip) are also being fed, and these can result in photosensitivity occurring at a similar time to Facial Eczema.A cow suffering from photosensitivity will be agitated and restless in the early stages. She may seek shade. Red and inflamed teats are often not...

Facial eczema

Facial Eczema (FE) is a disease caused by a fungus that grows on the grass. The fungus produces spores in warm and humid conditions (ie January to May), which release a toxin that causes liver damage when eaten by cows. The liver is then unable to metabolise chlorophyll in grass properly - these un-processed particles then react with sunlight to cause skin inflammation and overt disease.However, these clinical cases of swollen and sloughing skin only represent 5% of affected animals - if only on...

Staggers and stumbles

Already we have seen a lot of chaos from calves and cows with “staggers”. Ryegrass staggers is a nervous disease caused by grazing endophyte infected ryegrass. It is not to be confused with “grass staggers”, which is caused by magnesium deficiency. Endophyte is a fungus which protects the plant from attack from pests (giving them a production advantage), however, the fungus also produces a toxin, which when ingested, causes cows to lose their balance.Controlling the disease can be frustr...

Early pregnancy scanning

By now the bulls are out on many farms and people are able to relax a little bit more- apart from cutting more silage! This is a good time to look ahead and book in herd pregnancy testing.Performing an early PD at 12-14 weeks after the start of mating (with a follow up 6 weeks after the end of mating) has several advantages:Able to age pregnancies and determine more accurate calving datesYou know which mating a cow held toAble to calculate a 6 week in calf rateYou can confirm they are in calf to...

BVD - don't ignore the calves!

Most farms are on board now with regular (3 times a year) monitoring of herd BVD antibody levels and checking for PIs (persistently infected BVD carrier) in the herd between calving and mating via the bulk milk. If you aren't doing this then discuss with one of our vets next time you see one.BUT what about the youngstock? When heifers enter the milking herd as 2 year olds we get an opportunity to use bulk milk to check that none are PIs..... if there is a PI, a...

A curious calf case

ast season, Richard and Beth tackled a curious case of a calf with a strange growth in its mouth. It was noticed soon after birth when the calf struggled to suckle. Removal was challenging as the growth had a massive blood supply - a small nick resulted in copious bleeding! The growth also wrapped around several teeth and was pushing them out of alignment.We tied ligatures to restrict the blood supply and shrink the growth (similar to using a rubber b...

Pet services

Pets are an important part of our family, bringing joy and companionship to our lives. They promote mental and physical health, and looking after their’s is just as important.This is where we come in - our devoted vets care just as much about your furry friend as you do. Our clinic offers day to day primary care such as health checks, vaccinations, desexing, microchipping, nail clipping and monitoring of chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis. We are equipped to offer services such as radiogr...

Mineral monitoring

In early January this year a local dairy farm discovered through routine bloods and liver biopsies that the copper and selenium levels in the herd were getting quite high. This farm is a high producing, high input herd.The minerals are given daily in the feed and the mineral is a high quality chelated formulation (much more readily absorbed than the sulphate or selenate forms). The herd had not shown any symptoms of selenium or copper toxicity but it was decided to stop the mineral supplementati...

Acorn toxicity

We have seen a few cases of acorn toxicity in the last month. At this time of year there are very large numbers of acorns on the ground. Cattle can graze quite happily year after year in a paddock with oak trees without problems, but every now and then an animal develops a taste for acorns, or feed availability is scarce and they will start to eat them. It is a good idea to fence off areas that acorns can be eaten.Unripe acorns are thought to be the most toxic, but ripe acorns and oak leaves can...

Goat bedding

Between Nov 2017 and April 2018, a pilot study was carried out on a dairy goat farm in Taranaki, to compare how different management strategies affected the quality of wood shaving bedding and the impact on animal health. The study was performed in one barn, containing 388 milking goats (increasing to 460 by end of the study). The goats were split into two herds, kept on either side of a barn with a central feed alley. The right side of the barn was managed as the farmer usually would: initially...

Diarrhoea in kids

Two major causes of diarrhoea in kids are Cryptosporidium and Coccidia however it’s very difficult to diagnose the cause in goats. The management of the diseases are similar. There are three key points:1. Identify and isolate any kids with diarrhoea.  Work with infected kids last and keep your hands and boots washed with a strong disinfectant such as “Virkon” or “Trigene”.  Both Crypto and Coccidia are resistant to most disinfectants so your boots need to be free of any dirt ...

Mastitis management and services

Drying off cows on a seasonal dairying farm often comes with a sigh of relief. After a long season all staff are looking forward to a well earned break. The cows too seem to relish the change of pace where they don’t have to trudge to the shed night and morning. One thing’s for sure, they get really grumpy when you try to get them back to the shed a week later!There are some special things happening at drying off. The udder begins to involute (shut down) and many protective and restorative m...