Bondi Vet Hospital

Overweight pussy cats - some alarming stats...

2012-02-13T19:07:00.001+11:00

Stat 1 - In Australia 32% of cats are overweight or obese.

Stat 2 - In catsover 7 years of age, the risk of dying is almost 3 times higher in overweightcats compared to cats of a normal weight.

So, one third of middle aged to older cats have 3 times the chance of dying from what is a preventable problem.

We have all heard that obesity can be the precursor to many problems in humans such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and heart problems; well in cats you can add in urinary tract, kidney and skin problems as well.

Correct body shape for a cat

So how do Iknow if my cat is overweight?

Examine your cat inthe following areas:

Underneath the bellyand between the hind legs – is there an ‘apron’ or roll of fat there?

Along her ribs – canyou feel the ribs if you gently press down as you stroke her? If not – there isprobably too much fat.

So if she doesnt look like the cat in the right here then she is probably overweight.

Why is she overweight?

Most cats are overweight because of over-feeding and it’s all tooeasy to understand why. We quickly learn just how happy some special treats ornew food makes them feel.

However, if your cat is going to stay in shape she is going tohave to learn to live with less food. You will just have to compensate bygiving her lots of extra attention!

Some tips on how to get the excess weight off...

1. Come in to Bondi Vets for a FREE weight consultation to help you set a healthy eatingprogramme for a cat that needs to lose some excess weight.

2. Just saying my cat needs to lose weight is great but we need to know the target weight and set a goal. Once we know the target weight then one of our vets or nurses can set up an eating plan and get you underway.

3. Cats should have multiple smallmeals every day. If you are away from home a lot, try a food ball or amechanical food dispenser

4. If she begs for food give herextra cuddles and attention instead!

5. Make sure you set time asideevery day to play with your cat – treat her to some new toys or just usescrunched up paper

6. Buy a tall scratching post toencourage your cat to climb

7. Consider getting a kitten to keepyour cat company. More playing and activity is a great way to burn calories and keep any older cat young!

8. Watch out for cat treats – theycontain lots of calories

9. Ask us to recommend aweight management food

Now for the don'ts...

1. Don't expect to buy a "light diet" from the supermarket or pet store and have success

2. Don't get weight loss advice from people who aren't qualified to give the advice.

3. Dont forget that the best place to start is with a FREE WEIGHT CONSULTATION at Bondi Vets

Remember that enabling your cat to lose weight could lead to more years of purring and cuddles!!

FREE pet insurance!!!

2012-02-06T13:29:00.000+11:00

In a world where we are all (us included!) treating our pets like members of the family we need to make sure they can get the best medical attention possible.

Sometimes the best medical attention possible is expensive and occasionally your pet may need to be referred to a specialist for certain tests or procedures.

So in order to prevent awkward conversations or a second mortgage on your house a simple solution is pet insurance.

Thankfully Petplan are now offering free pet insurance to puppies and kittens under a year of age!

All you need is a vet check for your pet (for example when they have their vaccinations) and the vet or nurse can sign them up for a free one month trial.

The trial is obligation free and you walk out of the hospital safe in the knowledge that your pet is covered for the next month should anything untoward happen.

Petplan will then contact you regarding continuing with the policy which we recommend as we believe that Petplan is the best pet insurance company in the market.

Petplan have won the award for Pet Insurance Company of the Year for the past 4 years.

So bring your puppy, kitten or pet under a year of age in for a health check and we can sign them up for your peace of mind.

Excess Baggage?

2012-02-01T14:22:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone and here's to a happy and healthy 2012!!

Now if your pets are like the majority of us humans then they may have slightly over-indulged during the festive season and put on a few unwanted kilos.

We all know that being overweight can make us humans more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney problems and arthritis. Unfortunately it is the same for our pets!

I can hear you saying but its only one kilo so what does it matter?! Well if your 10kg dog has put on 1kg of fat or your 5kg puss has added half a kilo thats the equivalent to a 70kg person putting on 7kg!! That should make us all sit up and notice.

If you now look at your pet and think she might be in that situation then we are here to help!

= too many festive season treats!!

Starting on Tuesday February 7th we are starting our Pet Slimmer appointments with our new vet nurse Rachel. Rachel is a very experienced nurse who loves helping pets lose weight to improve their quality of life and educate you at the same time.

The Pet Slimmer appointments are FREE and are run on Tuesdays between 2pm and 3.30pm by appointment.

As an added incentive Hills have a Pet Slimmer of the Year competition with the winner receiving a year's worth of pet food for your furry friend and travel vouchers for you!

So you could celebrate your pets new found health and happiness while sipping on a cocktail on holidays! Or take them with you.

"Barney loves lounging by the pool and flaunting his beach body now that he has lost those few extra kilos..."

So just call us at the hospital on 9130 2001 to book your free appointment to give your pet the health he or she deserves in 2012!

Preventative dentistry!

2011-08-22T14:47:00.000+10:00

I am sure you have all heard the vet say "your pet needs her teeth cleaned" or had the experience of bad breath when you get close to your pet's mouth.

The reason for both of these begins with plaque! Your pets don't brush their teeth on a daily basis like we do so they are not mechanically removing the plaque from their teeth like we do.

Sure many dogs and cats eat dry food but most dry foods crumble when chewed, cleaning the tips of the teeth but leaving the rest of the tooth covered in plaque.

Plaque accumulation then leads to tartar which is hard, full of bacteria and dangerous to teeth. The reason most people don't believe tartar is a problem is that; 1) we rarely get tartar accumulation because we brush our teeth twice a day and 2) tartar is unlikely to stop your pet from eating.

So if we brush our teeth twice a day and go to the dentist for a teeth scale and polish every 6 to 12 months then why should our pets be any different?

I can hear you screaming from here - "He's kidding if he thinks I am going to brush my cat's teeth!" Well I can't blame you! Not many people do and not many pets will let you do it if you haven't been brushing their teeth from a young age.

So then the answer must be to get your pooches teeth cleaned with a scale and polish every 6 to 12 months!

Now I can hear you groan - "That's going to cost a fortune!"

My answer is NOT ANY MORE!!!

Here is the kicker. We have decided to be proactive and offer preventative dentistry for pets rather than waiting for the teeth to be bad enough to warrant an expensive dental.

Why preventative? And when?

Firstly your pet's teeth need to be graded in order to determine the extent of the problem.

Grade 0 means perfect teeth! Unfortunately there aren't many pets out there with Grade 0 teeth.

Grade 1 means mild plaque & tartar with mild gingivitis (gum reddening) like these teeth...

Grade 2 means moderate plaque & tartar with moderate gingivitis like this dog's teeth...

Now luckily for everyone involved Grades 1 & 2 are both reversible! There is no permanent damage if the pet's teeth are cleaned at these stages but as soon as we progress to Grade 3 there is permanent irreversible damage to the teeth and the tooth (or teeth) may need to be extracted.

Here is an image of what happens in a Grade 3 tooth...

OUCH!!!

As you can imagine Grade 4 is worse still!!! Grade 4 mouths will require multiple teeth to be extracted to relieve the dog or cat of chronic tooth pain.

So, from today we are offering significant cost reductions on Grade 1 and Grade 2 dentals - around 50% off!!

Why you ask? Preventative dentistry is good for your pets!

Here is a table of the relative costs of preventative dentistry (Grades 1 & 2) versus reactive dentistry (Grades 3 & 4) which often requires tooth extractions and oral surgery.

	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4
Cat	$175	$225	$450+	$550+
Dog	$225	$275	$550+	$650+

Now if that isn't an incentive to get your pooch or kitty's teeth cleaned on a regular basis I don't know what is!!!

DENTAL MONTH IS HERE!

2011-08-18T14:09:00.000+10:00

Sorry this post is a little late but I have been at the ASAVA Conference and then frantically catching up but...

August is National Pet Dental Health Month and we are on board!!

Firstly we are offering FREE dental check-ups for your pet! The dental check-ups will be performed by either one of our vets or vet nurses (depending upon availability). Please contact us by phone or email to book your appointment.

There are also some great promotions from our supplier companies that we want to pass onto you.

Hills Pet Nutrition are giving away a chance to win a $10,000 dream holiday or one of 5 Apple iPad 2's if you purchase any bag of Hill's Science Diet Oral Care (including Oral Care treats) or Hills Prescription Diet t/d and enter the draw.

There are also some great resources at http://www.petdental.com/

Stay tuned for some great new offers and products we are about to offer!

Bones - good or bad?

2011-07-29T14:38:00.000+10:00

Are bones good or bad for dog's teeth? Well like many questions the answer is "it depends"!

The reason for this is that it really depends on how your dog approaches chewing on bones and the size of bones you are giving your pooch.

Unfortunately for dogs that are given large hard bones (for example lamb shanks) and attempt to crush these up with their back teeth often physics is against them and they end up with fractured teeth.

The most common tooth fracture we see is a slab fracture on the outside of the carnassial teeth of dogs. These fractures will cause pain, potential death of the tooth, potential infection and often requiring removal of the tooth! It's that serious.

The reason physics is against dogs who try to chew up hard bones is that the carnassial teeth (upper 4th premolar) act like scissors with the lower back teeth. If you put a hard object between an actual pair of scissors and try to close them at some stage the object will flip on its axis or the scissors will bend.

However dogs have their jaw joint that won't allow this to happen so it then comes down to which is stronger - the bone or the tooth? Unfortunately often the tooth is the weaker link and the outer part fractures and this will lead to problems, especially pain!

Left: Rex's carnassial tooth fracture from chewing large bones

Above: carnassial tooth fracture and abscess from American Veterinary Dentistry Society website

Obviously we don't want to put our furry friends in this serious situation so what can we do?

Firstly, there are multiple dental chews on the market that will do the same job cleaning your dog's teeth as bones do. I believe Greenies are the best but Dentastix, pig's ears and other treats will work OK as well.

Secondly, if you do want to give your dog bones then you can either offer them a meaty bone, supervise them eating it and then take it away once they begin to attempt to crunch up the bone; or give them smaller softer bones such as chicken wings or chicken necks that will not harm the teeth.

The key is trying to match the size of the bones to the size of your dog. Remember bones are fed to try to clean the teeth not to break them!

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB: IF ITS TOO HARD FOR YOU TO BREAK OR BEND WITH YOUR HANDS THEN IT"S TOO HARD TO PUT IN YOUR DOGS MOUTH!

Rex's Trip to the Dentist...

2011-07-25T19:00:00.000+10:00

Today Lisa, our lovely vet nurse, brought in her ridiculously spoilt dog Rex so I could have a look at his teeth. Rex has had smelly breath for a little while and given his desire to be a 40kg "lap dog" she thought we needed to clean his teeth.

Rex's breath was a little too smelly for close quarters but his teeth were pretty good apart from tartar buildup and gingivitis on his right carnassial tooth.

As you can see the tooth is browner than the others but really not that bad.

However Rex's carnassial tooth had a nasty fracture in it which is the result of breaking down heavy bones!

OUCH!!!

Not only was Rex showing no signs of pain be was continuing to munch on bones and eat his dry food as normal!

The fracture meant that the tooth root was exposed which effectively means that the bacteria in his mouth had a direct tunnel down the tooth canal and into his jaw.

If we had have left this an abscess would have formed in his jaw and started to kill the surrounding bone. It's that nasty!!

Unfortunately we had to removed Rex's tooth to take away the discomfort and ensure he didn't get a horrible infection.

Now what can we learn from Rex's trip to the dentist today?

1. Dogs don't like showing pain!

If Rex was in the wild and showed that he had a tooth ache he would be discarded from the pack as he would be a liability and another mouth to feed. Our domestic pets still have these innate instincts which means that he would rather starve (effectively committing suicide) than not eat.

2. We cant always tell what is going on in our pets mouths until we closely examine them.

3. Bones aren't always good - more on that later in the week.

Rex came around from his anaesthetic with an obvious message for me but we have since made up!!!

Welcome to the Bondi Vets blog!

2011-07-21T12:04:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone welcome to our new blog!

The objective of our blog is to provide you with information about all aspects of pet care, new products, patient cases that you may be interested in and some fun stuff here and there!

We will be adding original content regularly but also pulling information from numerous sources that we feel are appropriate in order to provide you with the best information we can.

Our blog will be updated mainly by Dr David Butchart with the occasional nurses perspective thrown in for good measure.

We will be linking this through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so you will always be able to get your fix!

Now with Dental Awareness Month almost upon us in August the plan is to start you off with practical tips to make your pets mouth as healthy as you can.

Have a look at this video about periodontal disease in humans. Its a great tool to visualise what is going on below the gum line - you just need imagine its your pets mouth!

If your pet has smelly breath then give us a call to discuss what we can do to help.

Until next time!

David