WINTER NEWSLETTER 2011

Welcome to the winter edition of our clinic newsletter.  Here you can read about the dangers of slug bait; what common plant causes skin problems in so many Auckland dogs; and why you should be keeping your cat shut in at night.

You can also learn about your pet's dental health and what your can do to maintain it.  And of course you can read the latest snippets about what our staff have been up to!

Jessie nearly died…

Snail Bait Poisoning: A Case Study

 

Ruth rushed into the clinic with her chocolate labrador Jessie at her side.  Jessie didn’t bound into the clinic like she usually did, but was quiet, and looked a bit wobbly.

 

‘We think she must have eaten slug bait, there’s slug bait and ripped up boxes all over the place!’

 

It was lucky Ruth decided she’d pop home at lunchtime that day.  There had been two boxes of bait up on a garage shelf, and Jessie had decided to help herself to some ‘treats’.  It looked like she’d eaten most of the two boxes.

Although Jessie walked in we knew it was just a matter of time before she’d begin fitting, and she’d eaten enough to kill several dogs.  We had to get her onto a drip and remove what we could of the poison from her stomach.  We warned Jessie’s mum what to expect, and sent her on her way.

 

The first thing we did was insert a catheter into Jessie’s vein so that whatever happened, we’d have access to give her medication.  We then gave her an emetic, a medication which usually has dogs vomiting profusely within a few minutes.  Unfortunately, not so with Jessie.  We gave her more emetic, but she only brought up some of the bait.

Jessie was beginning to twitch already, so was given a hefty dose of valium (a muscle relaxant as well as a tranquiliser).  We put her on an IV drip to help protect her from the effects of the toxin.  In the end we had to give repeated large doses of valium and then add in a sedative in order to prevent convulsions starting up again. 

Jessie was stomach-tubed and her stomach flushed out, and when all was clear she was put in a cage to wait out the effects of the toxin.  We did not know how many days she would require sedation, or indeed if she would recover from the poisoning.

 

A heavily sedated Jessie was transferred with her drip to the North Shore After-Hours Clinic for monitoring overnight. Here she was given an enema to remove yet more snail bait.

 

The next morning we were all delighted to see Jessie bound up the ramp to our clinic, back to her normal self!  We had got rid of enough poison, and controlled her symptoms long enough for her to recover from her poisoning.

We had very happy owners, and very happy staff!

Cats Outside Overnight?

Dusk till dawn seems to be a cat’s favourite playtime, but is the dark of the night really a safe environment for our furry friends?

Leaving cats outside during the night can lead to all sorts of problems. Cats are much more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents at night, which is devastating for the whole family and for your cat.  Treatment for these accidents could take many months.  Other cats in the neighbourhood are also a threat as cat fights can result in another trip to the vet clinic for treatment of an abscess.  Both of these events can hit your wallet hard.

There is also worry from the community about our native bird life and the effect cats are having on their numbers.  This is a concern as  a cat’s best hunting time is the early hours of the evening when all the birds are in the trees settling down for the night.

 

Another reason to keep your cats inside at night is to reduce the risk of your cat going missing.  A cat can stray many miles from home and never find their way back, or get shut in a car and be taken halfway across Auckland.  You could even lose your cat to thieves (‘catnapping’); this doesn’t happen often but it’s not unheard of, especially for beautiful purebreds or over friendly felines.

So think about the benefits of keeping your cats inside, you may save yourself from some unpleasant consequences. If you need any ideas or help on getting your cats adjusted to life inside at night please contact us.