Profender is a wormer for cats. It treats all intestinal worms in one easy step. It is very easy to administer as it is applied to the back of the neck, and is absorbed within 2 hours.

Profender can be used on kittens from 8 weeks of age, and is also safe to use on pregnant and lactating cats. This should be used every 3 months to ensure your cat is worm-free.

Congratulations to our new Puppy Class Graduates:

At top left, from left: 'Cooper' the Jack Russel Terrier, 'Wally' the Boxer X, 'Misty' the Golden Retriever, 'Sasha' the Maltese X and 'Rex' the Lab.

At bottom left, from left: 'Charlie' the Spoodle, 'Molly' the Staffy X, 'Dougal' the Maltese X Shitzu and brother and sister, 'Charlie' and 'Jess' the Boxer puppies. (Not pictured: Bailey, Cooper, Lily and Jazz)

Good Luck with all further training.

It was a warm summer evening and Arnie the 5 year old German Shepherd had been running around with the kids at the park.

A few hours after gulping down his dinner, Arnie started retching and couldn't get comfortable. His owners brought him straight to the clinic. On arrival Arnie's gums were pale, he was breathing rapidly and his abdomen had blown up like a balloon.

Arnie's signs and breed made us very suspicious of a condition called Gastric Dilation Volvulus (GDV) or bloat.

GDV occurs in deep chested dogs such as Great Danes or Weimaraners. It is thought that the stomach fills with air and distends, later twisting and cutting off the blood supply.

GDV is life threatening and must be treated rapidly by removing the air. In cases where the stomach has rotated and has been damaged due to a lack of blood supply, surgery is often needed but is not always successful.

How Can You Help Prevent GDV?
- Be aware of the early signs of GDV: vomiting, retching, trouble breathing, restlessness, enlarged abdomen
- Feed small meals two times daily, rather than a big meal once a day
- Vigorous exercise should be avoided one hour before and two hours after meals
- Make diet changes gradually over three to five days

Arnie was fortunate to survive this episode; many dogs don't or will have a second occurrence later. However, there is a surgical procedure available to help prevent bloat - ask us for more information.

Milo, a cheeky female tabby was Jill's first cat. Jill had many questions when Milo came in for a check up as a 10 week old kitten including why should Milo be desexed?

Surgical desexing or neutering involves removing part of the reproductive system of dogs and cats so that they can't have puppies or kittens. In females it is known as a spey and in males it is referred to as castration.

Why do we recommend desexing?

Desexing ultimately prevents unwanted pregnancies in female cats and dogs. It helps stop unwanted attention from males and reduces the wandering instinct.

There are also medical reasons for desexing. It greatly reduces the risk of cancers in both males and females and other life threatening conditions such as pyometra [uterine infection] in dogs.

With the large number of strays and abandoned animals euthanased every year we recommend you desex your pet. Most of the benefits are achieved if desexing is done at a young age. We advise desexing at around 6 months and are always here to discuss it with you.

Milo was speyed at the clinic and is returning for a post-operative check up this week.

Your pet may have a bad smell but what exactly is the cause? Three of the most common are:

Bad Breath - caused by plaque and tartar build up on teeth leading to infection under the gums.

What can you do about it?
- Make an appointment for a dental check; your pet may need a scale and polish of the teeth. Sometimes teeth need to be removed.

Ear Odour - often due to a disturbance in the mini environment within the ear leading to bacterial and yeast overgrowth, causing a nasty smell.

What can you do about it?
- Have your pet's ears checked and the type of nasties determined under a microscope. Sometimes antibiotic treatment is needed.

Anal Gland Smells - dogs and cats have small glands that excrete a substance used to mark their territory. Sometimes these glands are not naturally expressed properly leading to impaction and bad odour.

What Should You Do?
- Have your dog's anal glands checked at the clinic. Often a higher fibre diet used to bulk out the faeces and encourage natural expression helps.

Hill's^TM Science Diet^TM and Prescription Diet^TM range of foods are designed by veterinarians for the health of your pet. For more information click here