Haven't you heard the neighbours talking about it over the fence?

Actually it's a WARM new story this month down at the vets because as the weather cools down, we heat up with the best and warmest of winter stories and some great information on keeping our pets healthy and warm.  We're talking about respect for your elders, with sensational stories about senior issues and helping our more mature pets get the most out of life.  By reading our stories you'll discover how simple regular check ups and wellness tests can help your senior pets Live Longer and Live Better. 

AquaDog Health and Fitness centre have so many happy canines with successful rehabilitation stories that they have decided to share their excitement in the form of a paw print fundraising banner for the Mater Children's Hospital Rehab Unit!  They plan to make a beautiful collage of paw prints and messages of encouragement for those children recovering from serious injury or illness. It's our doggie way of saying 'our recovering kids are thinking of yours'.

So call into AquaDog over the next three months and be apart of our story.  For a gold coin donation (or more if you can spare it) your dog can place their paw print and a message on the canvas and raise funds for the Mater Hospital rehabilitation kids.  Join us on the last weekend of each month for a sausage sizzle to also assist with fund raising for this wonderful charity.

In this edition we also get to share your warm, fuzzy and entertaining pet stories from our recent competition and our vet nurse Suzy shares her heart-warming story of hand-raising a Devon Rex kitten. 

Funny Caption Competition 

This month you also get another opportunity to tell your pets photo story...with creative captions! We are excited to announce we have another great competition for our pet lovers. We want you to send in photos or videos of your pet and add a creative caption. Be as inventive as you can as we have Village Gold Class Cinema passes up for grabs.

We'll also publish the pick of the bunch on www.mypetstories.com.au

To spark off your imagination we've given you a few examples including an all time classic image from the web (on the left) and a video taken from the BBC comedy Walk on the Wild Side (below). We think you'll have a laugh or two.

To send us your entry, click here

^* Clicking on the link above will take you to YouTube to view the video

Our vet nurse Suzy tells us her story about hand raising Rhubarb, the Devon kitten...

One day I was chatting in the waiting room to Jill with her beautiful and unusual Devon Rex cat. We got to talking about the quirky breed and she said that she had a litter of 2 week old kittens at home. One of them wasn't doing so well.  She was the runt and her bigger siblings were just pushing her out of the way and not letting her drink. Jill mentioned that she didn't have time to hand raise a kitten, but she didn't want it to die. She was also going away for a long weekend. I offered to mind the kitten for the weekend and she jumped at the chance. The first couple of days were touch and go, as you would imagine with a very young kitten that hasn't had very a very good nutritional start and has never been away from her mum or siblings. I finally got her to drink from a bottle and 3 hourly feeds and sleepless nights ensued (good practice for motherhood everyone kept telling me!).

After the weekend I spoke to Jill again. She was very grateful and happy that the kitten was doing well. She recognised all the hard work I was putting in and suggested, if I was willing to keep up the feeding, I could keep the kitten! So of course I happily accepted the challenge as by now I was totally in love with her. Little Rhubarb, as I had named her after my favourite yummy pie, at this stage only weighed 92 grams (a little bit more than a chicken egg). 

Six weeks later, she is now a healthy 500 gram, 8 week old kitten doing all the playful (sometimes naughty) things kittens do. I do feel that she thinks she is a dog as I have Basil the Pug dog at home and they sleep and play together. Rhubarb spends most of her days at work with me and has won the hearts of all our pet care team. She loves all the attention and action of a busy day at work and her cheeky fun loving personality gives our elderly resident golden retrievers, Lochie and Byron a new zest for life. 

Thank-you Jill for Rhubarb, she is such a precious part of our family at The Vets and we just love a good story with a happy ending!

Wally, the wise old domestic long hair was losing weight. Strangely, he was ravenous and was constantly in search of a feed. As well as visiting the neighbours and asking for seconds after dinner, Wally's coat was a scruffy mess.

A blood test confirmed that Wally was suffering from Hyperthyroidism, a disease that is not uncommon in cats. The thyroid hormone has a role in nearly every organ in the body. Over production results in an out of control metabolic rate, upsetting the regulation of carbohydrates, fats, and protein as well as the function of the heart.

Signs to watch out for:

• Weight loss despite a normal or increased appetite

• Poor coat quality

• Vomiting and diarrhoea

• Increased thirst and urination

There are different options for the treatment of hyperthyroidism and the treatment will depend on heart and kidney function.

Wally has commenced daily treatment and he no longer feels the need to visit the neighbour's house for a midnight snack. Most importantly, his organs are no longer under the stress of of excess circulating thyroid hormone. He will be monitored closely with regular check ups and blood and urine tests and thankfully will live a longer and happier life.

We previously introduced you to Leo who was suffering from a disease that can affect the heart. There are many causes of heart disease but the signs often sneak up on you and your pet.

Signs include:

• Coughing or gagging especially after lying down or in the morning

• Tiring from minimal exercise

• Increased breathing rate (greater than 30 breaths per minute when resting quietly)

• Panting induced easily

When the heart is not pumping properly, blood backs up in the lung and produces a ‘wet' cough. Fluid can also accumulate in the belly leading to a ‘pot belly' appearance. You may notice your pet runs out of energy quickly and this is because the diseased heart is not able to pump enough oxygenated blood to the tissues.

Simply listening to the heart may not be enough to diagnose disease so we will often need to perform a combination of tests. These include blood tests, x-rays, ultrasound and an assessment of the heart's electrical activity.

The good news is that there are a range of treatments available for heart disease so speak to us if you are concerned. 

Here is another very entertaining story we received for our My Pet Stories competition. Click here to email us your story or visit  www.mypetstories.com to view all of our great submissions.

Unstoppable force (feline) meets immovable object (canine)

We once had a VERY bossy cat called Smokey. He never quite forgave us for adding two dogs to the household, rebuffing all friendly overtures from the non-dominant kelpie X, Jordan, and engaging in a never-ending battle of one-upmanship with the definitely dominant shepherd X , De Niro (who admittedly hated him too!). 

Their attempts at scoring points against each other were many but there is a particular one that stands out in my memory. 

Smokey delighted in sitting in the ironing basket on top of our clothes dryer, which was mounted on top of the front loading washing machine. He rejoiced in glaring down triumphantly as De Niro tried in vain to jump high enough to reach him. 

One day both machines were going at once, causing a considerable combined level of vibration. Suddenly, I heard a loud thump from the laundry. I rushed in to find a furious Smokey trapped on the floor inside the upended washing basket with De Niro sniffing all around it for an opening.

Puppy preschool is a fun way for puppies and families to learn all the skills required for a rewarding life together. Under the expert guidance of our qualified nurses, parents can enjoy being involved in developing their new puppy's social skills to ensure they become polite and well behaved canine citizens. 

Classes are held once a week for 4 weeks 6.30 - 7.30pm.
To join our next class, please call the location that suits your family and ask our friendly staff for more details or click here

Ready, Setty, Go! Join our Puppy Water Safety Swim Classes. Enrich your puppy's life and build their confidence, water safety and swimming skills.

Our Puppy Preschool program includes a water safety swim class at AquaDog Health and Fitness Centre and a Half price 2nd Swim for Puppy Preschoolers ONLY $7.50. Private puppy water safety swim classes only $15.

We're so proud of our recent Puppy Preschool graduates:

At Nerang: Class commenced 31 March 2010
Billy Burton, Pudding Coates, Jazabel Hall, Sophie Morrissey, Ashby Neale, Terror Perry, Bella Simmons.

At Helensvale: Class commenced 6 April 2010
Safari Little, Samoa Little, Mia Jones, Ruby Griffin, Lochie Stevens, Wally Meier, Hugo Goddard.

Class commenced 8 April 2010
Hannah Kishida, Ruben Adamson, Bella Mitchell, Jade Robertson, Chloe Phillips, Boston McKean, Holly Mark.

Congratulations and Thank you to all the enthusiastic puppy preschoolers and their dedicated families for sharing the experience with lots of love learning and laughter. 

We hope you will enjoy the memories of your time together at Puppy Preschool by printing your class photo to display in the frame provided. To print your class photo or to email to friends and family go to our website www.thevets.com.au then go to E-cards to find your framed class photo.