Blog: Articles, News & Advice

March 17, 2020April 4, 2020

Your Dog or Cat & Coronavirus COVID-19

Find the facts below about dogs and cats and coronavirus COVID-19. Keep checking this page for updates on the situation.

Vets across Australia are open as normal. Walkerville Vet requests that clients:

Maintain 1.5m from staff and other clients (nurses will hold your pet for examinations)
Do not pay with cash
Not attend the clinic if in isolation or even mildly unwell
Wait on the front lawn if there are 6 or more people in the waiting room
Come to the clinic alone whenever possible, and without children

Now dive deeper…

April 3, 2020March 29, 2020

Help! My Dog Has A Swollen Stomach

Essential facts ( details below):

When Is A Swollen Belly An Emergency?

Dogs with these symptoms need to be taken to a vet immediately:

Vomiting
Hard, painful abdomen
Collapse
Severe lethargy
Not eating

Now dive deeper…

March 30, 2020April 1, 2020

Which Overweight Dogs Have Shorter Lives?

Everyone knows that having an overweight dog is bad. But how bad?

Twenty years ago, Purina demonstrated a two year reduction in lifespan in Labradors kept in a laboratory setting. Now a recent large study in the US has for the first time looked at common dog breeds in the home environment.

Here’s what they found, in graphic form.

March 29, 2020April 1, 2020

A Puppy Checklist For The Social Distancing Age

Coronavirus COVID-19 has caused so much hardship to so many people that it might seem a bit trivial to talk about what it’s doing to puppies. But I’m a puppy vet and so it matters to me.

I’m afraid that the puppies of the next few months won’t grow up the same. I fear that this virus will change how they enjoy the rest of their lives. But I also think you can do something about it.

March 21, 2020March 23, 2020

What Is The Best Size For Budgie & Cockatiel Cages?

Keeping birds can be done well, and to the benefit of both them and us. But too often in doing so we take away the very thing that defines them: flight. So here are some suggested minimum case sizes to allow your feathered friends to enjoy their fullest lives.

March 20, 2020March 31, 2020

Help! My Cat Has Diarrhoea

There’s a good reason why I’d written 500 pet health articles before broaching the subject of diarrhoea in cats. When it isn’t easy to treat it can be extremely frustrating. There’s also a lack of good quality information for cat owners.

First let’s define the problem, and then discuss a logical treatment plan.

March 20, 2020March 22, 2020

Immune‐Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia in Dogs

Every time I attend a conference, the lectures on immune‐mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA) are among the best attended. That’s because there’s almost no other common disease of dogs that makes vets feel so powerless.

This page is a summary of two recent consensus statements from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. It puts together the best of what we know into one guideline on diagnosis and treatment. Most importantly, it’s written in a way that dog owners can understand.

March 20, 2020April 4, 2020

Does Desexing Affect A Dog’s Training or Guarding?

One of the common arguments for not desexing a dog is the effect on their trainability, especially guarding or protection. But does this really happen?

March 20, 2020April 3, 2020