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…

Dogs & Cats Are Low Risk

There is no evidence yet of transmission of COVID-19 from dogs and cats to humans.

It is possible however that dogs, cats, ferrets, mink and even large cats can be infected and pass the virus. Here’s what we know so far:

• Dutch mink farmers are believed to have caught COVID-19 from their mink, who were showing an epidemic of respiratory disease.
• There have been two dogs and one cat test positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Each of these was owned by a COVID-19 infected owner. All showed no signs of illness but one dog died a few days after being released from quarantine back to the home. It should be noted that this dog was 17 years old.
• A cat in Belgium that tested positive was reported to have vomiting, diarrhoea, and respiratory signs.
• A letter to The New England Journal of Medicine and a preliminary report from China (neither peer-reviewed) both suggest that cats can be infected and pass COVID-19 to other cats. The first report found that the infected cats had no signs of illness.
• Two cats in New York with respiratory signs tested positive; one had a COVID-19 infected owner, the source for the other was unknown.
• Five tigers and three lions at the Bronx Zoo in New York tested positive for COVID-19. Seven of these had a dry cough.

No other cases have been identified in the world. However, it’s fair to say that with the shortage of tests, dogs & cats probably aren’t being looked at very closely. Even if the virus can infect pets, it must be rare. The important source of infection is other humans.

Pet Care During The Outbreak

Right now, you should continue doing all the things you currently do to care for your pet. That might be feeding, walking, playing and cuddling. It’s always sensible to avoid such things as kissing, sharing food or drink, or not washing hands after touching animals.

There is no reason to change how you handle your dog, cat, ferret, rat or rabbit. This includes people in voluntary isolation without symptoms.

If you suspect you are infected with COVID-19, then it is a good idea to minimise contact. It is best that you keep your pets with you just in case they could pose a threat to other people. It’s also possible that an animal could act as a vector for the virus in the same way that hands or clothing might. However, any risk to humans is likely to be extremely low.

You might also need to make plans for how your pet can be looked after if you require hospitalisation.

You Can (Mostly) Still Go To The Vet

If you are unwell, especially with a fever or cough but even just a runny nose or sore throat, you should stay at home. The same applies for people in compulsory self isolation after travel or contact with an infected person. For everyone else, there is currently no reason to avoid the vet in Australia.

Keeping 1.5 m away from other people and avoiding physical contact are adequate precautions. Hand washing and disinfectants are always available at all vets. Infection control is what we have always done.

If you suspect you are infected with COVID-19, contact your vet to discuss how your animal can still be treated. An animal owned by a COVID-19 positive owner will need to be treated as a potential hazard and therefore the vets will need to be notified first. Some health problems can be adequately managed via video link.

In times like these, it’s important to make good, logical decisions and avoid the scaremongers. Your pets are valuable in sickness and in health, and coronavirus won’t change that.

Related: How To Socialise Puppies During COVID-19

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Signs include:

• Itching and scratching
• Biting at the fur
• Hair loss and alopecia
• Crusts and scabs
• Bleeding sores

Most skin conditions of rats look the same. Therefore, the best thing to do is rule out the common causes as best you can. Unfortunately, there will be some rats that fail to respond to any treatments.

Barbering

Barbering is where one rat excessively grooms either themself or others. Causes include stress, overcrowding or incompatible social groups.

Clues to barbering are the general absence of skin lesions such as scabs and sores. The hair may be cropped short in just one area or over the whole body, but the skin should be intact underneath.

Treatment may involve trial separation via a mesh divider or reducing overcrowding. If that is not possible, try increasing the available space via extra suspended beds or tunnels.

Mites & Lice

Parasites are extremely common in groups of rats and quite easy to eliminate. Ask your vet to give three injections of ivermectin 14 days apart to all the rats, not just those with symptoms.

Lice in particular are large enough to be seen as mobile dark brown spots in the coat. I’ve arrowed one in the picture of a rat with lice. Below is the culprit: Polyplax serrata, known (no joke) as the house mouse louse!

Most will charge just one visit fee for all the rats. It’s a good idea to clean all the cage furniture and bedding during the treatment but it’s probably not essential. Then you wait and see if the treatment works.

Additionally, it has been reported that a single drop from Revolution® Puppy & Kitten every 14 days can be effective. However, this is off-label and must be cleared by your vet. Sprays and powders are not recommended.

Allergy

All vets who work with rats suspect that allergy is quite common. Culprits may include certain litter types, disinfectants and cleaners, or foods.

You can read here about the principles behind an elimination diet, but in rats we usually just use brown rice. Although this isn’t balanced for the long term, it will be OK for the 8 week trial period. Other allergens can also only be identified by a process of elimination.

Treatments that may help an allergic rat will include:

• Skin-friendly shampoo and conditioner (I use Dermcare Aloveen)
• Fish oil in the diet (3g/kg/day has been shown to be effective- that equates to almost a whole 1g capsule for a large rat so it’s best to start with a lower dose)
• Prednisolone drops from your vet (this is a little risky so it’s a last resort)

Ringworm

Ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin. It’s theoretically as likely in a rat as a cat or dog, but in practice seems rare. A clue will be skin lesions appearing on an in-contact human member of the household.

Your vet can suggest skin rinses or creams if ringworm is suspected. Be careful using anything medicinal on the surface of rat to avoid excessive and toxic doses either being absorbed or ingested.

Nutrition

Poor nutrition is known to cause skin problems in other species and is often suspected in rats. If this concerns you, call your rat vet or knowledgeable pet store for good diet advice.

Genetics

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

• A rat with sneezing, watery eyes or wheezing should always see the vet
• Once a rat develops breathing problems or gasping, it’s urgent
• Rat respiratory infections are preventable and respond best to early treatment

Now dive deeper…

Rats make great pets. They’re smart, affectionate, odourless and easy to look after. They’re also healthy, with just one exception.

Everyone who keeps rats needs to be familiar with their most common disease: Murine Respiratory Mycoplasma (MRM). If you understand it, you can avoid serious problems and prevent heartache. 

What Is Rat Mycoplasma?

Mycoplasma pulmonis is a tiny bacteria that lives in the respiratory tract of nearly all wild and pet rats. It’s often present without causing obvious illness. When it does it causes nasal and middle ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia. 

Mild or early infections just look like a simple head cold with sneezing, watery eyes or noisy breathing. This is when experienced rat owners will come to me, and when the disease is easiest to control. 

More advanced disease is marked by the appearance of breathing problems. These rats now have a severe and life-threatening illness with some or all of the following:

• Breathing faster than normal
• Making more effort, i.e. heavy breathing
• A wheeze or click during respiration
• Breathing through the mouth
• Quietness and lethargy
• Hunched posture and ruffled coat
• Eating less and weight loss

Red porphyrin staining around the eyes and nose is often seen in stressed rats like these. A head tilt or a twisted neck is a sign of infection in the middle ear.

So it’s clearly serious. Let’s talk about the causes and prevention, then how we can treat MRM.

Causes Of Rat Mycoplasma

To prevent MRM, you need to ask this: if M. pulmonis is everywhere, why do only certain rats get sick? Here are some possibilities:

1. Stress causes suppression of the immune system. That allows the disease to ‘break out’ in a normally healthy carrier. Examples of stressful things for rats are overcrowding, incompatible groups, transport, and sale. Therefore, it’s important to be especially vigilant when bringing in new rats. 
2. Introducing a new rat can also cause a disease outbreak due to the other rats not having been exposed before. That’s why I prefer a month of quarantine in a separate room before bringing rats together. Mycoplasma will spread in the air, on hands, clothes, bowls, sippers and foodstuffs.
3. Other diseases often make it worse, especially cilia-associated respiratory bacillus (CARB). You have less control over these but the vet needs to keep them in mind.
4. Environment is the most important factor, and the one you can manage most easily. It’s so important that I’m going to give it a heading all of its own.

Rat Air Quality 101

A good environment is essential for a strong respiratory tract. There are three important considerations:

• Temperature should be neither hot or cold. Rats like the same Goldilocks zone as us from 20 to 28 degrees C.
• Humidity is again similar to ours. Rats like the humidity to be from 30 to 70%.
• Good air quality is even more important. This is the one rat owners struggle with the most.

The reason for this is urine. When it sits around, it releases ammonia gas, which is highly toxic to the lining of the airways. Worse still, ammonia tends to settle on the cage floor unless it’s disturbed. 

In laboratory rat colonies, the importance of ammonia clearance has been understood for over 40 years. Ammonia damages the defences of the airways, and shuts down the tiny hairs called cilia that carry mucus and bacteria away. It increases respiratory disease at even the lowest concentrations tested.

That’s the message: it’ll never be perfect, but you need to do the best you can. Try the ’sniff test’. Get your nose right down to rat level- if you can smell ammonia or urine, something needs to be done. If it makes your eyes water, it’s critical. Here are some suggestions:

• Change litter frequently.
• Use the largest enclosure you can.
• Have wire, not solid sides at floor level.
• Avoid wood or soft furnishings if you can’t clean them.
• Create 3-D environments so rats can live well above the litter floor.
• Encourage gentle air movement without causing chilly drafts.

I also think the single greatest thing you can do to prevent rat respiratory infections is choose your breeder carefully. Now you see the effort required, it’s easy to imagine that not all sellers have good rat husbandry. Too often I see rats who were affected from the very beginning.

Treatment of Rat Mycoplasma

It’s not hopeless. Many rats live normal lifespans despite an early diagnosis. They may require further visits but most can expect long disease-free periods in between.

The aim isn’t to eliminate Mycoplasma, which is thought to be nearly impossible, but to control its effects on your rat. 

Mild cases go on a course of doxycycline antibiotic paste. We use a product made for cats, and repackage it into 1mL syringes so you can dose it accurately. 

As the severity increases, we add the following:

1. Anti-inflammatory drugs
2. A second antibiotic
3. Nebulisation to loosen airway secretions
4. Oxygen

If things are getting serious, we will recommend a chest X-ray using our dental X-ray unit. It won’t help us with the treatment, but if we see the shadow of lung abscesses we know things are bad. Sometimes it’s best to find this out early to avoid unnecessary treatment. 

However, with early detection and the support of your vet, the future is anything but grim. Rat respiratory infections are usually easy to treat, but that’s not all. They also lead us to make changes that will improve your rat’s every-day life.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

Walkerville Vet is open 8am to 7:00pm weekdays and 9am to 1pm Saturdays. Vets start consulting at 9am.

About The Map Of 24/7 Vets

Each of these vets advertise 24/7 service but there is no guarantee they will always be open, as occasionally vet staffing is low. Therefore, please call them either before leaving or while you are on your way. This will also make sure they are ready to help you if your problem is very urgent.

Now enlarge the map to check the quickest late night, Sunday or public holiday vet to your home!

* “Emergency Veterinary Hospitals” included if continuously staffed through the night and over weekends and public holidays.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Whatever the procedure, there are several things you must do:

• Schedule The Day Of Surgery
• Prepare The House And Family
• Prepare Your Pet
• Know When To Stop Food And Water

Booking Your Pet’s Surgery

Most vet clinics operate on Monday to Friday. Unlike our consultations with a vet, we won’t always be able to do the surgery on the day you request. The more you book ahead the better chance you’ll get the day you want.

Even when you’ve done everything right, we may see another pet on the same day who needs immediate surgery. This means that on occasions the theatre will be tied up unexpectedly for an emergency procedure and we won’t be able to do your pet’s operation.

This only happens a few times a year, and annoying as it is, most owners understand that we’d do the same for their pet if he or she were the one in need. Your pet’s surgery is important, and we’ll never do it if it can only be done in a rush.

Desexing dogs and cats should be done before six months of age to avoid the first season in females, or unwanted male behaviours. Rabbits and ferrets should be done before four months of age. If your female goes into season, we will advise rescheduling their spey until after the end of the heat period. This avoids us performing an elective procedure at a time of greater risk.

The day before your pet’s surgery you should receive the nifty text message shown earlier. If you don’t, please check we have your up to date contact details.

Do You Need To Take Time Off?

Ask your vet! It’s always nice to be around the next day but for most routine procedures like dentistry or desexing, it’s not really necessary.

Preparing Your Pet

You won’t be able to bath or clip your pet for at least ten days after surgery and it’s not a good idea to apply flea control products. Therefore, it’s a great idea to give them a bath or book them in at the grooming salon before their operation, and then give them their monthly flea control. DO NOT bath your dog on the same day to avoid accidental body temperature loss.

Before coming in, I like a patient to have had some moderate exercise. Not only will it be their last decent outing for a few days, but it helps them toilet before their day in hospital.

Preparing The House & Family

Most pets will need to be well-rested after surgery.

Your vet will tell you how much activity is OK. Some orthopaedic procedures need 100% strict cage rest, others can tolerate some activity. After desexing, for example, pets are OK to walk around the house. For all surgeries you will need to plan how to stop your pet from running and jumping.

Dogs: There are many ways to keep a dog quiet, but the best is to use a crate. We’ve written about using crates for resting and training dogs before.

If your dog isn’t used to being in a crate, a great idea is to purchase one (they are around $100) and train your dog to settle there in advance. It’s best to take it slowly so they don’t get stressed, and then when they come home needing rest, they will tolerate being restricted so much better.

If crating is difficult, you should at least plan to prevent your dog from any access to furniture such as beds and couches by closing doors or overturning chairs. You should also plan to stop any activity with causes excitement, jumping or running. Sometimes you have to disconnect the doorbell!

Cats will need to be kept inside the house, and possibly in just one room if there is still too much activity. You may need to restrict access to benches and other high places.

Rabbits, ferrets and rodents can be easily rested by using their usual nighttime accommodation. Make sure the litter is freshly changed and their enclosure is cleaned for when they come home.

Many people take time off for their pet’s recovery. This is great, but not essential, especially for soft tissue surgery like desexing or lump removal. I made sure I had a day off after Loki’s surgery and it was well worth it.

When To Stop Food & Water

It is essential that your dog, cat or ferret has no food or water in their stomach at the time of their anaesthetic. If they do, under anaesthetic their oesophageal sphincter can relax and allow fluids to pass into the oesophagus, causing acid burns. In some cases these fluids can even reach the lungs, causing severe aspiration pneumonia.

Dogs and cats should have had no food for 12 hours before an anaesthetic, and no water for 8 hours. In our clinic, unless you are otherwise instructed, this means your dog or cat should have their last meal at 9pm the night before, and no water after 1am.

All dogs and cats go on intravenous fluids (the cost is included in desexing) and so you do not need to worry about your pet becoming dehydrated.

You must be utterly ruthless at eliminating all chances of your dog or cat having access to food. All family members need to be instructed to behave themselves! It’s also best all the animals in the house are not fed over the same time to avoid accidents. Water sources such as toilets need to be closed away or covered. Cats must be kept inside to prevent scavenging and food removed even from benchtops.

Food restriction is critical. If there is any chance that your pet may have eaten even one biscuit, please tell us. We will usually reschedule the surgery to avoid any risk.

Water restriction is less important. Please let us know if you haven’t taken the water away, or left it out until morning. We usually can still do the surgery, but we may just do it later in the day.

Ferrets, Rabbits and Rodents should NOT be deprived of food and water. Ferrets have such a rapid gut transit time that the short wait in hospital will be enough. Rabbits and rodents are safe to have food in their stomachs, and in fact it is best if they do.

Please bring in your ferret’s, rabbit’s or rodent’s usual food so they can eat as soon as they are awake.

What To Expect On The Day

Surgery Admission

We ask our patients to be admitted between 8am and 8:45am on the morning of surgery. If this is a problem, please ask as it is possible to be flexible. If we haven’t seen your pet before, your pet will receive a free checkup with the vet as well.

The nurse on admission will ask you a series of questions. These include:

• Has your pet been unwell?
• Has there has been any access to food and water?
• Do you have any concerns or other requests such as nail clipping?
• Would you like pre-anaesthetic blood testing? (read why you might choose blood testing here)

Surgery and Anaesthetic

When the theatre and nurses are ready, we’ll start by placing an intravenous drip. Through this we will give a premedicant calming pain relief. Some patients will also have the pain relief patch shown earlier.

Next, we will administer the anaesthetic induction agent (usually propofol).

Once this takes effect, the vet will insert an endotracheal tube and the nurses will connect your pet to a anaesthetic machine delivering inhaled isoflurane gas in oxygen.

Monitoring equipment and thermal insulation wrapping will be placed, and the surgery site will be clipped of hair.

Then the patient is transferred to the theatre for sterile surgery. See our guide to vet anaesthetics to learn more about how we monitor your pet during their anaesthetic and recovery.

Recovery

Once the surgery is completed, your pet will be transferred to recovery. A nurse will monitor all animals continuously until they are able to sit up and maintain their airway. After this they will usually want to sleep off the rest of the anaesthetic. During this time we will monitor your pet’s pain levels and give extra relief as needed.

Once your pet is awake and ready to go one of our nurses will usually call you. If you have not heard from us by 3pm, please call to arrange a time for discharge from hospital.

Next week I’ll tell you how to look after your pet after surgery.

By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These blogs are from a series regularly posted on email and Twitter. Subscribe via email here to never miss a story!
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.

You want them to be happy but you know you shouldn’t give pets for Christmas. Maybe you even want a pet yourself. What do you do?

The answer to this moral choice is: “it’s complicated”. I’m not going to say it’s always a bad idea (later I’ll discuss how you can give pets ethically). First, though, there are some important issues with the giving of pets.

The Problems With Giving Pets For Xmas

Giving a pet on any special occasion creates practical and ethical concerns:

Stress and Danger

Puppies, kittens, rabbits, rats or guinea pigs form special bonds with their parents, litter mates and nest. Anyone who’s done it before knows how wrenching their first day away from that safe and secure environment can be.

Imagine now adding the noise, confusion and activity of any Christmas morning to that stress. The kids will inevitably all want to hold and cuddle their new pet, and may even fight. Adults will be distracted and unable to supervise closely enough.

There will be great risk of being dropped or trodden on, and the dangers from Christmas food are well-known. Ever tried to get a vet on Christmas day?

Surprise Pets

The biggest problem we used to see at Christmas was animals being given to unsuspecting adults. There was no preparation, not enough passion, and often no idea of the costs to come. This was the pet that often ended up dumped at a shelter or the vet.

We all know that no pet should be a surprise. You’ve got to be ready to commit your emotions and finances for the lifespan of that animal (15+ years for dogs, cats and rabbits).

Children are not capable of taking full responsibility for any pet and should not be expected to do so. Ask Justin Bieber. Getting kids shorter-lived animals like guinea pigs or rats only means animals cooped up in a hutch their whole lives. What have they just learnt?

Animal, Not Object

Pets are a great way to teach our children some of life’s responsibilities. Caring for another being is a big part of that.

If you give a pet as a gift, the child could view the pet in the same way as their other gifts. Possessions that you can get bored with. Impulse purchases that lose their appeal.

The road to pet ownership is a long one (see later), and going down that path together helps children and adults value their pets as independent beings. Imagine missing out on all this just for the sake of the gift experience.

Dodgy Sellers

No good breeder or shelter will agree to make one of their animals into a Christmas present. Even if they did, there’s very little chance that there will be a litter born exactly 8 weeks before the special day.

The sorts of places you will find last minute pets for sale are likely to be the dodgy ones. That means you may end up with a poorly bred pet from an environment full of suffering.

How to give pets as gifts

I think you can give a puppy or kitten for Christmas or a birthday, but possibly not how you think. If it’s done well, you will make that special day remembered forever as one of the best. Here’s how:

A chance to educate

The request for a pet as a gift will bring up many wonderful opportunities to raise children to be responsible adults. Kids just wanting a pet is not a good enough reason to own one. The path you take should include all the following steps:

• Discussing the advisability of pet ownership. Is the whole family ready to take responsibility for an animal in the house? There will be sacrifices like where you go on holidays, keeping floors tidy, committing to daily exercise, grooming, allergies etc.
• Considering the needs of other pets.
• Selecting a suitable species. Is your lifestyle suitable for the pet you want? Dogs especially are social animals who will need more time than some families can give.
• Choosing the right breed. Breeds aren’t 100% predictable, but you should try to select the characteristics that best suit your family.  Click here for 20 good dog breeds for kids.
• Do you buy a pet from a breeder, or adopt from a shelter? I’ve done both at different stages of my life.
• Finding a breeder or shelter. The RSPCA knowledgebase has resources to help.
• Setting up and pet-proofing the house and yard.
• Waiting for the birth or checking the shelter.
• Choosing the pet.
• Educating the children on how to behave around their new pet.

Phew! For puppies, many of these topics are covered in our Advice for new puppy owners and our Guide to kids and dogs living together.

You can’t hurry

The process of deciding on a pet is a long and happy one. If someone wants a pet, they either need to tell you a long time before Christmas, or be prepared to wait.

One thing is certain, a pet as a Christmas present should never be given on Christmas day. You may nominate the new puppy or kitten as a Christmas present, but they should get at least a week to settle in before the 25th of December.

If you have crate trained your puppy or have a rabbit or kitten house, they will have somewhere safe they can be on the day. They will also be over the stressful settling-in period, when they need gentle, patient care.

Be prepared to wait. If the decision is made only a few weeks before Christmas, it’s very unlikely the right pet will be available for you in time. That’s OK. How fun could Christmas be if the kids open presents only to find one is a puppy bed, or a rabbit lead, or a kitten toy, and finally they open a card with a letter and photos from the breeder, or even just a voucher from you. As a parent, I can picture the excitement as they realise what all these things mean; anticipation can be as much fun as getting.

Someone takes full responsibility

Pets who start out as gifts can end up in the gap between the giver and the receiver with neither assuming full responsibility. If you give a pet, that animal needs a guarantee from you that you will always be there for them. That’s why you should only give a pet to a close family member who lives in the same house.

With any luck the new owner will be a responsible owner, but until then, you are the one who manages:

• housing, bedding and toys
• nutrition
• vet visits and vaccinations
• bathing and parasite control
• training
• house rules

You may always need to do these things. That’s the risk you take.

So, can you give a pet for Christmas AND for life?

Yes you can.

You’ve just got to take it as seriously as you should any time you want a new pet.

Thanks to Moggles for her always photogenic self.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.