Who are my parents?

Maggie was adopted by her family after they saw her on Facebook. The shelter she was at had identified her as a Labrador Cross. Her new owners were very interested in the rest of her ancestry so arranged for our surgery to collect a blood sample for DNA testing. The blood sample is sent to America where they have DNA markers for over 225 breeds. Validation testing of the Wisdom Panel Professional Mixed Breed DNA analysis has resulted in an average accuracy of 90%.
As Maggie certainly looks like a mixture of number of breeds, both her family and the surgery staff were keen to see the results of her analysis.
Eventually the Breed Ancestry Certificate arrived with interesting results. One of her parents was a purebred Labrador (Maggie's grandparents and great grandparents were purebred Labradors on this side of the family tree). On the other side of her family tree one of her great grandparents was a Bull Terrier, the other was a Boxer. These 2 dogs mated with cross breed dogs and produced Maggie's grandparents who got together and produced the beautiful Maggie. Other breeds identified were Border Collie (13.37%), Scottish Terrier (4.4%), Glen of Imaal Terrier (4.05%), Mastiff (3.96%) and German Wire Haired Pointer (3.83%).
Now that Maggie has had the wisdom mixed breed panel done, her owners can register her at www.wisdompanel.com and upload pictures into the Wisdom Panel photo gallery.  They also now know that her ideal adult weight is between 24 and 37 kg.
Maggie's owner can see some of her ancestry when they are watching her. She jumps up at people with a very boxer-like motion. She also loves her food and hoovers her dinner (this must be the Labrador in her). She also enjoys eating chicken poo, peaches, apples and bananas (definitely Labrador traits)! Still typically Labrador, she enjoys chewing and has destroyed 4 pairs of shoes and 1 handbag and loves eating cardboard. She cuddles with her mum at night while sleeping on the bed and even goes under the covers if it is too cold! Maggie lives with a Border Collie called Molly and they get on very well. We think Maggie has found a great forever home and she's a very lucky girl.

Veterinary Nurse Training

My name is Emily Crossman and I am currently studying Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing at Gilles Plains Tafe.  I have previously completed Certificates I, II and III in Companion Animal Services. Since starting Certificate IV, I have learnt about reception duties and daily clinical routines.  The competencies I am to undertake are:

Surgical preparation - this includes preparing the animal for surgery, preparing the surgical suite for surgery and providing pre and post operative patient care

Next year the competencies will include:

Providing training advice to companion animal owners, co-ordinating patient admission and discharge, radiography, performing clinical pathology procedures, surgery office procedures, surgical and medical nursing routines, co-ordinating and performing theatre routines, providing health care advice, carrying out veterinary dental nursing procedures, developing and implementing clinic procedures. 

I also have a veterinary nursing logbook that has tasks from each competency that I have to complete.  These tasks need to be signed off by my mentor, Liz Brady, who also helps me to learn and grow in the workplace. 

The vet nursing course runs for another 18 months.  I am thoroughly enjoying the course, Tafe has a very relaxed atmosphere with excellent lectures.  The course is offered part-time or full-time and I am studying this course part-time while I gain practical experience at the surgery. 

The importance of treating dental disease

It is estimated that 80% of pets over the age of 3 years old have some form of periodontal disease.  Periodontal disease is slowly progressive, sometimes present for years with little or no outward signs.  The most common early sign is bad breath.  As the disease progresses, bacteria are able to enter the bloodstream and can cause liver, kidney and heart disease.  You may not know about the problem until it is too late.  Dogs and cats may continue to eat very well even with advanced dental disease.  This is because animals need to eat to survive and know that if they stop eating they will die.  They are unaware that you are able to help them by having their teeth attended to.  For this reason, losing their appetite is usually the last symptom and often a sign of an underlying disease rather than dental disease.  Every time your pet visits our surgery, we will give them a dental score (from 0-4) which is recorded in their history.  A score of 0 means they have no periodontal disease, a score of 4 means they have severe periodontal disease.  Once we have dental scored your pet, we will give recommendations for either treatment at the surgery and/or home care. 

Did you know that when having your much loved pet desexed at Salisbury Highway Veterinary Surgery he/she is getting the best care available?

 Let us tell you why....

• All animals coming into our surgery are handled using gentle techniques by our trained and experienced staff.  No forceful or punishment based techniques are used.
• Animals are not accepted into hospital without current vaccinations (except in an emergency when they are kept in an isolated area).  This ensures your pet is not exposed to preventable diseases while in hospital.
• All animals have an examination which includes weighing, pulse rate, respiration rate and temperature prior to surgery.
• All animals have a blood and urine test performed that measures basic kidney function and hydration levels to minimise anaesthetic complications.
• All clients are offered a more comprehensive pre-anaesthetic blood test to ensure the animal is healthy prior to surgery. 
• All animals receive a pain relieving injection prior to surgery.
• All animals are given fluids during their surgery to maintain their blood pressure.
• All animals are placed on a heating pad during surgery to help maintain the correct body temperature
• All animals are placed on an anaesthetic machine.
• Anaesthetic monitoring is performed by an experienced qualified nurse
• During anaesthesia they are connected to equipment that records their heart rate, blood pressure & oxygen levels.
• All surgeries are performed using a sterilised surgical pack that is used only once. All packs are ultrasonically cleaned & re-sterilised using an autoclave.
• We do not use skin sutures, which often irritate the animal and encourage licking and chewing at the wound.  The sutures are placed just under the skin (subcuticular), minimising any irritation.
• All animals are monitored during recovery & further heating is used to assist with a smooth and speedy recovery.  
• All clients are phoned once the animal has recovered from the surgery & a discharge appointment with either a vet or nurse is made.
• All animals are given and/or sent home with pain relieving medication to further assist with their recovery.
• All animals are checked 2 weeks after surgery (or prior to this time if you are concerned about their recovery).

 If you have questions about any of these points please feel free to discuss them with any of our helpful, friendly staff.