Post on 28-Jun-2020
THE HUNTER LOCAL BUSINESS AWARDS THE HUNTER LOCAL BUSINESS AWARDS —— WE WON!!WE WON!!
SUMMER 2018SUMMER 2018
Hunter Award winners, Heartworm update, Christmas fun & more... We won!! Fletcher Vet was chosen as the winner of the Hunter Local Business awards for Outstanding Pet Care. We
are so thankful to all our amazing clients who voted for us to help win this award, and for all your support over the
years. We are a team that strives to work like your pet's second family, to provide the best service for your pet's
health and well-being and that connects with our local community. We are thrilled to receive this recognition for
our hard work and dedication. Within this Summer edition we also give you the latest update on Heartworm,
discuss the complications that arise with cat fights, and talk about our Christmas fun within the clinic for December.
O ur team attended the
Hunter Local Business
Awards in November. Thanks
to our amazing clients, we
were voted in as finalists in the
Pet Care category within the
region. Included in the
category were other local vet
practices, grooming salons and
boarding facilities. These
awards highlight so many great
small businesses and reward
them for their hard work, so
being a finalist is wonderful
recognition.
For the submission
process, we were asked to
provide detail on some of our
practice policies, such as
environmental, community
involvement and customer
service. Here, we detailed
our achievements
throughout the year,
including hosting the
Newcastle Dog Olympics
for the second consecutive
year, our unique digital
process for anaesthetic
monitoring and consent,
our staff rewards
programs, as well as client
and patient stories.
We are thrilled to be
announced as the overall
winners in the category! We
believe this is a reflection of
the hard work our team show
each and every day, our
strive to provide best
practice to our patients, as
well as the support from our
wonderful clients. Thank
you once again.
4 Beech Close, Fletcher, NSW 2287 | Ph: 02 4955-6670 | E: reception@fletchervet.com.au | W: www.fletchervet.com.au
Clinic Hours: Monday—Friday: 8:30am—6:00pm. Saturday: 8:30am—12:30pm
SUMMER 2018 Fletcher Veterinary Practice
HEARTWORM DANGERSHEARTWORM DANGERS——IS YOUR PET AT RISK?IS YOUR PET AT RISK?
INTERESTING HEARTWORM FACTSINTERESTING HEARTWORM FACTS
H eartworm (HW) is a pesky bug.
It is an internal parasite that as
you may guess, takes up residence
within your pet’s heart. As it grows
and grows, it blocks off the arteries
of your pet’s heart, causing
weakness, collapse, and eventually
death. This process can take years,
and without a quick, on-the-spot
blood test, pet owners would not be
aware that their pet has HW until it
is too late.
HOW IS HEARTWORM SPREAD?
Mosquitoes spread HW. Their
microscopic larvae, named
microfilariae, live in the blood of an
infected pet. When a mozzie bites,
they suck up the microfilariae and
inject them when they bite into
another pet, wild dog or dingo.
IS HEARTWORM COMMON?
This seems to be an issue we are
facing at the moment. HW was
extremely common before
prevention came out, and many pets
passed away because of it. After this,
pet owners were extremely vigilant
with giving their pet prevention
medication to protect them, and the
disease has since only been primarily
found in rural areas of Australia.
However, due to lapsing of
treatment, HW is being seen more
and more again across the East Coast
of Australia. It is extremely important
that prevention is kept up to date
constantly to provide year-round
protection, otherwise a mozzie may
attack within that short window.
“Heartworm is being seen more
and more again across the East
Coast of Australia”
WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS A DOSE?
Unlike tummy worming where you
can dose your pet when you think of
it, HW requires a special test if you
miss a dose. If your pet has not had
protection for 3 months or more, a
quick blood test is required to let us
know if they have contracted it in
that time. HW prevention given to a
pet which has contracted HW is
potentially life-threatening. Special
medication is used to kill the HW,
and careful monitoring in hospital is
usually required.
HOW CAN I PREVENT HEARTWORM?
HW is extremely easy and affordable
to prevent. We offer a convenient
annual injection that ties in well with
their annual health check and
vaccinations, or you may choose to
give monthly tablets to your pet.
Remember, HW tablets are monthly,
unlike tummy worming which is 3-
monthly. As it can be easy to forget a
dose, we prefer the injection option
for our clients.
If you have any questions about
HW, or want to talk about
prevention for your pet, please
contact our friendly team.
It can just take one mozzie bite to
infect your pet.
Cats can get heartworm too,
although it is most commonly
seen in dogs.
Adult heartworms can grow up to
30cm long within the vessels of your
pet’s heart!
SUMMER 2018 Fletcher Veterinary Practice
SUMMERTIME = FUNSUMMERTIME = FUN--NER TIME RIGHT?!NER TIME RIGHT?!
W arm days, summer holidays,
festive season and beach
runs! We’re sure that your dog loves
summer just as much as you do,
however unfortunately it’s not all
picnics and sandcastles. There are
serious threats that pop-up during
summer for your pet, and we want
to keep you aware, to ensure
summertime really does equal a fun-
ner time!
GOING AWAY ON VACATION
Whether you plan on taking your dog
with you on your holiday, or giving
them their own holiday at the local
cattery or boarding kennel, it is vital
that you check that their
vaccinations are up to date, and that
they have the correct one for
boarding. Relocating your pet to a
new location, or one that allows
them to interact with other pets can
expose them to numerous different
viruses. If you’re not sure if your pet
is up to date, call our clinic on
49556670.
HEAT STROKE
It can happen before you
know it, and usually our
short-snouted (ie,
brachycephalic) dogs are
more at risk . Allow your dog
access to shade at all times,
lots of fresh water (cool it
down with ice cubes), do not walk
them between 11am and 3pm, and
get veterinary help if you notice
them with increased frothy
salivation, collapse, laboured
breathing or panting, and hot to
touch.
PARASITE PROTECTION
Just as heartworm is more prevalent
in summer, so are fleas and ticks.
Keep all parasite protection up to
date with a handy all-in-one
treatment such as Nexgard Spectra!
THE SILLY SEASON NASTIES
Christmas and New Year can be a
stressful time for your pet, especially
cats. Not only do we have people
coming and going, but there are
ornaments, fatty foods, fireworks
and bon-bons. Keep anxiety levels
down by allowing them a safe place
of refuge to escape to if needed, and
purchase a Feliway or Adaptil
pheromone spray to keep them
calm. Always remember NEVER to
feed fatty foods to your pet such as
pork, rich meats, and no cooked
bones. For Christmas trees, deter
your cat by placing cellophane (or
other crinkly material) around the
bottom. This will hopefully stop them
ingesting the wrong thing.
For a cool doggy icy-pole recipe,
visit our last summer newsletter
on our website!
WHAT TO DO ABOUT CAT FIGHTSWHAT TO DO ABOUT CAT FIGHTS
D uring spring to summer, we
tend to see an increase in cat
fight wounds. This is usually due to
cats being even more territorial
during mating season (both males
and females). If outdoors, they may
come across another cat within their
territory, or vice versa.
Entire males are very territorial; they
will defend the area around their
home and try to expand that area
too. They will usually fight in order to
do so. This can be via scratching or
biting, and can have severe
consequences. Not only can these
wounds become severely infected
and lead to chronic illness, but the
spread of Feline Aids happens this
way.
Desexing your cat will help control
fighting, as will keeping them indoors
with a pheromone spray such as
Feliway. If you own a concession
card, we can help provide financial
assistance to subsidise the desexing
cost. Contact us for more
information, or to also discuss the
Feline Aids vaccination!
We’ve had a jam-packed 2017! Take a
look at our short video on our Instagram
or Facebook to see our year in review!
Here we show our success stories,
challenges, gorgeous patients and events
from the year. You may even see your
little one pop up!
SUMMER 2018 Fletcher Veterinary Practice
CHRISTMAS TIME AT FLETCHER VETS!!CHRISTMAS TIME AT FLETCHER VETS!!
C ome down and see
our spectacular
Chrissy-decorated waiting
room full of toys, treats,
and specials for your pet!
So what’s on?!
LUCKY DIP
Want to surprise your pet or a friend’s fur-baby with a
gift under the tree this Christmas? Purchase one of our
gorgeous LUCKY DIP PRESSIES! Each present is filled with
a treat and toy, as well as other goodies. We guarantee
you and your pet will love it! Best of all, proceeds from
every sale of our lucky dip presents will go towards
rescue organisations that we work with! Place your vote
in our rescue bucket each time a present is purchased to
donate to your organisation of choice.
DONATION TREE
If you have any spare blankets, toys, food or treats you
wish to donate as a gift to rescue pets in care, you may
bring them in and place them under our donation tree!
We will have a SantaPaws sack ready and waiting for
your gift for a special fur-baby.
PHOTO FUN
Join in on some photo fun. If you want to have your
pet’s photo taken here in the clinic with their elf hat,
Santa hat, or reindeer antlers on, come on down! Our
nurse will snap their pic and post all photos on our
Instagram and Facebook page to share the Christmas
joy.
OPENING HOURS
We will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and
New Years Day this year, and open as usual every other
business day.
For emergencies outside of our opening hours, please
contact NAREC on (02) 4957-7106 or 1300-VET-NOW,
located at 4 Lang Road, Broadmeadow.
We’d like to wish all of our clients and animal friends a
very happy and safe holiday season! We look forward to
seeing you all in 2018.
OUR YEAR IN REVIEWOUR YEAR IN REVIEW