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Gold-Accredited Cat-Friendly Hospital
We are extremely proud to have achieved ISFM Gold-level accreditation as a Cat-Friendly Hospital. We are the only Vet between the Hunter Valley and Brisbane to have the highest level of cat-friendly accreditation.
Our amazing cat condos have lots of space, multiple levels and sleeping areas and a separate private litter tray area – these are all necessary for Gold Cat Friendly Accreditation
Benefits of accreditation:
- Separate dog and cat waiting areas
- Feline-friendly hospitalisation cages (our cat patients just love our new cat condos!)
- Veterinary equipment specifically for treating cats
- Staff protocols that ensure cats are handled sensitively and respectfully
- A dedicated “Cat Advocate” staff-member who ensures the hospital continues to uphold rigorous standards for cat handling and care each and every day
- Maintaining high standards of veterinary care, including continuing to update their knowledge of feline medicine as new knowledge becomes available.
Case of the Month: Blackie’s Diaphragmatic Hernia
Such a smoochy boy after his surgery!
Blackie came in to us with severe breathing difficulties after he had gone missing for a few days. Based on the severity of his breathing problem, our vet suspected he may have chest trauma from being hit by a car. We immediately took some emergency chest xrays to diagnose the problem.
A chest xray revealed his stomach, liver and intestines were sitting in his chest instead of in his abdomen where they should be. This means that the abdominal organs are squashing Blackie’s lungs so they can’t inflate properly. This condition is called a diaphragmatic hernia – the muscle sheet separating his chest from his abdomen (diaphragm) had ruptured, meaning all his abdominal organs can move up into his chest. The most common cause of this is blunt force trauma such as a car accident or falling out of a tree.
Blackie’s initial xray where the entire lung field (which should appear black) is grey because of the abdominal organs (liver, intestines, stomach) sitting in the chest cavity.
We took Blackie straight to surgery to repair the diaphragm and improve his breathing. This involved moving the stomach, liver, gallbladder and intestines back into the abdomen where they should be and stitching the diaphragm back together while someone ‘ventilated’ Blackie (breathed for him) throughout the surgery.
Blackie went extremely well after the surgery (we all just loved him he was very smoochy and cuddly) and after several days in hospital, he went home to his loving owner. Patients like Blackie and his lovely owner are why we love our job so much. He is such a beautiful cat and now he can go on to live a full and happy life.
This is the post-op xray which shows the surgically repaired and now intact diaphragm (the white curved structure on the right just next to the lung fields) and a much more normal (black) lung field.
Blackie 48 hours after surgery and feeling great
Case of the Month: Brave Turbo
Brave Turbo is a very special patient to us. 
Turbo is a 9 year old Jack Russell Terrier. He presented at the clinic in December 2017 with multiple swellings near is neck, armpit, groin and in front of his shoulders. These are all regions that have lymph nodes in them so we were immediately concerned that Turbo may have lymphoma.
An abdominal ultrasound and chest radiographs revealed that the lymph nodes in his chest and his abdomen were also all quite enlarged.
Several of the enlarged lymph nodes were biopsied and submitted to a laboratory and Turbo was diagnosed with malignant B cell lymphoma. Dogs with B cell lymphoma deteriorate quite rapidly and without chemotherapy, the life expectancy after diagnosis is sadly approximately 6 weeks.
Turbo’s owners wanted to treat Turbo with chemotherapy and so we immediately consulted veterinary oncology specialists to determine the best protocol for Turbo. We commenced a 6 month chemotherapy protocol that involved weekly intravenous chemotherapy drugs. There were some bumps along the way, with Turbo developing sepsis (blood infection) in February 2018 due to low white blood cells – a side effect of the chemotherapy drugs. He was hospitalised on IV antibiotics and fluids and he soon improved. Once his white cell count was back up to normal the chemotherapy protocol could be continued and it finished in July 2018.
Turbo came back in October 2018 for his recheck 3 months after stopping chemotherapy. He is very bright and happy, his lymph nodes are all back to normal and his bloodwork showed no abnormalities! We were so happy to tell his extremely devoted owner that he is in complete remission.
We are so happy for Turbo and his extremely devoted owners.
Easter Colouring Competition!!
May 2017 Small Animal Newsletter now available!!
At Wingham and Valley Vets one of our core values is continuing education, and so we have recently started small and large animal newsletters for all our valued clients.
We are hoping that you will find the newsletter interesting and informative, and that it will be a valuable resource. Here is the current May 2017 newsletter:
Small Animal May 2017 Newsletter
Every month will have a different focus, with a variety of articles about recent interesting cases and current animal health problems in the district.
You can read our current and past newsletters here.
April 2017 Large Animal Newsletter now available!!
At Wingham and Valley Vets one of our core values is continuing education, and so we have recently started a large animal newsletter for all our valued equine and cattle clients.
We are hoping that you will find the newsletter interesting and informative, and that it will be a valuable resource to farmers and horse owners. Here is the current April 2017 newsletter:
Every month will have a different focus, with a variety of articles about recent interesting cases and current animal health problems in the district.
The newsletter will also contain upcoming run dates.
You can read our current and past newsletters here.
Welcome Michael and Alissa!
This year the practice was thrilled to welcome Michael and Alissa Healy to our veterinary team as 
practice Directors. Michael and Alissa recently moved to Wingham from the Hunter Valley with their two young daughters, Eleanor and Susannah. Both have extensive mixed practice experience and they are looking forward to providing a high quality, thorough, caring and compassionate service to all our valued clients.
Michael and Alissa are excited to be part of the Wingham community and they are looking forward to getting to know you all. Their young family is loving the Manning Valley so far!
For more information about their experience and special interests, click on our staff page.
Beware of Small Strongyles (if you are a horse)…..
Recently, we have noticed a large number of colic cases in our local area.
One such horse, Billy, belongs to Robyn, one of our staff members. Although pictured above at the Bonny Wingham Scottish Festival looking wonderful (the middle horse), eleven days later he presented with colic involving extreme pain and thrashing, and subsequently underwent abdominal surgery at the Newcastle Equine Centre.
Surgery showed severe inflammation which was the cause of the colic. The inflammation in turn had been caused by a persistent worm called an encysted small strongyle. This worm is becoming more common and it is not eradicated by the use of standard equine drenches. These worms don’t lay eggs, so a faecal egg count may give us a negative worm count! The only products which are working effectively against these worms are either “Equest” or a five day course of Panacur 100. Billy had been treated with Panacur the week previously so although the worms had been dealt with, the damage caused still resulted in severe colic.
In general, the presenting signs of encysted small strongyles are colic, diarrhoea and swelling resulting from protein loss (seen in the lower parts of the body such as lower jaw, brisket and under the belly). The protein loss is due to protein leaking out through the damaged intestinal wall.
Following surgery, and fluid replacement therapy, Billy is now safe and well back in Wingham.
This case is a good reminder of the recommendation to use at least one of either Equest or a five day course of Panacur at least once a year around the rotation of the standard drenches.
If you would like more information, follow this link:
http://thehorsesback.com/encysted-small-strongyles/
Jaw swelling
Chest swelling
Weight loss post surgery
Hendra Information Sheet
What is the big deal about Hendra?
There has been a lot of discussion and traffic on facebook lately about the Hendra virus and the Hendra vaccine.
What is this all about and why is it a big deal?
Hendra virus is a fatal disease of horses. It is spread by flying foxes, of which we have a large colony in Wingham.
The clinical signs of hendra virus in the horse can mimic many other diseases. Any sick horse is a potential hendra case. This is where it gets tricky for horse owners and veterinarians. Even a lame or colicy horse could be an early case of Hendra. Hendra virus can be transferred to humans through infected body fluids from their horse. Unfortunately most human cases of Hendra virus have died.
Fortunately there is a vaccine now available for horses to protect them(and therefore people!) from hendra virus. Hundreds of horses in the Manning Valley are now vaccinated against hendra. This means that they can be attended by a Veterinarian for routine things like dentals and diligently treated if they become sick.
Unvaccinated horses, on the other hand, present a problem.
Doing routine procedures on unvaccinated horses carries with it a risk, as the horses may be incubating Hendra and not showing any signs of illness. Veterinarians performing dental work come into contact with saliva and nasal secretions, which could carry virus. Attending sick horses that are unvaccinated pose a potential risk for veterinarian and owner.
Because the clinical signs of hendra can include almost anything, every unvaccinated sick horse now needs to be considered a potential hendra case until proven otherwise.
What this means in real terms is that the attending veterinarian will have to wear full protective covering including disposable overalls, gloves, goggles and mask. Horses will be examined and swabs taken to exclude hendra virus. Some initial treatment will be administered, but extensive treatments may not be done until the all clear is received from the laboratory. This may take several days. Treating these suspect horses in the meantime will require great care and costly protective clothing. They will not be able to be transferred to our Veterinary Hospital or referred elsewhere. Any positive hendra cases will need to be euthanased.
This is the big deal about Hendra. Hendra virus is fatal to horses and it is fatal to humans. Unvaccinated horses are about to become second class equine citizens.
Due to the OH&S concerns for all our staff members, the vets at Wingham and Valley will, in the near future, be unable to carry out ant routine procedure on an unvaccinated horse.
Unvaccinated horses that are sick will still be attended, but due to the cost of protective clothing and equipment required, the fee to see them will be an extra $75.00 on top of the consultation fee.
Wingham and Valley Vets recommend all horses and donkeys be vaccinated against Hendra virus. Hendra is a big deal. It is fatal to horses. It is fatal to humans.
If you have any questions about the vaccine, please call Wingham and Vets on 65570000.
Case of the Month
Rusty
Rusty is an eight year old male Blue Cattle Dog. He presented to Wingham and Valley Vets with a broken hind leg. He had been missing for a couple of days, and the cause of the injury was unknown. A motor vehicle accident was most likely.
X rays revealed a badly smashed tibia and fibula. The leg was grossly swollen, so a temporary cast was applied to provide some immediate immobilization and pain relief.
This type of fracture is unsuited to casting; it was too fragmented, and was highly unlikely to heal in a dog of Rusty’s size. More rigid immobilization was needed in the form of a stainless steel plate screwed to the bone.
To maximize the chances of successful repair, a heavy duty 8 hole plate was used, and bone graft material (collected at the time of surgery from Rusty’s pelvis) was placed around the bone fragments. After care is extremely important in these cases; to reduce the risk of too much pressure being put on the plate. It was decided to keep Rusty in the hospital for several weeks. Luckily, he’s the best patient, and all the nurses have fallen in love with him.
We are now 2 weeks after surgery, and Rusty is putting about 50% weight on his leg when taken out on lead. He will get a follow up x ray in about 6 weeks’ time to see how repair is progressing. Most likely, we will leave the hardware in place – which will set off the alarms if he decides to take an overseas flight……
