With no Medicare for pets, planning for unexpected veterinary bills is important. Young animals can get themselves into mischief eating inappropriate objects or break limbs falling off beds/couches. Older animals have a greater likihood of developing serious illnesses like cancer. Whatever the age, chronic illness such as skin allergies or arthritis can add constant expense to your pets’ care.
Pet insurance is great safety net and we love when we don’t have to cut corners on health care for your 4-legged family members, in order to squeeze into a tight family budget but insurance companies main aim is to make a profit so when considering taking up a policy there's a few hazards to watch for.

Payment Method
If you have health insurance of your own, you’d be used to the hicaps system – so when you go to the dentist or physio you just pay the gap cost between the charges from the provider and what insurance covers. Traditionally though pet insurance have been a user pays model. So you need to pay the vet bill in full, then a few weeks later, once reviewing your claim, insurance would make a reimbursement to your bank account. The problem with this system is that you need to have enough cash/credit to be able to pay the bill to start off with. These days things have improved and there is a now a ‘gap only’ system that can integrate with most veterinary clinics, however there are still some insurers that require you to stump up the money first.

Excess amounts
The final area of difference between pet insurance and the other types of insurance that families would be familiar with (car, house) is in the structure of the excess. For most car insurance, there is a fixed cap amount you need to pay and then everything beyond that is covered by insurance. Pet insurance however on the most part works on a percentage excess. So while that mightn’t be a problem to pay 20% of a $200 visit for consultation and medication, when it’s a $3000 dollar visit to emergency, you’re still out of pocket $600! It’s worth looking at what the excess amounts mean for your family on a larger bill or consider options that might have a fixed excess amount.
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Pre-exisiting Conditions
Taking out a policy on your pet after they have had health issues, is a bit like get car insurance after an accident. The insurers are not going to cover for anything that was documented as being a problem in all the time before the policy started. If you’ve mentioned problems to us and we’ve put it our clinical notes, they typically will exclude that body system and for high risk breeds (French Bulldogs and Dachshunds we’re looking at you!) that will sometimes have blanket exclusions on any problems they can argue the dog was born with and therefore you were aware of at the time of purchase. So it pays to take out insurance as soon as you get a puppy or kitten, before anything can go wrong, and read the fine print on their exclusions related to congenital conditions.

General exclusions
Although we are seeing more progressive insurers changing on this front, for the last 2+ decades pet insurance has excluded two whole body systems from cover. Namely, anything to do with teeth, because they claim it is preventable, although we see plenty of problems that owners can do nothing to avoid on that front (cat resorptive lesions and broken teeth in dogs to name a few), and behavioural (mental health) problems.

Injuries vs Illness
Another method that insurance companies use to ‘discount’ premiums is to offer injury only cover. While this might sound good, and it’s reassuring to know that if you pet was struck by a vehicle that they would be covered, there’s lots of shade of grey with claims. Is a puppy eating a sock an ‘injury’ or an ‘illness’? And often the most expensive care occurs with chronic illness such as heart disease or skin allergies, neither of which are covered by the basic policies.

Sub Limits
To make policies seem affordable, one tactic insurance companies take is to have sublimits. So while the policy might state that they will cover your pet for up to $30k worth of vet bills, buried in the policy documents will be a section stating that for select conditions - typically tick paralysis and cruciate ligament rupture (dogs) that they will  pay out $3k. Coincidentally (not!) the two most commonly claimed problems are…tick paralysis and cruciate ligament rupture. And treatment costs for ticks typically range between $2-10k and the standard recommended option for cruciate ligament repair is $5-6k. This leaves the pet owner substantially out of pocket, but saves the insurance companies a mint. It’s best to avoid policies with any sub limits.

Although we are not allowed to advise on insurance providers, considering these common traps can help you navigate deciding between the different options that are out there in the marketplace.

These days the usefulness of microchips for our cats and dogs is taken for granted but the way the microchip system operates within Australia leaves a lot to be desired and can be a great source of confusion and contention.

The Basics:
A microchip is in essence only a scannable number. It gives the reader a 15 digit number (or if it is a fancy microchip, it may also transmit the pet’s temperature). But that number is useless without a relevant database. Think about it like a number plate for your car. For most of us when we look at the number plate, the only thing we can tell is that specific combination of letters and numbers. But its value is when those details are put into a database such as the NSW Vehicle Registry which allows access to information such as the registered owner, car make, model & colour. Similarly the NSW Pet Registry given information on the species, breed, colour & age of the pet, as well as the owners name, contact details & address.

Which Registry:
You would think like vehicle registration, that if you have your pet’s details recorded on the NSW system, that it would mean if you pet ends up interstate that their details would still be accessible by pounds, etc but that is not the case. In Australia there is at least 5 different registries. Different states require animal residing within its boundaries to have their details lodged with various providers. None of the registries communication with each other and many are privately owned – and as happened recently, this leaves them vulnerable to bankruptcy and the pets details being wiped completely or sold off. What does this mean for you? Well if you live in NSW, you pet needs to be on the NSW government registry, irrespective of whether they are also on another interstate registry. And if you acquire a puppy or kitten interstate you’ll have to complete the relevant change of ownership forms for both the state they are leaving as well as ensuring they have the specific microchip paperwork for NSW completed.

Registration vs Being on the Registry
Having your pet’s details on a microchip registry is NOT the same thing as them being registered with council, nor kennel club registration. Confusingly the same word is used but it means different things. Being on the pet registry just means that your pets microchip number has been placed on the system with an owners’ contact details. When the lifetime registration fee has been paid to council or via the Service NSW portal, then the pet is considered registered in NSW. The one-off lifetime NSW registration fees are the main source of income used by the councils to fund the work of the council rangers in collecting strays, caring for and rehoming unowned dogs and cats.
Pedigree dogs can also be registered with Dogs NSW, but that is only relevant for purebred dog owners who are wishing to confirm their dog’s lineage for show-ring or breeding purposes.

What’s The Rules?
The microchipping laws are laid down by the state government but in a complicated system of bureaucracy, local councils have to administer the rules. This is why at times rules may change but the people in the local council office are unclear on what is supposed to be happening. As of 2024, registration fees are due “when a pet changes ownership or at 12 weeks of age, whichever is first”. This means as soon as you adopt a puppy or kitten it is your responsibility to organise payment of the registration fees. You do NOT wait until they are old enough for desexing (if that is something you are planning on). Fees around entire vs desexed animals do not apply until they have reached breeding age.
Transfer of ownership is another point of confusion. Traditionally this was done with a form in triplicate (i.e. 3 copies) that the breeder and new owner each kept a copy of and the third copy had to be physically taken to a council office for submission. Now there is also the option for electronic change of ownership via the Pet Registry Portal. If it has been years and for whatever reason your pet isn’t in your name, then the best option is to complete a statutory declaration form and submit that council to request the pet is transfer into your name.
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The microchip system is confusing and often convoluted, but can be a life-saving in identifying pets and getting them back to their owners. It’s worth spending a bit of time checking that all of your pets details in order, because it is heart-breaking when families lose a beloved pet and are unable to track them. If you’re getting confused about it, you are welcome to reach out to us, we are more that happy to help people navigate the system.

Paralysis ticks are well known as a deadly summer parasite in the Blue Mountains, but did you know that they can impact your pet even in the cooler months? While adult ticks are typically most active from September to January, warmer, wetter winters mean that we are now seeing tick paralysis cases in clinic as early as July. Additionally, the warmer weather means that suburbs like Hazelbrook and Wentworth Falls, which previously did not see tick paralysis, are more habitable for ticks. With this in mind, what do pet owners need to know about ticks, how to spot them, and how to help your pet avoid them as tick season intensifies.
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The paralysis tick life cycle
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​The lifecycle of the paralysis tick takes around a year to complete and requires 2-3 mammalian hosts in this time. Native animals common to the Blue Mountains, like bandicoots and possums, are natural hosts and will often carry a large number of ticks with little to no impact on their health. Larval stage ticks (most seen in Autumn) may bite and cause some skin irritation to pets and owners. Nymphs (most seen in Winter and early Spring) can cause illness in pets, particularly if present in large numbers. Adult ticks are the most dangerous, with even a single adult tick being able to cause severe illness or death in household pets.
 
How do ticks cause paralysis, and what are the early signs to look out for?
Ticks feed on blood and are reliant on mammalian hosts to complete their lifecycle. While feeding, ticks inject neurotoxins which can lead to eventual paralysis and death of pets. During warmer months, pets should be checked daily for ticks, particularly if you or your pet has been in the bush, long grass/shrubbery or the beach. Even indoor pets can be exposed to ticks, often if they are brought inside on owners, or if the tick has crawled inside.
Early signs to look out for include vomiting, lethargy, weakness in the back legs, a change to vocalisation and inappetence.
 
What should I do if I find a tick on my pet?
First, remove the tick. Ensure you have removed the whole tick including mouth parts, not just the body. A tool like a Tick Twister can be helpful to do this, but fingers or tweezers work too! Run your fingers through your pet’s coat to feel for ticks. Often if one tick is found, more will be present. If you notice any changes in your pet’s behaviour, or are unsure you have fully removed the tick, give us a call. Sometimes, symptoms will still be observed even after a tick has been removed, as some toxin may already be in your pet’s system.
 
How to protect your pet from ticks
Ideally, year-round tick prevention should be given. For dogs, Bravecto Quantum is an annual injection which prevents ticks and eliminates the need to remember to give preventatives every few months! Alternatively, monthly and three-monthly chews from brands including Bravecto, Nexgard Spectra and Simparica Trio or six-monthly top spot treatments from Bravecto can also be used. For cats, Felpreva and Bravecto top spot treatments can be used for three-monthly protection from ticks. Staying up to date with preventatives is the best way to avoid tick paralysis for your pets, and is important year-round, not just in the summertime!

What is a zoonosis? Unfortunately, it's not a fun outing to Taronga, but instead any disease that infects or is carried by animals, which can also infect or be spread to people.
 
An estimated 60% of human infectious diseases around the world are zoonoses. And there's one that has the potential to do a lot of damage to chooks and humans: Bird flu, or Avian Influenza (AI), which has its reservoir in wild birds (they carry it without getting sick). AI comes in multiple varieties including Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, (HPAI). An example of HPAI is H5N1, which has lately smashed everything from parrots to penguins on every continent except Australia. 
 
Preparations for the worst are being made. What preparations can owners of backyard chooks make?
 
NSW has an excellent fact sheet here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/avian-influenza.aspx
 
...with the main take-aways being that bird flu is endemic in wild birds; that is, they carry it in their bodies all the time, and may not show any symptoms or get sick from it, but when they mix with domestic birds, such as your free-ranging leghorns, or contaminate your backyard by coming down to your birdbaths or chook feed dispensers, the virus can be passed to you, not to mention your budgie or your bantam.
 
What to do? Rehome your birds? If your household has immunocompromised people in it (eg young children, the elderly, anyone on chemo or other immunosuppressing medications) this is a valid step. Not just on account of AI, but other endemic zoonoses such as psittacosis, aka parrot fever, which has frequent outbreaks in the Blue Mountains due to our love affair with feeding native species. 
 
If you've ever worked at a big poultry producer, you'll know pet birds at home aren't allowed, because of biosecurity, ie the risk that your pet bird may be invisibly carrying something nasty. Poultry farmers have had the experience of driving vehicles through troughs of disinfectant, to keep contaminated soil out, and of performing a complete shower and change of clothes when passing in or out of the buildings.
 
This kind of barrier between your kitchen and backyard may not be practical. But you can try to approximate it by regularly washing hands with soap and water, wearing coveralls, and disinfecting your gumboots before and after attending to your chooks, even if you don't go the full PPE including P2 mask.
 
If you have a birdbath, situate it well away from areas that your chickens have access to. Fully emptying and disinfecting any food and water vessels every day is ideal. Always choose water containers that can be scrubbed and sterilised over a pond or waterfall which can never be cleaned and which will attract wild waterfowl.
 
Use netting, covered water and feed dispensers, and rat-proofed coops to reduce the chances of wild bird contact and/or contamination. 
 
Be careful around wild birds - enjoy watching them but don't encourage them to land on you, come into human-frequented spaces, or share your food.
 
Love your chooks and your aviary birds but don't kiss them!
 
Keep your annual human flu vaccination up to date. This reduces the chances a bird flu virus and a human flu virus can coexist in your body, potentially swapping genetic material with each other to mutate into the superflu that causes the next pandemic.
 
And if you notice a swathe of sudden deaths, coughing and sneezing, or other symptoms in your backyard flock, refer to this Bird Life Australia handout: https://birdlife.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Avian-Influenza-Fact-Sheet-Sep-2024.pdf
 
...and AVOID, RECORD, & REPORT to the Animal Disease Hotline.

Have you had your blood pressure checked? For the humans in your household, the answer would be of course, yes. But what about your furry family members? Particularly in cats, high blood pressure or hypertension is a common disease that is easy to overlook. But this can result in catastrophic consequences such as sudden blindness, seizures, kidney damage or heart disease.

Cats with pre-exisiting kidney or thyroid disease are particularly prone to developing hypertension and dogs aren’t exempt from the problem.

Fortunately, with a little bit of cooperation, diagnosis is easy. A blood pressure cuff (similar to ours, just quite a bit smaller!) is put on the leg or tail and either using an electronic monitor or listening to the blood flow, the pressure can be measured.
We use several different devices to measure the blood pressure, as with each style their accuracy can depend on the size of the patient and how stressed they are. Oscillometric non-invasive blood pressure monitoring machines are quiet and easy but can be a little temperamental (they do use a computer after all). Doppler monitors can be a bit noisy but allow us to hear the heart beat at the same time. We use a combination of monitors for tracking our patients’ blood pressure both as outpatients or when they are undergoing anaesthesia.
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If we do detect that a pet has hypertension, the good news is that there are several medications that we can use to help control it and keep your pet safe.

​Do you know what's in your soil? Or, more to the point, what's in your chickens?

In 2019, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the most lead-polluted areas in the Greater Sydney area included the Blue Mountains, with 29% of mountains residences exceeding safe levels.

Where natural background levels are 20-30mg/kg, Blue Mountains average lead concentration in the soil was found to be 287mg/kg.

It might be simple enough for flower-fancying gardeners to whack on gloves while they're trimming the roses, and take away the toddlers' mud pies before dirt hors d'oeuvres can be eaten. But what about free-range backyard chooks? Often, if there's lead in the soil, there's also lead in the eggs.

Lead is absorbed mainly through the gastrointestinal tract in chickens. Chicken bones serve as the long term storage site for the toxic heavy metal. Lead affects the red blood cells, the kidneys, and the nervous system. You might notice incoordination, regurgitation, or weakness. But you also might not - some chooks can absorb terrible amounts of lead without showing any signs - including not slowing down on the egg production.

In a study reported on by the ABC's Conversation in 2022, backyard hens' eggs were found to contain 40 times more lead on average than shop eggs  ( https://share.google/nWVvKSY54BJcBwHMM ) and almost half the eggs analysed posed a threat to human health.

Sources of lead in the backyard can include contaminants from industrial processes of decades or centuries ago, lead paint used on older houses, residues from the days of leaded petrol, lead pipes, lead sinkers, lead light windows, and proximity to railway lines.

Soil lead testing kits are available at hardware stores, or from online suppliers.

What about testing your hens? Vets can test blood lead levels in chickens. Not all chickens with high levels of heavy metals will show clinical signs. Affected chooks can start a series of injections for chelation therapy - but they then have to go to a safe area of the garden, or be rehomed if you're unable to have your own backyard decontaminated.

For food safety, if a child is eating one egg from a backyard chook per day, the levels of lead in the soil would ideally be less than 117mg/kg - and if you aren't eating the eggs, for the health of the chook, less than 166mg/kg is recommended.

Investigating lead levels in your soil and your chooks may bring peace of mind when it comes to eating eggs sourced from your backyard. 

​Aside from grooming and the removal of matted hair, there are multiple reasons your pet might have had fur clipped at the vet - and it's not to embarrass them on their next trip to the dog park, or unnecessarily expose them to howling winter winds in the Mountains!
 
(a) For a blood draw, or intravenous catheter placement. This quick clip is to reduce the chance of surface contaminants being pushed through the skin by the needle. It's basic disinfection, not aseptic preparation. Within time constraints, we just want to de-fur and reduce as much dirt and normal skin flora - yeast and bacteria - as possible. We will apply spirit on a cotton ball, and, again if time permits, apply a local anaesthetic cream or spray to numb the skin. Clipper rash is a possible complication.
 
(b) For surgical preparation. After clipping the hair, with margins of at least 15cm around any proposed incision, we apply more concentrated antiseptics, such as chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine, used in combination with surgical spirit. Add gentle abrasion, and you have a surgical scrub. Most flora, excepting those hiding deep in the hair follicles, are now dead. Possible complications are clipper rash and a reaction to the antiseptic.
 
(c) For diagnostic ultrasound/Doppler blood pressure. We need to see inside! And air is the natural enemy of ultrasound & Doppler sound waves. Anyone with a Labrador retriever knows how good that lush coat is at trapping warm air against the skin when your dog plunges into an icy lake. Clipping allows the probe and ultrasound gel to press directly against the skin, with minimal air bubbles interfering.

Visiting the vet shouldn’t be a stressful ordeal for your furry family member. Yet, for many pets, a trip to the clinic triggers fear, anxiety, or even outright panic. Whether it’s the association with feeling unwell, a traumatic experience in the past, or simply a dislike of needles, many pets—and their owners—dread veterinary visits.

But, why do we care? Well, there’s some very practical reasons why taking a low fear approach is better. If our patients are anxious or feel pressured, they are likely to react in the ways that can and that includes biting and scratching. None of our team want to be injured so reducing our patients’ apprehension makes a safer workplace. Secondly, we know that >60% of cats and 10% of dogs don’t get veterinary care because they are challenging to bring to the clinic or are a handful to manage once here. If we can take steps to lower the stress of that process, then more animals can access the health care they need. Lastly, we believe that taking a ‘low stress’ approach is the right thing to do! It is well recognised now that pet’s emotional wellbeing is just an important to the physical health, and we don’t want to be relying on traditional approaches that don’t accept this and contribute to the development of fear of the vet clinic.

This is why we’ve invested in the Stress Free Pets professional veterinary certification program for our entire team.

What Is Stress Free (Fear Free) Certification?
This certification equips veterinary professionals (vets, nurses and other support staff) with the skills and tools to reduce stress for animals in a clinical environment. Through rigorous training, comprehensive testing, and annual continuing education, our team members have learned how to recognize signs of stress and anxiety in pets—and, most importantly, how to minimize them.

So What Do We Do Differently?

• Dedicated Spaces: We offer separate dog and cat areas, reducing stressful encounters in the waiting room and in the hospital areas.
• Personalized Care: Patient notes help us identify pets who are nervous around others. We can use different entry points, indoor or outdoor waiting spaces, and minimize contact throughout the visit to make your pet as comfortable as possible.
• Pre-Visit Sedation: When appropriate, we recommend gentle sedation before the visit to help particularly anxious animals remain calm.
• Pheromone Therapy: We use comforting pheromones, like Feliway and Adaptil, on bedding and consult tables to create a soothing environment.
• Ongoing Training: Our team commits to continuous education in stress reduction techniques to ensure your pet always receives the best care possible.

Our Stress Free Pet Certified Professionals go beyond providing medical treatment—they look after your pet’s emotional wellbeing. We’re here to help your pet feel safe, comfortable, and cared for—every step of the way.

​Springwood, maximum 13 degrees. Brrrr!

Who wants to put their pet birds outside in winter? In the mountains? You'd have to be crazy, right?

Actually, you'd be crazy not to. And that's because of the importance of direct sunlight to your bird's vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D is essential for the absorption and utilisation of minerals including calcium. Human residents of the Blue Mountains may be used to their GP's exhortation to get more sun, especially in winter. Without enough vitamin D, laying birds can show reduced eggshell thickness or eggs with no shell at all. Growing birds can show osteodystrophy. All can show clinical signs of hypocalcaemia including seizures, and soft bones prone to deformity or fracture.

Backyard chooks will usually get plenty of direct sun. When it comes to caged birds, however, setting their cage near a window won't quite be good enough, since it's the ultraviolet part of the spectrum they need, which can be filtered out by the glass.

UV-B converts provitamin D in the skin to cholecalciferol, or Vitamin D3. If it's really freezing outside, could you use UV-B fluorescent bulbs for some fake sun therapy? Absolutely! 30 minutes of direct sunlight per day should be sufficient.

Couldn't you just supplement with vitamin D in water or food instead? This can be tricky when it comes to under- or over- dosing. Macaws can get vitamin D toxicity (mineralised kidneys) at lower levels than other birds (1000 IU/kg). Dosages vary, and many formulated diets already contain extra fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin D.

Ideally, regulation of calcium and vitamin D would happen with variety in the diet, optional grit available at all times, and plenty of direct sun. It is possible to get vitamin D toxicity by oversupplementing, but not via too much UV-B! (Sunburn remains possible, keep in mind).

Whether you go for the UV-B lamp or the wintry mountain sunshine, taking care of your bird's bones will be worth it. Happy solstice!