These days it’s pretty common to travel with our pets, but it you are looking at travelling a little further afield or making planning for a lap of Australia then there’s a few things to think about to ensure you furry companions stay in tiptop health.
Vaccinations:
You’ll need to ensure your pooch’s standard vaccines are up to date, so they don’t get parvo from the soil and are covered if you need to pop them into board while visiting national parks. These days more pet-friendly accommodation and caravan parks also require proof of vaccination for the stay. It’s worth having a chat with the vet team about where you are headed and the risks of a disease called leptospirosis. We can vaccinate again the most common strains, but depending on where you are going (mainly tropical Australia) and how long for, there’s an additional vaccine you may want to get topped up with a local vet in that region.

​Ticks:
Just like in the Blue Mountains, the rest of the East coast and northern part of Australia has paralysis ticks. Nexgard, Simparica and Bravecto all provide excellent coverage for this parasite but when it comes to the Brown Dog Tick, which can carry the blood borne parasite Ehrlichia, a Seresto collar works best. Both types of products can be used together to give top level coverage when you are travelling through northern Australia.
Heartworm:
Monthly heartworm prevention works well at protecting so long as they are given exactly on time. Because we are all prone to human error, failure to give a dose on time, even if only by a few days, in high risk areas (north/east Australia) could allow infection. Yearly heartworm injections give superior protection if you are spending an extended amount of time in that region.

​Oral toxins:
Cane toads are synonymous with Queensland but these days they can also be found in Northern NSW and the Northern Territory. If dogs are unfamiliar with these toxic hoppers, then they can get themselves into a pickle, especially if they enjoy the ‘buzz’ that a small dose of their poison gives. Many national parks and forest areas utilise baits to control wild dog and fox populations. Exploring pet dogs can come across baits if they have been dragged away from their intended location.
If you are spending a lot time in these regional areas it can be worth taking the time to train your dog to a basket muzzle so there’s no risk of accidental poisoning. 

Spirocerca:
This random little parasite is not very well know but hangs out in Northwest Qld – think Mount Isa and surrounds. It’s normal host is a dung beetle but it can cause pretty nasty ongoing illness in dogs that accidentally eat it. If you have a poop-eating pooch (of any variety of poo, especially cow dung), it’s worth looking at basket muzzles and regular worming with Milbemax or equivalent generic products.
Registration:
The final thing to do before hitting the road is to check that your pet’s microchip details are up to date, especially you’re on-the-road contact information. Because the NSW Pet Registry is not easily accessible by vets and council rangers outside of NSW, it’s worth making sure that you dog has a collar and/or tag with your phone number on it, plus it some states it’s a legal requirement.

​One of the many things we love about backyard chickens is the idea of reducing food waste and our little feathery powerhouses converting celery tops and cauliflower leaves into fresh eggs.

But how can we feed the flock kitchen scraps safely? The ratio of commercial feed: grain: greens is important.

Too high a proportion of delicious fatty grains, such as scratch mix, barley, corn, or oats can make chickens overweight, and deficient in protein, calcium, and good vitamins such as Vitamin A. This predisposes them to egg-laying difficulties including egg yolk coelomitis. And chickens will always choose grain if it's freely available.

Too much vegetable matter, and chickens will starve! Your kitchen scraps have good trace elements and vitamins but are low in energy.

Commercial foods such as layer pellets are tailored to meet the needs of today's high-output hen. General guidelines are about 120g per chicken per day.

In addition, a small scattering of scratch mix, which the chickens have to search the garden for, makes the perfect environmental enrichment.

Plus they can get added goodness from that bucket of vegetable kitchen scraps. 

Meat scraps should be left out, because of how quickly they go off - rotting food can result in paralysis from botulism - and because feeding livestock to other livestock is kinda how we ended up with mad cow disease.

And remember that some of our vegetable scraps are poisonous. Don't feed avocado pits or peel, onions, or raw potato to chooks. Too much parsley can sensitise them to the sun, so feed in moderation to avoid burnt chickens.

As for forage or weed piles from gardening, take care with long grass because it can cause crop impaction, as can polystyrene and cigarette butts. Castor beans, tobacco and nightshades are toxic. Pesticides, fertilisers, lead paint or wire offcuts are also to be avoided.

Don't forget the shell grit and the fresh water (allow 400mL/ chicken/ day) and you're all set to feed safe scraps to your chooks.

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.