Medical

We are so lucky to see our pets living longer and longer healthy lives. However, this often means we see arthritis development in our older pets from general “wear and tear”.
There are many effective ways to treat and manage sore joints in our pets from combinations of lifestyle changes, in home physio exercises and over the counter joint support medications, to multimodal drug therapy and everything in between.
We want our pets to be pain free and are lucky that we can use a combination of multiple modalities to help achieve this for them.
Here is a list of things we can choose from the help manage the pain associated with arthritis

• Lifestyle changes- weight loss, exercise modification, different sleeping arrangements, different bedding
• Rehab/physio exercises
• Joint supports- from green lipped mussel extracts to new discoveries such as epitalis
• Arthritis injections- courses of injections
• Anti Inflammatory medications
• Monoclonal antibody therapy
• Opiate and opiate type medications
• Antivirals

You can read more information on Arthritis and recent breakthroughs here

When animals are on long-term medications blood testing is a very important part of your pets management plan. We will sometimes need to check that your pet’s body is coping with the medication. We often check liver and or kidney function to ensure that the body is able to safely metabolize medications.
There are certain medications that require us to check the serum level to ensure it is within the “therapeutic range” and actually doing what we need it to do. We need to ensure that the drug level is not too low (and hence ineffective) or too high (and becomes toxic to your pet).
The timing of blood tests is very important. We will sometimes want to take blood just prior to a scheduled dose to get the “trough” level. This is the lowest concentration in blood that the drug will drop. We may ask that you bring your pet in 2-4 hours after a scheduled medication dose to get a “peak” level. This is the highest serum concentration of the drug (and will ensure we have not reached toxic levels). For some tests it is important that you have been giving the prescribed medication at the correct time each day, or the blood test results may be invalid.
Some tests require a fasting sample but not all.
Hence, it is REALLY important that we schedule your pet’s appointment for blood testing at the correct time and with the correct preparation.

Your pet suffering from a chronic condition can be very frustrating as an owner. Unfortunately, some things can never be fixed, only managed.
Good open communication with our veterinary team to establish a long term management plan, can really help to support you through the years of managing a chronic disease.
Initially during the diagnosis stage, there can be several visits and significant costs associated with investigation and testing to reach a diagnosis. Sometimes we even need to engage a specialist team to help in this initial phase. Once a diagnosis is reached then a good management plan will actually save stress and time and money in the long run.
If your pet is on long term medication then we will generally recommend 6 monthly visits and possible blood testing to ensure the medication is doing its job and not causing secondary issues.
We truly believe in good communication and are here to listen and help you. Together we can create a management plan that helps your pet, that is something you can manage with your own individual life demands and that has the best outcome possible.

The endocrine system is a messenger system that uses hormones and feedback loops to regulate target organs. Endocrine disease is caused by an imbalance in the hormone level due to the body producing too much or too little of a particular hormone.
Health effects and conditions caused by endocrine disease vary, some can be easily managed others fatal if left untreated.

Some examples of common endocrine disorders in domestic pets include:

• Hyperthyroid disease
• Hypothyroid disease
• Cushings Disease (high cortisol levels)
• Addisons disease (low cortisol +/- mineralcorticoid levels)
• Diabetes Mellitus

Heart disease is a common finding in both cats and dogs. Unfortunately, it is not possible to listen to a heart murmur and determine if the animal has clinical heart disease.
There is a blood test that can be useful in cats, but it is not always appropriate.
In both cats and dogs an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) is the best way to determine structural heart disease in dogs and cats. We are very lucky to have an experienced cardiac ultrasonographer with us on Fridays who can perform these diagnostic heart ultrasounds within the clinic.
Depending on the results of the ultrasound your pet may or may not require long-term medication to help slow the time until congestive heart failure.
The gold standard treatment for an animal with clinical heart disease is six monthly echocardiograms and medication adjustments as required.
There are other tools that we can use to gain an understanding of your pets heart disease. If ultrasound is not financially possible, we do have alternative tests we can use to gather more information and create a management plan for your pet’s condition.
Keep in mind that at this point in the Veterinary world, we can only medically manage heart disease with a combination of medications. There is no accessible surgical fix as we have in the human world. Hence, regular monitoring (at least 6 monthly) is HIGHLY recommended for animals with heart problems.

Itchy skin and allergies are frustrating as a “cure” is usually not possible and treatment is likely lifelong management and intervention.
Infections will commonly occur if the underlying allergy is not being managed and so whenever possible we like to try to determine the cause of the recurrent skin issue. This can be any or a combination of

• Endocrine issues – ruled in our out with a blood test
• Infection- rule in our out on in house cytology or sometimes culture tests
• Allergic – can be investigated and managed in clinic but referrals for intradermal testing is possible
• Neoplastic- some cancers can be the cause of nasty skin disease

Once we have determined the cause of the itchy skin/allergy, then we will create a long term management plan for your pet to hopefully reduce the number of required veterinary visits.

The kidneys have a very important role in our body, they excrete waste products into our urine and ensure we don’t lose too much water or salts to ensure our bodies continue hydration and haemostasis.
If the kidneys stop working efficiently then you will start to see the signs of excess water loss through the kidneys in the form of increased urination and increased thirst. There will be a build up of the waste product urea that will make you animal feel unwell, so you may see them go off their food and even start to vomit.
This is a very simplistic overview and more information will be provided if your pet is every diagnosed with kidney disease. When we are testing kidney function we use a combination of

• Blood testing- looking at blood levels including urea, creatinine, SDMA and electrolytes.
• Ultrasound the kidneys and bladder to check for abnormalities.
• Urine concentration and rule out urinary tract infection.
• Blood pressure testing as elevated blood pressure is not good for the kidneys.

Once your pet has been diagnosed with kidney disease we will create a management plan including diet review/change and regular monitoring of your pets general health, blood pressure testing and blood testing to monitor how the kidneys are coping.
Although a diagnosis of kidney disease is scary, with a good management plan we can often help your pet maintain an excellent quality of life for a long time.

The liver is a big detoxifying sponge. It works really hard to filter our blood and ensure the cleanest blood is sent to the heart.
There are general blood tests that look at liver enzyme levels. These levels can go up for many different reasons, it might be that the animal has ingested something toxic, or the animal possibly has an endocrine disease that causes liver enzyme elevation.
Dental disease and even heart disease can result in increased liver enzymes.
If we are worried about the function of the liver we will often run a bile acid stimulation test. Ultrasound of the liver is also a useful tool to assess for any physical liver issues (such as liver cancer)
An animal diagnosed with liver issues (regardless of the cause) will require ongoing monitoring and a good management plan

Did you know that there are a series of tests we can do to check the health of your pets eyes?
Just like when you visit the optometrist we complete a general examination of your pets eye including the eyelid, eyeball and back of the eye. There are also three standard tests we perform to assess the eye:

• Tonometry- checking the pressure of the eyeball (to check for uveitis or glaucoma). Both conditions are painful and can lead to loss of vision if left untreated
• Schirmer Tear Test- checking to see if the eye is producing the correct amount of tears
• Dye Test- to identify any ulceration to the surface of the eye.

All eye issues are potential emergencies. Our pets only have two and we need to ensure their long-term health.

A diagnosis of cancer in your pet can be devastating, but it is important to remember that there are options available. We can counsel you in the option for your pet including surgery, anti-cancer injections, traditional chemotherapy and palliative care.

The cancer journey in pets can take many different pathways and we are here to help you choose the best option for you and your pet.

You can read about breakthrough Mast Cell Tumour treatment here

To witness your pet have a seizure episode can be frightening. We always recommend a veterinary visit following your pet’s first seizure, at this appointment we discuss possible causes and different investigative and management options.
Our aim is always to help your pet achieve good seizure control through home management.

If you have a pet that has seizures, the top three reasons to bring your pet to the veterinary clinic (when it is safe to do so) are

1. A seizure that continues and is not stopping after a few minutes.
2. Your pet comes out of a seizure, but goes back into a seizure straight away.
3. Your pet has had more than 2 seizures in a 24 hour period.

At Newtown Veterinary Clinic we believe that all older animals should have twice yearly checks. If we can detect issues early, we are better positioned to manage emerging disease at a lesser expense than if we are dealing with more advanced issues. Keep an eye on your inbox for your invitation to our Senior Program in the month your pet turns 8 years old.

Our Vets are committed to achieving the best health outcome for your pet. However, in certain complex cases, we may need to refer your pet to a specialist for further specialised care and treatment. In this case, our team will inform you of the steps along the way.