Thank you to those to who came along to our Christmas Barks in the Park at Hays Paddock in December. We had a good turnout and it was great to catch up with everyone outside of work. We awarded prizes to the pooches that could perform the best trick, loudest bark and waggiest tail, and gave out Christmas presents and festive treats to all our four-legged friends.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are fast approaching and many pet owners will be traveling away from home without their pets. If you are boarding your pet at a kennel or cattery during the upcoming holiday, it is essential that your pet's vaccination is up to date. If your pet's vaccination is overdue, they will need a vaccination now and then a booster shot 4 weeks later before boarding would be considered.

Pit Bull TerrierYou may have heard in the media lately that changes have been made to the restricted breed dog laws. These laws classed Pitbull Terriers and Pitbull crosses a restricted breed. Until this year, there has been an amnesty for these dogs in order for existing dogs to be registered and declared. The ending of this amnesty means that new registrations cannot be made and unregistered dogs may be seized by the council. As the owner of a restricted breed dog, there are specific rules regarding how they must be housed and regulations about them being walked in public places.

News headlines from across the world have reported on a new study where dogs were able to detect lung cancer in humans by sniffing human breath. The research was conducted in a German hospital and reported in the European Respiratory Journal. The test involved 110 healthy people, 60 patients with lung cancer and 50 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Each person was asked to breathe into a fleece filled tube which absorbed the smell of the person's breath.

Just a reminder that from Spring until mid to late Autumn we are in snake season. Almost every year we see a cat or dog bitten by a snake. Without treatment the bite is fatal. We do carry anitvenom at the clinic but as usual, prevention is better than trying to cure.

In order to keep informed of current therapy and procedures, our team members have a weekly meeting and training day. Please note that from September 2011, we have changed our meeting and training day to Mondays 1pm to 3pm.

As before, even though we are closed during this period, we are still there for you and your pets. Please call our clinic's phone number 9850 1600 and you will be directed to our closest emergency centre.

There has been a number of cases of cats and dogs falling ill and vomiting roundworms. Roundworms look like long white worms and are the most common worms passed on to humans. Pets can become infected by eating soil contaminated with roundworm eggs or eating other hosts such as mice or birds.

The Department of Primary Industries in Victoria has published helpful advice on their website on protecting your rabbits from myxomatosis. Read the article here.

We recently had a question from Deb, who has purchased an 8 week old Kelpie. Deb asked us, "How do I safely socialise my puppy given the current parvovirus disease outbreak?"