Happy New Year everybody! As some of you are aware the Carlton Veterinary Clinic has undergone some renovations over the past few months. As a celebration to a fresh start at the clinic we have decided to do a short article on our team members' pets. First up are Nurse Jessica's pets. She has a dog named Moss, and a cat named Radar.

As dogs get older it is easy to notice the outside changes such as white hairs around the muzzle, decreased activity and difficulty getting up. It is harder to notice the internal changes that are occurring too. These changes include changes to the kidneys, heart and other aged related diseases. Pet owners are in the best position to look out for early warning signs of ageing and age related diseases. Some examples of such signs are change in appetite, discomfort on rising or after exercise, weight loss or gain, excessive drinking and/ or urination, and persistent cough.

Chu Chu is our tiniest patient of the year. This little 2 year old female Yorkshire Terrier weighs only 1.3kg! Most of our feline patients weigh more that that! Chu Chu first came to the clinic to get her annual vaccination booster. During the routine examination our veterinarian discovered that Chu Chu had grade 3 to 4 dental disease. This would be painful for poor Chu Chu so her owners made an appointment to have her teeth scaled and polished and to have any decayed teeth removed.

Rogan is a beautiful 3 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback. He is a tall boy, weighing in at 53kg, but true to all large breed dogs he is a sweetie. Rogan came to the clinic one day with a lump in an unusual place - it was located above his anus directly below his tail. A sample of the lump was taken and sent off to the pathology laboratory for testing. It turns out that the lump was a perianal gland tumour, and fortunately it was benign (not cancerous). Rogan was booked in for surgery to have the lump removed.

We would like to introduce to you Lady, a young female pug. Lady was rescued by her current owners. She had no known history of veterinary care other than a dog fight she was in that resulted in a blind right eye. The damage was so significant that the eye needed to be removed through surgery. Further on examination of Lady, we discovered that she had not been sterilised. Concerned for Lady's welfare and health, her owners decided to have her speyed as well. Female animals that are not desexed can develop mammary cancer and pyometra.

Hi everybody! My name is Schatzie and I am a Miniature long haired Dachshund. I had my spay surgery in April at Carlton Veterinary Clinic. I'm a sweet little girl and my owner wanted me to live a long and healthy life, which was why I had my surgery.

The veterinary and nursing teams at Carlton Veterinary Clinic were all in a buzz in February as Roxy was having her puppies. Roxy the 13 month old Staffy was brought into the clinic as her owners were quite worried when they found her groaning in her nest that she had dug in the backyard.

Meet Baci, an 11 month old poodle. If you met Baci on the street, you would never have known that Baci has been through a lot in his 11 months on earth. He has;

• at 5 months of age, jumped off a table and fractured his left front leg,
• at 7 months of age, jumped off the sofa and fractured his left front leg - again,
• at 10 months of age, injured his front left foot, and
• at 11 months of age, had a juvenile canine tooth removed under general anaesthetic.
  

Meet Bronson the 18 month old Great Dane who visited us in early December last year for his desexing procedure and for a dental clean. Bronson is a big boy, weighing over 60kg and standing approximately 1.3m high. Bronson is too big to fit into our day surgery enclosures so we had a special bed made up in the preparation area for him.

Recently, we conducted a mini interview with one of the visitors at our Barks in the Park evening held at Princes Park. Meet Henri, an 18 month old French Bulldog. Henri decided to join in the fun of the Barks in the Park and quickly became a crowd favourite. Dressed in his lovely green checked bandana, Henri played ball and chasey with other fellow four-legged friends.