RSPCA invites Hunter residents to take part in the pet census

BY JARROD MELMETH

Have you ever wondered if your pampered pooch or cool cat were the only ones getting extravagant birthday parties or professional photoshoots? 

The RSPCA is calling on all animal lovers to take part in the NSW Animal Lovers Census which will provide a snapshot of all the furry, feathered, scaly, wooly and even hairless animals in our lives.

RSPCA General Manager, Animal Operations Kristy Blake says this census will ask all the important questions the other census failed to address.

"Animals are important members of our households and community and the Animal Lovers Census will help us to better understand more about the animals across NSW," Ms Blake said.

The RSPCA is offering everyone who completes the Animal Lovers Census by the end of August to go in the draw to win a Penthouse Pup voucher.

The census can be completed here.

Keep Cool, We're in for a Scorcher

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Today is set to be an absolute scorcher in the Hunter and we're being reminded to not only keep ourselves cool, but our pets as well.

With the mercury tipped to hit 42 degrees in Wallsend and about the same in Singleton, local vets are reminding us to make sure we leave plenty of water around, see to it that there's plenty of shade for our pets to hide under and not exercise our pets, particularly dogs, during the hottest parts of the day if at all.

Director of the Newcastle Animal Referral and Emergency Centre and 2NURFM pet vet Dr David Tabrett said dogs in particular pant to try and keep cool, which requires lots of water.

"And that requires a lot of moisture to be available so its always important to have a lot of cool, fresh water sources available just in case they kick one over, it's important to make sure they've got a couple."

"We don't appreciate how quickly they can get overheated and I've had that experience with my dog and I'm an experienced vet of 30 years, where I've mi-judged the timing and she became overheated very quickly. So just be ever aware of your dogs behaviour changes or if they get gastrointestinal problems that certainly would be a sign," said David.

Summer is one of the most deadly times of the year for our pets, and new stats show 39 per cent of Australians are unaware of the signs that their dogs are suffering from heat exhaustion or dehydration.

David said it really doesn't take much for your dog to overheat in the scorching temperatures we get throughout the Hunter region.

"And that can take a mild exercise or for instance dogs with pushed in faces they don't tolerate heat very well. So the symptoms we would see are gastro-intestinal problems first of all, breathing problems and in some cases it can progress to neurological disease such as coma, convulsions and death."

If your pet's behaviour does change, or you notice they are suffering from heat stroke, contact your vet immediately.

The hot conditions have prompted paramedics to remind us to stay out of the sun and drink plenty of water.

Intensive Care Paramedic Alan Morrison said if your not feeling well, just get out of the sun.

"If you notice yourself suffering from some heat stress, take steps to cool yourself down with some fanning, maybe a damp cloth and getting out of the sun and into the shade."

Don't share those Easter goodies with your pets this weekend

BY JESSICA ROUSE

We are being urged to be selfish this Easter and keep our chocolates to ourselves instead of sharing with our pets.

Unless you want to spend the holiday in animal emergency.

Chocolate contains a caffeine compound which stimulates the nerves and heart, which is fine for a human, but too stimulating for our dogs.

If dogs consume chocolate it can cause tremors, vomiting, diarrhoea, and in extraneous circumstances, even death.

Managing director at the Newcastle Animal Referral and Emergency Centre David Tabrett, is urging pet owners to be careful and hide the Easter eggs out of reach from their pets.

"Remember that dogs are more sensitive to these compounds. Make sure that you provide an alternative for dogs if you are going to involve them in those celebrations and be particularly careful if you're doing Easter egg hunts that dogs don't find the Easter eggs around the house."

Dark chocolate tends to be the most toxic to dogs as it contains a higher amount of cocoa, and therefore caffeine. For instance a 70% dark chocolate Easter egg is very toxic.

To save your dog, and to save them missing out on some Easter treats, dog treats containing carob is the perfect alternative.

"If you're using a safer compound like a carob type chocolate, that's actually much safer for dogs and avoids all of the problems we see when dogs find the Easter egg stash," said David.

If your dog does start to show any of the symptoms over this long weekend, make sure you seek advice and head straight to your vet or nearest animal emergency.

Off-Leash Parks on Cessnock Greens' Agenda

BY GARY-JON LYSAGHT

The Cessnock Greens have outlined their plan to call for improved conditions at local off-leash dog parks across the Local Government Area.

Some of the parks have been called little more than an open field, while others have had their safety brought into question with un-fenced storm water drains running nearby.

Council's are legally obliged to provide off-leash dog parks.

Greens Candidate for Ward C David Atwell says Council don’t need to do much to make the parks more inviting.

“The very basic stuff is putting in a tap with a water trough.  At the moment, I couldn’t find one water tap level and something where the dogs can a drink of water on a summer’s day,” he said.

“It would [also] be better to put in some more trees.  Could put in some agility courses and what not, doesn’t have to be anything major.”

Local Council's are legally obliged to provide off-leash parks as part of the State Government's Companion Animals Act 1998.

"There must at all times be at least one public place in the area of a local authority that is an off-leash area," the Act says.

It is up to the Council's discretion to decide when that park allows dogs to be exercised off-leash

The Cessnock LGA currently has six off-leash dog parks, including two in Cessnock, while Branxton, Greta, Stanford Merthr and Weston all have one each.

David Atwell has since called for one to be established in Kurri Kurri.

“Kurri Kurri is Cessnock Council Area’s second largest community after Cessnock itself, but there is no off-leash park in Kurri Kurri,” he said.

“There are a number of parks around that area which could cater for at least a section of the park being acting as off-leash.”

“I can’t see why that issue could not be raised in a future council.”

Cessnock will be holding its local government election on September 10. 

[Image Source: Monmouth County Park].

Dog and cat blood donors wanted

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's Animal Referral and Emergency Centre is appealing to Hunter pet owners to register their pets to become blood donors.

Both the Broadmeadow and East Maitland branches are looking to update their database of pets who are able to donate in emergencies.

Many patients require emergency blood transfusions as a result of trauma such as car accidents, rat bait toxicity, or any number of diseases.

With spring and summer approaching, outdoor activities with pets will be increasing, causing a rise in animal emergencies as well.

Managing Director of NAREC David Tabrett says pets must be of a certain size and age to donate and more information can be found on the AREC VET website.

"Blood transfusions are a very important part of the work we do for critically ill patients, however it is a fairly sparse resource that we can access and we rely on pet owners to make their pets available for blood collection."

Canine blood can only be stored for a short period of time, however feline blood on the other hand cannot be stored at all and therefore a database is needed to call upon in times of need.

Keep your Furry Friend Safe this Christmas

While we can expect ourselves in indulge a little this Christmas, Hunter residents are being urged to ensure foods and other hazards harmful to cats and dogs are out of reach of their paws.

The Newcastle Animal Referral and Emergency Centre (NAREC) at Broadmeadow has recently discharged Max, a 1 year-old golden retriever after underwent surgery to remove to skewer sticks from his stomach after he got a hold of them in the chaos of a family get together.

NAREC CEO Wendy Fisher says chocolate is also rather toxic to dogs and "certainly the more pure the cocoa, dark chocolate is more toxic than milk chocolate".

"Another hazard is tinsel and particularly cats like to play with tinsel and swallow it and that can cause a nasty effect in the intestines and cause rupture of the intestines in severe cases".

Keep their paws off hazardous food and ornaments

"Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs, we don't know the mechanism and the toxic dose is not known".

Pet owners are also urged to be wary of the dangers of leftover Christmas ham or turkey fat.

More details on other common hazards for pets over Christmas can be found on the NAREC website.