Lola, the 11½ year old yellow Labrador, is a very special dog. Not only is she a truly delightful canine in her own right, she also has the esteemed honour of being a guide dog. Obviously her owner is dedicated to Lola, and vice versa. So it was quite a shock when Lola accidentally stood in hot cooking oil that had spilt on the floor!

Poor Bee! At just 10 weeks old she took a tumble down some stairs and broke her foot. That's what can happen when you chase the cat! Bee's owners knew something was pretty serious and brought her into the clinic straight away. On examining little Bee, we were pleased to see she had suffered no other injuries, apart from a very sore foot.

Lachie is a 10 year old Poodle x Bichon Frise who recently visited us because his owners had noticed he was drinking and urinating excessively. This had been a sudden change for Lachie and understandably, his owners were quite concerned. Preliminary testing indicated that a large amount of sugar was present in his urine. This is commonly associated with diabetes mellitus, a condition where either not enough insulin is being produced, or the insulin available in his body is not being utilised properly. Insulin is essentially a hormone which aids blood sugar management and directs the sugar to where it is needed most.

Rollo is an 18 month old British Bulldog who recently visited us as he was quite unwell. For two days he had been vomiting and his appetite was poor. When we examined Rollo, an abnormality could be felt in his abdomen. Given this and how unwell he appeared, x-rays were conducted to find out what could be hiding in Rollo's stomach.

Marleigh is a female Alaskan Malamute who needed help learning how to say hello calmly to her family whenever they walked outside to leave for school and work. As a puppy Marleigh attended our puppy pre-school where she learnt some basic training exercises and would sit when requested most of the time. Now Marleigh at 9 months old and weighing over 35kg, the dilemma of her jumping up and grabbing at arms and clothing for attention was becoming a serious problem. Marleigh had also started pulling on the lead and often became over excited when she saw other dogs on her walk.

Despite regular care at home, our nurse Michelle's little friend Archie was starting to develop some tartar on his teeth. Keen to clean up those teeth and improve his breath before the dental disease caused permanent damage, Michelle booked Archie in for a dental prophylaxis (a scale and polish treatment done under anaesthetic). Prior to any procedures or surgeries performed under anaesthetic, we highly recommend a pre-anaesthetic blood test to ensure there are no abnormalities within the patient's organs that may increase the risk of anaesthetic. A blood sample was collected from Archie and sent to the laboratory. Archie's blood test results came back with an interesting change.

Sam is a 5 year old Kelpie cross who was presented at our clinic with a history of intermittent left hind lameness. Poor Sam had already had surgery on his right knee, and now it appeared that his left knee was affected too.

After successful mating, Scottish Terrier Hilde was pregnant with four puppies. However, she have had some difficulties whilst giving birth previously so it was decided a caesarean would be performed to reduce any risks for Hilde and her puppies.

Phil is an eleven year old Fox Terrier who recently visited us as he was refusing to eat his food and appeared lethargic. A full examination was conducted. Phil's abdomen felt OK but he was a little bit nauseous as we felt and assessed his bowel. An x-ray of his abdominal cavity was taken and an unusual structure could be signed in his small intestine.

Sophie is a seven year old Heeler crossbreed who recently visited us because she was urinating with poor control. Her owners would often find puddles of urine on her bed after sleeping and the problem had become quite frequent when we examined her. To help determine the exact nature of Sophie's problem, blood and urine testing was conducted to investigate and rule out some of the many potential causes of this change observed by Sophie's owners.