Back to Blog

Cardiac calf case

Please note, this article contains links to graphic medical photographs of a calf's heart taken during post-mortem examination....

Benchmarking pre-mating cycling rates in herds with wearables

In the lead up to mating this year, we took a look at how cycling rates were tracking on some of our farms in Southland and South Otago that are using wearable technology. These graphs show the percentage of each herd cycling in the weeks prior to their planned start of mating (PSM). We’ve pulled out the heifers (first calvers) to compare them against the overall herd (the herd data is inclusive of the heifer’s data). As expected, heifer cycling rates exceeded overall herd cycling rates...

Assisted calvings stats

In the 2025-26 season so far, between July and mid-October, we have been called out to assist with 594 calvings. Of these, 587 have been for dairy cows and 7 have been for beef cows.In the 2024-25 season, between July and November, we were called out to assist with a total of 613 calvings. Of these, 600 were for dairy cows and 13 were for beef cows.In the same period of the 2023-24 season, we were called out to assist with 665 calvings – 650 for dairy cows and 15 for beef cows.Interestingly, t...

Managing parasites in calves

Once calves start eating grass and consuming less milk or meal, they’ll also start picking up parasites – and this will begin to impact them.Traditionally, drenches have been our go-to tool for parasite control. However, we’re increasingly concerned that drenches are becoming less effective, so we’re encouraging farmers to check their effectiveness and use other management tools as part of a broader parasite control plan. On some farms, this can be as simple as putting young calves ...

Sid the working dog

On the day he was brought in, his owner noticed he was trying to cock his leg to urinate but wasn’t having much success. Despite this, Sid had still been pulling his weight on the farm and was eating and drinking as usual – right up until this point.  When Sid arrived at the clinic, he looked a bit down and wasn’t keen to walk. On examination, he had a raised temperature, signs of dehydration, and a very full bladder that could be felt on abdominal palpit...

Parasite monitoring

Monitoring is a key feature of an effective Parasite Management Plan. The most accessible monitoring option is faecal egg counting (FEC). We’re running more and more tests here in our clinics, and this is really helping sheep farmers build a clearer picture of what’s happening on their farms. This information is vital for answering two key questions:  Do my stock need a drench?  Is my drench working?  It also&nb...

Brucella ovis and accreditation for rams

Brucella ovis is an infectious bacterial disease that primarily affects the genital tract of rams. It spreads via infected semen (for example, ram-ewe-ram transmission) and can occasionally cause transient (or short-term) disease in ewes. The infection leads to epididymitis or lumps at the bottom of the testicles where mature sperm is stored, and can result in permanent infertility. ...

The gold standard treatment for feline hyperthyroidism

If your cat has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, you may have found your options fairly limited in the past. Not to mention costly, finicky, and time consuming. Now that’s set to change with our brand new, purpose-built facility – the only one of its kind south of Christchurch. ...

A hyperthyroidism case study with Paul the cat

Despite being on methimazole medication, Paul’s fur was heavily matted, and she looked ill-kept. Her jaw muscles had atrophied to the point she could no longer chew properly or eat, even though she was clearly hungry and wanted to. Food would simply fall out of her mouth.  To make matters worse, Paul couldn’t groom or clean her coat properly. This was exacerbated by the need to be syringe-fed a concentrated nutrient paste, which often ended up on her chest fur, matting it further.&...

Mark Bryan is stepping back

Twenty years ago this November we formally created VetSouth. It was initially a merger of Gore & West Otago Vets (in Gore) and Central Southland Vets (in Winton). We then brought in Southern Vet Centre (in Invercargill) 10 years later. The goal was to create a sustainable veterinary business for the people of Southland and southern Otago. We’re far away from things down here, both people and products, and this brought challenges. Collaborating and creating VetSouth has helped us ...

Beef cattle mating and selenium impact

Earlier this year we sent out a survey to understand how long our farmers’ beef cows are typically mated in our region, how the animals perform during that time, and what trace element supplements they receive.We thought you might be interested to see our findings! ...

Vitamin B12 treatment options

We recently featured an article with the results of vitamin B12 testing on local lambs conducted earlier this year, as well as options for getting your stock tested.Now let’s take a look at what your options for supplementation are once you’ve tested.Smartshot is a long-acting B12 injection. It can be administered while lambs are in for tailing, or any time following that. The dose rate dictates how long it will last. At tailing time the full recommended dose is 1ml, and this would give 6-8 ...

Giving your lambs their first drench

With lambs now on the ground, you might be thinking: When should I give my lambs their first drench? And what type of drench do I use?Once lambs develop their rumen, they can host internal parasites. From then on, their immune system responds to incoming larvae, and we see young stock with reduced appetite, poor growth, and scours – all as outcomes of immune system stimulation.We’ve been talking to lots of farmers about how to avoid parasites, and how to modify their system to favour the ani...

Should you phantom scan?

Phantom cows… what’s the deal? This is when a cow has been put up for insemination and doesn’t show signs of heat within 35 days. So, you assume she’s pregnant, but then at the final scan she’s empty – immensely frustrating.The causes are multifactorial. There is strong evidence that problems in the herd like endometritis (dirty cows), BVD, low body condition scores, and high numbers of non-cycling cows increase the risk of phantom cows, but they also likely have a genetic predisposi...

Intervening this repro season

Those of you with wearable technology will likely have turned your attention from transition rumination to cycling rates (maybe obsessively staring at your screen to watch the number of cows cycling going up).Meanwhile, those who are sticking with ‘tried and true’ manual methods of noting cycles will be due to get tail paint or scratchies on and start their pre-mating heat detection (slowly watching the bright colours on the herd change).However, despite your best efforts to get all cows cyc...

Our programmes for farmers

We believe great animal health performance comes from a strong partnership between the farmer and their vet clinic.   That’s why we have programmes to support and reward this relationship:...

Keeping your pets safe and calm during fireworks

Fireworks can be a beautiful sight, but they can also be stressful for our pets. Here are some simple, practical tips to help keep your animals safe, comfortable, and calm as possible during firework displays.    ...

Understanding ear infections in dogs 

The most frequent type of ear infection canines experience is called otitis externa, which simply means inflammation of the outer ear canal. While dogs with floppy or hairy ears (think cocker spaniels and poodles) are more likely to be affected, it can happen to any dog.  ...

Should I vaccinate my horse against tetanus?

We recommend that all horses are vaccinated against tetanus, as every horse is at risk of being exposed to the tetanus bacteria in their environment. Horses initially require two doses of the tetanus toxoid, given 4-6 weeks apart, to be considered vaccinated. Booster vaccinations then range from annually to every five years, depending on your horse's individual situation. A vaccination programme provides your horse with the best protection against contracting tetanus.  ...

Protecting against strangles

Strangles is a nasty and highly contagious respiratory disease in horses. The good news is that vaccination can help protect your horse and reduce the impact if the infection strikes. The intramuscular vaccine Equivac-S (available as a stand-alone or in Equivac 2-in-1 with tetanus) helps reduce the severity of a strangles infection. While vaccination doesn’t guarantee full immunity, studies show it can reduce disease severity in up to 50% of horses.  Vaccination is esp...

Why is my pet so itchy?

Itching, also called pruritus, is a sensation that makes your dog or cat want to scratch, rub, lick, or chew their skin. While occasional scratching can be normal, persistent or severe itching often signals an underlying issue that needs attention.  ...

Vitamin B12 testing

Earlier this year, our vets in the Clutha area tested liver vitamin B12 levels in lambs, prompted by farmers’ concerns about poor growth rates. On all farms tested, at least some lambs had liver B12 levels in the deficiency range. On a couple of farms, all lambs tested were low. To dig deeper, we requested results from the lab for the whole of the Southland and the Clutha regions. They reported 103 sets of tests (likely to be from 103 different farms) and 52% of these test sets sho...

Larval cultures give more insight 

Most of our farmers are familiar with bringing in 10 individual faecal samples for a FEC (faecal egg count). Many are now discovering even more by having a larval culture done.   A FEC identifies the number of eggs present from a specific group of parasites (Strongyles). But a larval culture goes further by showing the proportion of these additional species present:  Ostertagia (Teladorsagia)   Trichostrongylus (Trichs)  Cooperia Haemonchus And mor...

Dirty business – strategies for calf scours

When you notice a calf with scours, alongside their diarrhoea you may also see other signs of sickness, such as: Not drinking/feeding wellIsolating themselves from the groupLethargy, including not getting up from lying downSunken or dull eyesDrooping earsGunky nose or eyesSkin tent (dehydrated)A high temperature.There are lots of different causes of scours – and you can’t tell which one you are dealing with from the appearance of the poo! The types include:Nutritional (caused by colostr...

Tech talk: Disbudding

For us vet techs it’s when our calendars are packed with lots of disbudding work, which is a favourite of ours. Days disbudding are filled with calves, banter, great teammates, and amazing farmers.Disbudding involves sedating and locally anesthetising calves, before carefully and safely burning out their horn buds. We’ll often vaccinate sedated calves at the same time.Removing the buds while they’re between 2-6 weeks old means they won’t grow sharp horns as an adult, helping prevent inju...