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Meet our West Practice Manager: Lis

I grew up in Dunedin and had a strong interest in agriculture. I studied a Bachelor of Agriscience and then worked on a farm. After that, I moved to Omarama to work for Vetlife. Moving to Marama for work also worked with my other passion - flying glider aeroplanes. I worked for Vetlife in the McKenzie Region for five and a half years then for another two years in their dairy consultancy business. We moved south to contract milk and began working for VetSouth in 2019 as the West Retail Lead. Thi...

Clostridial and B12 vaccinations

Put your hand up if, every year in late summer, you have a beautiful mob of lambs ready to go to the works, then you find one or more suddenly dead in the paddock a few days before the truck comes? This tends to be relatively common on sheep farms, and also in some beef mobs too. This sudden death syndrome in fat, fast-growing lambs is usually due to clostridial bacteria. It can also occur when lambs are on a high-octane summer crop. What can be done to prevent these deaths? Most sheep farmers ...

Triple drench resistance: Not just a North Island problem

Drench resistance is happening in the South. Vet Donna looks at how it can be managed. Every year we run some Faecal Egg Count Reduction Tests (FECRT) on our farms to see how well the drenches are performing. In the past, we have found that in many cases there is some level of resistance to the single active drenches. However, over the past few years, we have been finding more and more drench resistance to the drenches in double and now triple combinations in our patch – Otago and Southland!...

Twisted gut in working dogs

Large breed dogs with deep chests like our beloved Huntaways, are more susceptible to twisted guts. Gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV), often referred to as “a twisted gut” is a common, life-threatening condition in large, deep-chested dogs around the world. In NZ there is a high incidence of this condition in Huntaway working dogs. ...

What is Cheesy Gland?

Sounds a bit like cob loaf but I assure you, it's not quite as tasty. For a lot of farmers, this disease is unheard of; but this annoying bit of pus can be costing more than you think. What is Cheesy Gland? Cheesy Gland is a bacterial infection caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. This bacterium causes abscesses in lymph nodes and internal organs, mainly the lungs. How do I know we have a Cheesy Gland problem on-farm? A problem may exist on farms when shearers report more abscesses than...

What is Salmonella Hindmarsh?

How to reduce risk to yourself and your animals. Enteric salmonellosis of sheep is a bacterial disease causing outbreaks of diarrhoea and death. Salmonella Hindmarsh is usually the cause, however Salmonella typhimurium, and bovis-morbificans can also cause issues. Most outbreaks occur between December and June, usually after a period of stress, such as transport, yarding, high stocking rates, or sudden changes in feed. These events can result in changes to gut bacteria, allowing salmonella to pr...

Working dogs: Feeding for performance

Unlocking nutrition can be the key to a successful working dog. If you were to speak to the All Blacks or Lisa Carrington about eating well for performance, you would discover they employ chefs and nutritionists to ensure they are eating the best for their performance on the field or on the water. Well, your working dog team can put some serious kilometres in and why not focus on their nutrition to get the most out of their performance? Dogs preferentially burn fat for sustained energy over prol...

A tail to tell

Tail breaking is one of the most common cattle-related welfare complaints that go through court in New Zealand. It is a breach of the Animal Welfare Act and likely constitutes serious misconduct. Tail damage is painful for cows and research shows an average of 20% of dairy cattle in New Zealand, approximately one million cows, have abnormal tails. Some of these have been shortened for medical reasons or it was performed before it became illegal, some have been damaged, and some have a dislocatio...

Are your bulls ready for mating?

Although it may feel like calving has only just started, it’s not long until thoughts shift towards mating. Whilst it is important to ensure your cows are in good condition and have plenty of feed, it is also vital to remember the other key player in your mating success – bulls. Bulls must be in tip-top shape in order to achieve maximum success at mating time. Condition should be on target (BCS 6-7) and they should not be suffering from any disease or illness. In addition, all bulls should m...

Cow technology and utilising data

You might have seen them, or you might already be using them. Cows with fancy looking ear tags, or in some cases cows wearing collars with strange ornaments on them. These “things” are not there to just look nice, they contain sensors helping farmers to collect data from their cows. They come in pretty handy for farmers and vets alike. ...

Drenching calves

Questions about drenching calves arise every season and over the years recommendations on what the right thing to do change - which can make things confusing. In this article we will discuss: when to drench, grazing issues, and practical animal health management. All of which can lessen the impact of worms. Let's start at the beginning when calves first go out onto pasture and are still on milk....

Eye diseases in dairy cattle

How often do you look at your cows’ eyes? Have you ever seen something weird or unusual? It can be easy to miss changes and diseases of the eyes as we spend so much time focusing on the rear end of a cow. As we know, cows are prey animals so they are programmed to hide all weaknesses for as long as possible. Often the only way to tell if a cow is blind is when she unexpectedly bumps into objects. Cows learn their environment so often you can’t tell if she is blind until she goes to a new env...

M. Bovis and heifers

Beef and drystock herds are now entering into the M. bovis surveillance programme. This also includes grazing dairy heifers. The good news is that this new programme of work has been contracted to vet clinics around the country. This means that we can combine any surveillance testing with any other routine work such as scanning, trace element testing or even general cattle work. This programme is currently voluntary, but it’s a great opportunity to get in and get your stock tested for free and...

Protect your calves with Covexin10

Clostridial disease is an easily preventable deadly disease in cattle and sheep. We know vaccination works really well in preventing death in animals. Last season we introduced the use of Covexin 10 at disbudding time. This year, this is on offer again....

Finding the right balance

Stephanie Allison is a familiar face both on-farm and in the clinic in the West. As a tech, her routine varies, with early starts and long days, maintaining a healthy balance is something we all struggle with when things get tough. Out of the clinic, you are likely to see Steph in the squash courts or spending time with family on the farm, but these actions are decisions she actively makes to look after her mental well-being. With this week’s focus on how we can look after ourselves when the p...

Meet our Invercargill Practice Manager: Ruth

I grew up on a sheep farm in Otahuti, and always had an affinity for animals. I graduated as a Veterinarian in 2007 and returned home to Southland working at our Gore VetSouth clinic, initially as a mixed vet, and then was drawn towards a Small animal focus. I worked as a Veterinarian for VetSouth for nine years before deciding to focus on my other passions; CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting; both as a gym owner and as a NZ representative athlete. I sold my CrossFit gym in 2018, and in 2019 ret...

Cervical Dysfunction in horses – More than just a ‘pain in the neck?’

While sitting up late one night watching the Dressage Competition at the Tokyo Olympics, I was intrigued by the different shapes and breeds of horses that competed, built so differently and yet required to complete the same high level movements asked of them by their rider and scored accordingly. There were Lusitanos and Andulusians, that while built with a natural topline and frame were also heavier on the ground and required incredible strength to perform a passage compared to the ‘elastic b...

Home breeding: What are the facilities like at your place?

The determination of timing for breeding and to establish pregnancy requires veterinary examination of the mare's reproductive tract. This procedure is done by inserting the veterinarian's arm into the rectum to allow manual examination of the ovaries and the uterus. Rectal examinations are not an innocuous procedure for both mare and vet. Many vets have been hurt and some even killed performing this common procedure. Vets risk being kicked or crushed and there is a risk the mare's rectum can be...

Infundibular Caries

Besides sharp (enamel) points and diastemata - one of the other things we look for with our dental examination is infundibular caries. The infundibulum is an extra tubule of enamel folding - the enamel is responsible for the sharp points. Infundibular caries can be found in the maxillary (upper) cheek teeth, as the lower cheek teeth normally don’t have an infundibulum. ...

Leptospirosis in deer

Why is it important to protect against Lepto? The most widespread strain is Hardjo-bovis, but Pomona and occasionally Copenhageni has been reported in farmed deer in New Zealand. Leptospirosis is known in different species, including humans, where it can lead to flu-like symptoms, which can progress to serious sickness if left untreated. The bacteria is (depending on the strain) carried by cattle, rodents, pigs and possibly dogs. Those carrier animals spread the bacteria in their urine without b...

Cervidae Oral: The new deer drench

Exciting news! Cervidae Oral, the new triple active drench for deer will be available from the 1st September 2021. With a 28 day withholding period, we now have a practical drench product for the venison industry. Although this long awaited drench is sure to decrease worm burdens and increase growth rates, we need to work together to ensure we reduce the risk of ostertagia resistance and therefore the effectiveness of the drench. Historic widespread use of single active mectin drench products, ...

Yersiniavax – is it still relevant after nearly 30 years on the market?

Yersinia is still the leading cause of death in fawns during autumn and winter. Yersinia bacteria are widespread and survive well in soil, water, and pasture. Carrier animals also shed these in faeces. Weaner deer are most at risk, and usually becoming infected at 4 - 8 months of age by eating or drinking faecally contaminated material. Disease is primarily related to age, stress, and exposure to bacteria. Important stressors include weaning, poor nutrition, sudden change in feed, mixing of deer...

Working dog pre-season checklist

So while we understand you are busy with spring on the farm, it's worthwhile making sure you have a plan for your working dogs' health this coming season. Your main workers benefit from a solid strategy covering parasites, vaccinations and nutrition. Attend to any current or pre-existing health condition now - eg lameness, osteoarthritis, skin disease, skin and mammary gland tumours, ear infections, broken or abscessed teeth. Review the status of the internal parasite control programme your dog...

3-week submission rates: 2020/21 stats

Do this quick calculation: Number of cows in your herd x 0.9 / 21 days = Target Number of Cows per Day. If you are not getting as many cows up per day as you should then call your KeyVet to discuss. It is challenging to achieve a 6 week in-calf rate target of 78% if you do not get enough cows up in the first 3 weeks. The average Submission rate for 304 dairy farms in our area was 79%. Below shows data from the 2020/21 season:...

Up or down?

The weather has treated us well this winter with higher temperatures and lower rainfall. So with more feed around and a better calving environment surely we should be seeing fewer down cows right? Unfortunately, on some farms, we are seeing the opposite effect! We’re hearing of more cows that are struggling to get up, despite magnesium and other mineral supplementation. The daily requirements of magnesium does not change, however, in a normal winter/early spring, we tend to have high rainfall...