The ladies of Pet Chat are here today. Dr. Kimberley Earle, you said before you came in a minute ago, we're going to see a hell of a lot of you now, whether we like it or not. I seem to be featuring frequently in the next month. All right. Speaking of a lady that does that quite a lot, except for next week, as it's the first of the month, but Cheryl Shaw, you're here today. G'day. Hello. Now we have to start by having a look at that brooch of yours. Yeah. You'll probably see the initials there first and think it's something to do with you. It's not that good anymore. WWF.
That means something to you. Well, do you really want to start on that? How a wildlife organisation decided to take a sporting organisation to court instead of spending their charitable dollars on animals? Do you really want to do that? I don't think I've heard this argument before some other time. You've got some frogs, though. Yep, we're going to be talking about the frog week coming up. Oh, how long have we got to that? It starts next week. I'll tell you all about it, Mark. Cheryl, we'll wait for that. Stick around, we'll do that. G'day to you, Kay, at Terrell Bar. You've got some unwanted guests in your Bert Avery.
Yeah, I do. I don't know if you can help, but we breed budgies and we've got mice problems. And I've heard that guinea pigs deter them. Is that true? Not that I'm aware of. I don't, yeah, I couldn't see why guinea pigs, guinea pigs aren't particularly protective or, you know, territorial or anything like that. I wouldn't think that that would work. Have you got nice, solid, like, concrete floors for your aviaries? Yeah, we've got concrete floors and all the seeds and water are off the ground. They're even eating through the concrete. Yeah, yeah. No, I've just heard it and I thought you might have had an idea of it. Yeah, sure. Some people talk about putting mint, either growing mint or putting mint, peppermint sprays and things around, that that might be a deterrent. I don't know how well it works, to be honest, but you could certainly try that. I mean, the biggest...
She was usually just trying to make sure that any seed and food and things like that is hosed away as much as you can. All right, I appreciate that. Can I ask another quick question regarding my chooks? Sure. I've got six eyes of browns, and there's one that lays a white egg with a really soft shell. All the others are brown and hard shell. Is there a reason for that? Well, if she's got soft shell, it means she's running out of calcium. What do you feed them? Are you feeding a layer mix, like a layer pellet? A layer mix, they have shell grit, and we also let them out for about four hours every afternoon. But it's just the one, and I don't know which one it is, but it's just one.
So, I mean, Isabel Browns, you know, once they hit sort of 18 months to two years of age, they have a really high rate of reproductive tract disorders and disease. Calcium or soft-shelled eggs is always related to calcium, but it can also be related to, you know, whether she's got a metritis of the oviduct or things like that as well. So tricky if you don't know which bird it is. Making sure that they're getting, you know, a good quality layer pellet rather than a scratch mix because scratch mixes don't have a very good level of calcium in them. So a layer pellet, preferably some liquid calcium supplementation if we think that anybody else is having trouble.
probably unlikely to overdose them on calcium, but a liquid calcium, which is more soluble, will get into them faster, and you can add that to the drinking water. So that would be something to try. And, you know, once you sort of work out, or if you can work out which one it is, then, you know, having her seen by a vet to see if there's anything else we can do to help her out. Beautiful. Thank you so much for your help. No worries. Thanks. G'day, Roz at Shoal Bay. What's going on with your Jack Russell pup there, Roz? She's not a pup. She's a dog. I've spoken to the vet before about the habit. She's got an itch problem, which I'm trying to keep the top of. But when she's finished eating...
She runs around and rubs her face up against everything. I think the vet told me last time it's a sign of excitement, but she's gone blind in one eye, and she tends to scratch her face also when she goes to the toilet. I think the vet told me last time that it was some excitement, you know, after food, but it's causing the eye to be really, really bad, and I was trying to find, like, an eye patch or something that I could put on it to protect it. And she does it to the left eye as well. And that's the only one with sight in it. And I'm worried that, you know, she keeps it up. She won't have any sight at all. Right. Okay. So she's rubbing her face, which is something she's done for a long time. But now we think it's starting to affect her eye. Well, it affects the whole face. I mean, she's a pretty little dog. And if you look at her, you'd think she'd just come out of a scrap with a cat or something. Her face was terrible. And the eyes, the bloodshot, the left eye's bloodshot. But, you know, it's around the mouth and everything. It's both eyes, you think, at the moment, too, that are red and inflamed?
Well, it's only basically the good eye, mainly because the right eye, she's blind. I can see that. You can see it's like a pericardial over it, and you can tell by the way she sometimes, she doesn't run into much, but she's off-sided with that eye. But it just worries me that she, like, I've got to leave the lounge, and she does it on the lounge, and if the front door's open, she'll go to the screen door and anything she can. I'm going to treat her with some coconut oil to rub on around her mouth. And when was the last time you've had her up to her vet? How long ago was that? Oh, it's been a fair while. I've had a problem with the vet. I don't take her to the vet.
I've had an issue. I would recommend maybe finding a different vet if you don't have a good relationship with the one closest to you. I would get her looked at. I mean, there's a few different things, and particularly if she's an older dog, she may be developing dry eye. She may have infections around the mouth if she's really rubbing at her face, and if the skin's red and crusty, she may have some infections there. I guess if she has one eye that's blind, we worry about things like glaucoma causing pain and distress for these guys as well. And dry eye, if she were to have that in the good eye, is a treatable condition that we might be able to do something with, particularly if the eye is mucky at all or just the redness.
You're up at Shaw B. There's a few different vets around in that area. The other thing is at the moment I'm housebound. I can't get out. Yeah, okay.
So I'm sort of, you know... There may be someone up in that area who can do... We have a few vets around here who are doing house calls these days, so you could always go and see if somebody comes to you. That would be great. Yeah, and just so that they can check her out. Because, you know, with eyes, particularly when she's already lost one, we want to try to preserve that site as much as possible. All right, best of luck with everything there, Roz. 49216216, if you have a question for our pet chat team. Let's shift gears, almost, and let's take a look at those frogs, Cheryl. Okay, so this year, Frog Week starts next Monday. So it runs for one week. Now, it's another one of those things like we talked about recently, the bird count.
about counting the frogs in your local area. So we have to get active and download the frog app. And now this is part of a science project that they ask everybody to get involved in right across Australia. And what they're trying to do is identify what frogs are around and what frogs are under threat. And frogs are a really good indicator of just how our environment's going. Now, at this time of the year, frogs are usually pretty active. This is the time of their mating. So it's more often that you'll see them. And it's how this all goes about. You download the app. And even if you don't know the frog, the sound of the frog, or you see the frog and you don't know what it is, when you record on the app, it'll actually say what...
They'll recommend what it is or suggest what frog it is because the Australian Museum has actually recorded every frog and its voices so they know the sounds that they make and they can identify the frog in your area. with the little recording that you do. Now, Kimberly, you've been involved in this previously, haven't you? Yeah, I've done it the last couple of years. And it's a pretty easy sort of thing. The app is called Frog ID. It's from the Australian Museum. And it's pretty easy. You, you know, hit the timer. You sort of walk. I usually take my dog and my daughter out for an evening walk. And we go and find where the frog sounds are loudest. And we just sort of stand there. And then you hit the record button and it records. Ideally, they like for, I think, a minimum of 20 seconds and up to a minute. And you just literally record the sounds. And the smartphones these days are so good. They pick up a really good recording. And then you can, you're feeling a little bit of information about what kind of environment you're in.
You know, is it a marshland? Is it a pond? That sort of thing. And then you submit it, and they'll get back to you and confirm what species it is. And you're right, you can go on there, you can listen to samples, and you can sort of make a suggestion as to what you think it is, but they'll ultimately listen to it, and eventually they'll send you an email back and say, you know, the frog you heard was X, Y, Z. It takes a few weeks sometimes for them to get back to you, and I suspect during frog week it might take a little bit longer because they're likely to be inundated with a bunch of different recordings. Your frog would have moved by then, though. Yeah, it doesn't matter, though. It's really interesting to see what you have. I've recorded a couple different species of frogs in my area, which I couldn't have spotted. Marsh frog, I think, was one of them, and something else.
Yeah, they're pretty common around this area. So yeah, it's a really good way to get involved and to get your kids involved so that they can actually see, you know, that like what you do makes an impact to a particular animal in your area, where you're at. It's nice to have that knowledge of what you do have going on in your area. And you never know, you might be the person who like identifies a new habitat for a green and gold bell frog or something like that. Yeah, and I think too, a lot of people don't realise that it's the male who is doing the calling, it's not the female. So he's calling. So as you said, Kimberly, going out on the early evening, particularly if we get some rain now, which is forecast, we really need that rain to start hearing the frogs. But you can do this all year. It's not just on that frog week. That's right, yeah.
years. So once you start, you actually get hooked on it. And it's really quite nice to go out and listen to your frogs. Very, very minute chance. But imagine if by some fluke you actually were the one that discovers a brand new species that we haven't ever seen before. Could happen. Do they get to name it after you? Maybe. Worth a try. I'm not sure. 49216216, if you have a question for our pet chat team today. A little bit later, ladies, we will be having a look at our dog and the cat of the week. I know you've had a bit of a sneak peek, so I'll ask the question early. Anybody here want to take a new pet home? No, thank you. I'm all petted out at the moment. My house is full. Fair enough. All right, 49216216. G'day, Mark at Edgeworth. What's been happening with your too many foxies there? We thought it was time to get books.
So we went out and bought a little packet. We give them the amount that they require. Yes. And they are so sick, both of them. All right. Was that just today? No, that was... I gave it to them on the... It took about a day for them to get sick. Okay. So they're starting to improve now. Okay. One of them was shaking. They're both dying. But they're starting to get okay now. And my wife did a thing on the internet, a bit of a look on it. And there's other people...
Yeah. So, I mean, when we give a dog a worm tablet, they are made to go in and kill any worms that are there. It's not uncommon for a dog to have a vomit after they've been given a worm tablet, particularly if they sort of sit at the low end of the weight range for the dosage. But it really should only ever just be a single vomit and they should get back up and go. Those worm tablets don't have any lasting effect in the dog's body if you've just bought a straight intestinal worm tablet. So I would be worried if you had dogs who have been sick more than one or maybe a second vomit, it should be well and done within six to eight hours.
think that would be related to the worm tablet that that shouldn't be um you know what we would experience have they had these tablets before this brand my wife said they had yeah okay i don't know if you want to know the brand or not um it doesn't matter so much just just whether they've had issues with them in the past um presumably you know presumably um you haven't used it, you know, they don't do this every single time you worm them. I guess I would have a real think about whether there's anything else that they might have gotten into, whether they've had any changes in the diet, whether they are up to date with their vaccinations, because really it should just, if anything, we should just see a single vomit. It shouldn't really upset them for more than, you know, a very short period of time. Yeah, well, they're coming good now.
Diarrhea. Yeah, okay. So, yeah, so maybe have a think about taking them up to your local vet or giving your local vet a ring, checking on their vaccination status, things like that. 2NEWRFM 103.7 as we continue with Pet Chat today. Dr. Kimberley Earle is here, as is Cheryl Shaw. Promise this time I won't have any almost slips and say...
Not nice words. Did you see what Cheryl just did, Kimberly? She judged me. There was no judgment. There's plenty of judgment in those eyes. I've seen them. Just having a little bit of fun. That's all right. At your expense. That's fine. That's fine. I don't mind. We've got to be in trouble for something. Might not add that to the list. Our dog and cat of the week. Let's get into this one firstly. And our dog of the week is a two-year-old mini foxy, going by the name of Lucky. Weighs around four and a half kilos. Has the heart of a lion, apparently. That's a big heart to fit into such a small body. Loves being playful, full of energy. He'll seek out games, walk, and companionships from dogs, cats, adults, and loves the kids as well. And enjoys...
walking past the local daycare centre for some pats from the kitties there as well. Likes foods and snacks and has good manners while you're eating. So, so far, it all sounds pretty good, right? Yeah, it looks like he's a nice young little dog. Little dogs who are good with little kids is a really good thing, and it sounds like he is. It does say that he needs a little bit of work about slowing down, some recall work, and not barking. I gather he gets very excited, and he likes to jump around on his leash at the beginning. But he's a young dog. He's under two years of age, so he's really, really trainable, and he might make somebody a really fantastic little house pet. Yeah, the best type of set-up family for a dog such as...
this Cheryl? This dog is going to be a lot of fun and for young children I think this dog will be really great. And he's got beautiful eyes. Look at those lovely eyes. And says he's good with cats too. So another dog and kitten, he's, you know, so it sounds like he's a good all-rounder. Absolutely. And I did note, since Cheryl mentioned Lucky's eyes, no judgment in those eyes, Cheryl. So if you need a judgment-free environment, Lucky can help you out. Lucky can help you. We move on to our cat of the week and we have Dusty. Speaking of a nice pair of eyes, I'm going to check out this little fellow. Was very scared at the start of everyone and everything, but a bit of patience and he's at the moment learning to trust humans again. Hard to tell his exact age because there was no microchip when he came in initially.
A bit of a gentle cap, but still... A little bit of a scaredy cat for obvious reasons. This can be a bit of a tougher one. Yeah. So, I mean, we don't know what his history is. He was obviously not microchipped when he's come into care. They said that he's timid, but coming out of his, you know, himself a little bit. But he probably needs a quiet home. It does say that he's a larger than average cat. It says he's a fair bit larger than the average cat. So I'm assuming that he's not just fat, that he's like a big sort of cat. And he's not really good with dogs at this stage. So it says he might benefit from living with other cats. But we've talked about that before, that this can be really problematic. Sometimes it goes really well. Sometimes it goes really, really badly.
So that would really depend on the individual cats themselves and how they decide to get on with each other. Check out his whiskers, aren't they? Fantastic. He's got beautiful. He's this lovely, you know, mostly black cat with some white on his chest and his face. And he's got these bright neon white whiskers, which is, he's a lovely looking cat. So, yeah, listen, I think, you know, for somebody who's got a quiet home, probably not the right household for somebody who's got boisterous children running around, but somebody who's just looking for a quiet cat and who may not take offense to having a cat who spends the first few weeks doing a lot of hiding. As I know lots of cats, when you move them into a new environment, they're going to sort of just watch from the fringes, try to, you know, until they really start to feel comfortable about what's going on. And that often means that they're going to hide and just come out a little bit at a time. So you're going to need to be patient with this guy. All right. So again,
For a quiet environment, Dusty the Cat's for you, and for a family that's ready for a whole lot of love, maybe Lucky the Dog will be a go. Something for everybody. Something for everyone today. Yeah, it's great. You can check out our Dog and Cat of the Week at the Pet Chat page at 2nurfm.com.au. Cheryl, stop judging me. Cheryl Shaw is here, and also Dr. Kimberly Earl is here as well. G'day, Lisa, top of the central coast of Gorrick, and you want to sort of get rid of the mice for us today. Well, I don't want to, yeah, I want to detour them. I don't want to harm them. But I've heard that if you have some, you know, little uninvited mousey guests, you can get snake poo.
Or snake skin. Yep. And that tends to make them think otherwise about who they're sharing their little kitchen with. Possibly. I guess we have to think a little bit about where you're going to get the snake poo from and whether that's going to attract anything to it. But a snake skin, if you can get a hold of one, that might do it. Not sure, yeah. All right, thank you so much. 49216216 is going to connect with our team today. Just right out of nowhere for you, Kimberly, what sort of things that we've been seeing, anything high up at the moment in the veterinary clinics?
It's the skin season, you know, all the flowering, everything, the star jasmine and all the other stuff that's flowering at the moment. Lots of itchy skin dogs, lots of ear infections, inflammatory eye disease like our collar earlier. You know, sometimes we do get dogs who get allergies of the skin and that can cause them to rub their face and it might just be an allergic issue. But yeah, there's lots of different skin things around. So making sure that your pet's bedding is nice and clean, that you're washing them in a nice moisturizing shampoo. Anybody who's got red skin or scabby skin or any kind of moisture, pus, anything like that coming from the skin probably needs to be looked at by a veterinarian.
some really, really good treatments these days for dogs with allergic dermatitis, my dog included, who's doing pretty well on her immunotherapy. So there's really good things that we can do these days, sometimes, you know, safer and more comfortable than what we used to do. We used to just hit dogs with a lot of steroids and say, here you go, let's just suppress your immune system, but you won't be itchy while we do it. So, yeah. Cheryl Shaw, Dr. Kimbley, we've had quite a very...
bunch of inquiries today. Lots of different topics we've hit on, so that's really good. Everything from birds, dogs naturally, snakes, frogs, everything but pet hubby. We've done everything. One of you has to tackle that next time. We'll try it. All right, so that's it for today. Are you back next week? Next week, yes. Yep, first of the month. Cheryl, we'll give you the week off. Thank you. All right. Pet Chat back next week, same time at 2NURFM. Thanks for listening to this podcast from 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle.