This is Pet Chat on 2NUROFM, and Mick, your dog's got an issue. Are you there? No, I do not have a dog. Oh, you're leaving a message about a dog? Yes, I have a link at the front of my house, which is on it. Okay, yes. The biggest problem has been a dog with diarrhoea message in the middle of the driveway. Oh, no, is this happening more than once, Mick? I went out and got the paper at 8 o'clock in the morning. There was nothing there. Oh, yes.
Yes, well, let me do a public service announcement for you, Mick. If you're walking your dog and your dog decides to go to the toilet, you really should pick up after your dog. So, yeah, thanks, Mick. Thanks very much, Mick. All right, next on the line we have Annette from Wallarobba. Where's that? That's up between Patterson and Dungog. Oh, there you go. I've just learned something. How can I help you, Annette? I'm interested in this new yearly treatment for...
fleas and ticks. Yes. I'm just wondering, is it suitable for dogs that carry the MDR1? Brilliant question, Annette. Yes, it is. It has been tested as safe in those breeds. I assume you're talking about a collie of some kind, are you? Yeah, we've got Australian Shepherds. Yeah, okay. What do you currently use for fleas and ticks for them, Annette? We use Nexgard Spectra, the monthly chews, and we haven't had any issues, but obviously it's always a concern with any kind of treatment. Yeah, definitely in the area that you are too.
A couple of comments I would say. So, yes, it has been tested as safe. What I would comment on the product that is the injection is called Bravecto Quantum. Now, Bravecto is... currently and has been on the market for a decade as a chewable chew for dogs. No, that's a slightly different product. This one, Brabec, lasts for three months, the chewable tablet, or a spot-on for six months. But what I would say, Annette, is the injectable form is a much, much, much lower dose than the oral tablet and the spot-on. So if you were concerned and you wanted to try it, the recommendation for those dogs is to use the chews for a couple of doses to ensure there are no side effects, and then it would be recommended safe to switch over to the injection. Okay.
Thank you for that. I was just curious. Yeah, good question. But, yes, the data is out there to say it can be used in those breeds. Okay. Fantastic. Thanks, Annette. Thanks very much, Annette. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next we've got Liam from Northampton. Hi, Liam. Hi. Can you hear me okay? Yes. What can I help you with today, Liam? We've got a 10-year-old dog. His name's Trick. He's got some bloodshot eyes. Okay. He's had sort of a little bit of a black spot in one of his eyes for a fair few years now, but we're not really interested in any invasive or surgical treatments.
Had a swollen eye in about April and we got some antihistamines and that'll settle down. But it's becoming increasingly bloodshot. It's funny if there's any sort of medical or non-invasive options. We're not going to go down the optometrist, dog optometrist route. Okay. Yeah, sure. I'll just ask you a couple of questions first. So what breed and age is the dog? He's 10 years old and some months, maybe six months. And then he's a big mix of all different things. So yeah, just a mixer. Large breed dog, small breed dog? Yeah, large breed dog. Okay. And is it both eyes, Liam?
Yeah, both eyes are bloodshot. My eye has some sort of dark spots within it. Okay. It's recommended we could get them sort of biopsy with a dog optometrist, but we don't want to. He's very fidgety and we don't want to go into it. Not after that. Okay. And is there any gunk out of the eye or any discharge from the eyes? Not really, no. Sometimes he might have a little bit of like the normal sort of eye gunk on the inside, but not to a large amount. Not excessive. No, just really bloodshot at the moment. And how long would you say they've been bloodshot for now? Well, he's always had this sort of dark spot in one of his eyes, but he's always a little bit.
bloodshot, but then sort of increased maybe in the last recent month, month or so. Okay. All right. Look, over the phone, I'm limited with what I could suggest for diagnosis, but there are a couple of conditions. Well, actually quite a few that...
could be treated and managed with medication rather than referral or surgery. Okay. There's some testing to do with tear production. That would be my number one thing that I would want to check for him. Okay. Because dogs that don't produce enough tears very commonly can have dry or bloodshot eyes and that can be managed with medication. There are allergies as an option. There's a number of other testing to do with the pressure in the eyes that I would expect most GP vets.
could manage quite effectively. So I would definitely recommend you start with a vet consult, Liam. Okay. And just say, you know, we're not interested in referral or we're not so keen on surgery, just so the vet knows where you're coming from and I'm sure they'll be able to help you. All right. Thank you very much. No worries. Best of luck with it. Thanks very much, Liam. Good luck. Okay. Next, we've got Kevin from Butter Bar. Kevin, you've got an issue with toilet training. Oh, yeah. He's about 25 months old. I'm having a little bit of success, but he's so sneaky. Okay. Tell me more, Bob. Tell me more, Kevin. Well.
It might have a little bit of moderate success, but then he'll just sneak away and do one. And, yeah, it's starting to get frustrating. Is there any method? Sure. A few dogs before, but this one, he's got me booted at the moment. Yeah, okay. So when you say you've had a bit of success, what's the longest stretch would you say that he's gone without an accident in the house? Two days. Okay, in his whole life, that's the longest? Yeah.
Well, I can understand because they've got a long body, they perhaps miss the tray or something. I've got one of those grass trays imitation ones. Yeah. Sometimes he misses that. So is he trying to go in the right spot and just missing, or is he totally inappropriate? Sometimes he's trying, but other times he'll just sneak out into another room and leave a puddle or something, or leave his poos up the other end. So wheeze and poos in the house? Yeah, yeah, that's what I've tried to stop mainly. He's all right, but he won't let you know when he wants to go outside. Yeah.
Look, to start with, Kevin, a couple of pieces of advice I'd give you. Do you have any other dogs at home? Yeah, he's a yard dog. He's a rock oiler. Okay, so they're not both in the house? No, they're not both in the house. He's the only one that's in the house, yeah. Okay, all right. What I would suggest to start with, you have to think of him as a toddler who you are toilet training. You cannot assume that he will tell you when he needs to go. You just need to be taking him out every 30 to 60 minutes on a lead to the area you want him to toilet in and you wait there.
you know, take him for a bit of a walk, a bit of a stroll. And as soon as he's doing it, you combine it with a command, whether it's wee-wee's or toilet or whatever you want to do. If he does it, you praise him. Yes, lots of treats, lots of play and take him back inside. So you are repeatedly doing that process. A couple of other suggestions I would give is confine him to a smaller area in the house. Okay. Don't let him have run of the house because that makes it just so much harder to monitor. All right. And then the last little tip for today that I'd give you is make sure that you're using some kind of enzymatic.
cleaner because whilst we think the wee smell is gone, the dogs can smell it much better than us. Sorry? Is that, what did you say, an empathic? Enzymatic cleaner. Most of your big pet stores will sell it, okay? So there, yeah, three things to start with. So use your enzymatic cleaner, confine him much more within the house and lots of trips out to the backyard wherever you want him to go on a lead so you've got a bit of control. Yeah, and it's just repetition, repetition, repetition. And if you're still struggling, I would recommend either calling your local dog trainer or your local clinic or making an appointment with your vet to just discuss it a bit further. But it's just taking it back to basics. There's nothing mind-blowing behind it, unfortunately, Kevin, just time and effort.
He's got a mind of his own, this one, I'll tell you. They often do those little daxies. Yeah. Is it quite safe to use a joker chain for a birdie and training with them? It's not something we'd recommend these days, Kevin. There's lots more successful ways of doing it that you'll get a much better response much more quickly. Is that like a come-along muzzle, isn't it? Sorry? Is that like a come-along muzzle that you'd use for that? You shouldn't be needing muzzle training for what you've suggested so far. If he gets away, he just darts straight across the road. He's got away on the green door a couple of times, and I'm trying to a birdie and train him, but I haven't.
Haven't gone to a tractor chain at this rate. Yeah, look, there are harnesses, different sort of harnesses you can get from your pet shop. And a lot of them, if you take him in with you, they'll let you try them on while he's there. So that sort of, I would suggest, might be a helpful place to start. And we've got Peter on the line from Valentine. Hi, Peter. You want to talk about the new flea treatment?
Yeah, I was interested in your comment regarding, like, at the lower dose. I currently use the Revecto six-monthly spot on. Yes. And to be honest, it disturbs me a little bit the amount of stuff we actually pop into our dogs, you know, the heart treatment and the tick and flea treatments and stuff. So I only use the spot on over the tick season. Okay. And all honesty, I don't really like putting anything on them because, you know, there's so much cancer in dogs and it just sort of, I just need a bit of clarification that the fact that it was a lower dose seemed to...
appeal to you? Yeah, so the research that's been done, so the dose that we use for the injection, now don't quote me on this, Peter, I haven't got the stats in front of me, but it's something like a quarter of the dose in terms of concentration that we give as the injection. So yes, as a dose. as a concentration or a milligrams per kilogram dose, it is significantly less in the injection as opposed to the spot on and the chewable tablet. So it might be something that for that reason alone is appealing to you. And yes, very effective, very safe product. And most of the research has actually been done in Australia because we have the paralysis tick issue here.
Right. So could I get a six-monthly dose of the injection just to cover the tick season? Because that's the biggest worry. So it's a product that lasts for 12 months. So a six-monthly injection doesn't exist.
Does that make sense? Okay. Yeah, you know, that's fine. I was just sort of tweaking my brain as the fact that there was a lower dose. Yeah. That sort of impresses me ultimately, you know, because as I said, there's so much stuff that goes into our dogs and I just try and keep everything natural and all this stuff is a bit chemically. It just doesn't sort of sit well with me. So the least I can put into them and get the results, the better for me. Yeah, so look, it sounds like it might be something that you're interested, Peter. So definitely have a chat to your local vet. Most vets, to my knowledge, are stocking it because we're all super excited about it. So give them a call and by all means, make an appointment if it's something that you're interested in.
Okay, good luck with that, Peter. We've got Terry on the line from Swansea. Terry, you've got a little staffie that gets snippy with other dogs. Yes. Tell me more, Terry. She's four years old now, but she's a good-natured dog as most of them are. But sometimes...
She'll be okay with the dog, but then she gets a little bit, I guess, dominant, and she sort of has a bit of a snip and a snarl. Like, she doesn't bite as such. And it sounds probably worse than what it is, but people, you know, how they feel about staffies at times, they get a bit scared by it all. I mean, I don't let her go, of course, especially when she's on the lead or something. So I don't know whether there's anything, you know, that possibly you could do to maybe get that out of her training, any sort of training, so to speak.
Yeah, sure, Terry. And look, to start with, firstly, it sounds like you're being responsible. You know, you're keeping her on the lead. You're trying to keep her out of situations that can upset her. Is it on the lead or does she do sort of any off lead at dog parks?
I've got a friend who's got a boxer dog and he brings that around sometimes and we let him go out the backyard and she just terrorises the boxer as in she sort of sounds like they're fighting but they're growling and sort of playing but it sounds aggressive. I didn't know you'd think they were attacking each other but and the other dog eventually just gets probably sick of her chasing him around and sort of probably sniffing at him like I said I don't know whether it's... a domination or something, trying to be dominant or what. But yeah, it's not just on the lead. And sometimes we'll take it to the pet motel when we go away and they tend not to let it play with other dogs. Okay. Because she probably, I'll be guessing, they don't actually tell you, but I'll be guessing, well, they sort of hinted that she gets a little bit sort of...
Yeah, okay. Look, there's a couple of things there that you've said that arguably are fairly common scenarios. So Staffies as a breed are super exuberant and love attention and love playing and they're very full on. It's all or nothing with a Staffie. You combine that with another Staffie characteristic.
of not always being brilliant with other dogs. So what can happen is that they're full on, full on, full on, full on, and the other dog's like, look, I've had enough, just back off. So they're saying to her, okay, you need to back off, and she's then instantaneously amplifying it into, you know, okay, let's go sort of thing. So I think 100% that's a situation that a good dog trainer could help you with, Terry. So I'd recommend, by all means, having a chat to your local vet or giving your local dog trainer a call and getting some training situations and scenarios and tips. But, yeah, best of luck with that, Terri. Good luck, Terri. Okay, next on the line we have Jill from East Maitland. Have you got a bird question, Jill? Well, I actually wasn't sure whether to ask you or to ask the gardening people, but it's because of the bird feeder I've got. It's underneath a ketoneaster tree with the red berries.
And the berries fall in the bird feeder, and I just don't know whether they're poisonous or not. Okay. Look, Jill, I will be totally 100% honest with you and say I have no idea. So what I would recommend, there's a couple of really great bird vets in Newcastle, and I would be giving them a call if you're worried. Okay. Yeah, the first one is Edgeworth, Edgeworth Vets.
Oh, and the second one slipped my mind. Sugarloaf. Sugarloaf Animal Hospital. So there's two in Newcastle, both of which I would suggest could answer your question much more capably than me. And if you don't have any luck, yeah, try gardening. Show up a call on Monday afternoon. Good, I need you. Thanks to you. Thanks very much. Okay, we've got Rose. Rose from Shawl Bay. Rose, you've got a 10-year-old miniature foxy developing hard lumps on her back. It's tiny little...
tends to just have developed a crusty sort of ooze. Yeah. I just wondered whether I should take her to the vet and maybe have the other ones ruptured. There's about four or five of them. Okay. I did a Dr. Google on it. Okay. And it did suggest that they're perhaps sebaceous cysts because she's 10 years old.
You got it in one, Rose. That's what I reckon they are, based on the phone call. And I highly recommend you go and get one of your local vets to check it out. Whether we use topical treatment, whether she needs medication or whether they discuss surgery with you, they're all possibilities without having seen her. But, yeah, if in doubt, particularly if she's got a couple of them, I would highly recommend you go and get them checked out and that way you know what you're dealing with a bit more. Very much. No worries. Thanks for your call, Rose. Good luck with that, Rose. This is Pet Shack. Now, Dr. Vian, do you want to talk about flea?
Treatments and... Yes, yes. So there's a really exciting new product out that we have at our disposal. It's just for dogs at this stage. It's a once a year injection that will protect for fleas and ticks for a whole 12 months. So really exciting to have this at our disposal. Did you just say that's just for dogs or for cats? Correct, just for dogs. Hold fire. If we're lucky, there'll be something out soon. But yeah, so just for dogs, which protects against fleas and ticks, which in Newcastle is a massive deal. We see a lot of tick paralysis in the warmer months. And whilst we have a lot of...
monthly or three monthly products out there for us. If you're even a couple of days late with one of those products in summer, that can be enough for your dog to have a tick attach and to get tick paralysis. Really? So it just knows exactly when the time's up? Yes. Yeah. So if you're the type of person that maybe forgets your monthly chew for your dog or thinks, oh, did hubby give it or did I give it? I can't remember. Did they spit it out? Maybe they vomited it up with dinner. Oh, I think I gave it last week. I can't quite remember. This may well be the product for you. So super exciting that we've got it. I think for a lot of people, it would be convenient to tie it in with their annual checkup and vaccination.
So super exciting. So paralysis tick for 12 months. It does fleas for 12 months and brown dog tick as well. It does for 11 months. But that's not a super big concern for us in Newcastle. Really, it's the paralysis tick that's the big one. Can you just ask their vet or can they just buy it at a pet shop? Good question. It is a vet only product. So it needs to be given based on weight. So part of the annual checkup, obviously, will be checking your dog's weight and giving the injection, which is once a year. So it's a slow release product. So really exciting that we've got it available for us from six months of age.
dogs out there, once they're over six months of age, can get this product and protect them. From now, I mean, it's just phenomenal to think we've got a product we could give now in August and the dog's going to be protected until August next year. It's really exciting. That's awesome. Well, you heard it first on too when you are in there. Yeah, so it's called Bravecto Quantum and Bravecto is a product itself that's been out for the last 10 years. Bravecto's great. Yeah, so it's a name people know and trust in the veterinary profession. We think it's great. So now we've just got something that lasts longer, which is really exciting. Excellent. Thank you. Debbie's on the line. Debbie from Cessnock. Hello. Hello. How can we help Debbie? I've got a King Charles Spaniel and I just had a weekend from hell. He had an abscess on his.
anal glands. Yes. Now, they've glanced at it and cost me a fortune. At the risk of sounding like a skinflint, is there some way that I could learn to check his anal glands or is that not feasible? It absolutely is, Debbie, without putting a dampener on it for you. In 19 years, I haven't successfully managed to teach a client how to do it. So, yes, technically it is possible to teach an owner to do it. Definitely it's a hands-on type lesson, some gloves in there as well, and maybe the next time your dog...
needs to go in, ask the vet or the nurse to talk you through it and explain what it is we're trying to do. Because it can be a really problematic thing, dogs in their anal sacs, particularly if the ducts block, which is very possibly what happened in your case. But yeah, so yes, it is possible. And yes, it is absolutely worth a shot trying to learn in case you're the one that can do it. Yeah, well, I said to him, how do I prevent this happening again? And he said, well, you've got to get it checked every couple of months. And we're only pensioners. And I said, I can't afford that every couple of months. Or maybe I can learn to do it myself. Yeah, 100%. The other thing that also you can have a chat is at some clinics, they will do rather than a full consultation.
there's a differently priced visit which is just for expressing anal sacs. So maybe not all practices will do that but that might be something to have a chat whether that's something that your vet could help you with. Okay good luck with that Debbie. Next on the line we have Ian from Stockton. Ian you've got a medication question.
Yes, the new flea and tick treatment, does it also do heartworm? Great question, Ian. No, it does not. So what I would recommend for people that are interested in the once a year flea and tick injection, there is also a once a year heartworm injection. So a lot of people are coming in once a year for their annual vaccination, their annual heartworm injection, their annual flea and tick injection. And then the only other thing people need to do through the year is an intestinal worming tablet.
So the reason it doesn't do heartworm is because the product, the Floralena, which is what's in Bravecto, does not treat heartworm. Thank you very much. No problem. Thanks, Ian. Thanks very much, Ian. All right. So we have to pick our winner for the dozer and co-voucher. And I think we're going to give it to Terry with the snippy staffy. Yeah, yeah. So lots of amazing calls today. It's been fantastic. It has been. All right. And we still got to do pet of the week. We've got pudding.
Yes, Pudding is a very cute little female domestic short grey and white cat, 16 months old. On the quiet side, the shy side I think, but would be just a perfect hot water bottle on your lap or on your bed. So she's very cute but probably not suitable for a loud house or a house with kids. Okay, and we've got Koopa. Koopa, poor thing, had a rough start in life. He's a big boy, Labrador cross Mastiff of some kind, so super big.
Just adorable. Looks like he's got a heart of gold. Would love to be involved in a family environment, kids, fun, play, lots of great stuff. So some good pets there. Yeah, we've got some great pets. And it's been a fast show. Fantastic. Bring it on. Thank you so much. Fiona, we'll see you next time. Thanks, Amanda. On Pet Chat. Thanks for listening to this podcast from 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle. You'll find them all at 2NURFM.com.