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Celebrating 21 years of being an accredited Best Practice veterinary hospital.
21st Birthday Party! March marks our 21st birthday as a BESTPRACTICE accredited hospital. Back in 2000 that was like reaching Everest. No veterinary practice in New Zealand had done that before and it would be 15 years till the next one achieved it. There are...
Is your dog coughing? Canine Cough in Nelson.
When I moved to Nelson from Christchurch to buy half of the Halifax Veterinary Surgery practice and job-share it with founder Tim Barraud I didn’t believe Tim’s assertion that dogs in Nelson didn’t get canine cough. It had been quite common for me to see two or...
Unwanted Christmas guests – fleas in the home.
It has been an uncharacteristically slow start to the summer flea season, probably due to the unseasonal weather. It may also be because a higher proportion of our clients are taking advantage of our reminder system and are using flea prevention treatments regularly....
New Year’s resolutions for pets!
As we reflect on the Christmas just past the highlights will probably be wonderful times with family and friends rather than the stuff we received. Presents do give us a thrill but the investment in relationships pays the biggest dividend. When Tedi Busch joined...
Role reversal in Cat and Mouse Tale
CAT AND MOUSE Jan Marsh has won our annual Halifax Hunter of the Year competition with this amusing story of role reversal. Her cat Po brings in the mice but Jan has to catch them! Jan tells it best in her own words... "When I hear Po the cat come in during the...
Pets often mask illness. If only they could talk!
Pets often mask illness. If your pet seems unwell get it checked out. There is often more going on than you think.
World Antibiotic Awareness Week 18 – 24 November
World Antibiotic Awareness Week – 18-24 November Antibiotic resistance threatens our survival. It makes antibiotic treatment useless. It is hard to imagine a world without effective antibiotics. We rely on them for the treatment of many important diseases of humans...
Dogs and Cancer
Dogs live much longer these days than they used to. This gives tumours more time to develop, which is why cancer rates in dogs have increased significantly over the last decades. It is estimated that about 50% of all dogs will develop cancer at one point in their...
Halifax Veterinary Centre Hunter of the Year 2019
Halifax Veterinary Centre Hunter of the Year Cats are more important than ever as rodent exterminators in Nelson city. There is a booming population of rats and mice this autumn. Trapping on the Grampians has caught 47% rats than over the same period last year....
Would your pets cope in a Civil Defence emergency?
How would you and your pets cope in a Civil Defence emergency? Animal welfare was the focus at the civil defence regional meeting I attended last month. You’ll be pleased to know that animal welfare needs are an important part of the civil defence planning process....
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Cats
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a term given to a group of diseases in which the intestinal wall is infiltrated by inflammatory cells and which respond to anti-inflammatory medication.. Its main symptoms in cats are vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss and changes in...
Halifax Hunter of the Year 2018
Halifax's Hunter of the Year competition celebrates the role of cats as eco-warriors in the urban, urban-fringe and rural settings. Cats are largely beneficial to native birds in these ecosystems because they largely prey on rodents, the main...