Latest news

COVID-19 Surgery Update

Posted on by Dr Simon
dachsund and laptop

We wanted to update our valued clients and the EMPVS community on the status of surgery during these unsettled times. At this stage, we are business as usual, with appointments scheduled with discretion in order to minimise interpersonal contact.

Our hygiene practices have always exceeded those currently required by COVID-19 – we disinfect all contact surfaces after each consultation and clean the remainder of the surgery several times daily. As we deal with illness on a daily basis – including those which are infectious – our protocols are already designed to ensure safe contact for our human and fur clients.

Vets are often at the front line of outbreaks of this kind given their experience in bio-security and dealing with disease and we expect that Vet Surgeries will be considered essential services should a full lockdown occur.

We will keep you posted of further updates as the government’s directives change but rest assured we be able to continue to provide our services in some form be it home visits, video medicine and medicine pick up/drop off. Dr Simon is equipped with a full hazmat suit and mask + surgical gloves should the need arise 🙂

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the surgery on (07) 3841 2733 or email info@empvs.com.au

Why Elizabethan collars are no laughing matter

Posted on by Dr Simon
Cat wearing Elizabethan collar

Funny for us, not so funny for your pet. 

For some reason, everyone thinks Elizabethan Collars (e-collars) are a necessary evil for every surgery. The truth is that an e-collar is only needed on rare occasions. 

We do not dispense many e-collars at Eight Mile Plains Vet Surgery (EMPVS)! This is because for common surgical procedures, such as neutering, we don’t need to because our patients are provided with complete pain relief (analgesia). 

We use five different injections to provide complete surgical analgesia.  No pain = No e-collar! 

For neutering surgery, each patient receives four analgesia injections prior to surgery and one after surgery.  The four injections prior to surgery are: Long-acting Valium, Methadone, Ketamine and Pethidine. The post-operative injection is Meloxicam. 

Unfortunately it is common practice for many Veterinary practices to use little or no pre-operative analgesia!  This is why they use an e-collar for every surgical patient. 

So the good news is NO E-COLLARS at EMPVS! The bad news…. no more laughing at the Bat-Cat.  

Please feel free to direct any questions to info@empvs.com.au

Regards, Dr Simon

Teaching children to be safe around animals

Posted on by Dr Simon
Dr Simon and Milton at St John's

Teaching children responsible pet ownership and how to behave safely around animals is an important part of their broader development, particularly with 40% of households having at least one pet.

The AVA PetPEP (Pets and People Education Program) is an education program set up to do just that – it teaches pre and primary school students about the responsibilities associated with owning pets, and safe behaviour around animals.  

Dr Simon regularly conducts PetPEP visits to local schools and daycare groups.  They’re always fun and Milton loves being around the kids … not to mention being the centre of attention!

The image is of Dr Simon and Milton on recent PetPEP visits to St John’s Pre-School in Eight Mile Plains.

If you live in Eight Mile Plains, Rochedale, Mt Gravatt or Underwood and would like Dr Simon to visit your child’s school, get your school to complete the 2019 booking form and ask for the Eight Mile Plains Vet Surgery to conduct the visit.

Post surgical observation is as important as the surgery itself.

Posted on by Dr Simon

Here is Dr Simon keeping a close eye on “Max James Bond” Hobson after his surgery.

Post surgical observation is as important as the surgery itself. There can be medical complications at this time, so if someone isn’t there to notice and react quickly, things can go wrong.

Dr Simon personally observes all his post surgery patients to ensure there are no issues. It’s his favourite time of the day, as he gets to hug all the animals 🙂

Max James Bond is back to full health and making mischief with Bailey, his partner in crime.

Your cat’s scat needed for research project.

Posted on by Dr Simon

The below is an extract from the Brisbane Times article regarding a Griffith University research project into understanding the impact of felines on local wildlife.  If you’re interested in taking part, you need to complete an online survey and providing samples of your cat’s poo.  Find out more here.

Cat walking on grass
Source: Brisbane Times

A Brisbane student wants your cat’s poo in order to find out the impact your furry feline is having on local wildlife.

Griffith University Honours student Renee Piccolo has put out the call to Brisbane and Gold Coast residents to take part in an online survey to help reveal where domestic cats roam and what they hunt.

Ms Piccolo has focused her research on the potential impact domestic cats have on wildlife populations and has put the call out for cat scat, to see what felines are feasting on when they are out stalking in urban and rural areas.

Ms Piccolo was after a range of samples, from cats who are let out only at night, cats who roam 24/7 or cats kept indoors only.

The aim was to not only learn about domestic cats’ predatory behaviour on native wildlife, but to also get a spatial representation of the potential impact in each study area.

“The key benefit of this research will be a deeper understanding about the possible impacts of domestic cats in urban environments,” Ms Piccolo said.

“These data will hopefully be able to provide better information to cat owners as well as local councils to inform the development of strategies to manage urban native wildlife populations.”

Take part in the survey or find out more here.