Poppy – The Only Dog in Samoa on a Lead! Poppy is a 3-year-old Cocker Spaniel, born in Wellington and raised in Blenheim. 8 months ago, she moved to Samoa to be with her lovely owners Robyn and Grant, who bought a business there in 2022. It took 10 months to gain permission from all the village chiefs to allow Poppy to come over. She now lives a luxurious life of almost constant interaction with holiday guests, staff, and locals. Every dog’s dream!! Kim and her husband Stephen We recently spent a week in Samoa at the beautiful Savai’i Lagoon Resort on the less populated island of Samoa, Sa ..read more

Dental disease is the number one abnormality detected in the veterinary clinic. Far outweighing more obvious concerns such as itchy skin and ears or sore joints. Did you know up to 85% of dogs and cats have dental disease by the time they are 3 years old? If left untreated, dental disease can affect your pet’s overall health including vital organs such as the kidneys and heart.  What does a dental procedure involve? At Halifax Vets, we are here to help you obtain and maintain a happy, healthy mouth for your pet. Depending on the stage of dental disease, this will likely require a dental p ..read more

I am very fortunate with my pets. I have two beautiful cats who love affection when I’m home, yet are perfectly happy if I’m not. I also have many rabbits!  A variety of colours and sizes. I’m not sure how many males or females but they keep multiplying…My rabbits are free range and we admire them in all parts of our garden. The only downside is that we have to fence off all new plants as they love munching on them! Being that we are quite diligent in doing this, and our neighbours aren’t, they pop next door to satisfy this part of their diet when grass supply is low. Obviously we have a ..read more

“There will never be an effective vaccine against feline herpesvirus (FHV) and feline calicivirus (FCV)” our virology lecturer asserted to my 4th year vet class. That was 1974. By 1976 as a fresh-faced new graduate in Waitara I was using the newly launched cat vaccine. Snuffles is the common name for the disease caused by these two viruses. Snuffles sounds quite innocent but in those pre-vaccine days snuffles was often a severe disease. Kittens would present with their eyelids gummed together with the severe inflammation and pus. Sometimes the eyeball was ruptured. Some were unable to eat beca ..read more

This is a very common problem. In a survey of over 25000 owners 41% said their dogs showed mild to moderate fear when going to the vet and 14% showed extreme fear. In other studies up to 80% of dogs were reported to be fearful at the vets. This runs counter to our experience at Halifax where about 80% of the dogs are dragging their owners in the door!   How is Halifax different? We offer a free ‘welcome’ visit to new puppies and kittens. One of our vet nurse team spends up to an hour reviewing all the important things clients need to know about caring for this new member of the family. Ge ..read more

Scout’s Story Scout was semi-comatose in the back of the SUV when I went out to check on him. Murray had rung earlier to say Scout was ill after eating compost some hours before. “I’ve seen many dogs ill from eating compost but never comatose”, I commented. “But compost can contain any number of nasty fungal or bacterial toxins that can damage liver, kidney and brain” “My wife loves making compost”, Murray said. “But what green stuff does she put in it”, I jested. We carried Scout inside to the treatment area by the ICU and the team got to work sorting oxygen and IV fluids. Normally we have to ..read more

As a resident of Queen’s Gardens I am sure Rabbit has gone by many names. But when I saw him “Rabbit” for unknown reasons popped into my head – and stuck. I am unsure how long he had lived at the Gardens for, but if you are a frequent visitor you may remember seeing him, feeding him on occasion, and have noticed that he is gone. Read on – it has a happy ending I promise.   Rabbit was brought into the Halifax Veterinary Clinic by a concerned member of the public – and rightly so. He was riddled with lice, emaciated and unable to walk. A veterinary examination determined he had a parasite ..read more

Slug Bait At this time of the year Nelson home gardeners are in full swing. One of the frustrations for gardeners is having garden pests destroy our good work. A few slugs can demolish a bed of lettuce seedlings overnight. Slug baits containing metaldehyde are probably the most common garden pesticide poisoning we see. Cats are rarely affected. The baits seem to hold no interest for cats – even the curious ones. No, it is dogs who discover the baits amongst the lettuces and gobble them up. Many brands like Yates Blitzem have added a repellent which it is claimed will prevent ingestion by pets ..read more

How can I recognise anxiety in my pet? More pets run away, get lost and/or injured during fireworks season than any other time in the year, and let’s not forget it’s not only Guy Fawkes night we have to be concerned about. These types of festivities usually start before the 5th of November and continue to take place well into the New Year.  In many instances, we find the dogs struggling with anxiety-related issues are also the ones suffering from a lack of confidence and low self-esteem in general as these often go together in dogs.   Self-esteem – what we see in our dog’s body ..read more

Dental disease is the number one abnormality detected in the veterinary clinic. Far outweighing more obvious concerns such as itchy skin and ears or sore joints. Did you know up to 85% of dogs and cats have dental disease by the time they are 3 years old? If left untreated, dental disease can affect your pet’s overall health including vital organs such as the kidneys and heart.  What does a dental procedure involve? At Halifax Vets, we are here to help you obtain and maintain a happy, healthy mouth for your pet. Depending on the stage of dental disease, this will likely require a dental p ..read more