One of the most familiar illnesses to afflict our dogs is commonly referred to as kennel cough. Kennel cough or canine cough is often distinguished by a deep-throated cough. Many dog owners describe the cough as sounding as if the dog has something stuck in its throat. Written down the cough looks something like this: Cough, cough, cough-hack. The hack at the end often includes the ejection of foamy mucous.  Dogs are generally given the Bordetella vaccine, either through nasal drops or injection. They are then protected from the strains in the vaccine itself. However, even though they ..read more

After seeing a recent article in Stuff, this month’s blog looks at dog treats. Some experts have warned that pet foods sold as treats are suspected of causing a potentially deadly illness in dogs. Associate Professor Dr Nick Cave of Massey University’s School of Veterinary Sciences says he wouldn’t feed his dogs imported dried beef, chicken, duck, and turkey jerky pet treats, and he wouldn’t advise other owners to do so either. Why? Basically, because the labelling is unclear and there are so many better alternatives. Dog treats that might do more harm than good Cases of Fanconi syndrome ..read more

Lockdown – good for dogs but not so cool for cats For many dogs, Covid-19 lockdowns are an endless, joyous holiday packed full of companionship, cuddles, games, exercise and treats. They get to help the kids with their schoolwork, and all of us with our ‘jobs’ about the place or just spend time smooching on the couch. But for many cats, lockdowns just aren’t quite so cool. Cats are independent creatures, and while they need our care and attention, they also value their own space. Many cats are used to their care staff being out at work, their children at school, and they like it that way, than ..read more

Is yours one of the one in eight in NZ? At Auckland Kennel and Cattery it is our business to keep up with dog news. So, after having investigated the popularity of ‘Bellas’ in Auckland, we’ve done the research and found out what the most popular dog breeds in New Zealand are. We thought that if you were on the hunt for a new dog, you may be wondering what the popular dog breeds are, or you may just be wondering quite how popular your favourite fur buddy is.   Read about popular dog names We love pets According to Companion Animals New Zealand, CANZ, Aotearoa is home to more than 4 ..read more

Be careful who you call for….. We know a bit about dogs at Auckland Kennel and Cattery, and we’ve met quite a few over the years. Something we have noticed of late is that if we go into our dog runs and call “Bella”, about six dogs come bounding up. Well, this is actually quite an exaggeration, but you get the idea: there seems to be loads of dogs called Bella in Auckland, and across the country. We went to the papers We therefore decided to do a wee bit of research to find out if that was actually the case, or if we were all going a little crazy. Thanks to our friends at RNZ, Stuff and the ..read more

How dog friendly is Auckland? Our latest blog comes from the Spinoff  and looks at how Auckland stacks up in the world’s ‘dog-friendly’ stakes, analysing such things as public transport, off-leash exercise areas, dog agility parks and dog-friendly beaches, dog registration, dog events, whether dogs can go shopping or wining and dining and whether Auckland’s streets are safe for dogs. The long and short of the report reckons that when it comes to dog friendliness, Auckland gets a C+ and the author feels Auckland, in general, could be more welcoming to the city’s 106,000 registered dogs an ..read more

Moving can be a stressful for humans. Moving house with a cat can take it to another level. Dealing with the mess and living in disarray is exhausting and not a lot of fun. But, at least we humans have a fairly clear idea about what is happening and where we’re going. Imagine what it must be like for your moggy mate who is utterly used to their own routine in a territory they have spent a lot of time and energy claiming as their own. Cats are territorial by nature and they don’t like change. In the build up to your big move, your home will start to feel unsettled for your feline friend. Cats ..read more

Giving cats a voice As we’ve already discussed here in our Auckland Kennels & Cattery blog, we all want to do our best to make sure our feline charges are happy becuse we are slightly crazy, devoted cat lovers. In order to do that well though, we need to understand what our cats are trying to tell us. Frustratingly however, the secret language of cats can sometimes be a bit puzzling for us mere humans. But maybe for not much longer. A rather clever engineer has recently created an app that he claims can solve the mystery of what cats are trying to communicate. Cat owners wh ..read more

Dogs and separation anxiety With lockdown being eased, the issue of separation anxiety in dogs is raising its head for some Auckland dog owners again. Recently, the Dog Fixer was speaking on Radio NZ on this issue and ways to deal with it. He’s been dealing with dogs in Wellington as their owners have headed back to work after the Covid-19 lockdown. The essence of his message is that dogs tend to get anxious and develop post-lockdown blues when they are not communicated to correctly. Basically, we can do more to understand dogs better. Dogs have an understanding of us, but we tend to over-huma ..read more