Animal Referral Hospital Canberra

Below we have our Internal Medicine Specialist Dr John Angles joining our Surgery team for a complicated procedure performed by Dr Bruce Smith with Dr Ryan Leong assisting.
Even though we have our individual teams we are often required to come together as one to help our patients have the best possible outcome.
T together... E everyone A achieves M more
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Meet Charlie
Charlie first presented to our Medicine team a few months ago for an abdominal ultrasound performed by Dr John Angles to diagnose some health concerns that Charlie's family had. It was discovered that Charlie had a large cancerous mass on his spleen that needed to be removed urgently so the following day Charlie underwent his procedure performed by Dr Bruce Smith with Medicine Registrar Dr Kim Cleary assisting. Charlie's surgery went well and he then began his ...Chemotherapy journey to give him the longest and healthiest life possible. When Charlie first presented to us he was very unhealthy, nervous and had lost a lot of weight making him miserable.
Today Charlie is a picture of health and gets very excited when he comes in for his Chemotherapy and checkups showing us lots of love with his tail wags and kisses.
We just love this gorgeous smoochy boy.
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RSPCA Cupcake day
Yesterday was a great success raising money for those animals less fortunate, as you can see below some of our patients also enjoyed cupcake day with pupcakes💜

RSPCA Cupcake Day
We are up and running with lots of baked goods for human and pet consumption, everything is just a gold coin donation so come down and help us raise money for an important cause.

RSPCA Cupcake Day this Monday!
On Monday the 20th of August it is the RSPCA cupcake day which raises much needed funds that go directly towards helping the abandoned, neglected and surrendered animals around the country that turn to the RSPCA looking for love, safe shelter and a helping hand.
Our team will be baking up a storm making human and dog friendly cupcakes so pop in to say hello and buy a cupcake this Monday.

Obi and his GDV
This gorgeous boy is a 4-year-old Great Dane, Obi, who presented to our Emergency Department in the early hours two weeks ago.
It was quickly apparent that Obi was suffering from a life threatening condition called GDV (Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus), which is a condition where the stomach twists and then fills with gas.
... Luckily Obi's owners were able to act quickly and Obi was taken directly to emergency surgery performed by our Surgical Resident, Dr. Ryan Leong.
Obi's surgery went well. However, after undergoing such a major procedure he needed to stay in hospital with us so he could be monitored round the clock until he got the all clear to go home.
Obi was a nervous boy who picked his favourite people in hospital who could do everything with him. We realized Obi didn't like people wearing jackets or wearing pink shirts! Obi was also happiest being covered with a blanket and being hand fed his chicken.
The good news for anyone that has a large to giant breed and deep chested dog is that there is a procedure available that can prevent a GDV called a gastropexy. In gastropexy, the stomach is tacked to the right side of the abdominal wall, so it cannot shift or twist. Gastropexy is effective in the prevention of an occurrence of GDV.
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A stellar performance!
This is Stella who donated her blood over the weekend for an urgent blood transfusion. Pictured with Stella is Emergency Veterinarian Dr Vany who has a special soft spot for greyhounds.
... Stella was very brave and loved the pats and food that was on offer to her.
Thank you Stella.
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Lucky Bella
Meet 6-month-old Bella, who was picked up by Pet Ambulance Services on Sunday night after episodes of uncontrollable seizures.
Due to Bella's presenting signs and age, a toxin was thought to be the most likely cause, possibly from some mouldy food that she had scavenged. This toxin resulted in vomiting. diarrhoea, tremors and seizures. Bella also developed pneumonia, secondary to aspirating some stomach contents.
... Treatment entailed anti-seizure medications, gastric decontamination, antibiotics and oxygen. Bella had everyone extremely worried about her on Sunday night and Monday morning as she was recovering from the anaesthesia that was preventing further seizures. Thankfully she turned the corner on Monday afternoon after her Mum's visit and started to look and act like a normal Labrador puppy (and she was starving!).
By Tuesday she was very bright, attempting to forage in her cage and was able to go home! She will continue on antibiotics and is well on the way to making a full recovery.
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Beautiful Roxy
This is 6 year old Roxy who is a regular with us due to unfortunately having lymphoma. Roxy recently took a turn for the worse but has a fighting spirit and was able to go home after nearly a week in intensive care. We are hoping Roxy can resume her Chemotherapy this week, everyone please wish Roxy good wishes in fighting cancer. We just adore this special girl and as you can see she is very photogenic.

Have you got a rescue pet in your household? We would love to see your pictures in the comments below.Have you got a rescue pet in your household? We would love to see your pictures in the comments below.

The dangers of sticks
Throwing sticks for dogs can be "dangerous" and cause "horrific injuries that can be very distressing for both you and your dog, such as causing cuts to their mouths and tongues or as we see too often getting the stick lodged in their throat.”
The most common injury occurs when a dog runs onto a stick in the ground, forcing it down their throat and cutting under the tongue or even tearing the gullet further back. This unfortunately can cause death.
... If your dog loves a game of fetch we are urging you to use a rope toy or a ball instead of a stick. Have fun with your dog but also be safe.
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Paralysis Tick Warning
Please remember if you are heading to the coast please please use tick prevention for your dog.
Ticks are still around, we are seeing dogs suffer an agonizing recovery and even death.
... Please give your dog tick treatment, the risk is not worth the consequences.
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Blood Donors
Tia was another blood donor that came to our rescue this week, unfortunately the sweet boy receiving all the blood passed away on Monday night. Without all of your help he wouldn't have had a chance of survival at all and we are so proud of all the staff and our blood donors efforts trying to save this gorgeous boy. Below is Tia giving blood this week looking very sleepy from her sedation. ... Thank you to everyone that had a hand in trying to save our patient this week. It is never easy losing a patient and our thoughts are with his grieving family.
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What a weekend...
This weekend just gone we needed to call on five donors to come in and donate their blood to urgently save the lives of some critical ill patients. Below are some of our donors that came to our rescue. 1. Bandit Hudson.... 2. Bruno the cat who is owned by one of our nurse's Dani 3. Lily who's companion Reggie gave blood just last week and today was her turn. 4. Kitty who is owned by one of our Emergency Vets Christine
We also used our blood from our lovely donors last week today so thank you everyone for allowing your pets to donate blood.
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Coping with Losing a Pet
Most of us share an intense love and bond with our animal companions, so it’s natural to feel devastated by feelings of grief and sadness when a cherished pet dies. The pain of loss can often feel overwhelming and trigger all sorts of painful and difficult emotions. Sorrow and grief are normal and natural responses to death. Like grief for our friends and loved ones, grief for our animal companions can only be dealt with over time, but there are heal...thy ways to cope with the pain. Here are some suggestions: * Don’t let anyone tell you how to feel * Reach out to others who have lost pets * Create a legacy. Preparing a memorial, planting a tree in memory of your pet, compiling a photo album or scrapbook, or otherwise sharing the memories you enjoyed with your pet, can create a legacy to celebrate the life of your animal companion. Remembering the fun and love you shared with your pet can help you to eventually move on. * Look after yourself. * If you have other pets, try to maintain your normal routine. Surviving pets can also experience loss when a pet dies, or they may become distressed by your sorrow. Maintaining their daily routines, or even increasing exercise and play times, will not only benefit the surviving pets but can also help to elevate your mood and outlook, too.
Seek professional help if you need it. If your grief is persistent and interferes with your ability to function, your doctor or a mental health professional can evaluate you for depression.
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Farewell Boots
We share many happy endings on our page but sometimes we also share some sad endings as we feel that these beautiful patients deserve to be known. Recently we had this gorgeous natured ragdoll in named boots who had suffered an aortic Thromboembolism which is when a blood clot forms in the heart and then moves down the aorta-the largest artery in the body, which provides blood to the abdomen and rear legs. Boots had become paralyzed in his back legs although... he still constantly seeked cuddles and attention making all our team form a strong bond with him. Unfortunately Boots was short for this world and another clot made his fight come to an end which had staff in tears and his beautiful family devastated. This week we received this thank you card from his family and photos which we have up on our wall to remember this special boy. RIP sweet boy.
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Reggie and Lily
This is Reggie and Lily who spent the day with us yesterday so Reggie could donate some blood. It was lucky we had Reggie as another patient required a blood transfusion in the afternoon so we were able to provide that emergency transfusion. Lily is also the right blood type so she will be able to donate next time.... Below is Reggie feeling very sleepy being looked after by Lily while he recovered from his sedation.
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A miracle little dog
Meet Jacko who we truly think is a very special and also very lucky little guy.
Jacko is nearly 17 years old and survived a large dog attack a few years ago being rushed through emergency with his abdomen open and his internal organs being held in by his dedicated owners. ... At this stage the outcome wasn't looking good but Jacko's family weren't about to give up on him and Jacko went on to make a full recovery after having major surgery performed to save his life.
Jacko was in good health until last week when he presented to our Medicine team extremely weak and struggling to breath. After having multiple tests performed, Jacko was diagnosed with severe Pneumonia. Jacko went on to spend nearly a week in an oxygen tent receiving IV antibiotics, fluid therapy and round the clock care from our emergency and medicine teams.
To everyone's delight Jacko started responding to the antibiotics and he was slowly weaned out of oxygen and was able to go home with his lovely family yesterday.
Jacko is such a lovely nature and has been an absolute delight to care for everyday and he made all the staff so happy when he was able to go outside for the first time in a week to do his business and then to see him go home filled a lot of hearts with happiness.
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Healthy and unhealthy dog snacks to be aware of

my dog had a bad accidentand these guys repeatedly assured me they could operate on my her and fix the problem, so i went ahead with the surgery. afterwards, i was told to collect the dog, which was essentially held to ransom until i handed over my credit card and was charged $3.5k and not given any report of the out come of the surgery despite my requests. i was instead told to call the surgeon during the week.. it took several phone calls to finally talk to the 'surgeon' and told the surgery was

not successful and that was my fault.. also they claimed i owed more money for some medication they forgot to charge for, which i did not receive.. my dog is now permanently disabled..

these people are thieves who hold your pet to ransom and use your affection for your animal as leverage to charge ridiculous amounts of money.

my dog had a bad accidentand these guys repeatedly assured me they could operate on my her and fix the problem, so i went ahead with the surgery. afterwards, i was told to collect the dog, which was essentially held to ransom until i handed over my credit card and was charged $3.5k and not given any report of the out come of the surgery despite my requests. i was instead told to call the surgeon during the week.. it took several phone calls to finally talk to the 'surgeon' and told the surgery was

not successful and that was my fault.. also they claimed i owed more money for some medication they forgot to charge for, which i did not receive.. my dog is now permanently disabled..

these people are thieves who hold your pet to ransom and use your affection for your animal as leverage to charge ridiculous amounts of money.