Our well trained veterinary staff consult on all matters that affect the health of your pet.

We routinely perform consultations for many medical conditions not limited to endocrine or hormonal problems, organ dysfunction, cancer or tumour management, lameness or soreness, itchy skin, allergies and ear disease.

As many of our patients are now living longer we are well trained and equipped to consult on cardiac and respiratory disease and are also available for second opinions or case reviews.

Vaccination still is the most effective method to prevent a range of infectious diseases that can be devastating to our patients.

Our veterinarians continually review our recommended vaccination protocols to ensure we offer patients the very best protection against many fatal diseases whilst balancing the potential risks of administering vaccine. Our veterinarians will discuss with you your patient’s lifestyle and other risk factors and make appropriate recommendations.

We routinely vaccinate dogs against Parvovirus, Infectious Canine Hepatitis, Distemper virus as well as Infectious Rhinotracheitis virus and Bordetella BroncisepticaI (Canine/Kennel Cough). We routinely vaccinate all cats with access to the outside world against Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), Feline Immunodefficiency Virus (FIV), Panleucopaenia, Calicivirus and Rhinotracheitis virus.

Our vaccination strategies and protocols are consistent with the vaccination policies of both the Australian Veterinary Association and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.

We perform a wide range of both routine and more advanced surgical procedures, always with a strong focus on patient safety and comfort before, during and especially after surgery when our fully trained nurses closely observe and comfort patients during recovery.

We like to take the time prior to surgery to discuss the surgical goals, risks and likely outcomes. It is very important to us that our clients are fully informed and involved in the pre-surgery consultation where we discuss expected outcomes, goals and risks associated with surgery on your pet.

Most surgeries require general anaesthesia and our veterinary and nursing staff are trained well to ensure that your pet is well cared for during surgery. Through the use of pre-anaesthetic blood testing, a high level of monitoring and IV fluid therapy anaesthetic risk is minimal for most routine surgeries.

On lengthy and more complicated surgeries your pet will require a higher level of monitoring during surgery and the immediate post-operative period, and we are well equipped and trained to do so. This includes surgery on Brachycephalic patients such as French Bulldogs and Pugs.

As many of our patients are living long lives we routinely perform surgery and dentals on geriatric patients thus prolonging their lives and improving their qualities of life.

For complicated specialist-only surgical procedures we have a streamlined referral process to a variety of veterinary surgical specialists in the Perth region to ensure your animal receives the very best of care.

Routine health care such as regular deworming and external parasite (fleas, ticks) prevention remains an important part of your animal’s wellbeing. We will communicate its importance and the best method of prevention for your pet.

This can often differ between animals depending on environment and the animals lifestyle, other animals in the household and concurrent health problems of your pet.

Good oral hygiene helps to prevent a range of dental problems such as tooth decay, gum disease and even dental erosion. Preventative care is the best treatment for all dental issues and regular check-ups can help us keep on-top of your pets oral hygiene.

We offer thorough dental examinations for most domestic animals of all ages. Under general anaesthetic we can provide routine and complex prophylactic scaling and cleaning of your pets teeth by a veterinarian, oral surgery and tooth extractions, and where appropriate we offer state of the art dental radiography.

Why healthy mouths are important for our pets?
Did you know that 80% of animals over 3 years of age have some form of dental disease?
Unhealthy mouths produce bad breath from a build-up of bacteria. The overgrowth of bacteria leads to gingivitis and lifting of the gum from around the tooth. The tooth roots become exposed and painful for your pet. The bacteria may also enter the bloodstream and start to affect your pets overall health.

If you have ever experienced tooth pain you can empathise with your pet. Unhealthy mouths can be very painful, our pets don’t often show us obvious signs of tooth pain. The more subtle signs they do show often go unnoticed, for example; Some pets may stop chewing or eating hard foods, some may rub their faces or shy away from attention, others may just sleep more often.

If your pet has any other these signs we recommend that you book in for a dental examination.

Bad breath
Not chewing or eating hard food
Teeth discolouration
Mouth pain
Fractured teeth
Head shyness

Before we domesticated the family dog and cat they were hunting animals. Tearing at carcasses no doubt kept their teeth cleaner than tinned food and biscuits do today. Dental problems in pets are most typically seen as dental plaque and tartar, gum inflammation (which is known as gingivitis) and bad breath. The gums ultimately recede exposing the roots which leads to infection and eventually tooth loss.

Plaque and Tartar
Dogs and cats can’t clean their teeth like we can and so plaque gradually begins to form on the sides of the teeth. It’s a mixture of minerals and salts from the salivary glands, food particles and bacteria. Dry food as well as canine chews and other gnawing toys do reduce the amount of plaque and tartar accumulating on the teeth, probably due to the mechanical abrasive action. However once tartar has formed, professional cleaning under a general anaesthetic is necessary in order to remove it. One of the main factors determining the amount of tartar build-up is the individual chemistry in the mouth. Some pets need yearly cleanings; other pets need a cleaning only once every few years.

Bad Breath and Infection
Before you see it, you’ll probably smell it and a friendly lick becomes no fun at all. The bacteria love growing in plaque and as the tartar pushes back the gum, infection sets in between the teeth and the gums. This allows the teeth to loosen in their sockets and infection to enter the root socket. The teeth will eventually loosen and fall out or have to be extracted.

Infection will accumulate in the mouth, resulting in gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), tonsillitis, and pharyngitis (sore throat). Although antibiotics may temporarily suppress the infection, if the tartar is not removed from the teeth, infection will return quickly. Infection within the mouth will be picked up by the blood stream and carried to other parts of the body.
Some kidney and heart disease may be caused by this infection.

What is involved in cleaning my pet’s teeth?
Proper cleaning of the teeth requires complete co-operation of the patient so plaque and tartar can be removed properly. For most domestic pets, general anaesthesia is required to thoroughly clean the teeth. Although anaesthesia always carries a degree of risk, the modern anaesthetics and safety precautions in use in practice today minimise this risk, even for older pets. Depending on your pet’s age and general health status, your veterinarian may advise a prior blood test to evaluate liver and kidney function and general health status of the patient and or the provision of intravenous fluids to help maintain blood pressure etc whilst under anaesthesia.

Where appropriate your veterinarian may also suggest dental radiography for your pet during their dental procedure. This is a quick and easy diagnostic tool that helps the vet assess the extent of dental disease.

There are three steps in the cleaning process that will be used on your dog or cat:

1. Scaling removes the tartar above and below the gum line. This is done with hand instruments and ultrasonic cleaning equipment.
2. Polishing smoothes the surface of the teeth, making them resistant to additional plaque formation.
3. Flushing removes dislodged tartar from the teeth and helps to remove the bacteria that accompany tartar.

Your pet may require antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatories to control infection and pain after the dental. If any teeth have been removed, it’s best not to feed food that may get stuck in sockets, so no pureed food or canned food for a couple of days. Chopped meat, meat balls or soaked/softened biscuits is better.

Your pet may also need a mouth wash such as “Hexarinse”. This is an anti-septic wash which helps prevent infection after teeth and plaque have been removed. It helps reduced gingivitis by lower the numbers of bacteria in the mouth. Unlike most human mouth washes it does not have a cold or alcoholic after taste.

Preventing Dental Disease
In order for your pets’ teeth to remain nice and clean following a dental, it is important to make some dietary changes. Strips of raw meat, hard biscuits, dental chews, chicken necks (especially for small dogs and cats) and large raw bones help teeth remain cleaner, although avoid all cooked bones. What you don’t want is your pet eating the whole bone as it can lead to digestive problems, with the aim of the bone being “nature’s toothbrush”, gently abrading the teeth as the pet chews.

The gold star preventative treatment for teeth, is brushing with a soft toothbrush. One useful way of getting your dog accustomed to brushing the teeth is to use an old toothbrush dipped in the dog's dinner since feeding time is, after all, the high point of the day for your pet. Unlike us, brushing of the outside of the teeth is all that is really required. A dog's tongue is sufficiently mobile that most of the plaque and in consequence, tartar, is removed from the inside (lingual) surface of the teeth automatically. Once your pet has become accustomed to this procedure it is a simple step to move to the use of special toothpastes which, unlike ours, are meant to be swallowed and are usually meat or malt flavoured.

Special diets are available for dogs and cats with problem teeth. Hills make a t/d diet which reduces the level of tartar build up in a number of ways. This diet is available at veterinary clinics.

'Plaque Off’ is a product that can be added to your pet’s meals to help reduce the bacterial load in the mouth, improve bad breath and maximise oral hygiene.

We thoroughly enjoy the management of breeding bitches and providing advice for the rearing of puppies and kittens but we do advocate the desexing of all dogs and cats not to be used for breeding purposes.

Under normal circumstances, our practice advocates desexing of young animals at the age of 6 months which allows them to grow and become strong before undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia.

The timing at 6 months also ensures they are desexed before coming into season as many fertile young dogs and cats often fall pregnant by accident under the age of 1 year.

Should I sterilize (desex) my dog and if so, when is the best time to do so?

This is no longer a quick and easy question to answer as there is a large amount of research and data continually being added to the literature. Our best advice is to make an appointment to see one of our vets who can guide you through the many points of consideration in making the best choice for you and your pet.

Our practice will never recommend or perform elective desexing in dogs or cats under the age of 6 months (referred to as “early desexing”). This is because it is elective surgery and we can easily minimise risk to patients undergoing this surgery by not performing it when they are neonates or puppies.

Some of the general points worthy of consideration and discussion can include:

The breed of your dog,
The environment your dog lives in (enclosed yard v bush block/farm),
The importance of off-leash activity to your dog,
Importance of prevention of unwanted pregnancy,
Your dogs current behaviour,
The potential of other dogs behaviour towards your dog,
The advantages and disadvantages of androgenic (the natural steroid) hormones,
The variation in costs of the procedure based on age and weight/size of you dog,
Any increase or decrease in the incidence of certain medical and surgical problems such as cancer, prostatic enlargement, urinary incontinence and orthopaedic disease,
Any co-morbidities your dog may have.

We will also use this visit as an opportunity to provide you any breed specific information that may be relevant to your dog. As mentioned, new data is continually being added to the literature and so we will try to provide you the most up to date advice.

Laboratory testing is an essential service that we offer that is used both to aid the diagnosis of disease and to monitor the correct management of ongoing health problems.

Our hospital is well equipped with the latest laboratory equipment and covers a broad range of applications including haematology, biochemistry, blood gas, urine analysis and bacterial culture.

Although we are 2½ hours from Perth we feel it is essential to be able to offer your animal same day results on all routine laboratory testing.

X-Ray and ultrasound technology allows for non-invasive imaging of your animal and aids in the diagnosis of many diseases and problems.

Radiology is also used in an increasing way for surveillance for potential problems such as hip dysplasia in young dogs or for pre-purchase examinations on horses.

We offer radiology services through the use of a Digital Radiography (DR) system which produces high quality medical quality (DICOM) images.

These are readily available for review and where necessary can be sent electronically for review by specialist radiologists or surgeons.

Our patient’s images are stored securely and always available for review which can often be useful when assessing the progression of problems such as joint disease.

We provide an extensive ultrasonography capability through the use of our Esoate MyLab machine which allows for a platform of ultrasound probes for optimal imagery.

High level imaging (CT scanning/MRI) is also commonly used in veterinary medicine nowadays and these scans can be organized for your pet where needed.

Endoscopy allows internal structures to be directly viewed with minimal impact or morbidity on our patients.

It serves as an excellent diagnostic tool in respiratory and gastrointestinal disease allowing for direct visualization of internal structures without our patients having to undergo invasive surgery.

Where appropriate it also allows for non-invasive retrieval of foreign objects such as gastric foreign bodies without surgery. We have a variety of flexible endoscopes which suite both the size of the patient and the area to be studied.

Our hospital performs multiple general anaesthetics on any one day and is staffed by well trained and experienced veterinarians and nurses who will take care of your animal before, during and after anaesthesia. We routinely anaesthetise most animals including dogs, cats, birds and smaller critters through intravenous medications as well as gaseous anaesthesia.

As we are 2.5 hours from the closest major referral centre we also are experienced in providing higher level critical care where needed. With our experienced staff and state of the art monitoring and backup we are able to help stabilize and nurse complicated traumas, intoxications (including snake bite) and other disease states back to health.

Similar to ourselves, our pets are now living much longer lives than they did many years ago. We feel this is due to significant improvements in routine nutrition and veterinary medicine as well as societies abilities to offer pets a better level of veterinary support over their lives.

As a result of this we now routinely see dogs living into their late teens and cats living well over 20 years of age. We recommend that pets over the age of 8 years are examined twice a year to help meet their increasing needs.

We routinely use the annual check-up for this purpose and often will recommend a “senior check-up” one other time during the year to help maintain wellness for longer.

Many serious conditions such as early kidney disease, heart disease, and mobility dysfunction can be greatly improved with minimal lifestyle and dietary change and regular examination can help in early low grade intervention.

Puppy Pre-School at Dunsborough Vets

We are strong proponents of the benefits of your puppy attending puppy classes, starting between 8 and 14 weeks of age.

Puppy classes are designed to provide you and your pup with a safe environment for controlled socialisation with novel situations and with other puppies of the same age. It is critical that this occurs in the narrow window of your pup’s development when they are biologically prepared to learn certain things. A small amount of experience at this time can have far reaching effects on the pup’s adult behaviour.

Whilst not a formal obedience class, attendance at puppy classes often helps to teach your pup basic obedience and serves as an ideal forum to discuss common problems encountered by many pups and households such as toilet training, play-biting and jumping up.

We consider our puppy classes to be a “controlled environment” accepting only pups that have been recently examined by our veterinarians and well through their vaccine series: thus it is highly unlikely that your pup will encounter infectious disease from attending.

Our Puppy Pre-School classes are run by Asher Lindberg from GeoBay Dog Training. To read more about Asher please click here and to book a class call the hospital on (08) 9755 3931.

Behavioural problems can be very common and through the advice of our veterinarians we can often make a big difference to the quality of life of these pets.

Separation distress, storm phobias, barking and destructive behaviour are common and by assisting owners in re-training and enriching their pets’ lives, we often make both owners and their animals daily lives happier.

Good nutrition is one of the single most important things that will have a long lasting effect on our pets’ health, well being and longevity.

Our nutritional advice for your pet will be based upon their breed, age, and activity level, and in some case the management of health problems and diseases will require special diets.

We routinely recommend super premium diets such as Advance, Royal Canin and Delicate Care foods. These diets minimise food related health problems and will have your pet at their best.

Microchipping is a permanent and mandatory form of identification for pets in Western Australia, involving the implantation of a small, rice-grain-sized chip under the skin that holds a unique number linked to your contact details on a national database.

It provides the best chance of a lost pet being reunited with its owner, as vets can scan the chip to find the owner’s details. When a dog ID tag is lost or a collar slipped, it is the only form of identification that can reunite you with your animal.

Under recent changes to the Dog Act 1976, and the introduction of the Cat Act 2011, it is now law for your pet to be microchipped.

We can easily implant a microchip while your pet is awake and under local anaesthesia, or when sedated or anaesthetised for another procedure. Once implanted the number and your details are lodged with the Australian Animal Registry.

View your animal’s microchip details or change your contact details at the Australian Animal Registry. Contact us if you need your animal’s microchip number, or visit us to check if they are microchipped.

Chemotherapy is a treatment option for pets diagnosed with cancer. It involves the use of carefully selected drugs to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells, often aiming to improve quality of life rather than achieve a complete cure. Unlike human chemotherapy, veterinary chemotherapy is generally given at lower doses to minimise side effects, so most pets tolerate it well and can continue with their normal routines. Chemotherapy can be used alone or alongside surgery, and treatment plans are usually tailored to the type of cancer and your pet’s health needs.