Due to increasing Covid-19 activity in the local area, NVS and NEVS have made the difficult but necessary decision to return to contactless consultations and admissions. Download a copy of our Covid Escalation plan for more information about how we are managing the current and potential upcoming situation to ensure continued specialist and emergency care for the pets and vets of the Northern Beaches and Northern Sydney.
“Shock”-ing discussion
July 5th, 2020Dr Lucy Kirton, emergency clinician and Dr Anna Dengate, medicine specialist with Northside discuss shock – looking at classification and newer theories on fluid shifts within the interstitial and intravascular compartments in different shock states.
Radiology Rounds 16th June
June 30th, 2020Dr Mariano Makara takes us on another radiological journey, where he talks us through some thoracic radiographs in the dog with very unusual changes.
Radiology Rounds 23rd June
June 29th, 2020Dr Mariano Makara takes us through some fascinating thoracic radiographs of a cat with a combination of mediastinal and pulmonary disease. In this episode, we discuss hints on localising nodules / masses sitting close to the cardiac silhouette.
Radiology Rounds 9th June
June 29th, 2020Dr Mariano Makara discusses a vomiting Labrador – Whatever could be the problem?! He shares his top tips for identifying foreign bodies.
Internal Medicine tips from Dr. Elizabeth Thrift:
June 7th, 2020Are you monitoring you Congestive Heart Failure patients for Cardiac Cachexia? A recent study found that 41.6% of cats with CHF met the definition for cardiac cachexia and the cats with cardiac cachexia had a shorter survival time. Dogs and cats should be frequently reviewed in your clinic and address contributing factors to cardiac cachexia such as poor nutrition and change in appetite.
Reference – Santiago, S. L., Freeman, L. M., & Rush, J. E. (2020). Cardiac cachexia in cats with congestive heart failure: Prevalence and clinical, laboratory, and survival findings. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 34(1), 35–44.
Internal Medicine tips from Dr. Elizabeth Thrift:
June 2nd, 2020Given cleaning is on everyone’s mind in this new COVID-19 era, here are the results of a recent study which assessed cleaning habits and effectiveness in veterinary hospitals.
- Regularly cleaning was reported to occur in radiology, bathrooms, and patient wards. However, small animal treatment areas appeared to receive minimal cleaning.
- When cage cleaning was assessed, cages in wards were most frequently cleaned, whilst cages in ICU and pre-operative surgery cases are less frequently cleaned. This is concerning as these patients are the ones most likely at risk of hospital acquired infections.
- Human touch surfaces (eg otoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, dog run handles, computers and their accessories) are less likely to be cleaned compared to animal-touch surfaces.
Reference – Langdon, G., Hoet, A. E., & Stull, J. W. (2020). Fluorescent tagging for environmental surface cleaning surveillance in a veterinary hospital. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 61(2), 121–126.

Internal Medicine tips from Dr. Elizabeth Thrift:
May 31st, 2020In a recent study of acute onset clinical signs suggestive of brain disease in dogs, the outcome is favourable in the majority of dogs, as 75% were successfully discharged from the hospital. Whilst euthanasia is always available as an option, this study indicates that many dogs do well and further investigation and/or supportive care should be strongly considered before jumping to conclusions about a poor prognosis, even when clinical signs on presentation are severe.
Reference – Gredal et al. (202) Diagnosis and long-term outcome in dogs with acute onset intracranial signs, JSAP 61, 101–109

26th May Radiology Rounds
May 29th, 2020For all of you Radiology lovers, this rounds we cover an unusual hernia, and work out what is where using radiological principles. Enjoy!
Medicine rounds with Anna
May 24th, 2020Dr Anna Dengate runs through the diagnosis and management of Immune mediated haemolytic anaemia, with reference to the ACVIM consensus statement available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.15441