Kensington Vet Clinic

Nurse Kel

and Gizmo

Kel has been vet nursing since 2004. Over her life she has had pets ranging from dogs, to horses, to lizards and snakes, but these days she is limited to one dog (Cosmo, a Bearded Collie) and one cat (Gizmo, a giant black DSH). Kel has worked part time at Kensington since July 2009, and especially loves working a busy saturday!

Nurse Lynne

and Finbar

Lynne brings 20 years of experience and passion for her job to our clinic. She has a special interest in surgical nursing. Lynne spends her free time gardening with Finbar and her cat Portia.

Hyperthyroidism in Cats

Cause

Hyperthyroidism is a relatively common problem in older cats. It is caused by an overactive thyroid gland, which produces excessive 933986_s

amounts of thyroid hormone. This hormone has an effect on many organs in the body causing a range of clinical signs.

Clinical Signs

Clinical signs of hyperthyroidism can be variable and not all cats are affected in the same way.Common signs include weight loss with normal to increased appetite, increased activity level, vomiting, change in defaecation pattern, and poor hair coat.
There are also a small number of affected cats, which actually have a reduced appetite and activity level and do not lose weight.
The thyroid hormone also has an effect on the heart, causing a heart muscle disease that can lead to heart failure.

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Diagnosis
Hyperthyroidism is diagnosed easily by a blood test to check the level of thyroid hormone in the blood. It is important to also check for other illness as this can sometimes interfere with the diagnosis, as well as providing important information about the general health of your cat.

Treatment
Hyperthyroidism is a treatable disease. Most commonly it is treated with tablets for the rest of your cats life. Some cats however do not tolerate the tablets, so for these cats, treatment can be given as a transdermal gel. A small amount of medicated gel can be placed on the cat's ear and is absorbed through the skin. There is also a once off treatment with radioactive iodine available once cats have been initially stabilized and are doing well.

Ongoing Monitoring
Once treatment is started, it is important to monitor thyroid hormone levels on a regular basis to ensure the dose is correct for your cat. As 95% cats are over 10 years of age when diagnosed with hyperthyroidism it is also important to monitor other parameters in the blood when they are on treatment. Once the thyroid disease is being controlled, other diseases especially kidney disease can be uncovered which the thyroid disease may have been masking. If this is the case then the two diseases need to be managed together.

Prognosis

Once they have been stabilised, most cats go on to lead and normal healthy life with no ongoing problems related to the thyroid.

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If you think your cat may have thyroid or any other problems, please phone the clinic for a appointment.

Nurse Alex

and Gretl the clinic cat (b: 1995 d: 2010)

Alex moved to Melbourne from Perth in early 2010 to further pursue her veterinary nursing career. She is currently finishing her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing. Alex has quickly embraced her new job and become part of the team. She works to support her cats Lily and Ivy and her passion for horse riding.

Services

Here at Kensington Veterinary Clinic, we strongly believe that prevention is better than cure.We can provide advice and follow up information as required on a variety of excellent and highly effective flea, heartworm and intestinal worming preparations.

Clinic Facilities

Kensington vet surgery It is extremely important to us that when you entrust your pet to us we give them the best possible care. This is especially important when your pet is anaesthetised. We have an excellent anaesthetic protocol that involves constant monitoring of heart rate, expired carbon dioxide, blood oxygenation, respiratory rate and depth of anaesthesia. Whilst under veterinarian supervision our anaesthetics are monitored by qualified and experienced nurses . Post surgery we will continue to monitor your pet until it is ready to go home. All surgical patients are given pain relief.

We also have extensive in-house facilities which include radiology, dental care, diagnosis of skin problems, urinalysis, intravenous fluid administration, surgery and hospitalisation. We only use the best modern and up-to-date equipment.

Specialist Referrals

We believe that we can offer you and your pet the best care by using referrals where appropriate. For this reason our pathology tests are all run and interpreted by specialist pathologists and we refer to a select group of specialist surgeons and internal medicine physicians when required.

Behaviour Problems

Julie Barber and Frances Hammer are our Animal Behaviour Consultants. They provide in home advice for any behaviour problems your pet may be experiencing. They are very experienced in animal behaviour and are both qualified Delta Society Canine Good Citizen instructors. We also can provide referral to specialised Veterinary Behaviourists when required.

Dog & Cat Scales

All clients are welcome to come in at any time and use our dog or cat scales to keep an eye on their pet's weight. We are also able to provide a weight loss programme for your pet should you be concerned that it is becoming a little "fluffy".

Food

You are what you eat and for this reason we stock and recommend super premium pet foods. There are many well researched reasons to feed high quality food appropriate for your pet's age and individual nutritional requirements. We also stock a large range of veterinary specific diets.

Puppy Preschool

Puppy preschool is a great way to begin a life long bond with your dog. The socialisation period for a puppy is between 6 and 16 weeks of age. During this period it is very important that the pup is exposed to as many positive experiences as possible, as this will shape its future behaviour. Puppy preschool is a great way for your puppy to have fun and learn about the big wide world; and for you to learn to communicate with your pup. Julie Barber runs our puppy classes with her assistant Frances Hammer who is also a qualified Delta Society instructor.

You'll find more info on our Puppy Preschool page.

Fun Stuff

Bored dogs and cats are naughty dogs and cats. Play provides mental stimulation and physical exercise. We have an extensive range of toys both for interactive play and home alone environmental enrichment. We also stock treats, Greenies, Urine-Free, cat litter and an extensive range of collars and leads.