Recently there have been changes to the vaccination recommendations and in many ways they have made it more complicated to understand.  Remember that even if we see you pet once a year it is like you going to the doctor once every seven years.

Vaccinations for dogs and cats will still be annual but there will be some changes from year to year in what we vaccinate against, making it less expensive and decreasing the number of vaccines that are given.

Handy Hint: If your pet is feeling the cold try filling a sock with wheat (bought as chicken feed) and heating it in the microwave. It doesn't suck heat away from them when it cools and it doesn't carry the risk of them chewing it and getting electrocuted like an pet electric blanket.

Digital Radiograph

Strictly speaking what most people call an x-ray should be called a radiograph. X-rays are the things used to produce it.

Our radiographic system is now completely digital - there are no films it is all completely computerised.

Not only does that mean the quality is better, it also means that we can manipulate our images and even make up a three dimensional image like the one on the left.

Our equine vet, Sara Biasutti, took this radiograph. It shows a horse with founder from eating too much green grass last spring. The bone on the bottom, which is called the pedal bone, has lost contact with the hoof wall and is at an unusual angle- which with the aid of the computer we have stripped away so we can see the structures.

The really cool thing that you can't see on this static image is that with the aid of the computer we turn these bones at any angle we want and even make the bones move against each other to see how they move.