How can I prevent dental disease?

Long-term control and prevention of dental disease require regular home care. The best way to begin this is to accustom your pet from an early age. Dental home care may include: Brushing teeth daily – just like us! This is the best form of dental hygiene. Pet toothbrushes and toothpaste are now available. Please do not use human toothpaste formulas on your pet as they are not designed to be swallowed and may be toxic. Feed pets raw meaty bones or special dental diets. This can help reduce the accumulation of tartar. Use dental toys, enzymatic chews, or teeth-cleaning biscuits, all of which may help keep the teeth clean. Regular and frequent attention to your pet's teeth may avoid the need for a professional dental clean under anaesthetic and will also improve your pet's overall health.

What does a professional dental clean involve?

It is the same as a scale and polish done by a dentist. However, unlike us, our pets won’t sit still or open their mouth to allow a comprehensive cleaning of their teeth. For this reason, our pets need to have a general anaesthetic for a professional dental clean. Your pet will need to be assessed by one of our veterinarians. The degree of dental disease will be assessed to determine if extractions, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories will be required. The assessment may also include a physical exam, blood tests and urine tests to ensure they are healthy prior to having an anaesthetic. Once anaesthetised, we can give the teeth a thorough cleaning using our specialised dental equipment. When your pet goes home, we will also discuss methods of reducing dental disease in the future.

Surgical Services

General, Orthopaedic & Dental Vet Surgery in Trinity Beach

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Orthopaedic

Orthopaedic surgery encompasses any surgery that is related to bones or joints. It includes procedures such as fracture repairs, ligament repairs and spinal surgery, to name a few. Our veterinarians’ high level of expertise and our practice’s fully equipped surgical suite allows us to perform certain orthopaedic surgical procedures that your pet may require.

These may include:

Cranial cruciate ligament repair
Fracture (broken bone) repair
Amputations for severe injuries or bone cancer cases
TPLO cruciate repair

Complicated orthopaedic cases, such as spinal surgery, will need to be referred to a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. Our vet surgery in Trinity Beach provides a safe, sterile environment where our veterinarians and vet nurses will assess each case individually and provide the best advice for you and your pet. Contact Marlin Coast Veterinary Hospital today to find out more about our surgical services.

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Desexing

Desexing or neutering your pet is a surgical procedure that prevents them from being able to reproduce. In male pets, it is commonly referred to as “castration,” and in female pets, as “spaying.” This is the most frequent surgery performed by our vets, and generally, your pet is home by the evening of surgery.

The most common age to desex your pet is between five and six months; however, they are never too old to be desexed.

There are many benefits to desexing your pet around six months of age.

They include:

Preventing unwanted litters, which can be very costly and may add to the already overwhelming number of stray animals that are put down each year.
Prevention of testicular cancer and prostate disease in males and can help prevent pyometra (infection of the uterus) and mammary tumours (breast cancer) in females.
Stopping the “heat” cycle in females.
Decreasing aggression towards humans and other animals, especially in males.
Being less prone to wander, especially in males.
Living a longer and healthier life.
Reduction of council registration fees.

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Dental

Just like humans, our pets are vulnerable to gum disease and problems with their teeth. Alarmingly, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats suffer from some form of dental disease by the age of three.

When there is a build-up of bacteria, food particles and saliva on the teeth, plaque is formed. Plaque sticks to the tooth surface above and below the gum line and, if not removed, will calcify into tartar (also known as calculus). This appears as a yellow-brown material on the teeth. Over time the bacterial infection in tartar causes irreversible changes to occur.

These include the destruction of supportive tissues and bone, resulting in red gums, bad breath and loosening of teeth. This same bacterial infection is also a source of infection for the rest of the body (such as the kidney, liver and heart) and can make your pet seriously ill. Ultimately, dental disease results in many pets unnecessarily suffering tooth loss, gum infection and pain. It also has the potential to shorten your pet’s lifespan.

If we have diagnosed your pet with dental disease, we will most likely recommend a dental clean. This very common procedure is essential in treating dental disease.

What you need to know about the procedure:

< A general anaesthetic is required. To make sure we are able to clean all teeth and do it safely your pet must be anaesthetised so we can properly examine and clean the entire tooth.

< We use very similar equipment to human dentists. A scaling and polishing device is used to remove any plaque that is stuck to teeth, and individual polishing of each tooth.

< Extractions may be necessary. In some cases bacteria may have already damaged the structures of the tooth. This is painful and is best any diseased teeth are removed. Fractured teeth may also require extraction.

< We add a complimentary brush and blowout after every dental procedure so your best comes home looking their absolute best!

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I prevent dental disease?
Long-term control and prevention of dental disease require regular home care. The best way to begin this is to accustom your pet from an early age. Dental home care may include:
- Brushing teeth daily – just like us! This is the best form of dental hygiene. Pet toothbrushes and toothpaste are now available. Please do not use human toothpaste formulas on your pet as they are not designed to be swallowed and may be toxic.
- Feed pets raw meaty bones or special dental diets. This can help reduce the accumulation of tartar.
- Use dental toys, enzymatic chews, or teeth-cleaning biscuits, all of which may help keep the teeth clean.
Regular and frequent attention to your pet's teeth may avoid the need for a professional dental clean under anaesthetic and will also improve your pet's overall health.
What does a professional dental clean involve?

It is the same as a scale and polish done by a dentist. However, unlike us, our pets won’t sit still or open their mouth to allow a comprehensive cleaning of their teeth. For this reason, our pets need to have a general anaesthetic for a professional dental clean. Your pet will need to be assessed by one of our veterinarians. The degree of dental disease will be assessed to determine if extractions, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories will be required.

The assessment may also include a physical exam, blood tests and urine tests to ensure they are healthy prior to having an anaesthetic. Once anaesthetised, we can give the teeth a thorough cleaning using our specialised dental equipment. When your pet goes home, we will also discuss methods of reducing dental disease in the future.

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Soft Tissue

Our veterinarians’ high level of expertise and our practice’s fully equipped surgical suite allows us to perform the vast majority of soft tissue surgical procedures that your pet may require. Soft tissue surgery encompasses any surgery that is not related to bones. It includes procedures such as desexing, exploratory laparotomies, caesareans, lump removals, biopsies, wound stitch-ups, and removal of intestinal foreign bodies - the list is endless!

A very common soft tissue surgery is the removal of lumps. Some lumps may require a biopsy prior to removal to help understand whether they are cancerous or not. This information assists us in planning the surgery accordingly to give your pet the best possible outcome. Once they have been removed, we recommend sending them to our external laboratory for analysis.

Although most lumps are benign (not harmful), a minority are more serious (malignant). In the case of malignant (cancerous) tumours, early removal and an accurate diagnosis are extremely important to maximise the chances of a good outcome.

If you find a lump or bump on your pet, please make an appointment to visit one of our veterinarians to discuss any surgery your pet may require.

Please see our section under desexing for more details about this surgery.

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Ophthalmic

Ophthalmic surgery is a specific area of pet care involving the treatment of an animal’s eyes. For certain breeds, this service also involves examining and certifying breeding dogs to verify their eyes are in good condition.

Eye examinations require specific equipment, such as an ophthalmoscope (a magnifying light to look into the eye). Our veterinarians may also use a special dye called fluorescein (it glows a green/yellow colour under a UV light) to identify damage to the cornea (the clear layer at the front of the eye). Many eye conditions can be treated medically. However, specific conditions may require surgery.

Our practice is fully equipped to offer the following eye surgeries:

Enucleation (removal) of the eye for severe glaucoma or cancer cases
Entropion surgery to prevent ocular damage from inward-pointing eyelashes/eyelids
Ectropion surgery to correct outward-facing lower eyelids
Eyelid tumour removal
Cherry eye surgery to correct a protruding third eyelid in dogs
Surgery to repair corneal ulcers (ulcers on the eye surface)

Our veterinarians can also refer your pet to a specialist veterinary ophthalmologist that visits our clinic four times a year for specialised procedures such as eye ultrasound, vision testing or cataract removal.

Emergency Procedures

We provide you and your pets with an after-hours emergency service for critical illness or injury. We hope your pet never needs us for an emergency; however, common emergencies relate to car accidents, heart conditions, poisoning and a range of injuries.

Upon arrival, your pet will be assessed by one of our veterinarians. We will aim to provide an estimate of the costs involved with your case; however, please be aware that with emergency procedures, costs can vary depending on what services and treatments are required. Our veterinarians will keep you updated regularly during the course of your pet's stay in hospital.

Please contact us to discuss our after-hours arrangement; it’s always nice to know this information before you actually need it.

For any emergencies, please call (07) 4057 6033, and a recording will direct you to the after hours vet.

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