Although their behaviour may not equate with some of the clichéd lifestyle changes associated with human midlife crises, a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests emotional highs and lows may also be an inherent characteristic in chimpanzees and orang-utans. An international team that included scientists, zookeepers, and […]
Continue ReadingThe war of words between Vets Against Live Export (VALE) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAAF) has intensified after the December broadcast of footage showing cattle being cruelly treated by an Israeli abattoir on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. An investigation by an Israeli journalist revealed that animals at the Bakar Tnuva abattoir […]
Continue ReadingJuvenile idiopathic epilepsy (JIE) in Arabian foals resembles benign-familial neonatal convulsion (BFNC) syndrome, a rare idiopathic epilepsy of new-born humans. BFNC syndrome exhibits genetic heterogeneity, as has been hypothesised to occur in Arabian foals, and is known to be caused by mutations in the voltage-gated potassium channel subunit KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 genes. The close phenotypic […]
Continue ReadingNot long ago I was invited by the AVA Western Branch to be involved in a presentation on the topic of whether we are “going overboard with our pets”. In the ensuing discussion, one of the examples raised was whether using intravenous fluids for routine de-sexing was over-servicing. There are certainly clients who believe that […]
Continue ReadingThe recent bushfires in the eastern states have caused extensive stock deaths and taken a toll on endangered species. At the time of writing, the fires have burned more than 200,000ha of bush and agricultural land, devastating national parks and farms. Stock losses are believed to be around 21,000 throughout NSW, Tasmania, Victoria and central […]
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