Animal hospital: caring for four-legged family members

Challenges for contemporary veterinary care of animals have increased alongside changes in our attitude toward our pets, who we increasingly see as valued members of our families, according to leading veterinarian Ken Hinchcliff.

“More and more, pets are regarded as part of the family,” says Professor Hinchcliff, who is Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne.

“Pet health is increasingly important to people as pets have become an integral part of many people’s lives, and pet-owners increasingly expect their pets to receive the same standard of care as human patients,” he says.

Professor Hinchcliff says that at the University Veterinary Hospital, there has been a noticeable increase in demand for advanced medical and surgical services including internal medicine, cancer treatment, cardiology, neurology, dermatology, ophthalmology, surgery, veterinary behavior and equine veterinary services.

“This expectation also extends to our busy emergency and critical care service that provides attention 24 hours a day for pets across Victoria,” he says. “The service operates much like any major hospital ER, with users having access to specialist veterinarians to treat their pets, who are supported on-site by comprehensive pathology services and veterinary anaesthetists and radiologists. This means that we are able to provide total care for sick pets without delay,” he says.

The University Veterinary Hospital was recently fortunate to receive a generous bequest from devoted animal-lovers the late Margaret and Lawrie Kay, which was used to buy Australia’s first high field 1.5 Tesla veterinary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit.

The machine has been credited with saving pets’ lives by detecting life-threatening disease. Among the many benefits of an MRI are: investigation and diagnosis of hereditary brain diseases of dogs; rapid diagnosis of seizure disorders, strokes, and acute spinal problems (allowing timely treatment); investigation of lameness in horses (due to improved ability to view problems in ligaments, tendons and joints that are difficult to see with other techniques); imaging of the horse brain; accurate determination of the location and extent of soft tissue tumours (assisting surgical planning); non-invasive investigation of vascular shunts and thrombosis disorders; as well as increasing knowledge of the causes and process of animal diseases, such as epilepsy, brain tumours, heart conditions and degenerative joint disease.

In addition to frontline treatment of sick pets, staff of the University Veterinary Hospital are also involved in training students and conducting research into diagnosis and treatment of animal diseases – often all during the same day’s work.

Some of their clinically-based research can make a real difference to pets’ lives, according to the Head of Small Animal Medicine, Dr Caroline Mansfield.

Dr Mansfield and her team are currently conducting a range of research projects that aim to identify disease and improve the quality of life of sick pets. Her research investigates diseases that exist commonly in dogs and cats.

“Pets get the same diseases as people, and therefore the same level of knowledge potentially can go towards treating them,” Dr Mansfield says. Studying diseases as they naturally occur allows veterinarians to use proven treatments and diagnostics, and helps all pets and pet owners.

“Some of our current research includes investigating hormone disorders such as diabetes and digestive problems,” she says. “Examples include determining the optimal method of monitoring diabetic control in dogs and cats, the role of prebiotics in reducing chemotherapy-associated gastrointestinal effects, the optimal treatment for pancreatitis in dogs, and so much more. Our potential to do clinically relevant research is really only limited by our imagination and funds available.”

Visit the University of Melbourne Veterinary Hospital on its Open Day, Sunday 25 March.