We spend a lot of time ensuring our pets eat the right nutritious food, drink enough water and get adequate exercise to ensure they have optimal health. But are you ensuring that your furry one’s fangs are in tip top shape? Proper oral hygiene is a key piece to great overall health for your furry friend and makes for a more pleasant lap companion. We discuss 4 tips to ensure that your pet’s teeth are healthy, strong and odourless.

Brush Weekly

Like humans, it is important to brush your pet’s teeth at least three times a week. By utlising a proper toothbrush with special pet friendly toothpaste, we ensure that our furry friend’s gums are not overlooked. Your pet might get agitated with this exercise however doing it regular will lead to them becoming more comfortable with the process. The best way to get your pet familiar with tooth cleaning, is to follow Sydney Pet Dentistry’s Slow and Sneaky Method.

Book Regular Cleans at Your Vet

The most important piece to keeping your pet’s teeth healthy, is to book in regular deep cleans at your local vet. Your vet will be apple to pick up dental problems and stop them leading to infections or serious health issues. Your vet can ensure your pet gets a proper deep clean by removing plaque, adding gum protectant, and most importantly ensuring a fresh breath.

Serve Your Pet the Right Foods

It all starts with what you put into your pet’s mouth. Raw kibble, carrots and apples are great for both cats and dogs, as their texture create a brushing motion against their teeth.

Chew Toys

Treat your furry one to specially designed chew toys that promote oral hygiene. Having your pet play with non-abrasive toys, help remove food particles and plaque build up.

To find out more, about what you can do to ensure optimal dental health, speak to your local vet.

 

After raising a collective $2500 for Sydney Dogs & Cats Home in 2020 and 2021 through the Return & Earn container recycling scheme, 13-year-old Vaughn Arambatzis was named a ‘local legend’ by local media and public figures for his outstanding fundraising efforts. But now that title has come true with Vaughn being awarded the Keep Australia Beautiful Young Legend’s Award.

Vaughn’s family, friends, the local South Sydney community and local businesses have helped spread awareness of the fundraiser, collected bottles, donated bins, and helped transport containers to Reverse Vending Machines. Vaughn was able to recycle 15,000 containers over the last two years with 12,000 containers collected in 2021 alone.

Covid lockdowns didn’t slow Vaughn’s collection efforts down at all. While Return & Earn Vending Machines and depots remained closed during Sydney’s 2021 lockdown, Vaughn extended his collection deadline and bottles and cans continued to accumulate in his family’s front yard, allowing him to smash his original goal of $1000 and instead, impressively raising a total of $2000.10 for Sydney Dogs & Cats Home.

When asked what winning the award meant to him, Vaughn said; “It means a lot because it’s a big award. Winning the award gives Sydney Dogs & Cats Home recognition and that might encourage people to donate more money. I hope it also encourages more people to use Return and Earn and to recycle.”

Vaughn’s win of the Young Legend Award has motivated him to set his sights on expanding his recycling and fundraising efforts with the hopes of working with the Georges River Council. Vaughn also has plans to expand his container collection efforts and hopes the local community and local businesses will sponsor him so he can utilise the Return & Earn purple bin service. Vaughn says his other goal for 2022 is “to try and raise as much as I can.”

If you are interested in donating your Return & Earn refund to Sydney Dogs & Cats Home, you can do so through the MyTOMRA app before returning your containers at a Reverse Vending Machine. 100% of the refund will be transferred to Sydney Dogs & Cats Home and will assist in the continued efforts to rehabilitate and reunite Sydney’s lost and abandoned pets. You can also keep up with Vaughn’s recycling and fundraising efforts by visiting www.instagram.com/vaughnsfundraiser.

 

Published 2 February 2022

Gentle giant Six came into the shelter as a lost dog with his Rottweiler buddy Rocco last October. While Rocco found a new home, Six remained at the shelter and won over the hearts of the staff and volunteers with his slobbery smile and friendly and loving personality.

Six presented to the Home with several issues including mild dental disease and bilateral entropion, an abnormality causing the eyelid to roll inwards causing pain and discomfort, and when not treated can cause corneal damage and interfere with vision. Six also experiences issues that are consistent with his large breed. Being a Boerboel, a mastiff-type dog from South Africa, Six weighed in at 72kgs.  He had a mild case of happy tail, an issue where the tail will repeatedly hit a solid object resulting in the skin splitting open and he also had a severe generalised joint disease related to arthritis and degeneration of his joints, a consequence of his large breed.

The Animal Care Team performed surgery on Six to correct his entropion and happy tail as well as a clean and scale of his dental disease. Six recovered nicely from surgery with some rest at the Home and receiving pats and hugs from the staff and volunteers. Six has also been placed on lifelong medication to manage his joint disease. While Six is only 4 years old, his joint issues mean he presents more closely to a senior dog and requires the right person to take on a special dog such as Six.

After 104 days in the Home, Six finally found his forever home with a family that will spend the rest of his days spoiling him and showering him with love, all the while being showered in Six’s slobbery kisses. We captured the sweet moment Six finally left the Home, click here and share it with your friends and family.

 

Published 1 February 2022

When Trifle came to the Home last year after a life on the streets our Animal Care Team ensured that Trifle was his best self to find a new home. Trifle had tested positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), had a nasty scar on his left eye and had a number of dental concerns. After much-needed surgery to extract his canine teeth and receive treatment for FIV, Trifle was a new man and was now able to groom himself properly and enjoy his food.

Trifle was known around the Home for his strong headbutts, his love for food and his impressive growth from a fearful street cat to a friendly cat full of personality and a face you could never forget. This was also true for Ailin and Dom who adopted Trifle and gave him the loving and safe home he deserved. Ailin says the deciding factor to adopting Trifle was “he looked like he had a ton of character and we loved that about him!”

It took Trifle some time to settle into his new home, but now Ailin says Trifle has become confident enough to explore around the house but prefers to remain in his oasis upstairs where he spends most of his day sleeping. “He likes the humans to visit him from the afternoon onwards for headbutts and pats but prefers to keep his mornings free for eating and sleeping.”

Trifle is definitely living the life he deserves and is being spoilt on the occasion with his favourite food, chicken! Ailin says that adopting Trifle has been an extremely rewarding experience, especially now that he has grown to love his new family and life.

 

Published 1 February 2022

In mid-December, a young cat of Sydney named Clementine had found herself in a life-threatening situation. She had been through a trauma and broken her front right leg, causing immeasurable pain when she moved.

Brave Clementine managed to make her way next door to the home of a good Samaritan, who took her to a local vet clinic for emergency treatment. There Clementine received x-rays and surgery to save her leg and ensure her smooth recovery.

When Clementine was brought into our Home after her surgery, she was still in a great deal of discomfort, and was understandably very agitated. She wouldn’t let anybody touch her.

Our animal care team continued Clementine’s pain medication and organised physical rehabilitation to assist with the healing process. Clementine spent lots of quality time with our team, enjoying tasty food while they gently exercised her joints. Throughout her rehab sessions, you could tell she was starting to feel better as she was dishing out smooches and cuddles!

Not only did Clementine have her broken leg repaired, she even received the best Christmas gift – a forever home! Clementine was adopted less than three weeks after her accident and is making great progress in her new home. She is even walking on her front right leg with no signs of discomfort! Clementine is enjoying being a lap cat and is on strict orders to rest her leg so it will continue to get even stronger.

Clementine will soon return to the Home for her desexing procedure and follow up x-rays to ensure everything is healing as planned. It won’t be long before Clementine will be back to jumping onto laps and distracting everyone from getting anything done with her big, adorable eyes!

 

 

Published 1 February 2022