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For veterinarians, vet nurses, pet owners and anyone who is more than passionate about pets and animals!
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15 LUG 2025 · *** RADIO 2SM PET SEGMENT #23 WITH KAYE BROWNE ***
THIS WEEK...
Dogs love to smell don't they?... But what motivates them and can you train your dog to do 'Scent-Work'?
PLUS...
Some people think they just have to fill a bowl with kibble or a can of dog food – and think - that’s enough? Dog’s fed, he/she will be fine… really? So what about bones, are they actually ok for our dogs?
00'00" - Welcome Tim Webster and Kaye Browne
00'40" - How Smells (Scents) Affect Our Dogs!
04'10" - Chewing Bones... Are They Ok For Our Dogs?
TRANSCRIPT:
TIM: Well, with all of the drama going on in the world, of course, there’s one thing you can rely on, and that's your pet. Well, you know, just on that, our new rescue, Ellie, who's adorable, and you get home and you've had a long day, and down she comes down the stairs, tail wagging, and wants to give you a lick, and, you know, welcome home, Dad.
I mean, it's a very comforting thing, and we love them, don't we? The world begins and ends with us, with them, and so how do we make life better for them? And it's something I suppose we all think about doing as much as we can. Well, we promised you last week the latest, best scientific stuff on bones and chewing. We'll do that.
They're all good, but they're all kinds of chews that you can use with your pets. So let's have a yarn to Kaye Browne, from VETtalk Online, whose company provides the latest and the best helpful hints on your pets and for your vets as well. G'day.
KAYE: Good morning to you. TIM: Good morning to you. Now, I think this is a fascinating one when you talk about scent work. I mean, how good is your nose? We're not talking about determining a Shiraz from a Pinot, but rather we lucked out compared to our canine friends. But haven't they got a fairly acute sense of smell, canines in particular?
KAYE: Oh, absolutely, their sense of smell is like 300 million times better than ours. Yeah, right.
And I always think it's amusing when people say, put your hand out so the dog can smell you. The dog smelt you the minute you entered the room.
TIM: Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? Because when we do put our hand out so the dog knows who you are. Yeah, they know you are already.
KAYE: They do and do. But we can actually take advantage of that smell-ability, if you like, by actually doing scent work. And if you haven't heard about this, you can do it at the Northern Suburbs Dog Training Organization. They do it regularly and it's a great thing because you know how we try and counter condition our dogs towards not being fearful of things and don't worry if you see another dog, but their brain isn't really always on the job. Whereas if we rewire their reactive behaviour through their nose work or through their nose, through scent work, then they'll actually feel a lot happier. Now, what happens is that they are trained to find initially pieces of food, but then it progresses to finding particular scents on cotton buds. I know this sounds weird. They feel a sense of success when they actually find the right thing and get told, yes, you've got this. You've got the most amazing sense of smell because they basically are running the game. It's a very, very good tool. A lot of people say that the dogs that are doing scent work actually sleep better, they're calmer and they feel very confident instead of very anxious because they know they can do something really well and it's fun for them. TIM: Yeah, right. By the way, is that dog training centre, the one up at St. Ives, is that still there? Same one in Sydney?
KAYE: Yes, that's still there, the St. Ives one. I used to do MC, the Doggy Days there with my husband. But yes, the NorthernSuburbsdogtraining.org.au is the place where people can go and check out when they're doing the scent work classes. But it really is a good thing to do.
TIM: Yeah, interesting, we bought, actually not for Ellie, our rescue, but for my son's dog, one of those little devices and you put their biscuits in it and they have to figure out how to knock the thing over so the biscuits come out the little hole. And I would imagine that's based on scent too, wouldn't it be?
KAYE: It's based on scent and it also activates part of their brain that says, okay, I've got a problem here, I need to solve it. And like all of us, we like to solve things, so it's the scent that's also working out how they can push the button to get the treats out.
TIM: Yeah, clever, isn't it? I mean, and their noses, aren't they, I'm thinking, are always going. And it's the first thing they do when they approach anything, that nose goes and they have a sniff and try and figure out what it is, I guess is what they're doing, is it? Yeah?
KAYE: They are indeed. They're solving problems and when they're solving problems, they're not getting into trouble!
TIM: Now, and this is an issue that I'm sure all listeners have had with their pets, their dogs in particular, chewing. So, I mean, chewing in a healthy way to eat their food, but there's a lot of dogs who chew, is that a nervous thing they do when they pick up your shoe and chew that up and pick up anything and give it a chew?
KAYE: It's almost an innate thing. You see, dogs have evolved in the wild to be able to survive by grabbing onto things with their teeth, chomping down and then ripping it apart so they can actually eat. So, you know, millions of years, I guess, probably that's an exaggeration, but the dog's innate desire to chew is so strong that a number of research papers have actually found that they'll invariably find something to chew on.
Now, there's been a group of seven veterinarians have actually gone to the trouble of actually checking through the existing research papers and there are 205 of them that they looked at, so, that took a lot of research to look into why dogs chew and is it really good for them?
In a nutshell, you don't have to read it because there's 21 pages in this report I've done it for you, is that yes, it does bring huge health risks but also some potential problems, so, you know, part of the thing is choosing the right thing for them to chew on and supervising them. And it's really important particularly for very young animals to chew because when they get to about six months, their adult teeth are going to come through and they need to be chewing on something hard otherwise they're going to pick your beautiful Louboutin shoes.
TIM: Yes, we've had a couple of pooches who did exactly that. And that thing, and Ellie does it, where she grabs a ball that's got a squeak in it, like a squeaky toy, and to hear that squeak they'll just, yes, go and get it when you throw it and then really give it a good chew, are they hearing for the squeak or they just like chewing the ball?
KAYE: That's actually activating the prey drive. And I had just one of my dogs had a really, really great fondness for a Tickle Me Elmo, I got it second hand somewhere, and he would make Tickle Me Elmo giggle, giggle, giggle, he loved that sound. And he loved any of the squeaky toys with a chew in it and he would actually chew it until he could get the squeaky out and then it wasn't any interest anymore.
However, the research that's just been done into the, you know, it's got a complicated name, the Functional Significance and Welfare Implications of Chewing in Dogs, but they actually found that giving bones, particularly bones that still have some cartilage or meat on them, not only satisfies dogs' sense of smell, but they actually really like chewing on something.
You've probably seen this with your own dog they love to hang on to the bone between their paws and then they can actually get their teeth into that sort of knobby, rounded bit at the ends, which is really good as they try and chew and to get a little bit of that marrow. And the trick is don't let them eat all the marrow or they might get the runs because it's very fatty.
TIM: That’s right, Kaye's VETtalk Online and provides the latest and best advice as you just got then for pet owners and for vets. Always lovely to talk to you, Kaye thank you. KAYE: No worries, Tim, same!
TIM: Kaye Browne
8 LUG 2025 · *** RADIO 2SM PET SEGMENT #22 WITH KAYE BROWNE ***
This week:
Some medications for our pets can be very helpful, but how long should we keep them on them and is it safe to stop their meds?
And Spiders!... Is there an easy and safe way to keep them out of the house?
Also this week...
Cats might seem to be able to look after themselves, but sometimes 'stuff happens'...
How can we make sure they stay safe, especially during winter?
PLUS:
Irresistible training treats – what really works for dogs, cats even birds!
00'00" - Welcome Tim Webster and Kaye Browne
00'09" - Pet Medications... Should We or Not?!
03'52" - How Can We Safely Keep Spiders Out Of The House?
06'39" - Cat-astrophic Dangers For Cats! Tips To Keep Them Safe
08'38" - Bones... Should We Give Them To Our Dogs?
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Seg-22-Edit.mp3 Transcript TIM: Ok let's talk pets. Everybody loves talking about their pets, don't they? And here's Kaye Browne. Hello, Kaye.
KAYE: Hello Tim how are you?
TIM: I'm good. You know, it was bring your pet to work day or maybe just Jesse decided it was. She brought. She brought moon the Rottweiler in just the sweetest dog in the world. So we we love talking about our pets, don't we? Because we love them to death, don't we? Yeah.
KAYE: We do indeed. And we've talked about Moon in the past because Moon had a rough start too, with wanting to escape. So yeah, Jesse has definitely talked about Moon and gotten help for Moon. So how's your dog doing?
TIM: Yeah well, I'm just gonna add to that with our rescue, Ellie, because she was very anxious when we first got her. She's a rescue. And ohh look, I won't go into her circumstances at such a long story, but she was very anxious when she came home, but over a couple of weeks she has calmed down quite a lot. But if I could jump to that story about whether or not to medicate them, and there's a bit of controversy about that and where the reason they might be anxious in the 1st. But she was on medication Ellie, when we first got her, and then we decided we'd gradually wean her off. Now we've done the right thing or not?
KAYE: Weaning her off any medication slowly is definitely the right thing. Was it Fluoxetine commonly known as Prozac? or, you know, another common name.
TIM: Yeah, yeah. OK, so do we get a bit selective with the use of the drugs or can they be I mean ongoing, if you continue to have the problem with your pet?
KAYE: Yeah, look, it's unfortunate that in some ways our dealings with pets mirror what's happening in the human world and medication use is up in both humans and in dogs. In fact, it's definitely one of the third most highest selling prescription medications, but with good reason, because without it, our pets can be so anxious that it actually shortens their life, they get so worried about everything about their owners going away about other animals, their quality of life is hampered, so if your little Ellie is doing well around you and you're obviously very calm and gentle with her and it's just building that trust bit by bit, seeing how you go and if need be, you can go back on it, but you know, if she's doing well, eating well exercising and appears to be sleeping well, I think you're doing the right things.
TIM: Ohh, she's doing all of those things, I mean because she loves her ball and you can just see almost the look on her face to say, well, this is a different environment, but these people are pretty cool and we've gradually taken off and yes, she yeah, she's doing all those things he eats well, loves her exercise, and then he's quite happy now to settle and relax when she first arrived, not so much, so yeah, work in progress, work in progress. And look, we should say too and it's, you know, it's a horrible thing to say a lot of pets are surrendered, dogs in particular surrendered and euthanized, because they are ultimately untrainable, or people think they are aggressive or that.
KAYE: Yeah, absolutely. Professor Paul McGreevy, who you might have heard of. He's the head behaviourist at the University of Sydney vet school, and he's done a lot of work on behaviour, and I've been lucky enough to talk to him many times. And he says a lot of the time it's the owner that needs fixing. So if you are going to have a pet on medication, the other thing you need to do is actually get some advice from a fear free trainer or a professional dog trainer so that you can actually do that at the same time as the medication, otherwise it's no point just giving a pill and you know if they've got separation anxiety, just leaving them home alone, so it's about changing the environment, changing the behaviour and that way we'll have less dogs being surrendered, and more happy, healthy, long-lived dogs.
TIM: Yeah, and the wonderful companions that they are, like beautiful little Moon, the adorable little thing she is, well, she's not that little. She's a Rottie, but she's gorgeous. Now just away from puppy dogs and on to spiders, and some people are absolutely terrified of them. We've had the shortest day of the year, but there's still plenty of winter left as we know, July, August can be terribly cold. What do we need to be concerned about to keep the creepy crawlies out of the house? Whhhoo yeah, I know.
KAYE: Well, just like us, we the spiders like to have a nice warm spot for winter, where there's a source of food and water funnily enough, because spiders can eat up to four times a day, but they can also go several weeks without actually eating because they can go sort of into hibernation. So, the thing is to try and avoid having sources of food like insects, flea, and any of those sort of little invertebrates cos’ spiders are really good hunters and they actually help us out by, you know, keeping the surrounds around our home, insect free but taken to extremes, we really don't want to have them inside and particularly not those ones that might bite.
TIM: Yes, yes, yeah.
KAYE: We don't want those.
TIM: Yeah, and it's true too, some countries actually think they're lucky spiders, don't they? KAYE: They do indeed. In Greece, for example, they think that if you see a spider, it means money is coming your way. I go looking for spiders every Thursday before Powerball but hasn't worked for me yet. TIM: Yeah. LAUGHS!
KAYE: And in Victorian England, a spider on a wedding dress meant good luck for the happy couple, and a lot of people throw spiders out, but my mother always said just gently put a spider outside or else it'll rain. We've had enough rain. I think people should gently put spiders outside, rather than squish them.
TIM: Oh, absolutely. I actually I'll tell you a quick story, we do get the occasional Huntsman, some of them, you know, size of a dinner plate and they're just the Cocker spaniels of the spider world we think. And we do that you know put them under a colander and take them outside but people can be terrified of them because they're so big and they will bite you but only if they're challenged, so it depends on the spider, but Kaye, as you and I both know, some people, it's just a full stop. Spiders. No, that's it. Hate them.
KAYE: Hey, there's a couple of other quick things I can help you with, peppermint works quite well at repelling spiders. Lemon doesn't, so you can use the essential oil. They also don't like music, classical music or even electronic dance music.
TIM: Ohh bless them. They don't like electronic music now I love my Huntsman even more. But the trouble with that is Kaye, I've got to put up with playing it.
KAYE: Well, there is that because I don't think they make headphones for spiders. TIM: Yeah. Now that's the spiders. It is the winter time, and some dangers for our pets. We simply need to warn the cat owners, there are the catastrophic dangers if their pets choose to snooze in the washing machine or dryer, what a terrible story that was.
KAYE: Ohh yes, but this one fortunately has a happy ending. I definitely like those. A little Burmese kitten, a nine month old kitten, snuck into the owners front loader washing machine and unbeknown to the owner, turned it on, well the cat didn’t turned it on, the owner turned it on to a cleaning cycle which is cold water and soap, so at least it wasn't hot water, but it went for 55 minutes.
TIM: Yeah, so how many of its lives did it use up 8?
KAYE: I think it might have it. It also lost a couple of toes, but it's absolutely doing brilliant well. So now the owner is, I guess, warning other people to watch out for things like that I've personally seen in the past that cats love to sit on car bonnets, when you know the owner, has just arrived home and it's still warm, and sometimes they'll even try and sneak in underneath the bonnet so there's been lots of stories of cats, having gone for a long drive with their owner not knowing they were under the bonnet, so the answer to that is really just make sure you've got somewhere nice and cosy up high because they do like to watch from above and they've got a nice warm place for winter to sleep.
TIM: Ohh, they love the warmth our recently deceased, but he was 16 Freddy the Burmese, we got a slow combustion and Freddy would sit on the hearth and you think to yourself if you stay there much longer you're gonna combust. But he never did. They love the warmth, don't they cats. They really do, yeah.
KAYE: They do yea they do, yeah. And then they sit on us and we enjoyed the warmth from them.
TIM: Great talk next week. Thanks, Kaye. Great to talk to you.
KAYE: Thank you. You too.
TIM: That’s Kaye Browne.
23 GIU 2025 · *** RADIO 2SM PET SEGMENT #21 WITH KAYE BROWNE ***
This week:
Dangerous ‘rat lungworm’ infections in dogs in Sydney are on the rise…research pointing to heavier rainfalls in recent years. Kaye explains what to watch for to keep pets – and people -safe.
Also this week...
Good news in the global fight to find better and cheaper ways to detect cancer earlier! An Israeli-based team has linked AI - artificial intelligence – with dogs impressive sense of smell to create an at-home cancer-screening breath test which is94 percent accurate at detecting early stage lung, breast, prostate, and colon cancers.
PLUS:
Irresistible training treats – what really works for dogs, cats even birds!
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson and Kaye Browne
00'09" - Rat Lungworm Infections In Dogs!
02'37" - Dogs Helping Detect Cancer via a 'Breath-Test'
04'43" - How To Motivate Our Pets With Treats
IMAGE:
Rat Lungworm - (c)Dr Michael Nash, SARDI
More information here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-17/rat-lungworm-disease-spike-dog-infections/105408304
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold. Kaye, good morning.
KAYE: Good morning to you, Ron.
RON: Look at this is a fun thing to talk about at breakfast time, and it sounds absolutely disgusting to tell you the truth, rat lung worm infections, apparently in dogs, it's on the rise, and it's all due to climate change with increased rainfall over recent years, tell us all about it. What have we got to watch out for?
KAYE: Yeah. The good people at the University of Sydney Veterinary Department there have done a big study, probably the very first one that's been done of five years of data to work out exactly when is the highest risk for periods of transmission of this disease, now rat lung worm is exactly what it sounds it is found in rats and naturally in rats, and they go scavenging and they drop their poos everywhere and unfortunately these slugs and snails, which are particularly prolific after lots of rain like we've had, they actually ingest it, and then they in turn are eaten by other hosts like dogs or again, by the rats.
Now in rats it's OK because it goes to their lungs and sounds gross, but the rats survive that. However, if an accidental host like a dog or even a human, and that has happened, hmm, actually ingests this, and then it will go to their brain. It'll die off there because we've got our own immune systems, but the actual dying off effect actually causes terrible headaches and things like that in people and dogs, and can even cause hind limb weakness, which is very bad and very worst cases cause death.
So, you know, they're talking a very serious case here and they looked at the number of cases and found that the biggest number were in 2022, where there were 32 cases in dogs and why this is important is that it gives them a model to actually be able to talk to human doctors as well, and the human doctors and the vets can all talk between themselves and work out the best way of preventing this transmission. So couple of quick things for you. Teach your dogs not to eat slugs and snails. I'm sure your dog doesn't.
RON: No wouldn't go near them. Not without salt. (Laughs!)
KAYE: Yeah, well, you know, some of the other cases that have occurred in humans have occurred because people have eaten undercooked snails. So, you know, and I know the French are fond of snails. And, some restaurants do sell them, but do make sure they're well cooked or avoid them altogether, which would be my choice. And indeed, just make sure that around the yard you try and not have places where slugs and snails can, accumulate and certainly teach your dog. Leave it.
RON: Well, dogs are commonly known as man's best friend, and this new Israeli idea. It combines a dog's very impressive sense of smell with artificial intelligence to create a cancer screening breath test. This is so interesting what a great idea.
KAYE: This is great, this is good news and it's good to get good news on a topic like cancer, because as we know, it's a really hard thing unless it's detected early, you know, the chances of people getting through it are slimmer so this is a brand new thing SpotIt Early.
And basically it uses very simple thing instead of having to have a lab test or have an operation, you get sent a special mask just like we used to wear during the COVID situation, you only have to breathe in it for about 3 minutes to send it back to the SpotIt Early laboratory where well trained beagles sniff various tubes which have masks in them, and if they detect one that actually has cancer cells and it could be anything from lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate, colon cancer, the dog will sit down now where this is really, really clever is that they've now also included AI - artificial intelligence, and we keep hearing disastrous things about AI, but here's something really good, because humans might misinterpret the dog's enthusiasm, perhaps it's just, you know, tired and sitting down, but by using AI, they can determine with incredible success rates whether a cancer has been detected.
So they actually got 1400 people to test this out and amongst those they later on found that 261 of them actually did have cancer. It wasn't detectable any other way, and if they hadn't been found, hadn't the cancers hadn't been found as early it would, have affected their treatment. So it really reduces human error and when it does get underway globally, it should only cost about $25 bucks to g et one of these masks sent out and then sent back and get your results.
RON: What a great idea. Now when we speak to you on a weekly basis, we often talk about using treats as part of a training regime for dogs. Are there any particular things that work well? Treats? I mean, that work well when it comes to dogs?
KAYE: Yeah, dogs, cats, even birds, they kind of work their best when they're motivated to do so. It's a bit like you, you know, if someone said to you and we want you to come in on Monday, but we're actually not gonna pay you on Monday, we'll only pay you for the other days of the week. How enthusiastic are you going to be to get out of bed on Monday?
RON: Hmmm - No. No. Is the answer.
KAYE: Well, that's never going to happen. So it's a little bit like that with our dogs and cats and birds. We can motivate them by finding out what it is that makes them want to do something we want them to do. And that's the key to positive training. Now with some dogs, it could be a piece of carrot with others it could be a nice piece of yummy roast chicken. What does Bailey like best?
RON: Ohh, I think it's well, it's the dried chicken breast that she really goes for.
KAYE: OK. Yeah. Dehydrated foods are great or freeze dried foods like tripe. It stinks to us, but you know, the stinkier, the smellier and the softer in many cases, the better, so cheese is really really good.
RON: Yes, she loves cheese.
KAYE: The key is. That training needs to be really short, sharp and snappy, so don't do it for, you know, half an hour at a time, just a few minutes. You only want to do 8 or 10 repetitions of whatever you're trying to train, or capture or shape the behaviour shape and make sure that you only use the really, really good treats for when they perform extra well, perhaps when they do it extra fast or they’re extra enthusiastic.
And then end your training session on a high so you can make your own treats. I used to dehydrate liver believe it or not. And it stinks. When I had four dogs, but it was a good way of having lots of treats. You can even use you know, those little refillable yoghurt pouches that you have.
You can actually fill that with something like a nice smelly cat food or cat paste with a bit of water and that you don't have to keep getting icky things out of your pocket or your pouch, and you can actually just use that and just squirt a little bit in the mouth when the animal does what you want. And that's a pretty good thing for cats as well, and have variety so that you know they don't get bored.
So there are lots of things in your local pet shops. We'll have some examples for you and just be aware, that if you have to worry about your pets nutrition or their diet if they have a disease, kidney or something like that, do talk to your vet about what they can and can't have and deduct the calories from their daily food portions to account for all these lovely treats.
RON: Yes, I maybe give my dog a little bit too many treats and I get told off all the time for that. All right Kaye, thank you so much as always. Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold with our weekly pet segment.
16 GIU 2025 · *** RADIO 2SM PET SEGMENT #20 WITH KAYE BROWNE ***
This week:
Finally – we can rest in peace WITH our much-loved pets! New laws in NSW mean it’s now legal to share our grave with our pet’s ashes.
And what puts a smile on lots of dogs’ faces? Rolling in poo! But why do dogs do it? And how to – hopefully – stop it!
PLUS:
Cats – so many secrets – and the biggest one – how they hide getting older. How to help ease their pains and enjoy senior status.
Also this week!
KB’s quick tip to help families train dogs NOT to over-react to knocks at the door.
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson and Kaye Browne
00'09" - RIP With Our Pets
02'09" - Why Do Dogs Roll In Poo & How To Stop Them!
04'42" - Senior Cats - What Are They Hiding Health-Wise?
06'39" - KB'S 'Quick-Tips' - Stopping Dogs Barking At The Door!
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold Kaye, good morning.
KAYE: Good morning, Ronnie.
RON: Look, I know people who will actually want to do this. Finally, we can actually rest in peace with our much loved pets, New laws in NSW mean it is now legal to put your pets’ ashes in with your own. This is quite amazing for a lot of people.
KAYE: It is indeed. It has been a long time coming. There's been a lot of people actively pushing for this because let's face it, pets are now so much a part of our lives and the thought that people can now go to where their pet and their loved family member are either buried together or their ashes are mixed together and it's really, just part of the grieving process that people are allowed to do that so this has only just happened.
I've got a call, a contact from Dr Sam Kovac, who's one of the many vets that I'm lucky enough to know from Southern Cross Veterinary clinic. And he said, he's known for years that people have been sneaking ashes into coffins just because they want their much loved pet to actually rest in peace with their much loved mother or father, human, mother or father. But now it means it's legal and that makes it much easier for cemeteries and crematoria because there are a lot of people that that really want to have this happen.
And Sam actually mentioned that it's a particularly important thing for the homeless, who often don't have much, you know, certainty in their lives, and their pet is their only solid point of contact. Their reason for being, really, and he has a charity called Project Hope, which provides free medical treatments and checks and vaccinations.
And that's for people who are homeless and also for victims of domestic violence. So that's a pretty important charity. But they are going to be absolutely delighted as well, because it means that people don't have to fear being put in the ground and never having their pet join them ever, or their ashes of the pet or their remains so it can take a little bit of working out, but it's happening.
RON: Yeah, such an interesting development. Now I have a question for you. Why do dogs roll in poo their own? And there's another dog anybody. Is it kind of like Cologne for dogs or something? How, how do you, how do you stop them doing that?
KAYE: Au de poo fume!
RON: Au de poo fume. I love it.
KAYE: Yes, you know, experts have long pondered this particular thing, and I've actually pondered it myself on occasion when there's been a pong. As I looked up a bit of information as well. You know a dogs idea of a good smells different to ours. They like the smell of poo. They also like the smell of dead things. I have dogs that unfortunately rolled in a dead fish.
Ohh no. Yeah, that was nice coming home in the car. But yeah, they like dead things, they think the experts think it's covering up the dogs own smell or that they're bringing home proof of where they've been. A bit like a selfie or a postcard to tell the pack hey, guess what I smelt today? So it's pretty social media really, but, it is a bit tricky to stop them now if they're on-lead that's a bit easier, but if they're off-lead oh oh not good so you will get some hint that they're about to roll in too.
So I guess like a lot of things start early and train your dog to leave it, that's a good thing to train. And then if they don't touch or sniff or roll and the thing that they're being told to leave as they obey you they get a treat. So practise on something that's, you know, not too nasty to start off with and practise it and you know pretty soon dogs are smart.
They go hey, if I leave whatever that interesting thing is I actually get a treat and the other quick thing to remember is, in your own backyard, pick up the dogs poo every day.
RON: Exactly!
KAYE: If you spot a dead bird or a dead rodent, you know, pick that up as well, and after a bath, try and dry your pet off well so that they're not tempted to roll in anything something to dry themselves off. It's tempting for them to do that. We've all seen dogs wriggle on their back. Does your Bailey do that?.
RON: Yeah. Yes. I've gotta say, well at this time of year her hair or fur to be a little bit longer and that of course makes this whole problem a lot worse.
KAYE: It does indeed. Well, you know, gotta get the blow dryer out. Blow dry the hair instead of just doing your own gorgeous slot.
RON: You can only watch the dog a couple of times a day, you know. All right, now we were talking back there earlier about having your pet ashes interred with your own, which begs the question is, well, when we come to cats, I mean cats, they do the ageing process very well. They kind of hide getting older, but I'm assuming they need as much help as any other pet.
KAYE: They certainly do, and in fact, they're pretty darn sneaky at hiding things. You know, in the eyes and you see them slowly blinking, which means they really like you by the way you know, they will just quietly go about their business and perhaps you know little problems sneak up on you. So looking at cats, they can be considered a senior around about 10 or 11 years of age, which is when you need to take extra care to keep an eye on them to see what kind of physical or behavioural changes are happening.
For example is their weight changing?. Umm, you know getting are they getting fatter or thinner, are they having trouble jumping up or having problems eating whereas they used to gobble their food down. Are they having vision issues, especially at night time or hearing problems, and are they sleeping more or not grooming themselves? That's a real tell-tale sign. And are they getting a little bit confused, or perhaps going wandering and you know, sort of meowing when they never used to do that because cats get CCD, which is the equivalent of dementia in humans.
There's lots of little things that can be happening inside your cat, and really the only way to tell that is to make sure that you have a really good relationship with your vet. Because they are experts at detecting all these things that you know, if they're detected early like dental disease, arthritis, kidney issues, diabetes. You know, there's a lot that they can do to come up with a treatment plan with you to help your senior your cat live into his or her old age comfortably rather than in pain.
RON: Such a good idea look KB's a quick-tips, I think this is a really good idea. We're gonna start doing this. What's the tip for families whose dogs you know, if somebody knocks at the door, the dog goes absolutely ballistic. In fact, I know Jesse's dog actually almost rips the front door down. But how do you stop them doing that? Or what do you do to deal with sort of thing?
KAYE: This is a good one so you know that you well, perhaps you've scheduled a delivery, or perhaps you've got a friend coming over at a particular time, but your dog doesn't know that. So what happens when they get to the door? You get. WOOF WOOF WOOF!!! They go off, right? It's like Jessie's dog.
RON: Yeah.
KAYE: That’s like Jessies dog, not Bailey, though. Bailey's perfect. OK, what we need to do when they go off, WOO-WOO put them in place. You've been trained to go to their place or go to their crate and sit there and then calmly say to your visitor. Come inside. Don't look at the dog. Don't pat them. Don't have eye contact.
Just sit down and when they're calm, let them out of the crate or you know, let them off the place. And then when they come over and perhaps sniff you looking for attention, then you can gently pat them on the back or under the chin. And then stop.
And then the dog goes well. It's not such a scary monster after all, so they start nudging you for more attention, and it makes the dog think they're in charge. And this person that was at the door that they thought was scary was in fact, a potential source of really nice things like pats.
RON: Hmm. Alright. Well that, that that breaks down the issue to some degree of stopping the dog going crazy at the door, I think that will be a bit of good advice for just about everybody with the dog, quite frankly. Alright, Kaye. Thank you again for this week. Love your work and we'll talk to you again next week. Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold with our weekly pet segment.
10 GIU 2025 · This week: (Full Transcript below!)
Sydney Councils want tougher fines for unrestrained dogs in public places and owners not picking up their dogs'poo.
Posties under attack - approx. 44 dog attacks a day! Aus-Post will arm all their people with a protective citronella spray by the end of July '25
PLUS:
The avoidable pet health issues costing pet parents big bucks and how to avoid them.
Hint... your Vet can help more than you think.
Finally, the RSPCA Million Paws walk is no more - so how much money did the final ‘walk’ manage to raise?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson and Kaye Browne
00'10" – Councils demand tougher fines uncontrolled dogs & dumped waste.
01'51" - Posties new defence against dog attacks
03'26" - Gastro and Skin issues costing pet owners the most
04'48" - Pet Dental Month benefits extended from June to August
05'59" – Big results for RSPCA Million Paws final Walk
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON:
Time to talk animals now on the 2SM and breakfast show with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold. Kaye good morning!.
KAYE:
Good morning to you.
RON:
Well, you know what dog lovers we are, but I'm very pleased to see this I gotta say, tougher fines for pet owners who don't do do the right thing when they're pet's do the Doo Doo. That's what several big Sydney councils are planning, and those councils are Randwick and Waverley and they're also looking at bigger fines for letting dogs off leash in prohibited areas and for uncontrolled or attacking dogs. I am totally on board with this, I gotta say.
KAYE:
I am certainly on board with it as well, especially when you consider that just across the border in Queensland they've got similar fines of, you know, around $300.00 for not picking up waste, but, their fines for having an uncontrolled dog in an public place are much higher. In fact, they started $1,613 go up to $112,000.
The possibility of three years jail. So that would be for a dangerous dog or one that attacks a child or a human being. And I think that sounds like a reasonable thing to do because right now in Sydney it's the same fee, it's $330 if a dog attacks another dog or a child.
RON:
Well, it makes no sense. And of course we have our friend Peter Clay, who was recently attacked by two dogs and you know, the ongoing effects for that and he's an adult. Obviously, we're not even talking children here, but the ongoing effects for that are quite significant.
KAYE:
Absolutely. And you know the trauma of that lives with people for a long time. And let's face it, there are a lot of occasions now where for some reason people aren't picking up and they're letting their dogs get out and not caring that their roaming, and I'm saying that in particular because Australia Post has got a huge problem with its posties being attacked.
The latest data suggests there's something like 44 dog attacks a day, something like over the last six months, 1,150 posties being attacked. Now the thing is that they're not actually happening as you'd expect when they're going to the front door to get someone to sign for a parcel, these are actually roaming dogs on the street. 57% of these attacks are on the streets, so Australia posts has said enough is enough by the end of July, we're going to arm all our posties with a citronella spray so that they've got some means of pushing the dog back from attacking them. How do you feel about that?
RON:
Well, I know the citronella keeps the mosquitoes away. I never thought of it using it against the dogs.
KAYE:
Well, there are different kinds of citronella, and you know that we do need to be a little bit cautious because dogs can't process ethanol and there's ethanol and some of these sprays for keeping them mozzies away.
But I think the other thing to think about is that, it does give the postie some means of actually thinking about what they're doing and hopefully aiming the spray so that it's not going in the dog's eyes because that can cause them to have runny eyes and to, you know, scratch their eyes and get infected. And they could get a bit of a gastro and we'll talk more about gastroenteritis and how common that is a little bit later.
But you know it is something that we have to think about and people, you know, you get tracking on your Australia post items these days, so if you know you're getting something, you have to sign for, make sure the dog is inside or out the back!
RON:
Well, let's talk gastro and some other things that might affect dogs. We've just got information out from the insurance companies about the past years claims that were made, what seems to be the most common problems that owners take their dogs and cats to the vet with each year.
KAYE:
Well, this is really very interesting. It's remarkably similar in dogs and cats. In dogs, it's skin infections and allergies is number 1 and the average cost of that is something like $650. It can get right up to $21,000. And in cats, the number one problem is gastroenteritis type problems. And the average cost of treating that is something like $900 and it can go up to just under $27,000 and guess what, number 2 with dogs gastro yet again.
So our dog and cats tummies seem to be you know the most at risk and going to cost us the most.
So it's something we should really keep a very close eye on. Gastroenteritis is particularly nasty and when you consider that there's something like 4 1/2 maybe 4.7 million dogs and cats in NSW alone, and about 11% of them in any year have gastro, you know that's a lot of dog poo and dog vomit and dog diarrhoea happening out there!
RON:
Yeah, lovely things. Now June is dental health month in the veterinary world. How do we take advantage of that?
KAYE:
Well, the good thing is that they've made it a little bit bigger this year, June, July and August. It used to be just August, but because dental care is so important for our dogs and our cats, they've extended it at many practices. Now I can't say if every practice is doing this, but 9 out of 10 of them will have special promotions where they'll offer free dental checks.
You bring your pet in and they'll check them to see if there's any redness around the gums, which indicates that there's infection, which could be, you know, spreading around the body and causing problems to your dog or cat's liver or heart or things like that. So it's really good to actually have it picked up, and then they'll often offer a big discount on any procedures that are undertaken, during these months and you know we're talking in dentals costing between $500 and $800 in a dog and roughly the same in cats.
But it's really important because it's going to lengthen their life and make them feel a lot better. Cause let's face it, when your teeth are sore, you tend to get a bit snappy!
RON:
It's all true now. The Million Paws Walk has been and gone for another year. How did they go in fundraising?
KAYE:Well, I think they've gone out with a bang, so well done to all of your listeners and I know your producer Jesse also took part in the final million paws walk. I gather that the final amount that they've got at this stage is $851,700. Which is pretty good because. It was $600,000 last year.
RON:
Yeah, it's a big pickup.
KAYE:
Went right up there, so that's well done. It shows how much we care for our dogs.
RON:
Now, Miss Kaye Browne, I will talk to you again next week in our regular pet segment. I appreciate your time.
KAYE:
Pleasure always.
RON:
Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold.
2 GIU 2025 · This week:
Tails on our pets are so cute aren't they?... but why do they have them and what do they mean?
And now that winter is upon us, how can we deal with rodents 'safely' - eg; no poisons!?
Also this week... Got a black or dark coloured dog? could you find them if they got off-lead at night?
And 'paw-lickers'... Why do they do it and is it a sign something wrong?
Plus:
Why do dogs howl at sirens! (Check-out Kaye's version!)
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'06" - Wagging Tails... What Do They Mean?
01'40" - Dealing With Rodents In Winter
03'35" - Walking Dark Dogs At Night!
04'24" - Why Do Pets Lick Their Paws?
06'02" - Why Do Dogs Howl At Sirens?
Image: Dog Tails Wagging... (c) https://olddoghaven.org/a-tail-of-two-dogs/
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold... Kaye good morning!
KAYE: good morning to you!
RON: Look in last week's segment we said that we were going to talk about dogs tails and well I suppose cats tails as well really, but I'd never thought about it much before I just assumed the dog wags his tail when it's in a good mood and that's it, but there's more to it than that?
KAYE: Yeah there is quite a bit more to it because tails are just one aspect of body language that dogs use and cats by the way and frankly you know when we meet people when we're out walking or shopping or whatever we don't necessarily like everyone that we meet so we might show it in the way that we're not doing very positive body language so with tails we don't have a tail but dogs can communicate a lot through tail wagging but they can also be very confusing.
You see putting your tail straight up and wagging can mean "Hi I like you and come and play." Or it can mean "I'm just feeling a bit nervous" if they're standing very still. So you can't really look at the tail wag in isolation from everything else but the scientists have now determined really that they're very sensitive our canine friends and our feline friends and tail wagging to the right definitely is a better thing, this indicates friendliness and curiosity. Tail wag to the left not so happy and if they've got their tail tucked underneath them they're very very nervous.
RON: Well I'll keep an eye out... now and Is it the dog's right or my right and it's going to be confusing you know that's the problem with all of this you've got to figure it out. Now last week when we spoke we talked about looking after our pets in this cooler weather but we may have some visitors we don't expect in the furry animal line. You can have rats and mice coming into your house how do we deal with that in relation to the pets that we already have?
KAYE: Yes well don't let them chase them for one thing a girlfriend of mine had spotted a little mouse dash underneath her dishwasher recently and so trying to do the right thing got some of those special catch and release boxes that you can get from your hardware store thinking "Oh she'll do the right thing and go and release it in the wild."
Well it didn't work because pretty soon she saw that the mouse that came in was uh a mother and uh there were 11 more little mice trying to take up residence for the winter so she did try using actual mouse traps in you know the old fashioned kind that we see in the cartoons which unfortunately are more deadly and you know they do knock them out pretty quickly and then you can pop them in a bag in the freezer and put them in the rubbish do not use baits please.
My father's dog got into some poison in the garage one time and had to be rushed to the vet for emergency treatment because even though they say that a lot of the ingredients they use in baits these days are safe if a pet should accidentally ingest them they're not and I'd rather not take the opportunity because it's a pretty nasty sort of a thing.
The baits I don't know if you've ever seen what happens to mice and rats when they take some of these baits, they start to bleed because the chemicals stop them from clotting blood properly and that's indeed what can happen to our dogs and cats if they eat the bait or indeed if they eat the dead rodent that ate the bait.
RON: Yeah it all sounds very nasty doesn't it and another thing that uh we should be careful about in winter and again I'd never thought about this uh it gets dark so early in the evening that if you're out walking the dog after work if you had a black dog with you for instance that's going to be a problem!
KAYE: Yes, when I had my four-pack, unfortunately they are there at the Rainbow Bridge as they call it one of them was a little black poodle and in the dark if I didn't put an LED collar on him I wouldn't have been able to spot him. I wouldn't have let him off the lead mind you but it's actually safer if you get some of these illuminating collars and leads and also put a high viz vest on so that if you're out and about, other people can see you as well and no one's going to get a fright or be accidentally knocked over.
RON: Now a couple of issues that we can talk about are licking paws and even I've seen dogs chewing their paws. What can cause that?
KAYE: Well it's part of some natural behaviours to start off with because you know dogs and cats do it as part of general grooming so it's generally if they're not doing it to excess actually okay but excessive licking or biting can signal that there's something else wrong it could be allergies it could be anxiety it could be poor gut health or even an injury or simply boredom and anxiety because paw licking is actually some sort of self soothing behaviour they say and so if they keep licking their paw they feel a bit more relaxed.
So if your dog is licking for that reason then you need to do more walking and playing with your dog or it could be environmental irritants or it could be something that people have sprayed on grass and then you've walked over it might be a fertilizer or something and unfortunately that's triggered something so the dog is licking at their paws because it's annoying them and their paws then get red and raw and if they don't stop licking them then they can have hot spots and other nasty things so a rule of thumb wipe your dog's paws with unscented baby wipes or even a wet towel if you don't mind having that wet dog smell on your towels, but definitely try and see if you can wipe down their paws and dry them if you come back and they're a bit damp 'cos damp dog smell and damp dogs don't go well happy
RON: That's right now in the past we've talked about things like heavy rain and thunder upsetting dogs but another reaction I see is if they hear a siren dog's howl... what's that all about? KAYE: Oh you mean something like this "AHHWOOOOOO"
RON: No no… that's on the full moon I think I've heard you do that!
KAYE: You promised you wouldn't tell!! oh look it's actually quite fascinating and it's amazing that some dogs do it and some don't. Now a lot of the time they think that it's a form of mis-communication or you know response to a dog thinking "Oh there's another lonely dog out there." It's desperate to find a friend so they howl to try and let that lonely dog know that they're there and they should come over and meet and greet 'cos let's face it they can't you swipe left or swipe right or whatever it is you do to meet dogs
RON: Yeah come on don't pretend you don't know (LAUGHS)
KAYE: So that's the mistaken identity because you know dogs come from wolves a very long time ago and wolves are known to howl over long distances so that they can let people know where they are another theory and unfortunately we tend to reinforce it accidentally is that the dog thinks "Oh there's something wrong.
I better warn my human there's this terribly loud sound." 'Cos they hear much better than we do and so they want to warn us about a possible danger. The problem is the siren goes away and the dog thinks "Aha it worked my howling made that nasty danger go away so if I hear that again I'll howl again." So the cure for that one is to come up with a cue and teach your dog to be quiet on command and then they'll get a nice treat. Does take a bit of training but you can do it.
RON: I'm going to have to get a new bag of treats I'm giving my dog treats for so many things now I don't know where I'm up to Kaye as always very entertaining and informative of course Kaye Browne there with our pet segment Kaye is from VETtalk on Hold
27 MAG 2025 · This week:
Kaye shares some key tips to keep pets happy, warm and pain-free over winter including food and grooming!
Plus...
What's the secret to chill-proofing indoor & outdoor dog-beds and what's re the alternative options to help pets deal with monster rain/storms?
Finally.. Dog-jackets – practical options to keep you and the pooch happy.
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'06" - Winter Tips-Jackets/Grooming + Inside or Outside?
02'24" - Winter Diets - How Much Is Too Much?
03'52" - Storms & Rain - How to Keep Things Calm
05'43" - Best Doggy Jacket Materials + Raincoats
07'20" - Next Week - Why Do Dogs Have Tails!
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: With the onset of these wintery conditions is the focus of our pet segment this week with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold... Kaye good morning!
KAYE: Good morning! - Have you got your winter gear out yet?
RON: I've got mine out and i'm thinking about what i've got to do for the dog uh it's a bit chilly out there it's a bit wet and I guess we have to make adjustments not just for ourselves but also for our pets we've dragged the old jackets out of the cupboard and of course they get longer fur at this time of year all of these things we need to to look at how do we change our care patterns for our pets as we get into these colder months?
KAYE: Ok... well the most important thing is if you're feeling the cold then your pet is feeling the cold. Cats are a bit better than dogs because they'll actually find a nice warm spot on top of the fridge whereas dogs rely on us quite a bit and although it's tempting to let them grow their hair long in winter please don't what happens for all the dogs that need to get groomed regularly I'm talking about all the oodles and various things and I've had Poodles and Bischons and goodness knows what, is if we leave them longer in winter they actually need more grooming and they can actually get quite matted especially if you accidentally leave the jacket on for a week at a time so it's really important to be putting the jacket on and taking it off. If the coolest time of the day is at night-time the jacket goes on at night or if you're going out for a walk but don't leave it on all the time because you can get terrible knots and then when you try to brush them out it actually hurts the dog's skin.
RON: I know with horses if you leave the horse blanket on the hair doesn't grow so long is that also the case with dogs?
KAYE: Unfortunately no!
RON: Okay well that's one problem we can't solve just by leaving the jacket on is there a difference the way you treat animals that are indoor and outdoor in these conditions?
KAYE: Definitely outdoor dogs definitely need to have a raised bed so if they've got a kennel set up then you need to put in a nice big block of foam you know the kind that you get at the supermarkets or you know the fruiterer put in layers so that it's going up a bit higher and make sure the beds bit raised so they're not on cold hard tiles or cement (RON: what a good idea!) and make sure that you then put in a nice comfortable bed inside. I had a relative whose dog actually preferred sleeping outside even in the cold weather but they did have an electric blanket for them!
RON: Oh yeah I would too! Now let's talk about diets during winter do we need to look at adjusting our pets diets as the winter cuts in?
KAYE: It's interesting the vets and scientists have looked at this and they thought oh well you know perhaps animals and pets aren't as active during winter so they don't need to eat so much and that we should be cutting back, then they actually did some tests and found that in fact nutritional needs go up particularly for very young pets and older pets and let's face it, pets get older much quicker than we do so an older pet could be anything from five if it's a very large breed or eight if it's not quite such a big breed but yeah you need to just boost their nutrition look at what you're giving them and it's... you know I'm a huge fan of topping up with natural foods that we've cooked for ourselves some of the extra steamed veggies and things they can have sweet potato pumpkin very good pumpkin's very good for their intestines uh it helps stop them and it helps them go!... but very definitely a little bit more in the way of fatty meats as well don't be frightened of fat... dogs in particular and cats have a much shorter digestive system so they you know can digest things much quicker and they get the nutrients out much quicker as well so don't be frightened of increasing it. If they start getting a bit too cuddly well just trim it back a bit but I think you'll find that they'll do better with extra nutrition.
RON: Storms and rainfall... our pets get very very upset during those noisy times those noisy weather events, how do we go about looking after them better in those sorts of conditions?
KAYE: In an ideal world we'd have time to desensitize them and we give probably off youtube or somewhere some of those storm sounds and start playing them very gently and feeding treats to our dogs when it's not actually a storm season so they're "oh when I hear that kind of noise good things happen and I get cuddles and then mum and dad organize a nice little den for me!" because when animals get scared they naturally go looking for somewhere safe and that could be under the table under a sideboard cupboard but somewhere where they feel safe and where there's a nice sense of where they've been before you know perhaps one of their old beds you can never have too many beds for dogs by the way! I won't tell you how many my little girl had last time! Ahh yes one here one there one everywhere and a couple in the car... but yeah those lovely new squishy long-haired ones or they look long-haired they're ideal and they're actually called calming beds for a good reason because the animal can actually get in snuggle in and it's a bit like snuggling up to mum or the other puppies from when they were kids.
RON: Gives them a feeling of security apart from anything else...
KAYE: Yeah it does indeed I mean you can go down the path of getting anti-anxiety medication from the vet but hopefully you won't need to go down that path if they know that it's safe and if you can organize if it's forecast for a storm then maybe make sure the curtains are drawn early leave the TV or preferably the radio on 2SM and make sure that there's some noise there 'cos if they can hear stuff they can get frightened.
RON: Yeah... we did mention briefly there things like doggy jackets now the materials they're made out of do animals have any rejection of synthetic materials or are we better to stick to wools or cotton?... any advice in that area?
KAYE: Well I personally have tried a variety of jackets. The very first jacket I tried on my first dog and of course we all experiment on our first child, he thought it was a game and so he ripped it off in pieces, so I learned very quickly to get something that's pretty sturdy and that feels nice on them so, I like wool blends, certainly you can get some linen blends. Bamboo well they use a lot of chemicals to treat bamboo so some of those things labelled natural bamboo aren't particularly natural but I think some of the polyester blends are absolutely fine and they're also good because you can throw them in the washing machine and that's a good idea because you know they can get a bit woofy fairly quickly especially if where you've gone out for a nice brisk walk you know and perhaps they've rolled over because it's good fun and they might have a bit of mud so get something that's you know practical... and there are things you know you can even get raincoats for dogs. There's a great company in Melbourne that makes really good quality jackets for dogs. Yap Wear... I've known the lady that runs that. It's all Australian stuff and I do like the quality of the jacket she makes because they last forever.
RON: All right, well that's some good advice on what we need to do through these colder months of the year to look after our pets and I enjoy... well I don't know there's something extra about good cuddles with your pets during these colder months everyone seems to get more out of that. Now next time we talk we're going to talk about interpreting the actions of your dog's tail and you know something I've never thought about but when I look at my dog uh yeah her tail actions there are many different types and we're going to try to interpret what all of that means.
KAYE: Mmmm… and why they have them at all and why some breeds just naturally only have tiny little stumpy tails there's a lot of information that they've now deduced into tail action so gives new meaning to the idea you know we'll keep an eye on the tail..
RON: All right we'll talk about all that next time Kaye... Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold.
20 MAG 2025 · THIS WEEK: (Full transcript below)
Recently Ron's Producer Jessie's dog Moon, recently developed an abscess and required surgery. Kaye explains why abscesses are so common and that pets can get sepsis poisoning if not treated sooner rather than later.
Kaye also talks about the benefits of having a 1st Aid Kit always handy plus some easy ways to keep your pet's toenails trimmed!
And... Remember Valerie the Dachshund who survived 529 days alone on Kangaroo Island? They say she's put on weight!.. but why? And how did she survive?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'06" - Why Abscesses Need To Be Checked
01'18" - Benefits Of A 1st Aid Kit
04'00" - Easy Ways To Trim Toenails
05'41" - Valerie the Dachshund - How She Survived
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: And now it's time for our weekly pet segment with our VETtalk On-Hold expert Kaye Browne - Kaye good morning! - (good morning to you) - Look we're going to talk today about some of the common, I was going to call it illnesses but they're things that can go wrong with your pets particularly dogs and one of the most common is it's a nasty sort of thing, it's the abscesses they get.
How how do we deal with those? and are there particular symptoms that can tell you you're it's going to happen and why do they get them so often?
KAYE: Well it's a very common illness and it's caused by bacteria often dogs will be just play fighting but they have bacteria on their teeth because we don't clean their teeth enough and so should they puncture the skin and that often happens around the neck or on a leg, the body tries to heal itself and it closes over the top of the wound and that causes a little pocket of puss! - sorry for anyone having breakfast right now that's right yeah um and unless that is treated and allowed to escape drained or you know punctured by the Vet and allowed to drain out that infection can travel through the body and cause a lot of serious illnesses actually so it's something to keep an eye out for and cats also get that as well cuz they have very very sharp teeth and lots of bacteria.
RON: Now when you have your own family of course the first thing you do is stick a a first aid kit under the bathroom sink so that if anything goes wrong you can rush to that and sort the kids out but should we also maybe have some sort of first aid kit for our pets and if so what do we put in it?
KAYE: Definitely a very very good idea and in fact you can sort of share your human one as well I dropped a heavy cast iron grill plate on my toe on the weekend oh my goodness I needed I needed the the styptic powder now the styptic powder is a common thing that people keep in case they accidentally nip the part of the claw that causes it to bleed so you can actually have a quick toenail and you can use that styptic powder or even just good old fashioned corn flour.
So if you don't have that styptic just grab some corn flour from the kitchen and you can actually dab the claw in that and it'll temporarily stop the bleeding so it gets a chance to coagulate so a good idea is to have that to stop bleeding one thing, another thing a bottle of saline solution I don't know how many of our listeners have contact lenses but usually we have a bottle of saline solution or some of the those separate capsules of it in the in the bathroom cupboard keep a couple of those in your first aid kit for your pet.
A very good idea, gauze pads very handy gauze rolls some scissors blunt tip scissors to cut those and my favourite thing given we're in Australia with some of the deadliest snakes in the world is to have not one but two snake bite bandages because you want to immobilize the part of the dog or cat or animal that's been bitten by a snake and get them to a vet ASAP.
Have you ever had to put a snake bandage on Ron?
RON: No I haven't but I think over the years the way of treating snake bite has certainly changed.
KAYE: Definitely has. Years ago it used to be a joke that you know a very bad joke that you know Joe Blow out in the outback gets a snake bite but um his mate says "Mate you're gonna die because I'm not going to suck the poison out."
It was the old fashioned joke about doing that but now what they've found is the important thing is to immobilize the patient, get them to a vet or a doctor if it's human so that the poison doesn't travel through the lymphatic system and slow everything down stop your breathing so don't worry about the type of snake or the antivenene that they use nowadays works on all snake poisonings and definitely don't try and kill any snake you come across because that's when most people get bitten.
RON: Yeah just leave the darn thing alone. Alright now talking about our pets and the little things that they can get like abscesses it seems that sharp claws have a lot to do with that so let's talk a little bit about that sort of maintenance when should we look at cutting the pet's claws and how do we do it?
KAYE: Okay, well first things first and we tend not to think about it but dogs actually have tickly feet and cats because both cats and dogs toenails need trimming and you should start very very early when they're kittens and puppies just gently playing with their feet while they're sitting on your lap make sure it's a nice comfortable thing and then once you have them comfortable with that when you see that they're starting to make a sound and you can hear them go tippity tap and going running across the floor that's when they need to have their toenail tips just the very tips trimmed and if you're a bit nervous about doing that get your vet or your vet nurse or your groomer to show you how to do it use your phone and record it so that you can play it back later and just see the angle at which you should trim the claw.
It's actually quite easy to do once you get used to it and you should also do the dew claw if your pet still has their due claws sometimes they're taken off there's sort of like a an unnecessary thumb if you like on a dog or a cat's paw around the ankle area but definitely get some good trimmers and a nice nail file or you can even get an electric one nowadays Dremels that are very very quiet you can actually gently grind the nails and that's another way of keeping them short so that they don't get overly long because if they get too long it actually is very uncomfortable and painful for the animal.
RON: Now a lot of people have been following the adventures of Valerie the Dashhound or 'Dachshund' who went missing for 500 days and then suddenly turned up, what lessons can we actually learn from her adventure?
KAYE: This is absolutely fascinating and you know there were so many well-intentioned people trying to capture Valerie she was spotted on CCTV cameras by would be rescuers many many times and every time they saw her and tried to catch her she'd run away. Now the thing is that animals when they're frightened go into survival mode and it means they're not thinking straight if you think about you know when you get a fright, you go "Oh no what will I do?" And that's what happened to Valerie, so every time people tried to get close she would run away.
Now luckily there's lots of wildlife and roadkill sadly on the roads in Kangaroo Island so Valerie actually was you know doing quite well and getting plenty to eat and drink and she managed to avoid getting picked up by an eagle or bitten by a snake we were just talking about that because Dachshunds are really very feisty little creatures they were bred to actually hunt small animals under the ground so they're a very very go-get him kind of animal, so the biggest thing I guess that they've determined is that they had to gradually win over Valerie's trust. They got her mother - her human mother - to wear a t-shirt for several days and then post it down to them and they put parts of that t-shirt very smelly t-shirt by then in a nice safe area they got Valerie's old bed they made a little area where Valerie would feel comfortable and then they were able to remotely trigger the trap.
Now what they then did is, they obviously notified Valerie's owners and they started doing crate training with Valerie because it turns out that Valerie who was only about one year old when she went awol had very bad separation anxiety and when she was left in a crate she escaped and went looking for her owners. Unfortunately that didn't go well however she is now doing very very well and the biggest lesson I guess out of it all is the very first thing you should teach your pet is a solid recall.
You call their name and you go 'C'MON! and you do a nice happy voice and you practice that but you practice it with a long lead on you practice it in your backyard or in your lounge room before you ever let them go off the lead anywhere.
RON: So they get to know the call to come home... I totally get it. I have that trouble myself! Kaye thank you so much as always for the advice and your insight Kaye Browne from VetTalk On-Hold
13 MAG 2025 · THIS WEEK:
Got a 'Scooter'?? you know, those dogs (or cats) that rub their 'bum' on the floor, beds or carpet??
It's probably diet related and affecting their anal glands! Kaye explains some solutions to stop 'scooters' in their tracks!
PLUS...
Why do dogs (& cats!) wee outside their designated places - like inside on the carpet or lounge legs!
Dogs in particular are attracted to the smell of their own 'wee' especially if they need to go 'urgently' and have lifted a leg or squatted inside somewhere before! But a new product seems to have helped solve the problem. An Aussie branch of the company 'HomeoPet' has taken out the top prize at the recent Global Pet Expo for the 'Best New Animal Product' that helps solve problems like runny noses, sneezing & more in our pets.
And Arthritis... As we move into cooler weather, do you know the signs to look for and what can we do to help our pets overcome or even just deal with this issue?
FINALLY - Is this the last RSPCA Million Paws Walk?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'06" - Scooters!... Not Hooters!!!
01'49" - No Pee?... No Problem!
02'56" - New Natural Product-'Sinus Plus'
04'09" - Arthritis - Signs To Look For
05'45" - Is This The Last RSPCA Million Paws Walk?
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from VetTalk On-Hold... and we really are going to get to the back end of things this morning Kaye.. Good morning!
KAYE: Good morning Ron!...
RON: Now if you're a pet owner you tend to be a 'poo and wee' watcher and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Whether it's birds dogs cats guinea pigs you name it! - Their poos actually tells a lot about the health of your furry friend!
KAYE: It certainly does because you don't want them to have diarrhea or anything like that, so you know people are always coming up with new products to actually firm things up so that the anal glands get expressed!
In case people don't realize at '10' and '2' on either side of a dog or cat's bottom are two little glands that have a smelly fluid that normally gets emptied when they do a number two.
If they get compromised or what they're eating doesn't push things out nicely, then they get clogged up and then the dogs and cats get very uncomfortable and they start scooting or licking or both!... So have you ever had that happen?
RON: Well yes I have actually! And there's the other thing where they rub themselves along the floor...
KAYE: That's right Scooting And there's nothing nice about it cuz it stinks It's sort of a a fishy smell...
RON: Oh that's what you call it scooting do you?
KAYE: Yeah Scooting!! absolutely and one of my dogs in fact a little rescue dog the paperwork that came with them said needs anal glands expressing weekly.
Well that was never going to happen I changed his diet had him checked out by my vet and once that happened he was fine.
He did not have to have them expressed, and I imagine that his previous owner might have had the odd bite because if you do it roughly then it can hurt, so it's always best to talk to your vet about anal glands.
RON: Now while we're talking about that end of our pets, weeing in the same spot... I mean you can see dogs going along and they know where they've been before and they know where other dogs have been and that always seems to be the favourite spot.
How do you overcome that issue?
KAYE: Well there is a new product I mean they're always coming out with new things over the years but we took a look at the Global Pet Expo which happens every year in Florida which is where the best of the best in the world get together to show off new products and they actually had a product take third place in the dog section for something called 'No Pee Indoor Permanent Dog Marking Prevention'
Now it's quite a simple thing really. It's basically a couple of layers of special deodorizers in a blanket and also a nice fresh scent and it means that the dog can't smell where he's been before!
RON: Oh what a great idea!
KAYE: What a great idea. It's not in Aussie shops yet but I think it is on Amazon here, ...so yeah - this is quite a good thing. And each one lasts about 6 months, so that should be enough time to retrain your dog.
RON: And while we're talking about new ideas I'll just touch on this...
An Australian company 'HomeoPe't took out the Global Pet Expo's top prize for a best new small animal product. Tell us what that's all about...
KAYE: This is wonderful news because HomeoPet is part of a global group of companies... it was started by an Irish vet some 30 years ago who looked at different ways of being able to come up with some things to solve common problems like runny noses sneezing you know difficulty breathing.
And this particular product that has got the best in show, is called 'Sinus Plus' and it is available in Australia.
In fact the company is based in Jervis Bay and it really helps all kinds of small animals birds guinea pigs rabbits dogs cats and I believe they've even got a large size for horses.
And it's a tasteless unscented product that either goes in the water or in their food or you can even put drops in their mouth and it actually solves the problem naturally without the side effects of say antihistamines...
So that's a good one to ask about HomeoPet Australia based in Jervis Bay.
Homeopet.com.au
RON: All right now, as the months get a little colder I know from my own personal experience all my joints start to go a little creaky... do animals have the same issue with arthritis and all those things that we get as humans.
Do they have the same issues going into these colder months?
KAYE: They do indeed! So it's very timely indeed to have a good look at your pet and make sure that 'A' they're not carrying excess weight because that does put extra stress on their joints and it is like us osteoarthritis does creep into their joints and it's a progressive disease,so there's no cure...
But what vets can do is use a wide range of products to actually slow down the progression of the disease and make life comfortable for our dogs and cats because cats can get it too.
So the whole trick is if you spot your dog starting to sit with their legs out to the side or they're reluctant to get upstairs or jump in the car...
Go and see your vet promptly, because there are so many new products now along with the old ones like the good old Pentisan monthly injections, but there are new products that shut off the pain receptor, so instead of the pain signal going up the spine to the brain, they can't feel it!
So it eases inflammation and helps sort of slow things down. So that's a good idea... plus you know make sure they've got a nice warm comfy bed well away from cold drafts... You can get heated beds nowadays like an electric blanket but a special one no true (electric) ones, and do make sure that they've got a really nourishing diet.
Not too many fats but omega-3 fatty acids are really helpful as well.
RON: Now Kaye, just one final thing... The RSPCA has got a big event coming up May 22?... tell us about that.
KAYE: Yes indeedy I think it's going to be on May the 25th which is Sunday because I think I may have put you wrong when I said May 22.
RON: Well I might turn up twice!
KAYE: Well I don't think you'll have to pay twice, but yeah it's quite an amazing thing because they've actually been running this now for about 14 years and there've been something like 750,000 people right across the country who've taken part in the Million Paws Walk each year.
Unfortunately you know... times are tough for everyone - Insurances are creeping up, so it's going to be the last one on May the 25th (coughs) Excuse me I've got a frog in my throat just thinking about it!
RON: Well those pets are everywhere aren't they? (LAUGHS!)
KAYE: But it's really cool because it does mean that they're able to raise a lot of money to help animals in need.
RON: Yeah All right Well I'll make that adjustment in my diary.
It is now the 25th of May for the Million Paws Walk for the RSPCA and of course as always we thank you very much for being on our program this morning Kaye Browne from VetTalk On-Hold... Thanks Kaye
5 MAG 2025 · THIS WEEK:
YUK!... How dirty water bowls can leave your dogs' sick!
It's true... while we tend to just 'fill it up every day', there are a number of hidden dangers not cleaning them every day as Kaye explains.
PLUS...
Why both dogs & cats (and kids!) benefit from regular play sessions... and is it possible to actually 'train' a cat like we do with dogs?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'07" - Dirty Water Bowl Dangers!
02'37" - Playtime Benefits for Dogs & Cats
03'42" - Training Cats - Can It Be Done?
05'45" - Pet Trivia...
THIS WEEK:
YUK!... How dirty water bowls can leave your dogs' sick!
It's true... while we tend to just 'fill it up every day', there are a number of hidden dangers not cleaning them every day as Kaye explains.
PLUS...
Why both dogs & cats (and kids!) benefit from regular play sessions... and is it possible to actually 'train' a cat like we do with dogs?
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'07" - Dirty Water Bowl Dangers!
02'37" - Playtime Benefits for Dogs & Cats
03'42" - Training Cats - Can It Be Done?
05'45" - Pet Trivia...
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from Vet Talk On-Hold... Kaye good morning!
KAYE:
Good morning to you too!
RON: Look I've noticed this even with some of my friends when we go around to visit, their pet bowls and their water dishes just don't seem to get the regular washing that we might give to our own cutlery or dishes after we have a meal and I'm wondering do the pets suffer the same... you know the bugs and all the things that we would get if we didn't wash our dishes a week at a time?
KAYE: It's a very good idea and good that you noticed because they can get a lot of really nasty things unfortunately now have you ever put your hand in a dog's water bowl for example and felt it all slimy,
RON: Ooh yeah!... it does get a bit furry doesn't it?
KAYE: Yeah well that's called a biofilm and if that's not removed properly your dog or your cat could actually get some sort of microbial infection such as a urinary tract infection maybe an ear infection even a bladder infection so it's not a good thing and I mean in an ideal world we'd all wash our dogs bowls every single day and our cat's bowls too but you know life gets in the way and sometimes it just gets topped up,
But there are some other things that you need to worry about as well and that is that respiratory infections like kennel cough can be shared when dogs bowls aren't properly cleaned or when dogs share bowls for example at the dog park or at a café...
You know the saliva and the nasal secretions can be quickly picked up and 'bam'... then your pet's got a problem.
RON: WOW!... Now are cats as susceptible as dogs to these sorts of things?
KAYE: Not quite so much. As you've noticed probably cats tend to do a lot of cleaning so they clean themselves a lot. They do then bring up fur balls, but you know that's another topic for another day, but what we do have to worry about is making sure that we've got good quality bowls.
Stainless steel is ideal because plastic can get scratched and then dogs and cats but mostly dogs can get little pink blotches on their noses where the chemicals in the plastic have actually leeched into the skin and it stops their nose being so black so it's called nasal dermatitis or plastic dish nasal dermatitis so good idea to maybe have a couple of stainless steel bowls or bamboo and actually give them a really good wash with soap and hot water every week.
RON: Let's talk about playtime with a pet. I mean it's enjoyable for everybody, but is it important in creating the bond with your pet to actually spend time playing with them?
KAYE: It definitely is crucial in fact to build trust and that bond because all of our pets be it a dog a cat rabbit guinea pig even a rat they become bored and bored animals can get up to trouble, so the whole idea is we should spend some time every day coming up with some games so that they can have some good time with us you don't have to worry about treats when it's a playtime thing because the treat is actually you.
They get to enjoy you. They look for you for fun and you know it's a good thing and there are lots of interactive toys and puzzles and food games that you can use for dogs and cats and for cats in particular they like those laser lights or feather on a string.
RON: Oh they'll chase anything won't they?
KAYE: Oh yes!... it's like hunting and occasionally you should let them win and let them carry away their prize!
RON: All right... now we've talked a lot about training dogs over the last couple of weeks, but we tend to overlook cats when it comes to training... can cats be trained?
I always get the impression that you are actually owned by the cat not the other way round so maybe it's us that should be trained by the cats!!
KAYE: Well it's sort of a two-way street really. If you look at it like this... behaviorists say that dogs are like toddlers really when you're training, whereas cats are like teenagers with an attitude to match.
They'll only do it if it's in their own interest, but yes you certainly can do it and there are few different techniques.
Bit different to dogs but I guess some of the most important things are to teach your cat to be gentle. I hear often about owners being bitten by a cat or perhaps a visitor being bitten by a cat because they didn't read the cat's body language, so an idea is to put some treat on the back of your hand even if it's just a bit of wet cat food on the back of your hand and then when the cat licks it you go gentle good cat and that's basically rewarding it for being gentle.
If it starts to bite or nip then you just gently move your hand away. Cats are smart... they'll pick up that word. You can do a similar thing that we do with dogs and that's "PLACE" - have some sort of mat that is the cat's place and when the cat possibly accidentally sits on it throw a treat and go "PLACE" - basically you're teaching it when it goes to that place and sits it's going to give something good so pretty soon you'll find that your cat's going to start sitting and going "Okay where's my treat where's my treat?"
And you do the same training with their carrier because they love getting into boxes and a good idea is well before you ever have to put a cat into their carrier get it out, throw some treats in and when they go in there you say "BOX" or "IN YOUR BOX" or some sort of words that they can start realizing 'hey good things happen when I go in the box'
RON: Wow that's so interesting.. I've never even thought about training a cat but thank you so much Kaye Browne. Now on our weekly pet segment I love all these little trivia pieces you've given us as well, like this one...
Having a pet in the home can reduce a child's likelihood of developing related allergies by as much as 33% … I would never have thought that... that is quite amazing figures!
KAYE: Yes.. because it's actually the pet's dander or dandruff if you like, that actually helps not inoculate kids, but certainly it builds up their resistance to all kinds of bugs and let's face it, we all played outside in the dirt and had mud pies when we were kids, so having repairs is a bit like having permanent mud pies!
RON: Ok, I'll keep that in mind! Kaye Browne, as always thank you so much we'll talk to you again next week! Kaye Browne there from VetTalk On-Hold
For veterinarians, vet nurses, pet owners and anyone who is more than passionate about pets and animals!
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