We would like to welcome a few new faces to our Cats in the City cattery team. Roxanne, Penelope, Kim and Michelle (pictured) have all come on board as cattery attendants to assist your felines in their luxury holiday accommodation. The four lovely ladies will be helping Jodie whilst Sarah is holidaying in Europe and over our busy holiday time. I am sure you and your furry friends will be very happy with our new additions.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are fast approaching and many pet owners will be traveling away from home without their pets. If you are boarding your pet at a kennel or cattery during the upcoming holiday, it is essential that your pet's vaccination is up to date. If your pet's vaccination is overdue, they will need a vaccination now and then a booster shot 4 weeks later before boarding would be considered.

Pit Bull TerrierYou may have heard in the media lately that changes have been made to the restricted breed dog laws. These laws classed Pitbull Terriers and Pitbull crosses a restricted breed. Until this year, there has been an amnesty for these dogs in order for existing dogs to be registered and declared. The ending of this amnesty means that new registrations cannot be made and unregistered dogs may be seized by the council. As the owner of a restricted breed dog, there are specific rules regarding how they must be housed and regulations about them being walked in public places.

News headlines from across the world have reported on a new study where dogs were able to detect lung cancer in humans by sniffing human breath. The research was conducted in a German hospital and reported in the European Respiratory Journal. The test involved 110 healthy people, 60 patients with lung cancer and 50 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Each person was asked to breathe into a fleece filled tube which absorbed the smell of the person's breath.

Did you know we have a DIY hydrobath? Our hydrobath is a high pressure bath system which allows you to leave all your mess behind. It uses high pressure soapy water to penetrate through the coat of the dog, washing away all the dirt and filth. Your dog's coat will be clean and shiny once again.

There has been a number of cases of cats and dogs falling ill and vomiting roundworms. Roundworms look like long white worms and are the most common worms passed on to humans. Pets can become infected by eating soil contaminated with roundworm eggs or eating other hosts such as mice or birds.

The Department of Primary Industries in Victoria has published helpful advice on their website on protecting your rabbits from myxomatosis. Read the article here.

We recently had a question from Deb, who has purchased an 8 week old Kelpie. Deb asked us, "How do I safely socialise my puppy given the current parvovirus disease outbreak?"

At a recent North American Veterinary Conference, Wayne A. Jensen, DVM, PhD, MBA, Chief Scientific Officer of Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) announced the commencement of a 13-year longitudinal veterinary study to examine canine cancer.