Our Services
Rural Vets Australia’s mobile clinic travels throughout far Western NSW offering you the following veterinary services:
Companion Animals
Health checks
Rural Vets Australia offers comprehensive health checks from our well-equipped mobile clinic. Our convenient house- and station- drop-in service is designed to eliminate your travel and waiting times and to reduce pet stress associated with conventional vet visits.
Our health checks focus on the preventative health of your pets and working dogs. A yearly nose to tail examination can detect diseases and health problems early before they become more serious. The health check is also a great time for you to ask us any questions you may have about your pet’s health.
Each and every pet that is vaccinated with Rural Vets Australia undergoes a health check prior to vaccination.
Routine vaccinations
Canine vaccinations
To help keep your pet and working dogs safe from common infectious diseases, we routinely vaccinate against:
Canine parvovirus
Canine parvovirus attacks the gastrointestinal tract causing haemorrhagic (bloody) diarrhoea and vomiting. Severe dehydration and gastrointestinal bacterial infection are common secondary problems. Parvovirus affects dogs of all ages, but is most severe in puppies and old dogs.
Canine distemper virus
Canine distemper virus causes gastrointestinal, respiratory and neurological disease in dogs of all ages. Treatment is not always successful and permanent brain damage is potential.
Canine adenovirus (canine hepatitis)
Canine adenovirus (canine hepatitis) is a potentially fatal disease that causes vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and liver failure.
Parainfluenza virus
Parainfluenza virus is a cause of kennel cough. Affected dogs may have a harsh, hacking cough. It is compulsory to vaccinate against kennel cough if you board your dog.
Bordetella bronchiseptica
Bordetella bronchiseptica is another cause of kennel cough.
A yearly heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) prevention injection is also recommended in areas with high mosquito populations. Heartworm can cause serious and potentially fatal cardiac disease. If your dog has either not previously had heartworm prevention or there has been a break in prevention a rapid heartworm test is recommended prior to commencing yearly prevention.
Feline vaccinations
We routinely vaccinate cats with a F3 vaccination that protects against:
Feline panleukopaenia
Feline panleukopaenia causes vomiting, diarrhoea, liver failure and sudden death, especially in kittens.
Feline calicivirus
Feline calicivirus is a cause of the highly contagious cat flu. Calicivirus causes sneezing, lethargy, conjunctivitis and mouth ulcers.
Feline herpesvirus
Feline herpesvirus is another cause of cat flu. Herpesvirus also causes sneezing, lethargy and conjunctivitis but can also present with inappetance (lack of appetite) or permanent nasal and sinus infection.
Pastoralist, stock contractors and litter packages are available on request, so please get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
Microchipping
A microchip is the best way of permanently identifying your pet if they ever become lost. In NSW it is now law that all cats and dogs (other than exempt cats and dogs) must be microchipped by 12 weeks of age or before being sold or given away, whichever comes first Read more. The procedure of microchipping is quick and similar to an injection. The microchip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, is implanted under the skin between the shoulder bladers and normally can be done during your consultation.
We offer a microchipping service for both dogs and cats. We recommend microchipping puppies and kittens at the time of their first vaccination.
Internal and external parasite control
The most common intestinal worms in pets are roundworm, tapeworm, hookworm and whipworm. Intestinal worms can cause serious disease if the worm burden is high, especially in young animals or in animals with concurrent disease. Rural Vets Australia offers a range of cost effective intestinal worm controls for both dogs and cats.
We also stock a full range of flea and tick control products for both pet and working dogs. We will happily discuss your individual requirements with you.
Nail trimming
Nail trimming can sometimes be stressful for both you and your pet. We offer a quick and calm nail trimming service.
End of life care
We understand that your pets are part of the family and your working dogs have done miles of work for you, so quality of life during their twilight years is incredibly important. At Rural Vets Australia we offer compassionate pain management plans for your pet during the last stages of their life. We also offer a caring and personalised home euthanasia service for sick and geriatric patients.
Select pathology services
Rural Vets Australia’s well-equipped mobile clinic is able to provide select on-the-spot pathology services. We offer urine analysis, blood counts, cytology (e.g. ear swabs and aspirates from lumps) and worm egg counts. We also offer a range of rapid tests like pancreatitis and heartworm tests.
If blood or culture testing is required, we are able to collect samples and send these away for testing at professional laboratories.
Referral services for patients requiring intensive care
As Rural Vets Australia is a mobile clinic we may recommend referral of your pet to a brick-and-mortar veterinary hospital or specialist service. We will always discuss all the diagnostic and treatment options available to you, so that you can make an informed decision as to what is best for you and your pet.
Production animals
Flock and herd consultation services
Rural Vets Australia offers flock and herd consultation services to pastoralists and farmers through the far Western NSW. We are able to investigate causes of poor performance, reproductive wastage, ill thrift and death in livestock. Our disease investigations are focused at the flock or herd level and always consider the economic impacts and the labour unit factor of the treatment and prevention plans. We are also able to offer advice when developing nutritional and preventative health plans for your flock or herd.
We understand that distance and time can be a problem when you have a current livestock issue. To help alleviate some of these pressures we offer telemedicine consultations using the Phone a Vet app. We are able to discuss your specific flock or herd issues via videoconference, which allows the vet to develop a full clinical history and appropriately triage the situation for you. If poor reception is an issue for you, you are able to take photos and videos of the livestock and send them via the Phone a Vet app when you are in better reception Read more.
Ovine brucellosis testing and accreditation
Ovine brucellosis is a significant production limiting disease within many sheep flocks. Ovine brucellosis is a venereal (sexually transmitted), infectious bacterial disease that can cause significant ram wastage (subfertile and infertile rams), low lamb-marking percentages and extended lambing periods. There is no treatment for ovine brucellosis so prevention is key.
Rural Vets Australia offers ovine brucellosis testing for both commercial producers who want to ensure their ram flock is free from disease and producers who are involved in the NSW Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation Scheme. As part of our ovine brucellosis testing our vet will palpate your ram’s testicles and collect a blood sample for testing. Annual flock testing in the commercial situation is recommended.
If ovine brucellosis is diagnosed in your ram flock, we are able to work with you to develop a management and eradication plan for your property that considers disease prevalence, time until joining, your breeding objectives and ability to control the disease.
Pre-joining ram evaluations
Pre-joining ram evaluations are crucial in ensuring that your ram team is fit and healthy to join your ewes. Our vets are able to conduct quick but thorough inspections to identify any rams which are likely to have poor joining performance and can help assess the overall readiness of the ram team. Pre-joining evaluations are best completed 10-12 weeks prior to your intended joining period. Many producers will incorporate their ram’s pre-joining evaluation with their annual ovine brucellosis testing.
Farm Biosecurity plan preparation and reviews
On-farm biosecurity plans have become an integral part of the red meat industry. It is now compulsory to have an on-farm biosecurity plan if you are accredited with the LPA. Our vet can sit down with you to discuss and develop or review an achievable and practical on-farm biosecurity plan that is specific to your enterprise. Rural Vets Australia recommends an annual review of your biosecurity plan.
Livestock pain relief
Rural Vets Australia endorses the use of pain relief for potentially painful routine husbandry procedures in livestock. Contact us if you would like to find out more about available products and/or technical information.
The station visit
Our station visits are purely designed for pastoralists to get individualised animal health advice and veterinary treatments. Every station visit is different and is tailored to suit your specific requirements. Whether your rams are due for their pre-joining evaluations, the pet dog keeps scratching and your biosecurity plan is in need of a review; or you have a litter of puppies that need vaccinating and your rams are due for their annual ovine brucellosis test – we will happily create a station visit just for you. The station visit is also a great time to ask the vet any and all of those animal health questions you have been saving.
If you are interested in a station visit or would like more information please get in touch.
Phone a Vet app
Time and distance can be an issue when it comes to getting quality veterinary care when really you need it in far Western NSW. To help overcome these issues, Rural Vets Australia offers telemedicine consultations using the Phone a Vet app. Pet and livestock owners are able to book an appointment with our principal vet Sophie to get advice on the go, from wherever you are. The Phone a Vet app is a 15 minute videoconference, which allows the vet to develop a full clinical history, understand the current clinical picture and triage the situation. If poor reception is a problem, you are able to upload photos and videos that you have taken to the consultation when you are back in service. If you need veterinary advice and we aren’t scheduled to be in your area soon, why not book an appointment with us on the Phone a Vet app.
Mobile Clinic
Rural Vets Australia’s mobile clinic travels throughout far Western NSW.
If you would like to know more about our services or when the next Rural Vets Australia mobile clinic is in your area, please refer to our clinic calendar here or feel free to contact us to discuss your one-on-one requirements.