Barkes Corner: 07 543 0026 | Brookfield Vets: 07 576 1818
Pets & Stories
Stories from our Pets and Vets
Here at Barkes Corner & Brookfield Vets, we’re passionate about helping your pets and animals to heal, recover and feel better. As animal lovers, we love hearing tales of your pets. Read through some of our pet stories below to discover the triumphs, hard work, hugs and laughs that go into running a busy veterinary hospital.
Our Hero Max
Over the last year, Max has donated 2 pints of blood, helping to ensure the ongoing health of two other dogs.
At a fit, healthy 39kg at eight years old, Max is a prime candidate for blood donation.
Blood transfusions are crucial for pets - did you realise your pet could be a blood donor? Call us for more details. Your pet could be a lifesaver too, how cool would that be!
Marlo The Chinchilla
We would like to say a big thank you to Martin and all the staff at Barkes Corner Vet Hospital who helped us with our baby chinchilla Marlo. Just 2 days after bringing him to his new home he broke his leg. Martin came up with a perfect concept to keep his leg together to heal. Now he is all happy bouncing around again. Thank you so much.
Regards
Jessica Maclennan
Marlo the chinchilla unfortunately caught his back foot in the wires of his cage. This resulted in a fracture to his tibia and fibula bones (shin bones) of one of his hind legs. Chinchillas are medium sized rodents that originate in countries of the South American Andes mountains such as Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
They have luxurious fur coats and are generally nocturnal animals. An adult chinchilla weighs about 400-600g
which is about the size of a large rat. Marlo is a young juvenile male who weighed 300g
at the time of the accident. The tibia bone was only about 3mm diameter in the area that it fractured!
The tibia is the most commonly fractured bone in the chinchilla. It is a relatively long bone and has little muscle and soft tissue covering it in some places. Bandages and splints are difficult to apply to small mammals and may not provide adequate stabilisation of the bone.
Considering this and the fragmented type of fracture present, I decided to apply an External Skeletal Fixator (ESF) to the bone. Small metal pins were passed through the bone and bent over.
Epoxy putty was used to bind the pins together so the fractured ends of the bone were held still to allow the bones to heal. I was a little concerned that Marlo might decide to chew the putty that was holding the pins together but luckily he was a great patient and left it all alone.
4 weeks
after surgery I re-xrayed Marlo’s leg. The fractures had completely healed and the tibia bone had already remodelled so that the original fractures were difficult to see. I removed the ESF from the leg. The tibia was weakened compared to normal so Marlo needed some quiet time after the pins were removed.
The ESF protects the fracture site well but also relieves much of the normal weight bearing forces. This can cause the bone to be weaker initially but this improves as weight bearing on the leg increases.
This was a great case to manage. It combined 2 of my special interests – exotic companion mammals and orthopaedic surgery. A big thanks to Marlo’s human family for agreeing to repair his fractured leg.
Martin Earles – Marlo’s Vet
Xray immediately after surgery
Xray 4 weeks after surgery
How we meet Angela and her furry friends
Submitted by Angela Riddle, July 20th 2016
Three and a half years ago, we moved from the Waikato to a lifestyle block here in Tauranga. I remember two things being uppermost on my mind; One, to find a good doctor and two, to find a good vet (and not necessarily in that order).
Not long after 'the move' the need arose for one of my cats to be seen by a vet and not yet having that network in place, I picked up the phone book and rang the closest. Little did I realise the importance of that choice.
It turned out to be the beginning of a valued relationship with the skilled team, with pets and their people, at this very special practice. It takes special individuals to understand my foibles when it comes to my animals, and believe me when I say I am well catered for at Barke's Corner! They totally won my heart when a sepa-rate waiting room for cats was included when the hospital got a refurbish.
Over the past three and a half years I have received exceptional attention for one particular cat, who has persistent herpes in his eyes, (not to mention many a tear in my own)! Plus furnishing a contact with a top gun cat/dog eye specialist from Massey for my boy's unusual and chronic need.
It did not take long at all to be-come secure in the knowledge that I can pick up the phone and be dealt with in a professional, yet welcoming, first name basis. They 'have my back' when the time comes for professional input for my charges, no matter what the crisis.
I arrived virtually unannounced and they immediately made room for me and the kitten.
Thanks to the skilled hands of Peter Jackson who cleaned her infected wound, closed with a dozen tidy stitches in this wee dot of a kitten, the tear left by a 'very close call' bullet and reattached muscle, she has made such an amazing recovery! Without the intervention of my friends at Barke’s Corner She would simply not have made it.
If I’m ever Asked to recommend a vet practice in the Bay (and I hope I am), no Prizes for Guessing which one that would be. Barke’s Corner Veterinary Hospital every single time!
Brookfield Vets
Brookfield Shopping Centre
Otumoetai Road, Tauranga
(07) 576 1818
