Lifestyle

Keeping your pet safe from ticks

Tick toxicity in pets can cause paralysis and death, usually within 3-5 days, so it’s vital to know what signs to look out for.

Words by Dr Gretta Howard Veterinarian I Twitter: @DrGrettaVet

Tick toxicity occurs when the paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) attaches to your dog or cat to feed. While they are feeding, the tick injects a poison. Approximately 5% of pets will die – so it is vital to know what signs to look out for and to have proven preventatives on board. Tick paralysis is found along the east coast of Australia and up to 20km inland. The natural hosts for this deadly parasite are possums and bandicoots. Since possums and bandicoots are widespread within suburbia, it is vital that your pet has tick preventative applied all year round. The lifecycle of the paralysis tick is approximately 12 months, with the adults being most active in the warmer months (spring/ summer). However, pets can be poisoned at any time, so it is a good idea to have tick prevention on board all year round.

What are the early signs of tick toxicity?

Pets may show some or all of the following signs, which usually occur within 3 days of tick attachment: • Vomiting (mainly dogs) • A change in the meow or bark (due to laryngeal paralysis) • Incoordination • Difficulty breathing • Paralysis If your pet shows some of these signs or you are suspicious of a tick, take them to the vet immediately, even if it means going to an afterhours emergency centre. The earlier the tick is located, removed and treatment is started, the better the prognosis.

Preventative products

In the last couple of years, a new group of tick preventatives have been released into the market resulting in a dramatic reduction in tick toxicity seen by vets. These are known as isoxazaline preventatives: • Simparica (monthly oral chew tablet for dogs) • Nexgard (monthly oral chew tablet for dogs) • Bravecto (quarterly oral chew tablet for dogs) Bravecto has also recently released a spot-on liquid for cats (which lasts 3 months) and dogs (which lasts 6 months). In addition to an isoxazaline, which requires the tick to bite the pet before it dies, I would also recommend a tick repellent product to prevent ticks from attaching: • Seresto collar (repels ticks for 4 months in dogs and cats*) • Scalibor collar (repels ticks for 3 months in dogs only) • Advantix spot-on (repels ticks for 2 weeks in dogs only) * For cats, the Seresto collar is currently only licensed for flea prevention, but the company is in the process of obtaining registration for tick prevention too. Products that claim to prevent ticks through ultrasonic means are misleading – they will not protect your pet. Set an alarm on your phone or write in your diary when your pet is due for their tick prevention, as a few days late may be too late!

Clipping

Clipping pets with long hair can be life-saving in tick season, as it isn’t possible to find all the ticks on your pet if there is a long or thick coat present. Many owners routinely clip their pet’s coat in the spring and summer. It is particularly important to keep the hair around the face and muzzle short as this is where the majority of ticks attach.

Searching

A daily search for ticks on your pet should be part of the health care routine, regardless of whether they are on a preventative product, as occasionally tick toxicity can still occur. This may be because the pet vomited the medication before it was properly absorbed. It takes approximately 15 mins to do a thorough search and this gives you three chances to find a tick before tick toxicity occurs. This is much easier if your pet has been clipped - start with the face, head, neck and shoulders, which is where 70% of ticks attach.

If you find a tick, remove it immediately either with a tick twister, or with a twist and pull action using your thumb and forefinger. Do not kill the tick first! 

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It’s a Belmond, beautiful world

I’ve never read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, but she was front of mind when I recently boarded the Venice Simplon Orient Express to discover this iconic train for myself.

Words by

Adrienne Witteman

Managing Director Trendsetter Travel & Cruise Centre 9428 5900 www.trendsettertravel.com.au

And as I sat in my compartment, traversing the north of Italy and then the mountainous terrain through Austria to France, I was content to just be. To enjoy the scenery that flashed past my window, and amazingly, capture some half-reasonable photos. Of course it is retold that Agatha Christie conceived her story when the train became marooned after flooding rains washed part of the tracks away. We had no such (bad) luck, though I still kept an eye out for Hercule Poirot. It was doubly thrilling to find that my room was adjacent to that occupied by the Dame on the journey which inspired her world-famous novel. We begin our trip with a boat transfer along the Grand Canal to St Lucia station. It’s a beautiful day and we’re feeling smugly optimistic about the wonderful experience we’re about to enjoy. Boarding any train is always busy, but with the assistance of the smartly attired room attendants we are soon in our rooms, awaiting tea and waving back regally to the interested gallery left on the platform. Is it my imagination that they look a little jealous? Tea is as regal as we feel. Naturally, the porcelain china cups and plates are a fine complement to the thirst quenching tea, delicious savouries and sweet-treats. This meal in itself turns out to be a mere prelude to more: a mouth-watering 3-course lunch, which is in turn followed by early evening pre-dinner snacks, another gourmet 3-course meal (dinner), a light continental breakfast and then a 3-course brunch featuring the chef’s signature lobster dish. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I ate it all – no surprises there if you’ve seen me lately – however it was all in the interests of market research (as I am sure you will understand!) The service onboard is exemplary, as you’d expect. Nothing is too much trouble for the multi-national crew who work long hours in cramped conditions. They are clearly very proud to be employed on this fascinating train. Our fellow passengers are a diverse bunch. Several have taken the suggestion of glamour very seriously – many men debonair in their dinner suits, several ladies bejewelled and elegant in long gowns and elbow length gloves reminiscent of ‘the golden age’ of train travel. They come from all over the world and you quickly glean that this is a bucket list trip for most, as they confess that yes, it is an expensive trip and more than they can really afford, but it has been a dream they’ve had for several years.... There is certainly no sense of snobbery. My room sleeps two in twin bunk beds, however I am single tonight so it feels relatively spacious. I sleep perfectly well, cocooned within luxurious bed linen on what is a couch by day and a bed by night. Stretching out straight would be a little tricky for the very tall. (I’ll be happy to book you into one of the newly renovated suites perhaps?) Unlike our rooms, which sport a masterfully designed washbasin with hot and cold water (there is a toilet at each end of each carriage), the suites have spacious marble ensuites. Luxury! The rooms are very well designed. Yes they are small, but you learn to be more tidy and can store what is not needed. Baggage can be checked through to the final destination, so you need only take an overnight bag - provided it will hold all your finery! In addition, Belmond thoughtfully provides many of the touches common to a five-star hotel, for example a cotton yukata robe and quality slippers. Both may be ‘souvenired’ on departure and I love how each day I am now reminded of my wonderful journey. Would I recommend the Belmond Venice Simplon Orient Express trip? In a heartbeat. It’s like nothing else I have ever done, but I would do again for the sense of nostalgia and romance , to celebrate a special occasion or to provide a journey highlight. There is much more to tell. Feel free to contact me at Trendsetter Travel (ph. 9428 5900) if you’d like to know more about this or any other Belmond rail journey. There are several exciting options and I’d be happy to further whet your appetite. 

Community shapers and sharpeners

The National President of the Australian Institute of Architects, Clare Cousins, recently commented on a remark by renowned architect Renzo Piano that “if a writer makes a bad book, eh, people don’t read it. But if you make bad architecture, you impose ugliness on a place for a hundred years.”

Words by Jon Johannsen Founding Principal of Architects Johannsen & Associates

Another analogy could be if a doctor makes a wrong diagnosis, the patient may continue to suffer repercussions. Yet we have planning and development systems that often fail to diagnose the differences that quality design can make to the wellbeing of our community - and to the health of the environment - exposing us all to future urban blight and associated costs on many levels. That is why Cousins, and many others, are promoting the role of architects as ‘city shapers’, encouraging the Institute and other organisations with an interest in urban development to pursue more investigation and debate on where politics, education, research and social and environmental sciences can contribute better to our future wellbeing. A Fifth Estate article recently covered these concerns and the ongoing advocacy needed for design professions to consider implications not just for places, but for the people who use them – and how they respond to the overall environments created. This is particularly critical for our public buildings and places where there can be a wide spectrum of ongoing impacts on communities. Concerns should also extend to the huge overlay of roads and public transport infrastructure being rolled out across Sydney at the moment, as many emerging precincts around the toll roads and rail or metro stations are unfortunately seen as by-products rather than real opportunities for quality public realm. An article by Barry Yeoman in October’s CityLab blog covered ‘How a Booming City Can Be More Equitable’. This has particular resonance when Australia has apparently just toppled Switzerland as the country with the highest average wealth. He referenced Pierce Freelon, founder of Blackspace in North Carolina, to whom ‘20th-century highway-building and 21st-century gentrification’ were regarded as ‘flip sides of the same phenomenon: the pushing of a city’s most vulnerable to the periphery by free-market forces that open an increasingly wide chasm of racial and economic inequality. “Community,” he said, “is about thwarting that trajectory.” Yeoman proposed that psychologist Abraham Maslow’s famous ‘hierarchy of needs’, with food and shelter at the top of the order as basic survival requirements, established the critical ingredients for a solid, well-rounded community. Food security is a serious concern with the fast diminishing sources of agriculture close to the city, but affordable housing in sustainable urban environments must also be high on a register challenged by homelessness and economic inequality. During October, the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI) ran a 10-day Architecture Hub symposium on the ways in which collaborative design practices and peer-to-peer communications can stimulate more social awareness, create catalysts for change and help boost local economies.

Keynote speakers from India, Iraq and Japan showed examples of visionary projects in architecture, public art and sustainable design that challenged narrow community views of how our urban environment could be improved. Local practitioners discussed affordable co-housing developments, materials technologies, robotic systems and concepts for more sharing and accessible environments for living, working and learning. A common thread was that design process and practice must focus more on community ethics, and people rather than products. If people are not happy or productive in their day-to-day environments, we all bear the burden through loss of productivity, diminished self-worth, decline of social and mental health, and the shared costs of ongoing repairs or replacement due to failure of the buildings we inhabit. Building community is an all-hands effort that requires buyin from everybody - elected officials, civic organizations, spiritual leaders, artists, businesses, along with a host of both advocates and critics of urban development. But to do this we need to lower barriers - to owning a home, to exhibiting artwork or craft, to launching a start-up, gaining a voice in public policy, or just feeling like you belong where you live. 

Building community is an all-hands effort that requires buy-in from everybody.

At the end of October, the Lane Cove Planning Alliance is holding a forum to give the local community a chance to speak their mind about what constitutes good planning, and the fundamentals of community and amenity. I expect that there should be plenty of feedback and material to dissect in next month’s TVO!