Holistic Vets

28/10/2026

6 Helpful Superfoods for Your Pet

Raw meat: Cats and dogs are carnivores and so feeding them a balanced diet with fresh or pre-frozen raw meat can help to improve their health and vitality (there are some risks to be aware of when feeding a raw meat-based diet but once these are understood and avoided, there are many benefits). If your pet is used to commercial food then it is a good idea to make these changes gradually.

Garlic: has been shown to have some anti-cancer properties, has superb anti-microbial properties (helping with infections) and is also useful to help enhance circulation. 1 medium size clove of garlic per 25 kg of dog per day is a safe dose but high doses of garlic may be toxic.

Kale: is rich in anti-oxidants which help to combat free radical damage in the body caused by some toxins and day to day processes in the body. Unattended, free radical damage leads to wear and tear and a number of disease processes can begin. Kale has also been shown to clear carcinogenic substances form the body more quickly and slow tumour growth.

Broccoli: has compounds that promote anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity in the body. It also helps to flush out some of the chemicals that are known to cause some types of cancer.

Berries: have high concentrations of anthocyanidins which are powerful anti-oxidants with some fabulous therapeutic properties like boosting the immune system, boosting energy levels and have also been shown to have some anti-cancer properties.

Turmeric (curcumin) is a plant relative of ginger and has a number of therapeutic benefits being a powerful anti-oxidant and thereby supporting the immune system. It also has anti-cancer properties, has some anti-microbial effects and helps to ease inflammatory conditions like arthritis, asthma, eczema as well as improve gastro-intestinal function. Dogs can be given 50 – 250 mg of the dried herb 1 – 3 times a day and cats 50 – 100 mg daily.

Remember, dogs and cats bodies’ are adapted to eating meat and the gut content of their prey so while fresh meat is best fed raw, plant matter is best fed with some kind of processing like crushing or “blenderising” to help make the powerful phytochemicals available

Video:

In this video, I'll be looking at six superfoods you can feed your ...

21/10/2026

What to Do if Your Pet Has an Abscess

Occasionally dogs develop abscesses but cats are prone to getting them and sometimes it can make them feel quite sick and sore.

Abscesses are usually the result of puncture wounds, with cats they are commonly inflicted during cat fights. Infection starts under the skin and pus accumulates as the body tries to fight off the infection. It is very painful when a lump forms, pressure builds and there’s nowhere for the fluid to go.

Generally, most abscesses burst on their own which provides great relief. Sometimes you can feel a scab over the area and when you pull it away pus comes out. Once an abscess is draining cats and dogs will often lick and clean the area which assists with healing. You can help by wiping the area clean twice a day with warm water and a swab or cotton wool pad.

If your pet is unwell, painful, feverish, off their food, lethargic or the abscess hasn’t burst then a visit to the vet can help them to feel a lot better. We often treat cat abscesses by surgically lancing and draining them under sedation or anesthetic because they can be so painful. Sometimes we need to remove dying tissue which promotes more rapid healing and resolution of the infection. The wound will often be left open to encourage drainage and sometimes we place a special surgical drain to assist this process.

Anti-biotics may be needed to help clear up a bad infection but complementary therapies like homeopathy, herbal medicine, ozonated gel, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and others can help to make a big difference and encourage healing.

Pets with healthy immune systems may be much less prone to developing abscesses and often heal very quickly. Optimal immune system function can be supported by feeding a wholesome, balanced diet with optimal amounts of immune supporting nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Another important strategy to help support a healthy immune system is to provide your animal with a comfortable and stress-free home environment.

With cats, this can be difficult in suburbia as the neighborhood may be densely populated with cats and fights are often inevitable. Ensuring that you don’t have too many cats in your home, that they all have a safe place to rest and in and retreat to and that your surrounding neighborhood doesn’t have stray / un-owned cats is important. Desexing cats can make a big difference to their territorial behavior like fighting and is very important to promote a healthy environment for cats.

Points to remember if your pet has an abscess:

If it is unwell, lethargic or off its food then take it to the vet

If you can feel a scab over the abscess gently pull it off as this may allow drainage

A draining abscess is much more comfortable and if kept clean it often heals on its own

Sometimes anti-biotics are needed but therapies like homeopathy, herbal medicine, ozonated gel, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and others can help to make a big difference and encourage healing.

Pets with healthy immune systems may be much less prone to developing abscesses.

Preventing abscesses by supporting your pets’ immune system with a healthy diet and preventing cat fights and trauma is always better than cure but if they do develop an abscess and feel poorly, a visit to the vet can help to make them feel a whole lot more comfortable.

Video: What To Do If Your Pet Has an Abscess -

Your pet getting an abscess is no fun for them or for you! But it's...

13/10/2026

Is Your Cat Clawing Your Couch?

Video: https://youtu.be/OdHpwUCIhY4?si=f28CsF0BO6FB51uL

Cats often claw at furniture as part of their natural grooming behavior, helping them to maintain healthy nails. This behavior may also be habitual and overly destructive and as many of you know, while dogs are generally only too pleased to do as their owners wish most of the time, many cats are much less willing to oblige... “dogs have owners and cats have servants”!

Starting your kitten off with a scratching post at a young age will help them learn that this is an appropriate object to use, especially with positive re-enforcement like praise. Cat nip (a plant that has special properties inducing a state of relaxation in many cats)can be a useful addition to the scratching post.

If your cat is an indoor cat then regular manicures and pedicures are important to help prevent claws getting too long, uncomfortable, stuck in the carpet and also used to scratch furniture. Cats, mainly having white claws make it easy to see the pink part closest to the toe which is painful and bleeds if it is cut but trimming nails lower than this is often an easy way to prevent undesirable cat nail activity!

Sometimes negative re-enforcement of inappropriate behavior is also useful like having a water pistol to sq**rt the cat when they scratch the furniture. BUT it is important that sq**rting is done “on the sly” without emotional reaction otherwise cats can sometimes use scratching inappropriately as an attention seeking behavior – a double edged sword!

If you're tired of your cats scratching the furniture, then this vi...

08/10/2026

A vet clinic can’t function without its nurses, and our vet nurses are simply amazing. 🐾😍
They are our powerhouses… from meeting you on the phone or reception, caring for your pet through surgery, nail trims, teaching puppy classes to giving heartfelt hugs at sad times, supporting our vets and all the rest. 💖
You are the best!
Happy Vet Nurse Awareness Week to all the fabulous nurses!

07/10/2026

Cancer and your pet
Videos:
Top Tips For Preventing Cancer In Pets - Part One
Top Tips For Preventing Cancer In Pets - Part Two
Cancer in our pets, as with us humans, is a fairly common occurrence nowadays. There are many factors which contribute to this increasing trend including poor nutrition, genetics, pollution in our environment and infections, to name but a few.

Cancer develops when a cell begins to grow and divide out of control and isn’t stopped and contained by the immune system. The cell can be from any part of the body, and each type behaves in a characteristic way, either growing quickly and spreading rapidly (malignant) or growing slowly and not spreading (benign).

For example, dogs can develop a type of bone cancer which grows rapidly and then spreads to the lungs which is very life threatening, while cats with white noses and ears are prone to developing skin cancer in these areas which occasionally spreads to other organs but if caught early can be well controlled. Older animals often develop skin lumps which are benign and as long as these lumps don’t bother them, they can be left alone.

A diagnosis is made by having various samples analyzed including small amounts of fluid drawn from a lump (fine needle aspirate), tissue samples cut out (biopsy)and blood samples. X-rays, ultrasound and other diagnostics may also be needed.

After a diagnosis is reached, the conventional approach is to remove as much of the cancer from the body as possible. This is done in a variety of ways including surgery, cryotherapy (freezing), radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Depending on how benign the cancer is and the stage that it’s at, these techniques can be successful but underlying issues that may have allowed the cancer to develop in the first place need to be addressed… To read more please click here.

01/10/2026

Our wonderful Linda AKA Vet Nurse / Behaviourist / Groomer will be at Groomfest this weekend AND is giving a talk on Sunday at 11:30am! Visit https://thegroomersshop.co.nz/pages/groomfest-nz?srsltid=AU7gw4Xb9Ub-YZjpy36NnLVU-EDosNJvcxdFXZhldnCW2H18ejCO-SKv for more details 🥰🐾🥰🐾

01/10/2026

Check out this months' newsletter!

*What to Do if Your Pet Has an Abscess
*6 Helpful Superfoods for Your Pet
*Is Your Pet in Pain?
*Dotterels / Tuturiwhatu Pukunui at ARRC Wildlife Trust
*Dr Liza’s Vet Tales Excerpt – Holistic Veterinary Service’s New Premises and Mobile Service!

I love spring with all the beautiful blossoms and nature coming alive including our birdlife! ARRC Wildlife Trust’s work starts to ramp up at this time of year with orphaned and injured birds including Tui who cause themselves injury when fighting and coming in collapsed with Rhododendron toxicity...

30/09/2026

What to Do if Your Pet Has an Abscess
Video: What To Do If Your Pet Has An Abscess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJbVE_i4n8

Occasionally dogs develop abscesses but cats are prone to getting them and sometimes it can make them feel quite sick and sore.

Abscesses are usually the result of puncture wounds, with cats they are commonly inflicted during cat fights. Infection starts under the skin and pus accumulates as the body tries to fight off the infection. It is very painful when a lump forms, pressure builds and there’s nowhere for the fluid to go.

Generally, most abscesses burst on their own which provides great relief. Sometimes you can feel a scab over the area and when you pull it away pus comes out. Once an abscess is draining cats and dogs will often lick and clean the area which assists with healing. You can help by wiping the area clean twice a day with warm water and a swab or cotton wool pad.

If your pet is unwell, painful, feverish, off their food, lethargic or the abscess hasn’t burst then a visit to the vet can help them to feel a lot better. We often treat cat abscesses by surgically lancing and draining them under sedation or anesthetic because they can be so painful. Sometimes we need to remove dying tissue which promotes more rapid healing and resolution of the infection. The wound will often be left open to encourage drainage and sometimes we place a special surgical drain to assist this process.

Anti-biotics may be needed to help clear up a bad infection but complementary therapies like homeopathy, herbal medicine, ozonated gel, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and others can help to make a big difference and encourage healing.

Pets with healthy immune systems may be much less prone to developing abscesses and often heal very quickly. Optimal immune system function can be supported by feeding a wholesome, balanced diet with optimal amounts of immune supporting nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants. Another important strategy to help support a healthy immune system is to provide your animal with a comfortable and stress-free home environment.

With cats, this can be difficult in suburbia as the neighborhood may be densely populated with cats and fights are often inevitable. Ensuring that you don’t have too many cats in your home, that they all have a safe place to rest and in and retreat to and that your surrounding neighborhood doesn’t have stray / un-owned cats is important. Desexing cats can make a big difference to their territorial behavior like fighting and is very important to promote a healthy environment for cats.

Points to remember if your pet has an abscess:

If it is unwell, lethargic or off its food then take it to the vet
If you can feel a scab over the abscess gently pull it off as this may allow drainage
A draining abscess is much more comfortable and if kept clean it often heals on its own
Sometimes anti-biotics are needed but therapies like homeopathy, herbal medicine, ozonated gel, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and others can help to make a big difference and encourage healing.
Pets with healthy immune systems may be much less prone to developing abscesses.
Preventing abscesses by supporting your pets’ immune system with a healthy diet and preventing cat fights and trauma is always better than cure but if they do develop an abscess and feel poorly, a visit to the vet can help to make them feel a whole lot more comfortable.

Your pet getting an abscess is no fun for them or for you! But it's...

22/09/2026

Digestive Upsets and What to Do

Video: Top Tips for Digestive Upsets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zTd5yB9g6k

With any dis-ease, a gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) upset is the body’s way of saying that something is wrong. With vomiting and diarrhea, it’s generally nature’s way of cleansing out or ridding itself of something that is causing irritation or upset. Vomiting occurs when the disturbance is in the upper GIT, while diarrhea develops when it’s in the lower GIT.

There are a number of reasons for GIT disturbances, some due to longer term (chronic) problems such as food intolerances, inflammatory bowel disease, worms, organ failures and others which occur more suddenly (acute) such as toxins or poison exposure, something being stuck like as a fur ball, various infections both bacterial and viral, rotten food being eaten or even simple things such as stress or a sudden diet change, especially common in young kittens.

If your dog or cat is still relatively bright and the vomiting or diarrhea is not profuse, it may be possible to help to support their body and let it run its course. If your animal is collapsed, vomiting profusely, has blood coming out or is straining unsuccessfully then seek the advice of your vet as soon as possible. To read more please click here.

In this video, I'll be covering my top tips for digestive upsets in...

15/09/2026

When the Time Comes to Say Goodbye

As animals age, their ability to maintain health and vitality becomes limited and growing old gracefully can be a challenge! An older animal in the wild becomes slower, less able to hunt or graze, and keep up with their peers. Subsequently their condition deteriorates further and the natural cycle is that they do not survive for very long.

Keeping animals outside of their natural environment places the responsibility upon our shoulders to ensure that their care and maintenance is of a high enough standard to allow for quality of life.

When animals are old and ill, it can be difficult to know “when it is time”. I often tell my clients that they will know when the time comes as they will see it in their pets’ eyes and most of them do but having veterinary guidance can be very helpful. It can also be helpful to have some way to quantify their quality of life by giving them a “quality of life score” each day ie. If they are happy and bright, moving around easily and eating well then, they would score a 10/10 but if they are lethargic, not eating and poorly responsive then they would get a 1/10.

When it is no longer possible to preserve an animals’ quality of life, it becomes necessary to consider euthanasia, as it is the quality of their life rather than the quantity which is of utmost importance. This can be a difficult decision but is often a kind release from the pain and discomfort that some aged animals ultimately suffer from.

For our patients, we often do a home visit as pets are at ease in their home environments and it is a special time for their family to be with them and give gratitude for their life of companionship with a gentle euthanasia process. I am often amazed by how many old dogs meet me at the front door when I arrive and almost guide me to their bed almost saying “thanks for coming, let’s do this, I am ready”.

We generally sedate our patients which involves injecting a small amount of sedative with a tiny needle so that when we give the next injection, an anaesthetic with a larger volume to inject, they are sleeping comfortably and oblivious to further intervention. It usually takes a few minutes for the sedative to work and then we raise a vein and inject the anaesthetics which puts them into a much deeper sleep and ultimately stops their heart.

This is generally a very peaceful process and remembering all the happy memories at this time can often be helpful for the pets’ family to deal with their grief. Although this can be such a difficult time, many pet owners feel a great sense of relief as they end their pets suffering with love and dignity.

Video:

https://youtu.be/I7qwDjAzb7Q?si=kAy4eA_9fLnRvUD4