Southern View: July 13, 2023

4
Thursday July 13 2023
A BUSY WEEK
away from the clinic
Steve, Connor and myself recently
attended the NZL Veterinary Conference
in the Capital. My very first vet
conference, attending with my son. Was
a fabulous 3 days reconnecting and
sharing ideas with colleagues, learning
new medical treatments and more
about diseases, visiting the trade stands
and formulating our “wish lists”, and
spending time with Connor.
Steve tested Pomeranians through to
Great Danes, checking for diseases such
as:
• Distichiasis - an extra row of eyelashes
that are directed towards the cornea
(window of the eye)
• Cataracts - cloudiness of the lens which
is normally like a clear marble in the
middle of the eye
GOVERNMENT FUNDED: The Jobs for Nature scheme has provided $1.19
billion in Government funding over four years. ​
Nature work scheme
making a difference
I attended lectures on heart disease in
cats and dogs, airway disease ( BOAS)
in the Brachycephalic dog breeds,
anaesthetic regimes for cardiac and
respiratory patients, nutrition in heart
disease and the coughing dog. I actually
love being back in lecture theatre,
soaking up new knowledge, new
medications and what’s new in research.
In veterinary medicine you can never
know enough, and I realised early on
that to get the most of my job and help
as many patients as I can, I was going to
have to keep up the study and constantly
keep improving and bettering myself.
Which is what I have done for 33 years.
It’s the degree that just keeps on giving.
Steve also recently held an “eye testing”
day in Auckland, organised and run
by the Auckland Poodle Club. It was a
jammed packed, fun day, with 104 dogs
in attendance to have their eyes checked
by Steve for inherited diseases. Steve
started at 8am, finishing at 4pm with
only a 10 minute break. I joined as Steve’s
secretary, uploading patient details and
making sure the microchip numbers
matched the dogs.
• Retinal Dysplasia - the retina is the
“nerve” at the back of the eye that
collects all the visual information. Retinal
dysplasia with when the retina is not
formed properly when the puppy is an
embryo being formed
• Progressive retinal atrophy - a disease
where the retina starts to “die away”
when the dog is an adult. It is a little bit
like macular degeneration is people.
• Glaucoma - is an increase in pressure
within the eye caused by a blockage of
the internal drainage angle. This is nearly
always a nasty painful disease in dogs.
THE JOBS for Nature scheme has
provided $1.19 billion in Government
funding over four years to with an
aim to bring people into nature-based
employment and support skills training.
Mitch Thorn is one of a team of five
young people employed through the
scheme by the city council as part of the
Government’s Covid-19 recovery
package.
“It’s been a hell of an opportunity, we’re
really lucky I reckon,” Mitch said.
“The park rangers have got a lot of work
that needs doing and being able to have
five field crew put the hours in and get
stuff done on the ground has helped free
them up to work on other projects that
they wouldn’t normally have the time for,
which increases the conservation gain
from the wider team.”
Alongside him are Matt, Mackenzie,
Hannah and Georgia, who are all in their
twenties.
For 23-year-old, Mackenzie the variety
of her job is a draw card. Along with pest
plant control and animal control there’s
also planting, maintenance and habitat
restoration on the Port Hills and Banks
Peninsula.
Hannah was a summer seasonal ranger
at Bottle Lake Forest Park before starting
with Jobs for Nature in February last year.
She sees a future for herself in some sort
of conservation field work.
“Everything I’ve been doing is quite new
so I’m still learning all the different areas,”
she said.
Matt was also on a seasonal summer
contract before starting and welcomed the
longer-term position.
He enjoys wildlife and has since had
opportunities with city council ecologists
to do skink monitoring and bird counts
around Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere.
“Long-term I want to work with
wildlife in New Zealand. My wife is from
Zimbabwe so eventually we might end up
going there and I’d like to carry on doing
conservation work,” Matt said.
City council head of regional parks Kay
Holder said the Jobs for Nature staff had
been invaluable.
“The scheme has provided the
opportunity for 10 more staff to work
in Christchurch parks and natural
environments across the city. Not only
has this seen a great increase in plant
and animal pest control, planting and
maintenance, it has also given training
and learning opportunities to people who
will now be better placed to continue this
important work,” Holder said.
Steve has organised more clinics around
the country to eye test breeding dogs.
It’s very important for the specific breeds
and breeders that hereditary conditions
are identified are not passed on to future
generations.
Dr Michele McMaster BVSc
AT WORK:
Matt
preparing a
site on the
Port Hills
ahead of a
volunteer
planting day.
PHOTOS:
NEWSLINE
Open 7 days Cnr Hoon Hay & Coppell place ph: 338 2534
e. reception@mcmasterandheap.co.nz www.mcmasterheap.co.nz