Free courses for vets and nurses

I know, I know...this is hardly the time of year to be posting about academic pursuits BUT since I am engaging in a genuine "nerd's Christmas" I'm going to put it out there (if you're reading this blog, chances are you are just as much of a nerd). Through its Accelerate program, Bayer are offering short, online courses on a range of topics including endocrinopathies, anaesthesia and dermatology at http://www.bayeraccelerate.com.au/

I can thoroughly recommend the dermatology courses and am planning to hit endocrinology (hyperthyroidism, adrenal disease) next. They're not overwhelmingly challenging courses - I print off the notes, read them in the bath, come back and watch the videos then do the quiz, and it takes around an hour - but they're excellent revision. While they are sponsored by a big pharmaceutical company the actual lecturers are free agents and they don't spruik Bayer drugs in the demos.

The above pic is a domestic short hair (anaesthetised) having a thyroid scan prior to being injected with radioactive iodine to treat hyperthyroidism.

A bone to pick with dog walkers

This morning I headed down to the local dog walking park to catch the scenary. I'd planned an hour-long powerwalk so I left my elderly four-legged companions at home. Why? Because they can't keep up. They get a shorter, slower, stop-and-smell-the-flowers walk later on. So it was dismaying to see not one, not two, but at least three dog walkers this morning, all decked out in their fitness gear with ipods insulating them from the rest of the world, walking at a fast pace while their arthritic dogs bunny-hopped, limped and panted behind them.

Maybe, a few years or months earlier, these dogs might have kept pace with their owners, but degenerative joint disease has set in. A plea to dog walkers then: pay attention to your dog and try to work out his or her limits. Don't hurt the poor dog trying to kill two birds with one stone (the obligatory dog walk, the exercise regime) - they may not be compatible.

And there are now plenty of things that we can do to help dogs with degenerative joint disease. Aside from weight loss (less calories in, more calories out) there are nutraceuticals (eg glucosamine, joint guard diets), pentosan injections, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and even acupuncture that can make them more comfortable and potentially slow the progression of degenerative joint disease.

More animal-themed street art

Yes folks its the weekend so blogging is light on but here is another little gem found on a wall beneath a railway tunnel in Sydney's inner west...