Manukau Veterinary Referral Centre

07/10/2026

🐾💙 VET NURSE AWARENESS WEEK 💙🐾

This week is all about celebrating the incredible people behind the scrubs — our MVRC nursing team! 🐾

At Manukau Veterinary Referral Centre, our nurses do SO much more than hold your pet’s paw (although there is plenty of that too! 🥰).

From placing IV catheters and intubating patients, to managing complex anaesthetics, monitoring patients through surgery, assisting with orthopaedic, soft tissue and dental procedures, taking radiographs, caring for patients through their recovery and making sure every instrument is cleaned, sterilised and ready to go again — our nurses are involved in every step of the journey.

And most importantly, they’re the people making sure your pets feel safe, comfortable and loved while they’re with us.

Together, these ladies bring an incredible mix of knowledge, skill, compassion, humour and plenty of cuddles to our hospital every single day. ❤️

Referral nursing isn’t always glamorous — there are long days, challenging anaesthetics, messy recoveries, mountains of instruments to clean and patients who definitely don’t read the surgical plan 😂 — but there is nothing quite like seeing a patient walk back through our doors months later, happy, healthy and ready to show us how well they’ve recovered.

To our MVRC nurses — thank you.
Thank you for advocating for your patients, for the round the clock cuddles, the careful monitoring, the reassurance, the patience, the teamwork and for always putting the animals in your care first.

We’re incredibly lucky to have you. 🐾💙

25/09/2026

🐾 MEET THE NEXT LOT OF MVRC STAFF CATS 🐾

Our staff cat family continues! Say hello to the next four members of the MVRC cat gang

BATMAN 🖤
Batman is our resident heater-jail enthusiast. You’ll often find her snuggled right up against the heater, hiding behind it as though she’s serving time for her crimes committed. She loves being a menace to her brother Bart, but cuddles and affection? Absolutely not. She’s an independent lady who knows exactly what she wants — preferably some milk and plenty of personal space.

LOKI 💚
Loki has been blind since birth, but you honestly wouldn’t know it! This little adventurer doesn’t let anything slow him down. He LOVES wearing his bow ties, exploring outside, climbing trees, chasing skinks and zooming along on his zip line. If he had it his way, he’d spend his entire life outside with his moo cows in the paddock! Loki is proof that a disability doesn’t have to stop you living a big, adventurous life.

PUMBAA 🧡
Pumbaa is one of the youngest members of the MVRC cat gang — by just 7 days! He loves playing with springs, exploring the great outdoors and hanging out with his best friend — the 6-year-old human of the house — and his dog brother Dougal.
Coming inside at night? No chance! Pumbaa would much rather stay out exploring, leaving a trail of floof behind him wherever he goes.

BART 🩵
Meet our neighbourhood watchman! Bart would much rather be out on the streets than safely tucked up inside during the day. He screams at his mum to take him to work every morning, spends his spare time provoking his sister Batman until she hisses at him, and firmly believes KFC is an essential part of a balanced feline diet! Can you tell who the younger sibling is?!

Four very different personalities, four very loved cats, and absolutely zero doubt that they all run the household!

18/09/2026

Friday Feature!

Last week we introduced the dogs of MVRC, the next two weeks we will have the cats of MVRC!

Lord Solar Goose the Destroyer:
Also known as Solar, owned by our head vet nurse Lisa. Solar is an extremely smoochy ginger boy with two great loves in life: attention and food (particularly cheese and lettuce). You can usually find him yelling at the wind, shredding paper or causing trouble with his little sister.

Noodle:
Noodle is owned by one of our nurses Carmen, and is a true neighbourhood explorer who loves nothing more than taking himself off to investigate everything his local surroundings have to offer. When he's not out and about, you'll find him enjoying social hours of espresso martini's with his humans, and being the purrfect fashionista with his bird collar - proving that style and adventure go hand in hand.

Ariel:
Ariel is owned by one of our nurses, Mel and is the oldest of the cat gang of MVRC. Even though she is 10, she is a curious little explorer who loves nothing more than heading off on an adventure, keeping a close eye out for birds! When she is not exploring, you'll find her play-fighting her older golden retriever sister, Indy, or curled up on a cosy blanket having a well-earned nap.

Andromeda a.k.a Moth:
Moth is the youngest critter for our head vet nurse Lisa, and the resident chaos goblin. She loves to beat up her big brother Solar, playing in any kind of water and having shoulder rides from her people. Her favourite toys include dirt and springs and even though she has limited vision in 1 eye, that doesn't stop her! She approaches life with the confidence of a cat who has absolutely no idea what's going on.

11/09/2026

Friday Feature! 🐾

Over the next two weeks, we thought we would introduce our staff pets. This week we are starting off with the dogs of the MVRC team! 🐶

Dougal:
Dougal is owned by our dental vet, Craig, and is a 10 year old Cairn Terrier. He likes to spend his days exploring on his own terms at the beach, or lounging at the pool with his humans.

Indy:
Indy is owned by one of our nurses, Mel, and is a 10 year old Golden Retriever. She loves to spend her days either at the park or beach, basically in any type of water, but enjoys cuddling up with her people or play fighting with their cat Ariel.

Lyra:
Lyra is owned by one of our nurses, Rentia, and is a 5 year old Labrador. She loves going for out on new walking adventures with her family, as well has splashing around in her water ball pit!

Ranger:
Ranger is owned by one of our nurses, Amy, and is a 5 year old Golden Retriever. He loves to chase seagulls (but not ducks) at the beach, going on holiday with his family, dressing up in outfits and resting his chin on his toy banana and caterpillar.

It's clear our dogs all have one thing in common - they're all about that water life!

03/09/2026

Meet Rentia! 💛

Rentia is one of our lovely new additions to our nursing team, who started with us part time earlier this year. She is a qualified veterinary nurse with over 4 years experience, working in both general practice and emergency care.

Veterinary nursing is something that Rentia is very dedicated to. "I believe every pet deserves to be treated with the same love, patience, and respect that I would give my own".

Rentia is passionate about low-stress handling techniques and creating a calm, positive experience for every patient.

Outside of work, Rentia enjoys spending time with her beautiful labrador Lyra, propagating plants, spending quality time with her husband as well as exploring local walking trails, parks, or visiting new beaches.

To get to know Rentia better, we thought we would ask her some rapid-fire questions!

1. Superpower of Choice? ⚡️
- The ability to shrink things... Purely so I could take Lyra everywhere with me. Tiny suitcase, tiny dog, big adventures 🐶✈️

2. What hidden talent do you have?
- Photography, I love noticing the little things and capturing magical moments. I also have a strong sixth sense and my intuition tends to be right.

3. All Blacks 🇳🇿 or South Africa 🇿🇦?
- All Blacks, obviously. Proud Kiwi, but I will always have a soft spot for South Africa

21/08/2026

📣Calling all Vet Nurses!!!

✨WE'RE HIRING!!! 🐾

We are on the lookout for our next superstar vet nurse to join our team!

One of our very talented vet nurses is heading off on her OE, which means we're looking for someone pretty special to join our team here at Manukau Veterinary Referral Centre!

If you're a qualified Veterinary Nurse who is looking for something different from general practice, this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for!

If you are compassionate, proactive, have great attention to detail, enjoy working as part of a team and are keen to keep learning and developing your skills, then we would love to hear from you!

Applications can be made via SEEK, or by sending a CV and cover letter to our team 🐾

Ready to step up to a referral veterinary nursing role?

31/07/2026

W H I S K Y 🥃

Meet Wh**ky - a very handsome 2 year old Red Retriever, who was referred to our dental team after fracturing his upper canine tooth.

When a tooth is broken, what we can see above the gumline is only part of the story. Even a fracture that appears minor can damage the pulp (the living tissue containing nerves and blood vessels) or the tooth root.

This is where dental X-rays are an essential part of assessing any tooth—they allow us to evaluate the health of the pulp and root, detect hidden damage, and determine the most appropriate treatment option for our patients.

Wh**ky's dental X-rays showed there was no pulp exposure or evidence of pulp necrosis, meaning the tooth remained healthy and alive.

Given the pulp was still protected, we were able to place an unfilled bonded sealant over the fractured surface. This acts as a protective barrier, sealing microscopic dentinal tubules and helping prevent bacteria from reaching the pulp, reducing the risk of future infection while preserving the tooth.

Every fractured tooth is different, which is why treatment should never be based on appearance alone. Dental radiographs provide information that simply can't be seen during an oral examination, allowing us to make the best decision for each patient and, whenever possible, save a healthy tooth.

Wh**ky was a wonderful patient, and with the fractured tooth now sealed and protected, Wh**ky can get back to doing what Retrievers do best—with one less thing to worry about 🐶💙

22/05/2026

🐾 R E M I 🐾

Meet Remi, a 8 month old miniature Australian Shepherd, owned by one of our vet nurse friends, but referred to us by the team at True Vets Ormiston

Remi was referred to us due to some enamel damage on his adult canine tooth. After a consultation with Dr Craig, it was discovered that Remi had a condition called Enamel Hypocalcification.

In Remi's case, the developing adult tooth had damage to the enamel (hard outside surface of the crown) whilst it was still forming. This meant the enamel was weakened and easily damaged. You can see where the enamel was damaged on the x-ray, as the bottom portion of the tooth doesn't have as much enamel as the top portion.

Damaged enamel can lead to dentin exposure, and sensitivity, which can cause pain.

Remi was placed under general anaesthesia, and dental x-rays confirmed there was no pulp necrosis (dead pulp tissue) - which was great news. The tooth was scaled and polished using pumice paste, and the damaged enamel was removed and smoothed with an unfilled bonded sealant applied.

Remi will need to have repeat dental x-rays again in 3 months time, to ensure the tooth is still vital (alive) and on-going monitoring will be decided from the updated radiographs.

Remi had a very good recovery, given he was surrounded by our team of nurses and was in the best hands at home with his mum being a vet nurse too!

13/05/2026

Why does my pet need to be in the clinic early in the day, if they aren't having surgery until the afternoon?

This is a question we do get asked often, and there are multiple reasons why many vet clinics, including ourselves do this.

Once we take your pet through to the hospital, we like to get them all settled into their hospital bed, so they become accustomed to their new environment, and settled in with our staff after leaving you.

From here, our nursing team spend many moments with them doing health checks, pre-anaesthetic bloods and setting up intravenous fluids before we even start tailoring the general anaesthetic plan to each patient. This involves reviewing their clinical history and any ongoing health concerns, discussion with the leading vet as well as the nursing team involved in your pets care.

Once the anaesthetic plan is made, all drug calculations are cross checked and then drawn up for each patient. Whilst this is still going on, we also have patients in for minor procedures, as well as those on the surgical schedule first for the day.

We pride ourselves on making your pet feel at home while they are with us. We make sure cats have a safe, quiet space they can hide away in, with cat friendly music playing in the background, and dogs are treated with the biggest plush beds for maximum comfort - like Bruce here in the photo, whilst listening to either National Geographic documentaries or Bluey episodes. We find the constant noise of these very helpful to help settle our patients.

We know how hard it is to leave your pet for such a long period of time, but know they are very well loved whilst they are with us and cared for as if they were our own 🐾