Lisa Whitfield - Farm Vet Services

22/10/2026

22/10/2026

We have had some stunning spring weather recently and it was a great way to start the day with what may well be one of the last calvings for spring.

This 7 year old Fresian cow was found down at dawn in the springer mob. The farmer saw she had started calving but as she was also suffering from milk fever (low blood calcium), she would need help to get the calf out. With the rest of the herd waiting to be milked, and no other staff available, we received a call to provide help, to keep the day under control and on track.

We headed out to lend a hand with calving her and treating the milk fever. We were lucky enough to extract a lively, live hereford bull after a bit of negotiating with it to hold still for the ropes to be put on.

The cow was treated for milk fever, and responded very well to her treatment.

One of the big advantages we offer with our veterinary service is that we pretty much always have two people on the job.

Both Jolanda and I have extensive experience working with large animals and in farming. Jolanda has over 25 years experience in Dairy Farming, including managing farms ranging from 210 cows upto 1500 cows in size. I have been a Veterinarian for 17 years and have worked extensively with large animals, including completing an Internship and a Masters degree to continue my professional development. I've also managed to squeeze in 3 years of dairy farming experience to help bolster my understanding of how farms operate on a day to day basis.

What this means for you is that if you are under pressure and just don't have time to get an animal sorted, we are more than capable of taking care of whatever is needed if you can't be there.

Lisa Whitfield Farm Vet Services - give us a call -we are here to help!

06/10/2026

Check out the latest, greatest addition to the top of our ute - a shiny new CAT scanner called Gus!! 🤣🐈‍⬛

Our ute also features portable WiFi to keep us connected to you while we are on the go in remote rural areas (like Bunnythorpe), and a solar panel to keep our fridge and wifi powered up.

Thanks supervising our call today Gus!

05/10/2026

Lily the wonder-mum, with her 4 very well-fed daughters

03/10/2026

An 80kg dairy X bull calf recently presented for a 2-day history of bloating and being off feed.

The owner reported the bloating had gradually gotten worse. They had treated it with pain relief, electrolytes and antibiotics with no improvement, and a gradual decline.

When we arrived to examine it, the calf was out in the paddock still - it was severely bloated in the abdomen, tight as a drum, with distension even across both the left and right sides of the abdomen. Amazingly it was still on its feet although it was so sick we could approach it and restrain it easily.

Initially a needle was used to relieve critical gas distension before the calf was transported in a trailer to a dry, covered area for further examination and ultrasound.

Once under cover, a tube was passed to see if more gas could be passed from the rumen, which it did quite well, indicating there was free gas in the rumen and no oesophageal obstructions.

Its temperature was 38.4 degrees celsius. There was a clear pinging on percussion of the lower right abdomen, under the ribs.

Ultrasound was used to scan the right and left abdomen. A large, fluid filled viscus was visible in the right flank, extending down from the top to ventrum. This was consistent with a distended abomasum. On the left side, a gas filled viscus was visible, consistent with a gas-distended rumen.

Given the strong surgical indicators the owner elected euthanasia ofthe calf and we were able to do a post mortem.

On opening the right abdomen, we were met with a massive distended abomasum sitting over a gas filled rumen.

The abomasum had what appeared to be a recent torsion. There were two green areas on the surface of the abomasum where it was evident more than just a twist had happened. On opening the abomasum, there was a thickened area about 15cm in diameter with partial thickness ulceration and infection, a large area of reddened mucosa adjacent, and the abomasal contents were dark brown.

30/09/2026

Lots of you spotted correctly - two testicle and an engorged Tick!

Ticks like are a big concern for Livestock - they can infest numerous species, can cause skin disease from infected bites, cause antler damage and deformities in deer, and are also transmitters of the blood-borne cattle parasite Theileria orientalis.

Normally adult ticks aren't seen until early Summer, so finding engorged adults now indicates they are well ahead in their seasonal cycle, most likely due to the relatively mild, dry winter we have had, and we may be in for a bumper tick season!

Ticks can be found on most livestock sporadically - cattle and deer most commonly badly but also sheep, goats, alpaca and horses, and occasionally on cats and dogs too.

If you find individuals on your animals, make sure to remove them properly, so the mouthparts aren't left behind in the skin of the animal. We treated this one with a touch of the disbudding iron which caused it to let go and fall off.

If you are regularly finding ticks, or find heavily infested individuals, there are treatments available which provide a prolonged kill off of ticks on the animals - if you need more information on products talk to your vet for advice!

29/09/2026

This calf, which was asleep for disbudding today, has 3 extras attached which need to fall off or be removed in the near future - can you identify them all?

06/09/2026

What do we do with our spare time away from work....!

Our doe Lily outdid herself, producing not triplets but quads! And all lively girls as well.

Now who has name suggestions for these 4?

24/08/2026

Introducing Leo and Lemon - two lovely, 1 month old lambs which are being reared by a local family as pet day lambs.

Leo had recently developed a dirty tail and the owner noticed he had developed diarrhoea. There had been no significant changes in his feed management - he had been on a consistent feeding regime and being fed appropriately for his age.

We were called to examine Leo after he started to go off his bottle. His friend Lemon had also developed diarrhoea.

On examination, Leo was bright and inquisitive. He had a normal temperature and was not dehydrated.
His navel was completely healed up and his lungs were clear.

While we were there, he provided a very watery f***l sample and then proceeded to keep straining for a few minutes afterwards.

We examined Lemon and found very similar findings, and she was straining excessively as well.

So what was bothering Leo and Lemon?

Given these lambs were a few weeks old, many of the usual viral suspects could be ruled out simply by their age. Nutritional causes seemed unlikely as they had been on a stable feeding plan, although they had been nibbling on some plants through the fence which could have been contributing.

We decided to take the f***l samples and look at them under the microscope to see whether any organisms such as coccidia were present.

Leo and Lemon were provided with some pain relief and as they were still feeding well, were left with free access to water and hay.

So what did we find down the microscope?

Coccidiosis!

Coccidia is a protozoal organism which lives in the environment and can affect lambs from as early as 3 to 4 weeks of age. The oocysts of the organism are readily visible down the microscope, so a diagnosis can be made quickly in conjunction with the clincial sign of diarrhoea.

Most often lambs will become immune to the organism without requiring any treatment whatsoever, however occasionally we will see cases such as this where the diarrhea starts to affect the lambs feeding and comfort levels, in which case treatment is required.

Leo and Lemon both received a dose of an anticoccdial drug called Toltrazuril. This usually only requires a single dose to effectively treat the coccidia infection.

While many weaning meals will contain a coccidiostat to prevent this, it requires lambs to be eating enough meal to get an effective dose, and is not a guarantee that a lamb won't get a clincial infection still. Any stressors such as cold weather, feed changes or social pressure can be enough for the organism to overcome what is typically dealt with by a good immune system response.

Leo and Lemon have a dedicated family caring for them. Calling for help with a problem before an animal gets seriously unwell from it is a great way to minimise the impact on the animals health and early intervention improves the chances of a full recovery dramatically.

All the best to Leo and Lemon as they recovery from their dirty back ends this week!