News - The Vet Group | Vets serving South West Victoria | Warrnambool | Timboon | Allansford | Simpson | Portland

Botulism: when Botox goes bad

What is botulism? Botulism is caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. It is present in the environment in the form of spores. In anaerobic conditions (no oxygen), these spores germinate into living bacteria that produce a neurotoxin. When cows ingest this...

Vaccine fever

General Health

While vaccinations are particularly topical as conversation fodder this year (will you get the Pfizer or the AZ?) they have played an important part in human and animal disease prevention for over 200 years. So let’s talk about the history of vaccines and how they...

Schooling at home 7.0

Uncategorized

Last August – in a series of dairy-themed posts to celebrate Dairy Month, we included links to some schooling@home ideas. With the state in yet another lockdown we thought it was worth sharing a few more suggestions with a bovine bent. For cooking...

Biosecurity: the Big Four

General Health

Farm biosecurity has three key aims: Prevent entry of disease, Contain spread if a disease does arrive on farm, and Minimize the impact of disaese if/when it occurs. When purchasing or agisting cattle, there are four key diseases that are important to be aware of:...

Winter is coming…calves and the cold

CalfWise

As the cold weather of winter starts to set in – it’s a good time to think about how calves can be affected by cooler temperatures. All animals have what is called a “thermoneutral zone” (TNZ). As shown in the picture below, it is the temperature range...

Salmonella in Dairy Herds

CalfWise, General Health

The Salmonella bacteria is a serious cause of disease in calves and cows. It most often presents as diarrhoea – in an individual animal or as an outbreak, with many animals falling sick. There are thousands of different strains of Salmonella: typhimurium,...

Calf colostral antibodies: how to get from none to lots!

CalfWise, General Health

Because of the structure of the bovine placenta, calves are born without any antibodies (aka “immunoglobulins” or “IgG”). Instead a calf relies on drinking colostrum, which contains antibodies that the cow has transferred from her blood stream....

The importance of diagnostic testing

General Health

Getting the correct diagnosis is an important part of herd health. This is both when investigating disease outbreaks or when monitoring herd performance. Below are just some of the diagnostic tests we have available at the Vet Group. Have a read and talk to one of our...

Forage crop diseases

General Health, HerdWise

It’s a bumper year for summer forage crops such as turnips, forage rape, millet, and sorghum. But these tasty feeds are not without their risks. Below are some diseases we can see when animals are grazing crop. Usually only a couple of animals are affected, but...

Colostrum: liquid gold?

CalfWise, Farm Services

We don’t like to say that something will be a silver bullet for preventing disease, but first-milking colostrum could be considered liquid gold! Colostrum is full of antibodies and white blood cells that help newborn calves fight disease. It’s also got more fat...

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The Vet Group Value Proposition

The Vet Group will offer a proactive full-service model that is built around preventative based medicine delivered through a consultative advice approach, which includes education & training to ensure we deliver the best in class veterinary services & the supply of product that requires a high level of technical advice, welfare & stewardship so that we can meet the individual needs of our clients & their animals.

Mission statement

The Vet Group works to be the most trusted & respected veterinary care provider in our community by administering the best possible medical & emotional care & giving outstanding customer service to every patient & client at every visit.

To deliver a high level of integrated professional expertise in animal health, production, business, & strategic management.
To be a provider & partner in delivering innovative & proven solutions to our clients that add value, are practical, cutting edge & sustainable.
To be consistent in our service delivery through excellent customer service & an internal culture of support, sharing of knowledge & never-ending improvement.
To provide a workplace that challenges people to be their best, provides training & career paths, flexibility & challenges as well as being a great place to work.

Our Values

Our company values define us as a business. They underpin all of what we do & guide us in our day-to-day activities. We acknowledge that our team is made up of individuals who have different responsibilities, strengths & weaknesses. We embrace these differences & stand by one another knowing our core values & goals are the same. As a team we can achieve much more together than we can as individuals. The values that define us are as follows:

Science & Value

We base our service delivery to clients on the foundation of veterinary science. Proven solutions that work for our clients & that add value. This is a core philosophy of our entire team. Every service & product we provide is approached in this manner coupled with a commercial focus to ensure the success of our clients.

Respect

Every workplace is unique, & employers & employees can show respect in different ways. There are some universal ways to show respect in the workplace & improve the levels respect within your team:

listen to what everyone has to say
pay attention to non-verbal communication
practice transparency
recognise the strengths & accomplishments of others
value the time & workloads of others
delegate meaningful work
practice common courtesy & politeness
prevent bias (even implicit bias)
include everyone in meetings, discussions, & celebrations
consider how others view you & your actions
help your peers

Enjoy & Be Part of the Community

We aim to make The Vet Group a professional & enjoyable place to work for our staff. We see ourselves as part of the local community & encourage all our staff to share this sentiment. As such, we regularly support a broad range of events, clubs, & community initiatives. It’s our way of giving back to the community that provides us with so much support.

Do it Once

We do not take short cuts – we do things the right way, the best way, first time round producing better outcomes for our clients & their animals. At times this might mean we take a little longer, or we use different equipment, or even we tackle those tough challenges as a team rather than individuals. In the long run, doing it once & doing it right is our approach which we are proud of

No Barriers: Find Solutions

Veterinary science is about solving complex problems & we never rest until we have done everything within our means to help deliver quality outcomes for clients & their animals.