ruralnewsletter

TB update

Lookout for pinkeye

Covexin 10 use in

export heifers

Knockout drenching?

www.vetlife.co.nz locally owned and operated

February 2015 | Issue 71

Contents

I would like to take this opportunity to sow the seed that when it comes to the efficiency of beef breeding cow herds, there is more than just the �dry rate� that matters.

Take for example a herd of beef breeding cows where more than half calve in the second half of the calving period. Compare that to one where more than half the herd calve in the first half of the calving period.

Which would we prefer?

Some would say that if the grass is not available then the later calving herd would be preferable.However, it has been clearly demonstrated that the most efficient herd is one that calves fast and hard at the front-end, even if the start of calving needs to be delayed to match grass growth.

So, the correct answer is the fast calving herd is always the most efficient.

Remember too that as the average calving date moves later into the calving spread, then more cows spill over to being dry so a double whammy happens.

How do we measure in calf rates?

The simplest method is to scan the cows about six weeks after the designated measure periods. Yes, this does result in at least one extra scan but the value derived from that is huge. Practical measures often interfere with another muster and that may not suit many clients, but increasingly we find the beef herds are becoming more and more handy to yards as farms intensify.

The rewards?

Body weight at weaning in the calf, better utilisation of the spring grass flush, and

improved calving rate which dramatically improves the ability to get in calf again next mating. The list has other merits� overall increased herd efficiency.

When does a refined system like this result

in rewards?

The big basics of herd management need to be sorted first: trace elements, parasitism, body condition score, sound bulls being used for mating, genetics and vaccination against known diseases (e.g. BVD).

How does your herd compare to others?

Beef breeder herd owners may only at best know a wee bit about the neighbours. Unfortunately, there is no national database available where regional information or national data is available to understand how any one enterprise is working.

Concluding comments

Vetlife has taken a lead support role with the Fodder Beet Club, headed up by Dr. Jim Gibbs. To that end we will be seeking interested farms both through that Club and across the Vetlife practice - farms interested in benchmarking beef breeding cow performance data, would you be keen?

If so please contact our colleague Dr Bernardita Saldias at our sheep and beef consultancy arm - FarmQuest Ltd, bernardita.saldias@farmquest.co.nz

Warm regards,Adrian Campbell

Beef breeding cow herd efficiency - is it

just the number of dry cows that matters?

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

2

Practice Principal

Adrian Campbell (Vet)

If you would like to advertise please send expressions of interest to the editor at: vetlifenews@gmail.com

Permission is required from Vetlife for copying and reproducing articles contained

within this Vetlife Rural Newsletter.

Every effort is made to ensure that information contained in this publication is true and accurate. However this publication should

not be solely relied upon as a source of information. We encourage all readers to discuss with a veterinary professional

before acting on information published herein.

Beef breeding cow herdefficiency - is it just the numberof dry cows that matters?....................2

The big dry ..........................................3

Theileriosis update: recap ofspread, what is it and whyshould I be aware of it? .......................4

TB update............................................5

Lookout for pinkeye ............................6

Hot, hairy bull enables majorscientific discoveries ............................7

Covexin 10 use in export heifers..........8

Knockout drenching? ..........................9

Sheep and beef (and deer)farm advisors with a veterinary background .......................................10

Hot off the press fromthe LUDF!..........................................10

Comments and feedback ...................12

Contacts ............................................12

Writing about the weather is always a risky business but as I sit here tapping away, the sun is shining and the ground is dry. Many Canterbury and Otago farmers are already on water restrictions and seed head is common in many grazing paddocks. On the top of a low pay-out, a dry summer may be even more significant in determining farm profitability. What can you do if it stays this dry?

DairyNZ are to be congratulated on the wealth of good quality information on dry summer management options available to farmers. Visit: dairynz.co.nz/drysummer for some good, evidence-based information.

One particular area where there is a veterinary connection is that of cull cow management. Early pregnancy testing (whether you have done two early tests or one single test in February) allows you to identify your empty, cull cows early. Summer dry management is all about making the most of what you have WITHOUT risking next year�s production and reproduction in the process. This means making sure that all mixed age cows are at a body condition score of 4.5 at drying off and second calvers are at 5.0.

As soon as total feed demand outstrips pasture supply, next year's production and reproduction are at risk as cows will start to lose weight - especially high BW, younger cows. Supplement can and is used to bridge the gap but the cheapest form of supplement is to reduce demand by culling empty cows. Be careful if using once a day (OAD) milking or a 16 hour milking interval to reduce demand. These options can be used for young and high BW

cows, especially if you make the call early. However, remember that the key to successfully using OAD is to maintain feed levels so that milk production does not crash, cell counts rise and cows continue to lose weight.

During the transition to OAD it is critical to manage feeding well. � Maintain feed quality and quantity at twice a

day levels for at least the first week. � If milk solids per cow drops by 0.2 kg per day

or more, this indicates that cow requirements are not being met and additional feed supplementation or culling may be required.

� Underfeeding during the transition to OAD may exacerbate cell count issues as the somatic cells will be concentrated in a smaller volume of milk.

Early OAD can help cows that are too thin but ONLY if you continue to feed them to a level where they can gain weight. It is more about switching the cow�s mindset from milk production to weight gain and giving her the tools to do that (reduced milking frequency and enough quality feed) than it is about reducing total feed demand. Re-directing feed to BCS gain rather than reducing feed usage.

Getting rid of the culls means that for those left there is more food to go round so more can be portioned to milk production and BCS gain. If you are budgeting 18 kgDM per cow and you cull 10% of the herd then you have 20.0 kgDM per cow available or 11% more feed per cow.

Many clients comment that they like to keep the empties and milk them on so that they can

The big dry�dry off the pregnant cows early. However, these pregnant cows need to be fed to gain weight and this feed has to come from somewhere: if it is from the milk platform there is no advantage. If you can ship the light and pregnant cows off the platform then this is certainly good for them (although it will come at a grazing cost). Just make sure that the milking culls are not compromising the pregnant cows that remain on the platform.

It is often said that empties milk better than pregnant cows and that you cannot feed cows in late lactation for BCS gain: they will partition too much to milk. Whilst it is certainly true that higher BW cows will tend to partition more energy to milk for longer in a lactation, DairyNZ studies show that the switch to BCS gain occurs earlier in pregnant cows than in empties and that pregnant cows only start to fall behind their empty herd mates around day 250 of lactation i.e. mid-April for an August calver. The reason pregnant cows most commonly fail to gain weight is because they are not fed enough; it is not normal for cows to be skinny and it is certainly not what the industry needs in a poor pay-out and dry year.

If we are heading for a low pay-out coupled with a dry summer, take action this year to limit the pain to one season. Proactively dry cows off as needed based on body condition score and expected calving date and be realistic about likely BCS gain over the winter (maximum is 0.5 BCS units). Drying cows off early this year to gain BCS may be kinder on your cash flow than paying for extra winter feed and you will lose less milk this year than you will gain next year by having cows at target calving condition.

Andrew BatesVetlife Temuka

With input from Erin SinclairDairyNZ

3

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

4

Theileriosis update: recap of spread,

what is it and why should I be aware of it?

Theileria is disease caused by a blood-borne parasite. It is predominantly transmitted via ticks and affects a number of species. A strain identified in 2012 in New Zealand, (Thieleria orientalis or Ikeda) can cause anaemia and in some cases death in cattle.

Recap of distribution of Theileria within

South Island

A case of Theileriosis was diagnosed in December 2014 and was considered to be a genuine Canterbury case. Up until this time there have been other cases seen on the West Coast and the upper regions of the east coast. There had also been a couple of cases diagnosed in Canterbury as a result of bringing in already infected animals. The recent December case was not the result of a cow that was infected just prior to or during transportation from an infected area but instead was contracted in Canterbury. This means that there must be a viable breeding population of ticks in Canterbury. In the past, it was thought that ticks did not reside this far down the east coast of the South Island, but with the warm weather in the past few winters it would appear that an endemic tick population has developed.

Theileriosis has been spreading down the country over the past two years and this is just a reminder to be vigilant in identifying early signs in your herd (should it become infected) and also to keep a lookout for anything that may resemble a tick. If you do come across a bug that you consider may be a tick please contact your Vetlife veterinarian. Currently not much is known about the Canterbury population of tick so the New Zealand Veterinary Association is trying to gauge its distribution within the region.

Clinical signs

In the previous few months, our newsletter has contained a couple of articles about Theileria and things to look out for. The disease is seen to affect both dairy and beef cattle. Clinical signs (which are mostly related to anaemia) may include:� Pale or yellow, rather than healthy pink,

vulva.� Whites of eyes may be yellow.� Lethargy - exercise intolerance, cows lagging

on the walk to the shed.� Sick cows not responding as expected to

treatment for conditions such as milk fever.� Cows are off their food and appear hollow-

sided.� Decrease in milk production.� Sudden death especially in late pregnancy or

early lactation.

Most commonly, signs of anaemia associated with Theileriosis predominate during calving as this is a stressful time. Young calves (less than two to three months of age) are also most at risk.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is based on a combination of both animal examination and lab testing.

Management

Tick control and good stock management will aid in minimising the impact of Theileriosis if your herd contracts it. For sick animals, symptomatic and supportive treatment can be provided which may include blood transfusion in severely anaemic animals. � Keeping cattle in good condition and well-

fed so they are better able to cope with disease challenges and stressful events.

� Minimising stress and movement of animals showing signs of infection.

� Give affected animals easy to eat, high quality feed and plenty of water.

A drug treatment is available in New Zealand but:� It has long with-holding periods and special

use conditions.� Bobby calves must not be fed milk from

treated cows during the with-holding period.

How to minimise the spread of disease

Cattle that do not have the disease can contract it when moved into areas where infected ticks are present. Also, if an infected animal is transported to an area where ticks are present but no disease they can transmit the disease to other animals. Care needs to be taken if purchasing from both infected and non-infected areas and where ticks are present on the property where the cattle will reside. Please talk to your Vetlife vet about any safety measures that you may need to think about if considering the purchase of new animals. There are treatments available that can eliminate ticks from a mob prior to transport.

Hopefully this article will give you an overview of how this disease can affect your farm and how you can be prepared by knowing what to look for. If you suspect that Theleriosis may be in your herd or you have seen any bugs that may look like ticks or the nymph (juvenile) stage, please contact your Vetlife vet immediately. They should be able to devise a programme that will help to manage the disease within your herd.

Susan GeddesVetlife Ashburton

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

At the moment farmers should ensure the last of their replacement heifers are pre-movement tested if in a Movement Control Area and record that grazing movement in NAIT.

We are heading towards the end of a three year transition phase for NAIT and after July this year, all cattle will need to be tagged on farm regardless of age or class. For beef farmers this will mean tagging capital stock at calf marking and they will need to start thinking about what they will need. NAIT plans to start a large educational campaign to help farmers reach the July 2015 target, so contact us if you have a discussion group that would like to talk about obligations and using the system.

Happily bovine tuberculosis (TB) infected herd numbers are continuing to trend down. However, there is always a bit of fluctuation in the graphs due to the seasonal nature of TB testing, so our vets are always cautious with good news.

Zoonotic diseases in the spotlight

Last year leptospirosis was covered in the media on a number of occasions warning of the risks to farmers and encouraging them to seek help early if they feel unwell. Cases in both vets and farmers have highlighted how the disease can put you in intensive care in the worst case scenario.

So what about bovine tuberculosis? Although the risk to the general consumer is thankfully negligible due to pasteurisation, there are farmers who drink raw milk directly from the vat even when their herd is infected. Although millions of organisms are needed to infect humans through drinking milk, there could still be a small risk if a cow had bovine tuberculosis (TB) mastitis.

Farmers are normally vigilant and remove mastitic cows from supply and TB mastitis is rare, which reduces the chances of a high dose of TB. Children and those with poor immune systems are particularly at risk from TB and the consequences of human infection can be severe with up to twelve months of antibiotic treatment required.

Currently there is on average 300 TB cases in humans per year in New Zealand, around 3 per cent of those cases are due to the bovine TB strain. Most of these patients are born overseas with no firm evidence of infection contracted from the small pool of TB infected stock in New Zealand.

TBfree New Zealand will inform infected herd owners of the risk and are looking to work closer with the Medical Officers of Health to ensure all risks are removed completely. We would advise farmers to consult their doctors and not drink raw milk straight from the vat if their herd is infected.

If you are interested in a TB and NAIT update for your local discussion group this season, please contact the TBfree New Zealand South Island Relationship Advisor, Hazel Willis, on 022 060 6603.

Hazel WillisSouth Island Relationship AdvisorOSPRI

TB update

West Coast Tasman Marlborough Canterbury Otago Southland North Island 53% 2% 2% 6% 13% 6% 17%

Percentage of TB infected herds for different regions in New Zealand as of 1 January 2015

Period prevalence: 0.20% (the number of infected herds ÷ the number of herds in New Zealand over the past 12 months as a percentage)

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Number of infected cattle and deer herds (I) in New Zealand

Jul-

06

No

v-06

Mar

-07

Jul-

07

No

v-07

Mar

-08

Jul-

08

No

v-08

Mar

-09

Jul-

09

No

v-09

Mar

-10

Jul-

10

No

v-10

Mar

-11

Jul-

11

No

v-11

Mar

-12

Jul-

12

No

v-12

Mar

-13

Jul-

13

No

v-13

Mar

-14

Jul-

14

No

v-14

Mar

-15

Nu

mb

er o

f in

fect

ed h

erd

s

New Zealand Total I herds 3-yr plan target New Zealand Total I herds actual

5

The favourably dry spring has slowly developed into an unfavourably dry summer and as a result South Canterbury teeters on the brink of declared drought. Driving around irrigated areas it is easy to forget but as soon as one ventures beyond the reach of the pivot it becomes dry and dusty.

Pinkeye is commonly associated with summer months largely because the infection begins with trauma to the eye surface caused by factors such as ultraviolet radiation, dust entering the eye or scratches from grazing stalky pasture. Once the initial injury permits entry, Moraxella bacteria colonise and typical pinkeye develops. Moraxella bacteria can be spread by flies and this is another reason for an increased prevalence in summer.

There appears to be some degree of immunity develop over time, with younger animals slightly more prone than older counterparts, but outbreaks amongst mature animals are by no means unheard of. Light pigmentation around the eye also predisposes animals (probably due to increased ultraviolet reflection onto the eye).

In the early stages, cattle will show increased tear production and subsequently have a wet

face where tears run down their face. Close inspection should show a small ulcer in the centre of the eye. In time this ulcer will worsen and may in severe cases erode until the eye leaks fluid from its interior or bursts completely. Less severe cases may not rupture but will develop blood vessels over the eye surface and resultant scarring may affect vision for life. This is a painful disease (think how uncomfortable a speck of sand in your eye is) and often causes a significant depression in feed intake.

Treatment of moderate individual cases is straightforward with topical ointments available on prescription from your Vetlife clinic which are generally quite successful. In larger outbreaks there are methods available to treat multiple animals en masse but the suitability of this should be discussed with your Vetlife vet before being undertaken. In outbreak situations it may also be useful to vaccinate. While the manufacturer does not guarantee success with vaccination in the face of an outbreak, Vetlife has generally found good results in these situations. Severely affected individuals may benefit from having their eyes stitched closed by your Vetlife vet, doing so is often surprisingly successful, often redeeming eyes that appear on the brink of catastrophic rupture in only a matter of days.

Apart from a treatment option, vaccination is obviously also a preventative measure that can be taken; a single dose is given prior to high risk periods. Calves grazing long pasture in dusty conditions should be monitored closely as they are a high risk group. Any animal of any age group identified as suffering pinkeye should be removed and treated and isolated from the group until treatment is completed as infection is spread through direct contact or transfer via objects such as flies or inanimate surfaces that an infected animal may rub against followed by an uninfected animal.

There are other causes for changes in the eye of cattle; recently Paul Johnson wrote in this newsletter about cancer eye and various viral entities are recognised as causes too. If you identify an animal with a :�sore eye� please feel free to contact your Vetlife vet to discuss it further.

Duncan CrosbieVetlife Temuka

Lookout for pinkeye

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

6

In 2011 and 2012, several Vetlife clients identified abnormal calves born as the result of LIC AB matings with a particular bull. LIC investigated this issue and some of the defining research work was carried out on Vetlife farms with the help of Vetlife staff and clients. Steve Davis, Senior Scientist at LIC, shares a press release from LIC on what they found.

An artificial breeding bull which caused some of its offspring to be excessively hairy and prone to overheating has led to two world-first scientific discoveries.

The bull called Matrix had inherited a previously unidentified genetic mutation from its sire and passed it on to offspring born in 2011 and 2012.

As part of an investigation into the bull, LIC scientists have now isolated the �hairy� genetic mutation, and also discovered a variation in a Caribbean breed of cattle that allows them to tolerate high temperatures.

The discoveries, published in December 2014 by the prestigious international science journal Nature Communications, pave the way for the farmer-owned co-operative to breed cattle that will maintain high milk production in tropical conditions, and could protect New Zealand�s cows from future impacts of climate change.

Dr Richard Spelman, LIC�s chief scientist, described the finding as marvellously serendipitous.

�Many farmers will recall the Matrix offspring - they were hairy, heat intolerant and failed to lactate, and when this came to LIC�s attention we set out to find an explanation.

�As a result of the investigation, we were able to isolate the gene involved, but this has also led to another discovery that provides an opportunity to develop a new breed of cattle which will continue to graze and produce large quantities of milk at temperatures that would make most dairy cows struggle.�

Spelman said the discoveries revolve around the prolactin hormone, a molecule which is best known to initiate lactation in mammals.

�In the Matrix offspring we found that a mutation in the prolactin hormone was impacting milk production and coat length, but we also found it was impacting the animal�s ability to sweat, and therefore [they] couldn't cope with heat.�

Dubbed the �hairy� mutation, the effects were identified as being opposite of those seen in the Caribbean beef breed called Senepol, renowned for its short, slick coat and ability to thrive in hot temperatures.

�This got the team thinking about whether prolactin could be involved in Senepol, and after sequencing the DNA of some Senepol bulls, we found a major genetic variation in the

7

Hot, hairy bull enables major scientific discoveries

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

prolactin receptor gene. The Senepol variant improves the animal's ability to regulate body temperature, probably due to enhanced sweating, like the mutant hairy animals, but in reverse.

�This discovery provides a genetic and physiological explanation as to how some cattle are able to tolerate high temperatures, providing an understanding of genes and gene pathways whose activity is required for the heat tolerance trait.�

As a result of the discoveries, LIC bulls are now screened for the hairy mutation and a breeding programme is underway to cross Senepol animals with New Zealand Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle, to create offspring with the prolactin receptor variation.

Dr Spelman expects these animals will start being milked in 2017 and if successful, enable LIC genetics to go into countries it has never been before.

A significant part of the data needed for the publication was generated by Deborah Jacobs, Shrawan Bhandari and Andrew Bates of Vetlife Temuka who undertook a number of the

measurements on the hairy calves with the help of Alvin Reid at his Pleasant Point dairy farm.

In addition to the LIC breeding programme, the co-op is also working with Dairy SolutioNZ Ltd, another Waikato-based company breeding Senepol cross-bred dairy animals, to further develop a tropical cow breed.

These discoveries were made as part of a collaboration with scientists at the University of Auckland and several other US and European Universities, and are part of the co-op�s DNA sequencing programme of work. This broader programme aims to map genetic variation impacting cow production and health, and use these to improve the accuracy of genomic selection for future sires. The work will continue in 2015.

The programme utilises a large DNA sequencing dataset developed by LIC scientists and is co-funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries through the Transforming the Dairy Value Chain Primary Growth Partnership programme, led by Fonterra and DairyNZ.

Steve DavisSenior Scientist at LIC

Over the past couple of seasons we have been getting more reports of clients being told that they are unable to use Covexin 10 in their calves if they are intending to send them for export. We have looked into this and can confirm that the claims to date are unsubstantiated.

We believe clients have been told that the use of the vaccine may interfere with the IBR test, which may exclude heifers from the export market. AsureQuality have confirmed that Covexin 10 does not have any effect on the IBR test for heifer export. This is most likely a case of mistaken identity as there is a vaccine that can cause a positive IBR test in heifers if given prior to any testing - Hiprabovis 3. This vaccine is actually administered to the export heifers

after they have been tested free of IBR and are taken from the source farm.

We are concerned that on farms that routinely use Covexin 10, there may be some heifers which are not fully vaccinated in light of this incorrect information. These animals will be more susceptible to severe illness and sudden death. If you are concerned about this please contact your Vetlife vet for more information.

Susan GeddesVetlife Ashburton

Matt WellsMSD Animal Health

Covexin 10 use in export heifers

8

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

9

Vets are good at suggesting, advising or in some cases nagging about the importance of the sustainable use of drenches to maximise their effectiveness and longevity. The advice that we give around parasite management is always evolving to provide the most cost-effective and beneficial advice for your individual property. This is why the advice given now is not the same advice that was given ten, five or even two years ago.

Knockout drenching has been around for a few years now and is an effective method to help slow drench resistance.

What is knockout drenching?

Knockout drenching is a protocol to help delay worm resistance developing to existing and often cheaper drenches. Lambs are drenched once with a different drench from what you use normally during the season.

When should a knockout drench be used?

Lambs should be drenched at drench four or five, about April time, when worm larval populations on pasture are just about to increase due to mild, wet conditions. Most works lambs should be slaughtered by this time and the majority of lambs will be replacement ewe lambs.

What drenches are good as a knockout

drench?

Startect and Zolvix are two drenches that can be used as a knockout drench as they are new drenches to which there should be no resistance.

If you would like to discuss knockout drenching in more detail please contact your nearest Vetlife clinic.

Amy WattsVetlife Alexandra

Knockout drenching?

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

Hot off the press from the LUDF!

10

� Tired of tweaking your farming practices but not getting real gains?

� Has the weather been your excuse for not reaching your objectives - year after year after year?

� Are you running a good farming operation but just cannot seem to make it great?

Vetlife has dedicated sheep and beef farm advisors (who also happen to be vets) that can help you achieve your farming objectives. Not only can we help with animal health plans, we can also assist you with benchmarking, feed budgeting, optimising animal performance, improvement of flock genetics and more.

Ivor KooVetlife Banks Peninsula

Sheep and beef (and deer) farm advisors with

a veterinary background To find out more, please call one of your local advisors:

A quick glance of weekly farm data 30th Dec 6th Jan 13th Jan 20th Jan

Pasture growth rate (kg DM/d) 105 70 82 79

Pre-grazing pasture mass (kg DM/ha) 3348 3341 3370 3375

Average pasture mass 2637 2638 2657 2510

Post-grazing pasture mass 1700 1700 1700 1700

Pasture quality (MJME/ kg DM) - - - 11.0

Pasture offered (kg DM/cow/d) 19 19 19 19

Pasture silage offered (kg DM/cow/d) - - - -

Milk solids production (kg MS/cow/d) 1.93 1.89 1.89 1.81

Milk solids production (kg MS/ha/d) 6.68 6.53 6.52 6.22

Herd mean body condition score - - - -

Monitor group LW (kg) 487 489 484 489

Bulk milk somatic cell count (�000) 205 183 178 183

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71

Richard Bishop (BVSc)Vetlife Banks PeninsulaPh: 03 325 1006

Chris Mcflarlane (BVSc)Vetlife DunsandelPh: 03 325 4155

Hayden Barker (BVSc)Vetlife Pleasant PointPh: 03 614 7777

Beatrix Loomes (BVSc)Vetlife TwizelPh: 03 435 0212

Amy Watts (BVSc)Vetlife AlexandraPh: 03 448 8115

For more detailed

information go to

www.siddc.org.nz

The next LUDF focus day

is 19th February 2015.

Book into your diary now!!

www.vetlife.co.nz

Mid and North Canterbury Raylene Clement

P 03 307 5195 | M 027 557 3619E rjclement@vetlife.co.nzVetlife Ashburton, 4 Seafield Road,Ashburton 7700, PO Box 161

South Canterbury Adrian Campbell

P 027 220 5559 | E adrian@vetlife.co.nzHead Office, 82 Sophia Street,Private Bag 71000 Timaru

North Otago Ivan Holloway

P 03 433 0411 | M 027 530 4645E ivan@vetlife.co.nzVetlife Oamaru, 281 Thames St,Oamaru, 9400

For account concerns please in the first instance

contact: Jodi Cocking

P 03 687 7170 E Jodi.cocking@vetlife.co.nz | Head Office, 82 Sophia Street, Private Bag 71000 Timaru

Comments and feedbackWe value your feedback. Please feel free to comment or lodgea complaint in confidence on our services, advice and products.

Vetlife AlexandraP 03 448 8115 F 03 448 7277 E alexandra@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife AshburtonP 03 307 5195 F 03 308 2452 E ashburton@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife Banks PeninsulaP 03 325 1006 F 03 325 1053 E littleriver@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife DunsandelP 03 325 4155 F 03 325 4156 E dunsandel@vetlife.co.nz

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Vetlife MethvenP 03 302 8603 F 03 302 8228 E methven@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife OamaruP 03 433 0411 F 03 434 8059 E oamaru@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife OxfordP 03 312 4882 F 03 312 4190 E oxford@vetlife.co.nz

Vetlife Pleasant PointP 03 614 7777 F 03 614 7701 E pleasantpoint@vetlife.co.nz

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Owen Wylie

Ashburton027 706 4448

Vicky O'Connor

Pleasant Point027 222 5721

Garry Marsh

Central Otago& Wanaka027 227 7881

Craig Straw

Ashburton027 228 9411

Norma Barton

Oxford027 432 7321

Lis Rietveld

Twizel027 430 4644

James Ward

Oamaru027 702 6768

Meet the Vetlife field representative team...

Max O'Donnell

Alexandra027 608 5523

Jacqueline Manson

Alexandra027 702 4384

CHRISTCHURCH

DUNEDIN

Waikouaiti

Oamaru

Timaru

TemukaPleasant Point

Fairlie

Ashburton

Methven

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Rangiora

Banks Peninsula

Twizel

Middlemarch

Alexandra

Ranfurly

Wanaka

Vetlife Ltd - a locally owned and owner operated business.

Vetlife Ltd is locally owned by veterinary shareholders who live in Canterbury and Otago.

Those shareholders personally manage Vetlife and work as veterinarians.

All business proceeds are invested back into the business locally and we provide careers and employment for 165+ local people and families.

12

Rachel Duffy

Ranfurly027 886 0255

Rachelle Gould

Temuka027 836 1327

Mark McCormick

Dunsandel027 333 1782

Rural Newsletter | February 2015 | Issue 71