Ashgrove/The Gap Lions Club.................................................3

Hollingworth & Spencer

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The Gap Professional Centre, 6/23 Glenaffric Street, The Gap

Our Wills & Estates team has expertise in:

• Advice on Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney & Advance Health Directives • Advice on Testamentary Trust • Estate Administration & Family Provision Claims

Contact Adam Robinson or Sue Hobbs Phone: (07) 3123 5700

www.hslawyers.com.au

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on 32 Main St, Samford (next to Farmers Hall) T 07 3289 1700 F 07 3289 2110

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Ashgrove/The Gap Lions Club

A storage shed….at last!

We often refer to Lions club members as being part of the Lions family and, like many family groups, there is often a problem with storage. Ashgrove/The Gap Lions club have recently solved this problem and, on October 16th, there was a grand opening of our brand new storage shed. This may not sound like much of an achievement until you are made aware that finding adequate and permanent storage for all the club’s goods and chattels has been an on-going saga for over 50 years and has involved a lot of time and energy from some very special club members.

In 1971/2 the need for storage became apparent. At the time this was resolved by club members, with approval from the Brisbane City Council, building a ‘shed’ at Walton Bridge. The cost of doing this was raised by holding specific fund raising events. Although the ‘shed’ solved the initial storage problem, it wasn’t too long before the amount of equipment exceeded the space available and another solution was required

The Gap Sports club were happy to assist Ashgrove/The Gap Lions club by offering space for a shipping container to be installed behind their clubhouse. This arrangement lasted for several years until the space was needed for a car park. So the container had to be removed. Luckily, the local scout group were then able to offer our club some storage space.

However, as new acquisitions arrived so did the need for an increase in the amount of storage required and there were various storage spaces around the local area offered and taken up. Sadly none of these spaces were very large which resulted in various items being stored in many different locations, including club member’s private homes! This was a not a very satisfactory solution.

What followed was a long period of searching for appropriate and permanent storage space and a number of disappointments as prospective solutions failed to come to fruition. Finally, in 2019, a chance meeting with Alan McLennan from The Gap Uniting church resulted in negotiating the possibility of Ashgrove/The Gap Lions club building a shed on church grounds. Finally, with the church’s approval and money from various government funds, a shed could be built that was large enough to take all of our equipment. It has taken many of our club members a lot of time and energy to achieve this goal. It is their on-going commitment that has resulted in our storage problem finally being resolved. What a testament to the tenacity of some of our amazing members!! Congratulations to you all! website: http://www.westernecho.com.au

Preventative Medicine in Older Cats

I have a 20 year old cat – her name is “Jasmine”. She is the matriarch of the Chapman family. But a couple of years ago she became difficult to live with, and started exhibiting some concerning behaviours.

“Jasmine” seemed insatiably hungry, demanding food every couple of hours. Her water intake increased, she became skin and bone, she wandered the house in the middle of the night meowing on top note for no apparent reason, and frequently vomited (always on the carpet, never on the tiles). She seemed to be drinking far more water than usual.

As the saying goes, “plumber’s pipes leak”, and vets are very good at devoting their energies to everyone else’s pets! When the rest of the Chapman family threatened to take her to a competing veterinary practice for examination I was spurred into action!

Jasmine had hemorrhages on her retinas (hypertensive retinopathy), renal hypertension (high blood pressure) , hyperthyroidism (with resultant cardiac disease) and chronic kidney dysfunction (due to all of the above).

Don’t panic…..she’s doing well now – she has 2 medications in the morning, and 5 medications in the evening, but I am constantly reminded that her vision would be normal, her heart would be normal, and her renal function probably better off if I’d listened to my family and taken her to work with me much earlier on!

What is the moral of this story? It’s about early detection. A favourite saying of one of my internal medicine lecturers went as follows: “the mistakes you will make in veterinary practice won’t be from not knowing, they will be from not looking”. When it comes to cats over the age of 10 years, I’ve found this to be true.

If your vet suggests that your senior feline companion should have some blood work, a urine test and a blood pressure check, don’t think of it as “fries with your order” – it’s the smart thing to do!

Regards, Scott, Rob, Luken and the team Services we offer :-

• Veterinary treatments, surgery and hospitalisation • Small animal Dentistry • Veterinary diagnostic pathology and radiology • Sales of Pet products, food and accessories • PennHIP scheme accreditation • Loads of friendly advice!