https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/en-USTelligent Community 10https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31379/faecal-calprotectin-testingTue, 23 Jun 2026 13:01:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:bbd0ec21-70f6-4249-afe9-43c3e13292e6Joshua BleakleyHi all, I have just had a rep talking about faecal Calprotectin and wondered if anyone had any experience using the test or if anyone had big issues with it. It seems more of a use in monitoring cases than anything else but wondered what cases it differentiates between compared to clinical signs. Thanks for any input, Joshhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/249011#249011Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:46:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:5dd3fbb6-3142-40fc-8c0c-ef879b31fd78Katherine ClarkeHI Steve, Your questions are, as always, good ones and we don't yet have the answers to them. There does seem to be more veterinary professionals testing positive in the UK than was initially expected and we don't yet understand why. I hope to start working with one of the consultants who treat people with B. canis (thanks to your colleague for putting me in touch) to try and get answers to this. Chatting to vets that work in the US, people intermittently get infected with B. canis but because it is endemic out there (and because maybe their approach to antibiotic stewardship is, umm, different to ours), they will just treat it like any other infectious disease. Some dogs respond very well clinically and become seronegative (although can later become seropositive), while others just remain clinical and seropositive. We are testing dogs that have not travelled that have signs that could be consistent with brucellosis such as discospondylitis, IMPA, reproductive failure etc. because it is impossible to be certain that they have not been exposed to brucella in the UK. It is a rapidly changing and evolving situation and we just have to try and adjust what we are doing as we gain more information! Katherinehttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31376/aspergillus-treatment/249010#249010Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:36:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:c34cde36-5a48-410f-b437-ed96b2cf0576Jon CamilleriHi Pauline Thank you for the reply. Apologies, I have been away. I treated the one side this time (hadn't seen your reply). Plan to re-evaluate in a few weeks so option to treat both then Regards Jonhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31378/do-you-find-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-liver-disease-in-dogs-and-cats-frustrating-do-you-want-to-see-more-clinically-relevant-studies-of-liver-disease-in-small-animals-to-help-us-understand-causes-treatment-efficacy-and-prognSat, 20 Jun 2026 16:55:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:409e2ba1-9947-4cee-a3bb-7c15f922dbc6Penny WatsonHello everyone Forgive me for the advert but I wanted to make everyone aware of the opportunity to come to our ECVIM pre congress - you don't have to be a specialist to come and we would really like input from motivated first opinion practitioners. Details below Do you find diagnosis and treatment of liver disease in dogs and cats frustrating? Do you want to see more clinically relevant studies of liver disease in small animals to help us understand causes, treatment efficacy and prognosis better? If so, then the Society of Comparative Hepatology (SCH) would like your help! We are dedicating our ECVIM pre congress meeting on 9th September 2026 in Berlin to identifying the most clinically important knowledge gaps in small animal hepatology and how we can address them with studies in both first opinion and referral practices. Your contribution would be greatly appreciated: 1) Have a look at the list of unanswered questions below and tell us if you have any additional questions about canine and feline liver disease that you have always wanted answered 2) Consider coming to our pre ECVIM pre congress in Berlin: this is open to all vets with an interest in liver disease - you don’t have to be a specialist - and you can attend either in person or on-line. Details are here and note that you can join the SCH for 3 years for €60 which is the difference between the non-member and member fees SCH Precongress Day ecvimcongress.org We have an exciting programme ahead including lectures from Andrea Johnston Associate Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Pathobiology from Michigan State who will consider the unanswered questions in veterinary hepatology; Dr Dan O’Neill, Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Senior Lead for VetCompass, Royal Veterinary College, UK, talking about what we don’t know about primary veterinary care of liver disease and why not – the VetCompass story and two leading human hepatologists who will give us the medical perspective which we hope will inspire us: Professor Jonathan Fallowfield (Chair of Translational Liver Research and Principal Investigator, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh who will talk about his recent and current experience in multi-centre studies and Dr Vishal Patel, Adjunct Reader in Hepatology, Consultant Hepatologist and Principal Investigator, The Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies and King’s College London who will talk about studies in the oral-gut-liver axis in human chronic liver disease and its implications in portal hypertension We hope to see you in Berlin or on-line! The SCH Scientific committee Dog liver disease – some unanswered questions Decreasing the incidence of copper associated hepatopathy in the dog: with more appropriate diets, developing a serum or urinary marker, or better therapeutic options. Address the misconception that inflammation causes copper accumulation. Effective treatment to reverse hepatic fibrosis which would require a way of noninvasively monitoring portal hypertension and liver stiffness The effect of the microbiota/microbiome on liver/biliary tract disease and hepatic encephalopathy Development of serum and tissue markers of immune hepatitis What is the role of microthrombi in the progression of hepatic disorders in the dog, particularly gallbladder mucoceles, chronic hepatic and vacuolar disease? Value of anticoagulant versus procoagulant therapy and when is each appropriate. Etiology , pathogenesis and therapy of degenerative vacuolar hepatopathy Are we sure there isn’t a viral cause of canine chronic hepatitis? Whatever happened to acidophil cell hepatitis virus? Better understanding of the progression of disease in acute liver failure in the dog so as to determine treatment strategies that increase survival Cat liver disease – some unanswered questions Understanding the causes of feline acute and chronic biliary tract disease – better stratification of disease types with antibody tests, imaging and pathology Establishing patient registries of cats with chronic biliary tract disease to understand response to treatment, long term prognosis (recovery or waxing and waning) and chronic sequelae including neoplasia. Better studies of the predictive ability of advanced imaging (CT and MRI) in cats with hepatobiliary disease and biliary obstruction Role of “the common channel” anatomy and pancreaticobiliary malfunction in feline inflammatory hepatobiliary disease What is the appropriate length of antibiotic therapy in cats with acute neutrophilic cholangitis/cholecystitis? Prospective treatment trials with immunosuppressants in cats with lymphocytic cholangitis: maybe prednisone is not the answer Standards of care (anaesthesia and surgical) in managing in cats undergoing biliary surgery Microbiota/microbiome impact on liver/biliary diseasehttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31376/aspergillus-treatment/248997#248997Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:13:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:83c94547-6b22-46ef-a18d-5d9c0ae15ae3Pauline JamiesonHi Jon, My experience has been different. Where only one side appears to be affected and I that one side, this disease has a nasty habit of reappearing. So I treat both. However, it is unclear to me whether this is because the infection was not properly cleared and was in fact lurking on the other side, or whether this is reinfection in a susceptible patient. In which case this bilateral treatment was probably unnecessary. Most studies report very short follow-up times and the recurrences are often several to many months later, and the treatment is so expensive and often invasive that I suspect a lot of recurrences never make it back to the referral clinic if that is where they are treated. Rather the owners may give up. So we may be getting a false report of where these dogs are 2 years later. Paulinehttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31376/aspergillus-treatmentTue, 16 Jun 2026 09:04:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:dd753ec5-d9c5-4ef6-9555-4846c375ab53Jon CamilleriDear all I cannot recall from the excellent aspergillus talk at SamSoc last year whether, in the setting of unilateral disease and a normal appearing contralateral side both on CT and rhinoscopy, it is recommended to treat both sides with antifungal solution and cream or if its OK to just treat the affected side. Must admit I have in the past just treated the affected side (both if bilateral obviously) and so far success rates have been good Regards Jonhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248976#248976Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:04:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:563de493-54d4-4666-bbc7-b240279b7fbdSteve LeonardThanks Katherine, In your chats with vets in other countries did you get an idea of how concerned they are with regards zoonotic risk? Looking at the world maps it seems that it's only Western Europe, Australia and NZ that are currently considered clear so tens of thousands of vets and millions of pet owners are potential exposed every year. My colleagues are thankfully very open minded still about whether the B.canis is responsible for their symptoms or it was found just because they looked for it after having symptoms that could have been caused by another agent. With potentially lots of UK born dogs having already contracted B.canis as well in the many years we have been importing dogs from high risk areas are we really keeping our clinics clear of this bug by testing only foreign born dogs (as Joanna has noted)? Still none the wiser but it does seem we could do with linking up with vets/institutions in endemic areas to see what can be learned. Anyone got any connections they can tap into?https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248953#248953Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:06:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:911efe93-ecf0-4348-b2af-62819b6b5290Katherine ClarkeHi Steve, I am so sorry to hear about your colleague. I was the clinical lead for the development of the Brucella canis policy within Linnaeus and thus have done a lot of reading and chatting to foreign vets about Brucella to try and understand which countries should go on the 'red' list. Spanish travelled dogs, I personally would say yes, you need to test every year if they go every year and waiting three months for seroconversion seems logical. We added Spain to the list around 18m ago when I became aware of three unrelated dogs imported from Spain who tested positive. The situation in the US is variable with some states seeing more Brucella that others. But honestly, it is very hard to determine true prevalence anywhere due to lack of screening of asymptomatic dogs. Happy to chat more if you need. Katherinehttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248950#248950Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:26:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:4990521c-d60d-4afb-a2c4-dccab17ad5aePenny WatsonHi Steve I am not an infectious disease expert but was wondering why you were particularly concerned about Spain - my brother lives there, with a dog, and I was not aware it was a particularly Brucella canis hot spot. So I did a quick literature review and found this. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352771425002617?via%3Dihub I don't think travelling is the problem - otherwise we would be worried about dogs going to Switzerland or Holland or indeed Canada. I think what we need to know is how it is transmitted and what animals would be at high risk - is it still believed to be transmitted largely at mating and abortions and through milk or is there more widespread dog to dog transmission? If the former, I suspect the reason we are less worried about dogs from Holland, Switzerland and Canada is because of responsible breeding in those countries which I hope would contain the disease. Hence why illegally exported dogs from anywhere are a problem. You could argue that this increased prevalence reported in those countries is due to increased testing- but I'll leave the infectious disease experts to comment more.https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248949#248949Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:39:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:0cfcf627-cb5c-49db-8697-0448e2a391c6Steve LeonardSorry Joanna, I thought I'd posted a thank you for this (but I obviously just thought it). As we are now hitting the Summer holidays and I am lined up for lots more AHC's it's occurred to me that we have plenty of clients who do travel to Spain (an at risk country) for a couple of weeks. How are these pets going to fit into our regimes? Do we test them for Brucellosis 3 months after returning every year? Does anyone have any contacts from the USA about B.canis over there? Is it on their radar as it is a 'High Risk' country according to the maps I've seen.https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248921#248921Thu, 28 May 2026 19:19:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:4f22befd-c4c5-4ef2-9fe8-3f2a5ceb8ac0Sara RamseyThis is such an interesting thread and it is concerning given when you read the current guide lines...they tend to state that reproductive fluids are the highest risk, so I would say we are potentially complacent about other situations which aren't "reproductive". Currently we have access to corporate guidance and we are supposed to flag if an animal is imported but this isn't done consistently, nor is recording which country they have come from. We don't have many "imported rescues" so I wonder if that is why this is not on our radar? Definitely time to tighten up.https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248920#248920Thu, 28 May 2026 06:26:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:4595609f-6cf1-4033-a94a-55136516a010Joanna HansenOur hospital’s SOP for the last couple of years (and we’ve had a previous staff member test positive): -every dog on registering/appt booking is asked if they are UK born -if non-UK then the owner has a choice to pay a small surcharge and we wear PPE and disinfect room after, or they can be tested -if they have been tested prior to import we require a negative APHA test 3 months+ after import -no dog will be admitted to our hosp or have any diagnostic testing done without a negative brucella test. In the event of an emergency we have in-house snaps tests and as long as that is negative we will hospitalise a patient but continue to use PPE until a negative APHA test -no pregnant or immunocompromised individual is involved in taking bloods or caring for any non-tested dog -if we have a positive case (and we’ve had quite a few) we do offer a repeat test to owners. If that comes back negative then we do discuss euthanasia. If the owner doesn’t want to euthanise then we advise complete isolation from all dogs/public places. In terms of the veterinary care we will continue to offer we are telephone consulting wherever possible and still providing routine care with ppe and environmental decontamination but the owners are aware that we will not hospitalise or do any form of procedure that puts our staff at risk -euthanasia would be offered instead. -any dog in the same household as a positive dog is treated as though it is positive until a negative Brucella test 3 months after last contact with the positive dog Sadly however, we recently we had 2 1-year-old UK born (and untravelled) dogs test positive (they were symptomatic, and the stud dog had recently tested positive). They had been in our hospital multiple times for various reasons and had completely “slipped through the net” despite what we’d previously considered to be a rigorous SOP. I too would be interested to hear what others are doing….?https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248919#248919Wed, 27 May 2026 21:12:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:3ab23179-a09f-43b2-bb86-5767aacca6f0Steve LeonardAnother colleague from the same practice has been tested for B.canis and has come back positive. She had been having odd aches and pains in her joints, chills and fatigue so asked her GP to get tested. Not sure what the follow up is likely to be at this point as waiting on referral to specialist. Armed with this information we have increased our communication with regards testing dogs from outside the UK. We are trying to be level headed with the messaging and couching it in terms of gathering data to quantify the level of disease to help the profession and the government get a handle on the prevalence. What we really haven't nailed down is what we are going to do if/when we get a positive case. Different vets have very different attitudes to risk and this presents a huge dilemma for deciding the level of care you can reasonably give as a practice. I would be happy to do a home visit to perform a low risk procedure such as vaccination but what happens when this dog cuts itself badly in the owner's garden? Is it ok to bleed all over the car park, waiting room and throughout the practice? What if the vet is happy to see it but the nurse isn't or vice versa? Has anyone got an SOP in place for positive cases already? I did speak to Blood Donor Helpline. Not that helpful. They are aware of the disease, as expected, but only interested in symptomatic people. They asked the question "Have you been in contact with a dog with B.canis?" - well, how do I answer that currently? Not sure, I'll get back to you....https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248898#248898Thu, 21 May 2026 10:12:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:0d02b20c-00ff-413a-97fb-70668ab7d96eAndrew KentI would love to hear how others are currently approaching travelled dogs given the above. I find it an impossible balance - trying to juggle an appropriate degree of caution but without depriving large groups of dogs of appropriate care and causing panic amongst colleagues and clients. Plus (at least in our experience) the added risk of being basked on social media for expressing any degree of concern! So we are trying to be pragmatic about it but not sure what that should really look like! Great topic to discuss :-) Andyhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31366/canine-biome-analysis/248897#248897Thu, 21 May 2026 10:09:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:332f8cf7-992e-437e-91df-4aba2f4d141aAndrew KentWhere I have seen reports from these and other companies my general impression is that the evidence base we have simply does not support the conclusions that are made. It can be 'interesting' but I think we are a long way from the point where any real therapeutic decisions can be made based on the results. Andyhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31368/imtp---2nd-line-tapering-plan-with-multiple-relapses/248896#248896Thu, 21 May 2026 10:06:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:00139a26-e929-412f-92e6-e4c46f5204d7Andrew KentHi Catherine, Tricky case! I would broadly agree that this is trial and error but given the number of relapses I guess I would be tempted to maintain an immunosuppressant in this dog long-term (maybe even life-long) unless you run into issues. I do think your ciclosporin dose might be a bit low - if you look at Andrew Mackin's work looking on pharmacodynamics (sadly testing is not currently available as far as I am aware) then most dogs need 10mg/kg/day (typically divided) to achieve immunosuppression and a small percentage even need more. So I would wonder if your chances of coming off steroid would be higher if you increased the dose.... I have had cases that I can then successfully maintain on clclosporin (or something else) and some that seem to be steroid dependent. The other real challenge with these cases is accurate platelet counts - when you mention going from 90 to 300 it makes me think some of those might have been inaccurate. Hope that helps, Andyhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31368/imtp---2nd-line-tapering-plan-with-multiple-relapsesThu, 21 May 2026 09:26:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:d5cdb2f3-fba0-40c4-905f-5a51e60b62e4Catherine GerrieMy colleague has a 5y4m FN ESS with a chronic history of repeated immune mediated relapses. She was diagnosed with IMTP in February 2023 after presenting with petechiae and bruising. Investigation for secondary causes were unremarkable and she was started on an immunosuppressive dose of steroids. There was initial stabilisation, but we did note some variation on platelet count whilst remaining on the same dosage (one week 90 x 10^9/L, another week >300) though none reaching a critically low value. Tapering took a while and eventually reached 0.15mg/kg (1/2 5mg tab po sid) which was not then stopped (owner led). In September 2024 they presented with pyrexia, shifting lameness on hindlimbs and bilateral hock effusions. Platelets were normal. Investigation diagnosed IMPA and treatment was started at an immunosuppressive dose again using examinations and CRP to track response to treatment. This tapered nicely to EOD dosing and again was not stopped as the owners were concerned about relapse. IMTP recurred in October 2025. Initial hospitalisation stabilised the platelet count and allowed movement to per os and out patient care. Reduction in dosage resulted in relapse though (platelet count reduced from 155 to 0 on smear, whilst on a 1.25mg/kg dose). Ciclosporin was then started at 4.8mg/kg per os SID and the steroid dosage increased. The platelet count resolved within 48hrs and then the ciclosporin has allowed tapering on the pred every 3 weeks without issue. The current dose is 0.75mg/kg per os SID. The main is concern is about another impending relapse when the pred is stopped, and when the ciclosporin is tapered. We are not going to know unless we try, but any advice on people's experience with these difficult to taper cases would be welcome.https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31366/canine-biome-analysis/248894#248894Wed, 20 May 2026 16:14:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:58fdced0-4142-4c1a-a4d5-b54642c27293Sara RamseyThank for the reply Emi, that sounds a bit concerning..no information screening donor dogs. This dog is on a raw diet which they have advised continuing...then adding supplements with fibre and plant extracts. (I'd be tempted to try a fibre/biome diet first I think?)https://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31366/canine-biome-analysis/248892#248892Wed, 20 May 2026 15:08:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:8c51a167-d08e-4d09-923f-03f34b99f1c7Emi BarkerI had seen this too, and also have a client that uses their products (I cannot comment on efficacy or insurance coverage). I do not know much specifically about the products that are currently for sale in the UK but it does look very similar to the US site AnimalBiome that I have had owners try to import FMT from in the past. Enough to make me suspect that the UK-based team might be a franchise. When I looked into their business they only became registered last year - so they are new to the UK. As well as offering intestinal microbiota testing direct to owners of dogs ( Dog Microbiome Test Kits | Gut Health Analysis UK | Biome4Pets ) and horses - and there are lots of caveats to say that they do not give veterinary advice - they also sell freeze-dried FMT capsules Gut Renew - again very similar to those on offer by AnimalBiome that my client tried to import in the past. They appear to be using faeces from dogs that are either on a home prepared diet or a raw meat-based diet. I cannot see any mention on how the donor dogs are recruited and screened. Also interested to hear if anyone else had any experience of them. Emi Bhttps://www.vetsurgeon.org/associations/samsoc/f/small-animal-medicine-society/31364/brucella-canis-in-veterinary-professionals/248890#248890Wed, 20 May 2026 10:32:00 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:e1ce37d5-18a2-4fa0-9e77-d41fdb49299eLucy GrahamHi Steve, A colleague currently on maternity leave has contacted me about a friend that this happened to, and that other members of staff have been tested with quite a few positives (I don;t have the details of testing methods). I think this is probably the same person as we're quite local to you. My colleague asked for me to review our practice policy as she's understandably very concerned, but I'm finding it tricky to get the balance on awareness/panic you mention! Please may I ask what others do with regards to screening both clinical team members and imported dogs? Thanks, Lucy