Merial is offering four free tubes of Eqvalan Duo to practices that buy 20 tubes in February and March. In addition, to further boost the targeted worming message, Merial will supply 20 free worm egg count vouchers worth £10 each.

Eqvalan Product Manager Claire Edmunds said: "Last year's campaign was so well received by both practices and clients that we have decided to run it again and are hoping for even better results!

"The personalised online planner, worm egg count offer and new eye-catching point of sale all help you to engage your clients in a targeted worming strategy.  

For those practices with their own, in-house worm egg count testing facilities, Merial is also offering promotional support to help encourage increased uptake and client buy-in. The campaign forms part of Merial's promotion and education strategy for 2011, which includes extensive VN SQP CPD training opportunities.

To find out more contact your local Area Manager or call the Merial Customer Support Centre on 0845 601 4236

Grahame Gardner has introduced the M559, a classically styled tunic, stocked for the first time in bottle green.

The company says that although it has sold numerous ladies tunics in bottle green, this is the first time it has stocked a male tunic in the characteristic veterinary colour.

The M559 incorporates side fastening with the option of contrasting epaulettes, alongside practical pockets and side slits.

Simon Ward, Sales Director said: "We are delighted to introduce this new garment to the veterinary market. We are continually reviewing our range in response to customer comments, and felt it was time we stocked a bottle green option, specifically for male members of the veterinary team."

Stocked in sizes from 34" to 50" (chest), the M559 is just one of several new styles introduced in Grahame Gardner's latest brochure. The company is also launching a new men's scrub tunic. The SS3295 has a v style neck, complemented by the v-detail on the sleeves, and contrasting trim available on the neck, sleeve and pocket. Also stocked in bottle green, the company says this tunic is aimed at veterinary professionals who prefer a more relaxed approach to uniforms.

To explore Grahame Gardner's collection please take a look at http://www.grahamegardner.co.uk/, or call 0116 255 6326 to order a copy of their new brochure.

National charity Canine Partners, which provide specially trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities, will benefit from an Eastbourne vet's efforts to run the Brighton Marathon on Sunday 10th April in less than 3.5 hours.

Simon DeVile is undertaking a gruelling training scheme, covering up to 50 miles a week, to ensure peak performance when he takes to the streets to raise money for Canine Partners - a charity close to his heart.

Simon, 44, is one of the partners at St. Anne's Veterinary Group in Eastbourne. He started running to keep fit in 2006 and has since run the London Marathon twice and the Beachy Head Marathon three times. Simon regularly comes into contact with canine partner puppies because a local fundraiser and puppy parent is one of his clients. His own dog is also part of a locally bred litter, five of which went on to train as canine partners.

Simon said: "I wanted to enjoy a new marathon experience this Spring and Brighton proved very popular last year.  My aim is to enjoy the race but hopefully get below 3hrs 30 mins and raise money for Canine Partners.  I am very aware what an important role these dogs play in the lives of a person with disabilities. I am also continually impressed with the way Canine Partners look after the dogs in their care so well."

If you would like to support Simon's efforts, visit: http://www.justgiving.com/Simon-DeVile

Canine Partners still has charity places available for The Brighton Marathon. If you would like to take up the challenge, please contact Jill Green on 01730 716014.

Companion Care Vets has reported a record calendar year in 2010, with 15 new surgeries opened taking the network up to 69.

Companion Care also welcomed 17 new joint venture partners, increasing the total number of partners to 87. The company expects to double the number of surgeries over the next 3 years following the announcement that it is to open standalone practices alongside the in-store Pets at Home surgeries.

According to the company, the opening of 15 new full service surgeries represents an investment of approximately £3 million during the year. More than £340,000 of that investment went on state-of-the-art digital x-ray imaging equipment - a feature of all new surgeries.

Managing director, Jane Balmain, said: "The in-store model has been hugely successful and we will continue to accelerate our growth plans for in-store surgeries as the Pets at Home store footprint expands.

"The launch of our new standalone division provides a solution for the vets and nurses who are looking for a partnership but whose preference is for a more traditional standalone style surgery. The level of interest since our announcement has been massive and we will be looking to capitalise on this in 2011 and beyond.

"Our vision is for Companion Care Vets to become a truly national leading veterinary group and with the record year in 2010 and our plans for 2011 and beyond, we are now well on the way and confident of achieving this."

Virbac is running a promotion through which practices can claim a model showing the anatomy of a healthy dog ear canal on one side, and the changes associated with chronic damage on the other.

Product Manager Chris Geddes MRCVS said: "The models are about 15cm high and provide a useful visual aid to show clients the consequences if chronic ear disease is not kept under control. They can also be used to help show clients how to administer their pet's treatment correctly.

"These models will be a useful tool for practices to help improve client compliance. Also, we know that some dog owners find a course of ear treatments tricky, and either give the wrong dose or give up altogether, which is why we designed EasOtic to dispense the exact dose in one simple 'squirt', with one complete course in each bottle".

For details of how you can obtain a model for your practice contact your local Virbac territory manager or call Virbac on 01359 243243.

The Vet Channel has launched VetPod, a customisable video display system for practice waiting rooms.  

The VetPod system is comprised of three elements: a website where you select the media you want to display in your waiting room, the VetPod, which downloads the videos you select, and a monitor on which to display them in your waiting room.

The Vet Channel says it is updating its media library regularly, so you can pick content which ties in with your practices' clinical focus, marketing strategy and promotional offerings.

The system also allows you to upload your own logos, photographs and videos, and display practice specific information, such as staff news, opening hours, special clinics and promotions. In addition The Vet Channel's in-house design studio can create bold, eye-catching media content to reflect your brand and promote every aspect of your services.

Anthony Beliovich from Companion Care said: "Enquiries about microchipping and flea treatment increased by 25% after we installed The Vet Channel."

For more information, visit  http://www.thevetchannel.co.uk/, email  enquiries@thevetchannel.co.uk, or ring: 0844 8111406

Alternatively, you'll be able to see a demonstration of VetPod at BSAVA Congress this year.

Ceva Animal Health, maker of the veterinary behaviour products DAP and Feliway, is once again sponsoring the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors' series of one day behaviour seminars to keep veterinary professionals up-to-date with companion animal behavioural issues.

Featuring presentations by top pet behaviourists, the seminars will cover a range of topics based on questions that pet owners frequently ask veterinary professionals in practice.   

Contributing to six hours CPD per event, the topics covered in the seminars are: 

• My dog is aggressive - what should I do? - Dr Rachel Casey - 13 May - South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire
• General 'house problems' with dogs and cats (part one) - Claire Hargrave - 10 June - Mere Golf and Country Club, near Manchester, Cheshire
• Breeds and their needs - Clare Wilson - 8 July - Henley Golf and Country Club, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire
• 'Best practice' opportunities for practices regarding puppies - Clare Wilson - 9 September - Henley Golf and Country Club, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire
• Common behavioural issues with small furries - Dr Anne McBride - 21 October - South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire
• General 'house problems' with dogs (part two) - Kendal Shepherd - 11 November - Mere Golf and Country Club, near Manchester, Cheshire

Places on the seminars cost from £70.  For further information, please contact the APBC on 01386 751151 or visit http://www.apbc.org.uk/

Veterinary surgeons are being called on to help recruit dogs for a clinical study called EPIC - the Evaluation of Pimobendan In dogs with Cardiomegaly caused by pre-clinical mitral valve disease (MVD).

The long-term study, which is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim, will assess whether using pimobendan in the pre-clinical phase of MVD has a benefit in extending the time to the onset of clinical signs. It involves 36 centres globally with the aim of recruiting 360 dogs in total.  In order for dogs to be eligible for the study they must: 

• have a moderate to high intensity systolic heart murmur due to mitral valve disease
• have radiographic evidence of cardiomegaly (Vertebral Heart Score (VHS) > 10.5)
• be at least six years of age
• weigh between 4.1kg and 15kg
• have not been on, nor have previously chronically received, any prescription medication for their cardiac disease
• be in good general health, with no other conditions that may have an impact on their expected lifespan (certain medications are allowed to be used concurrently).

The three veterinary cardiologists from the UK involved in the randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group study are Adrian Boswood MA VetMB DipECVIM-ca DVC MRCVS from the Royal Veterinary College (the RVC) in Hertfordshire, Sarah Smith MA VetMB DVC MRCVS from Sarah Smith Cardiology in Derbyshire and Mark Patteson MA VetMB, PhD DVC CertVR MRCVS from Heart Vets at Vale Referrals, Gloucestershire.

Adrian Boswood, veterinary cardiologist from RVC said: "The implications of this study for dogs and their owners could be enormous. If the research shows that pimobendan is effective before clinical signs of MMVD appear, this could lead to a new treatment option for practitioners."

For further information on the study or if you have a dog that may be suitable for the trial, please contact the nearest study investigator - Adrian Boswood on 01707 666605, Sarah Smith on 07515 359241 or Mark Patteson on 01453 547934.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has directed that a veterinary surgeon from Berkshire be removed from the Register, following his administration of a prohibited substance to a racehorse and his subsequent attempts to conceal his actions.

At a six-day hearing that concluded yesterday, James Main, a partner in the O'Gorman, Slater, Main & Partners veterinary practice in Newbury, and former lead veterinary surgeon to racehorse trainer Nicky Henderson, faced four charges of serious professional misconduct concerning his treatment of Moonlit Path, a six-year-old mare owned by The Queen.

Three of the charges related to Mr Main breaching British Horseracing Authority (BHA) rules by injecting Moonlit Path with tranexamic acid (TA) on the day she was due to race; the fourth charge related to his dishonest concealment of this treatment in his practice clinical records. Nicky Henderson had himself faced a BHA Inquiry into this case in 2009 and subsequently been sanctioned.

The Committee heard that on 18 February 2009, Mr Henderson's yard requested a veterinary surgeon attend Moonlit Path to administer an injection of Dycenene the following morning. The injection was requested as the mare was prone to exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage. Mr Main attended on the morning of 19 February and injected the horse with intravenous tranexamic acid. Moonlit Path raced at Huntingdon later that day, along with the eventual winner, and favourite, Ravello Bay - another horse trained by Mr Henderson. Moonlit Path finished sixth and a urine sample taken from her after the race tested positive for TA.

Of the four charges, Mr Main admitted injecting Moonlit Path with TA on the day she was due to race when he knew this breached the BHA's rule prohibiting any substance other than the horse's usual feed and water being given on race day. However, Mr Main denied knowing that, if tested, a horse would test positive for TA (thereby imposing a strict liability on the trainer); he denied administering a prohibited substance to a horse with the intention to affect that horse's racing performance; and, he denied dishonestly concealing the TA injection by omitting it from his clinical records and referring to it as a 'pre-race check'.

The Committee heard and carefully considered evidence from Mr Henderson and his employees, from BHA investigating officers and its Director of Equine Science and Welfare, from an expert equine physiologist and from Mr Main himself. In its findings, the Committee stated it was "unimpressed by Mr Henderson's evidence and surprised by his apparent lack of knowledge of the rules of racing".

Whilst the Committee accepted Mr Main believed at the time that Moonlit Path would not test positive for TA, it considered he failed to fully inform himself of the medicinal product he was using; especially so as TA does not possess a Marketing Authorisation as a veterinary medicinal product. In so doing, he did not meet his professional obligation to provide Mr Henderson with the information and advice he needed.

The Committee concluded that TA was a prohibited substance and, whilst accepting that Mr Main's concern had solely been for Moonlit Path's welfare, he had actually breached BHA rules by affecting her performance through administering such a substance.

Finally, the Committee found that Mr Main had deliberately concealed the TA injection to Moonlit Path by describing it in his notes as a 'pre-race check' - a protocol developed over several years between the practice and Mr Henderson. Such inaccurate clinical records were in breach of the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct and led the Committee to conclude he had acted dishonestly. The Committee also found Mr Main "did not act with candour" by claiming to have administered the TA injection the day before the race. On questioning by the Legal Assessor, however, he admitted that he had known that Moonlit Path was racing the same day that he administered the injection.

Professor Sheila Crispin, chairing the Committee, said: "[We] regard it as wholly unacceptable practice that a veterinary surgeon should be party to serious breaches of rules of another regulatory body in the field of animal welfare ... and which go to the very integrity of racing.

"Whilst the findings relate to a single incident, [we] are satisfied that Mr Main's actions amounted to pre-meditated misconduct ... It is highly relevant that Mr Main held positions of responsibility within the racing industry where he was required to uphold the rules and standards of the profession," she added.

Noting Mr Main's "long and hitherto unblemished career as a highly respected equine veterinary surgeon", the Committee accepted Mr Main's evidence that the reason for the administration of tranexamic acid was solely his concern about the welfare of the horse. Nevertheless, it found his evidence was "evasive, lacking in candour and on some aspects of the case his evidence was untrue".

Professor Crispin concluded: "...proven dishonesty has been held to come at the top end of the spectrum of gravity of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect ... Having considered carefully all the mitigation put forward on Mr Main's behalf, [we] have concluded that Mr Main's behaviour was wholly unacceptable and so serious that removal of his name from the Register is required."

Less than a quarter of veterinary students starting their degrees in 2009 were male (24%), according to figures released today in RCVS Facts.

This is up slightly from 23% last year, but down from just over 30% in 1999: ten years before that, the gender balance of new students was approximately 50:50. Meanwhile, 53% of UK-practising veterinary surgeons are female.

RCVS Facts is part two of the RCVS Annual Report, and presents a statistical picture of the veterinary and veterinary nursing professions. Other headline facts include a 21% increase in the number of practice premises registered with the College since 1 April 2009, bringing the total on the Register of Veterinary Practice Premises to 4,821; some 766 veterinary nurse students completing their training and becoming eligible to register (an increase of 28% compared with those eligible to register during the previous two-year period) and an increase of nearly 10% in the number of complaints received about veterinary surgeons, to 739.

Figures are also available for:

• New membership admissions and veterinary nurse registrations
• A break-down of the veterinary profession: gender, age, geographic distribution, type of work
• Type of complaints received and the time taken to act upon them
• Disciplinary cases
• Postgraduate qualifications awarded this year
• Financial accounts

The reporting year is 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, and part one of the RCVS Annual Report, RCVS Review, takes a more personal look at the activities of the College during the period, through the eyes of some of those involved. Topics include reviews of Extra-Mural Studies and the Practice Standards Scheme, the modular Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing producing the first diplomates, a focus on mental health and wellbeing, fund-raising for the RCVS Trust and the College's joint work with other authorities to bring justice in cases of fraudulent 'veterinary surgeons'.

Both publications are available online at: www.rcvs.org.uk/review and www.rcvs.org.uk/facts.

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has released diagnostic data which the company says indicates that calf scour problems caused by cryptosporidia are on the increase.

A summary of 2010 results from the company's ScourCheck scheme, which identifies infectious scour pathogens in calf faeces, show the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum being present in 37% of samples.

Intervet/Schering-Plough ruminant veterinary adviser Drew McGurren said: "Ever since we started testing calf faecal samples in the 1990s, rotavirus and cryptosporidia have always been identified as the two main pathogens implicated in infectious scour problems. But the latest data - and feedback from vets in practice - suggest cryptosporidia incidence is on an upward trend.

"Ten years ago our top line reporting used to refer to rotavirus being implicated in around a third of all infectious calf scour problems and cryptosporidia in roughly a quarter. But in 2009, we detected cryptosporidia in 30% of samples. And this year - from the 250 plus faecal samples we have looked at so far - the incidence seems to be even higher."

Drew stressed that scours caused by cryptosporidia are not always confined to housed calves: "Suckler calves between one and two weeks of age can be very susceptible to infection at grass, particularly if conditions underfoot are muddy around ring feeders. Early May has seen quite a lot of rain, and the parasite thrives in damp conditions."

The major source of cryptosporidia is thought to be either adult cows (which act as carriers without showing signs of disease) or infected scouring calves passing the parasite in their faeces. Drew said: "The infectious dose of the organism is very low and if ring feeders are not moved regularly the disease threat that builds up can be very similar to the housed situation. Faecal contamination of feed and water troughs can also be reduced by raising and covering them.

"Cryptosporidiosis in calves is often seen in combination with other diseases, particularly rotavirus. So vaccinating cows against rotavirus with Rotavec-Corona one to three months pre-calving - as well as a sound colostrum feeding regime and maintaining high hygiene standards - can often tip the balance in your favour."

Intervet Schering-Plough says that if cryptosporidia is diagnosed as the problem, parasite replication and excretion can be reduced with Halocur. This is the only product licensed to treat and prevent cryptosporidiosis. Administered orally to calves after feeding (daily for seven days), it can reduce the severity of diarrhoea and prevent the infection spreading to other calves. Treated calves have also been shown to require fewer antibiotic and anti-inflammatory treatments, as well as less rehydration therapy.

Royal Canin has introduced Feline Satiety Support diet in 1.5kg and 3.5kg bags to complement the existing packs of 28 sachets.

Royal Canin veterinary support manager Lepha McCartan said: "As every vet and vet nurse knows, obesity is an ever-increasing problem in cats. We have found that once owners are used to the idea of portion control provided by the existing 28 sachet packs, they are happy to continue to help get their cat's weight down. Bigger packs offer more convenience and value for money for the customer, particularly those who have a few cats with weight issues."

Royal Canin says Feline Satiety Support helps cats feel fuller for longer, offering a greater food volume compared to standard diets. A satisfied cat is less inclined to beg for food, which in turn helps prevent owners giving in to demands from a complaining cat. According to the company, vets recommending Feline Satiety Support have found that the sachet packs help owners understand the correct amount of kibbles per meal, and once this has been established the larger packs offer owners greater choice.

Feline Satiety Support is available in packs of 28 x 20g sachets and 1.5 and 3.5kg bags from all veterinary wholesalers.  For more information, contact your Veterinary Business Manager or visit http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/.