Mars Petcare has created a 'chewing robot' with which to research and test canine dental products.

The robot is used to show how well potential new products or prototypes are performing when it comes to plaque removal.

Built using a scan of a real canine mouth and jaw, the 3D-printed model replicates the normal mastication action of a dog and the pressures it might exert on a dental chew. This, the company says, allows it to test the effectiveness of different product materials and shapes more rapidly and then refine its products at a much earlier stage in the research and development process.

Dr Phil McGenity, Global Pet Oral Care Technical Leader, Mars Petcare said the robot allows them to observe the effects of a dental chew much more easily than in a real dog: "Typically, it’s very difficult to look inside the mouth of a dog while it's chewing, but this robot allows us to assess products more rapidly than we’ve ever been able to in the past. It means we can continually improve the texture and materials in our products."

Mars uses the robot to compare different textures and shapes of products by analysing how much plaque is removed from the robot’s teeth.

Phil said: "We apply a plaque mimic to the surface of the teeth, so we can observe how effectively different prototypes or textures remove this mimic. We take before and after images and, using computer analysis, we can accurately determine what percentage of plaque has been removed.

"This robot has been extremely beneficial for us, to see just how visible the effects of our products, such as DentaStix Daily Oral Care, are."

Veterinary dentist John Robinson said: "One of the key benefits of the chewing robot is it allows a preliminary testing stage before you move into clinical trials. Clinical trials are lengthy and expensive, but the chewing robot means the product can be refined and improved to ensure optimum effectiveness.

"Then you can move into the full clinical trial knowing it has already had extensive texture and plaque removal analysis."

He added: "New research developments such as the chewing robot are vital to improving home dental care in dogs and giving vets the confidence to recommend dental chews to dog owners. Although brushing is regarded as the gold standard, vets need to work more closely with owners to improve homecare via the use of dental products."

Mars Petcare has produced a short report explaining each stage its product development and testing. You can download the report on the WALTHAM website: https://www.waltham.com/waltham-research/oral-health-research/oral-health-r-d/ 

Dechra Veterinary Products has launched Prevomax (maropitant), a new formulation anti-emetic injection for dogs and cats.

Prevomax 10 mg/ml uses benzyl alcohol as a preservative, as opposed to the other injectable formulation of maropitant (Cerenia) which uses metacresol as the preservative.

Dechra says benzyl alcohol causes less injection site pain than metacresol.

Prevomax comes in a 20 ml bottle and has a 56-day broached shelf life.

Dechra Brand Manager Claire Morgan said: "We are delighted to launch Prevomax to the UK and IE market.

"Human clinical studies have shown that an injection containing benzyl alcohol causes less pain than an injection preserved with metacresol.

"Prevomax is particularly useful for the treatment and prevention of nausea induced by chemotherapy and for treatment of vomiting, in combination with other supportive measures."

Dechra is inviting veterinary professionals to share their experience of using Prevomax for a chance to win a £100 Amazon gift card.

Entries must be received by February 28 2018 and should be submitted at www.dechra.co.uk/prevomax 

The British Veterinary Association has opened Through the eyes of vets, an exhibition in the House of Commons of the diverse work carried out by veterinary surgeons, depicted in a series of photographs by its members.

The exhibition comprises 22 photographs showing a range of subjects from across the UK and overseas, including cattle during a TB testing day on the island of Arran, a surprising find during surgery, a look down the microscope at feline myofiber disarray and a practical session of bee veterinary medicine.

The photographs were selected from around 1,000 that were submitted to the association's photo competitions by its members in 2016 and 2017.

The exhibition was officially opened today by Neil Parish MP, Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EfraCom) and BVA Honorary Member, at an opening ceremony attended by parliamentarians as well as many of the veterinary surgeons whose photographs feature in the exhibition.

Neil said: "These photos show the diverse range of things that vets are involved in. What we respect from BVA is that we get good clear, evidence-based advice when we need it."

BVA member and Director of Cambridge Veterinary Group Lucy Crosby was commended for her snake intubation picture last year. She said: "The exhibition is a really exciting opportunity for vets to show that their skills extend beyond the operating room to the arts.

"I personally feel privileged to have my photo shown here. The veterinary profession and what we do is diverse and it's important to broadcast to the general public just how important the profession’s contribution is to the country."

BVA President, John Fishwick said: "It's an honour to have the opportunity to exhibit our members’ photographs in the Palace of Westminster. Vets work in practices across the UK, in government policy, public health and food safety, industry and technology, the armed forces, and beyond.

"As a profession, we play a significant role in many areas of personal and political life; an issue that EU exit has brought into sharp relief. With the political landscape shifting so rapidly, it’s apt that we’re showcasing vets’ work to parliamentarians to make sure it’s at the forefront of their minds as they return for the New Year."

The exhibition will be open daily until Thursday 11 January in the Upper Waiting Room of the House of Commons, an area open to Members of Parliament, Peers and visiting members of the public.

To view the photographs exhibited, and many others from BVA’s photo competitions, visit BVA’s Flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/britishvets/albums/

Southfields Veterinary Specialists has appointed Domingo Casamian-Sorrosal, a double-diplomate in veterinary cardiology and small animal internal medicine, to its growing team of specialists.

Domingo, pictured on the left with Southfields clinical director Henry L’Eplattenier, will join the Essex referral centre as head of cardiopulmonary service at the start of February.

After qualifying in Zaragoza in his native Spain, Domingo completed an internship and several years in practice in the UK, before joining the University of Bristol small animal hospital as a resident.

He then completed a three-year training programme in small animal internal medicine, followed by a four-year programme in cardiology to become an RCVS diplomate and specialist in veterinary cardiology and small animal internal medicine (ECVIM). 

After being appointed as head of cardiology and respiratory medicine at Bristol, Domingo joined Dick White Referrals before his move to Southfields. 

Domingo said: "I’m delighted to be joining such a progressive and forward-thinking practice as Southfields. It is clear everyone at the practice is dedicated to continuing its growth and dedication to providing the highest possible level of care."

Southfields’ operations manager Daniel Hogan said: "The arrival of Domingo adds another hugely talented specialist to our growing team of experts. He is, without doubt, at the top of his profession and his passion and dedication are traits which will fit perfectly at Southfields as we continue to grow."

Domingo is also a visiting lecturer in cardiology and respiratory medicine at the Catholic University of Valencia, while he is an active clinical researcher and has published widely in many areas of cardiology and respiratory medicine. His areas of special interest are arrhythmias and interventional cardiology.

For more information about Southfields Veterinary Specialists, go to www.southfields.co.uk. 

Dr Gerhard Schulze Allen has been struck off by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee after failing to declare a conviction for petty theft in the USA both to a Notary Public in California and to the College.

The Disciplinary Committee heard four charges against Dr Schulze Allen.  

The first charge related to the original criminal conviction in the County of San Bernardino in California dating from September 2013, where Dr Schulze Allen pleaded guilty to petty theft for which he was fined US $435 and ordered to pay a fee of US $35.

The second charge related to the fact that, on or around 3 December 2013 in a written application for restoration to the Register, Dr Schulze Allen was dishonest in representing that he did not have any cautions or criminal convictions.

The third charge related to the fact that on or around 4 December 2013 in a sworn affidavit before a Notary Public in Riverside, California, he dishonestly and falsely represented that he had, at no time, been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or elsewhere.

The final charge was that, in an email to the RCVS in June 2016, he dishonestly and falsely represented that he had "no criminal record whatsoever". 

Having found Dr Schulze Allen guilty of all four charges the Committee then considered whether the conviction rendered him unfit to practise veterinary surgery and whether the remaining charges amounted to disgraceful conduct in a professional respect.

The Committee noted that the conviction was for a minor matter but had regard to all the evidence before it and considered that as an offence of dishonesty it represented a breach of one of the fundamental tenets of the profession. It further considered that Dr Schulze Allen’s dishonesty toward the College and his completing a legal document which he knew would be relied upon by the College was conduct that fell far short of the standard expected of a member of the profession.

With regard to the final charge, the Committee considered this a "clear attempt to deliberately misrepresent the fact that he had a conviction for a criminal offence." The Committee considered that Dr Schulze Allen’s conduct had been aggravated by the fact that it was protracted and repeated over a period of time.

Ultimately the Committee considered that the conviction rendered Dr Schulze Allen unfit to practise veterinary surgery and the remaining charges amounted to disgraceful conduct in a professional respect.

Ian Green, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: "His conduct represented a blatant disregard of the role of the RCVS and the systems that regulate the veterinary profession. The Committee also remained particularly concerned at Dr Schulze Allen’s very limited insight into his conduct."

He added: "In mitigation the Committee noted that this is not a case where harm was caused to any animals or humans. It noted that prior to these matters which are before the Committee that Dr Schulze Allen had an unblemished career and that he had been of good character. In respect of purely personal mitigation the Committee noted that Dr Schulze Allen is the main breadwinner of the family."

However, the Committee considered that Dr Schulze Allen’s conduct had fallen significantly short of standards expected of a veterinary surgeon.

Ian Green concluded: "The Committee considered that the only appropriate sanction is that of removal from the Register. Such a sanction is required to send a clear message to Dr Schulze Allen and to veterinary surgeons of the unacceptability of being dishonest to the RCVS. Such conduct undermines public confidence in the profession and fails to uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour.

"Accordingly, the Committee has decided that removal from the Register is appropriate and proportionate in this case. The Committee will direct the Registrar to remove the respondent’s name from the Register forthwith."

Dr Schulze Allen has 28 days from the date of the decision to appeal the Committee’s decision.

The Committee’s full findings and decision is available at www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary.

VetSurgeon.org Jobs has announced the launch of a new feature designed to help veterinary surgeons have greater confidence applying for jobs advertised on the site.

Publishing Editor Arlo Guthrie said: "I've lost count of the number of vets who remark that all veterinary recruitment adverts say that there's a 'happy working team' or a 'supportive environment', or 'all the latest toys' and it's only when they arrive at the practice that they discover that everyone's at each other like ferrets in a sack, and the practice's idea of 'all the latest toys' is a 1972 Goblin Teasmade."

VetSurgeon Jobs now includes the ability for advertisers to display in their advert links to the VetSurgeon profiles of other employees at the practice who are prepared to have an informal chat with candidates about what it's like working there.

Using the messaging system on VetSurgeon.org, the potential applicant and the employee can then arrange a time for a chat, without revealing the employee's email address, after which the candidate will hopefully feel far better placed to decide whether it's the job for them.

Arlo said: "Of course, no advertiser is going to display the name of an employee who is going to say bad things about the practice, but it still offers the chance for candidates to ask questions and make their own mind up before applying for an interview."

Aside from that, just the fact that a practice shows that it has the confidence in its employees to put them in touch with potential candidates says something very positive about those practices which use the feature. 

To use the new feature, job advertisers need to enter the email address of another employee at the practice who is also a member of VetSurgeon.org and has agreed to talk to candidates, when they place their advertisement. When it goes live, the advert will then contain a direct link to the employee's profile, under the title: "Talk to other employees of this practice." 

Vet Direct has launched the AniPoc Handheld Monitor, a new portable haematocrit / haemoglobin detector designed to produce reliable results in 10 seconds.

Vet Direct says the unit, which is used for the diagnosis and monitoring of anaemia in dogs, cats and horses, requires only a simple ear-prick test to deliver a result. 

Leon Wright, managing director at Vet Direct, said: "The AniPoc device eliminates the need to draw blood with a syringe, a simple pin prick is enough, and is perfect for both veterinary practices and home visits.

"The speed and accuracy of the product means that it is better equipped to monitor animals undergoing anaesthesia or transfusions, and can be used to effectively screen animals taking part in Pet Blood Banks and mobile clinics."

Vet Direct says the AniPoc also delivers results much faster than a centrifuge and doesn’t require any time to be spent in the lab; a process which can take 10-20 minutes to get a result - by which time they are often out-of-date in critical cases.

The AniPoc Handheld Monitor and Starter Kit is available from Vet Direct for £250.

For more information, visit www.vet-direct.com or call 0800 068 3300.

Ceva Animal Health has launched a Feliway and Adaptil Christmas marketing pack to help highlight festive stress factors.

The marketing pack includes a poster, leaflet and a counter top display which highlight the stress factors facing pets and provide pet owners with an overview of how Feliway and Adaptil help pets cope with challenging situations.

Ceva will also be running a competition for pet owners to win £150 of John Lewis vouchers in a prize draw. To enter, they need to email cevauk@ceva.com with the subject 'Stress Free Christmas' and their name and contact number. The competition closes on 24 December 2017 and the winner will be contacted by telephone in January 2018.

Claire Russell, brand manager at Ceva Animal Health, said: "Big family gatherings, noisy toys and being home alone more often are just some of the stressful situations that pets can find themselves in during the festive period. Our new marketing pack will help highlight these stress factors amongst pet owners and raise awareness of how Feliway and Adaptil can help support their pets."

To request a Christmas marketing pack, contact your Ceva Animal Health account manager, email cevauk@ceva.com or contact customer services on 01494 781510.

The PDSA has announced that it is to close its Pet Practice service (PPS) scheme, through which around 30,000 pet owners on low incomes have been able to access free veterinary treatment delivered through private practices.

Instead, eligible clients are being invited to join PDSA Pet Care, a new scheme costing £4.50 per month which entitles them to veterinary consultation, one primary vaccination course or booster each year (including a health check), a 20% discount on qualifying treatments in private practice, access to a nurse-led 24/7 triage service and preferential rates on PDSA pet insurance. 

The PDSA says that pet owners and practices registered to the current Pet Practice service have been informed directly about the changes, which are being introduced over the next 12 months, as the current service is gradually phased out.

PDSA Director of Veterinary Services, Richard Hooker, said: "Following the review it was clear that the PDSA Pet Practice model was no longer financially sustainable for the charity in its existing form. However, it was important to many practices and PDSA to identify how we can best continue to offer some help to pet owners who live outside the catchment area of our Pet Hospital network and who have a need for affordable veterinary care and advice. 

"We are grateful to all those in the profession who contributed to the development of the new scheme. It provides a more sustainable way in which to support households on low incomes across the UK. We are hopeful that practices will look to work with us to support pets and owners in their local communities by participating in the replacement scheme.

"We are mindful that any changes to our service can have an impact on some pet owners and our colleagues in the profession. This is why we have consulted on these moves and put measures in place to support those most affected."

Clients currently using the Pet Practice service who have a pet with a lifelong chronic condition will continue to receive some financial support towards the cost of their pet’s ongoing care and treatment via the PDSA Chronic Voucher scheme, which offers £25 per month towards the ongoing care of their pet for its lifetime.

The charity says it is also looking at a number of specific locations, where existing clients and their pets could supported by its Pet Hospital network when the current Pet Practice service closes.  

Richard Hooker added: "The changes to the Pet Practice service are part of a much wider review of PDSA charitable services carried out this year. We have also made changes to our Pet Hospital service: reducing the number of eligible pets that owners can register for free treatment, from three to one, and withdrawing our Pet Treatment Fund.

"These important steps ensure that our available funds are targeted as effectively as possible, achieving our charitable aims of preventing illness, educating pet owners and treating sick animals.

"As a charity we receive no Government funding and rely on the generosity of our supporters and clients to run our services, which cost more than £60 million each year to fund."

Virbac has announced that from the 1st February 2018, BackHome microchips will include free online transfer of keepership from breeders to new puppy owners.

The introduction of the compulsory microchipping law in April 2016 has meant that puppies have to be microchipped by 8 weeks of age and the breeder has to be recorded as the first keeper. This has, up to now, incurred further and often unexpected costs for new puppy owners or breeders who have had to pay an additional fee for the transfer of keepership.

From 1^st February practices using BackHome microchips will register their newly implanted microchips with the UK based reunification database, PETtrac, and the online transfer of keepership from breeders to new owners will be free. A postal transfer will cost 50p.

BackHome Product Manager Madeline Haynes said: "We have listened to feedback from the veterinary profession who have stressed the importance of not only providing a fast and reliable service from a pet reunification database, but also the need for free transfer of keepership from a breeder to a new owner.

"We are delighted to have been able to facilitate this through the move to PETtrac."

PETtrac is a UK based, DEFRA compliant reunification database that offers 24/7 customer service, 365 days of the year.  

The move to PETtrac will not affect pets already registered with BackHome Microchips, whose lifelong registration with previous database supplier PetLog remains unchanged. 

For more information, visit: www.virbac.co.uk    

*Postal transfer of keepership from breeder to new owner will cost 0.50p

The National Office of Animal Health has announced that the 2018 edition of the NOAH Compendium of Data Sheets for Animal Medicines has been published and a free copy of the book posted to every veterinary practice in the UK.

The NOAH Compendium is also available online at www.noahcompendium.co.uk. A special edition of the book for SQPs, commissioned by AMTRA, will be also available shortly.

NOAH chief executive Dawn Howard said: "The NOAH Compendium remains a major part of NOAH’s efforts to assist the appropriate and responsible use of all animal medicines. 

"Every NOAH member, as well as the non-member participants in the NOAH Compendium, is a signatory to the NOAH Code of Practice on Promotion, which demonstrates their commitment to operate above and beyond any regulatory requirements.

"As always, our free of charge web-based Compendium, which is updated regularly, contains the most up-to-date information. If you have not been on the website lately you will see we have introduced a ‘Company Directory’ as well as ‘datasheets by company’, as well as improving the facility of the site to print individual datasheets.

Meanwhile, NOAH says the app version of the Compendium has been temporarily suspended while certain technical difficulties are resolved. Dawn said: "We have recently faced an unexpected issue with the NOAH Compendium App and have temporarily suspended the App’s availability on both the Apple store and Googleplay.

"The app is currently being updated and we are working to get it back online as soon as possible. If you have already downloaded the app, please note there will be no further updates to the information until we can resolve the issue, and the information it displays may not be the most recent update."

If your practice has not yet received its copy, perhaps because you are a new practice, or have changed address in the past year, contact Amy Davis at NOAH (a.davis@noah.co.uk). 

Extra copies are also available to order now, for £46. Special prices are available for bulk orders.

The RCVS is calling for more volunteers to be part of an extended pilot for proposed changes to the way it measures continuing professional development.

This pilot was originally launched in February 2017 to trial proposed changes to CPD, which would concentrate less on hours logged and more on interactive, reflective learning and measuring the impact that CPD has on the individual’s practice and patient health outcomes.

Some 115 veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses volunteered, with 60 attending an induction days at the College’s office last year.

The College says the response to its proposals was largely positive, and at its meeting on 2 November 2017 RCVS Council agreed to an extension of the pilot for a further six-to-nine months, in order to increase the breadth of views on the changes and gather further evidence on its impact. 

The proposed model for CPD has four key components: planning, doing, recording and reflecting. While an overall majority of the 3,357 people who responded to the College’s 2016 consultation agreed with the proposed changes to the CPD requirement, certain elements received less support than others.

The lowest amount of support was received for the ‘reflection’ component with 35% of respondents disagreeing with it.

Shona McIntyre MRCVS, a teaching fellow in small animal medicine at the University of Surrey and the practitioner representative on the CPD Pilot Working Group, said: "As a general practitioner involved in the initial phase of the CPD pilot I was thrilled that we had so many from the profession engage with the consultation, and later with the pilot.

"By extending the pilot further we are looking to get an even wider range of views on board and fine-tune how we will be asking members of the profession to engage with the reflection element of the proposals. We are looking for a mix of those who support the proposals and those who have a ‘healthy scepticism’ about them and I can only encourage those not yet involved to consider signing up for the extended pilot and make their voice heard."

If you are interested in volunteering, contact Naila Hassanali, RCVS CPD Officer, via cpd@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0701.

Volunteers will be supported by RCVS staff throughout the trial. 

Further information, including the CPD Policy Working Party’s response to the consultation, is available on the College website: www.rcvs.org.uk/cpdconsultation/.  

The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has announced the launch of #ColostrumIsGold, a new campaign to promote the 'liquid gold' properties of colostrum in reducing the need for antibiotics in farm animals.

The campaign, taking place in February, will underline that responsible use of antibiotics starts with newborn calves, lambs and piglets receiving the right amount of colostrum within a couple of hours of birth – something all farmers have the potential to achieve.

A number of organisations will be releasing information and promoting best practice throughout the month, mainly based around getting the 3Qs (quality, quantity and quickness) of colostrum delivery right.

The FarmAntibiotics.org information website will be signposting to these resources, as well as highlighting hints and tips for more effective colostrum management.

RUMA chairman Gwyn Jones says that as a farmer, he recognises the pressures at lambing and calving, and just how easy it can be to take shortcuts with the all-important first feed.

"But it was a wake-up call when I found out calves receiving insufficient colostrum at birth are more than twice as likely to develop respiratory disease, and can have mortality rates as high as 13%," he said. 

"Too often we see the animal start to suck or we give it a feed, and don’t think about the actual quantity of colostrum it consumes immediately after birth.

"All these factors have an enormous impact on the levels of antibodies in the bloodstream 24 hours later, and on the subsequent health of the animal and its need for antibiotic treatment during its whole life. 

"Better colostrum management is an incredible opportunity – not just to ensure better health for the future, but to cut antibiotic use and produce a more valuable animal for onward rearing."

Research manager Dr Jenny Gibbons from AHDB says their recent 'Calf to Calving' campaign focusing on youngstock rearing has seen nearly 40% of attendees go on to buy equipment to test the quality of colostrum.

Jenny said: "With recent figures from the Royal Veterinary College indicating just 31% of dairy farmers have been testing the quality of the colostrum before feeding it, this uptake is good news.

"Another area to tackle is time of feeding. Only 5% are feeding within the ideal two hours after birth. Changing these practices would make a huge difference to calves for onward beef rearing as well as replacement heifers."

Specialist sheep vet Dr Fiona Lovatt says lambs receiving insufficient colostrum at birth is behind one of the sheep industry’s biggest antibiotic use 'hotspots', in what is otherwise a low-use sector.

She said: "It’s largely avoidable. The reality is that we simply don’t see Watery Mouth in lambs that have taken sufficient colostrum on board in that golden 24-hour window immediately after birth."

Fiona says a 5kg lamb at birth needs 1 litre of colostrum in its first 24 hours of life to give it essential levels of natural immunity, but importantly, the first feed should be within two hours of birth. 

"Antibodies – essential in protecting against all disease including E coli infections – cannot cross through the placenta, so must be transferred through colostrum.

"While thin ewes or those that are not well fed in the run-up to lambing will produce too little colostrum of low quality, more often it’s simply not getting enough colostrum into the lamb quickly enough after birth."

Fiona says the sheep sector should not be relying on use of preventative antibiotics – because of image but also the very real problem of antibiotic resistance. "We know from government data that 50% of neonatal lamb E coli are already resistant to spectinomycin, the most commonly used dose. We need to protect these antibiotics, or we will lose them."

Veterinary lead at AHDB and pig specialist Dr Mandy Nevel says baby pigs need colostrum too, to maintain body temperature as well as protect them against disease.

Mandy said: "Baby pigs are born wet and with very little energy reserve. Ideally they need to get a feed in within the first 30 minutes to prevent hypothermia. This early feed will also provide essential immunity, giving them the best chance of survival in their first few weeks of life.

"Sow vaccination is the best way to boost antibody levels in the colostrum. That is why piglets who receive good levels of colostrum early will also be the healthiest at weaning. That extra care in the first hours of life will really make a difference."

Mandy includes post-weaning diarrhoea and respiratory disease as longer term threats for piglets receiving insufficient colostrum at birth. "Colostrum really is a golden opportunity to secure lower antibiotic use and a healthier animal for its whole life."

Veterinary surgeons and farmers looking for more information should search for the #ColostrumIsGold hashtag on Twitter, or go to the FarmAntibiotics.org website to be signposted to tools, resources and case studies from 1 February.