The British Veterinary Dental Association (BVDA) has signed a new agreement with Hill's Pet Nutrition which will provide support for the next three years. 

The agreement comes after the previous period of sponsorship between the company and the BVDA reached the end of the three year term.

Lisa Milella, President, signed the agreement on behalf of the BVDA. She said: "Hill's has provided our organisation with invaluable support that will help us to continue to support the teaching needs of vets, undergraduates and nurses. We will also be able to ensure that dentistry is front of mind when thinking about the health and welfare of animals. Hill's has been a pleasure to work with over the last three years and I am very pleased to be renewing our agreement."

Adrian Pratt, Veterinary Affairs Manager at Hill's Pet Nutrition also welcomed the agreement, "Dentistry is an important source of revenue for practices and central to the wellbeing of pets. Both are priority areas where Hill's will be offering support, particularly during the current economic downturn. We are therefore very pleased to be able to confirm our association with the BVDA."

The agreement comes as the BVDA prepares to celebrate its 21^st Birthday at BSAVA Congress in April. The satellite day event on the 1^st April promises to be a 'must' for anyone interested in veterinary dentistry, with state of the art lectures that will illustrate how far the craft of dentistry has developed in the last 21 years.   

The key note lecture, 'Magical MTA!*' will be delivered by Phil Thomson, Registrar at Birmingham Dental School, using a video linked operating microscope to illustrate how this gold standard endodontic treatment can be implemented. Additional lectures include oro-facial tumours, reconstructive surgery, radiotherapy and an active debate is promised on the topic of feline chronic gingivostomatitis. The meeting is open to members and non-members. Further details and registration are available by contacting Lisa Milella on telephone 01923 349690 or at lisa@milella.fsnet.co.uk.

*Mineral Trioxide Aggregate - MTA - a root canal repair material that allows natural healing and repair of dental tissues of otherwise unsalvageable teeth.

VetSurgeon.org has launched a new survey of vets designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of social media as a professional tool, and what more could be done to help the profession collaborate more effectively.

Probably the two most popular social media platforms for veterinary surgeons in the UK are Facebook (and its various veterinary groups) and VetSurgeon.org.

Facebook has the advantage that so many people use it to share photographs with family and friends, so they are already on the site and it is only a very short hop over to participate in a veterinary discussion group. That makes it an excellent way to get a broad opinion on almost any subject. 

But, and it is a very big 'but', Facebook was never designed to be a platform for sharing clinical information or discussing cases. So, for example, you cannot see the professional qualifications of anyone contributing to the discussion unless they happen also to be your 'friend', so it can be hard to tell whether they have any idea what they're talking about, or are, in fact, the leading light. 

There are various other aspects of Facebook that are problematic when it comes to clinical discussions, including the difficulty in referring back to useful information shared and the way in which 'me too' replies can drown out good quality information. 

The survey aims to find out how much of a problem vets think these things are, whether certain groups within the profession could be better served by social media - for example those that may find it daunting asking for help in an online group, and what features vets would like VetSurgeon.org to invest in.

The survey can be completed anonymously, but if you give your name at the end, you'll be entered into a draw for a case of champagne (or equivalent). 

Take part here: https://bit.ly/2lzzpy4

Please share this story amongst your colleagues!

A new study published in Equine Veterinary Education¹ has confirmed that if veterinary surgeons are trained to use a Ridden-Horse-Ethogram they are better able to recognise pain-related behaviour in horses, which may reflect lameness or back or sacroiliac pain.

This, say the authors, should in turn help them to communicate potential performance problems more effectively with their clients.

Conducted by Dr Sue Dyson, Head of Clinical Orthopaedics at the Centre for Equine Studies at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, the study compared the real-time application of the Ridden-Horse-Ethogram with analysis of video recordings of the horses by a trained assessor and determined whether vets, after preliminary training, could apply the ethogram in real time in a consistent way and in agreement with an experienced assessor.

Twenty horse and rider combinations were used for the study. The horses were in regular work and were capable of working ‘on the bit’. They were assessed by a chartered physiotherapist and then a Society of Master Saddlers (SMS) qualified saddle fitter checked the fit, placement, balance and suitability of each horse’s saddle. Eleven horses were found to have ill-fitting saddles and 14 had back muscle tension or pain but these did not influence the behaviour scores.

The horses were also assessed by an independent lameness expert. Sixteen showed low-grade lameness or abnormalities of canter, which were likely to be pain induced but did not prevent the horses from being used for the study.

All 20 horses were given a 15-minute ridden warm-up before executing an 8-minute purpose-designed preliminary level dressage test. During each dressage test a team of 10 equine vets, who were selected from 40 volunteers and given preliminary training, applied the Ridden-Horse-Ethogram. They assessed each horse for the presence of a total of 24 behaviours that occur more commonly in lame horses compared with non-lame horses. It has previously been shown that the presence of ≥8 behavioural markers is likely to indicate the presence of musculoskeletal pain.

All behaviours were scored with a binary method as present or absent. The ethogram was also applied to each horse by an experienced trained assessor (Dr Dyson) and the tests were filmed so that the experienced assessor could make a comparison between her real-time behaviour assessments and video analysis.

There was good agreement between the expert’s scores and the volunteer vets’ scores and excellent consistency in overall agreement among the volunteers. The scores also reflected the volunteers’ capacity to use the ethogram to identify lameness status, with higher scores awarded to the lame horses compared with the non-lame horses.

There was no significant difference in real-time scores and video-based scores for the experienced assessor, verifying the reliability of the system.

Sue said: "The study confirms that with basic training veterinary observers can use the ridden horse ethogram with consistency as an effective tool to help identify musculoskeletal pain which could reflect lameness or back or sacroiliac pain.

"The volunteers were unanimously positive about the potential value of the ethogram in helping them to determine the presence of musculoskeletal pain in horses performing poorly or at pre-purchase examinations."

Sue and her team are now working with the evidence-based online educational resource Equitopia, in conjunction with Padma Videos, to produce a training video to enable vets, owners, riders, trainers and paraprofessionals to learn how to apply the Ridden-Horse-Ethogram.

For more information, email info@equitopiacenter.com.

1. Can veterinarians reliably apply a whole horse ridden ethogram to differentiate non lame and lame horses based on live horse assessment of behaviour?  S. Dyson, K. Thomson, L. Quiney, A. Bondi and A. D. Ellis Equine Vet. Educ. 2019, doi: 10.1111/eve.13104

Norbrook Laboratories Ltd has launched Cleanor, an ear cleaner for cats and dogs.

Norbrook says Cleanor Ear Cleaner has been developed for regular, routine cleaning to help remove excessive ear wax from the ear canal as well as providing a moisturising effect to the ear canal's delicate epithelium. 

Michelle Jones, Norbrook Brand Manager (Small Animals) said: "Ear disease represents one of the most common skin problems seen in veterinary practice. Checking the cat or dog's ears should be part of the normal health routine for pet owners. Cleanor Ear Cleaner has been designed to make the ear cleaning process simple and stress free for both the animal and owner. It comes with a long, soft and flexible nozzle to allow easy access to the ear canal and is gentle enough to treat even the most sensitive ears."

Cleanor Ear Cleaner is available in two sizes: 50ml and 120ml. It is supported by educational brochures to assist veterinary practices in discussing good ear cleaning practice with their clients. The brochures are available through Norbrook's local sales representatives.

Cleanor Ear Cleanor is available in the UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Vetoquinol has announced the launch of its new support package to help vets and owners manage canine epilepsy with Epiphen, the company's phenobarbital medication.

Each Epiphen support package contains: 

• Owner Record Manuals which contain epilepsy information and recording charts to monitor seizures
• Vouchers for free personalised vet-alert style dog tags
• Detailed Seizure Reports for vets
• Information on Vetoquinol's serum phenobarbital monitoring scheme
• Contact details for an "ask the expert" scheme, through which vets can ask advice on epilepsy cases from an expert
• Details of the entire Epiphen® range

Accurate information is vital to help control epilepsy patients and the Owner Record Manual will enable owners to keep on top of this information.  It contains charts to monitor seizure frequency and patterns, medication changes, blood test results and seizure characteristics.

The new "ask the expert" scheme offers vets the opportunity to ask for advice on epilepsy cases.  Email epiphen@vetoquinol.co.uk with the query (and your contact details) and you will be put in touch with a neurology expert at a leading referral centre. Vets can also contact the Technical Helpline on 0800 1698197.

The Seizure Reports for vets provide a much more detailed tool for use at initial presentation or for owners to fill in when seizures differ in character. There is a pad of 30 tear-off sheets in each Epiphen support package.

Simon Boulton, Epiphen product manager said: "We understand that epilepsy is an emotional condition and wanted to provide vets and owners with more than just a tablet. I am convinced that with the Epiphen  Support Package we are providing them with the tools they need to make the most of epilepsy management."

Epiphen also offers a free phenobarbital monitoring service. There is a voucher in each 30mg pack and 2 in each 60mg pack. 

For more details on the Epiphen Support Package, to obtain a free practice starter pack or get extra copies of materials, please contact Vetoquinol on 0800 1608197 or contact your Vetoquinol representative. 

Virbac has launched Propofol-Lipuro Vet, a short-acting intravenously administered and short-term maintenance general anaesthetic for use in dogs and cats. 

Propofol-Lipuro Vet contains no preservatives so its use can be repeated, even in cats, for continuous rate infusion. No age restrictions apply to the animals it can be used for and it can be administered for induction prior to Caesarean section.

Virbac Product Manager Kate Woolley MRCVS said: "Propofol is a well-established solution for short-acting anaesthesia in many practices. Propofol-Lipuro Vet complements Virbac's anaesthesia range which now offers total control of analgesia, sedation, intravenous and gaseous anaesthesia, and recovery."

Propofol-Lipuro Vet is available in boxes of 10 x 20 ml bottles.

The British Veterinary Association has launched Brexit and the Veterinary Profession, a report which lays out the association's key recommendations for the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

The report, which was developed in consultation with BVA members, devolved branches, BVA specialist divisions and other stakeholders, outlines the essential role that the UK veterinary workforce plays in not only caring for animals, but in enabling trade, ensuring food hygiene and safety, and undertaking cutting-edge research.

Non-British EU veterinary surgeons are critical to the UK veterinary workforce. Around 50% of veterinary surgeons registering to practise in the UK each year come from overseas, with the vast majority of these coming from the rest of the EU. Yet one-fifth of vets are already reporting that it has become harder to recruit since the EU Referendum.

To secure the best possible outcomes for animal health and welfare, public health, and the veterinary profession, Brexit and the veterinary profession sets out 52 recommendations for the short, medium and long term, including calling on the next Government to:

• Guarantee working rights for non-British EU vets and veterinary nurses (VNs) currently working and studying in the UK, and for British vets and VNs working in the EU, at the existing level and with no time limit, to ensure the need for veterinary services can be met.
• Maintain, and seek opportunities to improve, current animal health and welfare standards and prioritise them in all trade negotiations to ensure that a high standard of animal health, welfare and food hygiene is a unique selling point for the UK.
• Commit to maintaining a single standard for meat produced for both domestic and export markets based on current standards of food hygiene legislation and enforcement, including veterinary certification and controls.
• Negotiate to establish formal links with the EU on disease surveillance, to ensure reciprocal data sharing with Europe is maintained.
• Guarantee the UK veterinary profession ongoing access to all existing veterinary medicines licensed through the EU regulatory systems in order to meet animal health requirements, whilst continuing to play a leading role in tackling antimicrobial resistance internationally.
• Develop a regulatory and legislative framework to ensure the UK continues to be a globally attractive place for research and development (R&D).
• Establish a body to oversee and coordinate animal health and welfare policy across the four administrations of the UK and facilitate partnership working between industry and government to tackle endemic disease and animal heath challenges.  

BVA President Gudrun Ravetz said: "Vets provide the foundation for the UK’s work on animal health and welfare. Veterinary teams up and down the country support the UK’s 11 million pet-owning households; not a penny of the UK’s £13 billion agri-food industry could be realised without vets; and we are an integral part of the international scientific community, annually bringing in over £50 million for research and development projects.

"The veterinary profession is in a unique position from which to offer the next Government evidence-based policy recommendations to ensure animal health and welfare, public health and other standards are at the very least maintained as we exit the EU. 

"We believe Brexit also presents us with opportunities, for example, to develop a strong, competitive food industry with full consumer confidence at home and abroad as well as to position the UK as a world leader in high animal welfare - and a strong veterinary workforce is vital in achieving this."

Brexit and the veterinary profession was developed and written by the BVA Brexit Working Group, under the chairmanship of Alick Simmons, former UK deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, and was agreed by BVA Council in April.

The report builds on BVA’s Brexit Principles, agreed by Council in September 2016, and covers seven areas of public policy: veterinary workforce, animal health, animal welfare, food hygiene and safety, veterinary medicines, research and development, and trade.

Two further sections of the report consider issues relating to devolution and to Northern Ireland’s unique position as the only part of the UK to share a land border with an EU member state.

With a snap General Election due in five weeks’ time, BVA has produced a 20-point manifesto of key recommendations covering both Brexit and wider policy issues, which has been sent to the main political parties’ manifesto-writing teams and to BVA’s Honorary Associates.

Brexit and the veterinary profession and the manifesto for the 2017 General Election are available at: www.bva.co.uk/brexit.

Maximilian Wood MRCVS has been suspended by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee for 18 months after he was found guilty of dishonesty in relation to a falsified laboratory test result.

Mr Wood faced three charges, all relating to allegations of misconduct over a laboratory test for an alpaca while he was working at a practice in South Oxfordshire.

The charges alleged that in September 2023, Mr Wood told the alpaca’s owner that it had tested positive for Johne’s disease when in fact, the animal had not been tested.

He then allegedly sent a letter confirming a positive test result for the test that had not taken place, and then created a false test result report in the name of a veterinary surgeon colleague and sent it to another colleague by email.

He later told the alpaca's owner that he had given her the wrong result by mistake and that the test result was actually negative. 

Then in October 2023, he emailed the laboratory saying that a member of his practice’s administrative staff had written the false report.

In November he told the managing partner of his then employer on three occasions that he was investigating the false report in order to find out who sent it.

Finally, he sent a misleading and dishonest email to a veterinary surgeon colleague falsely indicating that a member of the practice’s staff had manufactured the false report, when that was not the case.

At the outset of the hearing Mr Wood admitted the facts of all the allegations against him.

Having found the facts proven, the Committee found that the charges amounted to serious professional misconduct, something which Mr Wood himself also admitted.

The Committee identified a number of aggravating factors in Mr Woods' conduct, including his lack of honesty, probity and integrity, the fact the conduct was premeditated, that it involved a breach of the client’s trust, the abuse of his professional position, the fact the conduct was sustained and repeated over a period of time, and that his conduct contravened advice given by the RCVS.

The mitigating factors included positive testimonials from professional former colleagues and client farmers, the fact that he had engaged in some remediation in order to avoid repeating the dishonest behaviour, and that he showed significant insight into his misconduct.

Dr Neil Slater MRCVS, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee recognised that the serious repeated dishonesty, which was to conceal wrongdoing, made the respondent’s misconduct particularly serious.

“It therefore gave consideration as to whether his conduct was fundamentally incompatible with being a veterinary surgeon and whether removal was the only appropriate and proportionate sanction in this case.

“The Committee considered that this was a particularly difficult case to reconcile, as, on the one hand the misconduct was so serious whereas on the other hand, the respondent had demonstrated significant insight; the risk of repetition was low; the evidence of his professional achievements was strong and the testimonials from client farmers and professional colleagues were impressive.”

He added: “The Committee considers that suspension is sufficient in the circumstances of this case to satisfy public confidence in the profession and to uphold proper professional standards of conduct and behaviour.

"The Committee therefore imposes a suspension of 18 months on the respondent.

"In determining this length, the Committee considered that this was the least period necessary in order to meet the significant public interest considerations in this case.”

https://www.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/disciplinary-hearings

IVC has opened Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital, one of the largest referral centres in the UK, with a capacity to treat up to 10,000 pets a year.

Located on the Longbridge regeneration site near Birmingham, Blaise Referrals is IVC's first purpose-built, multi-disciplinary hospital in the UK and the company says it provides a blueprint for its future hospitals, with a clinician-led building design and a nurse-led clinical floor, both of which are fairly new practices for the profession.

Blaise Referrals will accept patients from first opinion practices across the UK and offer a wide range of services including orthopaedic and soft tissue surgeries, neurology, cardiology, internal medicine.

The hospital has a state-of-the art intensive care unit with a dedicated ICU team which can support other hospital departments with its advanced facilities.

The 36,000 square foot hospital also boasts a 1.5T Siemens MRI, a 64 slice Siemens CT scanner, multiple ultrasound machines and both fixed and digital radiography machines.

The team at Blaise is led by clinical director Andrew Kent and hospital director Julie Davis, both of whom have been hard at work over the last year amassing a team of veterinary professionals across multiple disciplines including Jacques Ferreira as head of anaesthesia, Jennifer Raj as head of internal medicine and Carlo Anselmi as head of diagnostic imaging.

Andy said: “We’ve worked incredibly hard to get to this point and I know I speak on behalf of the whole team here at Blaise when I say we are thrilled to officially be able to welcome pets and owners from all around Birmingham and the Midlands.

“Recent years have seen an ever-increasing need for specialist referral services in the veterinary industry and we are here to answer that demand by providing excellent high-quality and professional care for pets who need it.”

www.blaise-referrals.com

The RCVS has announced the steps it will be taking in response to the Standards Committee's review of 24/7 emergency care.

Whilst the College has stopped short of making home visits entirely discretionary, it has confirmed that with regards to 24/7 emergency care overall:

• It will be placing greater emphasis on owners' legal responsibilities for their animals
• It will provide guidance to assist and empower vets to decline to attend an animal away from the practice when unnecessary or unsafe
• In the next two months or so, the supporting guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct will be updated to reflect the above
• There will be an obligation on veterinary surgeons to provide more information to clients about their out-of-hours emergency service.

This follows RCVS Council's agreement in principle on recommendations that flowed from the Standards Committee's comprehensive review of 24/7 emergency care. The review was triggered by a number of issues, including the profession's response to the Chikosi Disciplinary Hearing of June 2013.

The College says the recommendations were developed out of a detailed process of evidence gathering, which included 656 pages of views submitted to the College, 2,801 signatures to a petition on home visits, a three-day select-committee-style hearing where representatives from 15 organisations and a further 10 individuals gave their views, a snapshot of responses from 1,062 vets taking part in the RCVS Survey of the Professions, and an online survey of 1,250 animal owners.

Council praised the work, which had been carried out under the guidance of Standards Committee Chair Clare Tapsfield-Wright, and agreed that draft changes to the supporting guidance to the Code of Professional Conduct should be refined and agreed by the Standards Committee and published over the next couple of months.

Clare said: "This process was not carried out as a typical consultation, with proposals being issued for consideration: we really wanted to be open to the views of the profession and the public from the start.

"We found that the profession did not wish to remove the 24/7 requirement, but there was a lot of frustration and concern, particularly around safety, home visits, who should be seen, outsourcing and contingency planning.

"The Standards Committee looked in detail at all of these issues and I am delighted to have Council's support for the general direction of our proposals. We will now review some changes to the wording of the new guidance, to improve clarity, and publish it as soon as possible."

President Neil Smith said: "I am delighted with the way this process has been carried out. No doubt the outcome will not please everyone, but these changes are based on robust evidence.

"The approach taken by the Standards Committee forms a useful model that could be adapted to address other such issues that we may face in the future."

The presentation given to Council on 5 June can be downloaded from the RCVS website at https://www.rcvs.org.uk/news-and-events/news/council-agrees-new-emphasis-for-24-7-guidance/ .

According to this month's Veterinary Practice magazine, Vetstream Ltd., the erstwhile publisher of Veterinary Review, has been granted a Company Voluntary Arrangement under the Insolvency Act 1986. 

VP reports that the CVA is an alternative to liquidation which in this case will allow Vetstream to make a partial repayment to it's creditors (who are collectively owed £1.15 million) of 40.08p in the pound over three years.

As I reported earlier, Vetstream Ltd now plans to focus on electronic media, including its CD-Rom products (Canis, Felis, Equis and Lapis) and www.myvetstream.com.

With the latter, they face some stiff competition, not least from this site which uses state-of-the-art software to provide the latest networking and information sharing features for vets, but also vetsonline.com, a more recent entrant to the marketplace from the publishers of Vet Times.

MDC Exports is launching a cat cage at BSAVA Congress which it claims will revolutionise the way cats are cared for in veterinary surgeries

According to the company, plastic cages currently in use tend to harbour germs where cats have made scratches in their surfaces. This cage, however, is the first of its kind to be made from stainless steel, which cats' claws cannot damage.

MDC claims the hygienic Cat Cage will protect animals from disease and infection during their stay in surgery making for happier, healthier patients. The company says the stainless steel Cat Cage is strong, durable and can be flame sterilized. The handles can also be colour-coded, for example, yellow means neuter, red means post-anaesthetic and green means ready to go home. Each stainless steel Cat Cage also comes with a two-year free replacement guarantee.

For more information, visit MDC Exports at BSAVA Congress 2011 on stand 123. All visitors to the stand will receive a complimentary NipLok - the quick-release tourniquet that can be operated one-handed

An expert panel of veterinary surgeons at the FECAVA/WSAVA/DSAVA Congress in Copenhagen have issued a series of recommendations about the role of the veterinary profession in addressing the problems associated with brachycephalic breeds.

The expert panel consisted of Peter Sandøe (Denmark), Professor of Ethics and Welfare; Helle Friis Proschowsky (Denmark), a veterinary surgeon working with the Danish Kennel Club; Laurent Findji (France/UK), Specialist in Soft Tissue Surgery; Gudrun Ravetz (UK) – Senior Vice President, British Veterinary Association; Kristin Wear Prestrud (Norway) – Veterinary Scientific Director of the Norwegian Kennel Club and Åke Hedhammar (Sweden), Professor Emeritus in Internal Medicine (companion animals), a veterinary consultant for the Swedish Kennel Club and a member of the WSAVA Hereditary Disease Committee.

Kristin Wear Prestrud said: "Vets should dare to speak out. We must educate owners on all health and welfare matters, whether we are simply advising them that their dog is overweight or if we need to give advice on breeding or refuse planned Caesarean sections."

The panel's recommendations are:

At a practice level, veterinary professionals should:

1. Advise the public not to buy animals with extreme conformation. This applies both to breeds and to individual dogs.
2. Raise awareness among dog owners and advise them about health and welfare issues in dogs with extreme conformations. 
3. Raise awareness among breeders, breed clubs and show judges and advise them as to health and welfare issues in dogs with extreme conformations. Take an active role in pre-breeding examinations and in giving advice regarding potential breeding stock.
4. Inform dog owners and breeders about breeding restrictions if a dog is surgically treated for BOAS or other problems related to extreme traits linked to breeding (in countries where no such restrictions exist, strongly advise against breeding). Advise neutering at the time of surgery if good practice allows.
5. Share data on health and welfare issues related to extreme breeding. Where a national submission system exists, submit details on conformation-altering surgery and caesarean sections related to extreme breeding traits. 

At an organisational level, the veterinary profession should:

1. Implement a communication campaign to proactively raise awareness among the public in general and to advise them about health and welfare issues in dogs with extreme conformations. 
2. Work together with national cynological organisations and other stakeholders to set up registers of confirmation-altering surgeries and caesarean sections as well as relevant screening programmes (ie pre-breeding examinations).
3. Call for the revision of breed standards to help prevent BOAS and other brachycephalic-related disorders. Breed standards should include evidence-based limits on physical features (eg muzzle length) and approaches such as outcrossing should be considered.
4. Launch and distribute veterinary health certificates for puppies and/or checklists for prospective buyers in support of responsible, healthy breeding.
5. Develop evidence-based international standardised protocols for the examination of breeding animals regarding respiratory function and thermoregulation.
6. Set up systems allowing the gathering of data from veterinary practices regarding health and welfare-related issues in dogs with extreme conformations.
7. Set up undergraduate training / CPD to equip vets to take a more active role in providing breeding advice to breeders, breeder organisations and judges, related to extreme conformation and screening procedures.

Photo: ponpimonsa_bibi/Shutterstock