Oxyglobin, Dechra’s unique haemoglobin-based oxygen carrying fluid for the treatment of anaemia in dogs, is now readily available in the UK.

“Over the past year, demand for this leading product has outstripped our limited supply from the manufacturer Biopure®,” explains Carol Morgan, product manager at Dechra Veterinary Products. “Production and supply issues in the US have now been resolved which means we can assure the future supply of Oxyglobin via the wholesaler to practices.”

Dechra is the sole distributor of Oxyglobin in the UK. The product requires no typing or cross matching and ensures no transfusion reactions or disease transmissions. “Its effectiveness can be measured by a rapid improvement in clinical signs, increased plasma haemoglobin concentration and arterial oxygen content. Oxyglobin has certainly proved itself as a valuable product to have in any practice,” adds Carol Morgan.

Oxyglobin can be stored at room temperature and has a shelf life of three years. For further details, please contact your local territory manager or phone Dechra on 01743 441 632.

Diverse Undertakings Ltd. has announced that it is extending its services to include support for veterinary practices in securing their RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) accreditation.

The company was originally formed to provide business advisory services to small and medium sized enterprises across a range of industry sectors. Its services range from general H.R. advice, health & safety guidance and facilities management to candidate sourcing and call-centre services.

However, with previous experience supporting a substantial veterinary practice in Kent for both employment challenges and PSS accreditation, Company Director Neal Palk decided to extend the company's capability to support other veterinary practices in securing their PSS accreditation.

He says that because the needs of each practice vary, Diverse can adapt its service to reflect both the individual circumstances relating to accreditation as well as the capability/capacity with the practice to undertake necessary tasks itself. By using a network of associates, he says Diverse can call upon other specialities (for example - competitively priced office/building equipment) to smooth the progress to accreditation.

Diverse says it offers a range of transparent pricing options to suit the client which, without the overheads of large consultancies, often result in PSS accreditation being achieved for less cost than a typical administrative temp for a month. Monthly retention fee alternatives for other services are available, beginning at £95+ VAT.

Neal said: "Several organisations offer professional services to the veterinary practice sector, but few can claim to have 'been there, done that' and really understand the climate and culture the sector operates within. Diverse Undertakings Ltd. values its experience in the sector and aims to work with other practices to achieve both accreditation and wider business success."

For more details please contact Neal on 07771 843719, e-mail: info@diverseundertakings.com, or visit: http://www/diverseundertakings.com

he leaflet has been produced following changes in legislation concerning maternity, paternity and adoption, and covers issues such as:

• When employees need to tell their employer that they're pregnant, when maternity pay starts, all about paternity rights, and what to do when they're ready to return to work
• For employers, a timeline of when to do what, what to do when a locum tells them they're pregnant, and all about paternity and adoption rights
• Where locums stand on maternity, paternity and adoption

The leaflet includes timelines for quick reference together with health and safety advice, including a template risk assessment form.

Professor Bill Reilly, BVA past president, chaired the members services sub group which developed the document. He said: "This Guidance tells everyone in the practice team what they need to know about pregnancy in the workplace.

"Developed with the help of human resources and legal experts this Guidance answers common questions, gives a great overview of what should happen when, as well as who has which rights and responsibilities.

"It is specifically tailored to the veterinary environment so vets, vet nurses and practice managers should all find the clear advice useful."

BVA members can download the guide from www.bva.co.uk/guides.

Veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses will be able to try their hands at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons code-cracking competition at the London Vet Show at Olympia on 24-25 November.

At the RCVS breakfast session on the Friday morning (8.30, part of the Business Stream), President Dr Jerry Davies will unlock the secrets of the proposed new Codes of Professional Conduct for vets and VNs. 

To promote this breakfast session, the RCVS is inviting visitors to come to its stand (J90) to solve photo enigmas, using clues provided to decipher a series of words that appear in the proposed new Codes. The winner will be in line to receive a pair of super sleuthing video glasses.

VNs who missed BVNA Congress can also get their hands on a 50^th anniversary commemorative chocolate medallion by visiting the RCVS stand.

Coffee and pastries will be served at the morning session on Friday - there's no need to book, just turn up.

Ceva Animal Health has produced a leaflet to help horse owners understand the cause, diagnosis and management of equine back pain.

The company says the management of back pain in the horse can be a particular challenge to vets and a source of frustration for owners. Early diagnosis is likely to be associated with a more favourable outcome but it's important to ensure that other causes of pain and poor performance such as lameness, are not contributing to the horse's clinical signs.

'Understanding back pain' explains the anatomy of the back, as well as the clinical signs of back pain, and how it is diagnosed, including the treatment options and the general prognosis. Copies of the new leaflet are available, free of charge, from your Ceva sales representative. Leaflets on 'Understanding bone spavin', 'Understanding navicular disease', 'Understanding sacroiliac disease' and 'Equidronate discharge instructions', are also available.

For further information contact your local Ceva representative or Ceva Animal Health Ltd, Unit 3, Anglo Office Park, White Lion Road, Amersham, Bucks, HP7 9FB, Telephone +44 (0) 1494 781510.

A study partly funded by BSAVA PetSavers and published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice has concluded that female dogs neutered by laparoscopic ovariectomy experience fewer postoperative complications and unusual behaviours in the days following surgery compared to those undergoing open ovariohysterectomy via celiotomy.

According to the researchers, who came from the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Guide Dogs and Feldon Veterinary Centre, this was the first study to compare peri- and postoperative complications, behaviour after surgery, and surgery duration, for the two most common neutering procedures for female dogs; laparoscopic ovariectomy (LAP-OVE) and open ovariohysterectomy (celiotomy) (OVH-CEL). 

For the study, the researchers analysed data from 519 bitches neutered by either LAP-OVE or OVH-CEL at four UK veterinary practices.

Fewer bitches developed wound redness or swelling at the surgical site following LAP-OVE (16%), compared to those that underwent OVH-CEL (36%).

Intraoperative complications were reported for 2% of dogs neutered by LAP-OVE and 3% of those neutered by OVH-CEL.

Postoperative complications were reported for 0.5% of the LAP-OVE group and 1% of the OVH-CEL group.

Unusual behaviours (inappetence, discomfort, licking or chewing) in the postoperative period were less common in dogs neutered by laparoscopic ovariectomy.

There was no significant difference in surgical duration between the two techniques.

The researchers say that their findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that postoperative complications, including those related to wound healing and those requiring further veterinary intervention, are lower for laparoscopic than open surgeries for bitches neutered by experienced veterinarians.

Lead author, Dr Rachel Moxon, said: “While there is already evidence from other studies relating to complications following neutering surgeries in bitches, this is the first time that the outcomes have been compared between what are anecdotally reported to be the two most frequently performed neutering surgeries for female dogs in the UK.

"The results will be of interest not only to vets, but for pet owners and others that have to make choices about neutering their dogs. Understanding the surgical risks is an important factor to consider, and decision making is made easier when it can be informed by evidence”.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.70013

The Advertising Standards Authority has decided not to uphold complaints against the Morrisons Christmas TV advertisement.

The full adjudication can be read here.

Peter Jones, President of the British Veterinary Association, said: "This ruling is disappointing but the ASA has set out its reasons for the decision and we accept those reasons. Thankfully, the advert only had a short shelf life and we hope that Morrisons is now very unlikely to make the same mistakes again. Overall, we hope the whole incident has served to educate Morrisons and the general public about the dangers of grapes and raisins to dogs."

The RCVS Education Committee has granted conditional accreditation of the veterinary degree offered by the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, to allow for further improvements to be made to meet accreditation standards for another year.

In November 2024, the RCVS Education Committee agreed to grant the veterinary degree conditional accreditation after an accreditation visitation earlier that year found deficiencies with the degree meant it only met 27 of the 77 RCVS accreditation standards.

55 recommendations for improvement were made by the visitation panel.

A subsequent visit in September 2025 found that while there were still a significant number of standards to be met, many of the recommendations for improvement had either been achieved, or significant progress had been made towards them being met.

The Education Committee therefore decided to grant the programme conditional accreditation for one year, with an action plan and timetable being put into place to guide how and when the 20 outstanding recommendations would be met.

The next accreditation visit to Cambridge will take place in October 2026.

It was agreed that this timeframe and accreditation status would ensure that progress towards meeting accreditation standards continued at pace, allowing the Department to demonstrate its commitment to student wellbeing and support for learning across the entirety of the veterinary programme.

An RCVS spokesperson said: “We appreciate the considerable efforts and hard work that the staff team within the veterinary department at Cambridge University have put into rectifying many of the issues identified in the 2024 accreditation event, for taking on board the constructive advice that was given and working together to make many of the necessary improvements.

“However, as the report shows, there are still several outstanding areas of concern, and so the Education Committee agreed that it was not yet in a position to grant Cambridge’s veterinary degree full accreditation.

“We have collaborated with Cambridge on putting together an action plan and timeline for meeting the 20 remaining recommendations and we hope that it will continue on its current trajectory towards meeting the RCVS accreditation standards.”

https://www.rcvs.org.uk/document-library/university-of-cambridge-2025-report/ 

Photo: © Copyright John Sutton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The latest addition to the Tracer® Advance microchip practice support package is a free story book, designed specifically to entertain and educate children in the waiting room, but also to serve as a timely reminder to pet owners of the need to have their pets chipped.

Despite the improved awareness of the benefits of microchipping and year-on-year increases in the numbers of pets being chipped, around 70% of cats and dogs remain unchipped.

Practices can order copies of Lily and the Magic Microchip from their Bayer Animal Health representative. Additional sales support material with an educational theme will be made available later in the year, particularly as the annual fireworks campaign approaches. Tracer Advance is the only polymer microchip available in the UK and is only available through veterinary practices.

The Kennel Club has broadly welcomed Professor Sir Patrick Bateson's 'Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding', which has recommended that steps be taken to tackle irresponsible breeders and to change the way the public think about buying dogs. 

The Kennel Club, which commissioned and funded the report in conjunction with Dogs Trust, welcomes the report's focus on irresponsible breeders who farm puppies with little concern for their welfare and those who sell poorly socialised puppies on to owners to use as 'status dogs' or as fighting weapons.

The Kennel Club agrees that additional training and support needs to be given to local authorities, which are responsible for issuing breeding licences to those people who breed five or more litters of puppies in a single year, as the current provisions are deemed to be ineffective. It agrees that compulsory microchipping of dogs and increased public education to stop people falling prey to puppy farmers and to help them find responsible breeders are necessary.

It is also glad that the report recognises the need for a 'robustly policed and well respected quality assurance scheme', consisting of breeders that buyers can trust to look after their puppies' health and welfare, and that it suggests that the Kennel Club's Accredited Breeder Scheme, with some modification could be used. 

However, the Kennel Club is concerned that the report could have gone further and that its recommendations do not appear directly to cover those breeders who breed less than five litters per year and who are not part of the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme. The Kennel Club would have liked to have seen a recommendation for regulation to ensure that these breeders follow higher standards, such as compulsory health testing. 

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club spokesperson, said: "Whilst the report recognises that the majority of breeders are responsible, there are those whose actions are bringing the rest of the dog breeding community into disrepute and this needs to be stopped.

"We are glad that the report recognises that the Kennel Club has made a good start in its efforts to unite responsible breeders within its Accredited Breeder Scheme, for the benefit of puppies and puppy buyers, and we believe that this should be the basis for moving forward. We are currently working towards UKAS accreditation of the scheme as suggested by Professor Bateson.

"We agree that responsible breeders should be rewarded and believe that the show ring is the best forum for this. The report recognises that 'dog showing and judging are a powerful lever for change' and the Kennel Club is dedicated to ensuring that only the healthiest dogs are rewarded at shows.

"Public education is vital and all dog welfare organisations must continue to work together to ensure that people know what to look for when buying a dog."

The report looks at genetic diversity in breeds and recognises that the Kennel Club has banned close matings. It advises that future decisions about matings that could affect genetic diversity should be 'breed specific' and made upon evidence based scientific information and advice. To this end it is recommended that the veterinary profession should gather data to show the prevalence of certain diseases and that an advisory council should develop evidence based breeding strategies.

Mrs Kisko continued: "The Kennel Club has long recognised that genetic diversity plays a crucial role in safeguarding the health of dogs and the report is absolutely right to suggest that there are no further blanket rules in place but that decisions are based upon scientific knowledge and are made on a breed by breed basis. This is why we are well on the way to creating a new database which will revolutionise the way that we record dog health data. The data will enable us to bring out our Mate Select programme, which will help breeders to find suitable mating pairs which are most likely to produce healthy offspring. The database will go further than the report's recommendation, as the data will be attributable to specific dogs, rather than being anonymous, and will give us a better picture of the health of pedigrees and crossbreeds. Such knowledge is critical and will enable us to provide information to breeders, vets, geneticists and ultimately the puppy buyer. 

"We are keen to harness as much knowledge as possible for the benefit of dogs so we welcome the principle of an advisory council whose members will work with the Kennel Club to advise on decisions about breeding and health. A structure already exists in the form of the Kennel Club's Dog Health Group with its recently extended remit. Additional independent experts include canine and human geneticists, veterinary surgeons and an epidemiologist. Using this framework for establishing the advisory council under an independent chairman would save significant sums of money, which can instead be devoted entirely to the dog health research that the report identified as being in 'urgent' need of more funding."

The Kennel Club and Dogs Trust will now arrange a meeting between all relevant parties in order to move forward with the recommendations from all three reports.

The full report may be downloaded at www.dogbreedinginquiry.com

The RCVS has written to the MPs drawn in today's private members' Bill ballot to call upon them to introduce legislation to protect the title 'veterinary nurse' and introduce an effective regulatory system that would ensure that those veterinary nurses found guilty of serious professional misconduct are prevented from carrying out medical treatment to or surgery on animals.

Currently the title 'veterinary nurse' is not protected, so anyone can legally refer to themselves as a veterinary nurse, regardless of their level of training.

Furthermore, veterinary nurses (VNs) are not subject to statutory regulation; the RCVS uses powers under its Royal Charter to award certificates to VNs who have undergone approved training. Qualified VNs (whose names appear in a List of certificate-holders published by the RCVS) are allowed to give medical treatment to, or carry out minor surgery on, animals under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (VSA).

In 2007, the RCVS introduced a non-statutory Register of Veterinary Nurses. Registered veterinary nurses (RVNs) commit to follow a code of professional conduct, keep their skills and knowledge up to date and submit to a disciplinary system.

RVNs found guilty of serious professional misconduct can be suspended or removed from the Register at the direction of the RVN Disciplinary Committee (DC), but the RCVS has no power to remove them from the List. This means they can still legally give medical treatment or carry out minor surgery and perform other nursing duties specified under VSA (although they will then be formally listed as 'DC removal - Listed').

The RCVS has been working for some time to develop a framework for the regulation of veterinary nurses and has sent the ballot MPs a pre-prepared Bill, drafted by leading Counsel.

The statutory regulation of VNs is widely supported by the veterinary nursing profession and the public. This is evidenced by a 2012 HM Government e-petition, calling for the statutory regulation of veterinary nurses, which received over 2,500 signatures. Furthermore, the regulation of veterinary nurses by statute is supported by the British Veterinary Nursing Association and the British Veterinary Association, the representative bodies for veterinary nurses and surgeons in the UK.

RCVS Chief Executive Nick Stace said:"I urge MPs selected in today's Ballot to take forward legislation for the statutory regulation of veterinary nurses and the protection of the title veterinary nurse. The nation's animals and owners deserve better than the current situation.

"There is widespread support amongst the public and profession for such legislation, so the RCVS has had a Bill drafted by leading Counsel and is prepared to offer significant support to any MP willing to pick up this worthy cause."

TV vet and writer Emma Milne has just returned from two weeks working at IFAW-supported animal clinics in Soweto and Mdzananda with a plea to other vets:

“I would urge other vets in the UK to consider spending some time helping out there; I can guarantee it will be an incredibly fulfilling experience they will never forget!”

Both clinics offer much-needed medical care to the pets of people living in some of South Africa’s poorest communities, as well as caring for and neutering homeless dogs and cats and rescuing animals from cruelty.

The Mdzananda clinic has just one vet to serve the Khayelitsha township, which has more than one million inhabitants and no other veterinary services, while the mobile clinics in Soweto often operate without a full-time vet.

Emma said: “Working at these township clinics and meeting the people and their pets has been life-changing for me and I am eager to get back to Soweto again and do what I can to help.

Meanwhile, I hope that through words and pictures I can convey what I saw and experienced and get help for people who love and need their pets just as much as we do.

Vets wishing to volunteer at the projects are asked to email their names, email addresses and phone numbers to: info-uk@ifaw.org