A new study carried out by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, has found that human cancer patients who use alternative medicine are up to 5.7 times more likely to die early than those who use conventional medicine.

Researchers studied 840 patients with breast, prostate, lung or colorectal cancer. 280 patients that had received only alternative medicine were matched to 560 control patients who chose conventional cancer therapy.

Overall, cancer patients who used alternative medicine were 2.5 times more likely to die within a 5 year period than those who chose conventional cancer therapy.

However, people with breast cancer were 5.7 times more likely to die in the same period if they used alternative medicine rather than conventional medicine.

This evidence flies in the face of the British Association of Veterinary Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons' claim that homeopathy cures cancer.

But more importantly, one of the main reasons why practitioners in both human and veterinary medicine so often acquiesce to their patients' use of alternative medicine is because of the perception that they do no harm. After all, homeopathy is only water, right?

This study provides perhaps the first evidence that the reverse may be true. That if you do not actively deter clients from using discredited forms of alternative medicine, you may be allowing them to sentence themselves, or rather their dog, to an early death.

Ceva Animal Health is urging veterinary nurses to take feline blood pressure readings more often, after a study showed that 40% of cats over seven years old may be hypertensive.

The statistic came to light as a result of Ceva's Mercury Challenge1, in which veterinary practices from around Europe took blood pressure readings from over 10,000 cats over seven years old, 4000 of which were from the UK.

The Challenge results, which were recently presented at Ceva Cat Expertise 2021 by the international feline medicine specialist, Dr Andy Sparkes, showed that more than 40% of cats enrolled in the Mercury Challenge were hypertensive, with a blood pressure about 30% higher than the blood pressure value found in healthy cats.

Ceva says this high percentage suggests that feline hypertension may be even more common than suspected, especially in the ageing cat population, with the mean age of hypertensive cats found to be 13 years old in the Challenge.

The study also found that up to one in three cats had both hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Feline hypertension is also associated with hyperthyroidism.

Jodie Tanner, veterinary surgeon at Lime Tree Vets in Staffordshire who participated in the Mercury Challenge said: “We were surprised by how many of the cats whose blood pressure we measured as part of the Mercury Challenge were actually hypertensive and were taken aback at the number of hypertensive cats which lacked clinical signs or target organ damage.

"These hypertensive cats would have previously gone undetected prior to us screening our older patients and they would probably have only presented when they had advanced target organ damage, such as blindness.

“Measuring blood pressure in cats is now incorporated into our bespoke preventative health care plan – The Pet Plus Membership – and our ‘Gold Plan’ is tailored to our patients over eight years of age.

"Included in the Gold Plan are twice yearly blood pressure checks, so we can pick up hypertension cases as early as possible, and the plan also includes twice yearly urine screens and yearly blood screens to pick up other common diseases seen in older cats such as hyperthyroidism and CKD.”

Ceva has a range of resources available to support veterinary practices, including those that want to set up vet nurse blood pressure clinics. There's a digital hypertension tool kit available by registering at www.easethepressure.co.uk, where you will also find information on the Hypertension CPD Hub, an Ease the Pressure pack containing resources to support vet practices, owner communications materials and information about Ceva’s online Hypertension Ambassador CPD course.  A vet practice social media pack is also available.

For further information, visit www.easethepressure.co.uk or contact your local Ceva territory manager.

Reference

1. Mercury Challenge, 2020.  Over 10,000 cats over seven years of age including 4,000 in the UK, 1,500 in Spain, 1,300 in Italy and 1,200 in France and the Nordics.

Cat Henstridge MRCVS has teamed up with Companion Dog World magazine to launch #SeeThemSuckling, a new campaign to combat the puppy farm trade.

The main aim of the campaign is to persuade anyone thinking of getting a puppy that they should always see the animal at least once whilst it is still dependent on its mother, before they buy. That way, they'll be able to reassure themselves that they have seen the real bitch and the environment in which the puppy was bred. It will also help prevent impulse purchases.

In addition, the campaign aims to raise awareness in the veterinary profession, so that veterinary surgeons are giving this same advice to their clients.

To that end, the campaign highlights the RSPCA 'Sold a pup' report which showed that over 400,000 pups are bred for the UK market each year by unlicensed establishments, and imports from Europe have increased to an estimated 30,000 in 2015, following the change in the PETS scheme in 2012.

The campaigners say that many of these puppies are bred in truly awful conditions, often with little or no human contact, before being taken taken from their mothers too early and transported often hundreds or thousands of miles to be sold as 'family' pets. Many will need veterinary care to deal with infections, inherited issues and behavioural problems.

The campaign faces a big challenge. In the Kennel Club PAW survey 2014, 41% of people who bought a puppy didn't see the bitch and 51% didn't see the environment where the litter was bred.

To spread the word, veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and pet owners are being asked to take a pouting selfie with their dog and post it on social networks like Facebook, with the hashtags #PoutForPuppies #SeeThemSuckling, linking to the campaign website: https://seethemsuckling.com 

Dairy Insight has announced that the V-Grip tuberculin injector made by NJ Phillips is now available in the UK.

The company says that the Phillips tuberculin gun is easier to use, clean and maintain than the most commonly used device, and it also offers practices doing government TB testing work the opportunity to make substantial savings on the cost of consumables.

Dave Gilbert MRCVS, director with Dairy Insight said: "There is no official requirement to use a single make of gun for TB testing work, so with tightening margins for work in this arena it makes sense for practices to explore valid cost-saving options.

"Having trialled this NJ Phillips gun over the last 12 months in our own farm practice we’ve been very pleased with it, particularly when it comes to changing needles. I’ve always found this process fiddly, especially when you have cold hands. We’ve also made substantial savings on consumables, which are over 70p per needle cheaper for the V-Grip."

The V-Grip is precision engineered for optimum dosing accuracy and comes with a visible chamber, to help ensure correct administration of tuberculin. 

For more information, contact Dairy Insight at: info@dairyinsight.co.uk

Wetherby-based Swift Referrals has officially opened its new £3 million referral clinic.

The clinic will offer referrals in orthopaedics, internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, neurology and advanced imaging from a team which includes Rory Bell, an RCVS and European Recognised Specialist in Internal Medicine, and Jonathan Bell, an EBVS and RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery.

The practice says it has some of the most advanced equipment in Europe, including a Siemens 128 slice CT scanner and a Siemens 1.5T Aera MRI scanner. The clinic also has three environmentally-controlled theatres, with CT and MRI scanning capabilities.

Dr Stuart Cooke BVetMed CertSAS MRCVS, one of Swift Referrals founders said: “We’re delighted to launch Swift Referrals, and would like to thank everyone who helped us get here. We are proud to be able to say that we house some of the most advanced equipment in the continent, from the very best advanced imaging machines, to specialist treatment and aftercare rooms. We also have some of the most skilled veterinary experts operating in them, day in and day out. Our clinicians are leaders in their field of expertise, with years of experience and very advanced training."

For more information: www.swiftreferrals.co.uk/.

Briar House Veterinary Surgery in Broadstairs, Kent, has been named Best UK Vet 2018 after amassing the highest number of four and five star client reviews on www.vethelpdirect.com

Briar House Veterinary Surgery achieved 944 top rated reviews over the past 12 months, with pet-owners leaving comments such as 'Absolutely fantastic would recommend to everybody', 'Brilliant all round service' and 'You can tell that they love and care for the animals as much as the owners do'.

Briar House said: "We are absolutely delighted to win the Vet Help Direct Best UK Vet award, it means so much to the practice and team. We would like to say a big thank you to all of our wonderful clients and patients for taking the time to review your experience with us. We are very proud of our surgery, so it is a pleasure to receive such positive feedback from our clients."

Silver and Bronze Awards were achieved by Vets 1 Group and St Anne’s Veterinary Group, with 350 and 330 top reviews respectively. Other winners included Lamond Veterinary Clinic (Best Scottish Vet), Bridgnorth Veterinary Centre (Best Small Practice), Penmellyn Equine Vets (Best Equine Vet), Medivet The Vets Hendon (Best London Vet), The Mobile Vet (Best Mobile Vet), St James Veterinary Group (Best Welsh Vet) and Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic (Best Northern Ireland Vet).

The full list of results, including those making the Top 25, can be viewed here. 

Susie Samuel, Managing Director of VetHelpDirect said: "Reviews are a great way to find out what your clients really think, offering insight into where you are excelling or where there could be improvements. They are also excellent for building your online reputation, which will give you the competitive edge over other local practices, ultimately leading to new clients. 

"More than ever, people are using review sites to seek 'real' opinions, in fact a recent survey in the US found that 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendation.¹ While these numbers may not truly reflect the situation in the UK veterinary industry, they are quite staggering, and signal that reviews and online reputation is going to become increasingly more important.

For more information about building your online reputation, contact Vet Help Direct on 0845 4961 204 or email: info@vethelpdirect.com.

Reference:

1. Bright Local survey of 1,031 US-based consumers, October 2017 https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/#Q5

A survey carried out by VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk has shed new light on the incidence and impact of bullying and unpleasant behaviour in veterinary practice.

The survey was promoted to the profession via the websites, by Veterinary Times and through the RCVS Mind Matters newsletter. The data was then anonymised, analysed and reported on by Sally Everitt MRCVS, ex Head of Scientific Policy at BSAVA.

677 participants reported being on the receiving end - within the last year - of at least one of 15 types of unpleasant behaviour which ranged from being physically intimidated through to being on the receiving end of sly glances. However, on average, each respondent experienced no less than five different types of unpleasant behaviour.

Of these, 390 were veterinary nurses, 252 were veterinary surgeons and 13 were practice managers.

The most frequently reported behaviours were: 'being belittled in front of other staff' (73%), 'being criticised minutely, repeatedly and seemingly unfairly' (65%), 'being aware of management or senior staff talking negatively about you behind your back' (51%), and '‘having your authority undermined to others in the practice, for example by having your instructions countermanded commonly and without consultation' (50%).

Seen in isolation, some might question whether these sorts of behaviour amount to bullying. It is important therefore to stress both that they typically formed part of a pattern of behaviour (the five different behaviour types reported, on average, by each respondent), and that the survey specifically asked only for reports where the behaviour was repeated.

Separately, 344 people also said they were currently on the receiving end of sustained patterns of behaviour, usually from one person, which seemed designed to make their life unpleasant.

Respondents were also invited to describe in more detail how they felt they had been mistreated at their practice.

Sally said: "Reading the responses, four main themes stood out: not feeling part of the team, lack of respect, lack of support and issues around management including not being listened to and perceptions of being treated unfairly."

Participants in the survey were then asked to describe what impact the behaviour had on their working life.

Sally said: "The answers to this question often demonstrated that the respondents had been very upset by the behaviours. Of the 560 replies to this question, 220 described an impact on their mental health, from anxiety to breakdowns and suicidal thoughts. 120 respondents talked specifically about the impact on their lack or loss of confidence, and 207 talked about leaving their job or the profession entirely."

Survey participants were then asked what they planned to do about it. Out of 680 replies, 195 talked about moving practice as soon as they can, 164 said they would take it up with the practice manager (however, of the 55 who reported this in the free text answer, 30 said it led to no change or made things worse), and 109 said they had no choice but to suffer in silence. 45 said they had or would leave the profession and only 35 said they would take it up with the perpetrator themselves.

As regards who is bullying who, more or less the same number of people reported being bullied by a veterinary surgeon as a veterinary nurse. What was interesting, and important for those in positions of leadership to note, is that veterinary nurses were much more likely to be bullied by other nurses and vets by other vets. 

Finally, respondents were asked a series of questions about whether there was a zero tolerance of bullying or conflict resolution policy in force and enforced at their practice. Only 24 and 28% of respondents respectively were aware of such policies being in place. What was also clear was that having such policies and enforcing them correlated with lower levels of being on the receiving end of sustained patterns of unpleasant behaviour at the practice.

Arlo Guthrie, Editor of VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk said: “Above all else, I want to thank everyone who shared their experience so that others can draw comfort in knowing they are by no means alone in this. I also want you to know that you’ve been heard. 

"Given the survey design, it is not possible to draw any conclusions concerning the prevalence of bullying in the veterinary profession. What we can say for sure is that there have been 680 reports. If, as the data indicates, these are from different practices, then it is something that goes on in a significant proportion of veterinary practices."

"The million dollar question is what needs to be done next. It seems to me that the first and most important thing is that the profession needs to talk about behaviour and its impact openly and candidly, mirroring the great strides forward in the area of mental health."

In addition, the survey report proposes further discussion - at both a practice and professional organisation level - about things which:

• Encourage greater reflection/awareness by all members of the team about the impact that their behaviour may be having on others
• Reduce the likelihood of unpleasant behaviour occurring in the first place, such as ‘zero-tolerance of bullying’ or conflict resolution policies, which, as noted earlier in this report, correlate with reduced reports of sustained unpleasant behaviour.
• Encourage awareness by all members of the team that, when someone else’s behaviour falls short, there may be other stresses in that person’s life that have caused it
• Recognise that we work in a stressful environment and provide practical support for individuals when things aren’t going well, such as buddy systems.

As one veterinary nurse commented: "Pay is obviously important when you have a mortgage and bills, but not dreading going into work every day, it’s priceless!"

To download the report in full, click the link below:

PDF

The Apple iPad made its UK debut last week. I queued outside the Apple shop for over 15 minutes (well, it was Salisbury, not Regent Street) on launch day to get my hands on one of the first and review it for VetSurgeon members.

For those that don't have the time for long-winded reviews, I'll come straight to the point: buy one, you won't regret it. Even if you get home and decide you have no use for a tablet computer, you could probably put it on ebay and turn a small profit. But you won't. You'll just keep finding more reasons why the iPad is an indispensable piece of kit.

I won't dwell on the technical specifications of the thing. All you really need to know is that it's a touchscreen tablet computer about the size of a small hardback, though it weighs a little more. I don't know (or care) what sort of chip it contains. Whatever it is, it's more than capable of handling the tasks the iPad is designed to do, effortlessly.

So why is the iPad a 'must have'? Because it transforms the experience of browsing the Internet, reading email etc. from being a bit of a hassle, to being as simple and quick as, er, picking up and opening a book. I think the best way to illustrate my point is to describe the uses I've found for it in the first 4 days of ownership:

Browsing
I wanted to know what's on locally for children this weekend. Normally I'd have to go and power up the computer upstairs. Not anymore. Now I just pick the iPad up off the kitchen table. It wakes instantaneously, and the browser opens at the press of a button. Incidentally, once I'd found the Sherborne Fair, it was only another couple of clicks before it was displayed on the built-in map, along with an estimated time to get there. In my case, it also makes my job easier - I can dip into the VetSurgeon and VetNurse forums much more easily when away from my desk (something I intend to be more of, from now on).    

Email
Not much to say, except that once again, it's a pleasure to be able to check my email at the press of a button, rather than having to go upstairs and power up my desktop, or wait whilst my wife's interminably slow laptop gets its act together. No, the touch screen keyboard is not quite as well suited to the task as a normal keyboard. Having said that, I typed half this article on my iPad last night at very nearly the same two-handed speed as I would have on my desktop.

Read the newspaper
The Times is now available on the iPad for £9.99 per month. You just press the download button any time after 7:00am, and a few minutes later it appears on the screen. If you fall into the camp that says: 'it'll-never-catch-on-....-nothing'll-replace-the-feel-of-a-book-or-a-newspaper', I wouldn't have argued with you a week ago. Now I would. The iPad version is beautifully intuitive, and a pleasure to read. Despite a few grumbles (where is The Sunday Times?), I'll be cancelling my print subscription.

Photographs
This is really the first viable alternative to the traditional print photograph album. And it's not just an alternative, it's a far superior way of storing and retrieving photographs. The iPad's high quality display means your pictures really leap off the screen. Its portability and ease of access mean that you might actually look at your photos and share them with others from time-to-time, rather than leaving them to gather dust in a box, or sit in an unvisited folder on your computer. I'm digitising 20 year's worth of photographs for this reason.  

Other uses and apps
The list of software applications for the iPad is growing every day. Meantime, any app designed for the iPhone will also run on the iPad, though they don't make full use of the big screen. There are thousands of rather pointless apps, seemingly designed not to meet a need nobody knew they had. But amongst the rubbish, there are some genuinely useful apps out there:

• BBC iPlayer (currently through browser, an app is rumoured). Now I can watch last night's 'Question Time' in bed, without disturbing my wife.
• Amazon Kindle (iPad - free). Download books cheaper than you'll find at Apple's store. I haven't downloaded one yet, but if my experience of reading The Times is anything to go by, I'll be delighted to consign yards of trash thrillers to the dustbin, and instead keep them all on the iPad. If you like to read in bed, it is I believe the only backlit ereader on the market. If you like to read in the bath, you'll be taking a bit of a risk.
• BigOven Lite (iPad / iPhone - free). 170,000 recipes. American, so measurements in cups. Recently added metric, annoyingly abbreviated to 'mils'. If you want something directed more at the British palate, doubtless Jamie Oliver will release an iPad version of his bestselling iPhone cooking app soon enough. Incidentally, with it's wipe-clean surface, the iPad seems singularly well-suited to the kitchen.
• The Cat in The Hat (iPad / iPhone £1.79) - my children love this electronic version of the classic book by Dr. Seuss - not that I want to leave my children alone with my iPad for any length of time. The range of children's apps is a little limited for the moment, but doubtless the choice will grow exponentially over the coming months.
• tvguide (iPhone - free). Saves the need to find the TV listings in the newspaper.
• Sonos (iPhone - free). Controls music in every room of your house (*requires installation of Sonos music system)
• Met office (iPhone - free). Local weather info at the press of a button.
• iCurrencyPad (iPad - 0.59p). Latest exchange rates, historical graphs etc.
• Games. I find Fieldrunners (iPad - £1.79) - strangely addictive.
• Primelocation / Rightmove. (iPad / iPhone - free) I'm looking for a house at the moment, and both these websites offer apps to help the search.

A couple of minor irritations about the iPad. Currently it doesn't support the rich editing feature used by default when you post to the VetSurgeon forums, or elsewhere on the site. Fortunately, there's a quick workaround, which is to visit your VetSurgeon profile (My Account > Edit My Profile > Display Options tab) and set the Content Editor to 'Plain text'. Also, very occasionally the iPad freezes, at which point you have to press the On/Off and Home buttons together for six seconds to reset. Doubtless both these will be fixed in the next software update, due in the next month or two, I think.

The 'twitterati' has bemoaned the iPad's lack of hardware features and flexibility. There's nowhere to insert a DVD. No camera. No USB port. No card reader. But that rather misses the point. The iPad isn't a replacement for a desktop or laptop unless the only things you use a computer for are browsing and email. Anyone who wants to store and edit video, edit photographs, or create anything other than fairly basic documents or spreadsheets, still needs a bigger machine with USB ports and DVD drives galore. What the iPad does is free you from having to browse electronic media at a desk. And it does so in such user-friendly way that I'll be ordering one for my Mum (aged 62) and my grandmother (aged 92).

There are six models available. Three memory sizes: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB with either wi-fi Internet access, or wi-fi plus 3G mobile phone access. Prices from £429 to about £700 (to which you'll need to add the cost of a protective wallet). I plumped for the 64GB memory (probably overkill), wi-fi only model, on the basis that there are enough BT Openzone wi-fi hotspots now to mean I'll never be far from one.

I'm not normally one for hyperbole. But in this case, I'll forgive Mr. Jobs calling the iPad 'a magical and revolutionary product'.

It is.

BVA president-elect John Blackwell has found himself on the front page of The Times today, and interviewed on Radio 4's Today programme, with a call to end the practice of slitting animal's throats and allowing them to bleed to death in order to produce kosher and halal meat.

According to the newspaper, 600,000 animals are killed this way every week in the UK.

Mr Blackwell is urging Jews and Muslims to allow meat-producing animals to be stunned before they are killed.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Blackwell said: "As veterinary surgeons, it is one of the most important issues on our radar. This is something that can be changed in an instant." 

See other media reports here.

Dr. Hannah Hunt has been awarded Young Vet of the Year 2022 by the British Veterinary Association.

Hannah, who graduated from the RVC in 2015, was nominated for her dedication to excelling in first-opinion practice through her farm, small animal and equine work as a mixed animal vet in Aberystwyth.

She was selected from a field of more than 100 entrants by the award judges BVA President Malcolm Morley, President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Melissa Donald, Professor the Lord Trees, Zoetis National Veterinary Manager Jonny Lambert and last year’s winner of the award, Alex Davies. 

Hannah said: “This is fantastic! I’m so pleased to accept this award.

"I want to say a huge thanks to my practice for giving me the freedom to explore my passions and enabling me to work with a wide of range of species.

"I want to particularly mention my mentors Dafydd, Phil and Kate, who inspired me to focus on what I love.”

 BVA President Malcolm Morley said: “Hannah’s incredible enthusiasm and passion for her work as a mixed-practice vet really made her stand-out to us.

"She is excelling in her work across species, which is challenging enough, but she’s also doing it at a high level.

"It is great to recognise the contribution that Hannah and other first-opinion vets make to our profession."

Vet AI, which launched Joii, its remote veterinary consultation service earlier this year, is claiming that vets who diagnose common dermatological conditions remotely are as accurate as those who see the patient in person.

The company is making the claim based on a £20,000 study it conducted with three dermatology specialists from three different clinics, in different parts of the country.

Trevor Hardcastle, Vet-AI’s chief data scientist said: "We have undertaken a small-scale trial of remote diagnosis of dermatology conditions by veterinary dermatology specialists in canine patients, which has resulted in almost perfect agreement. No significant evidence was found that veterinary dermatology specialists are measurably compromised in their ability to accurately diagnose common dermatology conditions by being remote from the patient."

Strangely, given the strength of the claim, its importance and Vet AI's obvious vested interest in the result, there was no other information contained within the company's press release. No mention of who the specialists were, nothing about the study design, and nothing about the basis on which the claim is made.

However, presuming the company meant Specialists not specialists, it would be very unusual if they had agreed for an announcement of this importance to be made without the evidence being reasonably robust. So it's probably worth suspending judgement until the study is published in full. 

Meantime, the company also says its own research into online diagnosis amongst pet owners has shown that more than 50% of people have avoided taking their pets to the vet for cost reasons, yet more than 65% have tried online self-diagnosis. Again, Vet AI doesn't reveal how many pet owners were asked, or how they were sampled. 

Vet-AI co-founder Sarah Warren said: "Things like dermatological issues are beautifully aligned to remote consultation because they’re visual so we can gain a wealth of information from images and distribution maps and easily recommend treatments.

"This needs to happen in a regulated, ethical and correct way with a view to improving animal welfare.

"The RCVS has a chance to ensure that people have access to quality vet help online in an effective way. They can do this, or they can allow them to continue accessing poor-quality advice. As a profession, it’s vital we respond to the needs of pet owners."

The Royal Veterinary College has published the results of a new study which found that owners of flat-faced brachycephalic dogs are more concerned about their appearance and less concerned about their health and welfare than the owners of longer-faced dogs, such as Labradors and Cocker Spaniels.

The study¹, which was conducted in collaboration with Plymouth University, sought to find out what influences owners to buy a flat-faced breed, and once this decision has been made, how they go about acquiring a puppy. The study surveyed owners of the top 10 most popular Kennel Club registered breeds in the UK, to compare how influences upon breed choice and purchasing processes differed between owners of flat-faced breeds and popular longer-faced breeds.

Appearance was found to be the number one reason owners purchase flat-faced breeds, attracted by their large, round, wide-set eyes, and flat rounded faces. However, such characteristics are linked with lifelong respiratory, eye and skin problems, and a reduced lifespan compared with longer-faced breeds.

Key influencing factors associated with the choice of a brachycephalic breed included:

• The size of the breed being suited to owner lifestyle as owners of flat-faced dogs were more likely to live in apartments
• The breed being perceived to be good with children and for companionship as owners of flat-faced dogs were more likely to live with children
• Owners of the breed were more likely to be younger and buying that breed for the first time – this may reflect increased media influence among younger people, with flat-faced breeds commonly used in the media and advertising

When it came to buying a flat-faced dog, owners were:

• more likely to use puppy selling websites to find their dog
• less likely to see either parent of their puppy
• less likely to ask to see any health records

Dr Rowena Packer, lead author of the study and Research Fellow at RVC, said: "With their small size and baby-like features, some people cannot resist the looks of a brachycephalic dog. With growing evidence that these breeds are faced with a range of chronic and severe health conditions directly linked with their appearance, it is of huge concern that many people drawn to these breeds prioritise a dog’s looks over their long-term health and wellbeing.

"Potential puppy buyers attracted to the appearance of these breeds should seriously consider whether they are emotionally and financially prepared to take on a breed with high risks of health complications, and consider whether alternative, lower-risk breeds would better fit their lifestyle."

Co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Animal Welfare at Plymouth University, Dr Mark Farnworth, said: "Owners must be aware that as puppy-buyers, they are consumers, and their choices affect not only the health of the puppy they purchase, but also the health of the breed more widely. If owners do not follow recommended processes when purchasing a puppy, for example those set out in BVA AWF & RSPCA ‘Puppy Contract’, unscrupulous breeders will be kept in business, and continue to profit from the breeding and sale of unhealthy dogs. Without consumer awareness, breed health improvements are not possible and the overall health of these breeds will likely decline."

Paula Boyden, Dogs Trust Veterinary Director said: "The increased popularity of breeds such as Pugs, French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs is a huge welfare concern, particularly as this research indicates that the health of the breed was not a major consideration for potential puppy buyers. Many people mistakenly believe that the breathing sounds these breeds often make are endearing traits, rather than an indication of respiratory problems associated with their conformation. Dogs Trust urges anyone thinking of getting a puppy to look beyond the appearance of a breed, understand the impact on health, research the seller and buy responsibly."

Researchers say that the French Bulldog is set to become the most registered dog in 2017, overtaking the Labrador Retrievers’ 27-year reign at the top. The study therefore makes a number of recommendations, including:

• identifying and promoting breeds with fewer health conditions that fit the lifestyle niches associated with flat-faced dog owners; and
• moderating the use of flat-faced dogs in the media. 
• educating the public regarding the consequences of breeding animals based on looks rather than health
• promoting responsible puppy-buying practices for all breeds of dog

Reference

1. Packer RMA; Murphy D; Farnworth MJ (2017) Purchasing popular purebreds: Investigating the influence of breed-type on the pre-purchase attitudes and behaviour of dog owners. Animal Welfare 26: 191-201

Photo: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 Credit: Cristorresfer

Dechra has launched DuOtic otic gel, billed as the first licensed steroid and antifungal combination for the treatment of otitis externa in dogs associated with susceptible strains of Malassezia pachydermatis.

DuOtic contains terbinafine 10 mg and betamethasone 1 mg and is supplied in pre-measured single dose 1.2 g tubes.

One tube should be applied per ear canal by a vet and repeated after seven days.

Jamie Walker MA VetMB MRCVS, veterinary technical manager at Dechra, said: "DuOtic has been available in Ireland and Northern Ireland for some time and feedback from vet professionals has been positive, both logistically as no refrigeration is required, but also practically as dog owners have appreciated the product being vet-applied, reducing the stress associated with treatment.

"Some owners also appreciated the targeted nature of the treatment in the broader context of antimicrobial stewardship."