The London Vet Show has published the first details of the conference programme for this year's event, being held at the ExCeL, London on 16th and 17th November.

Organisers Closer Still Media have published details of the small animal clinical sessions being held in the RVC Clinical Theatres 1, 2 and 3, and BVA’s farm theatre and equine stream (in partnership with BEVA).

Charlotte Ellicott, Head of Marketing and Content, said: “The clinical streams are shaping up to be cutting-edge this year.

"We are delighted to have the continued support of excellent CPD providers like the RVC and BVA.

"Later in the year we will also be able to supplement these key theatres with the line-ups from IDEXX’s Advanced Diagnostic Stream, IVC Evidensia’s Referral Theatre, Central CPD’s Wet Labs and many more.”

Professor Jill Maddison, Professor of General Practice at the RVC said: "We have a fantastic line-up of speakers gathering from near and far who will be delivering lectures covering all aspect of clinical practice.

"Our keynote international speaker will be Caroline Mansfield, Professional Research Fellow and Registered Specialist in Small Animal Medicine, who will be presenting six sessions covering all things gastroenterology."

British Veterinary Association President Malcolm Morley said: “This really is a remarkable programme and I would encourage all vets to take advantage of the high-quality CPD opportunities on offer at London Vet Show this year.

"We look forward to complementing these excellent clinical sessions with another round of thought-provoking BVA Congress discussions. The topics for these will be announced soon.”

Early bird tickets for the London Vet Show are on sale until 28th April for £289+VAT.

BVA and BEVA members receive further discounts.

London.vetshow.com.

Nurtured Pets has launched the Anti-Lick Strip Prevent^TM, Pro^TM and Pro C^TM, billed as an alternative to the clumsy and uncomfortable e-collar.

The Anti-Lick Strips deter animals from licking, biting or chewing of hot spots, granulomas and surgical sites. According to the company, they are also an effective deterrent to prevent such behaviours brought on by anxiety, boredom or even insect bites. 

Hayley Booth, product manager at Nutured Pets said: "The UK pet market has been crying out for products like these for years. The unique bandages have medical grade adhesive on one side and all-natural active ingredients on the other. The combination of cayenne pepper, lemon powder, clove oil and oregano delivers a natural deterrent to the animal's nose and tongue to prevent it from interfering with the affected area.

"The Pro and Pro C are made exclusively for vets; the Pro can be used for direct application onto the pet's fur, ideal for securing IVs or catheters, the Pro C has a stronger adhesive and is ideal for over-wrapping gauze and cast materials. 

"The Prevent then provides a profitable over the counter version for take home use. The preventative nature of these pet plasters may help promote healing and lessons the chance of infection, inflammation or re-opened wounds. In clinical trials, pets avoided the Anti-Lick Strip over 90% of the time proving these unique bandage strips really do work.

"The innovative features and benefits of the products themselves combined with extensive retail marketing support and highly visible point of sale display materials mean they're a must have for every vet practice."

For more information or a product sample, visit www.nurturedpets.co.uk or call 02476 302 222.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has set up a Working Party to consider whether the time has come for new legislation to regulate the profession.

The Legislation Working Party was set up on the recommendation of the College’s Brexit Taskforce, which considered that in light of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and the deficiencies in the existing legislation, now would be a good time to review the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

The Working Party, which is expected to have its first meeting in May, will be chaired by RCVS Junior Vice-President Professor Stephen May and will include the British Veterinary Association’s President, Gudrun Ravetz, RCVS CEO Nick Stace, RCVS Registrar Eleanor Ferguson, Chair of VN Council Liz Cox, RCVS Treasurer and Junior Vice-President elect Amanda Boag, and RCVS Council members Kate Richards and lay member Richard Davis.

The Working Party’s remit will be to ensure that the College’s vision for the future of veterinary legislation is given proper consideration so that it can respond to future opportunities to support a new Act; to propose a list of principles on which new legislation should be based; and to make recommendations as to whether the new legislation should be a ‘Veterinary Services Act’ providing an umbrella for allied professionals and exploring compulsory practice inspection.

Professor Stephen May said: "The UK leaving the EU will necessitate some changes to the Veterinary Surgeons Act as it currently exists so this feels like an opportune moment to carry out a wholesale review of the legislative basis for regulation of the veterinary profession in the UK.

"Clearly using 50-year-old legislation has its limitations, and while we have been able to make use of legislative reform orders and changes to the Royal Charter to make significant changes to the College – for example, in terms of our disciplinary and governance arrangements – the fact is that this somewhat antiquated legislation is the basis for all we do.

"For example under the current Act veterinary nurses still lack statutory regulation and protection of title, there is no underpinning for our continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and specialist/ advanced practitioner status and the College lacks the power of entry or similar power needed for compulsory practice inspection.

"We hope that, by giving the legislation a fresh look, we can consider how it could better cover the veterinary industry as a whole and not just the rather narrow definition given in the original Act."

The Legislation Working Party is to meet at least four times and will report to RCVS Council in due course.

A study published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice has concluded that there is no difference between vapocoolant spray or eutectic lidocaine/prilocaine (EMLA) cream for improving tolerance of intravenous catheter placement in dogs¹.

Given that vapocoolant is effective immediately, compared to EMLA cream which is recommended to be applied 60 minutes beforehand, the study suggests that in dogs at least, vapocoolant may be the better option in practice.

For the study, researchers from the Royal Veterinary College assessed 83 dogs and 18 cats requiring intravenous catheterisation for either blood donation collection or as oncology patients.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either EMLA cream or a swab saturated with vapocoolant spray (Ethycalm / Invicta Animal Health) applied before catheterisation, and their reactions were assessed during initial restraint, limb handling, swab application and skin puncture.

Overall, there was no significant difference between vapocoolant spray and EMLA cream, and neither method appeared better at improving patient tolerance of intravenous catheter placement.

Vapocoolant spray was less effective than EMLA cream in reducing adverse reactions to skin puncture during catheterisation in cats, suggesting that EMLA may be preferable for feline patients.

Dogs that received vapocoolant spray showed a greater adverse response during swab application compared to those receiving EMLA, possibly due to the coldness of the swab.

Success of intravenous catheter placement was identical for both anaesthetics.

Dr Richie Trinder, lead author of the study, said: “The study is the first of its kind comparing vapocoolant spray and EMLA, and suggests in this context that the use of vapocoolant spray provides a similar degree of relief as EMLA, but with the added advantage of being instantaneous, instead of needing to wait the recommended 60 minutes for EMLA.”

Reference

• Trinder, R., Park, J., Humm, K. and Cole, L. (2025), Effectiveness of vapocoolant spray compared to eutectic lidocaine/prilocaine cream to enhance tolerance during intravenous catheterisation: a randomised controlled trial. J Small Anim Pract, 66: 236-242. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.13825 

The Chief Operating Officer at XLVets, Kerrie Hedley, is asking female vets to take part in focus groups to share their experiences around leadership, in order to develop some new strategies to encourage women in the profession into leadership positions.

The focus groups are part of a study which will form part of Kerrie's MBA dissertation.

Kerrie says her research topic was triggered by an analysis of leadership statistics in the veterinary profession: "There is a dearth of information about the number of leadership roles occupied by women in the veterinary profession.

"We knew that in the XLVets community, our joint efforts to run leadership programmes and help aspiring owners have meant that one in five of our practice owners are women but we don't know how that compares with other veterinary sectors and business models.

"We'd like to see many, many more women in strategic positions within our community and in the wider profession. This research will look at the barriers to leadership that women might experience and will help us develop enabling and support strategies."

Kerrie says there is some interesting data coming from her own company: "When we look at the numbers, our entry level leadership programmes are almost completely female in terms of uptake and our recent aspiring owner meeting had an equal male-female split, which was great to see. So, our feeling is that we are starting to see the impact of more female graduates coming through. Whether that's happening as quickly as it should do throughout the profession is another matter and we hope the research will throw some light on this."

Female veterinary surgeons both within and outside the XLVet community, in leadership positions, aspiring to leadership, or leadership-averse and from any sphere of veterinary practice are invited to contact Kerrie to take part and contribute. She hopes to share the results of her work with the profession towards the end of the year.

Anyone wanting to take part should email Kerrie at kerrie.hedley@xlvets.co.uk.

Shams Mir MRCVS, Chair of the BVU, has launched a petition to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons which asks that they do not allow remote prescription of POM-V medicines without a physical examination, as was proposed and discussed at the Council meeting held at the end of last year

The petition follows the news that IVC is to launch its own telemedicine service, joining three others already in the game, at least one of which is pushing for a relaxation of the rules surrounding the  prescription of POM-V medicines.

For clarity, veterinary surgeons are currently allowed to remote prescribe medicines for animals that meet the definition of 'under his care' (i.e. seen immediately before, or "recently enough or often enough for the veterinary surgeon to have personal knowledge of the condition of the animal or current health status of the herd or flock to make a diagnosis and prescribe").

In other words, there is nothing to stop bricks and mortar practices offering video consultations and prescribing medicines to those of their existing clients that they have seen recently enough. 

What Shams and the BVU are petitioning against is the idea of allowing companies staffed by veterinary surgeons to prescribe veterinary medicines for animals that they have never seen in the flesh.

They argue that remote prescribing will:

1. First and foremost risk animal patient welfare and herd health

2. Create a two-tier system of care within the profession

3. Break down the practice-based vet-client relationship 

4. Disrupt veterinary services due to complications related to out-of-hours emergency cover, transfer of patient and patient histories etc. of remotely treated patients

5. Cause clients to face increased costs by paying for telemedicine consultations and then requiring examination and treatment in practice

6. Negatively impact the financial condition of veterinary practices and professionals.

These all seem very possible consequences of allowing remote prescribing, indeed some have already come to pass in the world of human medicine following the launch of Babylon.

The counter argument is that remote prescription will improve access to veterinary care as people don’t have to flog down to the practice for a flea treatment and the cost of a consultation is reduced. There is surely truth in that.

The other point that is fundamental to this debate is the type of drug being prescribed remotely. With so many small animal parasiticides having already gone OTC, is it really necessary to talk to a veterinary surgeon before buying a POM-V flea treatment? Perhaps not.

However, that doesn’t necessarily present a case for remote prescribing such drugs; if they don’t need veterinary input, then you could equally argue they just need reclassifying.

So, should you sign this petition? Well, I think so, yes. Remote prescribing will come. It’s inevitable. But given the risks, surely the pragmatic starting point is to trial remote prescribing amongst existing clients of bricks and mortar practices, and only if that is successful to broaden it to non-clients of bricks and mortar practices.

If both those proved successful, and with technology advancing in the background, it might then be sensible to look at whether non bricks and mortar practices could remote prescribe. But that’s quite a big ‘might’.

Meantime, you can sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/royal-college-of-veterinary-surgeons-stop-authorising-prescription-of-pom-v-without-physical-examination-of-the-patient

You can discuss the petition with Shams here: https://www.vetsurgeon.org/nonclinical/f/6/t/28273.aspx

Macahl Animal Health, manufacturer of Oralade, is highlighting the need to consider the hydration status of wildlife patients admitted to veterinary practices as we head into the winter months.

The company says there is often an increase in admissions of hibernating species at this time of year, particularly hedgehogs, and it is thought that numbers of sick and injured wildlife handed over by the general public may increase this year as people spend more time in their gardens and local parks due to coronavirus restrictions.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society suggests that if uncertain about a hedgehog’s hydration status, it is always best to assume a degree of dehydration.

Macahl regularly donates Oralade to wildlife sanctuaries where it is in widespread use. One such sanctuary is the Wildlife Aid Foundation, based in Surrey, which says: "We frequently use Oralade to help our patients which are suffering from mild dehydration and are reluctant to eat. It works really well for species such as hedgehogs, foxes and badgers as the smell seems to encourage them to lap. It really does give them a boost and can get them eating solid food again which is critical for their rehabilitation."

Macahl says Oralade GI support is suitable for oral rehydration in many wildlife species, including hedgehogs. The suggested maintenance dose is 50ml per kg per 24hrs, with additional quantities needed to correct a hydration deficit. Identifying dehydration is similar to pet species, and includes assessment of skin tent, gum colour, and capillary refill time.

Winchester-based Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists has launched a new website about cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV), otherwise more snappily known as Alabama Rot.

The practice has been leading research into the devastating disease since 2012 and has collated information on all confirmed cases across the country. 

The disease, which originally appeared in the late 1980s, was first detected in the UK in 2012.

When it affects the kidneys, it has a 90% mortality rate.  

The new site offers advice and information, including a live map of confirmed cases across the UK, for both vets and pet owners.

David Walker, American, RCVS and EBVS European specialist in small animal internal medicine, leads the team at Anderson Moores and is the UK’s foremost authority on the disease. 

He said: “We have been at the forefront of research into CRGV for almost a decade now and have witnessed first-hand the often-devastating effects of the disease. 

“In launching this new website, we aim to inform pet owners and colleagues in the veterinary industry about CRGV. 

“We hope the confirmed case map will prove useful.

"Although an environmental trigger has not been definitively proven, the seasonality of the disease makes it eminently possible and the map allows everyone to see the location of confirmed cases.”   

So far this year, Anderson Moores has recorded a total of 26 confirmed cases of CRGV.

This number comes on the back of 47 confirmed cases during 2020, 19 cases in 2019 and 18 in 2018.

277 cases have been confirmed since the disease was first recognised in the UK in 2012. 

David said: “As we enter the winter months, we want to advise dog owners around the country to remain calm but vigilant and seek advice from their local vets if their dog develops an unexplained skin lesion(s), especially on the leg. 

“Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the time of year when cases are most commonly identified – 92% of dogs with the disease are seen between November and May.

"This is understandably a concern for dog owners; however, the disease remains rare.

“If a dog is suspected to be suffering from CRGV, the best chance of recovery probably lies with early and intensive management which may be best provided at a specialist facility. 

“Treatment primarily revolves around intensive management of the acute kidney injury and is sadly only successful in around 10% cent of cases.” 

Visit https://www.alabama-rot.co.uk .  

Peripatetic veterinary ultrasonographer Camilla Edwards DVM CertAVP MRCVS, founder of First Opinion Veterinary Ultrasound (FOVU), has launched a guided ultrasound reporting tool she developed to help first opinion vets who find ultrasound report-writing a daunting task.

Camilla, who was shortlisted as a finalist for Innovator of the Year at the 2025 Digital Women Awards, says her mission has always been to give first-opinion vets the tools and confidence to get the most from ultrasound in everyday practice – and the new tool is a big step forward in that vision.

The tool:

• gives prompts to ensure a thorough scan (with measurement fields that automatically compare kidney size, for example, against species- and weight-specific norms — no need to look anything up.
• links directly to quick refresher videos on scanning technique for each organ section.
• Offers a ready-made “normal” summary when a structure looks fine, unlocking a step-by-step framework if something looks abnormal or uncertain.
• Expands questions dynamically (e.g. asking about lesion distribution) so nothing important is overlooked.
• Builds a clear, structured summary of findings organ by organ, flagging abnormalities, and automatically generating a conclusion with likely differentials and suggested next steps.

Camilla says the final report is fully editable, but much of the “heavy lifting” is done — saving time, reducing second-guessing, and producing reports that are more useful for colleagues, clients, and patient care.

https://www.fovu.co.uk/ 

https://www.fovu.co.uk/fovu-report-video 

The RCVS Academy has launched a new course to help veterinary professionals recognise and challenge unconscious bias.

The course was developed with RCVS Leadership and Inclusion Manager, Gurpreet Gill (pictured), and aims to increase self-awareness of unconscious bias, explore strategies to reduce it, and promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Gurpreet said: “Unconscious bias is an area that some within the professions may not be familiar with and so this course provides an overview of unconscious bias and its impact in the workplace.

“We also explore strategies that we can all apply to help reduce unconscious bias.

"This is important in helping to achieve fairer and more equitable working environments, and I’d encourage any veterinary professional, whatever your role, to undertake the course.”

The course is accessible free via the RCVS Academy, and takes about an hour and three quarters to complete,

Building on the unconscious bias course, the RCVSA academy has also launched a course for members of the Fellowship Credentials Panels, who are responsible for assessing applications to the Fellowship.

Dr Niall Connell FRCVS, Acting Chair of the Fellowship Board, the governing body for the learned society, said: “This course explores the complexities of assessing applications, ensuring that each candidate receives a fair and thorough evaluation.

"Participants will gain insights into best practices for reviewing applications, offering constructive feedback, and identifying and addressing potential biases that may influence decision-making. 

"By completing this course, participants will gain a heightened proficiency in assessing applications and managing bias, enabling them to support the RCVS’ mission of fostering equity, diversity and inclusion within the Fellowship.”

https://academy.rcvs.org.uk 

The RCVS has published two reports on the impact of the pandemic on the personal and professional lives of veterinary surgeons and nurses since March 2020.

The reports summarise the results of two surveys that were conducted between July and August last year.

Of the 28,718 veterinary surgeons who were sent the survey, 22% fully completed and submitted the questionnaire.

Some of the main findings included: 

• 67% of veterinary nurses experienced a change in shift patterns at some point in the pandemic, compared with 57% of veterinary surgeons;
• 49% of veterinary nurses worked additional hours due to others being furloughed, compared to 40% of veterinary surgeons;
• 37% of veterinary nurses were furloughed, compared with 23% of veterinary surgeons;
• Many veterinary nurses reported taking on extra responsibilities such as: general domestic cleaning (70%), clinical cleaning (65%) and reception work (63%);
• 53% of veterinary surgeons who worked extra hours did so completely unpaid or mostly unpaid, compared to 21% of veterinary nurses;
• 38% of veterinary surgeons and 40% of veterinary nurses had to self-isolate at some point during the pandemic;
• 38% of veterinary surgeons said they worked remotely at some point during the pandemic – with the peaks being in the earliest phase of the pandemic in March to May 2020. In comparison, 23.5% of veterinary nurses worked remotely during the pandemic;
• 7% of veterinary surgeons and 8% of veterinary nurses had to shield at some point during the pandemic due to being clinically vulnerable;

Around 40% of veterinary surgeons and over 40% of veterinary nurses said they had experienced concerns for their personal safety aside from catching Covid.

These safety concerns mostly related to client interactions at the practice either during the day or out-of-hours.

Many respondents experienced conflict between their personal wellbeing and professional role, and found it difficult to juggle their work and caring responsibilities.

Many respondents also said their mental health was adversely affected by the experience of working during the pandemic.

A large majority of respondents said they had personally seen an increase in caseload due to new animal ownership.

Lizzie Lockett, RCVS CEO, said: “While many of the results of the survey may not be especially surprising and confirm what we have already been told anecdotally, it is very important that we have this hard data to hand on the overall impact of the pandemic on individual members of the professions.

“These two reports complement the six surveys that we have conducted with veterinary practices on the economic impact of the pandemic to give us as clear and holistic a picture as possible about the challenges that the professions and the veterinary sector as a whole have faced since March 2020.

"This not only provides a useful historical snapshot, but builds an evidence base to inform future temporary changes should the pandemic continue into more waves, or should future such crises arise.

“The results of the two individual surveys make it clear it has been a tough time for the professions.

"A good proportion of respondents also acknowledged that positive developments have come from the past two years, including the way the profession has demonstrated remarkable resilience, flexibility and adaptability, as well as forging a stronger team spirit under such difficult circumstances.

“However, a large number of both vets and vet nurses who responded said that the experiences since March 2020 have left them feeling more pessimistic about veterinary work and their place within it.

"I would like to reassure members of the veterinary team that the RCVS is aware and understands.

"We tried throughout the pandemic to support the professions with relevant temporary guidance changes, and we are now working with a range of stakeholders on critical issues such as the workforce crisis, which has been in part caused by Covid.

"We are also developing tools, training and resources to support the professions, via our programmes such as RCVS Leadership and Mind Matters.”

The full coronavirus impact survey reports can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/publications. 

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has suspended a Cardigan veterinary surgeon from the RCVS Register for five months, for failure to perform accurate bovine tuberculin testing and for falsely certifying the test results.

During the two-day hearing, Dewi Wyn Lewis, of Priory Veterinary Ltd, Cardigan, answered charges about inaccurate skin fold measurements and false certification relating to two visits he made as an Official Veterinarian to a farm in April 2009 to undertake tuberculin testing.

Mr Lewis accepted that he had not carried out the tuberculin tests in the way required by Animal Health (AH) - an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - and had taken short cuts to save time. However, he denied the charges, arguing that, although instructions to Official Veterinarians clearly required the use of callipers to measure the skin folds of cattle necks on Day One of testing, not using callipers and using his finger and thumb did not amount to failing to measure. 

He also argued (and it was accepted by the Committee) that, regarding Day Two of testing, there was inconsistency in AH's instructions on calliper use, which in written form required using callipers for measuring every animal but in practice accepted use of callipers when a reaction could be detected by manually palpating the skin. On Day Two, Mr Lewis said, he had done what AH required: he had used callipers on the cattle he identified for closer examination.

The Committee, however, found that by failing to use callipers on the first day, as required by AH, Mr Lewis had failed to measure the skin folds of almost all of the 104 cattle. The Committee was also satisfied that, on the second day, 10-20% of the herd were not even touched by Mr Lewis and the Committee accepted the evidence of the three other witnesses present during the testing, which indicated that Mr Lewis had failed to carry out careful assessment and manual palpation of every animal.

The Committee then considered whether Mr Lewis had dishonestly signed the certificate, or had signed a false certificate which he ought to have known was inaccurate. The Committee noted that there were no previous Disciplinary findings against Mr Lewis, and was prepared to believe his assertion that, although he knew he had not carried out the tests in strict compliance with AH's instructions, he genuinely believed his methods to be at least as accurate as measuring with callipers and did not think he was doing anything wrong or dishonest. The Committee could not then be sure that Mr Lewis had realised what he was doing was dishonest. However, the Committee noted that 'false' also means 'inaccurate' and, as Mr Lewis ought to have known that as his testing methods were not adequate, he also should have known that a considerable number of measurements on the certificate were inaccurate and that the certificate itself was inaccurate. 

After considering the facts of the case, the Committee concluded that Mr Lewis's actions amounted to serious professional misconduct and directed that he should be suspended from the Register for five months, after which he may return to practice. In relation to the sanction, the Committee said:  "In reaching this decision it is relevant that the false certification was not dishonest and that there was professional and personal mitigation put forward on behalf of Mr Lewis. The Committee has paid regard to the fact that Mr Lewis is an experienced veterinary surgeon who is highly thought of in his local area. It does not believe that there is any likelihood that he will repeat his previous conduct."

The Committee also said it gave considerable weight to the fact that Mr Lewis had had to wait an additional three-month period for the hearing because of an earlier adjournment.