VetYogi, a yoga company run by Chloe Hannigan MRCVS, has launched a subscription service for veterinary practices and individuals.

VetYogi’s new ‘VetYogi Collective’ offers an on-demand online hub of yoga, mental health and wellbeing sessions designed to meet the individual needs of vets, RVNs, practice managers, receptionists, students and paraprofessionals. 

Subscription includes a monthly live yoga session and access to a library of content which includes yoga sessions lasting from minutes to over an hour.

There are also videos, and advice on guided meditation to help support wellbeing and manage stress.

Chloe says: “It’s important that everyone who has a need, has access to the type of wellbeing tools that they respond best to, so we have developed self-care sessions for all roles in the profession.

"If you have had a hard day or a stiff neck from working in theatre for hours, or are just feeling tense and unable to switch off, you need help there and then.

"The VetYogi Collective provides that support around the clock which we simply couldn’t deliver any other way.”

Individual subscriptions cost £12 per month.

Practices signing up their team are offered preferential rates and can use the VetYogi Collective badge on their materials to signal their commitment to supporting wellbeing.

collective.vetyogi.com 

The results of the UK's first ever public National Equine Health Survey have quantified non-notifiable healthcare issues affecting horses, ponies, donkeys and mules in the UK.

The survey, which was pioneered by The Blue Cross animal charity and is supported by The British Equine Veterinary Association, was carried out last November following two years of pilot schemes. The intention was to find out more about endemic non-notifiable diseases that have never before been recorded in horses, ponies, donkeys and mules, such as coughs, skin diseases and lameness.

The results were announced at the National Equine Forum by Professor Josh Slater, Professor of Equine Clinical Studies at The Royal Veterinary College, who has been working with The Blue Cross on the survey.

A total of 306 sets of records were submitted from 3120 horses in mainly private ownership, with a balance of representation from competition yards, riding schools, welfare charities and studs. A broad range of syndromes and diseases were assessed including colic, sarcoids, laminitis, wounds, dental issues, eye disease, lameness and weight issues.

The results showed that lameness was the most common problem affecting horses (11% of horses surveyed) but that the foot was not the most common cause of lameness and that laminitis (3%) was less common than the 7-8% total that previous surveys had suggested.

Weight management was the next most common issue for horse owners, with 9% of horses recorded as overweight and 8% as underweight.  These figures are lower than previous surveys which may be because they are based on the owner's assessment of their horse's weight which is subjective and may vary according to their perception of 'the right weight'.

Skin disease and wounds (5% and 4% respectively) posed a significant problem and colic (2%) was also a common occurrence, with a 6:1 ratio between medical and surgical cases.

The survey is breaking new ground in Europe as well as the UK. Currently Government agencies in all European countries conduct surveillance for prescribed exotic diseases such as West Nile Virus and African Horse Sickness but currently there are no large scale surveillance programmes for endemic diseases.

Professor Slater said: "The regular collection of such data holds numerous benefits to the UK equine industry. Not only does the survey provide a benchmarking facility for equine disease, welfare, standards of care and codes of practice but it will also underpin standards for yard inspection schemes. Not least it confirms the workability of an important template to monitor the serious threat of infectious and exotic disease in the future." 

He added: "It's exciting to see hints in the NEHS 2010 survey that data 'straight from the horse's mouth' might challenge some established ideas. For example; the survey found that lameness was common, as you would expect, but that the foot was not the most common cause of lameness, which you might not have expected. This kind of data has never been collected before and is invaluable to the veterinary profession and wider animal welfare industry, helping to inform our future research, training and education. It will be really exciting to see the results of the larger surveys The Blue Cross are running in 2011." 

Kerry Doyle, education officer at The Blue Cross said: "We are thrilled to be involved with this innovative project to enhance the future health of our horses and very grateful to all those who have participated in the survey so far. We now need even more horse owners to sign up for the next round so that we can capture as much useful data as possible."

The National Equine Health Survey is currently funded by The Blue Cross but sponsorship is being sought. It is to be conducted twice-yearly with the next census week planned for 9-15 May 2011. All keepers and owners of horses are urged to participate and details of all horse owners will remain anonymous. It's very quick and easy to complete and should only take around five minutes. To register online visit www.bluecross.org.uk/NEHS or email NEHS@bluecross.org.uk.

Zoetis is inviting vets to come to its Skinsights Learning Academy, taking place in the theatre on the company's stand at the London Vet Show.

The company says its Skinsights Learning Academies help support individuals and practices improve the healthcare outcomes for the 25% of dogs medicalised by skin problems in the UK.

A number of recognised industry professionals will be giving interactive, bite-sized talks at the events, including: Filippo De Bellis, Ian Wright, Jill Maddison, Sarah Warren, Rob Pope, Evelyn Maniski and Emily Robson as well as Zoetis veterinary and business consultants.

Zoetis says all the presentations will be highly practical, presented through case reviews, research, workshops and discussions. They will offer the latest information on game-changing therapeutics, best practice work-ups, effective protocols and insightful case-studies.

The sessions are limited to groups of 30 and Zoetis says places are expected to fill quickly.

To reserve your free place, visit: http://www.zoetis.co.uk/LVS2018

If you are unable to secure a seat in the theatre, headsets will be available on the day so you can listen to the lectures whilst on the stand.

Orthopaedic Specialist surgeon, Andy Moores, has been appointed the new Chairman of the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association (BVOA).

Andy, who was previously the Junior Vice Chair of the association, has been a member of BVOA for over 25 years, during which time he's been instrumental in organising scientific meetings and starting the popular BVOA discussion forum. 

He is an RCVS and ECVS Specialist and in 2017 was made a Fellow of the RCVS for meritorious contributions to clinical practice.

He has taught numerous surgical residents and is widely published in many areas of orthopaedic surgery.

In 2023 he opened the Moores Orthopaedic Clinic, a dedicated orthopaedic-only referral clinic near Basingstoke in Hampshire.

Andy said: “It’s a great honour to take on the role of chairman for an organisation that I am so fond of.

“I am passionate about education and have taught, lectured and published widely.

"In my role at the Moores Orthopaedic Clinic I am always happy to discuss cases and assist colleagues as much as possible.

"I truly believe sharing knowledge is essential to successful patient outcomes, and BVOA allows this in numerous ways.

"My thanks go out to the rest of the BVOA committee for continuing to ensure we have a strong and vibrant Association, especially to Mark Bush my predecessor and to Sarah Girling who has left the committee this year after serving as Senior Vice Chair.” 

All veterinary professionals with an interest in orthopaedics are welcomed and encouraged to join BVOA.

https://bvoa.co.uk/ 

The University of Nottingham is preparing to welcome vet students back for face-to-face teaching in July.

The university says it has implemented a range of health and safety measures to meet Government guidelines and allow for the controlled return of 150 first-year undergraduate students to its Sutton Bonington campus. 

Since the latest cohort joined the university at the height of the UK lockdown, the school has delivered a programme of technology-assisted Fresher’s Week and teaching activities.

However, the return of the April cohort will enable face-to-face teaching that cannot be delivered remotely, specifically essential animal handling and health and safety skills required before students can embark on the work experience element of their course.

The practical sessions will form part of a blended approach to learning, with other lectures and tutorial support continuing to be delivered remotely to reduce the number of students in teaching buildings at any one time.

Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science Professor Gary England said: “We have missed being on campus with our students tremendously during the coronavirus lockdown and we are excited to be welcoming this cohort to Sutton Bonington in July.

“The health and safety of our students and staff has remained our top priority and has been at the heart of our planning process. Colleagues from across the university have been working intensively on the intricate detail required to ensure that adequate social distancing and hygiene measures are in place to allow this first step in a return to campus.”

Among the measures which have been introduced are:

• A new one-way system and increased signage in the teaching buildings to control the flow of pedestrians and ensure adequate social distancing.
• Availability of hand sanitiser at building entrances and enhanced cleaning in both teaching buildings and accommodation to ensure a rigorous standard of hygiene.
• Safety screens at till points in the shop and coffee shop.
• Offering a two-hour arrival slot for students, online registration and asking them to arrive with only one other person to assist with moving in to reduce the numbers of people on campus.
• Accommodating the students on campus in cluster flats treated as a household and keeping students in ‘bubbles’ for their teaching sessions to avoid exposure to larger groups of people.

The university says the return of its vet school cohort and the re-starting of face-to face-education at University of Nottingham Ningbo China at the end of April, where 5,000 students are now back on campus, will form the blueprint for the return of the majority of students to its UK campuses when the new academic term begins on 21 September.

VetSurgeon.org has launched a new collaborative publishing section of the website (called a wiki) in which any member of the site may publish case studies and reports, abstracts, short communications, research papers and the results of clinical audit for open discussion and review by all.

The state-of-the-art systems in use on VetSurgeon then allow all members to comment on the work submitted. Initially, it's hoped that this will stimulate valuable further debate, discussion and critical review of papers that have already been published elsewhere. However, another benefit of this system is that it enables anyone in the profession to publish their research to the veterinary community immediately,  without being at the mercy of such things as the availability of space in a traditional print journal, so original work is warmly welcomed.

Arlo Guthrie, editor of VetSurgeon said: "Of course I recognise that authors still want the kudos of publication in a traditional peer reviewed journal. However, in addition to offering immediate publication, this system also opens the review process up so that everyone in the profession can participate in a completely open way. If it works, it may even come to be thought of as a more stringent and robust method of review than the traditional method. Or perhaps more likely, peer review could become a two stage process in which work is assessed by a panel of experts and then by the sort of 'open review' offered by VetSurgeon.org."

Doubtless there will be concerns about the validity of information published in this new section of VetSurgeon, primarily because it may NOT have been subject to peer review at the time of publication. Arlo said: "I don't think this is an issue. VetSurgeon members should just have a different starting point. When you read content in, say Vet Record, you can presume it's been scrutinised and read it in that context. On VetSurgeon, you should assume the opposite, and then use the tools offered by the site to judge the value of the work yourself."

Ways of assessing work published on VetSurgeon.org include:

• Where articles are published by the author, a link to their profile will appear in the bottom right margin. Reading their biography may help you judge the likely quality or value of their work. You may also contact them directly through the site, to ask them more.
• Where articles have been published in a traditional journal, the abstract will contain details, and a link at the foot of the article.
• Challenge what you read! All members may comment under each article. Reading points raised by other members, and how the author responds, will again help you assess the value of the article.

In phase one of this project, taking place over the coming few days, all abstracts published in Veterinary Practice magazine are being uploaded to the new wiki.

Click here to visit the new VetSurgeon Wiki

Elanco Companion Animal Health has announced that its Duvaxyn IE and IE-T Plus vaccines have been licensed for active immunisation against OIE recommended clade 1 and clade 2 equine influenza strains, the first vaccines to be so licensed.

The company says the updated license is a result of a recent challenge study which demonstrated the ability of Duvaxyn IE-T Plus equine influenza vaccine to induce cross protection against clade 2 strain A/equi-2/Richmond/1/07 (H3N8) two weeks after two doses of the primary course¹ were given. Cross-protection was further supported by another study² measuring serum antibody response to the Richmond '07 strain 52 weeks after the three dose primary vaccination course.

The OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) updated its equine influenza vaccine recommendations in 2010 to reflect the fact that all field strains characterised through 2008 and 2009 were of clade 1 or 2 of the Florida sub-lineage. The antigenic difference between viruses of these clades could potentially compromise the effectiveness of vaccines containing a representative of a single clade³.

Anna Jackson, national veterinary manager for Elanco Companion Animal Health UK, said: "Whilst no vaccine has been updated to match the current OIE recommendations, the results of our challenge study and subsequent licence update provide reassurance that horses vaccinated with Duvaxyn will be protected against clinical signs of disease caused by currently circulating strains of equine influenza, including those the OIE has identified as being of concern.

"Further reassurance is also given with the confirmation in our study that Duvaxyn IE-T Plus elicits a cell mediated immune response, recognised to play an important role to aid in viral clearance and further enhances protection against strains circulating in the field." ⁴

The live virus challenge study, conducted by the Animal Health Trust, involved two groups of EIV seronegative horses. The first group, consisting of seven vaccinates, were given two doses of Duvaxyn IE-T Plus, 28 days apart, and challenged with A/equi-2/Richmond/1/07 (H3N8) virus strain 14 days after the second vaccination. The second group of unvaccinated horses was challenged at the same time. Duvaxyn IE-T Plus caused a statistically significant reduction in both clinical signs of the disease and in viral shedding. 

Duvaxyn IE-T Plus is the only inactivated whole virus carbomer adjuvanted equine influenza vaccine in the UK. According to Elanco, experts in the field of human vaccination have expressed the view that whole virus vaccines have the potential to induce a stronger and more broadly based response to circulating influenza strains than those contained in sub-unit vaccines because of the presence of the full set of virus proteins including the conserved nucleoprotein, which shows no antigenic drift, in the vaccine⁵.

References 

1. ECAH study (2011) AHT study ID C012/01
2. ECAH study (2011) AHT study ID CO21/01
3. OIE - World Organisation for Animal Health, Bulletin (2010), 2 pp.44-454
4. Daly JM et al (2004) Vet Res 35: 411-423
5. Meeting Notes: 3rd WHO meeting on evaluation of pandemic influenza prototype vaccines in clinical trials, 15-16 February 2007, WHO, Geneva

The RCVS Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee has struck off an unnamed veterinary nurse after they were convicted of grooming someone they believed to be aged under 16 for the purposes of sexual gratification.

The Disciplinary Committee took the unusual step of granting an application by the respondent for anonymity, after seeing evidence of a real and immediate threat to the individual’s security if their details were made public.

For the purposes of the hearing, the respondent was therefore referred to as 'X'.

The Committee heard that the individual pleaded guilty in court in 2020 to intentionally and knowingly attempting to communicate with a person under 16 years for the purposes of sexual gratification.

Following this they were sentenced to a two-year probation order, were ordered to register on the Sexual Offences Register for five years; and were made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for five years.

At the outset of the hearing the individual admitted to all the charges against them and the Committee also noted that there was a certified copy of the conviction available.

The Committee then considered whether the conviction amounted to serious professional misconduct. In considering this, it set out the aggravating factors surrounding the case, these being that there was the risk of actual harm to a minor, that the misconduct was premeditated as the respondent had sent a number of messages via a number of online platforms over several days, that the individual displayed predatory behaviour including sending pictures and making comments of a sexual nature, and that it involved what the respondent believed to be a vulnerable individual, namely a 15-year-old child.

In mitigation, the Committee considered that there had been no actual harm caused to a human or animal in light of the fact that the 15-year-old child, who the respondent believed they were communicating with, was not real. It also took into account that the conduct related to a single isolated incident and that the individual had made open and frank admissions at an early stage.

Cerys Jones, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee was satisfied that the sentence imposed on X, which included X being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until 2025, resulted in the profession of veterinary nurses being brought into disrepute and, in the Committee’s judgement, public confidence in the profession would be undermined if the Committee did not find that the conviction rendered X unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.”

In considering the individual’s sanction, the Committee heard from a character witness who said that the respondent’s actions were out of character, that they had a previously long and unblemished career, that they had made full admissions and demonstrated insight, and that they had a low risk of reoffending in the future.

Cerys said: “The Committee accepted that X had been an excellent veterinary nurse and that X’s criminal conduct did not relate to X’s practice as a veterinary nurse. However, in the Committee’s judgement, the aggravating factors outweighed the considerable mitigating factors in this case.”

She added: “The Committee decided that a suspension order was not the appropriate sanction for such a serious offence because it did not reflect the gravity of X’s conduct. In the Committee’s judgement, the wider public interest, that is the maintenance of the reputation of the profession and the College as a regulator, required a sanction of removal from the Register. The Committee considered that X had much mitigation and was clearly a dedicated veterinary nurse but the reputation of the profession was more important than the interests of X.

“Further, the Committee noted that in circumstances where X’s probation order expired in 2022, and where the ancillary orders, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a requirement to register on the Sexual Offences Register did not expire until 2025; the only proportionate sanction was to direct the Registrar to remove X’s name from the Register of Veterinary Nurses.”

The full findings for the case can be found at: www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary

Mrs Muriel Taylor, who worked as a receptionist at Pennard Vets in Kent for a staggering 70 years, has been presented with the British Veterinary Receptionist Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at a celebration with more than 100 staff at the practice.

Muriel joined Pennard Vets as an office junior on 7th January 1950, when she was 15 years old

She earned a weekly wage of £1 10 shillings, equivalent to £1.50 in today’s money.

Andy Green, a Director at Pennard Vets, said: “Few people in this country have achieved what Muriel has.

"Pennard Vets has been around for over 125 years and Muriel’s journey with us has encompassed a staggering 70 years of that, making her one of only a handful of people in the UK who have completed 70 years with a single employer.

“Muriel is ever-present, reliable, caring, dependable and she makes the best biscuits around.

"She started work at our Sevenoaks practice as a 16-year-old in 1950, when it was just as likely a client would be bringing in a sheep, goat or horse as a dog or cat, and we used loose boxes outside for examinations, treatments isolation and even post-mortems.

“During the subsequent 70 years she was part of the growth in the practice from a single site to multiple sites.

"She was also fantastic at embracing the latest technology as the practice went from handwritten ledgers, double entry bookkeeping and dealing with the terribly difficult to decipher handwritten notes of the vets, to digitalisation, computers, online systems, email, mobile phones and a host of other technological advances.

“Throughout the years her role changed dramatically, and she learned new skills, adapted, and moved with the times, demonstrating our core values of continuous improvement, client focus, compassion and clarity every step of the way.

“When Muriel retired in 2020, sadly lockdown rules denied us the chance for a proper celebration, so we are very pleased to have been able to celebrate together with such a fabulous party.”

Muriel said: “When I started at Pennard Vets, the practice cared for large animals including horses, sheep and cattle on the local farms, but we also had some more unusual clients.

"A special highlight was fielding telephone calls from former Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who lived at Chartwell country house, near Westerham, in Kent and employed the practice to look after the health of the black swans living on the estate’s lake.

“Two of the biggest changes I saw during my seven decades at the practice were the business giving up farm work to focus on small animal work as dogs and cats became a bigger part of our families, and the transition from my handwritten notes in ledgers to modern computer systems, but I have always embraced change and enjoyed learning new skills.

"I miss everyone at Pennard Vets but will keep in touch and keep baking for them!”

The International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) reports that over 600 veterinary surgeons and 350 nurses and technicians attended its World Feline Veterinary Congress held in Brighton.

Delegates came from 31 different countries - as far afield as Brazil, South Korea and Singapore - and attended over 28 hours of CPD which included a pre-Congress day, dentistry wetlabs, five sponsor-led symposia, two masterclasses and a main congress stream covering feline endocrinology and feline cardiology.

There were 18 speakers and feline experts, including Dr Mark Peterson and Prof Claudia Reusch leading on endocrinology, and Kieran Borgeat and Prof Virginia Luis Fuentes presenting the latest findings in cardiology.

ISFM says the initial feedback from delegates was extremely complimentary, comments including: "inspiring speakers that made it so enjoyable as well as informative", "the speakers did very high value lectures and the feline spirit was really present" and "excellent conference – lectures were informative but still practical and useful, and there was a lot of love for cats".

Running alongside the scientific programme was a busy commercial exhibition and a poster room showcasing original research, case series and case reports from 17 individuals who all received a 50% discount on the cost of their congress registration. 

On the social side, there was a welcome reception sponsored by Hill's which included a ride on the world’s first vertical cable car. Boehringer Ingelheim stumped up for cocktails and canapes on the first evening, and fish and chips with live music on Brighton Pier on the Friday, and Idexx threw in prosecco and cupcakes after lectures on Saturday afternoon.

This year, ISFM ran a nursing programme which was so popular, it required a change of venue. Sam Taylor, Director of ISFM’s nursing distance education courses who chaired much of the meeting said: "It has been a real pleasure to welcome so many nurses to our Congress. We have been overwhelmed by the response and although we will not always be able to have a nursing stream at congress we will certainly ensure that we run ISFM events for nurses in 2018, so watch this space!"

Next year’s ISFM Congress is being held in the city of Sorrento on the Amalfi coast in Italy. Taking place from 28^th June to 1^st July, the congress will cover feline urology and feline oncology. Full details of the congress are yet to be published but over 250 delegates in Brighton have already registered their interest.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has accepted an application for restoration to the RCVS Register by Gordon Lonsdale, who had been struck off in March 2004 for illegally delegating acts of veterinary surgery to insufficiently qualified members of his practice staff.

At the initial Inquiry, Mr Lonsdale, who formerly worked as a sole practitioner in Shropshire, had admitted three separate charges of serious professional misconduct. These included allegations that he had instructed nurses and support staff to undertake dental extractions, dog and cat castrations, the removal of tumours or masses, the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia, lancing abscesses and suturing wounds.

At yesterday's hearing, the onus was on Mr Lonsdale to satisfy the Committee that he was fit to be restored to the Register, not least in view of his former health problems and the eight-year period for which he had been off the Register.

He provided the Committee with evidence of undertaking continuing professional development, including 130 hours of online courses and seven weeks of seeing practice, letters of endorsement from former clients and testimonials from friends and former colleagues.

The Committee accepted Mr Lonsdale's evidence that he had successfully addressed his alcoholism, which it recognised as being a contributory factor to his poor decision making in an isolated working environment. He assured the Committee of his intention that, should his application be successful, he intended to work only in a multi-handed, rather than single-handed, practice in future.

The Committee found him to be an honest and frank witness who had made a credible attempt to refresh his small animal practice knowledge; it was satisfied that he accepted the findings of the original hearing and that he had put the welfare of animals at risk, and it noted his expression of remorse.

In considering Mr Lonsdale's application, the Committee made a number of recommendations, including that he should register for the RCVS Professional Development Phase, undertake certain parts of the RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, restrict himself to his recognised areas of competence, investigate communication courses run by the Veterinary Defence Society and continue with the mentoring programme provided by the Veterinary Surgeons Health Support Programme. Mr Lonsdale stated that he was willing to follow all of these recommendations.

Professor Peter Lees, who chaired and spoke on behalf of the Disciplinary Committee, concluded: "In these circumstances, we do not consider that any further period of erasure would be of benefit either to the public or the veterinary profession. Therefore, we direct the Registrar to restore Mr Lonsdale's name to the Register."

Success in Veterinary Practice by Dr. Bradley Viner DProf BVetMed MSc(VetGP) MRCVS is now available from Wiley Blackwell at £28.99. Teeside general practitioner Rob Reid BVM&S MRCVS has reviewed the book for members of VetSurgeon.org:

There are many self-help books available in a variety of fields, covering topics which range from stress management and emotional control through to furthering one's career and professional development. Until now, there has been no such publication that has covered these issues in the veterinary context, and it is here that Bradley Viner has identified a niche in the market with his new book Success in Veterinary Practice.

The aim of book is to help veterinary practitioners of all levels to develop and nurture their professional skills, both on a personal and at a practice level. The book will be of interest to vets in all fields and contains a lot of information that will be particularly relevant to vets who are embarking on the Professional Key Skills Module of the RCVS CertAVP. It may also be of interest to other members of the veterinary practice team and is also marketed at individuals who are considering a career in the veterinary field.

The book is organised into nine chapters, with the first eight providing content matter on areas such as personal development, communication techniques, improving clinical performance and developing leadership skills, with the final chapter summarising the information presented. The first eight chapters are structured in such as way that information is presented in a digestible format. The material is detailed enough to provide understanding without being overburdening and the summary and exercise sections presented at the end of each chapter help the reader to review what they have read and pick out the key ideas.

There were many areas of the book I found interesting and I liked the way that the author has looked at the psychological and sociological aspects of one's actions, both in relation to colleagues in the workplace and in relation to dealing with clients. From a personal point of view, I also liked the section on communication skills - an area which probably doesn't receive enough coverage in both undergraduate and postgraduate education.

On the negative side, there are some minor typographical errors and I feel some of the diagrams could have been better produced. The pure academics among us may also be somewhat critical about the author's stance towards the relevance of some aspects of clinical research. And of course some people may be put off by the price, with the truly cynical among us possibly seeing the close relevance of the content to the syllabus of the CertAVP 'A' module as a cunning marketing ploy!

As a general practitioner, however, I found the book to be informative and thought-provoking. I have found it has encouraged me to take a look at certain aspects of my work which I have almost done instinctively in the past, analyse my reasons for doing them and then look at how I can improve on these in the future, for the good of patients, my clients, the rest of the working team and of course for myself. It is certainly an interesting read, and I would recommend it to be of value to any vet who sees the term 'professional development' to mean far more than a simple sharpening of one's clinical skills.

Surgeons at Pride Veterinary Centre have claimed a UK-first for a procedure in which they used a tailor-made titanium implant to replace a cancerous vertebra in a nine-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The dog presented to the Neurology and Neurosurgery Service at Pride after the dog's GP vet had diagnosed a tumour.

The neurological examination was consistent with a thoracolumbar lesion and the X-rays showed a radiopaque mass with bony lysis on the third lumbar vertebral body.

Annette Wessmann, an EBVS European Specialist in Veterinary Neurology at Pride said: “We chose to do a CT scan based on examination and the X-rays.

“It confirmed the suspicion of a neoplastic lesion and ruled out other tumoral focus along the rest of the spine and other organs."

A customised titanium implant was designed for the dog's spine in collaboration with BETA Implants.

Rosario Vallefuoco, an RCVS and EBVS Small Animal Surgery Specialist and Head of Small Animal Surgery at Pride said: “It was a case of combining our experience with that of the engineers.

“The original implants had been designed for humans, and we had to imagine what would be required for a dog and work out at every step what changes we would have to make.”

The surgery took place in three different stages, the first being L3 vertebra skeletonization and dorsal lamina removal.

The second step was vertebral body removal.

Finally, the third step was vertebral reconstruction using the designed implants.

The whole procedure took six hours, and the dog was up and walking again within 12 hours.

Subsequent histopathology assessment of the mass confirmed osteosarcoma, so the surgery is being followed up with chemotherapy.

Following the success of the surgery, Pride Veterinary Referrals says it now hopes to help other dogs with similar conditions.

www.prideveterinaryreferrals.com