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.

Zoetis has announced the launch of Sileo (Dexmedetomidine hydrochloride), a new prescription-only medicine for the treatment of noise anxiety in dogs. 

Sileo provides a micro-dose of dexmedetomidine hydrochloride, a selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist which Zoetis says helps a dog calm down or remain calm yet fully functional in situations involving fear-eliciting sounds.

Sileo is presented as an oromucosal gel formulation in a 3ml oral syringe that can be used to apply multiple doses.

Zoetis says that its user-friendly application means that, once prescribed, it can be given by the dog owner and used only when needed for each noise anxiety event. It takes effect within 15 - 60 minutes and last for 2-3 hours. Should the fear-eliciting noise continue, further doses can be given at two hour intervals up to a total of five times during each noise event.

The company says that even when the full dosing limit is used, the dog will remain functional during treatment; the clinical effects of dexmedetomidine are dose-dependent and the anxiolytic effect is reached before the sedative effect.

Animal behaviourist, Jon Bowen BVetMed DipAS (CABC) MRCVS, said: "Fear of seasonal loud noises such as fireworks, thunder and gunshots are known to affect around 50% of the UK dog population but the prevalence of fears of other everyday noises and the extent to which those fears contribute to nuisance and problem behaviour in dogs is something we are researching at the moment. Sileo is ideal as an acute anxiolytic for planned or expected events such as fireworks or thunder, but it has an even wider range of potential applications in planned events that involve stressful noise exposure including travel, social gatherings and even visits to the vet."

Sileo is available to order now via your veterinary wholesaler.

For more information contact your Zoetis account manager or customer support on 0854 300 8034 or visit www.zoetis.co.uk/Sileo. 

The RCVS Standards Committee has reintroduced the dispensation which allows veterinary surgeons to prescribe veterinary medicines remotely, in advance of the forecast wave of Omicron infections. 

Chair of the Standards Committee, Dr Melissa Donald, said: “We were very aware of the likelihood that both practice staff and clients will increasingly have to isolate over the coming weeks due to direct infection or positive contacts, particularly with the rise in cases amongst school children.

“Added to this, we know there are already workforce pressures across the profession, which will be exacerbated by reduced staffing levels over the Christmas and New Year period.

“We therefore felt it was appropriate to reintroduce these temporary remote prescribing measures at this time to help relieve pressure on practising professionals, and to provide them with the means to continue to look after the health and welfare of their patients in all circumstances.”

As before, the temporary dispensation is subject to the specific guidance found in FAQ4 (www.rcvs.org.uk/covidfaq4), including that veterinary surgeons must be able provide a 24/7 follow-up service involving physical examination, for example where the animal does not improve, or suffers an adverse reaction, or deteriorates, subsequent to the remote prescription of medicines.

The Committee agreed that the position should be reviewed in February 2022 at its next meeting.

Vets Charlie Barton and Jamie Crittall have launched Boop, claimed to be the first service which vets and nurses can use to create secure digital vaccination certificates and share them, along with microchip details and parasite control records, with clients.

They say that the free system offers an easy way for veterinary practices to improve client service, streamline workflows, and enhance animal welfare.

Boop uses AI and computer vision to auto-populate vaccination details and capture things like microchip numbers, to ensure certificates are positively identifiable and compliant with the RCVS 10 principles of certification and electronic signing guidance.

Pet owners can then store and access digital vaccination certificates on their mobile phone through the Boop app, where they can also look-up chip details, up to 30% of which are not properly registered.

The app also lets owners share vaccination certificates easily with boarding and day care establishments via email or whatsapp.

Charlie said: “Boop brings a vaccination record service fit for 2025, enabling vets to add more value to their vaccination service and owners to care better for their pet.

"By linking to the microchip, vets can be confident that every record belongs to the right pet—making care safer, more accurate, and more convenient.”

Once signed up, practices can start issuing digital vaccination certificates immediately, without changing their existing PMS or workflows.

www.booppet.app/vets

Merial is offering four free tubes of Eqvalan Duo to practices that buy 20 tubes in February and March. In addition, to further boost the targeted worming message, Merial will supply 20 free worm egg count vouchers worth £10 each.

Eqvalan Product Manager Claire Edmunds said: "Last year's campaign was so well received by both practices and clients that we have decided to run it again and are hoping for even better results!

"The personalised online planner, worm egg count offer and new eye-catching point of sale all help you to engage your clients in a targeted worming strategy.  

For those practices with their own, in-house worm egg count testing facilities, Merial is also offering promotional support to help encourage increased uptake and client buy-in. The campaign forms part of Merial's promotion and education strategy for 2011, which includes extensive VN SQP CPD training opportunities.

To find out more contact your local Area Manager or call the Merial Customer Support Centre on 0845 601 4236

Neurologists Nicolas Granger (pictured) and Jon Prager from Bristol Vet Specialists are recruiting dogs paralysed following thoraco-lumbar spinal cord injury for a study which aims to see whether new ultrasound software can predict recovery in dogs after spinal injuries.

They say that dogs which lose sensation following damage to the spinal cord from a slipped disc have a prognosis for recovery of about 50%. 

However, there is no reliable way of determining which dog will recover and failing that, owners must wait weeks to months to see if there are any signs of recovery, during which time dogs may need anaesthesia, surgery, and intensive nursing care.

The researchers say that the stiffness of an organ can be a marker of how damaged it is.

So, for the research, a new ultrasound machine equipped with an advanced piece of software (known as ‘shear wave elastography’) – will be used to measure the stiffness of a dog’s spinal cord during surgery.

The dog’s recovery to walking after surgery will then be monitored routinely.

The results will allow researchers to see if a relationship between spinal cord stiffness at time of surgery and recovery exists.

If successful, this would help them provide a more accurate prognosis for dogs with spinal cord injury in the future.

If you have a case suitable for this study, CVS says they will receive a gold standard treatment for spinal cord injury, which will include spinal surgery.

They will also have an ultrasound of the spinal cord performed during surgery, a procedure taking approximately 15 minutes.

Contact referrals@highcroftvet.co.uk or nicolas.granger@bristolvetspecialists.co.uk.

BVS Neurology study from CVS (UK) Ltd on Vimeo.

A group of exotics vets have come together to create Just Exotic, a new resource for general practitioners and students who want to broaden their exotic species knowledge.

The brainchild of Sonya Miles CertAVP(ZM), CertAqV, MRCVS, Just Exotic (www.justexotics.co.uk) offers a range of training webinars, fact sheets, care sheets and ‘how to’ videos developed for veterinary surgeons, nurses and students. The webinars cost between £15 and £55 (depending on the length), and include presentations by Sonya herself, Eliabetta Mancinelli, Agata Witkowska, Louise Ash, Sarah Pellett and others.

Sonya said: “We’ve developed our content to be convenient and affordable. Some of it may also be helpful for clients.

"More content will be added on a regular basis, and please, if there is something you specifically want covered, drop us a line to info@justexotics.co.uk and will we do our best to make sure it becomes available.”

Bristol Vet Specialists has launched a chronic pain clinic for cats and dogs in the South West of England, led by Jo Murrell, European Specialist in Anaesthesia and Analgesia.

The clinic offers Specialist care primarily for patients with osteoarthritis pain, but also those with chronic pain caused by other conditions, such as cancer, dental and ear diseases, spinal disease and feline hyperaesthesia syndrome.  

BVS says cats and dogs coming to the clinic will get the highest level of care with a specialist assessment from Jo, who also also works closely with the orthopaedic and neurology services to offer a global and holistic approach.

The assessment will identify signs of chronic pain, gauge the severity, and also evaluate the impact of the condition on the animal’s quality of life.

Jo says it is important to identify these conditions as early as possible, as instigating pain management early helps to dampen down pain signals and reduce overall upregulation of the pain pathways.

To that end, Jo uses validated clinical metrology instruments (owner questionnaires) to measure the severity of pain, especially during initial appointments.

Should a condition be detected, Jo and her team will be able to offer pharmacotherapy, intra-articular and epidural injections and acupuncture.

Jo also works closely with physiotherapists and hydrotherapy services, which can be used as adjunctive therapy.

Jo said, said: “Many cats and dogs will experience chronic pain. These cases need to be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the cause of pain is properly identified and treatment quickly provided. We are very pleased to be able to open our new chronic pain clinic for cat and dog owners in the South West today to provide this essential service.”

https://www.bristolvetspecialists.co.uk 

The Soil Association is calling on the Government to issue guidelines that will limit the veterinary use of the most modern penicillin-type antibiotics, to prevent the spread of a serious new superbug.

Recently released minutes of a Government committee reveal that Ministers have been briefed about the emergence on a British dairy farm of a mutant strain of antibiotic-resistant E. coli which causes life-threatening cases of food poisoning, including hemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome.

The bug, known as E. coli O26 is a vera-toxin producing E. coli (VTEC), similar to the infamous E. coli O157. According to the Soil Association, what makes the discovery of this variant so significant is that this is the first time in the UK, and only the third time in the world, that VTEC E. coli has been found with an enhanced type of antibiotic resistance known as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), which makes it resistant to almost all antibiotics. ESBL resistance has previously been found on 57 UK farms, but until now only in strains of E. coli that cause urinary tract infections and blood poisoning.

Although antibiotics are not recommended for the treatment of VTEC E. coli, scientists warn that the emergence of resistance is undesirable because these resistant bacteria are encouraged every time certain antibiotics are used, resulting in increased spread and greater risk of contaminated food products.

On non-organic dairy farms, cows are routinely given antibiotics at the end of their lactation to prevent mastitis. In addition, milk from cows given antibiotics for treatment, or prevention, is often fed to calves when it contains residues and cannot be sold. However, because ESBL E. coliO26 is resistant to all the antibiotics used in ‘dry cow therapy' and many of those used for treatment, the high use of antibiotics on dairy farms will promote the rapid spread of these dangerous bacteria.

Soil Association Policy Adviser, Richard Young said: "This is one of the most worrying developments in the continuing rise of ESBL E. coli. Today is the first European Antibiotics Awareness Day, but there is a distinct lack of awareness that the continuing high use of antibiotics in farming is contributing to the increase in antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.

"The Government often calls on doctors to prescribe antibiotics less often. But similar advice needs to be given to veterinary surgeons and farmers. Half of all antibiotics are given to animals, and there is mounting evidence that antibiotic-resistant bacteria in farm animals pass to humans. If we want antibiotics to save lives in the future as they have done in the past then the Government must provide specific recommendations based on scientific advice, and vets need to pull together with doctors to limit the use of problematic drugs."

Bristol-based Invatech Health has joined forces with MWI to establish a new distribution service whereby prescriptions are sent directly to the client from the wholesaler. 

The new distribution service uses Invatech's Patient Medication Record (PMR) system, called Titan, which was accredited by the NHS a little over a year ago. Titan has now been developed further to support the company's Home Pharmacy service, and integrate with MWI.

The company says the new system offers practices a seamless workflow between prescribing, dispensing and logistics systems.

Tariq Muhammad, CEO of Invatech Health, said: "“The use of PMR systems for the veterinary market has been very light touch until now. Knowing that that we can bring the same level of efficiency and workflow to a new market presents an opportunity to support animal health in the same way that we do for human health."

Alan White, Commercial Director at MWI Animal Health, said: “The Covid pandemic has presented many challenges to veterinary professionals in the UK. Travel restrictions and social distancing measures make it difficult for animal owners to collect the medications and treatments they need from veterinary practices.”

“We are excited to be able to work with Invatech to provide an innovative solution to this problem, where vets can send the medications needed directly to their client. Working in partnership with veterinary practices and Invatech means we can move animal health forward together.”

For more information, visit: https://www.invatechhealth.com/ 

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has reprimanded Gloucestershire veterinary surgeon Adele Lewis for failing to pass on information about a horse’s clinical history to a potential buyer during a pre-purchase examination.

Ms Lewis, the sole principal of the Cotswold Equine Clinic in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, carried out the examination of a pony called Luke on 13 February 2014. Luke was owned by Mrs Booth who was a long-established client of Ms Lewis, both at her previous practice, Bourton Vale, and at her current practice. The examination was carried out on behalf of the prospective purchaser, Mrs Grieve.

Upon examination Ms Lewis certified that, in her opinion, Luke’s veterinary history did not increase the risk of purchase.

Following the purchase of Luke, Mrs Grieve attempted to obtain insurance for Luke and found out from a pet insurance company that a claim had been made by Mrs Booth in September 2013. She subsequently found out that, following concerns expressed by Mrs Booth and her trainer about Luke’s movement and their wanting an expert opinion, Ms Lewis had referred him to Dr Kold, a Specialist in Equine Orthopaedics, in September 2013. Dr Kold had diagnosed Luke with lameness and had given him intra-articular medication. Luke had also had a follow-up appointment with Dr Kold about four weeks later in October 2013.  

The Disciplinary Committee hearing commenced on Tuesday 13 October 2015. At the outset, Ms Lewis admitted several parts of the charges (charge A and charge B) against her. In regards to charge A, she admitted that she had failed to inform Mrs Grieve that, when she examined Luke on 24 September 2013, his then owner Mrs Booth had complained firstly that Luke was “not tracking up and going forward” and, secondly, that he had improved significantly when put on a Phenylbutazone trial. She also admitted that she had referred him to Dr Kold for a poor performance investigation and that she ought to have informed Mrs Grieve of these matters.

In regards to charge B, she admitted that she completed a Certificate of Veterinary Examination in which she had declared that Luke’s veterinary history did not increase the risk of purchase and allowed the vendor’s declaration to include assertions that there had been no previous lameness and no intra-articular medication given in the last 12 months. Ms Lewis admitted that she ought to have known that her declaration that Luke’s veterinary history did not increase the risk of purchase was incorrect.

However, Ms Lewis denied being aware that Dr Kold had diagnosed lameness, administered an intra-articular corticosteroid to Luke and examined and noted a problem with his breathing, including upper airway disease and possible lower airway disease. Furthermore, she denied dishonesty in regards to both the charges against her and in relation to vendor declarations made on the Certificate of Veterinary Examination regarding previous lameness and intra-articular medication.

During the course of the hearing, Ms Lewis told the Committee that she had not received the reports about the two consultations by Dr Kold (despite their having been sent to her by letter and, with respect to the second report, also by email) and that she was therefore unaware of his findings when she carried out the pre-purchase examination. She also stated that she had not been informed of these by Mrs Booth. During her evidence, Ms Lewis also admitted having entered inaccurate information on a veterinary report to assist with an insurance claim.

The Committee did not find Ms Lewis to be an impressive witness citing the fact that her “explanations as to her practice showed a worrying absence of probity in the completion of veterinary reports for the purposes of insurance claims, and an absence of any effective practice management, consistent with acceptable practice.”

However, the Committee felt it did not have the evidence to conclude that Ms Lewis had acted dishonestly during the pre-purchase examination. It cited the fact that her actions, when informed by the purchaser Mrs Grieve of Dr Kold’s examination, did not appear to be those of someone trying to cover their tracks.

In regards to charge A, the Committee also found that the “apparently chaotic manner in which Ms Lewis ran her practice, and her own opinion that the pony was sound, would appear to have led her to wrongly disregard these matters from disclosure.”

In making its decision on her conduct and sanction, the Committee said that Ms Lewis’ failure to fully communicate to Mrs Grieve all the relevant information about Luke’s veterinary history fell far short of the conduct expected from a veterinary surgeon. It also cited the utmost importance of a complete and accurate certification process, as made clear in the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct and the Twelve Principles of Certification.  

Chitra Karve, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said:  “The Committee continues to emphasise the importance of maintaining the integrity of veterinary certification in any aspect of practice. Mrs Grieve told this Committee that if she had been fully informed about Luke’s veterinary history she would not have purchased the pony. It is clear from the evidence that it affected Mrs Grieve’s ability to insure the pony. Ms Lewis has accepted that the information about Luke’s veterinary history, not having been disclosed, was capable of affecting the risk of purchase. The public are entitled to rely upon veterinary surgeons providing complete and accurate information, when certificates and reports are prepared.”

In mitigation, the Committee paid regard to Ms Lewis’ inexperience at running her own practice and found no issue with her competence or clinical ability as a veterinary surgeon. It concluded that she had acted out of character and that there was no financial motivation for her actions. It also found it “highly relevant that the facts admitted and found proved related to a single pre-purchase examination.”

It also noted that Ms Lewis has now put in place a practice management system and has shown insight into her actions, by taking active steps to better comply with her obligations under the Code of Professional Conduct. She had also made early admissions of guilt and made a full apology to both Mrs Grieve and the RCVS both at the outset of the hearing, and in her evidence.

Chitra Karve added: “Having had the opportunity of observing her demeanour at this hearing, the Committee believes that it is unlikely that she will repeat her conduct.... The Committee has concluded that an appropriate and proportionate response in this case is to reprimand Ms Lewis.”

Sue Paterson FRCVS, the RCVS and European Dermatology Specialist, Past-President of the BSAVA and founder of Virtual Vet Derms has launched PetDerm shampoo soap bars.

The new bars are designed specifically for owners who want a sustainable choice. They contain no harmful preservatives or foaming agents and are SLS and parabens free. Sue says that all the ingredients in the soaps have been selected to minimise their environmental impact and help maintain a healthy skin and coat.

Sue said: "Dog owners are environmentally conscious and recognise that in addition to their own carbon footprint their furry family member also has an important part to play when it comes to sustainability."

Apparently, Zurich’s Institute of Environmental Engineering has shown liquid soap has ten times the carbon footprint of bar soap: bottles need more energy and water to produce them, they are less efficient to transport, and many contain synthetic chemicals which can cause damage to the ecosystem if they get into water sources.

Sue added: “We need to make the same sustainable choices for our pets as we make for ourselves. One shampoo soap bar is the equivalent of two bottles of shampoo so they are not only good for the planet they are great for your pocket as well. It makes it easy for pet owners to make the right choice and reduce their pet’s carbon footprint without compromising on their care.”

For more information visit: https://virtualvetderms.com/login/product/antibacterial-shampoo-bar or https://virtualvetderms.com/login/product/soothing-shampoo-bar.