Fiona Knight, a Customer Care Manager from the Woodcroft Veterinary Group in Cheshire, has won the 'Petplan Insurance Advisor Award 2011'.

The award, announced at the British Veterinary Nursing Congress in Kettering, recognises the hard work and dedication that Petplan Insurance Advisors do to highlight the importance of insurance to pet owners.

Fiona said: "It was such a shock to actually win the award, I'm very pleased!. All the finalists, including me, have worked incredibly hard to carry on promoting something we feel so strongly about. It's not something we can do on our own which is why I am so grateful for the dedication and support from my team at the practice.

"The Petplan PIA is such a great scheme as it helps increase the awareness of pet insurance, and really helps owners have financial security and their pets get the best treatment should anything happen."

The finalists were judged by Petplan Business Developers Lisa Allen and Spencer Jones.

Spencer said: "All three finalists have worked extremely hard to educate pet owners about pet insurance so that they are able to give their customers informed and up-to-date advice, however Fiona's commitment and dedication really stood out and she is a very deserving winner."

As part of her award Fiona receives a 16GB Ipad2 with WiFi, worth £399. The other finalists were Harriet Goulden, veterinary nurse at the Feldon Veterinary Centre in Leicestershire, and Alison Sawyer, receptionist at Medivet in Watford.

For information on how to become a PIA contact Vetline on 0800 316 8800 or alternatively log onto www.petplanpia.co.uk.

TVM UK has announced that is taking its 'Lunch and Learn' CPD sessions, which normally take place in practices, online.

The sessions, which are delivered by the company's territory managers and cover things like toxicology, ophthalmology and the management of epilepsy, will now be streamed live to computers, tablets or smart phones.

Product Manager Will Peel (pictured right) said: "We know that concerns over coronavirus are affecting our customers so we want to make it as easy as possible for them to benefit from the information imparted in our Lunch and Learn sessions while normal service is disrupted.

‘We hope that these measures will also help us offer more virtual workshops in the future to make our sessions more accessible for busy veterinary staff and we are looking at the possibility of organising virtual drop ins from our sales team in the future.’

For more information visit: https://www.tvm-uk.com. To rearrange a previously booked session contact your local territory manager or email help@tvm-uk.com.

The Blue Cross and National Veterinary Services (NVS) are celebrating the success of a new initiative to generate additional saleable items for the charity, with the help of vet practices across the UK.  

Earlier this year, The Blue Cross teamed up with NVS to launch a campaign to sign up vet practices who use NVS services to encourage their staff and clients to donate bags of unwanted clothes and bric-a-brac for the charity to sell and raise funds. This week saw the arrival of the 5,000^th bag of donated items arrive at The Blue Cross warehouse

Jonathan Chambers Blue Cross spokesperson said: "We are extremely grateful to NVS, the vet practices taking part in the scheme and their clients. We are overwhelmed at the response so far and looking forward to receiving many more bags of goods in the future. Although the donated items may be unwanted possessions to some, each bag generates about £20 of income for us. This means the scheme has so far provided an amazing £100,000 worth of income towards helping sick and homeless animals in the care of The Blue Cross."

Caitrina Harrison, Sales & Marketing Director for NVS said: "We are delighted to be supporting The Blue Cross with this worthwhile initiative. We have an experienced and flexible logistics team, who have been able to help with the delivery and collection of the clothing bags throughout the UK.  We have had excellent feedback from many veterinary practices who have got involved and the requests for clothing bags keep coming in."

Veterinary practices who receive their stock and drugs from NVS that are not yet part of The Blue Cross donation scheme can sign up now by contacting julie.godwin@nvs-ltd.co.uk or Jonathan Chambers at The Blue Cross: trading@bluecross.org.uk.

Vetoquinol has released the second set of results from a survey of over 1000 dog owners which the company says has revealed some surprising findings on owner attitudes to pain and pain relieving medications.¹

In particular, Vetoquinol says it thinks veterinary surgeons will be surprised by the depth of feeling expressed by pet owners about the issue, and that there are areas where there is potential for the profession to relate to the concerns of clients and adapt communication accordingly.

The key findings highlight that dog owners are likely to be shocked by a diagnosis of long term painful illness in their pet and are very likely to search for further information on the Internet about the pet's condition. Most dog owners think that NSAIDs are likely to cause side effects, with the perceived risk being much greater than the actual level of risk. The results also indicate that even low levels of risk of side effects may be unacceptable to dog owners.

• In common with many other surveys, most dog owners (68%) felt their dog was a member of the family and another 22% said their dog was their best friend.
• 73% of people selected the word 'devastated' to most accurately describe their feelings if their dog was diagnosed with a potentially painful long-term illness.

Mark Leddy, Marketing Manager at Vétoquinol said that the strength of the bond between pet and owner should always be front of mind: "A diagnosis of osteoarthritis, for instance, is such a common one, often being made several times a day, so it is easy to become matter of fact about it; yet for the client that news may actually be quite traumatic and the impact hugely underestimated."

• Asked to rate pain, dog owners perceived the most painful condition to be a broken leg.
• On a 0 to 10 scale, with 10 being most painful, 57% rated pain due to chronic arthritis in old age as 8 or above and 36% rated post-neutering pain as an 8 or above.
• Fewer people rated pain due to arthritis in a young dog as 8 or above (51%). Vetoquinol says this suggests that owners might not be good at identifying pain levels in individual animals.

Where clients get their information from is important:

• 98% said they would use the Internet to get information about their dogs' illnesses and medication, whilst 67% said they would do this every time they had a concern. Vetoquinol notes that this means there is greater scope for misinformation.

The majority of respondents (95%) felt that treatment of osteoarthritis should be started as soon as signs appear and then long term, either consistently or as needed. However, despite recognising the need for treatment, many expressed concerns about side effects when giving their dog long-term medication, with 77% considering it important or very important to choose a medication with a limited range of side effects. 

• 48% of those polled felt that NSAIDs were good treatments with a risk of side effects
• 15% rated them more positively as good, effective treatments
• 2% claimed they would object to or resist their vet's recommendation to treat with NSAIDs.
• Only 1% felt that pain controlling medications would never cause side effects, with most respondents claiming side effects were most likely to be seen sometimes (67%) or often (19%).

Vetoquinol says the reality is that one in a thousand pets given an NSAID is likely to experience side effects, which vets may feel is not something owners should worry about unduly. The reality for pet owners is that they perceive the risk to be much greater and if informed of the actual level of risk may still experience a significant level of fear that their pet, with whom they have a special relationship, could be that one in a thousand.

Mark Leddy says that, based on these results, there is great scope for the veterinary team to discuss the level and type of risk entailed in administering medication: "Such an approach will help pet owners make more informed decisions about treatment, allay their concerns and provide them with the support they need at what is probably a very difficult time for them."

^1. A survey of 1048 dog owners, carried out by petbuzz, on behalf of Vétoquinol, March 2011

The RCVS is encouraging vets to nominate members of their nursing team for this year's VN Golden Jubilee Award, which recognises exceptional contribution to veterinary nursing.

The award was launched in 2011 to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first RCVS veterinary nursing training course and recognises those who have made an outstanding contribution to the profession, animal welfare and/or patient care. Nominees can be registered veterinary nurses, veterinary surgeons or lay people.

Nomination forms need to be submitted by 5pm on Friday 24 April. The principal nominator must be a registered veterinary nurse or veterinary surgeon, although the two supporting proposers can be lay people.

Kathy Kissick, Chair of VN Council, said: "One of the main priorities of VN Council in the coming years is to raise levels of awareness of registered veterinary nurses, and awards which recognise the importance of VNs in the context of the veterinary team and animal welfare are crucial to enhancing the profession's profile.

"Therefore I would encourage veterinary nurses and veterinary surgeons to think about those VNs who go above and beyond the call of duty for their cause and who would be excellent ambassadors for the profession and nominate them for the Golden Jubilee Award."

Last year's winner was Hayley Walters who was recognised for her contribution to animal welfare through her teaching, clinical and international outreach work. Previous recipients were Jean Turner in 2011 and Sue Badger in 2012. No award was made in 2013.

The nomination form for the VN Golden Jubilee Award can be downloaded from www.rcvs.org.uk/goldenjubilee

The winner will be chosen by a panel of VN Council members and will receive the Award at RCVS Day - the College's Annual General Meeting and Awards Day - on Friday 10 July 2015.

For further information about making a nomination for the award contact Annette Amato, Deputy Head of Veterinary Nursing, on a.amato@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0713.

MSD Animal Health, maker of Bravecto, is giving advance notice that this year’s Tick Awareness Month will take place in May, in order to give veterinary practices time to apply for a resource pack and get involved.

Last year's event generated an impressive amount of media coverage about ticks on Radio Four's Today programme, BBC Radio 1, 2 and 5, BBC TV Breakfast, BBC TV News, Good Morning Britain, ITV News and Channel 5 news, amongst others, providing an opportunity for practices to convert heightened public awareness into more protected pets.

Amanda Melvin, Small Animal Marketing Manager at MSD Animal Health said: "Last year’s Tick Awareness Month was a great success thanks to the high involvement of veterinary practices.  We would like to give as many practices as possible the chance to get involved this year so are urging surgeries to get in touch early and we will ensure you get a pack of support resources for this nationwide event."

For further information, contact your MSD Animal Health representative or visit: www.bigtickproject.co.uk.

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC, has been given the RVCS Impact Award for his work developing the pioneering VetCompass initiative which gathers epidemiological data from 1800 first opinion and referral practices around the UK.

The VetCompass database now holds millions of anonymised veterinary clinical records collected from primary practices and referral centres across the UK.

The records allow researchers to investigate a range and frequency of companion animal health problems and identify important risk factors for the most common disorders.

This research can then be used by veterinary professionals in clinical practice to help improve education and outcomes related to animal welfare.

Dan’s nomination included recognition for VetCompass operating under non-profit and open-access principles and embedding mandatory welfare pathways into all studies.

VetCompass was also recognised for having supported more than 140 research papers supporting broad welfare initiatives spanning breed-related health, extreme conformations, welfare scoring, specific disorders, oncology, disease surveillance, prescribing practices, and more.

Dan said: “I am truly humbled to receive this recognition from the RCVS.

"When I moved from clinical practice to the RVC 15 years ago to develop VetCompass as my PhD project, I could only dream of the untapped potential for practising veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to contribute to cutting edge science and welfare.

"And now the amazing VetCompass team at the RVC have made that aspiration to redefine the clinical evidence base on companion animal welfare a reality.

"I now need to reset even higher animal welfare dreams for the next 15 years.”

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/vetcompass/about/overview 

The Emergent Disease Foundation, One Health Initiative, Worldwide Veterinary Service, and UNISON have collaborated to launch Exotic pets: Reducing the of risk of human infection, a new leaflet which explains the hygiene measures that keepers of exotic pets should take.

The organisations say that they hope veterinary clinics, pet shops, medical centres, local authorities and schools will distribute the free leaflet which is also available to download.  

The Emergent Disease Foundation says the advice contained in the leaflet is taken from an independent scientific paper entitled 'A review of captive exotic animal-linked zoonoses' published in the Journal of Environmental Health Research.

The leaflet takes the line that it is inadvisable to keep exotic animals as pets, but for those who already have them, recommended measures include: thorough hand-washing with antibacterial soap and alcohol-based gels after handing or feeding an exotic pet; being careful not to touch hair, clothes (including pockets), door handles and other items immediately after handling exotic pets; closely supervising children so that they do not put their mouths close to the animal; and keeping animals, cages and equipment away from kitchens.

Clifford Warwick of the Emergent Disease Foundation, a charity focused on animal-to-human infections, said: "The modern world enables all too easy acquisition of exotic animals into the home. The pet trade in general, with its high turnover and diversity of species available, offers a speed-dating reservoir for bugs from far corners of the globe. My own advice is simple - avoiding exposure to bugs from exotic pets in the home is difficult and best avoided by not keeping them in the first place."

Dr. Bruce Kaplan of the One Health Initiative, which focuses on the connection between health and the environment, said: "As a former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trained epidemiologist, a retired private practice veterinarian and a public health and humanitarian minded 'One Health' activist for nearly 50 years, I wholeheartedly oppose private ownership of exotic pets due to the known scientific health and safety risks for people and animals.  It is a dangerous, irresponsible and irrational practice."

Owen Evans of the Worldwide Veterinary Service, a charity that provides a veterinary resource to animal welfare organisations worldwide, said:"We work on a day-to-day basis with animal health issues, so we are very mindful of how animals and people can share pathogens. Avoiding transmission is best served by minimising risks, which is what this new brochure aims to achieve."

Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College have been awarded £566,149 by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to continue their studies into Enzootic pneumonia, the most common respiratory disease in pigs.

The research will specifically focus on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M.hyop), the causative agent of the disease, and aim to progress vaccine development.

Zoetis has stumped up another £300K in kind to support the research. 

M.hyop is present in 80% of UK pig herds, which can result in a 16% reduction of growth and a 14% reduction in feed conversion in pigs.

This therefore, is not only a welfare issue for pigs but can significantly increase production costs for farmers.

Piglets are at particular risk of contracting the disease alongside secondary pathogens during lactation. 

There are currently no commercial vaccines available that would prevent initial infection, and while M.hyop is susceptible to a variety of antibiotics, their use needs to be reduced to avoid overuse and the occurrence of multi-drug resistant strains.

The priority for the RVC researchers will therefore be developing new vaccines.

The team will also research the optimisation of protocols to eliminate M.hyop from pig herds in an effort to further minimise potential transmission.

Professor Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology at the RVC, said: “Infection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is a really debilitating disease in pigs that causes huge economic losses for farmers.

"I am very pleased that we will be able to continue working with a pharmaceutical partner to develop a new vaccine using state-of the-art technologies.”

As part of its ongoing "Excellence in veterinary anaesthesia" initiative, and following the launch of Alfaxan, Vetoquinol has published a summary of the latest expert recommendations concerning anaesthesia in cats and dogs in a new document: Premedication and anaesthesia in dogs and cats.

The publication covers the pre-medication and pre-anaesthetic period, the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia and the recovery period as well as useful A-Z list of specific case pre-medication and anaesthesia management recommendations (brachycephalic animals, caesarean operation, paediatric cases, renal disease, to name just a few).

The recommendations contained in the document were drawn up following a meeting in February at which a panel of experts discussed all aspects of anaesthesia for dogs and cats, focussing particularly on pre-medication.

The panel was comprised of: Dr Jo Murrell of Bristol University; John Hird of the Hird Consultancy; Dr Mark Senior of University of Liverpool; Dr Polly Taylor, Independent anaesthesia consultant; Elizabeth Leece of the Animal Health Trust; Dr Jackie Brearley of Cambridge Vet School; Daniel Holden , Independent anaesthesia consultant, Prof. Eddie Clutton of Edinburgh University and Elizabeth Chan of the Royal Veterinary College.

"We were delighted to have gathered such an authoritative panel of veterinary anaesthesia experts," said Zorica Agbaba of Vetoquinol, who hosted the meeting.  "I am sure that the recommendation document will prove invaluable to vets in general practice."

The document is available from Vetoquinol UK and Ireland, please contact your local Vetoquinol representative or alternatively call Vetoquinol's main office on 01280 814 500 (UK) or 1800 406 117 (ROI free phone number).

Davies Veterinary Specialists (DVS), the private small animal referral centre based in Hertfordshire, has installed two new state-of-the-art ESAOTE ultrasound machines.

DVS says The MyLab Twice Vet and the MyLab Class C Vet provide fast, efficient and highly accurate imaging in a wide range of applications, including high-definition abdominal, cardiac, musculoskeletal and ophthalmic scans.

The MyLab Twice Vet, with its range of probes including the broadband 18MHz linear probe, will be used for general ultrasonographic imaging at DVS. It is capable of the most refined contrast media examinations that, for example, can help to locate and identify a liver tumour that may be rendered invisible when using conventional diagnostic procedures.

The MyLab Class C will be used predominantly for advanced cardiac work, including trans-oesophageal echocardiography for interventional procedures in theatre.

Pedro Oliveira, European Veterinary Specialist in Cardiology at DVS said: "The trans-oesophageal probe is currently a very rare piece of equipment in veterinary diagnostics. It gives us the capacity to obtain unique views of the heart, especially the heart base which can be a very difficult area to examine with regular echocardiography. It also allows real-time and direct monitoring of procedures, such as deployment of devices to occlude patent ductus arteriosus, surgery and anaesthesia in critical patients."

The first patient to benefit from the new My Lab Class C was an 11-year-old, female German shepherd dog with suspected cardiac neoplasia following several episodes of haemorrhage into the pericardium. A normal echocardiographic examination identified a small suspect area but it was in a part of the heart that was very difficult to approach surgically.

However, a trans-oesophageal examination revealed that another small mass close to the tip of the right auricle was actually the origin of the bleeding. The dog underwent surgery to remove the mass and subsequently made a full recovery. Without the My Lab Class C there would have been no viable options for this dog.

Clive Elwood, Managing Director at DVS, said: "Combining the best possible on-site diagnostic equipment with some of Europe's finest clinicians enables us to provide the best possible service and outcome for our patients, across multiple disciplines."  

The British Equine Veterinary Association is encouraging members to continue to reduce their use of critically important antibiotics by inviting them to attain the BEVA Antibiotic Champion Award.

Last year BEVA received a national Antibiotic Guardian award from Public Health England in recognition of its work to promote responsible use of antibiotics. It was the only organisation from the veterinary profession to be shortlisted. BEVA launched its Protect ME antimicrobial campaign in 2012 to coincide with European Antimicrobial Awareness day. The Association has launched additional resources each year to facilitate compliance and educate the public about the importance of antimicrobial awareness. 

This year, to recognise World Antibiotic Awareness Week (16th to 22nd November, 2016) and European Antibiotic Awareness Day (18th November), BEVA is encouraging members to document their efforts to reduce the use of critically important antibiotics.

To enter for the award, veterinary surgeons need to share practice sales data (in mls) of chosen antibiotics. Practices that document a reduction in antibiotic sales of these drugs will be presented with a BEVA Antibiotic Champion Award to endorse their commitment to responsible use of antibiotics and to help promote public awareness of the campaign. Members are also encouraged to sign up to be antibiotic guardians at www.antibioticguardian.com

Gayle Hallowell, Co-Chair of the BEVA Health and Medicines Committee said: "We are extremely proud of the equine veterinary profession’s commitment to the responsible use of antibiotics. We hope the introduction of our Champion Award will inject new vigour into efforts to continue to reduce the use of our precariously limited antibiotic resources."

To apply for BEVA Antibiotic Champion Award status visit http://www.beva.org.uk/Antibiotic-Champion-Award The BEVA Protect ME toolkit is free to BEVA members and can be downloaded at www.beva.org.uk.