Vets Now has opened bookings for its emergency and critical care Congress which takes place from Thursday 3rd to Friday 4th November 2022 at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.

The event offers over 80 hours of CPD across seven streams – with everything from hypotension and sepsis to breaking bad news to clients – as well as world-renowned speakers and networking opportunities.  

Søren Boysen from the University of Calgary in Canada and Sophie Adamantos from Paragon Referrals in Wakefield, are among several high-profile speakers at this year’s Congress.

Chief Executive for GB Snowsport, Victoria Gosling OBE, will open Congress as keynote speaker where she’ll focus on perseverance, resilience and teamwork.

Also speaking are Prof. John Williams, Richard Casey, executive director at the World Small Animal Veterinary Association and VDS trainer Elly Russell.

Arlene Connor, an RVN and head of clinical operations at Vets Now and IVC Evidensia has planned the programme alongside national ECC lead Dan Lewis (pictured right). 

She said: “We’re so excited to be returning to the Royal Armouries for our 19th Vets Now ECC Congress – around a theme which celebrates us all being together again.

"The past two years have been a challenge for all of us in the veterinary professions and we hope to mitigate that with a return to face-to-face learning and networking, as well as the chance to have some fun.

"Events like this can be hugely inspirational — for the organisers as well as the attendees — and we truly can’t wait to welcome everyone through the doors like old times.”

Dan added: “There’s a brilliant line-up of live speakers, workshops, a packed exhibition hall and more opportunities than ever for delegates to meet old friends and make new ones, as well as to learn from some of the world’s leading veterinary experts discussing emergency and critical care. 

“Our programme again this year has been carefully tailored to provide an inclusive learning experience for vets and vet nurses no matter what stage they’re at in their career, from students through to specialists. 

Tickets range in price from £45 + VAT for exhibition-only tickets, up to £470 + VAT for a vet to attend for 2 days plus the Gala dinner.

To book your ticket, go to www.vets-now.com/congress2022

Petplan has announced the winners of its 2011 Veterinary Awards. 

The awards are to recognise and celebrate staff and practices throughout the country that have delivered an exceptional level of care to the nation's pets and their owners.   

Alison Andrew, Petplan's Marketing Manager said: "Britain is known to be an animal-loving nation and with millions of households owning cats and dogs, pets play a central part in family life. The Petplan Veterinary Awards give us the opportunity, on behalf of all pet owners across the UK, to thank the veterinary profession for the outstanding service they provide to our pets.

"This is the 12th year of the awards and this year we received over 2,800 nominations, a record number for the vet awards, which really highlights the high regard that the profession and pet owners have for these awards."

The winners for each category are:

VET OF THE YEAR
Alison Laurie, Crown Vets - Highlands
What really stood out about Alison for the independent panel of judges was her clinical excellence, exceptional ability and compassion towards customers and their pets, all of which were highly praised in her nominations.

VET NURSE OF THE YEAR
Maria Corcoran, Orwell Veterinary Group - Ipswich
Maria's ability to naturally lead by example was a prominent factor for the judges, as well as her ability to always make pet care and comfort her top priority. She also provides great customer service and high clinical standards.

VET SUPPORT STAFF OF THE YEAR
Patty Fraser, Loch Leven Equine Practice - Kinross
The independent panel of judges was really impressed by Patty; she is considered to be the 'hub' of the practice and constantly makes a strong contribution to the team in many ways. Her ability to organise and multitask whilst offering excellent customer service is outstanding.

VET PRACTICE OF THE YEAR
Emersons Green Veterinary Surgery Ltd - Avon
Emersons Green Veterinary Surgery's work to continually educate their customers really stood out for the independent panel of judges. The practice works incredibly hard to provide regular newsletters and updates on their Facebook page, which is run by nurses, whilst maintaining a great level of service for their pets and clients. The practice has also been very successful in helping to re-home dogs.

SPVS is inviting practitioners to a week-long CPD and diving course taking place at the Red Sea from June 14-21st.

Five days of diving at Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh will be combined with 16 hours of CPD on orthopaedics, including fracture planning presented by Malcolm Ness BVetMed DipECVS CertSAO FRCVS. Other subjects include the provocatively titled ‘So You Think You Know How to Run a Business?’ presented by Simon Robinson, Senior Business Manager at LloydsTSB.

The event has been organised to avoid the busy school holiday period and vets’ own family commitments.

Ewan McNeill, SPVS Senior Vice President, said: “This is a fantastic week of CPD and diving and demonstrates the wide variety of CPD-driven events SPVS is hosting, ranging from Snowscene to Sail Training. There’ll be a professional diving instructor present at all times, so even if you’re a beginner, this week is definitely one for the diary!”

The venue is the newly refurbished Bayview Hotel, which is situated five minutes from the centre of the resort, jetty and Oxygene dive centre, a BSAC school and PADI resort.

Cost per person is £750 including five days diving, flights from Gatwick, transfers, seven nights half board, boat diving at two dives a day, tanks and weights and Marine park fees. Any extra dives can be paid for locally.

Price quoted is for those who already hold an Open Water Diver certificate, but a referral course is available at an extra £105 for anyone wanting to qualify.

For more information, and to book your place, please contact the SPVS office on 01926 410 454 or email office@spvs.org.uk.

The Pet Food Manufacturers Association has confirmed the programme for its parrot nutrition symposium at Chester Zoo on 21 September, to which avian vets are invited.

The event aims to deliver the latest knowledge on parrot nutrition and welfare and provide an opportunity to collaborate on education and potential next steps for research.

 The full programme is as follows: 

• Parrot Husbandry at Chester Zoo. Lauren Samet (Animal Nutritionist) and Mark Vercoe (Deputy Curator of Birds), Chester Zoo
• Forty years of keeping parrots healthy - good nutrition is a major factor. Alan Jones MRCVS (Chairman of The Parrot Society UK)
• Poor plumage? Too fat to fly? Clinical parrot nutrition - common problems and solutions. Vicki Baldrey MRCVS (Avian Vet and lecturer at Royal Veterinary College)
• Parrot food production, from fields to feeding stations. Dr Isabelle Kalmar DVM, PhD (R&D Expert, Versele-Laga Belgium and Co-chair of Fediaf Small Pets Working Group)
• Pet parrots’ feeding best practice and behavioural enrichment. Tariq Abou-Zahr DipECZM(Avian) MRCVS (Exotic Animal Veterinary Surgeon)

Sarah Hormozi, Head of Science & Education at PFMA said: “We are hoping to make it a worthwhile event, where parrot experts, welfare groups and parrot food industry can share their knowledge and experience.

"Through discussions we will come up with collective decisions and steps forward to improve the health and welfare of parrots that are kept in captivity, especially from a diet and nutrition perspective."

For ticket prices and to register: https://www.pfma.org.uk/pfma-parrot-symposium-2022 

A recent survey of nurses attending Hill's nurse roadshows has identified that just over 20 per cent of nurses pay for their own CPD. Although no claims have been made regarding how representative the sample is of the general nursing population, the survey by Hill's Pet Nutrition mirrors the results of a recent RVCS survey.

Adrian Pratt, Veterinary Affairs Manager at Hill's said: "It comes as no great surprise to find that nurses are so dedicated to doing a good job that they will even fund their learning themselves and it's great that round 80 per cent are having their CPD paid for. It is a little depressing to find that some of the practices they work in are unable to support nurses in their efforts, perhaps because of the economic situation. We launched our Veterinary Nutrition Academy with the aim of offering easy to access CPD, free or at very low cost. Practice members can register free and I'd really encourage practice principals and practice managers to take a look at www.myhillspet.com/vna to see how much is available for negligible or very little expenditure. The credit crunch is affecting lots of people and practices but if we can use any down time available to improve skills and knowledge, that has got to be a healthy response."

Bonny Millar, President of the BVNA said: "Some employers may still be unaware that CPD is now compulsory for the RVN but a recent RCVS ‘Survey of the Veterinary Nursing Profession 2008', found that qualified VNs were not finding it difficult to meet the required 45 hours of CPD over 3 years. Those who took part in the survey said that they averaged just over 3 days in the last 12 months, with 84% of those surveyed saying all or most was paid for by the employer. As there is no obligation for the employer to pay for CPD, it is good to know that so many are doing so but it is also important that nurses can demonstrate that any newly gained knowledge will be used to provide a better service to their patients and practice."

This was a view echoed by Sarah Hibbert, President of VPMA: "It would seem logical that relevant CPD which has a benefit to both the practice and individual should be considered in a structured fashion and in light of these findings it would be appropriate for practices revisit their CPD policies to ensure they are fair and reasonable to all parties concerned."

The Hill's survey also showed that just under 30 per cent of nurses have their own CPD allowance provided by the practice. This suggests that about half of the nurses in the UK are to a large extent basing their CPD on self-directed learning. One of the champions of self-directed learning, Malcolm Knowles, defines it as a process ‘... in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.'

According to Adrian this could signal a positive step forwards, "On one hand self directed learners have been shown to be more proactive about learning, more motivated and more likely to retain and use what they do learn. However, there is a danger that a practice could be left with gaps in knowledge or skills unless there is some active intervention in the form of a review or guidance regarding the individual's particular training needs, those of the practice team as a whole and the appropriateness of individual courses. Those practices that allocate training allowances are to be congratulated on being forward thinking but it is worth remembering that conferring a training allowance does not involve abrogating responsibility for providing support, guidance and encouragement. We have taken care to introduce incentives for completion of Hill's VNA courses, not because we think that nurses need to be motivated by extrinsic rewards but because we should celebrate those who work hard to become better nurses."

Scientists from the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright, UK Met Office and the Jersey State Veterinary Service and Jersey Meteorological Department, are working together on an early-warning system to help defend cattle against the spread of 'bluetongue' disease, according to a study published today in Weather.

The team is fusing meteorological data with ecological information to anticipate when disease carrying midges are likely to be carried on the wind from the continent to the UK and Channel Islands.

Lead author Dr Christopher J. Sanders from the Institute for Animal Health said: "The bluetongue virus, BTV, represents a major and unprecedented epidemic which has spread across Western Europe since 2006. While accurate estimates of costs incurred are not yet available, it is estimated that these could be in the order of many tens of millions of pounds."

BTV is carried by small biting midges, Culicoides, one of the smallest species of biting flies found on livestock. One bite from a midge fully infected with BTV can be enough to lead to infection in cattle and sheep, which can be fatal.

Since 1998 the range of the African species of biting midge has expanded from the Mediterranean basin resulting in an overlap with the range of European species. This enabled European species of midge to pick up virus from infected animals for the first time and go on to transmit it in Southern Europe. However, the arrival of BTV in northern Europe in 2006 was independent of this northwards movement of BTV, jumping north rather than from a gradual spread, and was reliant on transmission only by European midges common and widespread in the area.

In 2006 the disease was found in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany; 700 km north of previous European outbreaks. In June 2007 the disease was once again reported in Germany and by October 2008 24,000 cases were reported in France alone. In September 2007, the first cases of BTV were discovered in the UK, where fortunately the outbreak was small.

The danger that the disease may again spread to the UK from across the channel is of special concern to the Channel Island of Jersey, which maintains a world renowned cattle industry, but is at heightened risk of infection if the disease becomes established along the Cherbourg peninsula or the Normandy and Brittany coastline.

The risk comes from the possibility that the tiny midges can be carried on the wind from the French coast to the Island. To monitor this threat the team set up midge light traps in farms across the island to monitor midge activity and to identify the presence of any potential vector species.

The results were then collated and analysed alongside data from the Jersey Meteorological Department, which allowed the team to pinpoint when livestock were at risk from a number of locations on the mainland. This information was fed into the UK Met Office early-warning website which has also been used on the mainland to help predict and defend against the disease.

"Environmental conditions, especially temperature, wind speed and direction have a significant impact on the biting midge in terms of activity and abundance," concluded Sanders. "Monitoring the midge population in Jersey will provide the farming community on the mainland with knowledge of when the midge season commences in the diseased areas of the near continent."

CVS has launched a buying group open to independently-owned practices to benefit from the knowledge, experience and strength of the 250 practices which form CVS. 

The new buying group is called MiVetClub. It offers a range of services, including:

• discounts on a range of veterinary products and services
• business support and management expertise
• access to CPD and other training resources

Sara Armitage, Director of Product and Buying at CVS, said: "There are many thriving independent practices out there which have the potential to be even more successful if they just had the time and expertise to negotiate better deals and had access to the business resources and support to help them run their practices more efficiently and cost-effectively.

"That's where MiVetClub can help. CVS' stature in the veterinary sector means that we can negotiate the very best discounts and rebates for the group's members. But MiVetClub isn't just about saving money. It's also about helping independent practices raise clinical standards and run better businesses. MiVetClub  experts are constantly on-hand to advise members on all aspects of running their practice, freeing up their time to concentrate on what they do best, caring for their patients."

For more information, visit: http://www.mivetclub.com/

Improve International officially opened its state-of-the-art new wet-lab practical training facility in Sheffield last Thursday.

During a welcome reception, leaders and representatives of the veterinary profession were given tours of the facility and shown the advanced surgical training and ultrasound equipment available.

The wet-lab is equipped with 13 electrically-adjustable surgical tables, each with their own operating light and an audio-visual (a/v) system connecting them to the lecturer. The a/v system enables the lecturer to carry out demonstrations of procedures and to provide individual or group guidance to delegates practising surgical and other practical techniques. 

Delegates are able to use the latest surgical and diagnostic equipment, including IM3 dental equipment, Logic E ultrasound machines and new surgical instrumentation for a range of orthopaedic and soft tissue procedures.

Improve's Managing Director, David Babington MRCVS, said: "Newly qualified vets have a huge need for additional training in practical skills and this demand extends into their ongoing professional life as new techniques are developed and existing ones refined. 

"We already offer practical training facilities to delegates attending our training programmes at our HQ in Swindon but wanted to make it easier for vets and nurses in the north of the UK to access these facilities. This new 'wet-lab' offers an ideal training environment for our delegates to accelerate their learning and take new skills back to their practice."

He added: "Learning new techniques, whether surgical or diagnostic, is a proven way to boost practice profitability because it reduces the need to refer more complex cases. We hear from many of those who have trained with us that their increased skillset has enhanced their job satisfaction and increased the volume of cases they treat. In many cases, the training has paid for itself many times over. We are excited at the prospect of helping even more veterinary professionals to advance their skills."

Epiphen, Vétoquinol's canine anti-epileptic drug, has been re-launched with new packaging and a useful dosing syringe. 

"Some of our customers reported that they were having difficulty administering the drops accurately," explains Slavica Sobot, Product Manager. "So with this in mind, we have introduced a new plug-on syringe which will make it even easier for pet owners to dose accurately.  The syringe will prevent the risk of inaccurate dosing through ‘flooding' from the dropper."

For more information, please call the Vétoquinol help line on 0800 169 8197 or contact your Vétoquinol representative.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has suspended a Co. Tyrone veterinary surgeon from the Register for ten months, having found him guilty of serious professional misconduct relating to three convictions for contravening animal export regulations.

Whilst working as an Authorised Veterinary Inspector in Castlederg for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), William Manson had falsely certified that he had inspected three consignments of sheep presented for assembly at Plumbridge Export Assembly Centre on 16 and 23 August 2009. At this week's two-day hearing, Mr Manson admitted that the convictions he had received at the Strabane Magistrates Court on 26 November 2010 made him unfit to practise veterinary surgery, but said in mitigation that he had examined the sheep nearby at Landahussy, a site he considered more suitable for a large number of animals.

The Committee was satisfied that Mr Manson believed the Landahussy site to be more suitable for large deliveries; the Committee also was satisfied that he did carry out a visual inspection of the sheep at the Landahussy site on 16 and 23 August 2009. However, the information Mr Manson provided on the three certificates was false and misleading. Mr Manson had also been reminded of the importance of complying with government regulations in a disciplinary case in 2004, following convictions for failing to notify DARD about changes in the number of sheep for which he was claiming a premium. The then Committee dismissed the case, deeming the convictions a result of his "genuine but regrettable oversight".

Speaking on behalf of the Committee, Chairman, Prof Peter Lees said: "Mr Manson's actions in certifying that he had examined the sheep at an approved assembly centre when he had not done so amounted to a serious departure from professional standards. If there had been a disease outbreak on either the Plumbridge or Landahussy site, such actions would have rendered contact tracings unreliable and inaccurate."

In mitigation, the Committee accepted medical evidence and Mr Manson's testimony that he was at that time under exceptional stress. He was working long hours in difficult circumstances without an assistant, and was under considerable personal pressure as a result of his wife's serious illness. It also took into account his age (66), exceptional testimonials produced on his behalf, and the impact on the community he served.

Prof Lees said: "The Committee has concluded that the removal of Mr Manson's name from the Register is neither proportionate nor necessary in the public interest nor to protect the welfare of animals. A proportionate sanction in this case is to suspend Mr Manson's name from the Register for a period of ten months."

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has announced the replacement of its Bovilis^® IBR with Bovilis® IBR Marker Live vaccine, a move that brings the UK into line with the rest of Europe where marker vaccines are favoured.

Many EU member states, including Scandinavia and Austria are now declared IBR-free, and others (Germany and Hungary) operate national eradication programmes. Using a marker vaccine will help farmers wishing to export animals, or semen, or those working towards an eradication programme in their herds.

Recent bulk milk and blood screening via Intervet/Schering-Plough's complimentary BeefCheck and DairyCheck has revealed that 72% of herds tested were positive for IBR exposure. Given the latent nature of infection, and the rumbling losses associated with subclinical disease, it should come as no surprise that farmers are increasingly interested in controlling IBR. Studies have shown that IBR infection can result in a milk yield reduction of 173 litres per infected animal, or over £400 a year, for a 100-cow herd.

According to Intervet/Schering-Plough, Bovilis IBR Marker Live is Europe's leading IBR vaccine. It can be given intra-muscularly or intra-nasally to calves as young as two weeks old, as well as pregnant dams. It is also licensed to be given together with the pneumonia vaccine Bovilis^® Bovipast RSP. The primary course involves one dose in cattle over three months of age, with immunity in just four days from the intra-nasal method, and 14 days from injection. Stock need re-vaccination every six months.

The vaccine reduces the amount of virus excreted into the environment, so minimising the risk to stressed cattle which may have been brought into the herd, and be latently infected.  It also makes it an excellent choice for producers with breeding bulls, which should not be vaccinated. Bulls have to be kept naïve, however, the marker vaccine can be used on females in the herd to minimise virus circulation. This way the threat is minimised, and bulls can be kept infection free.

Texas-based diagnostics company Volition Veterinary has announced the results of a proof of concept study for its Nu.Q Vet Assay which found that a single assay detected almost 70% of both canine hemangiosarcoma and canine lymphoma

Together, these two cancers account for almost a third of all canine cancers. 

Dr. Heather Wilson-Robles, an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and Chief Medical Officer of Volition Veterinary Diagnostics said: "The proof of concept results in these two very prevalent canine cancers give us confidence to move forward with other Nu.Q Vet assays in our pipeline, and with the larger range of cohorts and trials we have collected and planned.

"Clearly, we still have work to do as this single assay did not detect one of the other top five canine cancers, canine osteosarcoma, which was the third cancer tested in this study. However, I am delighted to see such positive results in these two significant cancers and look forward to reporting further data over the coming quarters with additional Nu.Q Vet assays, this time tested on an automated platform.”

Dr. Terry Kelly, Chief Scientific Officer of Volition America said: “It is exciting to see such strong results from our first Nu.Q Vet study conducted at Texas A&M University Veterinary Hospital. It is also interesting to note the similar patterns of detection seen in both canine and human samples confirming that the Nu.Q platform does appear to be useful in more than just human diagnostics.

"As with human diagnostics, there are currently no accurate, simple, affordable cancer screening tests available in veterinary medicine and yet 25% of dogs will develop cancer at some stage of their life. I look forward to completing the planned trials and to launch our first Nu.Q Vet product in the U.S. that we expect to occur in 2020."