What does a well-known flea & tick collar have in common with the World Cup?

It transpires that the same Bayer MaterialScience technology which is being used by Adidas to make the 'Brazuca' - the new official match ball - more stable, elastic and hardwearing, is also used to allow imidacloprid and flumethrin to diffuse consistently through Seresto flea and tick collars for up to 8 months.

There you go. Bet you didn't know that.

Boehringer Ingelheim has launched Bitesize (www.bi-bitesize.co.uk), an educational website about canine epilepsy for veterinary surgeons.

Boehringer’s Brand Manager Craig Roxburgh said: "We have teamed up with eight neurology experts working in referral centres across the UK. These experts have covered the questions most commonly encountered when managing epilepsy cases in first opinion practice, which we hope will assist vets in their epilepsy case management."

Answers to questions are delivered as short video clips of between one and three minutes, optimised for use on smartphones and tablet devices to make them available in the practice or on the move.

Craig added: "Canine epilepsy can be a complex condition to manage. We hope therefore that when cases present, Bitesize will prove a useful and handy ‘go-to’ resource for vets to access information at the time they need it."

There's a chance to win an iPad if you visit the new site before 29^th February 2016.

Norbrook has launched a new iPhone app designed to give veterinary professionals essential pharmaceutical product information at the touch of a button.

The Norbrook Veterinary Excellence Tool includes information on the company's full range of animal health medicines including pharmaceutical presentation, uses, dosage and administration, withdrawal periods, contraindications & warnings and pharmaceutical precautions.

Mr Jorge Rodrigues, General Manager at Norbrook said: "Norbrook is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers. Time is a precious commodity for veterinary professionals and with the range of products on the market it can be very time-consuming to access essential product information. We have designed the Norbrook VET app to give our customers a quick and easy reference tool for all our products with the facility to filter searches for product information by species, category or brand. And of course the beauty of the iPhone app is that the information is accessible anytime, anywhere so if a customer is out at a client's premises, in their practice or at home, the information is readily available."

The Norbrook VET app also has a facility which will keep users up-to-date with relevant industry and company news and a dedicated Contact Us section which will allow customers better communication channels with the company.

Katie Norton, Web SEO Marketing Co-ordinator said: "It is our intention that the Norbrook VET app will become a key communication channel with our customers. The app will be updated regularly and we will continue to add new features to enhance the service we offer to our valued customers."

The Norbrook VET iPhone App is available to download direct from the iTunes store.

Hot on the heels of the new license claim for Prac-tic comes the news that Novartis has launched new tasty Milbemax for cats.

The new tablet is the same small size as the original, but is beef-flavoured to ensure high palatability. According to Novartis, trials show that 100 per cent of cats accept the treatment with wet food and 83 per cent with dry food.

To help promote worming the palatable way, Novartis is offering practices some tasty marketing tools to use including posters, client leaflets, worming reminder pads and even a sturdy cut-out cat for reception.

Novartis will also be running a ‘Name Our Cat’ competition with the chance to win an iPod touch complete with an educational podcast; there are five to be won. Entry details can be obtained from Novartis Territory Managers.

For more information about new tasty Milbemax, please contact your Novartis Animal Health Territory Manager or call the Practice Support Line on 0800 854100.

The RCVS Mind Matters Initiative and the Veterinary Practice Management Association have launched a series of courses designed to help those in a veterinary practice management role to support colleagues with mental health issues. 

The day-long courses, each running from 9.30-5:00pm, will cover: basic mental health awareness; HR employment regulations and the legal position; the role of the line manager in supporting someone with poor mental health; making reasonable adjustments; planning 'return to work'; and designing and putting in place wellbeing action plans.

The courses will be run by Connecting with People, a social enterprise that develops and delivers high-quality training to employees with healthcare or safeguarding responsibilities. 

Helen Sanderson, former VPMA President and representative on the Mind Matters Initiative Taskforce, said: "If you do one thing this year for your team I strongly recommend it be attending one of these courses. It provided me with invaluable information in recognising stress and depression in a team, as well as giving useful tools and tips on how to discuss and handle situations. I would encourage anyone to attend."

Lizzie Lockett, Director of Mind Matters, added: "It has been wonderful to see the response from the veterinary profession to our mental health awareness training sessions, but we know that managers can face particular challenges in supporting their team's mental health. Meanwhile, line managers play a key role in whether or not someone feels comfortable discussing a mental health issue, goes on to seek help, and, ultimately, returns to the workforce. 

"We therefore designed these courses to provide very practical information for those in managerial positions, covering legal requirements as well as how to implement wellbeing strategies for colleagues."

The courses, which are subsidised by Mind Matters and the VPMA, cost £80 for VPMA members and £120 for non-members.

To book a place, visit the Mind Matters Eventbrite page: www.rcvsmindmatters.eventbrite.com

Less than a quarter of veterinary students starting their degrees in 2009 were male (24%), according to figures released today in RCVS Facts.

This is up slightly from 23% last year, but down from just over 30% in 1999: ten years before that, the gender balance of new students was approximately 50:50. Meanwhile, 53% of UK-practising veterinary surgeons are female.

RCVS Facts is part two of the RCVS Annual Report, and presents a statistical picture of the veterinary and veterinary nursing professions. Other headline facts include a 21% increase in the number of practice premises registered with the College since 1 April 2009, bringing the total on the Register of Veterinary Practice Premises to 4,821; some 766 veterinary nurse students completing their training and becoming eligible to register (an increase of 28% compared with those eligible to register during the previous two-year period) and an increase of nearly 10% in the number of complaints received about veterinary surgeons, to 739.

Figures are also available for:

• New membership admissions and veterinary nurse registrations
• A break-down of the veterinary profession: gender, age, geographic distribution, type of work
• Type of complaints received and the time taken to act upon them
• Disciplinary cases
• Postgraduate qualifications awarded this year
• Financial accounts

The reporting year is 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, and part one of the RCVS Annual Report, RCVS Review, takes a more personal look at the activities of the College during the period, through the eyes of some of those involved. Topics include reviews of Extra-Mural Studies and the Practice Standards Scheme, the modular Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing producing the first diplomates, a focus on mental health and wellbeing, fund-raising for the RCVS Trust and the College's joint work with other authorities to bring justice in cases of fraudulent 'veterinary surgeons'.

Both publications are available online at: www.rcvs.org.uk/review and www.rcvs.org.uk/facts.

CEVA Animal Health has updated its practice support materials to include an all-encompassing D.A.P. client leaflet, a website and a new vet detailer.

The new materials, which also include a D.A.P. and Feliway reference guide containing details of 31 published trials into the practical applications of pheromones, focus on using D.A.P. to prevent stress at key stages of a dog's life. Particular attention is paid to the benefits of fitting a D.A.P. Collar during early puppy consults in order to help prepare dogs for the modern world and helping to prevent anxiety-related problems such as separation anxiety and noise phobia, developing in later life. In addition, the vet brochure will draw practitioners' attention to the times in a dog's life when owners are particularly concerned about their dog becoming stressed including events like trips to boarding kennels.

Lucy Brett, product manager at CEVA Animal Health, said: "Over the last three years eight different trials have been published looking at the use of pheromones to reduce canine stress. The latest data backs up what we have believed for some time - that the management of stress during socialisation is vital if dogs are to grow into emotionally balanced and confident adult dogs.  We now have a much better idea of the impact of allowing puppies to get stressed or overwhelmed during socialisation and the difference providing pheromone support in the form of a D.A.P. Collar can make."

For further details, or for information on CEVA's range of educational resources for veterinary professionals interested in feline and canine behaviour, please contact your CEVA Animal Health representative or call 01494 781510.

Paragon Veterinary Group has become the first winner of the Royal Horticultural Society’s new national Sustainable Gardening Award, for the wellbeing gardens it created at its surgeries in Dalston and Newbiggin.

Paragon’s gardens feature bee and insect hotels, bird feeders, bat boxes and robin hides, plants for pollinators and long grass to suit hedgehogs.

The garden at Dalston has a bog garden and pond.

Children from the local primary school visit to plant trees and scatter wildflower seeds.

Paragon’s most ambitious project is at Newbiggin where, with the help of a grant from Forestry England, it is planting a three-hectare native broadleaf woodland, reinstating hedgerows and incorporating a wildflower meadow.

Gardeners’ World’s Frances Tophill presented the framed certificate and trophy at the Britain in Bloom Awards at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester.

Laura Binnie, small animal vet and sustainability lead at Paragon, said: “When we set out to create wellbeing gardens for our staff to enjoy, and to do it as sustainably as we could, we never thought it would go this far.”

“In the veterinary profession, we’re at that unique intersection where people, planet and animals come together.

“We feel a responsibility to do something for the community, for nature and for our clients and staff, and to lessen our impact on the climate crisis.” 

https://www.paragonvet.com 

Last year saw the highest ever increase in the number of people enrolling as veterinary nursing (VN) students on vocational courses, according to figures released by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

In 2011, some 1,041 students registered with the RCVS to pursue vocational VN qualifications, compared with 809 in 2010 - a 29% increase.

The total number of people enrolling as student veterinary nurses on either vocational or degree courses in 2011 was 1,439, compared with 1,083 the preceding year - an overall increase of a third.

Libby Earle, head of the RCVS VN Department said: "The overall increase could partially be explained by degree students seeking to avoid increased university tuition fees. However, although there is a noticeable increase in enrolments linked to higher educational courses, this does not explain the increase in further education students.

"A more significant factor is likely to be the inception of the Level 3 Diploma, as this can be undertaken as a full-time programme," Libby continued. "As Colleges running such programmes arrange the practical training placements for their students, this opens up opportunities for the considerable number of people who want to become VNs but who are not employed by a training practice. When we introduced the qualification in 2010 we hoped that this would help to increase the number of VN students - so it's great to see this is happening already and with such a marked increase."

Student VN enrolment figures for 2010 and 2011: 

 Defra has published an epidemiology report into the Avian Influenza outbreak confirmed in Oxfordshire on 4 June.
 
The report concludes that, at as of 11th June, the outbreak was confined to a single premises, and there is no evidence of infection in the Protection Zone or of spread to any other premises. However, investigations continue.
 
The report suggests that it is possible that the Highly Pathogenic H7N7 Avian influenza derived from a Low Pathogenic strain already present on the farm. Analysis and investigations are ongoing, and a number of source hypotheses are being considered.
 
Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, said: "The UK is at a constant but low level of risk of the introduction of Avian Influenza, and the report highlights the need for flock owners and poultry vets to remain vigilant for signs of disease, including the possibility of low pathogenic Avian Influenza. I would encourage all keepers to maintain good quality records and practise high standards of biosecurity."
 
The Protection and Surveillance Zones remain in place. Further surveillance, testing and epidemiological work on this outbreak are ongoing.

The report can be viewed here:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/latest-situation/index.htm

New and recent graduates and recently qualified vets have the opportunity to attend a CPD graduate symposium specifically designed to provide practical surgical and management advice and solutions for those embarking on their professional careers.

ProStart course director Colin Whiting BVSc CertSAS MRCVS explained: "We're aiming to fast-track new graduates by sharing experience and helping them through that tricky first year in practice. However, whilst the course has a total of 11 hours CPD, it also has a packed fun and social element including zip wire and surf lessons."

Sponsored by Merial Animal Health, the inaugural ProStart CPD graduate symposium is to be held at Lusty Glaze beach adventure and lecture centre, Newquay, Cornwall, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th October 2008. 

Mr Whiting said: "The event includes a full-on itinerary of lectures and workshops covering aspects of small animal practice including, practice economics, consultation skills, surgical guides for neutering, maximising therapeutic opportunities, and client and staff interactions - with tips from a head nurse. It's also a great opportunity to network with other new graduates.

"The workshops are run by vets experienced in mentoring new graduates in practice, plus full board & lodging and a vibrant social programme including adventure Zip wire, Surf lesson, and entertainment." 

For Merial's Mark Riggs the symposium will help graduates understand the realities of practice environment more quickly. He said: "This course is a neat combination of practical and business skills. Not only will graduates have the chance to sharpen their neutering techniques but advice will be on hand relating to practice finances, client handling and staff management. Delegates will be encouraged to contribute within workshops tackling thorny issues from general practice, before it's wetsuits on and a surf lesson."

Mr Whiting, a referral surgeon and clinical director based at Penmellyn Vet Group in Cornwall has publications and CPD presentations which focus on surgical and practice management topics, and include Surgical Mentoring of Junior Colleagues for In Practice.

"We have a very experienced lecture team, members of which have worked extensively supporting graduates and junior colleagues. Bearing in mind that CPD has to be affordable for practice owners, thanks to our sponsors, Merial, we're able to provide an entire weekend course, including accommodation, for £240+VAT. The venue's proximity to Newquay airport provides easy accessibility for delegates nation-wide and is a fantastic venue for adventure challenges, surfing and various beach activities."

Other members of the ProStart team include Ian Stroud BVSc MRCVS a Medivet partner and new graduate supervisor, and Gareth Cross BVSc, MRCVS who recently lectured to BSAVA congress. Their focus will be promoting safe clinical excellence; illustrating the finances behind a small animal practice; and how graduates can add to a practice in these areas.

If you would like more information on the course or would like to book a place please contact Beverley Archer; beverly.archer@merial.com, or contact your local Merial Territory Manager.

5m Books has announced the publication of Honeybee Veterinary Medicine: Apis Mellifera L. by Nicolas Vidal-Naquet, a new book written to help veterinary surgeons and veterinary students better understand how to preserve honeybees as part of a delicate ecosystem.

Honeybee Veterinary Medicine provides an overview of bee biology, the bee in the wider environment, bee diseases and parasites, veterinary treatment, and actions to help support honeybee health.

Honeybees are an essential part of farming and the wider ecosystem, but since the mid-1990s, bee populations around the world have suffered a dramatic decline through a combination of diseases, intoxication, and unknown causes.

5m says that with the depopulation trend continuing, it’s becoming more and more necessary for veterinary surgeons and qualified animal health professionals to become involved in supporting the ecosystem. 

Author Nicolas Vidal-Naquet is a veterinary practitioner who graduated in apiculture and Honeybee medicine, and also lectures on honeybee biology and diseases at the Veterinary School of Alfort in France.

Nicolas’ great interest in honeybees was the driving force behind the book, but he is also concerned by the general loss of bees from the ecosystem. He said: "They have a very important role in the pollination of wild flora, crops and orchards, which means they are key actors in sustaining biodiversity and the pollination of crops to feed both humans and animals."

Honeybee Veterinary Medicine is available now in hardback for £60 from http://www.5mbooks.com/honeybee-veterinary-medicine.html