The RCVS is reminding veterinary surgeons and nurses that there is one week left till the deadline for nominations for the 2012 RCVS and RCVS VN Council elections.

Nominations must be made in writing on the prescribed form and received by the RCVS on or before 31 January 2012.

Prospective candidates need to provide the signatures and registered/listed addresses of two proposers, and should also submit a short biography, manifesto and photograph for inclusion in the RCVS News Extra election specials.

Nobody may nominate more than one candidate, and no current member of the RCVS Council or VN Council may make a nomination.

Full details and guidance notes for both elections are available online from the RCVS Council Election page (www.rcvs.org.uk/rcvscouncil12) and VN Council Election page (www.rcvs.org.uk/vncouncil12).

Nomination forms and candidate information forms for RCVS Council may also be requested from Mrs Gabriella Braun (020 7202 0761 or executiveoffice@rcvs.org.uk) and those for VN Council from Mrs Annette Amato (020 7202 0713 or a.amato@rcvs.org.uk).

Six seats on RCVS Council and two on VN Council are due to be filled in the 2012 elections.

Those elected will take their seats on RCVS Day in July, to serve four-year terms, and will be expected to spend at least six to eight days a year attending Council meetings, working parties and subcommittees (a loss-of-earnings allowance is available).

Longbridge-based Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital is to host its first CPD event: a day focusing on the liver, on Wednesday 13th September 2023 at Herbert's Yard.

The sessions will be delivered by Andrew Kent, clinical director at Blaise and a small animal internal medicine specialist, Lara Dempsey, head of soft tissue surgery, Jacques Ferrerira, head of anaesthesia, Mike Farrell, head of orthopaedic surgery, and neurology clinician, Emma Suiter (pictured).

The talks will cover:

• Diagnostic approach to liver disease (including liver biopsies)
• Gall bladder mucocoeles
• How should we help pet owners understand complex problems?
• Pain management in patients with liver disease (and other chronic diseases)
• Metabolic causes of seizures
• Portosystemic shunts - the medic, the surgeon, the anaesthetist and the neurologist
• The orthopaedic surgeon’s approach to liver disease.

Client communication will also be covered, together with some orthopaedics for those with an interest in that area.

Andy said: “We’re building an incredible team at Blaise and are very excited at the prospect of sharing the specialist knowledge that our clinicians have with our wider veterinary community.

"Treating liver conditions can be incredibly complex and our educational programme presents an unrivalled opportunity to deep dive into this part of an animal’s body and how best to approach it.”

Tickets are available for £48 from https://www.ivcevidensiareferrals.com/Delivering-the-Best, with all profits going to the charity StreetVet.

Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge is IVC’s first purpose-built pet hospital and will be open to accept referral patients from November 2023.

www.blaise-referrals.com

http://herbertsyard.com 

Genitrix has announced the reformulation of Cerusolve, which cleans and deodorises the external ear canal of cats and dogs. 

According to the company, the reformulation has enhanced Cerusolve's exfoliant and keratolyic properties and has given it a new fresh fragrance. Cerusolve ingredients now include:

• Tea Tree Essential Oil - a product with documented antibacterial properties.
• Aloe vera gel - a product documented for having hydrating, emollient and antipruritic properties
• Origanum - an essential oil documented for its anti-infectious, bactericide, paracitide and fungicide effects.

Cerusolve is presented in a 100 ml bottle with a soft canula for application.  It is priced at £5.65.

Genitrix Marketing Director Rob Watkins said:  "Cerusolve has proved itself in practice as a gentle but effective ear cleaner in dogs and cats. The reformulation has given us the opportunity to increase the acidity of the product following a recent study which suggested that topical acidifying products could be therapeutically beneficial for cutaneous yeast infections.

"We believe the new ingredients will enhance the product and, to celebrate its arrival, we're offering practices the opportunity to buy five bottles of Cerusolve and get one free."

Further details are available from Genitrix on 01403 786345.

Elanco Companion Animal Health, maker of Comfortis and Trifexis, has launched Common parasites of dogs, a new publication designed to help veterinary professionals advising clients about the benefits of regular parasite control.

Focusing on endoparasites, the booklet includes information about roundworm (Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonine), hookworm (Ancylostoma caninum), whipworm (Trichuris vulpis), heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis), lungworm (Angiostrongylus vasorum), tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum) and fleas (Ctenocephalides spp.).  It includes details on the lifecycle of the parasites, how they develop, symptoms and sources of infection, whether the parasites are a risk to pets and humans and illustrations to explain their lifecycle and show what each of the parasites looks like.

Common parasites of dogs is available in two formats: a 'tablet friendly' electronic version and a booklet consisting of individual cards on a metal snap ring.

Matthew Rowe, senior brand manager at Elanco Companion Animal Health, said: "Pet owners often get confused by the different parasites that can be picked up by their dogs. The new common parasites of dogs education tool will help veterinary professionals advise their clients about parasites and the benefits of routine worming and flea treatments."

For a copy of Common parasites of dogs electronically or as a booklet, contact your Elanco Companion Animal Health key account manager or email elancoCAH.uk@elanco.com.

The National Office of Animal Health Code of Practice Committee has found MSD Animal Health in breach of the NOAH Code on promotion for its advertisment for Equilis Prequenza.

The advert appeared in three separate issues of Veterinary Times (15, 22 and 29 September 2014), on the rear back cover of the 2014 BEVA Congress proceedings, and on the inside back cover of the 2014 Congress Planner.  It contained the phrase “Neuraminidase antibodies provided a degree of protection in the case of HA strain/vaccine mismatch”, when viewed against the context of the advertisement headed ‘Why have part when you can have it all?”.

The Committee’s view was that the item in the context of the advertisement was intended to mean, and did convey, the meaning that the inclusion of NA antigens in an equine vaccine gave that vaccine a clinical advantage over vaccines which did not. This claim was not substantiated. Accordingly, the Committee found the phrase in breach of Code of Practice Clauses 4.1(iii) misleading, 4.1(vi) contained an exaggerated claim, 4.1(vii) implied it had a special merit which was not substantiated, 4.2(i) was not accurate and 4.2(ii) was not based upon an up-to-date evaluation of all the evidence.

Full details of the Committee’s rulings can be found on the NOAH website at www.noah.co.uk/code. The full report of this particular case will be available shortly.

Spillers has announced that its Equine Clinical Nutrition Specialist, Pat Harris MA, PhD, VetMB, DipECVCN, MRCVS & RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Nutrition (Equine), will be continuing to share her knowledge and expertise with equine vets around the world this year, through a series of CPD courses, book publications and discussions on equine nutrition.

Pat is the head of the Equine Studies Group at Waltham Petcare Science Institute and an internationally renowned authority on equine nutrition from both veterinary and academic perspective. 

Her courses, book publications and webinars are aimed at providing practising equine vets with the latest knowledge and essential know-how on equine nutrition, whether for performance horses, leisure animals or the retired family pony.

Earlier this month Pat was one of several speakers at the British Equine Veterinary Association’s CPD course: From superfoods to supplements: How to know more than the owner. 

Earlier this year she co-edited and co-authored two chapters of Veterinary Clinics Equine Practice: Nutrition: 1) What would be good for all veterinarians to know about equine nutrition, and 2) Nutritional considerations when dealing with an obese adult equine.  

Next month she will chair a panel discussion titled Nutritional Management of the Competitive Equine Athlete for Vets through VetPD.

In the autumn she will be one of several speakers at the Mars Equestrian Equine Veterinary Continuing Education Series focusing on senior, obese and laminitic horses.

For more information, visit: www.spillers-feeds.com

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."

Vet Futures has published the results of a survey of the profession in which only half of veterinary surgeons who graduated within the last eight years say their career has matched their expectations.

The online survey gathered views from 892 veterinary students (via the Association of Veterinary Students) and 1,973 veterinary surgeons who had graduated within the last eight years, during May and June this year.

Although 37% of graduates reported that their working lives had met their expectations, and a further 13% said it had exceeded them, this left 50% partly or wholly unsatisfied. Furthermore, 10% said they were considering leaving the profession entirely.

The RCVS and the BVA say the results should be a “wakeup call” to the profession.

Vets who have been qualified for five years or more were least optimistic about the future, rating their opportunities for career progression less positively than more recent graduates. They were also least likely to feel that their degree had prepared them for their current work. Meanwhile, only 34% of students felt that their degree was preparing them ‘very well’ for the work they wanted to do.

73% of students intended to work in the UK, with most aspiring to work in small animal/exotic or mixed practice, although one in 10 was as yet undecided. Of the students, 45% said they wanted to become practice owners or partners. Clearly the reality is proving less enticing, because only 25% graduates shared the same aspiration. In addition, nearly double the number of graduates said they wanted to work outside clinical practice (18%), compared to students.

When looking for a job, the three factors that both graduates and students agreed would have the greatest influence on their choice of career were intellectual satisfaction, location and a supportive environment.

This last requirement chimes with the fact that among the most popular suggestions for improvement to the veterinary degree were compulsory modules on managing stress, personal development and work-life balance, alongside more teaching of business and finance skills, and extra-mural studies (EMS) placements in a wider range of settings, such as industry.

BVA President, John Blackwell, said: “The drop off in career satisfaction for vets during this crucial first eight years in practice is something we can’t afford to ignore. It points to frustration over career development opportunities and dissatisfaction with support available in practice. For the veterinary profession to remain sustainable, and an attractive career choice for the best and brightest, we need to address these issues with some urgency.”

RCVS President, Dr Bradley Viner, said: “We clearly need to address the disconnect between expectation and reality for many recent graduates. Reviewing the educational foundation of the profession is a thread that runs through many of the proposed actions that will be outlined in the Vet Futures report due this autumn. The teaching and assessment of non-clinical skills – both as part of the undergraduate curriculum and within postgraduate education – will be important, as will be the promotion of non-clinical career pathways.”

The survey also covered issues such as students’ aspirations in terms of the type (size, ownership, sector) of practice in which they would like to work, and graduates’ future career plans. It also considers attitudes from both groups with respect to new technology.

The full research report “Voices from the future of the profession,” can be read at www.vetfutures.org.uk/resources. 

A new study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP), found that ultrasound-guided fine-needle cytological biopsies (FNCB) of gastrointestinal masses provided a clinically useful sample in two thirds of cases, particularly when more slides were provided to the cytologist and thicker lesions were sampled.

“Assessment of the clinical usefulness of ultrasound-guided cytological specimens obtained from gastrointestinal lesions in dogs and cats” retrospectively reviewed GI cytological samples obtained by ultrasound-guided FNCB of 25 dogs and 19 cats from a single institution between February 2014 to August 2016.

The aim of the study was to assess factors that may influence the clinical usefulness of submitted cytological samples collected from gastrointestinal lesions by ultrasound-guided percutaneous FNCB. Ultrasound-guided FNCB included a combination of FNI (non-aspiration) and FNA techniques, as the specific technique could not be determined retrospectively.

Clinical records were evaluated to obtain historical data, clinical findings, diagnostic results and patient outcomes. Clinically useful samples were defined as smears with sufficient cell yield and preservation to allow at least a tentative cytological diagnosis of the lesion character or pathological process.

Factors that may have influenced the retrieval of a clinically useful sample were assessed and included lesion location, sonographic lesion thickness, loss of or alteration to intestinal layer conspicuity on ultrasound, and the number of slides submitted to the cytologists. The thickness of lesions was further categorised as either a mass (≥20 mm thickness) or a thickening (<20mm).

Zoetis, formerly Pfizer Animal Health, has launched Flexi4, a nutritional supplement for horses containing a patented combination of natural plant extracts designed to help maintain joint flexibility and the management of joint pain.

Flexi4 contains a blend of four plant extracts, Curcumin, Yucca schidigera, Salix alba and Boswellia serrata, which the company says have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic and analgesic properties as follows:

• Curcumin, an extract from the roots of the herb Curcuma longa, has been shown to down-regulate inflammatory pathways and inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines.¹ It has also been shown to reduce the release of GAGs from the cartilage matrix.²
• Yucca schidigera is a botanical extract containing saponins that suppress the intestinal protozoa, which are thought to have a role in joint inflammation in some circumstances.³ The extract also contains antioxidant polyphenols, which inhibit the enzymes of the arachidonic acid cascade, thereby reducing the production of inflammatory mediators.⁴
• Salix alba is an extract of white willow bark containing salicin, polyphenols and flavonoids. These are reported to have a positive effect on chrondrocyte viability, differentiation and function⁵ as well as anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic and analgesic properties.⁶
• Boswellia serrata is the botanical extract of gum resin. Its role is to inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators which initiate the inflammatory process⁷ and produce anti-inflammatory activity at sites of chronic inflammation.⁸

Mary King, Olympic three day eventing team silver medallist, said: "When performing at the highest level it's important that my horses' joints remain flexible and free of pain. Using Flexi4 has made them more resilient to aches and pains during intense training and I am confident when competing that my horses are feeling the benefit of this natural product, helping them to perform at their very best."

Flexi4 is an apple-flavoured gel that is fed as a once daily supplement. It doesn't contain any substances listed as prohibited by the FEI.* For more information, contact your Zoetis Account Manager, call 0845 300 8034 or email customersupportuk@zoetis.com.

References

1. Jurenka JS, AlternMed Rev. 2009 Jun.
2. Clutterbuck 2009.
   
3. Cheeke et al. Journal of Inflammation 2006.
   
4. Wenzig et al. Agric Food Chem. 2008.
   
5. Shakibaei 2012 Evidence-based Complementary and alternative Medicine volume 2012, article ID 509383.
6. Nahrstedt et al. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2007.
   
7. Gayathri et al. Int Immunopharmacol. 2007 Apr.
8. Siddiqui, Indian J Pharm Sci. 2011 May-Jun.

*FEI prohibited substance list, 2013

The RCVS is advising all practices that it is not currently carrying out a data-gathering exercise and that phone calls prompting the return of a survey, and requesting mobile phone numbers, are not being made on behalf of the College.

The warning comes after several practices have called the College to query 'feedback forms' - supposedly issued in relation to the Practice Standards Scheme or the payment of members' retention fees.

The practices were asked to return forms which they had not received, and also to provide mobile phone numbers, by someone who claimed to work for the 'statutory regulator' or 'the RCVS'. Contact phone numbers left by the caller were either RCVS fax numbers or numbers which looked like RCVS direct dial numbers, but were not. 

Lizzie Lockett, Head of Communications, said: "This looks like an exercise to gain mobile phone numbers which is being carried out in the College's name. We are currently investigating who might be making these calls. In the meantime, if a practice receives such a call, it would be helpful if they could take down a name and contact number and let us know." 

Ring 020 7202 0725 or email l.lockett@rcvs.org.uk to report any suspicious activity.

Kruuse UK has announced that it will be launching its new Android telemetric ECG system at BEVA 2011.

The original Televet 100 supports transmission of ECG data to a range of approx 100m (330ft), allowing recording and displaying of real time data only within a confined lunging or riding arena. By linking this system to a mobile network via 3G Android phone and a Windows 7 based tablet PC, the new Televet system overcomes this range limitation.

The new system requires the rider/horse to carry a 3G mobile phone which transmits data over the mobile internet, allowing the veterinary surgeon to display and record real time data on any PC/laptop with internet access or mobile internet connection. This also includes GPS information collected by the phone allowing the ECG, heart rate and velocity of the horse to be displayed in parallel.

The Android Telemetric ECG system is specifically targeted towards veterinary applications in the field of sports horses where extended range is particularly useful, such as endurance riding, three day eventing and racing.

Televet software can now also be integrated in Dicom infrastructures in practice for data capture and recording.

Sarah Stokes, Kruuse Equine Territory Manager said: "the flexibility and simplicity of the system along with immediate access to ECG data of patients will be an invaluable diagnostic tool for UK vets allowing vital support for patients and owners wherever they are."

Visitors to the Kruuse stand at BEVA 2011 will also have the chance to win an Acer ICONI W500 tablet worth £500.