Congratulations to Merial for a creative initiative to celebrate the 25th birthday of Eqvalan®.

The company made a much needed donation towards the upkeep of the Pewsey White Horse in return for being able to use it as part of Eqvalan's birthday celebration publicity programme for 2008.

The money will be used to restore the protective fencing around the ancient landmark, near Marlborough in Wiltshire.

Merial's Claire Parry- Baggott explains: "There are a number of white horse sites across the UK, many of which are extremely popular visitor destinations. To keep these sites open to the public requires year-round maintenance, often from a small army of volunteers.

"Horse owners have been using Eqvalan to help protect their trusty companions for 25 years, and this initiative will help provide protection of a different kind!

"The idea sprang from the current Eqvalan advertising campaign which celebrates 25 years of worming protection. The result is a fantastic 100 feet replica of our Eqvalan birthday horse, and brand new fencing for the Pewsey White Horse!

"We were delighted to help the Pewsey Council raise funds to preserve the site and hopefully this money will enable the horse to be enjoyed by many for years to come," concludes Claire.

A new US colic study, published in Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), in partnership with the American Association of Equine Practitioners, has identified various risk factors, including delayed faecal output and increasing blood lactate, associated with post-anaesthetic colic.

The study Risk factors associated with gastrointestinal dysfunction in horses undergoing elective procedures under general anaesthesia was conducted by surgeons based at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University, USA.

The authors say that the research should enable vets to implement preventative measures to help reduce incidences of colic in the future.

Gastrointestinal pain has been estimated to occur in 2.8-6% of horses following general anaesthesia for elective procedures, the most common cause being impaction of the large intestine or caecum. 

The medical records of 416 horses undergoing general anaesthesia were collected over a two-year period and the potential risk factors were examined. 8.7% of horses were diagnosed with gastrointestinal dysfunction - higher than previous estimates probably because the study included horses requiring treatment for decreased faecal output whereas previous studies did not. Potential risk factors were assessed, including faecal output, which was decreased in 38.9% of cases, blood lactate, position during surgery, rectal temperature and breed of horse.

The results showed that Arabian horses, increasing blood lactate, right lateral recumbency, decreased rectal temperature post-procedure and delayed passage of faeces were significantly associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal dysfunction.

Diana Hassel, who instigated the study, said: "These findings should help the clinician identify higher risk horses and be proactive about their management in the post-anaesthetic period.

"This may include pre-emptive nasogastric intubation and administration of mineral oil and/or water and electrolytes. Although core temperature control in horses is difficult to achieve in adult horses during surgery, further research into this field may prove beneficial."

Professor Celia Marr, Editor of the Equine Veterinary Journal said: "This study brings obvious and immediate practical benefits for clinicians and the horses under their care. Rigorous monitoring of higher risk surgical cases should lead to a reduction in incidences of post-operative colic, making recovery procedures less difficult and outcomes more favourable."

A cat which was lost eight years ago has been reunited with his owner thanks to the RSPCA, and the fact that the animal had been chipped.

'Bigga' went missing at the end of 2002 from his home in High Wycombe. His owner Lorna Fothergill launched a desperate search to find him. She offered a reward, knocked on doors and put up of posters in the hope that someone would recognise him and bring him home. But after weeks of looking she thought all was lost, and gave up the search. She eventually moved away from the area.

Last month however, Bigga was picked up by RSPCA animal welfare officer Julie Britnell. It is believed he had been living feral for some while. His coat was extremely matted, and he looked as though he had been in a few scrapes along the way, but he was well-fed and in good spirits. Thanks to the fact Mrs Fothergill had him microchipped all those years ago, and some dedicated detective work by the RSPCA, Bigga has now been reunited with his long lost family.

Mrs Fothergill, 40, who is a new business director and singer in the band Northsyde, said: "We just couldn't believe it when we got the call from the RSPCA to say they had found our cat. It's unbelievable and I was just astonished and so relieved that I had him micro--chipped all those years ago. We just can't thank the RSPCA enough for how they have managed to reunite us with Bigga, it's so wonderful."

Is this a record? Do you know of any pets that have been lost for longer, and reunited thanks to a microchip? Comment below.

New research¹ published in in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery by veterinary clinicians at the University of Lisbon and a clinic in the nearby town of Barreiro in Portugal, suggests that cats may benefit from reduced anxiety, stress and perceived pain if music is played in the operating theatre.

Lead author, Miguel Carreira, said: "In the surgical theatres at the faculty where I teach and at the private veterinary medical centre where I spend my time operating, environmental music is always present, and is an important element in promoting a sense of wellbeing in the team, the animals, and their owners. Different music genres affect individuals in different ways. During consultations I have noticed, for example, that most cats like classical music, particularly George Handel compositions, and become more calm, confident and tolerant throughout the clinical evaluation. After reading about the influence of music on physiological parameters in humans, I decided to design a study protocol to investigate whether music could have any physiological effects on my surgical patients."

The clinicians studied 12 female pet cats undergoing surgery for neutering, and recorded their respiratory rate and pupil diameter at various points to gauge their depth of anaesthesia. The cats, which had been fitted with headphones, were meanwhile exposed to 2 minutes of silence (as a control), followed randomly by 2 minutes each of Barber’s 'Adagio for Strings (Opus 11)', Natalie Imbruglia’s 'Thorn' and AC/DC’s 'Thunderstruck'.

The results showed that the cats were in a more relaxed state (as determined by their lower values for respiratory rate and pupil diameter) under the influence of classical music, with the pop music producing intermediate values. By contrast, the heavy metal music produced the highest values, indicating 'a more stressful situation'. The clinicians conclude that the use of certain music genres in the surgical theatre may allow a decrease in the dose of anaesthetic agent required, in turn reducing the risk of undesirable side effects and thus promoting patient safety. 

Dr Carreira and his colleagues plan to continue their studies by looking at the influence of music on other physiological parameters, including cortisol and catecholamines, in dogs as well as cats. In the future, they hope to incorporate more sophisticated techniques, such as functional MRI and electroencephalography, into their investigations. 

The study can be read for free here: http://jfm.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/03/30/1098612X15575778.full.pdf+html

Reference

1. Mira F, Costa A, Mendes E, Azevedo P and Carreira LM. Influence of music and its genres on respiratory rate and pupil diameter variations in cats under general anaesthesia: contribution to promoting patient safety.  J Feline Med Surg. Epub ahead of print 30 March 2015. DOI: 10.1177/1098612X15575778

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has called for comment on a new draft health protocol which aims to deal compassionately with veterinary surgeons who have health problems, such as alcohol or drug addiction or mental health issues, while continuing to protect the public interest.

According to independent legal advice sought by the College, such an approach is appropriate and necessary in order for the RCVS to fulfil its regulatory responsibilities - similar systems exist within other regulators.

RCVS President Peter Jinman said: "At present, where veterinary surgeons suffer from health problems that affect their fitness to practise, they may be referred to a formal and public Disciplinary Committee inquiry and stopped from practising. But it is recognised that this is not always in the public interest, which could be protected by a more compassionate approach, involving medical help, workplace supervision and continued practice, subject to conditions."

As a result, the draft Protocol has been developed by the RCVS Preliminary Investigation and Advisory Committees. It formalises and builds on steps taken by the Preliminary Investigation Committee in the past to help veterinary surgeons to recover from health problems affecting fitness to practise, without referral to the RCVS Disciplinary Committee. Often those veterinary surgeons are also receiving help from the Veterinary Benevolent Fund's Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme.

The Protocol encourages anyone coming into contact with veterinary surgeons - including other veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, members of practice staff, clients and healthcare professionals - who have concerns about a veterinary surgeon's health to report those concerns to the RCVS as soon as is reasonably practicable. Veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who are concerned about the health of a veterinary surgeon must also take steps to ensure that animals are not put at risk and that the interests of the public, including those of their colleagues, are protected.

A similar protocol would be introduced for Registered Veterinary Nurses when the equivalent disciplinary system comes into force next year.

The draft protocol, together with recommended changes to the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct to support the change, is available online (www.rcvs.org.uk/healthprotocol) and comments are requested by 8 October 2010. The comments will be considered by Advisory Committee and then RCVS Council.

 Comments should be sent to Simon Wiklund, Advisory Manager, on s.wiklund@rcvs.org.uk. A hard copy of the consultation document is available on request.

Intervet has announced that its bluetongue vaccine, Bovilis® BTV8 has been granted a licence by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). The licence, which is the first for a bluetongue vaccine in the UK, sets out dose rates and treatment regimes for the product use.

The recommended dose rates for animal over one month of age are as follows:

Sheep – 1 x 1ml, injected subcutaneously.

Cattle - 2 x 1ml, approximately three weeks apart, injected subcutaneously.

In successive years, re-vaccination should be given two weeks prior to the risk period.

Treated animals should have protective immunity three weeks after the initial course. Bovilis BTV8 should only be administered to healthy animals. Treated stock may have a slight swelling at the site of injection.

The vaccine must be stored at between 2ºC – 8ºC and, once opened, should be used within eight hours. The vaccine is available in 20ml and 50ml bottles. The licence recommends the use of multi injection vaccination systems.

Intervet will be supplying a discounted 1ml vaccination gun into the market.

The BVA has announced the results of a survey which found that 64% of small animal veterinary surgeons have been injured in the line of duty in the past year alone.

By far the most common injuries were scratches and bites (90% and 78% respectively), however 17% rated their injuries as either 'quite' or 'very' severe.

Whilst small animal vets were shown to be at the greatest risk of injury in clinical practice (compared to 61% of equine vets and 53% of production animal vets), the injuries sustained by production and equine vets were predictably more severe. 19% of production vets and 27% of equine vets rated their injuries as either 'quite' or 'very' severe.

BVA President John Blackwell said: Vets accept the daily risk of injury at work, but these figures highlight just how common injuries are for vets who care for pets. Rather than simply accepting this as an ‘occupational hazard’, veterinary teams should ensure they are taking all appropriate measures to mitigate the risks of working with animals whenever possible. BVA provides guidance for vets, for example on preventing and dealing with dog bites in the practice."

Janssen Animal Health is advising vets to be on the look out for coccidiosis as the spring lambing season approaches: cases usually rise in March and peak in April and May.

According to the company, some reports also suggest that the incidence of coccidiosis in calves may apparently increase during the grazing months. However, vets are reporting that interpretation of laboratory tests used to confirm diagnosis, such as oocyst count, can be problematic due to the ubiquitous nature of the Eimeria parasite in the UK.

Young animals may be infected by oocysts shed by asymptomatic carriers or infected older cohort animals. Low levels of challenge can help young animals develop immunity but exposure to high oocyst numbers, particularly in combination with stress can lead to clinical and subclinical forms of the disease. Diagnosis can be problematic, particularly in subclinical cases of disease where failure to gain weight is the main presenting sign and in clinical cases the differential diagnoses include all causes of scour in young animals.

Janssen Animal Health has suggested a few indicators that may be useful in identifying cases of coccidiosis. The Vecoxan Coccidiosis Survey in 2008 and 2009 asked farmers about their experiences of coccidiosis and identified that bad weather was a major trigger particularly in lambs; while castration and weaning were also factors in calves. As the parasite life cycle is 21 days, vets should be alert to disease 2-3 weeks after a stressor event.

The company has also suggested a few guidelines to aid interpretation of laboratory results:

• Identification of pathogenic Eimeria species can be suggestive but does not provide conclusive evidence of a causative effect.
• Speciation of Eimeria is useful (not easy in lambs) as there are several non-pathogenic strains which can give high counts without clinical effect
• The number of oocysts will not always correlate with clinical signs
• Low levels of oocysts in faeces are less likely to be significant but some animals can die even while excreting at a low level because shedding occurs after the gut damage has already occurred.
• There is extensive replication and multiplication through the parasite lifecycle - susceptible infected animals will usually shed millions or even billions of oocysts.
• Adult animals that are infected but immune tend to excrete oocysts at a regular low level.
• A pooled sample from at least 10 lambs or calves may give a better indication of the level of infection.
• The history of the farm, the individual patient and the presence of risk factors should be taken into account when interpreting results.

Janssen says Vecoxan (diclazuril) does not interfere with the development of immunity and kills all stages of the parasite in the host.

The BVA is calling on Defra and the APHA to take an innovative approach to capturing farm animal post-mortem data, after its Voice of the Veterinary Profession survey found that 90% of production animal vets now conduct their own PMs.

In 2014, there was a 31% increase in production animal vets carrying out their own PMs following post mortem laboratory closures, yet most vets keep this PM data at their practice, with less than 5% inputting it into a national system such as NADIS, AHT or APHA and less than 1% to a benchmarking group.  

Sean Wensley BVA President said: "We have heard a lot about big data and its positive uses economically and socially. Disease surveillance could be a shining example of where big data and innovative data capture comes into its own. In a global world, where diseases such as Schmallenberg and bluetongue can emerge in our livestock without having previously been seen on these shores, being able to quickly join up the dots of disparate disease data is vital. 

"We understand that Defra and APHA must make difficult choices due to economic pressures and we very much welcome research already utilising post mortem data such as the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s Fallen Stock Project. What we now need is clear communications and guidance on carcase collection and access to PM examination arrangements together with a determination to see this as an opportunity to innovate, exploring how digital technology can help vets in the field record and capture data that feed into national databases and help us to see the bigger picture."

BVA is asking that all vets affected by laboratory closures are clearly informed about alternative arrangements for carcase collection and PMs, with 63% of vets affected by laboratory closures reporting that carcase collection in their local area was not working well. 

BVA is calling on government and industry to lead in developing new and cost efficient ways to capture and analyse disease and surveillance data, drawing on innovations in digital technology and big data analysis.

Photograph courtesy BVA

Bayer Animal Health reports that sales of Drontal have achieved double digit growth following the company's recent advertising campaign. 

The company says its marketing push has been so successful that 83% of cat and dog owners now name Drontal ahead of any other wormer.

Apparently, vet practice waiting room posters are most commonly the way pet owners learn about Drontal, while approximately half of those regularly tuning in to the popular TV series The Dog Whisperer and GMTV were aware of Drontal's sponsorship of the programmes.

Dan White, Drontal's product manager said: "Bayer has invested heavily in advertising Drontal direct to pet owners effectively driving them into veterinary practice and producing accompanying practice support materials such as waiting room posters and wormer reminder cards which have really paid off. Three-quarters of pet owners surveyed stated they last purchased their wormer from their veterinary practice," comments.

"We will continue to support veterinary practices through advertising and sponsorship initiatives to help raise awareness of the importance of regularly worming pets with Drontal and boost sales further."

For further information or to order more Drontal practice support materials, please contact your local Bayer territory manager.