Animalcare has published new feline hyperthyroidism educational materials for veterinary surgeons developed in partnership with RCVS Feline Specialist, Sarah Caney.

The materials include a 15-minute video in which Sarah (pictured right) gives her advice on the medical management of hyperthyroid cases. She also introduces Thiamacare, Animalcare's high strength (10mg/ml) thiamazole oral solution, launched by the company last year.

Sarah has also helped to produce an in-clinic infographic which offers practical tips on handling hyperthyroid cats in order to minimise stress, as low-stress handling is known to help benefit treatment outcomes. The infographic also contains tips for owners on transporting cats, gives advice to practices on how to make waiting rooms and consult rooms cat-friendly and suggests considerations for blood-sampling and therapeutic assistance.

The materials are all available free of charge from www.the-pac.co.uk

James Beaumont, Brand Manager, said: ‘’Hyperthyroid cats can be challenging to treat and to handle. We hope the educational resources we have developed with Dr Caney will support practice teams in strengthening the management of these cases, ensuring higher welfare for affected cats and supporting the human-companion animal bond.”

For more information, email: animalcare@animalcare.co.uk or telephone 01904 487687.

With the veterinary sector gearing up to face the challenges and opportunities posed by Brexit, Improve International has announced that this year's Official Veterinarian Conference will lead on 'Safeguarding international trade through disease control and surveillance', with workshops on exports being a key feature of the event.

The theme of Congress has been chosen to reflect the increasing importance of OVs in safeguarding the UK’s international trade and in protecting human health through disease surveillance and control.

Keynote speakers at this year’s event, which is organised association with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), include Professor Nigel Gibbens CBE, the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer; Dr Ryan Waters from The Pirbright Institute in Surrey and Dr Ian Wright, Head of ESCCAP UK & Guideline Director for ESCCAP Europe. It takes place at Alexandra House in Swindon on 21-22 September 2017.  

Professor Gibbens said: "UK vets play a range of critical roles, protecting our country from endemic and exotic diseases, leading the frontline response to global challenges, such as antibiotic resistance, and safeguarding our animals to ensure our welfare standards remain the best in the world.

"I look forward to joining our OVs to celebrate this essential work and to explore the themes of this year’s conference - disease control and surveillance - which recognise the importance of vets to international trade and their contribution to our thriving food and farming industry."

David Babington MRCVS, Managing Director of Improve International, added: "This year’s OV Conference will, as usual, feature dedicated lecture streams aimed at large animal, small animal and equine practitioners. We hope the new workshops on the more specialist Official Controls Qualifications (Veterinarian), including those relating to the export of poultry (OCQ(V) AX); the export of food and animal by-products (OCQ(V) PX) and the export of germinal products (OCQ(V) GX), will prove a useful addition to our delegates."

For more information on the Official Veterinarian Conference and Exhibition or to register visit: www.officialvet.com

The BSAVA has published a new factsheet about laparoscopic spaying for pet owners.

BSAVA’s client information leaflets are designed to be used as part of the veterinary consultation and provide information to help owners understand what is involved in a procedure or examination, including the reasons for it, the preparation required, any associated risks and what happens during and after the procedure.

They are available in a PDF format which can be printed and stamped with the veterinary practice details or emailed to clients.

Elise Robertson, ABVS American Board-Certified Diplomate Feline Practice and author of the endoscopic Client Information Leaflets, said: ‘The client information leaflets were created due to the need for accurate and reliable information from reputable sources." 

BSAVA’s Head of Publishing, Ian Mellor, said: "This new factsheet brings our total number of client leaflets to 178. Our client leaflets have been downloaded more than 10,000 times in the past year and are an important part of our drive to improve the health and welfare of small animals by providing practical resources to the veterinary profession.’

The new leaflet is available via the BSAVA Library (https://www.bsavalibrary.com/content/cilgroupprocedures).

Access to the entire range of client information leaflets (including canine and feline behaviour, exotic pets and medicines) is available for an annual subscription of £40; BSAVA members have access to these leaflets as one of their membership benefits. 

BSAVA welcomes suggestions for new topics to cover in its client information leaflets. 

Send your ideas to publications@bsava.com.

Ceva Animal Health, the manufacturer of Cevac Chlamydia, has launched an interactive map to help demonstrate to farmers that Enzootic Abortion of Ewes (EAE) is a real threat and encourage them to discuss vaccination with their veterinary surgeon.

The interactive map, which has been launched as part of Ceva’s ‘For Flock’s Sake – Vaccinate!’ awareness campaign, uses data from the company’s on-farm testing for Chlamydophila abortus, the bacterium that causes EAE.

Ceva says the map shows that the disease is present across the UK, although cases may well be much higher than shown, as the map is only based on farms that the company has tested positive for the bacterium.

Positive EAE cases on farms are recorded by county on the map, so farmers can check for EAE in their area. 

The map, available at www.eaemap.co.uk, will be updated regularly as new farms test positive for EAE.

Stephenie Clarke, product manager at Ceva Animal Health, said: "Our new EAE interactive map will be updated on an ongoing basis and will be a useful tool to ensure that farmers are up-to-date with EAE cases throughout the UK."

For more information, visit www.eaemap.co.uk, contact your local Ceva Animal Health account manager, call Ceva on 01494 781510 or email: cevauk@ceva.com.

Eight vet students have been recognised for their exceptional work with the Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health Connect Bursary Awards, designed to provide financial assistance for students for elective research during their college years. Three main awards were made for projects focussing on laterality in dogs, stallion semen preservation, and developing a better understanding of wobbler syndrome in horses.

Charlotte Cockburn from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and Hayley Harwood from the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies (Edinburgh) were the joint winners of the main Bursary Award, while the RVC's Holly Claridge was presented with the inaugural Equine Award.

Charlotte's research investigated tests for laterality in dogs to determine if domestic dogs show a significant paw preference and to identify a test that can be used for this purpose by veterinary practices.  The results showed a lateralisation bias in the dog population towards the left with no significant correlations between paw preference and the sex, age or breed of dog.  In addition, the initiation of gait test used in the study was the only test that gained a response from 100% of the dogs.

Hayley set out to investigate the motility of stallion spermatozoa thawed at various rates and maintained for up to 24 hours with the aim of designing a protocol for the thawing of semen that would allow cooled transported frozen-thawed semen to be used effectively.  The study showed that for total motility, thawing the straws at 72°C resulted in significantly higher motility than when compared with other treatments.

Holly's research aimed to describe the 3D anatomy of the cervical articular process joints in relation to the spinal cord and whether artificial distension of these joints, mimicking effusion, would cause the pouches of the joints to compress the spinal cord in the horse.  The study concluded that in the absence of any other soft tissue or bony changes effusion of these joints is unlikely to cause spinal cord compression.  However, given that these joints and the spinal cord are in close approximation, in the presence of other changes, an effusion may have the potential to cause compression.

While Charlotte, Hayley and Holly were the overall winners, five other students also received a Connect Bursary from Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health to fund their research.  The Bursaries were awarded to Rebecca Johnson and Sharon Brown (Glasgow), Gabrielle Laing (Liverpool), Alex Torrance (Cambridge) and Amy Gordan (Bristol).  Students were required to present their work to a judging panel from Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health, representatives from the veterinary schools and industry key opinion leaders. Two further Bursaries were also awarded to students from Nottingham.

David Hallas, General Manager at Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health said:  "Being part of the Connect Bursary is intended to give veterinary students both the freedom to explore new ground as well as providing a taste of working in industry.  The fact that we awarded a record number of Bursaries this year, elected joint winners and launched the new Equine Award is testament to the refreshingly high standard of work being undertaken by veterinary undergraduates."

Petplan has been awarded an Insurance Times Tech Award for its social media campaign entitled "Like & Donate", which was devised to support two animal charities, the Dogs Trust and Cats Protection. 

As part of the campaign, pet lovers are being encouraged to donate a food pouch to either charity by "liking" the Petplan Facebook page; with one "like" equalling one pouch of food for either the cat or dog charity.

The Facebook app also allows Petplan's Facebook fans to track the progress of donations and encourage friends to visit the page and support their chosen charity. The initiative has resulted in over 48,000 food pouches being donated to the charities with the Cats Protection receiving over 29,000 "likes" and the Dogs Trust gaining 19,500.

Petplan's Head of Marketing, Isabella von Mesterhazy said: "We are delighted our Like & Donate campaign has been awarded Best Use of Social Media. At Petplan we work with over 1,700 animal charities and our Like & Donate campaign has further helped to support the fantastic work of both the Dogs Trust and Cats Protection in rehoming dogs and cats across the UK."

To take part in Petplan's "Like & Donate" programme visit www.Facebook.co.uk/Petplan.

Defra has been roundly criticised in the media today for reportedly spending £181,000 on redesigning its website.

Here's the old website. Apparently deemed 'too agricultural' for its use of brown.

And here's the new one:

A vast improvement, and depending on what the £181,000 bill included, it may not have been as overpriced as it sounds.

Either way, it prompted a great quip from Tory environment spokesman Nick Herbert: 'At least it's now clear that, like the rest of the country, Defra has gone off Brown.'

The RCVS has announced that this year, for the first time, it will accept debit card payments from veterinary surgeons who are renewing their registration.

The annual renewal fee should be paid by 31 March. Those who have not paid by 30 April will be charged an extra £35 to renew their registration while those who have not paid by 31 May will be removed from the Register.

Corrie McCann, RCVS Director of Operations, said: "Following feedback from the profession, this year, thanks to a change in our registration regulations, we are able to accept debit card payments which we hope will make the renewal process much easier and more convenient for our members. Furthermore, members will also no longer be charged if they choose to pay their fee by credit card."

Veterinary surgeons will also need to confirm their registration details (including their correspondence and registration addresses), confirm that they have met the RCVS requirement for continuing professional development of 105 hours over a three-year period and disclose any new or previously undisclosed convictions, cautions or adverse findings.

Another change is that vets will now have the choice of either home or work as their registered address (in the past, only work addresses were allowed).

The annual renewal can be completed by returning the form that has been sent by post or by logging into the 'My Account' area of the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/login) using the security details that have been sent to all MsRCVS.

Any members who have not received their annual renewal form or security details for the 'My Account' area should contact the RCVS Registration Department on 020 7202 0707 or registration@rcvs.org.uk as soon as possible.

Those with queries about paying the annual renewal fee should contact the RCVS Finance Team on 020 7202 0733 or finance@rcvs.org.uk

VetSurgeon.org has started a series of discussions about major changes to the profession proposed by the Legislative Working Party in order to help you form your opinion and give feedback to the RCVS.  

If they become law, the changes proposed by the working party will have a profound effect on all practising veterinary surgeons and nurses, so it could not be more important that you express your opinion, whether that is in support of the changes or against them.

The proposals fall under five main headings below, each of which is linked to a discussion thread on the subject. Of particular note is the 'fitness to practise' section which includes proposals for radical changes to the disciplinary process:

• Embracing the vet-led team
  Giving the College powers to regulate all paraprofessionals. Allowing vets to delegate more to paraprofessionals (and giving the College greater power to define what can be delegated). Protecting the title 'Veterinary Nurse'.
• Enhancing the VN role
  Extending the VN role in anaesthesia and allowing VNs to perform cat castrations. In the future, looking at nurses becoming 'VN Prescribers' and performing other tasks.
• Assuring practice regulation
  Making the PSS regulatory and giving the College the power to come and bash the door down (so to speak) if you won't let them in to investigate a failure to maintain practice standards. Giving the College the power to issue improvement notices. 
• Introduce a modern 'Fitness to practise' regime
  To change the disciplinary process to be forward-looking, considering fitness to practise, as opposed to backward-looking, punishing past misdeeds. Widening the grounds for investigation beyond serious professional misconduct. Introducing new powers so the College can suspend a vet pending a final decision by the Disciplinary Committee. Introducing reviews of suspension orders so that reinstatement is no longer automatic. Introduce a wider range of sanctions. To reduce the standard of proof required by the Disciplinary Committee. To use a Case Examiner model for early stage investigations, as opposed to the Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC). 
• Modernising Registration
  To allow limited licensure allowing - for example people with disabilities to practise. To introduce a requirement for vets and nurses to revalidate. To allow the College to refuse re-registration for veterinary professionals who do not undertake the required amount of CPD. 

Do come and join in the discussions. Which of these things do you think will improve the veterinary care of animals? Could any of them have consequences that haven't been thought of? Do you think some of them show the College overreaching itself? Or do they not go far enough?  

Come and tell us what you think. Hopefully the discussions will help you form your response to the RCVS survey. 

The RCVS survey closes at 5pm on 23rd April 2021.

Researchers have identified the probable cause of equine grass sickness as a neurotoxin, with similar actions to snake venom toxins but produced by pasture microbes¹.

The researchers, from the Dick Vet Equine Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, and the University of Padova found that affected horses have major abnormalities in the structure of their neuromuscular junctions, microscopic sites of communication between nerves and muscles that are crucial for normal muscle function.

These abnormalities are believed to represent a toxin specific signature, effectively a ‘smoking gun’, for a neurotoxic enzyme termed a phospholipase A2.

Work is now underway to definitively identify the source of the toxin, in the hope that it will lead to novel treatments and improved diagnostics for this devastating disease.

The researchers think the toxin is likely to be produced by a microbe such as a bacterium or fungus growing on the horse’s pasture during the cold and dry weather which commonly precedes the disease. 

Neurotoxic phospholipase A2 toxins are also present in the venom of many poisonous snakes, and there are many similarities between the signs of grass sickness and those of snake envenomation.

While there is no suggestion that venomous snakes cause grass sickness, it is hoped that some of the drugs that are currently being developed to treat and promote nerve regeneration in people paralysed by snake venoms can aid recovery of horses from grass sickness. 

The researchers say that the neurotoxin most likely also causes the apparently identical diseases (termed animal dysautonomias) which affect cats, dogs, hares, rabbits, llamas, alpacas and sheep, and that their finding contradicts the previous leading hypothesis that grass sickness is a form of botulism. 

This breakthrough is summarised in an editorial in the January 2025 issue of the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ). 

The editorial, by Bruce McGorum and colleagues, looks at the implications of their article 'Equine grass sickness is associated with major abnormalities in the ultrastructure of skeletal neuromuscular junctions²".

Bruce said: “Identifying a probable cause of Equine Grass Sickness represents a significant breakthrough.

"We hope that this discovery will lead to novel treatments and improved diagnostics for this devastating condition.

"We are very grateful for the generous support we have received from horse owners, veterinary surgeons, scientists, charities and funding bodies.”

Bruce's editorial is currently available on Early View, free for 12 weeks, and will also be published in the January 2025 print issue of the EVJ. 

Reference 

1. McGorum B, Pirie RS, Bano L, Davey T, Harris J, Montecucco C. Neurotoxic phospholipase A2: A proposed cause of equine grass sickness and other animal dysautonomias (multiple system neuropathies). Equine Vet J. 2025 Jan;57(1):11-18. doi: 10.1111/evj.14442. PMID: 39630613.
2. McGorum BC, Davey T, Dosi MCM, Keen JA, Morrison LR, Pirie RS, et al. Equine grass sickness is associated with major abnormalities in the ultrastructure of skeletal neuromuscular junctions. Equine Vet J. 2025; 57(1): 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14063

A research project funded by The Horse Trust has made important discoveries about how two peptides regulate the inflammatory response in horses. This knowledge could help with the development of improved anti-inflammatory drugs, which are used to treat a wide range of conditions in horses.

The research project was led by Professor Fiona Cunningham at the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire and Dr Karen Rickards at the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, assisted by Dr Andrew Brooks at the RVC, and by Dr Kirstie Pickles, now at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh.

Inflammation is associated with a wide range of equine diseases, including recurrent airway obstruction, laminitis and sweet itch. Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as glucocorticosteroids, mainly work by blocking the formation and/or actions of compounds produced in the horse's body that cause inflammatory responses. However, these drugs are not always effective and can have unwanted side effects.

This research, funded by The Horse Trust, aimed to find out more about two naturally-occurring peptides - chains of amino acids that are shorter than proteins - known as annexin-1 and CXCL8. Both have been shown to affect the inflammatory response but little research has been done on their effects in horses. In the long term, knowing more about these compounds could help in the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects.

During inflammation, neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) stick to the cells lining blood vessels and migrate into inflamed tissue, where they ingest and break down harmful agents. Using techniques that mimic these events, CXCL8 was found to cause adherence and migration of horse neutrophils. However, when it was used in combination with another pro-inflammatory substance, neutrophil migration and adherence were markedly decreased.  This suggests that attempts to reduce inflammation by blocking the actions of CXCL8 might not be as beneficial as had been thought.

At the start of the project, the researchers had no information about horse annexin-1, other than its gene sequence, so their first step was to develop a method to detect the peptide in white blood cells. They established that it was present and, as horse annexin-1 has not yet been synthesised, they used a synthetic peptide derived from annexin-1, Ac2-26, to look at the effects on horse neutrophils.

They found that Ac2-26 decreased neutrophil adherence and migration in response to other pro-inflammatory compounds, although at high concentrations the peptide itself caused some cell activation, thereby increasing inflammation. They also found that dexamethasone (a glucocorticosteroid) increased the levels of annexin-1 in cells, indicating that, as in humans, this class of drugs is likely to act in part through the formation of annexin-1.

These findings suggest that the use of compounds which mimic the actions of annexin-1 may have limitations as anti-inflammatory drugs. As glucocorticosteroids partly work by forming annexin-1, further research is needed in order to find out how annexin-1 will act in the horse's body and establish how its formation contributes to the beneficial effects of these drugs.

Professor Cunningham said: "This Horse Trust-funded research has resulted in some very interesting findings about how inflammatory cells are regulated in horses. The receptors that annexin-1 and CXCL8 act upon could be targets for new equine inflammatory drugs, but more research is needed first to fully understand their actions and how they produce these effects."

The team's research has been accepted for publication by the journal Veterinary Immunology & Immunopathology.

Lintbells is launching Mobility Matters, a new guide to setting up nurse-led mobility clinics in practice, together with a pack containing a range of supporting marketing materials.

The support pack is available now for existing stockists; others can sign up for a pack (whilst stocks last) at the London Vet Show in November, where Lintbells will be at stand U50.

According to the company, an estimated 15% of canine cases presented at first opinion practices are musculoskeletal and cats are also commonly affected.¹ 

The Mobility Matters support materials are designed to help practices communicate the issues to clients, both in the waiting area and consulting room and online. There are also resources to help behind the scenes with setting up the clinics, including the new guide. 

Gemma Cunningham, Lintbells Product Marketing Executive said: "We’re keen to bring attention to nurse-led clinics, which are not just great for patients but great for business too. Measurable outcomes include client satisfaction, incremental sales and improved patient comfort or quality of life. We’ve taken into account existing barriers based on what veterinary teams have told us and created the pack to address those needs. Our Mobility Matters referral cards, which help vets signpost clients to the clinics are a brilliant example of how the pack can help teams work more effectively together."

For more information, contact Lintbells on 01462 790886.

Reference

1. Hardie EM1, Roe SC, Martin FR, J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2002 Mar 1;220(5):628-32., Radiographic evidence of degenerative joint disease in geriatric cats: 100 cases (1994-1997).