'Period prevalence and mortality rates associated with hypocholesterolaemia in dogs and cats: 1,375 cases1' determined the period prevalence of hypocholesterolaemia and the associated mortality rates in dogs and cats at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis.
The medical records of cats and dogs presenting to the hospital from 1st September 2011 to 30th August 2016 were retrospectively reviewed to identify all animals that had at least 1 cholesterol measurement; a total of 16,977 dogs and 3,788 cats were identified. Patient signalment and clinical information were collated from the medical records, including the primary disease processes in patients with moderate to severe hypocholesterolaemia. The period prevalence and mortality rate of hypocholesterolaemia were calculated.
The period prevalence of hypocholesterolaemia was 7.0% in dogs and 4.7% in cats. The mortality rate of hypocholesteraemic dogs and cats was 12% in both species, which was significantly higher than that of animals with normal serum cholesterol.
Steven Epstein, corresponding author for the paper, said: 'The odds of death in dogs and cats with hypocholesterolaemia were 3.2 and 2.5 times higher than in those with normocholesterolaemia respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant linear trend towards higher mortality in association with more severe hypocholesterolaemia in both species.
'Disease of the hepatic, gastrointestinal and lymphoreticular systems were most commonly associated with hypocholesterolaemia, and infectious and neoplastic disease were the most commonly associated pathophysiological processes in both species. In dogs with neoplasia, lymphoma was over-represented.'
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP said: 'These findings suggest that low cholesterol levels are associated with mortality in canine and feline patients. It is not clear whether hypocholesterolaemia is simply a marker for disease severity, or if it has active physiological effects contributing to poor outcomes. At this stage, it seems indicated to enhance intensity of diagnostic effort and therapy for affected animals.'
The full article can be found in the November issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice which is free for BSAVA members. It can also be read online here: https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsap.13204
Reference
Open to all in the veterinary profession, the event offers up to ten hours of CPD, and covers a range of topics such as orthopaedics, ECC, medicine, wellbeing, and education.
There will also be practical sessions to attend on both days on transfusions, CPR, and physio.
Speakers include:
There's a commercial exhibition, and social events including the Ceilidh at the annual BSAVA PetSavers Gala Dinner on Friday evening.
Prices start at £85 +VAT for a day pass, with early bird rates offered to both BSAVA members and non-members until 27th July.
Additional discounts are available when sending the whole practice team.
https://www.bsavaevents.com/bsavaalba23/en/page/home
The awards are given to practices across the UK with the most four- and five-star reviews from their clients.
To select the winners, awards organisers analyse over 10,000 reviews left by pet owners on vet practice websites over a 12 month period.
Warren House Veterinary Centre scored over 900 outstanding online reviews from clients.
Swanspool Veterinary Clinic, Northamptonshire, came in second, and Willows Veterinary Centre & Referral Service, West Midlands, third,
Winners of various sub-categories included:
Susie Samuel, CEO of VetHelpDirect.com, said: “The BestUKVets Awards were established to reward vet practices for outstanding feedback from clients.
"We are delighted for Warren House Veterinary Centre (Small Animal Services) – having read so many of their wonderful reviews, it no surprise that they won.
"Local pet owners are very fortunate to have this practice in their area”.
www.bestukvet.co.uk
Photo: vethelpdirect.com
Royal Canin is offering Dyson Animal handheld bagless vacuum cleaners (normally retailing at £130) with orders of over £500 at Congress this year.
The Royal Canin Veterinary range will be on display, including the latest additions for cats, Renal Special Dry and Renal with Tuna.
Delegates can also find out more about Royal Canin’s programme of on-site in-practice staff training on nutrition, Pet Health Counsellor courses and extensive support material for veterinary nurses, receptionist courses, display material for the waiting room, and a helpline to ensure that vets and their teams have quick access to the most up to date information.
Everyone who drops in on Royal Canin will also be able to enter a free draw to win a flight in a hot air balloon.
Virbac has announced the reintroduction of chews as part of its dental range.
VeggieDent chews are available in packs of 15 in sizes suitable for small, medium and large dogs. The chews contain chlorhexidine and have a texture and shape designed to optimise plaque removal by physically abrading the tooth surface during chewing.
Product manager Chris Geddes said: "The gold standard of dental hygiene is regular brushing, but that isn't always possible, and products such as this are ideal for those difficult cases."
For further information please speak to your Virbac representative, phone 01359 243243 or email admin@virbac.co.uk.
Medivet Veterinary Partnership has announced the acquisition of a two-branch practice in Bedfordshire, Ridgeway Veterinary Centre, Flitwick, and Kempston Veterinary Clinic, Bedford, belonging to John Wakely, BVetMed MRCVS.
Current practice vets, John Wakely and Leo Weindrich, as well as all the nursing and reception staff, will remain at the practices. John said: "We are very pleased to be joining the Medivet Group. We will be able to offer our clients a wider range of services and expertise, as well as pass on price reductions for some services, which being part of a larger group enables us to do."
"On a practical level, our clients won't notice much difference. Our staff will remain the same and I will still be their main vet. On a professional level, because the day-to-day administration will be handled by the Medivet head office, I am looking forward to spending more time being a vet. It will give me the time to acquire more expertise in the areas I have always been interested in."
Medivet partner John Smithers said: "John Wakely's practices enjoy an excellent reputation. They will remain local veterinary practices, based, as they always have been, on the high standards of care and strong relationships the staff have developed with their patients and clients over many years. Becoming part of a group will give the practices access to additional skills, facilities and support of staff at other local branches."
This acquisition brings the total number of practices Medivet owns in Bedfordshire to four, the others situated in Biggleswade and Sandy, and brings the total number of practices in the Medivet group to 80.
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.
Idexx Laboratories has launched a new renal function test, Idexx SDMA, which the company says can detect chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dogs or cats months or even years earlier than traditional methods.
The test is based on a new renal biomarker - symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) - and is the result of collaboration with a number of global experts.
Simon Wootton, UK CAG Marketing Manager at Idexx said: "The high sensitivity of this marker for detecting CKD will allow vets to diagnose the disease a lot sooner than has been previously possible. Identifying the disease earlier will give vets more time to intervene and prescribe an appropriate course of action."
The company says that the Idexx SDMA test can identify renal disease in dogs up to nine months earlier than previous methods, while in cats the detection time can be up to 17 months earlier.
Dr Martha Cannon, BA VetMB DSAM(fel) RCVS Recognised Specialist in Feline Medicine of the Oxford Cat Clinic, said: "The launch of SDMA testing is very exciting. It offers the prospect of identifying chronic kidney disease at an earlier stage, which should mean we can treat it more effectively and allow us to maintain cats in the asymptomatic phase. This can improve longevity, but more importantly could help maintain a better quality of life for longer.
"SDMA is also unaffected by muscle loss, which will allow us to assess the true extent of CKD in our elderly and underweight cats. This will lead to improved treatment choices, better quality of life and more peace of mind for owners."
The value of the new test has been validated by the adoption of SDMA into the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) guidelines as a biomarker for the early detection of CKD.
Jonathan W. Ayers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Idexx Laboratories, said: "Idexx SDMA is a result of our commitment to lead the industry in sustained research investments that serve to advance veterinary medicine. It represents a significant achievement in veterinary diagnostics. Hospitals in the USA already using Idexx SDMA have told us that it has transformed the way renal disease is diagnosed and treated."
Idexx SDMA is available to UK and Ireland reference laboratory customers now. Further information is available at www.idexxsdma.com.
Video shows Sylvia Conway MRCVS, UK Medical Affairs Consultant at Idexx, talking about the new test (can also be viewed here).
Special interest groups on VetSurgeon are areas where discipline-specific news, forum discussions, CPD events and clinical images are curated in one place. They also help members with shared interests connect with each other and interact with experts in the field.
In the Small Animal Medicine Group, I am delighted to welcome two contributing experts. Firstly, Andy Kent from Willows Referral Centre, who is already well-known on VetSurgeon for his helpful, knowledgeable and thoughtful contributions. Secondly, the pharmacist Andrea Tarr who, as the founder of Veterinary Prescriber, is something of a font of knowledge.
All VetSurgeon members with an interest in small animal medicine are warmly invited to come and join the new group. You need to login, navigate to the section here, and press the 'join' button on the left hand side (you may need to rotate your mobile phone to see it). You can also subscribe to a monthly or weekly digest of content added to the section.
Whilst you're there, I'm going to offer a bottle of good wine (ie not any old plonk) to the member who starts the most interesting discussion in the forum over the next couple of weeks. It could be a general topic, or, better yet, an interesting case discussion. If the latter, it doesn't matter how old it is. If you have an interesting case in your personal archives, dig it out and share it!
Don't forget ... sharing content and contributing to the discussion it starts (or indeed just reading content in the group) can count towards your annual CPD requirement. Just click the 'Claim CPD' button at the top of the page and the system will keep a record of the page you were on, the time you spent and how you found it useful.
The Small Animal Medicine Group is the second special interest group launched so far, after the Small Animal Dentistry Group. Watch this space, there are more on the way ...
On top of that, over 25% of vets said they don't talk to their farmer clients about the disposal of empty pharmaceutical waste.
The survey also found that while veterinary surgeons are aware that both glass and shatterproof plastic vials are incinerated, over 65% of those questioned believed that glass vials were more environmentally friendly, when in fact, the company says its CLAS (Ceva Layered Anti Shatter) shatterproof plastic vials have 33% less impact on the environment from cradle to grave2.
Ceva is producing a range of support materials, including tailored social media and newsletter content, to help vets to raise awareness of their pharmaceutical waste disposal service and drive improvements across the industry.
Peter Keyte, ruminant business unit manager at Ceva Animal Health said: "As an industry we should be doing all that we can to improve our environmentally friendly credentials.
“Ceva will continue to invest in innovative eco-friendly technology for livestock injectables and pioneer improvements to help ensure best practice throughout the industry.”
For further information, or to request a pharmaceutical waste disposal service support pack, contact your local Ceva account manager or call 01494 781510.
References
With this new system, you gain points by achieving different ISVPS qualifications.
In 2023, mini modular programmes will also be released to help delegates accumulate more points.
Once enough points have been reached, delegates are awarded the ultimate qualification: an ISVPS Grand Jedi Master General Practitioner (Ed's note: OK, maybe I made up the Grand Jedi bit).
Improve says My Veterinary Career has been launched to tackle the growing problem of career dissatisfaction amongst vets.
A 2019 survey of the veterinary profession by the ies reported that 55.2% of vets said they did not feel rewarded/valued in the profession1.
Additionally, the FVE Survey of the veterinary profession in Europe claimed that in the UK, 40% of vets and nurses wished to leave the industry. In other countries Improve Veterinary Education operates in, 51% in Portugal, 32% in Spain, 27% in Denmark, 25% in Germany and 17% in France also felt the same2.
Improve says that with My Veterinary Career, vets will now have a clearer pathway to advance their careers and they will be able to develop a bespoke learning journey.
This, the company hopes, will help with the recruitment and retention of veterinary professionals across both corporate and private practice and boost practice productivity and revenue.
https://www.improveinternational.com/uk/myveterinarycareer-vets
New regulations which limit the type of animals that can be kept as pets came into force in Holland earlier this week.
Mammalian animals not included on a new 'Positive List' cannot be legally kept in Holland or may only be kept with a special permit. People who already own animals that are not on the Positive List may keep them till they die, but may not breed or trade their animals. In due course, the list will be expanded to include reptiles and birds.
The Dutch Positive List was compiled using a method developed by the University of Wageningen, in which an animal's behavioural needs are one of the prime considerations. The list favours domesticated species such as: dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, brown rats, house mice, horses, donkeys, pigs, cattle and sheep.
The Positive List excludes a number of exotic species that are currently sold in the UK, including: meerkats, sugar gliders, sloths, skunks, kinkajous, fennec foxes and several primate species, which can be purchased without the need for a licence.
The Animal Protection Agency (APA), a not-for-profit organisation which campaigns against the trade in wild animals as pets, has welcomed the new legislation and says it hopes that the UK (DEFRA and the devolved administrations) will adopt the same approach.
Elaine Toland, Director of the Animal Protection Agency said: "One only has to compare the natural life of a meerkat, which has evolved to live in large social groups, hunt for a variety of foods and reside in intricate underground burrows to see that these mammals, and many other exotic species, do not belong in the pet trade. Simples! The Dutch positive list shines more light at the end of the tunnel for anyone dealing with the fallout of the exotic pet trade, which has long been out of control."
A positive list for mammals has been in force in Belgium since 2001, where according to the APA, it has been highly effective in reducing illegal trade and the number of animals that wind up in rescue shelters.
Other European countries are apparently now considering positive lists.
Picture shows: A Sugar Glider. © Grinerswife/Dreamstime.com
The new tool is part of a package that also includes posters and SMS texts to support veterinary practices in raising awareness of gastric ulcers to horse owners.
Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is a serious and common condition and any type of horse can be at risk.1 EGUS can have a profound impact on a horse’s condition and performance and can be life threatening in foals. It is a challenging condition to diagnose as the clinical signs are often vague and not always present.1
Gastroscopy is the only method currently available for a definitive diagnosis. Of the two types of disease equine squamous gastric disease is graded on a numeric scale with 1 being the least severe and 4 being the most serious. Equine glandular gastric disease can be very varied in terms of location and type so grading this disease on a score system is no longer recommended. Instead it is now usually described in terms of location, severity and appearance.2
The new tool has been designed to help vets to map the area affected by gastric disease and record the details in an accessible format. This information, together with treatment and management recommendations, can be shared easily with the client. Posters explaining gastric ulceration have been designed to help increase awareness and understanding of EGUS amongst horse owners.
Zoetis says effective treatment usually involves a combination of management and medical treatments. UlcerGold is indicated to treat and prevent the recurrence of gastric ulcers in horses, administered once-daily for 28 consecutive days at the full dose of 4mg/kg bodyweight followed by the reduced dose of 1mg/kg bodyweight for a further 28 days.3 It contains omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor that suppresses gastric acid secretion.3,4 One syringe contains enough UlcerGold for a daily dose for a horse weighing up to 700kg. It can be used for foals as young as four weeks of age that weigh over 70kg and for breeding stallions.
For the study “Comparative accuracy of two veterinary-calibrated point-of-care glucometres for measurement of blood glucose concentration in dogs” blood was sampled from client and staff-owned dogs above 6 months of age, of various breeds and health status.
The samples were then used to compare the accuracy of both PGBMs against a reference method - the hexokinase reaction method.
The authors say this was the first study to investigate AccuTell and the first published evidence comparing AlphaTrak2 with a reference method.
The study also sought to determine how useful the monitors are in clinical decision making and to assess the effect that packed cell volume (PCV) (known to affect the reliability of blood glucose concentration measurement in dogs) has on blood glucose concentration using the two PBGMs.
AccuTell was found to be more accurate and useful in a clinical setting than AlphaTrak2.
Both PBGMs were inaccurate in comparison with the hexokinase reaction method, and although they have potential for standard clinical use, unexpected blood glucose concentrations need to be checked by the hexokinase reaction method.
In addition, measurement of blood glucose concentration by the AlphaTrak2 was affected by PCV whereas measurement by the AccuTell was not.
Nicola Di Girolamo, Editor of JSAP said: “We oftentimes think that an instrument that is developed specifically for our patients will provide satisfactorily results on most occasions.
"Instead, studies such as the one presented here, are critical to understand whether the ‘numbers’ provided by an instrument are reliable for clinical use.
"The authors provided 95% limits of agreements to their results.
"This value is of great help for clinicians, since it shows the difference expected between the instrument and the reference standard in the majority of occasions.”
The study can be read online here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jsap.13491
Pfizer VPS has launched a 'Pre-Sale Scab Treatment Certificate' so that sheep treated for sheep scab and protected against re-infestation beyond their autumn sale date can be formally certified as such.
A choice of two moxidectin-based treatments are eligible for use, one with 28 days and the other 60 days licensed persistency against the scab mite.
Pfizer VPS vet David Bartram explained that following treatment, the sale date must fall within the persistency window: "The idea is that farmers present their certificate at markets on sale day, then auctioneers announce the scab-protected status during their sales patter. Whether this adds to the sale price will be interesting to find out, but it's sure to be seen as a valuable attribute by buyers who won't need to treat for scab when they arrive home."
Details of the certification process are available from SQPs at animal medicine suppliers. The two eligible treatments are CYDECTIN 1% LA and CYDECTIN 2% LA for sheep.
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.
BCF has released a new bovine foetal sexing quick guide as a free download from the farm animal learning section of the company's website - www.bcftechnology.com.
To help vets learn the skill of foetal sex determination with ultrasound, the guide includes:
BCF says that using ultrasound for foetal sex determination can be useful to herd management programmes: you can estimate the number of replacement heifers, further justify the culling of a cow with chronic disease (mastitis, lameness etc.) and determine pricing for a sale and/or purchase.
The guides have been created by BCF in-house vet Kimberley Palgrave who said: "The bovine foetal sexing guide was created with the aim of giving vets a few tips to help them develop confidence in foetal sex determination using ultrasound. Hopefully this guide can help people feel more assured in their technique and enable them to obtain additional information that the farmer can use in their herd management programme."
The RCVS has announced a total of £1 million funding to address mental health and wellbeing within the veterinary profession over the next five years.
The RCVS Operational Board has agreed £100K of funding for the first year of the Mind Matters initiative, with a view to a similar amount per year for the subsequent four years.
Additionally, the College says it intends to contribute approximately £500K over the next five years to the Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme (VSHSP). This is a continuation of previous funding, effectively doubling the College's contribution. The VSHSP, independently run by the Veterinary Benevolent Fund, offers a confidential service that aims to combat problems with alcohol, drugs, eating disorders and other addictive and mental health issues. Neil Smith, Mind Matters' Chair said: "I am delighted that we have £500K of new funding over the next five years to dedicate to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the veterinary team, together with the increase to our support for the VSHSP. It shows the College's commitment in this vital area, and is a substantial amount that will really help change lives."
The funding will be reviewed annually as part of the RCVS budgeting process.
Mind Matters activities will fall into five streams:
Mind Matters is supported by a taskforce comprising the Veterinary Benevolent Fund, the British Veterinary Association, the British Veterinary Nursing Association, the Veterinary Practice Management Association, the Veterinary Schools Council, the Veterinary Defence Society, the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons and the Association of Veterinary Students.
Called the RCVS Academy, the new platform offers training in the following areas:
The College says the content has been developed in partnership with members of the profession to make sure it meets the needs of the veterinary team, including new graduates and registrants, and those who have been in the profession for many years.
Lizzie Lockett, RCVS Chief Executive, said: “As part of our ambition to be a compassionate regulator, we would like to ensure that all veterinary professionals have access to learning resources that will help them meet the standards set by their peers on RCVS Council.
"We’re aware of the pressures that veterinary professions are facing and the Academy has been built to respond to changing learning needs.
“The learning resources available on the platform have been designed to help vet teams develop their understanding of the RCVS professional guidelines and also how they can apply them in their everyday role. "
https://academy.rcvs.org.uk/
The RCVS has announced the candidates standing in the RCVS Council and Veterinary Nurses Council elections this year and is inviting veterinary surgeons and nurses to put their questions to them directly for a video reply.
There are eleven candidates standing for election to RCVS Council in 2015. Overall there are six men and five women, which include two existing Council members eligible for re-election and nine new candidates. They are:
Three veterinary nurses are standing in this year's VN Council elections, including one existing VN Council member eligible for re-election. They are:
Ballot papers and candidates' details are due to be posted to all veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses eligible to vote during the week commencing 16th March, and all votes must be cast, either online or by post, by 5pm on Friday, 24 April 2015.
Once again the College is inviting members of both professions to 'Quiz the candidates' by putting their questions directly to all those standing for election. Each candidate will then be invited to choose two questions to answer from all those received, and produce a video or audio recording of their answers. All recordings will be published on the RCVS website on Thursday 19 March.
Vets and nurses should email their question (NB one per person) to vetvote15@rcvs.org.uk or VNvote15@rcvs.org.uk, or post it on twitter using the hashtags #vetvote15 or #VNvote15, respectively, by midday on Monday 9 March.
Gordon Hockey, RCVS Registrar said: "It's important that members of the veterinary professions choose who they want to sit on their governing Councils, so we always try to make the elections as interesting and engaging as possible.
"This year, we hope the provision of short videos, to accompany the usual written information, will encourage people to find out a little more about all those standing for election, and then use their vote."
The survey of 97 cat owners and 156 vets conducted in June last year found that currently only 30% of cat owners give supplements to their cat but 74% would be willing to try them.
The survey also found that whilst 80% of vets thought the main reasons to be hesitant about recommending feline supplements were palatability and the owner’s ability to give products, owners were less concerned about the ease of giving the supplement (53%), and more concerned about the cost (45%) and being unsure of the benefits (39%).
Tara Evans RVN, head of sales at Vita, said: “It is interesting that the majority of vets believe that practicalities around administering oral supplements is the main drawback to giving these products, whereas only 53% of owners were concerned about this.
"Understanding owner concerns regarding efficacy and price could help vets support more owners to move forward with supplements for their cats.”
According to the survey, the most frequently used supplements, by both vets and owners are those made to support joints.
Cat owners also showed an interest in giving supplements for general wellness (61%).
Tara added: “Owners are open to supplementing for general health, as well as more specific health-related issues.”
www.vitaanimalhealth.com
Woodley Equipment has expanded its support team with the appointment of Greg Woloszczuk as the new Wet Chemistry Product Support Specialist.
Greg joins Woodley from the veterinary industry where he worked for 5 ½ years as a Service Manager. He will focus on all areas of customer service, pre and post sales, along with organising servicing, repairs and maintenance of the Woodley wet chemistry analysers.
The Small Animal Medicine Society (SAMSOC) and the BSAVA have together produced a new poster containing guidelines for the appropriate use of antibiotics in practice.
In recent years, alongside wider recognition of resistant bacteria such as MRSA in animals, the veterinary profession's use of antibiotics has been under the spotlight as a possible factor contributing to the increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance seen in human patients. Veterinary surgeons are faced with the dual problem of treating more and more resistant bacterial infections, whilst the threat of withdrawal of the right to prescribe certain antibiotics hangs over the profession.
SAMSoc and the BSAVA say they feel the time has come for the veterinary profession to take a coordinated responsible approach to its prescribing practices.
Ian Battersby of the Small Animal Medicine Society (SAMSoc) has sought to address the need for rational guidelines for the most appropriate antibiotics, for the correct duration, to maximise clinical efficacy but minimise selection of resistant bacteria. Collaboration with BSAVA resulted in a set of helpful prescribing guidelines in poster form, being sent to members of both associations. A limited number of copies will also be available from the BSAVA Balcony at Congress 2012, and BSAVA has dedicated the October issue of its membership magazine, companion, to the subject.
Ian said: "Of course these PROTECT guidelines are suggestions based on current knowledge and in the future we hope they will be further refined as our experience grows. This is an evolving situation and hopefully more work will be undertaken, in particular looking at treatment durations, allowing further refinement and optimization of practice policies. The key principles are that by implementing a prescribing protocol in our practices we are treating our prescribing privileges responsibly and maximizing the efficacy of the presently available agents for the benefit of both veterinary and human patients now and in the future.
"I would like to particularly thank everyone who has helped with this project; Andrew Jagoe, Professor Ian Ramsey, Tom Maddox, Jon Camillari, Alison Woodward and Dr Tim Nuttall, and BSAVA for facilitating the production of the poster".
Trinity Vet Centre has launched an Android version of its iPhone / iPad app: Veterinary Care of Exotic Pets.
Designed for veterinary surgeons, veterinary students and veterinary nurses, the app gives the viewer an interactive experience in the care of exotic animals and includes videos of blood sampling, images of sex determination and images of common conditions including avian radiographic interpretation.
The app also contains formularies for all the commonly encountered exotic species, lists of commonly seen conditions (and their treatment) and biological data all at the touch of the screen. In addition the latest update for the iPhone / iPad features new sections on birds of prey and poultry which will also be available on the android version.
The app's developer, zoological medicine certificate holder Mark Rowland said: "This app is here to help vets offer the same high level of service offered to dog and cat clients to exotic animals which are becoming even more common. Data such as gestation periods and drug doses for exotics can easily be accessed. The videos are there to show in more detail how to blood sample exotics from Guinea Pigs to Tortoises"
The app is available from your iPhone or Android App store, priced at £7.99
Petplan has announced the winners of its annual Veterinary Awards.
The awards 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.
Isabella von Mesterhazy, Petplan's Head of Marketing, said: "As the leader in the pet insurance market for over 35 years, we have a rich history of working with veterinary practices across the UK. The Veterinary Awards is a great way to celebrate the fantastic work that goes on helping keep pets healthy and their owners happy."
She added: "This year saw over 11,000 nominations which goes to show the appetite from both staff and clients for celebrating exceptional work. We had an outstanding selection of finalists and I'd like to congratulate all the winners who thoroughly deserve their awards."
The winners for each category are:
VET OF THE YEAR - Laura Pugh, Ashfield House Veterinary Hospital - Long Eaton, NottinghamWhat really stood out was Laura's willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. As well as Laura's stressful day job she is very involved with the local community. Laura writes an animal column in her local neighbourhood magazine, runs evening talks on a variety of subjects and visits local schools.
VET NURSE OF THE YEAR - Catherine Raw, Broadleys Veterinary Hospital - Stirling, ScotlandCatherine's passion for her role within the practice and her dedication to providing the best service for her clients put her above the other finalists. Catherine is not only committed to her professional role of delivering the highest standard of clinical care for her patients and the best service for her clients, but she also devotes a lot of her own time to animal welfare. Catherine is a fantastic role model for her nurses.
VET SUPPORT STAFF OF THE YEAR - Vivienne Jeffs, Arvonia Animal Hospital - Cheltenham, GloucestershireVivienne's reliability, empathy and selflessness really stood out for the judges. Whether it is knowing the name of a pet owner during telephone conversations, or entertaining toddlers in the waiting area, Vivienne is the type of receptionist vet surgeries dream of. The practice would not be the same without her according to those that nominated her.
VET PRACTICE OF THE YEAR - Bridge Veterinary Surgery - Highbridge, SomersetThe practice's hard work and dedication to their clients really impressed the judges. The practice is open 24 hours a day and the dedication the veterinary, with a small practice of only four staff members, it is a particularly well deserved award.
VET PRACTICE MANAGER OF THE YEAR - Cery Lawson-Tankred, Golden Valley Veterinary Hospital - Nailsea, SomersetCery has worked at Golden Valley for over five years, during which time the practice has seen a large degree of upgrade and reinvigoration. Investments made in new equipment and facilities have meant improved care for an expanding array of animals that come through the surgery doors. It was clear to the judges that Cery is the glue that holds the Golden Valley Veterinary Hospital together.