TVM is holding Pet Eye Health Awareness Week from 18th - 24th September.

To help veterinary practices engage with pet owners and help them understand the importance of eye health, TVM has produced a range of free educational materials including waiting room displays, informative web pages and social media packs.

The company has also published a page of information at www.tvm-uk.com/eyehealth  – where pet owners can find out more about eye problems, how to spot them and learn what can be done about them.

Emma Hancox MRCVS, Veterinary Advisor at TVM said: "It can be easy for owners to miss the signs of problems with their pet’s eyes, but they can be extremely distressing for animals and be a sign of conditions ranging from cataracts and glaucoma through to conjunctivitis - all of which can be painful, and in the worst-case scenario, lead to blindness.

"We hope that National Pet Eye Health Awareness Week will help practices assist owners in understanding the importance of eye health and prevent more serious conditions occurring."

To request your board kit and pet owner leaflets, and download your free social media pack, visit www.tvm-uk.com/eyehealth or contact your Territory Manager.

The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has suspended a veterinary surgeon for a period of three months for practising veterinary surgery while not registered with the College.

At a hearing which concluded on 9 September, Silke Birgitt Lindridge, of the Consett Veterinary Centre, Medomsley Road, Consett, County Durham, was found guilty of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect for practising when she ought to have known that her name had been removed from the RCVS Register for non-payment of fees.

The Committee heard that Mrs Lindridge, who qualified as a veterinary surgeon at the University of Berlin in 1997, had returned to Germany whilst on maternity leave in September 2006 but had continued to be the sole principal of two practices, the Consett Veterinary Centre, and the Winlaton Veterinary Centre in Tyne and Wear. She had continued to run the practices whilst in Germany, and had returned to the UK on several occasions during 2007, when she practised veterinary surgery on small animals and horses. She had not been registered with the College for the period between 5 June 2006 and 2 April 2008.

To practise veterinary surgery when unregistered is a criminal offence. However, after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, a decision was taken that it was not in the public interest to prosecute Mrs Lindridge and that the matter should be left with the RCVS Disciplinary Committee.

Mrs Lindridge claimed not to be aware that she was unregistered, stating that a fee notice and reminder, as well as a telephone call and correspondence from the College about her registration status, had not been brought to her attention by her practice administrators. The Committee accepted that she had not known, but decided that, as registration was a professional obligation, Mrs Lindridge should have known that her name had been removed from the Register, a charge that Mrs Lindridge accepted. The Committee felt that: "The failure of Mrs Lindridge to put in place proper systems for the administration of her practice, including the payment of her annual retention fee... was lamentable." The way in which the practice had paid its bills during her absence demonstrated an "utterly careless attitude to the administration of the practice".

Taking account of the fact that Mrs Lindridge had not knowingly practised while unregistered, and the positive support of her clients, the Committee decided that a three-month period of suspension from the Register was appropriate.

Beverley Cottrell, chairing the Committee, commented: "The Committee would like to make it clear that it is the personal responsibility of every practising veterinary surgeon to ensure that the annual retention fee is paid and that their names are on the Register. It is in the public interest that clients should be assured that the practitioner is a regulated person, who is capable of providing valid certificates."

She continued: "The record of Mrs Lindridge's practice during 2007 discloses that she was providing certificates for horses and small animals whilst she was unregistered. Those certificates are invalid. She was also prescribing prescription-only drugs when she was not entitled to do so. The Committee considers that a short period of suspension is proportionate to the nature and the extent of the charge, the public interest and the interests of Mrs Lindridge."

Online registration for the BSAVA Congress 2011 is now open at www.bsava.com.

According to the BSAVA, web registration has been enhanced this year to provide a smoother process for individual, group and practice badge bookings.  Plus, there is a 5% discount on registration fees.

BSAVA has brought forward the Early Bird deadline this year to 3 January 2011 to coincide with the impending VAT increase, so you'll need to register before this date to get the best price.

There is also a new 'Weekend Rate', which offers delegates access to the Saturday lectures, Party Night ticket, a Sunday exhibition pass, a delegate bag with proceedings, plus delegate lunch and refreshments on both days.

See www.bsava.com for further details and registration fees.

The inaugural Vet Charity Challenge, which took place on 15^th September at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, has raised at least £20,000 for charity.

Twenty-six teams of four people took part, spending seven hours walking, running, cycling, kayaking, orienteering, along with a few mental physical challenges along the way.

The Challenge started in the morning with a sprint to collect puzzles for teams to solve. This determined time slots when teams could attempt six mental and physical puzzles during the morning session. The teams then headed off on a walk or run around the surrounding countryside. The aim was to visit as many points on the map as possible. Each team could choose its own route. After lunch, the teams headed off again for the cycling stages, visiting places on the map in order to gain more points. Then finally it was onto the water for the kayaking stage.

The winning team was the Complete Animal from Hyde Park Veterinary Centre in London. Team captain Leah Morley said: "The event was great fun, really well organised, and all the teams seemed to have got right behind it. You really had to work as a team, playing to different peoples strengths both physically and mentally. Everyone had a fair chance of winning. We would really like to thank others in the practice and our clients who were massively generous in their support and sponsorship. Their response was quite inspirational and certainly had an impact in driving us to perform well. I think every practice should take part and we look forward to returning next year to defend our title."

All the teams enjoyed the day and met the challenges head on and were enthusiastic for the Vet Charity Challenge to continue next year. Head Nurse Angella McNellan from Glenbrae Veterinary Clinic in Bearsden, Glasgow said: "The Vet Charity Challenge has been brilliant fun, beautiful scenery, great challenges. It has really helped get fitter through training as a team after work during the summer. We cannot wait to do it all again next year."

Roger Dixon MRCVS from Ashbrook Equine Hospital in Cheshire said: "The Challenge has been great fun, we really enjoyed the teambuilding element. Also it was worth the pain to beat the farm team!"

Nicolette Hayward from team The Far Canals said: "The Vet Charity Challenge has been superb, enormous fun. We did absolutely no training and came in fourth, so we are very happy with that result."

Jason Rogers from BCF team Witness the Fitness said: "We really enjoyed the day, found it exhausting though, the kayaking was the toughest part, and we had quite a run back in the morning to get back in time."

To add to the level of exhaustion competitors were flung around the dance floor for a Ceilidh following a barbeque in the evening. The band consisted of organisers from the event including caller Brian Wright from Vets Now and competitors Nicolette Haywood and Jim Hughes.

For more information, see more photos and to register interest for the challenge in 2013 visit www.vetcharitychallenge.co.uk. Also follow Vet Charity Challenge and on Twitter @vetchallenge.

Ceva Animal Health has produced a new advisory leaflet about enzootic abortion control and vaccination strategy in sheep to help vets explain the best prevention protocols to clients.

According to the company, it is estimated that around half of the 400,000 infectious abortions in UK sheep each year are from enzootic abortion caused by Chlamydophila abortus, but timely vaccination programmes can prevent such dramatic losses.

The eight-page leaflet explains how enzootic abortion can spread, why prevention is better than cure, the importance of timely vaccination of ewe lambs and replacement stock, how vaccination programmes make good economic sense and the benefits of using Cevac Chlamydia, Ceva Animal Health's live enzootic abortion vaccine as part of the control programme.

Carol Atkinson, reprodAction's product manager said: "Cevac Chlamydia receives consistently good feedback from vets, many of whom have enthusiastically volunteered their praise for the product to our territory managers. We thought a leaflet would be a constructive way to share views, giving vets the chance to hear about the advantages of vaccination and to provide them with the tools to explain to their clients why vaccinating against enzootic abortion is cost worthy."

For further information contact Ceva Animal Health Ltd, Unit 3, Anglo Office Park, White Lion Road, Amersham, Bucks, HP7 9FB, Telephone +44 (0) 1494 781510.

The RCVS and the Veterinary Schools Council (VSC) have launched a joint survey of new grads from UK vet schools to determine if and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected them.

The survey has been sent to 984 veterinary surgeons who graduated from one of the UK’s eight vet schools in 2020 to measure how the pandemic may have affected graduates’ employment prospects, clinical & non-clinical skills, and resilience in the workplace.

The survey has a deadline date of Wednesday 16 December 2020 and all responses to it will remain anonymous while helping to inform future policy on graduate support.

Dr Linda Prescott-Clements, RCVS Director of Education, said: “We know that the coronavirus pandemic has had a disruptive impact on the final stages of education for the 2020 cohort, in terms of clinical placements for extra-mural studies as well as teaching. This survey aims to gauge whether this has, in turn, had a deleterious impact on their confidence with both clinical and non-clinical skills as well as their resilience, for example, in asking for help and support from colleagues, managing their time effectively, and managing complex and stressful situations.

“Employment is another area of concern and in any typical year almost all graduate vets would find work or go on to further study after their veterinary degree had finished. Some anecdotal reports have suggested a perceived or real change to employment prospects this year and so we are hoping to gather some further data to see if there has been a discernible impact on this cohort.

“We are mindful that the pandemic is having a significant impact on all students and we are keen to understand how best we can support them moving forward. I would strongly encourage those graduates who have received the survey, which should only take around 10 minutes to complete, to take part, because the results will help the RCVS and the VSC inform future policies on how we can better support veterinary graduates in 2021 and subsequent years.”

Any graduates who have not received the survey or require further information can contact the RCVS Education Department on education@rcvs.org.uk. 

A new programme to help reduce the stress of pets suffering a reaction to sudden loud noises such as fireworks and thunderstorms, has been launched by the makers of Zylkène.

Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health, which manufactures Zylkène, a product to help manage stress in dogs and cats, has developed the programme in association with animal behaviour experts at Bristol University.

The Zylkène Sound Desensitisation Programme, to be used in conjunction with Zylkène, features sound tracks, advice, written and verbal instructions and a practice track designed to help pet owners find a long-term solution to a common and distressing problem. The CD features fireworks, thunder and lightening and gunshots sounds and includes component sound tracks to avoid overwhelming very sensitive pets.

One CD will be given away free of charge with every box of Zylkène purchased between 1 September and 30 November, while stocks last.

The Zylkène Sound Desensitisation Programme complements an educational waiting room display and owner information sheets which provide owners with practical advice and techniques to help pets cope throughout the firework season.

Melanie Dass, product manager at Intervet /Schering-Plough Animal Health, said: "The sad fact is that just under half the UK dog population reacts to sudden loud noises, as do many cats. Stress caused by unexpected sounds manifests in many ways from hiding, house soiling or attempts to escape.

"Unfortunately, if this problem is not correctly managed, firework-related stress reactions can become progressively more severe and can extend to other sounds such as thunder and even everyday noises such as car doors being slammed. Desensitisation is a proven method of changing a pet's response to sudden loud noises. This new Zylkène Sound Desensitisation Programme means we can now offer pet owners short and long term problems to a common and distressing problem."

Buckinghamshire-based Hamilton Specialist Referrals (HSR) has announced the various steps it is taking to maintain a near normal service for referring practices and clients in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. 

HSR, which provides emergency and routine specialist orthopaedic and neurology services, now offers video consultations with a specialist and a pet transportation service. It has also introduced strict strict biosecurity and operational preventative measures.

Clare Hamilton, Managing Director, says, “Our priority is to continue to offer gold-standard service for both routine and emergency orthopaedic and neurological cases whilst doing our utmost to limit the spread of Covid-19 as much as possible. We are to all intents and purposes, ‘business as usual’ with additional hygiene measures to protect clients and staff”.  

HSR is asking clients that if there is a chance that they have Covid-19 and/or have come into contact with anyone with the virus they do not attend the hospital in person, but instead contact via email or telephone to discuss their pet’s treatment on an individual basis. Clients visiting the clinic are being asked to wait in their cars until their appointment, whereupon the animal is collected from the car by one of the team for its clinical examination. The vets are then speaking to the clients by telephone to discuss and gain consent for any further investigation or treatment.

For vulnerable clients who are self-isolating and in need of their services, HSR is offering a pet ambulance service for collection and drop off of pets. They will then have a video consultation with the specialist. Medications will be posted out and advice given over email or telephone.

Clare added: “We are doing all we can to support colleagues and clients in what are unprecedented circumstances. We recognise the strain on many practices having to reduce the number of appointments in the face of staff shortages. We want to reassure vets that we are happy to offer advice and support with cases, and continue to take referrals during this difficult period. We also have free online CPD for practices via our website as meetings are postponed or cancelled”.

The practice advises clients and referring vets to check for further developments on social media, or sign up to their email list for updates.

Agria has announced two new measures designed to help make sure pets are covered by insurance during the coronavirus pandemic.

Firstly, pets that haven’t received primary vaccinations due to the coronavirus outbreak and develop an issue that would have been prevented by a vaccination they were unable to access, will now have that condition covered under their Agria policy.

Secondly, the company has now made it possible for owners of cats and dogs under the age of five to set up a 'Four Weeks Free' policy - which would ordinarily be set up in practice - themselves. 

Simon Wheeler, Managing Director of Agria Pet Insurance (pictured right), said: "We have introduced these additional products during the pandemic to ensure that pets remain covered despite new and significant challenges faced by vets and owners. We hope that they alleviate a little of the pressure faced by veterinary staff and worry felt by owners."

Robin Hargreaves, who is Agria's Vet Lead and helped develop the solutions said: "Times are pretty tough in practice right now, and operating on a restricted basis isn’t ideal for us or the pets registered with us. One thing that would make life even harder would be if the percentage of uninsured pets was to rise.

"With Agria making it possible for owners to activate their own 4 Weeks Free policies at this time, even owners that can’t see vets as usual can still protect their pets with insurance.

“Relaxing restrictions around cover for unvaccinated pets will come as a huge relief in some cases, enabling any pets that have missed primary vaccinations or gone past their booster date due to current restrictions to still be insured."

For more information, visit: agriapet.co.uk/guide

The British Equine Veterinary Association is encouraging veterinary practices to recognise and reward their nurses.

The initiative comes after BEVA's new nurse committee ran a survey which found a poor understanding within the profession and amongst clients of what equine nurses can do.

Nurses said they believed they could be given more responsibility and do more within their roles and that there was a lack of opportunity for progression.

BEVA President David Rendle, who is championing this initiative, said: “RVNs are a significant an asset to any equine practice.

“They have invested a lot of time and effort to become highly skilled but in some instances their significant attributes are not being utilised to the full.

“Allowing RVNs to perform the clinical tasks that they are qualified to carry out under Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, will provide better job fulfilment and career development as well as free up veterinary surgeons to carry out other tasks, all increasing the efficiency of the veterinary team.

“I feel, and the RVN survey results would seem to confirm, that veterinary surgeons and practice managers do not appreciate how much veterinary nurses are allowed to do in equine practice.

"We all know veterinary nurses have the ability; look at what they do in small animal and human nursing, but we have felt unnecessarily constrained by Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and the associated RCVS guidelines.

"If you actually look at Schedule 3 it is clear that we can and should be letting our qualified equine nurses do far more. 

“There are so many things in equine practice that nurses do better than vets.

"In addition to performing clinical tasks they can add wider value; they are generally (or are perceived by clients to be!) more patient, empathetic and caring so we should utilise these skills and get nurses to take on some of the roles that take more time and require longer client interactions – discussing parasite control programmes,  running weight loss clinics, reviewing healthcare plans, making follow-up phone calls and visits to name just a few.

"Nurses can take a lot of pressure off vets and can add a significant revenue stream for the practice.” 

On the 9th February, the BEVA will be hosting an online discussion forum for all members of the practice team to discuss the role of nurses and how their skills, experience and knowledge can be better-used. 

It's free for BEVA members: https://www.beva.org.uk/Home/Events/BEVA-Events/Event-Details.aspx?eventDateId=1716 

Marie Rippingale Chair of the BEVA Nurse Committee said: “Last year’s recruitment and retention survey revealed that 50% of nurse respondents were earning less than £25,000 per annum and 48% of nurses said they were likely to look for a new job in the next two years.

"When asked their top reasons for leaving, salary was the biggest reason, and common themes on what would help the retention of nurses included salary, work-life balance and career progression.

“The review of Schedule 3 is important so we can encourage delegation of tasks to RVNs.

"This will allow RVNs to demonstrate their value and worth, earning money for the practice and achieving job satisfaction at the same time. This will contribute positively towards the current retention crisis.”

To find out more about what equine veterinary nurses can do in practice visit https://www.beva.org.uk/nurses 

Photo:  Liphook Equine Hospital.

Improve International has announced a two-day Masterclass in Feline Endoscopy with Dr Elise Robertson BS BVetMed MACVSc (Feline) DipABVP (Feline) FHEA FRSB MRCVS ABVS at its wet-lab practical training facility in Sheffield.

Limited to 12 delegates, the masterclass will cover flexible and rigid endoscopy and offer delegates the opportunity to practice techniques under the guidance of Dr Robertson.

The learning objectives include:

• The ‘driving skills’ needed for flexible endoscopy, in vivo, to limit the risk of iatrogenic damage to the patient and equipment

• Techniques for obtaining endoscopic biopsies and endoscopic foreign body removal

• Proficiency in J-manoeuvre, pyloric and ileocolic sphincter intubation in the cat

• Approaches to respiratory endoscopy

• The assembly of the endoscopy chain (both flexible and rigid endoscopy)

• The performance of infraorbital nerve blocks.

Improve's Veterinary Operations Manager, Juliet Pope BVSc Cert SAS MRCVS, said: "Virtually every feline medicine case has the potential to be an endoscopy case and, without it, colleagues can hit a ‘diagnostic roadblock’ in which they find themselves simply repeating diagnostic tests; resorting to polypharmacy in an attempt to ‘treat the treatable’ or referring the patient.

"An understanding of endoscopy and the confidence to perform it can help to overcome this roadblock and reach a diagnosis and definitive treatment plan quickly. This is good for practice performance and it’s also good for patients as it ensures a quicker recovery, with reduced pain and fewer complications."

For more information, visit: https://www.improveinternational.com/uk/coursedate/masterclass-in-feline-endoscopy, or contact Improve International on 01793 759159.

An online quiz by the RCVS has shown that veterinary surgeons generally have good understanding of the Guide to Professional Conduct, but that misconceptions about the role of the college are rife.

Around 850 people completed the quiz since it was launched in November 2009, with veterinary surgeons accounting for 70% of those that took part. The average score was 20 out of 25

Despite the high average score, there were several questions which a very significant number of people got wrong. The worst related to the role of the RCVS: 76% of people wrongly thought that the College's remit included negligence, whilst 66% believed that the RCVS could not consider criminal convictions (it can).

Nearly half of those taking part were not aware that the standard of proof to which the RCVS Disciplinary Committee must be satisfied is 'so as to be sure' - the same as for a criminal court.

Other questions poorly answered related to 24-hour cover, delegation to paraprofessionals, consent and ownership of records. The RCVS Communications Board will consider how to improve communications in these areas.

In terms of age, the highest scoring age-band was 51-60, achieving an average of 20.5 right answers; the lowest was '30 or under', at 18.7.  However, this is not backed up by distribution of complaints to the RCVS, where only 27% of complaints relate to those who have less than ten years' post-qualification experience, although this group makes up 43% of registrations.

The results indicate that there is no significant difference between the genders in terms of Guide knowledge, at 19.54 right answers for men and 19.46 for women. Meanwhile, only 34% of complaints to the RCVS are made about women, while they account for 51% of the Register. However, as women tend to dominate the younger end of the profession, this statistic may be linked to the fact that a greater percentage of complaints relate to older individuals, more likely to be men.

Lizzie Lockett, RCVS Head of Communications said: "We hoped the quiz would offer a light-hearted way for vets - and others - to review their knowledge of the Guide, which can be a dry read, and have been pleased with the response.

The BVA has released the result of a survey of its members to identify what vets think are the most pressing welfare needs affecting cats in the UK.

According to the Spring 2022 Voice of the Profession survey, one in four cats (24%) seen in practices are not having all of their welfare needs met. 

The issues identified by vets as the most pressing at their practice were:

• 43% Obesity
• 41% Behavioral problems/stress from living in a multi-cat household
• 34% Dental issues
• 26% Health issues linked to extreme conformation
• 19% Owners not accessing preventative veterinary care