Ceva Animal health has launched Marbox, a broad-spectrum anti-infective, based on marbofloxacin, for the rapid treatment of bovine mastitis and respiratory disorders. According to the company, Marbox effectively provides two products in one bottle because it can be used as a high dose single injection or administered at a lower dose over several days.

Ceva says mastitis and respiratory disorders currently account for around 60% of antimicrobial prescriptions. Marbox can be used intramuscularly as a single injection for the treatment of respiratory infection. Alternatively it can be used for the treatment of acute mastitis; intravenously for the first injection and then subcutaneously at a lower dose over three days. It has a milk withdrawal of just 36 hours after subcutaneous injection.

Marbox is presented in an ergonomic CLAS vial which makes for light and shock-resistant handling, resulting in fewer breakages and reduced costs. It is available in 100 and 250 vial sizes and contains 100mg marbofloxacin per ml.

Marbox can be used in combination with Meloxidyl, Ceva's new, single shot anti-inflammatory. The product joins Ceva's bovine range of anti-infectives, which includes Cevaxel, Florkem and Spectam Injectable.

For further product information contact CEVA Animal Health Ltd, 90 The Broadway, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1EG, telephone 01494 781510 or visit the website at http://www.ceva.uk.com/

The latest state-of-the-industry report examining the health and welfare of cattle in Great Britain has identified significant progress across key areas of mastitis, lameness and longevity, and for the first time looks in depth at the issues facing the dairy and beef sectors around antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

This third biennial offering from GB’s Cattle Health and Welfare Group also contains a summary of progress on endemic disease control with advances in eradicating Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in each country highlighted.

The Chief Veterinary Officers of UK, Scotland and Wales have welcomed the publication of the report saying that as the possible impacts of the referendum on leaving the EU are considered, the importance of a GB focus on disease control is as important as ever.

In their joint forward, Nigel Gibbens, Sheila Voas and Christianne Glossop said: "The healthier our animals, the more attractive our products. The better our animal welfare, the greater the confidence of consumers in our production systems.

"With the UK Government placing AMR at the top of its risk register alongside terrorism and pandemic ’flu, it is heartening to see that CHAWG, in common with other livestock sectors, has grasped the nettle in looking first at how the cattle sector can better capture data on use of antimicrobials."

They go on to say that addressing AMR helps address other imperatives as an emphasis on sound animal husbandry and healthy animals kept to high welfare standards will help minimise routine reliance on antimicrobials: "Success in controlling endemic disease is one area of considerable importance, and here we can highlight CHAWG’s pivotal role in the development and promotion of national disease control programmes. These include the launch of the BVDFree scheme in England earlier this year, ongoing progress with BVD eradication in Scotland, the development of a Wales BVD scheme, and the Action Johne’s initiative."

In the report’s conclusion, RSPCA’s head of farm animals Marc Cooper points out that it is clear many positive initiatives are being pursued within the industry. He said: "Notable amongst these are those associated with dairy cow genetics, eliminating BVD, the national dairy cow welfare strategy and the development of a data hub for the collation of information relating to antimicrobial use.

"Indeed, some of these are starting to realise improvements in key areas, for example, dairy cow longevity is beginning to increase, and cow fertility figures and somatic cell counts appear to be moving in the right direction.

"However, there are still ongoing concerns relating to some important health and welfare issues. For example, despite the evidence suggesting the annual prevalence levels of cattle lameness are beginning to fall, there still appears to be no centralised database for recording it."

Chairman of CHAWG Tim Brigstocke says the contributed comments are encouraging and provide positive direction for future CHAWG activities. He also reassures that while this report sees a number of advances in highly topical areas, ‘core’ activities are not being ignored. He said: "Effective farm health planning remains the bedrock of good practice. And while we tend to focus on areas which need improvement, it’s worth mentioning that a delegation from the Food & Veterinary Office (FVO) of the European Commission recently visited and were impressed by the coordinated approach taken in this country."

The report can be downloaded from www.chawg.org.uk.

Defra has produced a video offering official advice for pet owners that want to travel with their pet in the event of a no deal Brexit.

The video has now been published on Youtube, from where veterinary practices might like to share it with clients on their own websites, by email or on their Facebook page.

In the video, Cat Henstridge MRCVS explains how from November, in the event of no deal, pet owners will need to have visited their vet 4 months before travel and had their pet vaccinated against rabies. They will then need to return for a blood test 30 days later, wait at least 3 months after that test before travel, and get an animal health certificate no more than 10 days before travel. In addition their animal needs to be microchipped.

Defra says owners should also be advised to visit gov.uk and search 'pet travel' for any updates.

Christine Middlemiss, UK Chief Veterinary Officer, said: "This is a reminder for pet owners of our practical and straightforward advice for pet travel if the UK were to leave the EU in a no-deal situation."

To watch and share the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ckhv5YS7Mw.

The RCVS and British Veterinary Chronic Illness Support (BVCIS) are asking all vets and student vets to take part in a survey into disability and chronic illness within the veterinary sector.

The aim of the survey is to provide a better understanding of the views, experiences and challenges faced by disabled and chronically ill people within the veterinary profession and provide an insight into how the profession and educational institutions can be more inclusive.

You do not have to be disabled or chronically ill to complete the survey, which will take you around 20 minutes to complete. 

Claire Hodgson, director and co-founder of BVCIS, said: “Working in the veterinary professions with a chronic illness or disability can be hugely challenging, but there is currently a knowledge gap in terms of understanding exactly where the problems lie.

“A 2019 RCVS survey of the professions found that around 6.7% of vets and 7.4% of RVNs have a disability or medical condition that limits work that they can do, but the true figures are likely to be much higher.

"No reliable data for veterinary students currently exists.

“The purpose of this survey is to close that knowledge gap and help us understand how we can better support disabled and chronically ill people in the workplace and education to create a more inclusive working culture.\

“Those living with disability and chronic illness are often hugely resourceful and fantastic problem solvers because of the day-to-day challenges they have had to learn to overcome.

"They have a great deal to contribute to the sector, and it is important that they feel valued and respected and have access to the tools they need to thrive.

“Diversity makes the workforce stronger, so we are calling on as many different people as possible from across the veterinary community to complete our survey so that, together, we can help create a more inclusive workplace for all.”

The survey will be circulated by email to all RCVS registered veterinary surgeons in the near future. 

Details will be circulated to students via their educational institutions. 

The RCVS says all survey responses will be completely confidential, and results will only be analysed and reported at a level that does not allow identification of individuals in any way.

Completed surveys will not be seen by anyone at the RCVS or BVCIS – the IES will send through a report with key research findings to both the RCVS and BVCIS after the survey has closed.

CVS has published a study¹ which has identified the main factors that are predictive of resignations by support staff team members, including receptionists, patient care advisors and other support staff in companion animal practice. 

For the study, 12 month's worth of anonymised data from CVS practices was analysed².  

The study concluded that lower engagement between a practice and its staff or clients, recent parental leave, shorter practice employment tenure, and younger age were all associated with an increased likelihood of support staff resignations.

Lower practice client engagement, which CVS says is a proxy for client satisfaction, was associated with increased odds of support staff resigning³, highlighting the potential impact of client incivility on veterinary colleagues who are typically in customer facing roles.

Reduced employee engagement – measured by a ‘employee net promoter score’ (eNPS), where colleagues rate how likely they would recommend the practice as a good place to work⁴, also correlated with increased resignations.

Within CVS, eNPS has been demonstrated to be positively correlated with the frequency of line manager discussions.

The current data suggests that consistent measurement of employee engagement in a veterinary setting at regular intervals throughout the year can have benefits for line managers in identifying increases in the risk of resignations and practice attrition, allowing them to take proactive steps to improve engagement.

A recent record of taking parental leave was also associated with greater odds of resigning in the following 12 months than staff who have not taken parental leave in the previous 12 months⁵.

Qualitative studies in other professions highlight the need for greater flexibility in working hours and focused managerial check-in support.

Therefore ‘return to work’ interventions may present an opportunity to improve retention.

Conversely, the increased length of employment tenure was associated with decreasing odds of support staff resignations⁶, potentially highlighting the role for long service reward schemes, such as the long service holiday awards CVS introduced a couple of years ago. Whilst employee age was associated with the odds of resignations, with a 1% decrease in the odds of support staff resigning with each additional year of age⁷.

Imogen Schofield, Director of Clinical Research at CVS, said: “Support staff are integral members of the team.

"These key roles contribute to the efficient and effective functioning of a veterinary practice.

"Despite the important roles of support staff, little research exists on these team members and there is no data describing reasons for their attrition.

“This research was done to help the wider industry to understand how we can reduce support staff resignations.

"It aims to identify demographic, payroll and engagement factors associated with resignations.

"We believe it adds valuable insights to previous survey-based research by organisations such as the British Veterinary Receptionist Association.

“Reflecting on our research from 2021, we have introduced a Zero Tolerance Policy to protect our colleagues against intrusive, offensive, violent or aggressive behaviour from clients.

"We have launched monthly interactive Receptionist Support Sessions, giving receptionists the opportunity to connect with their peer network, share experiences and ideas, and feel supported.

"And we are now focussing on developing our support staff through creating new Receptionist and Patient Care Assistant Career Pathways.” 

References

1. Schofield I, Jacklin B. Client and employee engagement measures predict resignations of veterinary support staff: An analysis of UK companion animal practice data. Vet Rec. 2024 Jun 9:e4268. doi: 10.1002/vetr.4268. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38852995.
2. Those who remained at, or resigned from, their practice between 1st January to 31st December 2021
3. (Odds ratio = 0.98; 95% CI 0.97 – 1.00; 0.012)
4. (Odds ratio = 0.99; 95% CI 0.99 – 1.00; p < 0.001)
5. (Odds ratio = 2.37; 95% 1.38 – 4.07; p = 0.002).
6. (Odds ratio = 0.92; 95% CI 0.90 – 0.95; p < 0.001)
7. (Odds ratio = 0.99; 95% CI 0.98 – 1.00; p = 0.017)

The RSPCA has reported a dramatic increase in the number of cats being abandoned.

The number of abandonments reported to the RSPCA was 10,610 in 2010, a 28% increase on the number reported in 2009 (8,310), and a 40% increase on the number in 2008 (7,609).

The charity received 205 reports of cats being shot in 2010, more or less the same as the year before. However, the charity says anecdotal reports suggest the number of cats being attacked (including being set upon by dogs or thrown from buildings) is increasing.   

RSPCA chief veterinary officer, Alastair Macmillan, said: "The news of massive rises in abandonments and other attacks is alarming and shows a frightening trend in cat abuse and neglect. We don't know why we are seeing such increases and hope that people are not starting to see cats as worthless things which can be targeted with weapons or just dumped when people don't want to care for them anymore".

The British Safety Council has launched a new qualification to help people who drive as part of their work stay safe on the roads.

According to the organisation, the Level 2 Award in Safe Driving at Work provides work drivers with key knowledge of the hazards and risks associated with driving and equips them with valuable guidance on the measures available for reducing these risks, such as vehicle inspection, behaviour and defensive driving.

According to estimates from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), up to a third of all road traffic accidents in Britain involve someone involved in work-related activity. In 2013, according to government figures, 1,713 people died on the road, with the total number of casualties standing at 183,670.

The Ofqual-regulated qualification, which is designed to be delivered by employers or training organisations, instructs learners on a range of topics including the particular risks associated with vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians, the importance of regular vehicle safety checks and how to adapt driving style in response to changes in driving conditions or the actions of others.

Alex Botha, the British Safety Council's Chief Executive, said: "Driving can be a risky activity, a fact borne out by the high number of injuries and fatalities that occur annually on our roads.

"However, simple steps can be taken by employers and drivers to manage and reduce this risk. Our new Level 2 Award in Safe Driving at Work provides learners with all the essential knowledge to help them stay safe on the roads.

"Learners can expect to leave the qualification with a thorough knowledge of the main risks posed by driving - whether to themselves or other road users - and how to reduce them.

"Once registered with us, employers or training centres deliver the training using the high-quality teaching and student materials provided. Qualifications are assessed through a 45-minute multiple-choice examination that can be either taken online or on paper.

"This is a stand-alone qualification designed for delivery as a short course. It is also well-suited for integration into wider vocational programmes of study or, for example, as part of an induction programme. Students need no former knowledge or experience, so can come from a diverse range of educational and employment backgrounds.

"Safer driving habits should also feed through into workers' personal lives, providing employers with a valuable corporate social responsibility tool to help make our roads safer in and out of work."

Chris Tufnell has been invested as the President of the RCVS for 2016/17 during RCVS Day 2016, which took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects last week.

Chris has been an elected member of Council since 2009 and, during this time, has served on the Education Committee, the Examinations Appeal Committee and the Operational Board as Chair of the Education Committee and Junior Vice-President.

He graduated with a veterinary degree from the University of Glasgow at the relatively advanced age of 30 having first attained a degree in Agricultural and Environmental Science from the University of Newcastle. Following graduation he worked in a mixed practice in Herefordshire before buying an equine and companion animal practice in West Berkshire, which currently employs five veterinary surgeons and five support staff.

In his maiden speech, Chris called on veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to be proud of themselves as people who are committed to the welfare of animals in their care and to not be so hard on themselves.

He also outlined several areas that he would like to prioritise during his presidential year. These included delivering the priorities set out in the Vet Futures Action Plan, exploring bringing veterinary paraprofessionals into the College’s regulatory remit, driving forward the College’s international profile and dealing with blame and fear culture in the profession.

He said: "I’ve seen first-hand in Africa and India what the delivery of veterinary care can do for the welfare of animals in these regions and the wellbeing of people that frequently depend upon them. As one of the richest nations in the world we will further investigate what we can do, through knowledge transfer and support, to help raise the standards of veterinary care in developing countries.

"Sadly we often hear that there are vets and nurses who live in fear of the RCVS. This is something of which I am personally ashamed. Being particularly mindful of the role that fear and anxiety play in mental health, I will do everything I can to replace this fear... I will encourage all hardworking vets and nurses, whichever field they are in, to wear their [MRCVS] ‘badge’ with pride. Feel good about what you do, feel great about what you do."

Chris’ first official duty upon receiving the presidential chain of office from outgoing President Dr Bradley Viner, was to welcome the new Junior Vice-President Professor Stephen May. He also praised Bradley for his calm authority, humour and wisdom throughout his year as RCVS President.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has accepted an application for restoration to the RCVS Register by Gordon Lonsdale, who had been struck off in March 2004 for illegally delegating acts of veterinary surgery to insufficiently qualified members of his practice staff.

At the initial Inquiry, Mr Lonsdale, who formerly worked as a sole practitioner in Shropshire, had admitted three separate charges of serious professional misconduct. These included allegations that he had instructed nurses and support staff to undertake dental extractions, dog and cat castrations, the removal of tumours or masses, the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia, lancing abscesses and suturing wounds.

At yesterday's hearing, the onus was on Mr Lonsdale to satisfy the Committee that he was fit to be restored to the Register, not least in view of his former health problems and the eight-year period for which he had been off the Register.

He provided the Committee with evidence of undertaking continuing professional development, including 130 hours of online courses and seven weeks of seeing practice, letters of endorsement from former clients and testimonials from friends and former colleagues.

The Committee accepted Mr Lonsdale's evidence that he had successfully addressed his alcoholism, which it recognised as being a contributory factor to his poor decision making in an isolated working environment. He assured the Committee of his intention that, should his application be successful, he intended to work only in a multi-handed, rather than single-handed, practice in future.

The Committee found him to be an honest and frank witness who had made a credible attempt to refresh his small animal practice knowledge; it was satisfied that he accepted the findings of the original hearing and that he had put the welfare of animals at risk, and it noted his expression of remorse.

In considering Mr Lonsdale's application, the Committee made a number of recommendations, including that he should register for the RCVS Professional Development Phase, undertake certain parts of the RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, restrict himself to his recognised areas of competence, investigate communication courses run by the Veterinary Defence Society and continue with the mentoring programme provided by the Veterinary Surgeons Health Support Programme. Mr Lonsdale stated that he was willing to follow all of these recommendations.

Professor Peter Lees, who chaired and spoke on behalf of the Disciplinary Committee, concluded: "In these circumstances, we do not consider that any further period of erasure would be of benefit either to the public or the veterinary profession. Therefore, we direct the Registrar to restore Mr Lonsdale's name to the Register."

The RCVS has announced that it is to trial a new alternative dispute resolution scheme for users of veterinary services who have complaints which aren't serious enough to call into question a veterinary surgeon or nurse's fitness to practice.

The College says that although it is obliged to investigate all complaints, currently it can only deal with the most serious of complaints raised against a veterinary surgeon's or registered veterinary nurse's fitness to practise. This means that many of the 800 or so complaints received every year by the College's Professional Conduct Department are closed with no further action.

Nick Stace, RCVS Chief Executive Officer and Secretary, said: "It was clear from our consultations last year for the First Rate Regulator initiative that many animal owners who had made complaints were dissatisfied and frustrated with the fact that we were unable to take their, often very legitimate, concerns any further.

"It is for this reason that we decided to launch a trial in order to determine how we could develop an alternative scheme that, through conciliation, would try and resolve these disputes in a way that would be acceptable to both parties.

"Although this trial is small-scale we hope that it will provide the framework for a permanent ADR scheme which I believe would both increase consumer confidence in the profession and help maintain and preserve its reputation.

"We hope that the profession will actively support the trial, and any future scheme, as a way of resolving those intractable disputes which we know can hang over veterinary surgeons and practices and that they recognise that, ultimately, what is good for the consumer can be good for the profession."

The trial will be administered by the Ombudsman Services, an independent and not-for-profit complaint resolution service, and limited to no more than 150 concerns raised about veterinary surgeons in regards to the treatment of a small animal. In most cases concerns referred to the trial will have no arguable case for serious professional misconduct. The trial is free to the users and voluntary, and consent will be sought from both parties before the concern is referred to the Ombudsman Services. The costs of the trial will not exceed £120,000.

Recommendations will be determined through conciliation between both parties and the Ombudsman Services will only be able to suggest, rather than impose, a solution that each party is entitled to accept, or not. Solutions could include, for example, financial accommodation up to the small claims court limit of £10,000 (although the average recommendation is around £100), the issuing of an apology or other practical action to remedy the situation.

The Ombudsman Services will be assisted in its investigations by veterinary advisers who will provide guidance on clinical and other veterinary matters.

The results of the trial, which will end in May 2015, will be presented at the June 2015 meeting of RCVS Council where steps will be considered for the development of a permanent scheme.

More details about the trial can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/adr

Veterinary skincare company, Laboratoire de Dermo-Cosmétique Animale (LDCA) has extended the use of Dermoscent Essential 6 spot-on and Essential Mousse to include small mammals.

Essential 6 spot-on is designed to moisturise the skin and strengthen its barrier function to help manage kerato-seborrhoeic disorders (dandruff, bad odours, dry or greasy coat, excessive hair loss) and atopic dermatitis in ferrets, rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and gerbils.

Essential Mousse is a rinse-free and soap-free repairing cleanser, used to cleanse and deodorize the animal as often as necessary. In particular, the company highlights its application in clinic, for cleaning up after anal gland expression, incontinence or vomiting, for use in animals that cannot be bathed, and as a customer courtesy before discharge.

The complete Dermoscent range, including the new small mammal products, is available in the UK through Vet Direct. 

Henry Schein stocks the 4 variants for cats, dogs and small mammals of Essential 6 spot-on. 

More information can be found at the Dermoscent website www.dermoscent.com, where visitors can access clinical studies and watch Wayne Rosenkrantz’s webinar: "Current Treatment Options for Canine Atopic dermatitis". 

BEVA has announced that the theme for this years Congress, which runs from 11th-14th September 2024 at the ACC in Liverpool, will be 'One Medicine'.

The full BEVA Congress programme is now live and super early bird tickets are available from 4th March, saving member delegates up to £200.

The one medicine thread will run through the medicine and orthopaedics and sports medicine streams as well as feature in the Peter Rossdale Plenary Lecture.

BEVA President Roger Smith said “There is much to learn from the human side as well as from what we do as vets.

"We have invited five human medical experts to make some comparative links with human medicine in their presentations.

"Bringing a different angle in this way will help predict what the future holds and advance what we do in the equine veterinary sphere.”

The full programme includes more than 90 hours of live and on-demand CPD covering almost every aspect of equine medicine, surgery and practice. 

The first day will commence with an opening address from Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell during which she will share her thoughts on maximising performance. 

Other highlights include:

• John Hickman Memorial Lecture Dean Richardson, Professor of Equine Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and Chief, Large Animal Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, will be flying in from the US to share his considerable knowledge of equine fracture management. 
• Peter Rossdale Memorial Lecture will see Professor Andy Carr, a research-active orthopaedic surgeon in human medicine at Oxford University, discussing the evidence-base for the treatment of tendinopathy.
• An expanded stream for veterinary nurses will include a critical care workshop, practicals on bandaging, casting and suturing and a session on neurodiversity in practice. 

Individual super early bird BEVA members prices are £524 for vets and £144 for vet nurses for all three days (with concessionary available for those in their first three years of graduation or earning less than £25,000).

Day tickets and practice passes are also available.

Super early bird ends on Wednesday 29 May 2024. 

www.bevacongress.org 

The RVC has published - open access - the results of a study investigating the effects of the pandemic on puppies bought in 2020. 

The study¹ took the form of an online survey of over 5,500 owners, which exploring the the early socialisation, health and behaviour of ‘pandemic puppies’ purchased in 2020 compared to 2019 puppies.

The study found that puppies bought during the pandemic in 2020, in comparison to pre-pandemic in 2019, were more likely to have been ‘designer crossbreeds’, for example a Cockapoo or Cavapoo, instead of Kennel Club registered purebred dogs.

The 2020 cohort of pandemic puppies were also more likely to already hold a pet passport at purchase, indicating they may have been imported from Europe – perhaps illegally – to meet the greatly increased demand and prices for puppies.

Amongst the positive findings was the fact that many of the health and socialisation experiences examined didn’t vary significantly between puppies purchased in 2019 and 2020.

However, researchers say there was still a concern that 2020 ‘pandemic puppies’ were less likely than 2019 puppies to attend puppy training classes or to have experienced visitors to their homes (under the age of 16 weeks in both circumstances).

This, they say, means pandemic puppies may be more likely to experience stranger-related fear and anxiety and other behavioural problems related to insufficient socialisation, from being unable to attend puppy classes under 16 weeks of age; a critical period for the development of puppies.

In addition, those puppies sourced from Europe may have been transported over long distances without their mother, a stressful experience which the researchers say could cause problem behaviours in the future. 

Pandemic puppies may therefore need extra support from the veterinary profession, particularly those specialising in animal behaviour.

Dr Claire Brand, Researcher in Canine Welfare at the RVC said: “Despite many owners’ concerted efforts to raise their puppies as well as possible, some puppies missed out on key experiences of puppyhood, such as going to puppy classes, or experiencing visitors in their homes.

"This has potential consequences for the future behaviour of ‘pandemic puppies’ and so we are encouraging owners to seek out training and behaviour advice from accredited professionals so that these now adult dogs can learn to live happily in our post-lockdown world.”

Reference

1. Brand, C.L.; O’Neill, D.G.; Belshaw, Z.; Pegram, C.L.; Stevens, K.B.; Packer, R.M.A. Pandemic Puppies: Demographic Characteristics, Health and Early Life Experiences of Puppies Acquired during the 2020 Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK. Animals 2022, 12, 629. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/5/629