Ceva Animal Health has launched a marketing support pack to help vets raise awareness of pheromones as a solution to firework fears in cats and dogs.

The pack highlights the benefits of Adaptil and Feliway and Ceva’s ThunderShirt range of calming wraps.

It contains a wall/notice board display, a poster, an e-book and leaflet for owners, and a social media toolkit with graphics and pre-written posts for practices to use on their own social media channels.

The company is also running its fireworks waiting room display competition this month, in which the five veterinary practices who make best use of the materials for creating a display in their waiting room will win one of five £100 Love 2 Shop vouchers.

There are bonus points for practices that build a den in the waiting room to demonstrate the benefits of having a safe haven for dogs to retreat to when fireworks are going off.  

Veterinary professionals can post pictures of the dens and waiting room displays on the Adaptil Facebook page throughout October - www.facebook.com/AdaptilForDogs. 

Ceva is running commercial offers in the run up to the firework season, which practices are being encouraged to pass to their clients.

To download the fireworks marketing support pack go to http://bit.ly/3RxGLza. 

For further information, contact your Ceva territory manager or email cevauk@ceva.com.

The Society for Practising Veterinary Surgeons and the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative are encouraging practices to use the Vet Wellbeing Awards entry process as an opportunity to audit the wellbeing of their teams.

The Vet Wellbeing Awards, which are now in their fourth year, are designed to highlight positivity within the profession by sharing stories and initiatives from veterinary workplaces that demonstrate commitment to improving staff wellbeing.

The Awards also aim to support all practices to take a structured approach towards evaluating their own wellbeing support systems. 

This year, for the first time, feedback will be given to practices that enter about the areas where they are doing well and those where they can improve. The organisers hope that this change to the Awards process will encourage practices to think of wellbeing support as an area of continuous development. 

However, they also hope that practices will use the entry process as an opportunity to audit wellbeing even if they don't plan to enter. 

Liz Barton, SPVS Board Member, said: "Going through the entry form and evaluation process is valuable for every vet practice, even if they don’t feel they’re ready to enter the Awards just yet. Sitting down as a practice team for a few hours and working through the questionnaire is a highly useful exercise for facilitating celebrating areas where your practice is doing well for wellbeing, and also highlighting some areas for improvement for years to come."

"We recommend all practices get into the habit of going through the process annually and choosing areas to focus and improve on, to build towards better wellbeing across all areas for all staff."

There are three award categories that practices can enter depending on the number of employees:  small practice (15 or fewer full time equivalent team members (FTE)), medium practice (16 to 50 FTEs) or large practice (51 or FTEs).

The Award application form covers six aspects of work that, if well-managed, can promote wellbeing and reduce the risk of work-related stress, and the Award judges will be looking for evidence of commitment to enhancing wellbeing for each of these.

They are:

• Promoting physical and psychological health at work

• Relationships at work

• Communication at work

• Career development

• Workload and work scheduling

• Work demands

More examples of the type of evidence and initiatives that the Awards are looking for, together with the entry form, are available on the Vet Wellbeing Awards website: https://vetwellbeingawards.org.uk.

Winning and Highly Commended practices will receive a dedicated logo and certificate for display. The winners in each category will also receive two registrations and banquet tickets for SPVS/VMG Congress 2020.

In addition to the Wellbeing Awards, the RCVS and SPVS are also running the Practice Star nominations, which are open to all veterinary practices. 

These nominations aim to support practices to thank someone in their team who has gone the extra mile to make the practice a happy place to work, whether this be through introducing an initiative that makes everyone’s work life better, going out of their way to support a colleague going through a tough time, or just making everyone smile. 

To enter, practices need to send in their nominee’s name, job title and contact details, and a short paragraph explaining why they have been chosen. They will then receive a certificate congratulating them for being nominated as the practice’s very own ‘Practice Wellbeing Star’.

The closing date for both the Wellbeing Award entries and Practice Star nominations is Friday 22 November 2019. 

Merial has announced the launch of Viral Cats, a national campaign designed to educate one million cat owners about the importance of vaccination.

According to PDSA research, approximately 3.9 million cats in the UK are not up to date with their vaccinations and around 2.7 million cats have never been vaccinated¹.

As part of the campaign, Merial is pushing a series of animations to cat owners via Facebook, which link to the campaign website: www.viralcats.co.uk. The website offers detailed information about the importance of vaccination and interactive content including a 'risk checker' quiz.

The 'risk checker' quiz will ask owners a series of questions to find out whether their cat is up to date with its vaccinations. If not, they'll be directed to speak to their vet. If the vet recommends restarting the primary vaccination course, owners will be able to download an amnesty voucher – directing them to participating practices to get their pet back on track. For those who are up-to-date with their cat’s vaccinations, but want to help spread the word, there will be a competition and prize.

Aiz Baig, product manager at Merial, said: "This campaign is really exciting for Merial, offering us a great opportunity to reach and educate cat owners on the importance of vaccination, which of course will drive footfall into practices."

There are several ways veterinary practices can get involved with the campaign: 

1. Use Merial's animations on your social media channels and encourage your followers to share. All practices that get 100 shares by 31st May will be entered into a prize draw to win a coffee machine worth £500. Speak to your Merial Territory Manager to take part.
2. Like the Facebook page – Viral Cats UK
3. Run your own vaccination amnesty in practice to take advantage of the national offer (materials available via your Merial Territory Manager or via practicesupport.merial.co.uk)
4. You can also download the ‘Give Them Just What they Need’ Guide at practicesupport.merial.co.uk (where you will also find other exclusive materials or ask your regional Merial Territory Manager for a copy

To find out more about the campaign, or take part, contact your regional Merial Territory Manager.

References:

1. PDSA PAW Report 2014

The RSPCA has thanked the veterinary profession for its support as the charity endeavours to maintain an emergency-only service to animals through the coronavirus crisis.

RSPCA Chief Veterinary Officer, Caroline Allen, today praised the vets and nurses who are providing essential care to animals through the crisis.

She said: “This is an incredibly challenging time for the RSPCA, trying to advise the public and keeping emergency services going with fewer staff, strained resources and in line with Government advice.

"I know this is equally stressful and challenging for vet staff too and I wanted to say a huge thank you from everyone at the RSPCA for your hard work, dedication and support you are giving the RSPCA.

"Our call centre team and officer are working hard to maintain a frontline animal welfare service, but we know there may be occasions where we are unable to attend and this may impact demand on the local vet practice." 

Current guidance from the BVA defines emergency and urgent treatment as:

• Emergency: Immediate threat to life; significant impact on health/welfare and likely to deteriorate if left unmanaged. Previously these cases that would have been seen out of hours, or fitted in on the same day.
• Urgent: Significant impact on health/welfare but currently stable, or moderate impact but significant risk of deterioration.

Caroline continued: "There are some circumstances particular to the RSPCA, such as animals that have been subject to abuse or severe neglect, or injured/unwell unowned animals, that may not initially appear to be such an “emergency” in the traditional sense, but our officers will only be collecting them if there is considered to be ‘significant impact on health/welfare and likely to deteriorate if left unmanaged’ as covered by the BVA emergency criteria. We would greatly appreciate your support in ensuring we can protect the welfare of these animals.

"Our National Control Centre will also be following the guidance from the BVA and will be limiting, wherever possible, sending members of the public to vets. However, on occasions where there is a welfare need that would justify an essential journey, we will always ask members of the public to call practices first and follow their social distancing protocols.

"For vets who provide care for our shelters and private boarders we understand the support available will be limited, we will be producing further advice for our teams around options, including remote support. 

"We do understand and appreciate the current restrictions being put in place by the BVA and we do understand the very serious strain on practices and teams at this time and we hope that we can continue to work together during this unprecedented time."

Woodley Equipment Company has announced that Veterinary Parasep Faecal Filters are now available exclusively from the company.

According to the Woodley, the filters have been developed in conjunction with an independent leading veterinary Institution and offer an improved method of determining Worm Egg Counts (WEC) on cattle, sheep and horses. Flotation methods for WEC can require several Specific Gravity solutions to cover different parasites. The two common flotation methods, ‘Modified McMaster' and ‘Improved Modified McMaster', both use Saturated NaCL and are both catered for with Veterinary Parasep.

Woodley says the key advantages of the new filters are:

• Cleaner, safer method - The enclosed filtration environment keeps user contact with harmful vapours and aerosols to a bare minimum.
• No possibility of cross contamination - being single use and disposable prevents any possibility of sample carryover.
• More accurate and consistent results - Egg counts can be affected using traditional techniques, by unintentional inconsistent sample mixing.
• No laborious ‘clean up' of sinks, shaker bottles and sieves - All the filtration, mixing and shaking is performed inside the Veterinary Parasep tube.

For a more information about The Veterinary Parasep please email sales@woodleyequipment.com or call the customer service team on +44 (0) 1204 669033 ~ Option 1.

Alternatively, visit http://www.woodleyequipment.com/.

Vets Now Glasgow has launched a neurology and neurosurgery service.

The new service is being headed by Dr Katia Marioni-Henry.

Katia graduated from the University of Parma in 1995 and went on to do a PhD in Clinical Electrodiagnostic at the University of Turin and Scott-Ritchey Research Center in Auburn, Alabama.

Her early career was spent at various American universities, where she became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, with a subspecialty in Neurology and finally an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee.

Katia came to the UK to work as a consultant in neurology and neurosurgery for a number of large referral practices, before moving to the University of Edinburgh in 2013, where she started the neurology/neurosurgery service, building it from scratch to a nine-strong team.

Katia said: “This is absolutely the best place to be brought in an emergency, but previously we’d have to refer some cases elsewhere for conditions affecting the brain, peripheral nerves or the spine.

“Now some of these debilitating neurological conditions can be diagnosed and treated rapidly here without having to transport the animal.”

“With our CT scanner, for example, we can diagnose slipped discs quickly, especially in small breeds, and treat them surgically.

“And we can use it for brain scans if there is trauma or if we suspect a tumour or severe inflammation in the brain.

“We can do a lumbar tap to rule out inflammation of the central nervous system either on infectious or immune-mediated basis.”

A new study, led by academics at the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and published online in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, has investigated the occurrence of dog aggression towards people with a survey of UK dog owners.

Nearly 15,000 questionnaires were distributed to dog owners of which 4,000 were returned and used in the analysis.

The researchers found that:

• aggression towards unfamiliar people was reported more commonly by owners than aggression to family members.
• nearly 7% of owners responded that their dog barked, lunged, growled or actually bit when people came to the house
• 5% cent reported these behaviours on meeting people when out on walks. 
• by contrast, about 3% of dogs were suggested by owners to show aggressive behaviour towards family members. 

The study highlighted that the majority of dogs showing aggression do so in just one of these situations. Researchers say this indicates that the common tendency to categorise dogs as either generally 'safe' or 'vicious' is a misconception, and that most dogs show aggression as a learnt response to particular situations.  

Dr Rachel Casey, Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare, said: "Dog owners and members of the public need to be aware that any dog could potentially show aggression if it is anxious or feels threatened, even when it has never done so before.

"On the other hand, dogs which have shown aggressive signs in one situation are not necessarily 'dangerous' when in other contexts - an important consideration in the assessment of animals, such as in rehoming centres."

The study also compared the characteristics of those dogs reported to show aggression with those which had never done so. It was revealed that factors such as training classes attended, type of training method used, the sex and neuter status of dogs, the age category of owners, and the breed of dogs were all associated with the occurrence of aggression.

Different risk factors were found to be significant in statistical models examining aggression to family members and unfamiliar people. This suggests that different factors are important in the development of aggressive signs depending on the situation.

The research also highlighted that although general characteristics, such as breed type, are significant risk factors across large populations they explain only a small amount of the overall difference between aggressive and non-aggressive dogs. This suggests that it is not appropriate to evaluate the risk of aggressive behaviour in an individual dog using characteristics such as breed type. 

Reference

Human directed aggression in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris): occurrence in different contexts and risk factors, Rachel A. Casey, Bethany Loftus, Christine Bolster, Gemma J. Richards, Emily J. Blackwell, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, published online 11 December 2013. 

A Belfast veterinary practice has transferred into an Employee Ownership Trust after reading about Kent-based Pennard Vets doing the same in 2021.

Cornerstone Veterinary Clinic, which was founded by Peter Herold in 2011, currently employs a 15-strong team, who are all now practice owners and shareholders in the business.

Peter got the inspiration from reading about how Pennard Vets had become the world’s largest employee-owned practice in order to protect both its independence and core values.

He then contacted the directors at Pennard Vets, who helped guide him through the process.

Peter said: “After starting Cornerstone 11 years ago, we have developed a longstanding, loyal and dedicated team who are all very popular with our established client base across Belfast and beyond.

"I genuinely love Cornerstone, and so do our team and clients, and although I’m not ready to retire yet, the end of my professional life will come in the next decade, so I wanted to start planning for it.

“The obvious option would be to sell the practice to a corporate chain, but I knew that would change how we worked.

"There would be much more emphasis on profit levels, and we’d be forced to make decisions that we were uncomfortable with.

"We have an amazing team who are full of ideas about how to make Cornerstone even better and to guarantee a successful future, the practice needs to continue growing in a way that works for its people, our clients and their pets.

“When I read about Pennard Vets becoming an EOT, it immediately resonated with me, and I hoped it could be an option for Cornerstone.

"I then attended a webinar with speakers from Pennard Vets, and I kept in touch with them afterwards.

"They explained the set-up and how it benefits their team, as well as putting us in touch with specialists in EOTs.

"Ultimately it was Pennard Vets’ knowledge and enthusiasm that convinced me it was the right route for us.”

Peter added: “Our senior team at Cornerstone are all very skilled and share common values in relation to customer service, veterinary care and client charges, and it’s this ethos that makes us popular with clients.

“Making the business an EOT will ensure this continues by safeguarding the future of the business, whilst giving each member of the team the benefit of being a business owner without them having to buy in.

"It also means I can continue to work as a vet, but share the management side of the practice with the entire team who can help to make the important decisions, which is an exciting prospect for everyone involved.”

Matthew Flann from Pennard Vets said: “We became an EOT to maintain our independence and give everyone in our team both autonomy and a voice, as well as preserving our core values around compassion, client focus and continually improving everything we do.

"This came at a time when it’s increasingly difficult for vets to buy into practices and the traditional partner progression model no longer works, which makes EOTs even more appealing and a positive step for the profession as a whole.

“It’s been genuinely transformational for Pennard Vets, and we now regularly hear from practice owners who are exploring becoming an EOT.

"There are now several other successful businesses currently on the journey and when Peter contacted us, we were happy to offer our help and guidance.

"Cornerstone is a successful practice, with a highly skilled and dedicated team, so its independence is worth protecting, and becoming an EOT will give it a bright future.”

Voting has now opened in the 2018 RCVS Council election and eligible voters can now do so online or by paper ballot.

There are 10 candidates standing in this year’s elections, including four existing Council members eligible for re-election and six candidates not currently on Council. They are: 

• Mr David Catlow MRCVS

• Mr John C Davies MRCVS

• Dr Mandisa Greene MRCVS

• Miss Karlien Heyrman MRCVS

• Professor John Innes FRCVS

• Dr Thomas Lonsdale MRCVS

• Dr Susan Paterson FRCVS

• Mr Matthew Plumtree MRCVS

• Mr Iain Richards MRCVS

• Colonel Neil Smith FRCVS

Ballot papers and candidates' details have been posted to all veterinary surgeons eligible to vote and an email containing a link to a secure voting site unique to each member of the electorate has also been sent by Electoral Reform Services which runs the election on behalf of the College.

All votes must be cast, either online or by post, by 5pm on Friday 27 April 2018. 

This year the College invited all election candidates to produce a video in which they answered up to two questions submitted directly to the RCVS from members of the electorate. All videos have been published on the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/vetvote18) and YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/rcvsvideos).

Key question themes this year included recruitment and retention, the College’s concerns investigation process and veterinary education. The list of accepted questions has also been published on the RCVS website.

The biographies and statements for each candidate in the RCVS Council election can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/vetvote18.

Eleanor Ferguson, RCVS Registrar and Returning Officer for the election, said: "Last year we had a record number and proportion of the electorate vote in an RCVS Council election and we would once again stress the importance of voting to ensure that you have a say in the future direction of travel for the College and its policies."

Those who are eligible to vote but have not received either an email or ballot paper should contact Luke Bishop, RCVS Senior Communications Officer, on l.bishop@rcvs.org.uk.

A research project funded by The Horse Trust has discovered that a racehorse's performance does not markedly change after it has recovered from a tendon injury.

The research was led by Bryan O'Meara, who is in the final year of a three year clinical training scholarship funded by The Horse Trust.

Mr. O'Meara carried out the research at Donnington Grove Veterinary Surgery in Newbury, under the supervision of epidemiologist Dr Tim Parkin from University of Glasgow.

Tendonitis is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in racehorses, with a prevalence of 11-30%, according to earlier research.

Mr. O'Meara examined the clinical records and racing histories of 400 racehorses who had been treated for superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendonitis injuries over a five year period (2003-2008).

The race records of horses affected by tendon injury were compared with 400 matched control horses that had never suffered SDF tendon injuries.

The controls were horses training in the same establishment at the time of injury and of the same age and sex as the case horse.

The research looked at the performance of the racehorses in races before and after treatment for the injury, and at the performance of the control horses before and after the treatment date. The Racing Post Rating (RPR), which is published by the Racing Post after every race, was used as a measure of performance.

Mr. O'Meara found that there was no significant difference in RPR before and after the treatment date in case and control horses.

According to The Horse Trust, this result is unexpected as in vitro studies have found that healed tendon tissue has reduced elasticity due to the presence of scar tissue. This suggests that a horse with a healed SDF tendon would need to work its muscles harder to compensate and would therefore be expected to have lower performance.

Mr. O'Meara said more research is needed to back-up his finding that performance isn't significantly affected by tendon injury: "It could be that using Racing Post Rating to measure performance isn't sensitive enough to pick up a change in the horse's performance. However, it's encouraging that there's no marked change in performance after a horse has recovered from a tendon injury. These findings show that there's no need to give up on a horse that has a tendon injury - they can still come back and perform well, or can be used for other, less demanding riding activities."

The research also found that there was no significant difference between case and control horses when returning to racing and completing three races. Only after completing five races, or three years post treatment, was a significant difference found between case and control horses. This finding is a step towards developing a more accurate assessment of tendon treatment. Outcome after five races or three years post treatment is a better indicator of the outcome of treatment.

Mr. O'Meara said: "At the moment, some tendon treatments state their success as the percentage of horses that return to racing after treatment. However, we've shown that there's no significant difference between case and control horses at this time. At the moment, there are a myriad of treatments available to treat tendonitis. Hopefully this finding will be used in further research to learn which treatments are most effective."

Mr O'Meara's research also found a link between SDF tendon injury and the racehorse competing at its maximum performance level: the case horses were significantly nearer to their pre-injury maximum performance level in the race immediately before injury (compared to matched controls), suggesting that they were competing nearer their individual maximum performance level when the SDF tendon injury occured.

RCVS Council has agreed a 3% increase in the registration and retention fees for veterinary surgeons for 2019/20 which will now be submitted to the Privy Council for formal approval.

Fees will now be £340 for a UK-practising member, £170 for members practising outside the UK, £56 for non-practising vets under the age of 70, and free for non-practising vets over 70.

Restoration fees, charged in addition to retention fees, increase to £85 following voluntary removal, and £340 following removal for non-payment.

Lizzie Lockett, RCVS CEO, said: "This year we asked Council to agree a fee increase to help us prepare for unknowns such as Brexit, as well as fortify our proactive work to help support the professions.

"Over the past few years we have put increased resources into projects such as: Mind Matters, our mental health initiative; Vet Futures, our joint project with the British Veterinary Association; Vivet, our innovation hub; and our recently launched Leadership Programme. Unfortunately there has also been a rise in Disciplinary Committee hearings and we are having to allocate further funds to making our building fit for purpose, and so a small increase has been necessary.

"This still places us at the lower end of fees for regulatory bodies while providing a secure financial foundation."

The Royal Veterinary College has carried out the first ever open-heart surgery to treat a stenotic tricuspid valve in a dog.

The three-year-old Labrador, Mabel, suffered from congenital tricuspid dysplasia. She was referred to cardiology specialists at RVC Small Animal Referrals where her tricuspid valve was found to be completely fused in the middle, with just two very small openings for her blood to flow through. 

In a procedure that took a little over an hour, the RVC team examined and worked on the valve. The College reports that Mabel’s surgery was a success and her stenosis was relieved.

Mabel was subsequently found to have a moderate amount of regurgitation into the right atrial chamber, but after a few more days of additional monitoring at the RVC she was able to return home. 

The surgery was carried out by Professor of Small Animal Surgery Dan Brockman at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. He was assisted by a team of RVC specialists to provide pre and post-operative care, including a perfusionist, a team of three anaesthetists, two surgery nurses, three surgeons and a cardiology veterinary specialist-in-training. In addition, Professor of Veterinary Cardiology Virginia Luis Fuentes and veterinary specialist-in-training Dr Rosie Payne were members of the Cardiology Service’s investigation into Mabel’s condition.

RVC students were also involved in the Mabel’s initial examinations at the hospital, providing them with an insight into the procedure. The examinations included cardiac ultrasound using the newest generation of cardiac ultrasound equipment, which is able to capture 3D and 4D images. The new ultrasound scanner was funded in part by the RVC’s charity, the Animal Care Trust. 

After the surgery, the emergency and critical care (ECC) team and the Cardiology Service took over Mabel’s care, with Professor Brockman remaining involved. This saw up to four senior ECC clinicians, a number of veterinary specialists-in-training and half a dozen highly trained ECC technicians working in shifts around the clock to care for Mabel and ensure a good recovery.  

According to the RVC, there have been previous attempts by veterinary surgeons to open stenotic valves with balloon valvuloplasty. However, because it is very difficult to tear the stenotic valve, this approach has not proved very successful. There is also a high risk when putting canines onto bypass. Canines have fragile blood vessels, and cannulae need to be inserted into several of these vessels, creating a danger that a major vessel tears. 

Commenting on why the RVC team decided to perform this procedure at this point, and on Mabel, Dan said: "Lots of things fed into this decision. First and foremost, we had a patient whose pathology made surgery the best solution. I explained to the owner and was very honest that this procedure would be really breaking new ground. Based on what the human paediatric cardiac surgeons will do, and our limited experience of balloon-valvuloplasty suggests this is the best approach for these dogs

"The operation itself is risky, much worse than most other operations. In our hands, for this type of disease, we have about an 80% chance of getting them through the procedure. The owner has to gamble what life the dog has left against the promise of a more normal quality of life and life-span following the operation."

In relation to Mabel’s prognosis if the surgery had not been undertaken, Professor Luis Fuentes said: "It is likely that the signs of right-sided heart failure would have been more difficult to control. Her ability to exercise would have become less and less, and she would have also been at risk of having abnormal heart rhythms associated with the enlargement of the right atrium. Generally we expect them to develop more and more signs as the disease progresses. These are difficult cases to manage on a long-term basis with drugs. Her life expectancy would have been substantially reduced.

"I thought Mabel was almost a perfect candidate to have the procedure here as Dan has a lot of experience replacing tricuspid valves in dogs with tricuspid dysplasia. In those cases there is usually leaking, but Mabel’s case was unusual in that she has minimal leaking and she was most affected by the stenosis. That means you may not have to implant any additional valve structure."

Speaking two weeks after the operation, owner Annabelle Meek, from Melton Mowbray, said: "Mabel has just come back in from wandering around the perimeter of my garden for the first time since before the operation. It’s more than half an acre and she has been ambling around happily following a scent.

"I would like to thank absolutely everybody. It’s been an enormous team effort on all sides. Every single person I met at the RVC, from the man on the gate to all the hospital staff, was so friendly. After she came home Dan Brockman phoned me every day to see how she was doing. The RVC should be very proud of what they have done for Mabel."