According to a survey of 2,000 dog owners by Burgess Supadog Sensitive, 18% of women say they speak to their dog more than their partner or husband.

Not only that, but it seems the older you are, the more likely you are to strike up a conversation with the dog: 21 per cent of respondents aged 45-54 said they talked to their dog more than their partner as opposed to 10 per cent of 18-24 year olds.

Other findings from the survey included:

• 62% of dog owners admitted to buying presents for their pet
• 42% take time off work to be with their dog when it is ill
• 36% let the dog sleep on the bed
• 34% leave the television or radio on for the dog in their absence
• 2/3rds of owners claimed to be aware of their pet's emotional state, and able to identify whether they were happy or sad, hungry or tired.
• 23% of owners said their pet preferred action programmes on TV, as opposed to 8% that said they preferred horror and only 3% that preferred sci-fi (this is getting silly).

VetIT is launching a new suite of practice management software this month, which it claims will wipe out IT support worries while also giving vets secure access to their records wherever there's an internet connection.

Designed for practice-based and mobile vets, its developer says the near-universal access of the system will make VetIT ideal for the progressive and forward-thinking veterinary practice, particularly those with multiple locations.  Early clients are already seeing the benefits of the system, which has been four years in development.

VetIT's Tony Houghton said: "The software offers practices a host of new features, all of them designed to increase usability, enhance revenue, reduce running costs and eliminate IT concerns. And because the new system has been developed in partnership with a well-established veterinary practice, VetIT sees and does things from a vet's perspective.

"During the development phase, our practice partner told us that existing packages were unwieldy - whether in their day-to-day operation, the ability to see and share data, or the 'back office' administration required. So we designed VetIT from scratch, to work in the most user-friendly manner."

According to Mr Houghton, the most significant difference is in how the software works - and in recognising that most practices expect IT systems to 'happen' in the background, rather than devouring precious time.  "Existing packages are physically located in your practice - usually on a dedicated server, requiring daily back-ups and maintenance.

"VetIT, conversely, is a 'web-hosted solution' - like Sage Online or for that matter, Facebook - which means it's accessible to users wherever there's a browser and an internet connection: main or branch practice, home or out in the field.  Log in from anywhere and you'll always see the same data.

 "Practice data is held securely at a remote location and, with automatic back-up systems, some of the biggest worries about onsite IT systems - theft, fire, flooding and protection from computer viruses - are removed immediately.

"In the event of system maintenance or issues, customers talk to a friendly, UK-based support and development team, who can access and modify the system in real time; practices won't have to wait for an engineer to attend.  In fact, we have a very content practice in Oman now running the system; the installation and set-up has all been carried out from a distance."

By removing the 'IT headache', Mr Houghton says practices choosing VetIT will be able to run their businesses more effectively, while developing closer, more valuable relationships with customers.

He said: "The web-based system allows vets' customers to log-in to 'their' VetIT, where they can check records, pay bills, or place orders. Practices can also maintain and build a relationship with customers via e-mail and SMS reminders of appointments, check-ups, treatments due and so on."

As for running costs and pricing, Mr Houghton cites pre-launch studies showing the potential for productivity gains in practices deploying VetIT, while the system's clear pricing - from low-cost start-up practices to corporate licensing for multi-site operations - gives peace of mind with smooth, predictable costs through the system's life.  "You don't have to buy expensive computer hardware like servers and back-up systems, and pay-as-you-go pricing eliminates up-front software licensing costs."

Mr Houghton says users in so-called 'notspots' - areas of the country where broadband connections run at less than 2Mbps or are non-existent - need not feel left out, either.  "We've designed the system to be as fast as possible, with no heavy data-transfer requirements.  In fact, data transfer within the system is so well optimised that it will even work with a dial-up connection or mobile broadband."

More information about VetIT is at http://www.vetit.co.uk/, or contact Nick Cole.

Hampshire-based Anderson Moores has launched a full-time dermatology service after being joined by Hilary O’Dair, an RCVS advanced practitioner in small animal dermatology. 

Hospital director David Walker said: “Ewan Ferguson has been providing our dermatology service for many years and with Hilary joining him, we will now be able to provide a full-time service to support our referring vets, their clients and pets.

He added: “We are really delighted that Hilary is joining the dermatology team at Anderson Moores. Her passion for dermatology is infectious and with a particular interest in chronic ear disease, I’m sure she’s going to be very busy!”

Hilary has been a past Board member and organiser of the scientific meetings for the British Veterinary Dermatology Study Group, a member of the In Practice editorial board for 20 years and a past chief examiner for the RCVS Small Animal Medicine Certificate. She continues to act as a mentor for the BSAVA PGCertSAM course and as an assessor for the RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Dermatology. 

Hilary has worked in first opinion and referral clinics around the south west, including running her own dermatology referral service within several veterinary practices. From 2018 to 2021, she had been working as lead clinician in dermatology at Langford Vets (University of Bristol). 

Hilary said: “I’m very excited to be joining the fantastic team at Anderson Moores and really looking forward to helping make a difference with the new dermatology service we’ll be offering.

For more information, visit www.andersonmoores.com.

Veterinary nurse Beverley Burnett has launched North East CPD, a new CPD provider in the North East of England.

Beverley said: "It's not always time- or cost-effective to have to travel far and wide for courses, sometimes overnight, leaving surgeries short-staffed, and what with increasing travel costs, I decided to provide courses further North.

"Courses for both veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses start in October. Our lecturers are all very experienced professionals, qualified to the highest standard within their chosen speciality, giving you the opportunity to receive only interesting and up-to-date courses.

"Our aim is to help you develop your knowledge and skills, whilst enjoying a relaxed and friendly environment, at an affordable rate."

To find out more about current and future courses, and how to book, visit http://www.ne-cpd.co.uk/ or email: info@ne-cpd.co.uk

North East CPD is curently offering a 10% discount on your first booking!

A group of 100 farm vets and staff from Merial Animal Health have walked over 26,000 miles, more than twice the length of the Great Wall of China, in a steps challenge that raises money for charity Farm Africa.

The challenge is part of Merial’s #CALFMATTERS calf pneumonia vaccination awareness campaign.

In total, the group aims to walk over 70,500 miles and raise £15,000 for Farm Africa, a charity which helps farmers and communities in developing countries by giving the advice and products they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

So far the challengers have covered one fifth of their total target, and completed the equivalent of several iconic distances including the Appalachian Trail, Lands End to John O’Groats, and ‘virtually’ crossed entire countries including Australia, China and Japan.

The participants have committed to the challenge by upping their physical activity. Merial has provided them with Fitbit fitness trackers to record their daily steps, which count towards the virtual teams’ total progress. The goal is 141 million steps in 20 weeks.

Robert Smith MRCVS from Farm First Vets is one of the highest steppers of the group. He recently scaled Ysgyryd Fawr (The Big Skirrid), one of the Black Mountains in Wales’ Brecon Beacons, for the challenge. He said: "I used to think of myself as a coiled spring ready for action, but the steps challenge has forced me to realise there is plenty of scope to increase my activity levels significantly. Hopefully when it is all over I will see the benefits and feel physically fitter for it."

Robert has taken the challenge one step further by encouraging his wife, two daughters, and Farm First Vets practice staff to join him in the challenge, with an added incentive. Between now and the BCVA Congress on 19^th October, Farm First Vets will donate £50 to Farm Africa for every member of Robert’s team who completes the #CALFMATTERS challenge. Additionally, for every member of staff that achieves an average of 10,000 or more steps per day, the practice will donate £50 to XL Vets’ and BCVA 50^th Anniversary charity, Send a Cow.

If you want to support those taking part in the challenge, you can do so at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/calfmatters.

Veterinary nurse Remi Onabolu, who is currently studying to become a veterinary surgeon, has joined forces with JHP Recruitment on a new initiative to improve diversity and attract more individuals from BAME backgrounds into the veterinary profession.

Together, they're producing an educational video to be distributed and used by registered career advisers across the Southwest of England, and subsequently across the rest of England.

Remi qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in London as a registered veterinary nurse in 2019 and then applied to start the graduate Veterinary Medicine programme at the same university.

She said: “I didn’t quite get the grades to study to be a vet straight away, but I always knew that I wanted to focus on a surgical career path and having gone through the university application twice, I want to help other students realise that they too can pursue a career as a vet or vet nurse.

“I met the managing director of JHP Recruitment, Justin Powlesland, at a networking event and explained how keen I was to help more people realise that there is more than one way to become a veterinary professional and to encourage school age children not to dismiss a veterinary career from an early age.

Justin said: “We have employed a production company and are now looking for a location to film it.

"Ideally, we need a teaching hospital to offer us some space for a day, as we want to set our interview with Remi in a clinical setting, where there is plenty of equipment to see.

"We are hoping to film this summer and are appealing for help to find a location.

“The video will tell Remi’s story about the hurdles she has faced and overcome to ultimately study to become a vet, it will also show students where the veterinary industry can take them and the different roles and routes to study that are available.

"As well as the video, a downloadable PDF version will be created, which are both great resources for career advisers that we will also share across social media.”

Remi added: “I really hope that what we are doing will encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to consider going to into higher education to start a career in veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing – that’s the ultimate goal.”

Any teaching hospital that can help with a filming location is being asked to contact Justin via email Justin@jhprecruitment.com or to call him on 07506 981 354.

The RCVS Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee has suspended Gwent-based veterinary nurse Samantha Giles from the Register for two months after she failed to respond to repeated requests to provide her CPD records.

At the outset of the hearing, Ms Giles admitted that between 1 August 2012 and 21 June 2016 she had failed to respond to reasonable requests from the RCVS to share her CPD records – these requests amounted to 11 letters, two emails and three telephone calls. Of these attempts to contact Ms Giles, she responded to just one email. This was in May 2016 in which she issued an apology (and an explanation that she had moved address) and offered to provide certificates proving that she had undertaken CPD – despite the fact that no such evidence could in fact be produced.

During the proceedings the RCVS asserted that Ms Giles had failed to comply with several crucial aspects of the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses – namely that all members of the profession are expected to undertake at least 45 hours of CPD over a rolling three-year period in order to keep their professional skills and competences up-to-date, that these CPD records should be provided upon request and that members of the profession must comply with reasonable requests from the RCVS.

In her evidence Ms Giles said that she knew she should have responded to these requests but admitted that she did not originally regard the requests as important and thought that the matter would 'go away' if she did not respond. When it became clear that this was not the case she said she found it difficult to face up to her obligations. She also admitted that her failures to respond were unprofessional and that she now has an appreciation of the importance of undertaking CPD in terms of keeping up with changing practices and advances in veterinary and nursing practice.

Having found the charges against her proved and finding her guilty of disgraceful conduct, the Committee then considered its sanction against Ms Giles. The Committee took into account the seriousness of Ms Giles' failings in that she made repeated decisions not to comply with requests from the RCVS over a protracted period of four years. 

Professor Alistair Barr, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: "Your failures show, inevitably, a disregard for the regulatory responsibilities of the RCVS to police veterinary nurses' obligations to fulfil their CPD requirements."

He added: "The RCVS can only seek to ensure compliance with those obligations at one step removed, namely by requesting information from its registrants that they have complied with their CPD obligations. They are in this respect, therefore, heavily dependent on the cooperation of registrants to provide full, honest and prompt responses to their reasonable requests for confirmation of their compliance. It is that which has been sorely absent in this case."

The Committee heard mitigating evidence on behalf of Ms Giles including witness statements and letters from current and former colleagues which complimented her communication skills with work colleagues and animal owners and in which it was accepted that she is a "valued member of the veterinary nursing profession."

The Committee also recognised that she had shown insight into her failings, that she had not attempted to excuse the failures to respond to the RCVS and had been making efforts to keep records of her CPD.

However, the Committee decided that a suspension from the Register would be the most appropriate sanction. Professor Barr said: "The mitigation that has been advanced on your behalf has been considered by the Committee and that has served to reduce the period of suspension that a bare account of the facts pertaining to the charge laid against you might suggest is appropriate.

"In the result that mitigation has persuaded us that we would be acting consistently with our public duty by imposing a period of suspension of two months. In imposing that sanction we have noted the evidence as to your professional competence and your other professional qualities. The Committee trusts, therefore, that once you have served your period of suspension you will return to the practice which you say you love."

The Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has suspended a veterinary surgeon from the Register for nine months for convictions regarding docking puppies' tails and driving offences, and for failing to obtain a client's consent to treatment or explore other treatment options.

At the conclusion of the four-day hearing, Dr Adetunji Ayinla Jolaosho, formerly principal veterinary surgeon at City Vet Clinic in Syston, near Leicester, was found unfit to practise following two convictions for tail docking plus 17 driving and related offences, which also brought the profession into disrepute. 

They further found that he failed to obtain consent to remove tissue from Jemma, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier owned by Mrs Hill, and to discuss a reasonable range of treatment options with her, and that this also amounted to serious professional misconduct.

In December 2008, Mrs Hill brought Jemma to Dr Jolaosho to have a lump on her flank drained.  Mrs Hill said she made it clear that she had limited finances and nothing other than this treatment should be done without her consent.  Dr Jolaosho undertook a biopsy and removed tissue. He told the Committee that he asked his practice manager to contact Mrs Hill and obtain her consent, however, this was not consistent either with the clinical records or a letter sent to Mrs Hill in December 2008. 

Caroline Freedman, Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee said: "The Committee is satisfied that Dr Jolaosho did not seek to obtain consent from Mrs Hill before he decided to carry out exploratory surgery. It does not consider that there was any attempt to explore treatment options with Mrs Hill before the surgery other than draining the mass."

On 16 June 2009, Dr Jolaosho pleaded guilty at Market Harborough Magistrates Court to two offences of docking the tails of Rottweiler and Doberman puppies.  He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay court costs of over £3,000.  During 2003 to 2008, he was also convicted of 15 driving and related offences and twice of obstructing a police officer.

At the outset of the hearing, Dr Jolaosho admitted his criminal convictions, telling the Committee of his difficulties following the death of his wife in October 2002 and subsequent sole responsibility for his three teenage children.  He also said that the tail docking resulted as an oversight on his part and that as the puppies were docked within five days of birth, there were no welfare issues.  He emphasised that he had not carried out tail docking since being visited by the RSPCA in July 2008.  He also drew to the Committee's attention the fact that, until 2003, he had been of good character.

The Committee accepted that for at least part of the period in question he was suffering from emotional problems following his wife's death, and his continuing financial responsibility for two of his children.

It was however, concerned, that having received a custodial sentence for driving whilst disqualified, he committed further driving offences on release. Nor did they accept that the tail docking was an oversight: in 2006 the RCVS advised Dr Jolaosho to comply with the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct and not dock dog's tails unless for "truly therapeutic or prophylactic reasons." In view of the seriousness of the charges admitted and proved, the Committee concluded that a  period of nine months suspension from the Register would be a proportionate penalty.

Mrs Freedman said: "The primary purpose of the sanctions is not to punish but to protect the welfare of animals, maintain public confidence in the profession, and declare and uphold proper standards of conduct." 

She added: "Bearing in mind the financial consequences of the suspension of Mr Jolaosho, the Committee does not consider that any useful purpose would be served by imposing a longer period of suspension. However, Mr Jolaosho should be aware that any further convictions or failure to observe the College's Guidelines are likely to lead to the removal of his name from the Register."

RCVS Knowledge has launched 'Managing Veterinary Medicines: Staying legal and promoting safety', a free online course for veterinary teams to improve their medication safety in practice.

'Managing Veterinary Medicines' teaches safe and responsible use of veterinary medicines and medicine regulations. 

RCVS Knowledge says it will also show you how to put systems in place that will reduce errors, improve patient outcomes and improve practice systems.

It's worth six hours of CPD.

The course has been produced in collaboration between RCVS Knowledge and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), and includes a range of webinars, podcasts and articles.

Executive Director at RCVS Knowledge, Chris Gush said: “In England alone, more than 1,700 people die yearly because of medication errors.

"While we don't know the true figures in veterinary medicine, we do know that 30% of errors reported to the VDS's VetSafe system are due to medication errors.

“That's why we think it's vital to have good robust systems in place in the practice dispensary and to use QI tools like guidelines, protocols, and checklists.

CEO of the VMD, Abi Seager said: “Managing Veterinary Medicines will help teams comply with legislation as well as keep patients, team members and clients safe when prescribing and dispensing medicine.”

The course will also prepare practices for a VMD inspection or an RCVS Practice Standards Scheme assessment.

https://learn.rcvsknowledge.org 

Vets with Horsepower, an intrepid band of motorbiking vets, has helped BEVA hit its target of £20,000 to buy generators for colleagues in Ukraine.

Vets with Horsepower is organised annually by Professor Derek Knottenbelt to help raise funds for equine and human charities around the world.

This year the group undertook an endurance motorbike trip of over 1600 miles: from the UK to Germany, across Scandinavia and back, hosting education events for equine vets along the way to raise funds for four charities including BEVA's Power for Ukraine.

BEVA Council member Alison Talbot, said: “Thanks to the generosity of equine vets in the UK we had just hit the halfway mark of raising £10,000, before Vets with Horsepower set off on their epic Scandinavian mission.

"We are so grateful for their donation of £9922 which means we can now buy another five generators, to help twice as many vets and horses in extremely difficult circumstances during enforced power cuts."

The generators will be transported to a collection point in Poland and then on to Ukraine in time for winter.

Donations to the BEVA Trust Power To Ukraine appeal can be made here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/powertoukraine 

Any surplus funds will be added to the general fund to support equids in Ukraine.

The RCVS has launched a research project into the extent to which veterinary surgeons are able to meet its requirement that steps are taken to provide 24-hour emergency cover.

The College's 24-hour Emergency Cover Working Party (24-7 WP) has been considering the ongoing practicality of the current requirement in the Guide to Professional Conduct, and whether it should remain, be removed, or be amended in some way. The research aims to build a sound evidence base on which a decision can be made.

"Changes in practice profiles and owner demands, health and safety issues, the desire for an improved work-life balance, veterinary and animal density... all these factors affect the ability of veterinary practitioners to meet our 24-7 requirement. The Working Time Regulations - which prescribe maximum working hours and minimum rest periods - have also affected practices' ability to run out-of-hours services," according to RCVS President Jill Nute. 

"However, we are frequently reminded by members that the profession is proud to offer a 24-hour emergency service to animals and their owners. There seems to be no single majority view in the profession, so we need to understand exactly how people are meeting the requirement before any changes are made," she says.

To ensure that the research is independent and representative, the RCVS has contracted a specialist market research agency, Cognition Market Intelligence.

The first step is to build a robust and unbiased questionnaire that takes account of all of the issues. To this end, in-depth interviews will be carried out over summer with a small number of veterinary surgeons from a range of different practice types, and across different gender/age/role categories.

The 24-7 WP will then meet in September to hear the findings and agree the questionnaire, which Cognition Marketing Intelligence will then use during autumn as part of a quantitative phone interview exercise with 440 veterinary surgeons, again covering a spread of individuals, practice types and geographies. The phone interview approach will ensure that the views of a range of different practitioners are heard, which is not always the case with a paper survey.

Should changes to the Guide to Professional Conduct be recommended by the Working Party on the basis of the findings, a consultation exercise may be undertaken. 

The RCVS President has sent a letter to all home-practising members to explain the activities. She has urged veterinary surgeons to assist the research team, saying "your contribution will make a difference".

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is urging the Prime Minister to make the announcement on antimicrobial resistance he promised the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday 7th May 2014.

In a reply to a question from Zac Goldsmith MP, David Cameron acknowledged that the problem of antibiotic resistance could have 'unbelievably bad consequences' leading to quite minor ailments not being properly treatable by antibiotics. The Alliance is urging the government to take urgent action to reduce antibiotic use in both medicine and farming.

The issue was further highlighted at this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) Conference when attendees confirmed that a catastrophic post-antibiotic age - in which minor, common infections could again become killers - is a real possibility unless urgent action is taken.

At the conference, the Netherlands' Minister of Health, Edith Schippers said: "People are getting seriously ill and are dying as a result of skin infections and diarrhoea. Common surgeries like knee replacement will become potential killers because of secondary infections that are untreatable. This is a global problem on a par with, if not more serious than, nuclear security, international terrorism and climate change."'

In a letter to David Cameron on 13th May 2014, the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics said: "It simply does not make sense to be feeding nearly half of all the antibiotics used in this country to farm animals, just so that they can be kept in high numbers indoors, often in conditions which carry with them the risk of high levels of disease."

The Alliance says the measures the Prime Minister is due to announce must include the urgent phase-out of the routine preventative use of antibiotics in farming.

Alison Craig, Campaign Manager for the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics said: "Our near European neighbour the Netherlands has phased out routine preventative use of antibiotics in farming by government taking strong and decisive action and industry taking voluntary measures - so why can't we do the same in the UK?"

In 2007 the Netherlands was one of the world's heaviest users of antibiotics in food animals. In 2009 the government decided to decrease farm use of antibiotics by 50%. This was achieved by 2013.

Alison continued: "It is alarming that, in this country, we don't even yet know how many people are already dying due to antimicrobial resistance. By contrast, in the Netherlands they know that there are 2 million hospitalisations per year due to resistance.

"If the Prime Minister knows that there will be 'unbelievably bad consequences' for families, why is his government being so slow about getting a grip on the problem?"