National Veterinary Services has launched NVS Webshop, an online veterinary shop that practices can bolt on to their own website, or setup as a standalone online shop.
NVS says the shop, which is branded with your practice livery, includes the following features:
For more information visit: http://www.vet2pet.co.uk, email: salesandmarketing@nvs-ltd.co.uk or call 01782 770326.
The British Veterinary Association has appointed David Calpin as its new Chief Executive. David joins the BVA from Defra, where he was a Deputy Director and has held a number of senior management roles. David's policy responsibilities have included climate change, GM crops, sustainable land management, and, most recently, bovine TB. For a period last year David was Acting Director for Animal Health and Welfare in Defra.
David has been in the senior civil service since 2005, and has substantial experience of both staff and financial management. He spent two years working in Brussels representing the UK Government in EU negotiations, and has lived and worked in France, South Africa and Brazil. Prior to joining the civil service, David worked for Barclays Bank.
BVA Chairman Derek Williams said: "David's appointment comes at a very exciting time for the BVA as we respond to the challenges set out by our members in our membership research 'Your BVA, Your Say'. David has a proven track record as a senior manager, extensive experience of managing stakeholder relationships, and an excellent understanding of the political climate in the UK and Europe; all of which will ensure BVA continues to thrive and to represent members effectively."
David Calpin said: "I'm delighted to be joining the BVA. I've worked closely with the BVA in my previous roles and have been hugely impressed. I also know that no organisation can afford to stand still, and that the BVA needs to keep pace with changes in the veterinary profession.
"I'm really looking forward to the challenge of leading the BVA through a period of change to become an even more effective voice for the profession and providing services that members value. I have a lot to learn and I'm keen to get out and about to meet as many people as possible and to hear first-hand what the profession wants from the BVA."
The company has introduced a new online range of pack inserts for several of its key products including Vetoryl, Felimazole, Metrobactin and Thyforon so veterinary practices can download and print the latest pack inserts for the treatments.
The move will ensure that practices always have access to the most up-to-date information about the prescribed medication. Dechra says it will also save time as staff will not have to copy original documents from the pack.
The pack inserts will be available via www.dechra.co.uk and www.dechra.ie. In addition, Dechra has developed dispensing envelopes which are available at no charge from wholesalers in packs of 25.
Larry King, Marketing Manager, said: "Veterinary practices often dispense pharmaceuticals from bulk which involves having to copy original pack inserts for owners.
"By printing the online pack inserts, practices will no longer have piles of inserts to store and will be safe in the knowledge they are supplying the most up to date pack insert to their clients.
"When used together, the pack inserts and dispensing envelopes provide practices with an effective solution when dispensing from bulk."
The kit contains a guide to effective ear cleaning, an illustrated step-by-step instruction guide on how to administer the Canaural, and a diary and consultation pack so owners can engage with the diagnosis and treatment of their pet’s ear infection.
The Healthy Ears Combi Kit comes in a resealable wipe-clean bag and is available free of charge from veterinary wholesalers.
Dechra Brand Manager Claire Morgan said: "The new kit will give owners more confidence in the important role that they play in their pet’s ear health and encourage them to engage in the treatment plan, thereby supporting veterinary professionals in the cycle of care.
"As well as serving as practical storage for the products, it acts as a reminder to dispense CleanAural as well as Canaural, as the self-cleaning mechanism of the animal’s ears is often compromised by infection.
She added: "CleanAural does not compromise the antimicrobial activity of Canaural1 so they are perfect partners for maintaining healthy ears."
Free Healthy Ears Combi Kit can be ordered via your veterinary wholesaler.
Reference
The traditional method for detecting equine lameness is subjective, using expert visual evaluation of gait to identify the presence or absence and degree of asymmetries. The lame horse is described as having a disorder, defect or loss of function and this clinical diagnosis has associated welfare implications if the horse is still asked to perform.
The article explains how advanced computer technology is starting to change all this. Optic motion capture or the use of inertial measurement units (IMUs) is now enabling the detailed study and quantification of the horse’s gait; objective assessment against preset thresholds. The paper points out that while these digital systems can overcome the temporal and spatial limitations of the human eye they simply rely on one or a number of set gait parameters to decide about lameness and this can present obstacles.
Thresholds are forcibly based on a limited reference population, which doesn’t adequately reflect the millions of horses in the world. The individual environmental and mental conditions for each horse and its day-to-day gait variations are also not accounted for. On this basis to use the term ‘lame’ because a horse demonstrates a subtle gait alteration, causing it to fall below the threshold, could be inappropriate, particularly as it may not affect the horse’s welfare in any way.
Professor Celia Marr, Editor of the Equine Veterinary Journal said: "An important first step is for researchers and clinicians to start to discriminate clearly between 'asymmetry' and 'lameness' and not to use these as interchangeable terms when interpreting gait analysis data. Asymmetry is often, but not always, a hallmark of lameness, but is not a clinical term, whereas lameness is."
The new pass offers both physical and virtual tickets so that the practice rota doesn't have to stop any member of the team from attending.
BEVA says the new tickets also offer a saving of up to £113 per vet.
David Mountford, Chief Executive of BEVA said: “We know that not every vet at a practice can attend congress every year because someone is always going to have to stay behind and work.
"So, by offering a mix of physical and virtual tickets in the pass it means those staying at home to look after the practice can still benefit from the live stream as well as the six-month access to all the lectures afterwards.
"Congress always contains plenty of relevant and dedicated content for nurses, so the pass obviously includes nurse tickets too.”
Practice Passes are available for BEVA members in three packages: small (£599), medium (£1,333) and large (£2,666).
Individual early bird BEVA member prices are £499 for vets and £187 for vet nurses for all three days (with concessions available for those in their first three years’ post-graduation or on a lower salary).
Practice Passes and early bird tickets are available to purchase until Monday 1 August 2022.
Day tickets are also available.
Virtual tickets are £199 for vets and £40 for nurses.
For more information, or to book tickets, visit http://www.bevacongress.org
For veterinary surgeons and VNs who missed out on the BVDA 'Improving Periodontal Health' lecture tour last year, a further six have been organised for this autumn.
Speakers include Norman Johnston BVM&S, MRCVS, Ex President of the European Veterinary Dental College, John Robinson BDS (Lond) Dentist to the Veterinary Profession and Lisa Milella BVSc, MRCVS President of the British Veterinary Dental Association (BVDA). This year's events see the content extended to include resorptive lesions, fractured teeth and dental radiography with greater emphasis on feline oral care.
According to Lisa, the 2010 lecture series helped alert vets and VNs to the importance of oral health, benefitting both pet and practice. "It takes five years at vet school to qualify yet only three or four days are devoted to dentistry, so it's no surprise that many vets and VNs enter the profession with only a basic understanding of oral health.
"We know that four out of five dogs over the age of three show signs of periodontal disease but unfortunately many go untreated. This is mainly because the problems that this can lead to are not fully understood."
She added: "These seminars will not only help delegates to recognise early signs of oral disease but also offer practical guidance on how practices can educate pet owners in the importance of oral care."
Lisa believes that both practices and owners benefit from good oral hygiene programmes. "As a profession we need to do more to help educate pet owners in the value of good oral care. Practices should be talking to their clients from day one about preventative programmes, rather than wait until the damage is done."
The six UK events are:
The evening seminars, which are open to both vets and nurses, contribute two hours CPD and cost £35 per person and £25 for each subsequent delegate. A special group rate of £100.00 is available for any practice that wishes to send a group of four. For anyone wanting to reserve a place, please call the BVDA lecture tour reservation line centre on 01664 415 503.
DairyCo has announced the launch of a new programme designed to tackle the challenge of lameness on dairy farms.
The Healthy Feet Programme has been developed to provide a structured approach to assist vets and foot trimmers to work more closely with their farmer clients, to reduce the incidence of lameness on a permanent basis.
DairyCo product manager, Kate Cross said: "We've developed the programme to build on the DairyCo Mobility Score by introducing a programme that dairy farmers can undertake working with their vet who is a trained 'mobility mentor', to identify problems, risk factors and suitable intervention strategies on the farm. An action plan is then agreed to prioritise management practices that have a permanent impact on incidence of lameness."
The programme draws on the findings from the Bristol Healthy Feet Project, the New Zealand Healthy Hooves programme, First Steps and Claw Signals. As well as the valuable experience gained from the DairyCo mastitis plan. It has been designed to combine the best features of all these programmes and aims to build on the successful DairyCo Mobility Score.
Vets are invited to enrol for a two day CPD course, which will enable them to introduce the Healthy Feet Programme to their farmer clients and provide on-going support, assisted by a range of resources provided by DairyCo.
The first course is scheduled for June 2011
For further details please contact Kate Cross on 02476 478686 or email healthyfeet@dairyco.ahdb.org.uk
Vetoquinol has published a waiting room poster which highlights canine pain, to support Cimalgex.
Robert Simpson, Product Manager for Cimalgex said: "This poster aims to highlight that pain may not be obvious to pet owners and that signs which the owner may believe to be age related, for example stiffness, may actually be behavioural signs of pain. The most common sign of pain is a change in behaviour and so this is an area which we believe needs to be highlighted to the pet owner1.
"This new poster uses a strong image to catch the pet owner's attention which, when combined with its simple message, will prompt the pet owner to ask for further information from the veterinary practice regarding pain to ensure the overall wellbeing of their pet. This poster complements our client leaflet in helping the veterinary practice to assist the pet owner to spot signs of pain which may not be very obvious."
To find out more or to request a waiting room poster for your practice please contact your Vetoquinol Territory Manager or call 01280 825424.
1. Hellyer P. et al. AAHA/AAFP Pain Management guidelines for Dogs and Cats. J. AM Anim Hosp Assoc 2007; 43: 235-248.
Located in Wolverhampton, the new practice uses different lighting in different parts of the building: 'cool' for public areas such as the waiting room, 'comfortable warm' for the dog, cat and exotic wards and daylight for clinical areas. The LED system uses 60% less energy than conventional lighting and requires half the number of fittings. In addition, following research in the USA at Banfield, consulting rooms are fitted with dimmable lights to ease stress for patients and clients during euthanasia.
Other highlights include a specialist cat ward that White Cross says exceeds the iCatCare Cat Friendly Clinic requirements. The ward includes raised cat kennels that are carefully positioned so that cats can’t see each other, to further minimise stress-levels. There are also separate, sound-proofed wards for dogs and exotic pets.
To reduce anxiety in dogs and cats pre- and post-surgery, the practice uses pheromone diffusers and specially composed music played in the wards.
Managing Director, Tim Harrison said: "We’re delighted to launch our latest practice in Wolverhampton, which is our most environmentally-friendly yet. We’ve incorporated the most successful attributes from all of our 15 other UK practices into its design, and it’s immediately proving popular with clients and most importantly their pets."
Clinic Director James Millington says: "The facilities and attention to detail in this practice are the best I’ve ever seen. There’s no doubt this will translate into the quality of care that our clients receive and their pets deserve."
The first course will be overseen by Jodie Hughes, an RCVS and European specialist in anaesthesia and analgesia. The hospital’s inaugural resident will be Luisa Oliveira (pictured right), who earlier completed a rotating internship at North West Veterinary Specialists in Cheshire, and, more recently, an anaesthesia-specific one at NDSR.
Jodie said: “Luisa’s residency will comprise mainly the provision of anaesthesia to multiple animal species, ranging from the ‘simpler’ procedures to the most critical and complex, which we frequently encounter in our interventional cardiac procedures and emergency work.
“A significant component of the training will involve the management of pain, both in the acute setting (in the peri-operative period) and in the chronic setting, whilst dealing with our pain clinic patients.
“Luisa will also be trained in the management of emergency and critical care patients and will undergo rotations in other services to better grasp their requirements.
“As we work exclusively with dogs and cats, we will work in close collaboration with several other hospitals in the UK and continental Europe, to complement Luisa’s training with other species.
“As part of this, Luisa will be exposed to multiple advanced techniques, including ultrasound-guided regional nerve blocks and interventional procedures in our pain clinic.
Luisa said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to work alongside an incredibly experienced and skilled team at NDSR.
The training programme has been developed by Rui Pinelas, RCVS and European specialist in anaesthesia and analgesia at NDSR, who is optimistic there will be further training opportunities in the near future.
Rui said: “This was something NDSR has been keen to implement for some time and we had been having ongoing discussions to choose the perfect time.
“In terms of logistics, it took around three months for us to set up this anaesthesia residency, which was largely spent organising our partnerships with the other training facilities and undergoing an evaluation as to whether our facilities and case load would meet the specialist board’s strict requirements, which we are delighted they did.”
Annual renewal fees for veterinary surgeons will remain at the same level as in 2021: £364 for UK-practising members, £182 for members practising outside the UK and £60 for non-practising members.
The removal of the alternative fee payment arrangements means there will no longer be the option to pay in instalments and the fee needs to be paid in full by the usual deadline of 1 April.
RCVS Treasurer Niall Connell said: “We understand that many veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses will have been impacted financially over the last couple of years, and we appreciate that this has been a very difficult time for the professions.
"We are pleased that we are able to keep fees static for a second year running, whilst maintaining a strong programme of strategic projects that help to set, uphold and advance standards within the professions.”
The event aims to deliver the latest knowledge on parrot nutrition and welfare and provide an opportunity to collaborate on education and potential next steps for research.
The full programme is as follows:
Sarah Hormozi, Head of Science & Education at PFMA said: “We are hoping to make it a worthwhile event, where parrot experts, welfare groups and parrot food industry can share their knowledge and experience.
"Through discussions we will come up with collective decisions and steps forward to improve the health and welfare of parrots that are kept in captivity, especially from a diet and nutrition perspective."
For ticket prices and to register: https://www.pfma.org.uk/pfma-parrot-symposium-2022
Mr Bowles faced four charges, but did not respond to the College's notification about the hearing, so the Committee decided to proceed in his absence.
The first charge was that in 2020, while attending a farm in Lincolnshire in his capacity as an Official Veterinarian (OV), Mr Bowles carried out Intradermal Comparative Tuberculin (ICT) tests on a herd of cattle but failed to measure the skin thickness of all the cattle using callipers and failed to take and record measurements for the cattle.
The Committee was provided with evidence that Mr Bowles had, in earlier correspondence with the College, admitted that he had failed to follow Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) standard operating procedures for ICT testing at the farm and so the charge was found proven.
The second charge was that he then certified the results of the inaccurate ICT test he'd performed earlier.
The Committee found this charge proven on the basis that, without using callipers to measure skin thickness, he was not entitled to certify the test.
The third charge was that his conduct in relation to the first two charges was dishonest, misleading and risked undermining government testing procedures designed to promote public health and animal welfare.
The Committee found all elements of the charges proven.
The final charge was that Mr Bowles's conduct took place despite warnings, advice and re-training being given by the APHA.
These included: a letter sent to Mr Bowles’s by APHA in 2014 about the suspension of his OV status after he failed to comply with APHA rules; a letter sent by the APHA to Mr Bowles’s employer in October 2016 regarding issues of non-compliance it had found during a September 2016 audit; and the suspension of Mr Bowles’s OV duties by his employer, pending further training, following issues of non-compliance.
Given Mr Bowles’s history of non-compliance with APHA standard operating procedures and standards, the Committee found the charge proven.
The Committee found that charges 1 to 3 amounted to serious professional misconduct but that charge 4, while making the conduct in the other charges more serious, did not in and of itself constitute serious professional misconduct.
In determining the most appropriate sanction for Mr Bowles, the Committee found that he had paid ‘scant regard’ to the testing procedures set out by APHA and breached the RCVS certification requirements set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons in ‘numerous and serious’ ways.
Hilary Lloyd, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee’s view is that the respondent’s conduct in refusing to follow the OV Instructions when testing cattle in May 2020 constituted conduct of an egregious kind.
"In addition, there are several aggravating elements which can be applied to his misconduct, including a risk to animal or human health; his lack of probity and integrity in certifying test results which he knew were non-compliant and unreliable; recklessness in reaching a conscious decision to ignore the OV Instructions; his failure to comply with the requirements of the position of trust and responsibility which attached to his APHA authorisation; and against a backdrop of sustained pattern of behaviour that displayed blatant disregard of the system that regulated TB testing by OVs.
"It follows that the respondent manifested no insight into the seriousness of his misconduct when acting as an OV.”
The Committee considered whether there were any mitigating factors regarding Mr Bowles’ conduct.
It took into account that Mr Bowles had not secured any financial advantage, that there was no actual harm to animals, and that he had a long career as a veterinary surgeon, although with a history of non-compliance.
It noted that there had been some late admissions of misconduct by Mr Bowles when he tendered an apology, but found this mitigation was undermined by the fact his explanations lacked consistency and that he had also initially asserted that he had used callipers during the testing.
Due to the seriousness of the non-compliance, the dishonesty and the potential risk to public health, the Committee considered that removing Mr Bowles from the Register was the only proportionate and appropriate response to the scale of misconduct.
Hilary added: “Given the amount of advice received and re-training which the respondent was required to undertake, he has already had ample opportunity to remediate his practice but has not done so.
"The Committee is therefore concerned that there is a very real risk of further repetition of this conduct in the future were he to be permitted to remain on the Register.
“The Committee’s concern in this regard stems from the fact that the dishonesty of which the respondent has been found guilty, was not dishonesty committed on the spur of the moment.
"The respondent had ample opportunities for reflection before resolving to act as he did.
"This places his acts of dishonesty in the most serious category.
“The public is entitled to expect that it can have confidence in the certifications of a veterinary surgeon who is carrying out a public duty on behalf of that public body.
"Indeed, that is the whole purpose behind the requirement that OVs undertake additional and specialised training before being permitted to undertake OV duties.”
www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary
Europe's largest private specialist veterinary practice, Davies Veterinary Specialists, has opened a new centre at the premises of the Hyde Park Veterinary Centre in Connaught St., London W2.
Davies Veterinary Specialists employs 40 veterinary surgeons, 23 of them RCVS Recognised Specialists and more than 50 nurses. The main hospital, based in Bedfordshire, has sophisticated diagnostic, surgical and treatment facilities and offers integrated multi-disciplinary care.
Clive Elwood, Managing Director of DVS, said: "We believe that pet owners should have easy access to the top veterinary specialists in the country. We are now bringing a team of specialists offering consultations in medicine, cardiology, ultrasonography, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic and soft tissue surgery to Davies London. This will make it much easier for London vets to offer their clients a convenient referral service, with full access to state-of-the-art facilities."
The Hyde Park Veterinary Centre is a long-established central London veterinary clinic. Recently expanded and refurbished, the clinic has invested heavily in the latest diagnostic and treatment facilities for the clinical care and treatment of London's pets. Head vet Andrew Prentis said: "We are all very excited about the collaboration with Davies: this new local access to top level specialists is really going to help London's vets offer their clients the very best in veterinary care at all times."
For more information, call 0207 535 0444 or visit www.vetspecialists.co.uk/london
Melvyn was instrumental in shaping the success of the Trap, Neuter, Return, method of controlling feral cat populations. After meeting 60's supermodel Celia Hammond, scientist Dr. Jenny Remfry, and Peter Neville, a research biologist for UFAW, acted on their requests for better and more humane traps and engineered his first trap - the Eziset.
Melvyn went on to develop a dog grasper and a wide range of other handling products widely used in veterinary practice. He then developed the Mikki Muzzle, on the back of which he launched Mikki Pet Products, adding a range of grooming products.
In 1998, Melvyn sold Mikki to focus on his real passion – developing high welfare animal handling equipment and products sold via MDC Exports.
Ian MacFarlaine RVN said: "His impact on the veterinary world is only eclipsed by how much of a contribution he's made to animal charities globally, not just in inventing stuff, but then discounting it readily (through good and bad economic times) and then if that wasn't enough, giving thousands of pounds worth of it away at the ICAWC conference every year.
"If you were privileged enough to know him well, then you'll miss the kindness, the mischievous humour and the occasional bad taste joke. But I can guarantee that a little bit of Melvyn is there in each and every one of your practices in the form of one piece of equipment or other."
The company says the workshop will provide vets with an opportunity to extend their knowledge of Q Fever, a zoonotic disease that not only affects reproductive performance and productivity in cattle but also presents a health threat to farmers, farming families and related professions such as vets, veterinary technicians and abattoir workers.
The workshop will be presented by Raphaël Guatteo (pictured right), Professor in Bovine Medicine and Health Management at the Veterinary College of Nantes (Oniris) in France.
Raphaël will share his wealth of knowledge on Q Fever including his extensive research into the disease.
He'll answer any questions that delegates may have about Q Fever and will discuss case studies, diagnostic challenges and the importance of quick diagnosis, treatment options and prevention through vaccination.
The Q Fever workshop will take place between 4.00pm and 5.30pm on Thursday 20 October in the Shorthorn Room at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham.
The workshop is free of charge, but spaces are limited.
For the randomised controlled trial, 528 dairy heifers were monitored for 34 months to investigate the effects of routine treatment with a NSAID at calving and during treatment for lameness, on the future probability of lameness and culling.
The cows were exposed to normal farm conditions and were split into four groups:
During the study, the probability of lameness was assessed by a lameness outcome score collected every 14 days.
Data on culling was also extracted from farm records.
438 animals were included in the final analysis which revealed that treating a cohort of cows following the group three protocol led to an absolute reduction in lameness of approximately 10% and severe lameness of 3%, compared with animals treated in accordance with conventional best practice (group one).
James Wilson BSc(Hons) PhD, foot health consultant and lead researcher on the trial, said: “It appears that through giving heifers a NSAID at critical time points, we have imparted a substantial, long-lasting benefit to them.
"When freshly calved heifers enter the herd for the first time, we understand that they are (typically) naïve to lameness and have good hoof health.
"By utilising NSAIDs strategically, we believe that we have preserved the functionality of the foot, thereby reducing the risk of lameness.
"This is a highly efficacious, cost-effective means of managing lameness on farm.”
Herd Health Consultancy says that in dairy cows, it is advisable to consider using a zero milk-withhold NSAID which is fully licensed to treat lameness in cattle to avoid any need to discard milk, however no NSAID is currently licensed in the UK to treat the pain associated with calving, so careful advice should be given to farmers based on the farm type and production methods.
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2021-21329
The step-by-step guide offers guidelines to help farmers improve their herd's mobility.
It highlights the importance of implementing a robust and ongoing treatment plan to improve cow comfort and reduce lameness in the short-term, which will lead to increased production and herd welfare in the longer-term.
The guide includes advice on reviewing a whole herd by an independent RoMS (Register of Mobility Scorers) accredited mobility scorer, seeking veterinary advice or contacting a mobility mentor (someone who has been trained to deliver the ADHB Healthy Feet Programme) if lesions are identified, treating within 48 hours of identification with a combination of trim, block, topical antimicrobial spray and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), as appropriate, and the importance of ongoing treatment, prevention and monitoring every fortnight.
The guide also includes tips for the successful use of NSAIDs, which include the importance of using a NSAID with a zero milk withhold.
There are four lameness management videos which were produced in collaboration with James Wilson BSc (Hons) PhD, a foot health consultant from Herd Health Consultancy and include contributions from Alex Burrows, professional foot trimmer and Chair of the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers (NACFT), Dave Bacon, a dairy farmer from Gleadthorpe Farm in Nottinghamshire, Shannon Trinder, assistant herdsperson at Gleadthorpe Farm and Harry Walby BVetMed MRCVS, veterinary surgeon and ruminant technical advisor at Ceva Animal Health.
They cover the benefits of regular mobility scoring, prioritising mobility and lameness prevention in heifers and maintaining lameness management success with practical and effective lameness treatment and prevention programmes.
www.wavegoodbyetopain.co.uk/pdf/step-by-step-guide.pdf.www.wavegoodbyetopain.co.uk/training-videos.html.
The International Task Force on Canine Atopic Dermatitis has published new, evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing, grading and treating Canine Atopic Dermatitis (AD).
Recently published in Veterinary Dermatology, the series of guidelines for general practitioners covers all aspects of the disease, including the recent rise in food allergy-related cases, and offers practical guidance for vets in diagnosing and grading the severity of AD.
The report also reviews the most appropriate treatment options for acute and chronic forms of the disease, and has awarded Cortavance (hydrocortisone aceponate) the best strength of evidence mark of any current treatment available.
Virbac technical director Chris Taylor MRCVS says the paper shows that Cortavance is now the benchmark for Atopic Dermatitis: "Not only do the guidelines confirm evidence of treatment success with Cortavance, but they also highlight that the skin-specific steroid spray has been shown to have no systemic effects, even when applied to one-third of the dog on a daily basis."
Chris also highlights the cost-effectiveness of Cortavance: "Some AD treatments can cost clients more than £2 per day, but with Cortavance owners are usually looking at costs of just pence per day.
"This report shows that not only is Cortavance the most effective treatment with a high safety margin, it is also surprisingly inexpensive too. And of course this should also help with compliance, particularly in uninsured animals."
The guidelines can be viewed or downloaded online free at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365.3164.2010.00889.x/pdf
Companion Care Vets has announced it will work in partnership with VetAbroad, an e-learning company that has been established to help vets who qualified outside the UK to develop a successful career within it.
Companion Care is the first veterinary group in the UK to enter into partnership with VetAbroad, with the aim that all new non-UK employees will complete the course.
According to the company, almost 30% of vets registered in the UK are from overseas and statistics show that one in three will leave the register in less than 24 months and 20% in less than 12 months. Statistics also highlight the likelihood of a non-UK vet to be struck off or suspended is six times higher than for a UK vet.
Jane Balmain, Managing Director of Companion Care Vets said: "Whilst we as a company offer as much support as possible to our team members from overseas and support their continued learning , we are delighted to be working in partnership with VetAbroad to utilise their training solutions and further enhance what we offer to team members who come from overseas. All new employees will be required to take the course and we will also be encouraging our current overseas vets to complete it."
The e-course covers social and professional adaptation, compliance with current legislation, teamwork, productivity, client care and communication skills and VetAbroad states that those taking the course will substantially increase their chances of retaining and obtaining a job in the UK.
Vet and founder of VetAbroad Luis Sainz-Pardos said: "The primary aim of our course is to help vets who have qualified overseas to swiftly integrate into the UK system. Vets who have taken the course will be aware of UK legislation and should be able to interact with colleagues, clients and patients to a UK standard. As a result, the problems often associated with employing non-UK vets to work in UK practices are greatly reduced. I am thrilled to be working in partnership with Companion Care Vets, a company that I believe is thriving due to its investment in its most important asset - people."
For further information about VetAbroad please visit www.vetabroad.com
Zoetis has launched a new training programme for veterinary practices which explores every aspect of the 'client journey' - from 'pre-owner' to 'Lost' - and explains how to deliver an outstanding client experience.
The Client Experience Development Programme is divided into nine training modules which vary in length from one to five and a half hours. The whole programme can be completed in two days under the guidance of a Zoetis business consultant.
The programme breaks down each element of the client journey, from attracting new pet owners into the practice and making the right impact on new customers, to keeping long-term customers loyal.
Nick Steele, national consulting manager at Zoetis, said: "We believe that calling a practice's pet owners clients or customers is a misnomer. They are consumers because they not only purchase a practice's products and services but they also experience them and the consumer's interpretation of their experience can really affect the brand. What's more, the reality of today's information-rich environment is that consumers can experience a practice without the practice even knowing about it.
"Google have coined the term 'Zero moment of truth', which alludes to all the different points of contact a consumer can have with a product or service before physically experiencing it. The average shopper uses 10.7 different sources of information before making a decision on what product or service to use.¹ This means they may have disregarded a practice before the practice knew the consumer even existed."
The concept of the client experience is introduced with some interesting statistics which emphasise its importance. For instance, a typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers, 96% just go away and 91% will never come back². What's more, a dissatisfied customer will tell 9-15 people about it and approximately 13% will tell more than 20 people about their problem.³
Drawing on concepts like 'The Fred Factor', which focuses on four key principles of customer care, the training programme explains how every employee can make the difference from the moment clients arrive.
Nick added: "Consumers are all powerful to veterinary practices so it is essential that the client experience is an exceptional one. Our business consultants have been trained to deliver the Client Development Programme to all types of veterinary practice to ensure that they attract as many clients to the practice as possible and keep those clients happy once they are there."
For more information about Business Consulting from Zoetis telephone 0845 519 4977 or contact your account manager.
References
Ceredigion veterinary surgeon Robert Alun Merfyn Evans has been suspended from the Register for six months by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee after he admitted to misconduct relating to tuberculin testing for cattle he owned and failing to register the births and deaths of cattle.
Mr Evans appeared before the Committee on the 11th February, when he admitted the two heads of charge of misconduct against him.
The first head of charge related to the fact that, between 24 June and 29 June 2013, he deliberately failed to bring to attention of Wyn Lewis MRCVS, an Official Veterinarian (OV) and fellow director of Mr Evans’ practice in Cardigan, the cattle on his farm requiring intradermal comparative tuberculin tests; that he tested certain of the cattle himself despite not being the OV for those tests and having a conflict of interest; and that he provided inaccurate and incomplete information to his practice for the completion of a report on the testing to be sent to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA). This misconduct was then repeated the following year between 19 June and 1 August 2014.
The second head of charge against Mr Evans related to breaches of the Cattle Identification (Wales) Regulations 2007 between 4 July 2005 and 20 June 2014, namely the fact that he failed to register the birth of five calves and the death of nine cows. These were accepted as being specimen charges reflecting a much larger total number of breaches over the whole nine year period.
Mr Evans’ misconduct first came to light when a late return was sent to the AHVLA in August 2014 regarding the TB testing of 51 live animals on his farm in June 2014. When the report was scrutinised the AHVLA noticed that 26 animals shown on the return as dead were still registered, while 20 animals that were tested were not registered. When the AHVLA investigated, Mr Evans immediately admitted that he had misled Mr Lewis on two occasions and carried out his own testing despite not being the OV.
The Committee heard that he did this because he did not want it to be found out that he had unregistered cattle on his farm. Regarding the unregistered cattle, the Committee heard that this stemmed from a mistake made by Mr Evans in 2005 or 2006 whereby he mislaid a batch of around nine bovine passport application forms sent to him to register the birth of calves on his farm, a legal requirement for the purposes of animal health, disease control and safeguarding the food chain.
As a result of poor IT skills and being profoundly deaf, Mr Evans felt unable to seek support online or by telephone, was too embarrassed to tell others and, furthermore, felt that it was impossible to correct his mistake without being in breach of the law. So, for a period of nine or 10 years, he failed to register the birth of calves on his farm. His failure to register the deaths of cattle, was also caused by administrative failings. His breaches of the cattle registration regulations were subject to criminal proceedings and on 14 October 2015 he plead guilty at Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire Magistrates Court to 14 offences for which he was given a conditional discharge for 18 months and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
The Committee considered that a suspension from the Register would be in line with the seriousness of the charges against Mr Evans. Professor Alistair Barr, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: "The Committee agrees that the lengthy period over which these offences took place, his betrayal of his colleague, and the undermining of the reputation of the profession and of the system of disease control, taken together with his dishonesty, make it impossible to impose a lesser sanction than suspension.
"The Committee finds that the respondent, who is a man of good character, has fully accepted his guilt, and has real insight into the seriousness of his conduct. He cooperated fully with the investigations and with the County Council who prosecuted him in the Magistrates [Court], and with the College. He made an open and frank admission about his misconduct from the outset.
"The course of conduct on which he embarked and which has led to these charges was the result of a simple mistake at a time of considerable stress to him. He was not guilty of deliberate misconduct at the outset but… what started as an innocent mistake took on a life of its own and led him to deliberate and dishonest misconduct because he did not know how to get himself out of the predicament he was in."
Professor Barr also said that there was no financial gain in Mr Evans’ actions and that animal welfare had not been compromised as the cattle were well cared for and in good health and that Mr Evans’ actions in carrying out the tuberculin tests on the unregistered cattle himself demonstrated that he was concerned about identifying any disease in his herd.
He added: “In all the circumstances the Committee has decided a proportionate sanction is that the respondent’s registration should be suspended for a period of six months.”
The Committee’s full findings and decision are available on the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/disciplinary).
The service will be headed by José C. Almansa Ruiz DVM (Hons) MSc (Vet) MRCVS.
José qualified from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2008, before completing an honours degree in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery while working in an after-hours veterinary emergency hospital in Madrid.
In 2009, he relocated to South Africa where he undertook an internship in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery at the academic hospital of the faculty of veterinary science of the University of Pretoria. In 2011, he relocated to the UK and, in 2012, began the European Veterinary Dental College diploma.
In 2015, he returned to South Africa, working in referral hospitals, before being appointed as an extraordinary lecturer in veterinary dentistry and maxillofacial surgery at the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria in January 2018.
This summer, José will sit the exams to become a European Specialist in Veterinary Dentistry.
Tim Richardson, managing director of both Southfields and Davies, said: “We look forward to welcoming José to the teams at both Southfields and Davies. He brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge in his field and is a highly-respected clinician.
"The launch of dentistry and maxillofacial services at our multi-disciplinary referral centres is another exciting addition and we’re looking forward to accepting referrals from colleagues across the profession as we continue to lead the industry in the breadth of treatments that we can now offer.”
José said: “I’m delighted to be joining the teams at Southfields and Davies, and my plan is to establish and really grow a dentistry and maxillofacial surgery service over the coming 12 months.
“I would like to start offering reconstruction techniques for those patients undergoing mandibulectomies, while I have been hoping for some time now to begin using 3D printing as part of the planning for big surgeries.
“We will be offering a very complete and advanced veterinary dentistry service. From the maxillofacial surgery point of view, fracture repair procedures will see the introduction of non-invasive techniques for repair of maxillomandibular fractures.
“Craniofacial trauma cases will be worked up more in-depth together with anaesthesia, diagnostic imaging, ophthalmology, critical care and neurology, which will offer a truly multidisciplinary approach.”
For more information, visit www.southfields.co.uk or vetspecialists.co.uk.
The Registry’s dataset now contains the details of 1,319 canine cruciate surgical procedures, compared with 735 reported in 2023.
The report contains 3 years of data provided by 138 UK-based vets and their clients, and reports on cruciate surgery outcomes on dogs from all stages of life – from 3 months to 18 years.
The report provides a breakdown of the clinical outcomes of different surgical techniques, patient demographics, use of antibiotics, and more.
Some of the main findings in this year’s annual report were:
Mark Morton, Clinical Lead for the Registry, said: “It has been fantastic to see the CCR go from strength to strength this year with contributions from owners and vets across the country.
"Evaluating what we do and sharing this information with owners is really important.
"There is now sufficient data in the registry that vets can use the reporting functionality to see how they compare to anonymous data from the registry as whole.
"This allows everyone to look at where we can improve what we do to enhance outcomes for our patients.”
Steve Butterworth, veterinary surgeon at Weighbridge Referral Service, Swansea, and CCR contributor, said: “To better understand the long-term outcomes for different breeds of dog using differing surgical techniques we need the power of numbers and this will only be achieved by pooling our resources.
"The CCR offers the veterinary profession an opportunity to do this.
Any veterinary surgeon performing cruciate surgery in the UK can get involved in the CCR by signing up and logging surgical cases.
All data submitted by summer 2025 will be anonymised and become part of the next report in late 2025.
ccr.rcvsknowledge.org/annualreport