Bayer Animal Health has announced that following the success of its educational TV advertising campaign, which ran earlier this year and promoted the need to worm cats, a second advertising campaign will now run in September.

Bayer (makers of Profender Spot-on solution) says its first campaign, which ran in May, had the principal aim of driving pet owners to their vet to ask about spot-on worming for their cats.

As part of the same campaign, research was conducted on cat behaviour by interviewing cat owners and attaching 'cat cams' and 'cat navs' to nine cats around the country. The results were analysed by cat behaviour expert Roger Tabor and can be found on the website www.spotonwormer4cats.com/, both as a short video documentary and a 24-page report, entitled 'The Secret Lives of Cats'.

A consumer PR campaign was also run in parallel with the TV advertising, which Bayer says was very successful in attracting entrants to a competition to find the cat with the biggest personality. Winners of the Cats with Cat-titude competition have now been announced and profiled on www.spotonwormer4cats.com.

Dan White, Profender product manager, said: "Post campaign market research revealed there was a 5% increase in the awareness of spot-on cat worming.

"The second phase of TV advertising - using the same advert but without the online competition - will start on 4^th September and will build on the success of the previous advertising. And over the following three weeks, it will be broadcast on ITV1, ITV2, Channels 4 and 5, and Sky One, and is expected to reach 7 million of our core target audience."

Veterinary practices can obtain a subtitled version of 'The Secret Lives of Cats' documentary to play in their waiting rooms, and a wide selection of support materials, by contacting their Bayer Territory Manager.

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

1. Google zero moment of truth research 2011
2. 'Understanding Customers' by Ruby Newell-Legner
3. The White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington DC

Following a nationwide search to find the UK’s top veterinary professionals for 2009 and judged by an independent panel of experts, Petplan has announced the winners for the Veterinary Awards. 

The Petplan Veterinary Awards recognise and applaud staff and practices throughout the country that have delivered an exceptional level of care to the nation’s pets, and their owners.   

Simon Wheeler, Petplan’s Head of Marketing, explains: “Britain is known to be an animal-loving nation and with millions of households owning cats and dogs, pets play a central part in family life. The Petplan Veterinary Awards give us the opportunity to thank the veterinary profession for the outstanding level of care they provide to our animals.”

The winners of the 10th annual Petplan Veterinary Awards were:

VET OF THE YEAR
Ben Jones, Ben Jones Veterinary Surgery, Chester, Flintshire
Ben’s understanding and compassion for his clients’ pets impressed the judges.  Whilst being extremely knowledgeable, Ben can reassuringly explain the most complicated procedures to clients.  Ben continuously goes above and beyond the call of duty, such as establishing a home visit scheme for pensioners and visiting a nursing home when an owner was there as a day patient. 

VET NURSE OF THE YEAR
Karen McQuoid, The Old Golfhouse Veterinary Group, Watton, Norfolk
The judges believe Karen is an excellent role model for her team of nurses.  Karen was noted for her positive attitude and good humour even under extreme pressure of being head nurse of four different practices. 

VET RECEPTIONIST OF THE YEAR
Yasmin Morowa, Melton Veterinary Surgery, Woodbridge, Suffolk
Yasmin’s attention to detail made her stand out as the winner of Vet Receptionist of the Year.  Yasmin always checks to see how patients have progressed when she returns from holiday so she can help clients appropriately when they call or visit.  Her kind approach makes her highly appreciated by both clients and colleagues. 

VET PRACTICE OF THE YEAR
St Clair Veterinary Group, Kirkcaldy, Fife
St Clair Veterinary Group was described as having exceptional customer care and uses every opportunity to educate their clients.  The team stood out for their environmental consciousness.  

The Westpoint Group has announced the divestiture of its small animal and equine veterinary practices in order to focus on production animal health and welfare.

From now, the production animal business - which includes veterinary practices providing services to pig, poultry, dairy, beef, sheep, game bird producers and small holders - will be known under the umbrella brand of Origin.

The company says that excellence and innovation in client service will continue to be the focus throughout the organisation.

Matt Dobbs, Managing Director of Origin said: "Origin is committed to supporting livestock farmers to enhance production by improving health and welfare. We have a unique group of vets, researchers, lab techs and paraprofessionals passionate about the success of UK agriculture, with other businesses committed to supporting the industry, joining us through the autumn.

"By focusing on supporting farmers, we will become a unique source of animal insight in livestock agriculture."

For more information, visit: http://www.westpointveterinarygroup.com 

For practices planning to take part in National Microchipping Month, Virbac is providing a personalised poster design service and chip promotion throughout June.

According to product manager Gillian Brown, the idea is to offer additional tailored support to practices during the promotional period: "Obviously many practices will have National Microchipping Month materials in place, but the price each practice offers their clients is individual to them. These posters provide a visual platform to highlight the promotion.

"To take advantage of the scheme, practices just need to notify their territory manager of the price they propose to charge and we will then manage the design and print."

Virbac will also be offering a promotional chip price in June to support National Microchipping Month. Gillian said: "Microchipping is now the official means of pet identification approved by the EU Pet Passport Scheme. This will help practices provide an attractive promotion to pet owners and hopefully encourage greater up-take of microchipping."

Any practice interested in the initiative should contact their local Virbac territory manager or call Virbac on 01379 243243.

BCF Technology has launched the portable 9020HF Orange x-ray generator from Eco Ray.

BCF says the 9020HF is ideal for equine and large animal applications because it is is just marginally heavier than the 8016HF generator, but more powerful, allowing it to achieve excellent images of regions such as the stifle and spine.

The new BCF Clinical Development Manager and in-house vet Kimberly Palgrave said: "This new generator really fills the gap in the range and is an ideal balance between weight and power. It is also bright orange so impossible to miss when tidying the kit away in the yard."

BCF is also the sole official distributor in the UK and Ireland for Eco Ray generators.

To see the full range of X-ray generators and other X-ray and ultrasound equipment available from BCF visit http://www.bcftechnology.com/ or call +44 (0)1506 460023.

Vetoquinol - makers of the NSAID Cimalgex - has announced the launch of its updated website www.CiMyDog.co.uk. 

The company says the website has been developed to provide reliable online information about pain in dogs to cater for the increasing needs of pet owners and vets.

The website has two sections. The first is a pet owner focussed, educational tool which takes the visitor on a journey through the process of pain; from spotting the signs of pain all the way through to ways of relieving pain, culminating in the recommendation that the visitor seeks advice from their veterinary practice.

The second section requires registration as it contains more in depth information on the pain process and potential treatment options available, this section is for veterinary professionals only. Also on this section of the website there are many scientific abstracts related to pain and treatment with links to enable the veterinary visitor can view this peer reviewed material.

Robert Simpson, Cimalgex Product Manager said: "The internet is a very powerful tool in terms of increasing education, especially in areas such as canine pain. Unfortunately there can also be a lot of misinformation online and so we felt it was important for Vetoquinol to try and redress the balance by producing www.CiMyDog.co.uk. This can be used as a reliable and up-to-date resource by pet owners and veterinary professionals alike. -

www.CiMyDog.co.uk is a very interactive site which aims to demystify the pain treatment process, ensure pet owners look out for behavioural signs of pain and looks to improve overall canine health with assistance from their veterinary practice. We hope that this will be a valuable resource to which vets can refer their pet owners."

A Pet Obesity Task Force, the first of its kind in the country, has been launched at the European Pet Obesity Conference, hosted by Hill’s Pet Nutrition to help tackle the growing number of obese and overweight pets and put in place strategies to help overcome the condition.

The Task Force hopes to raise awareness of the growing health implications of obese and overweight pets, such as diabetes and osteoarthritis. The fact that pets are obese or overweight is often overlooked by owners and the group also aims to encourage them to identify weight problems and seek appropriate advice from vets.

Mark Evans, chief veterinary adviser at the RSPCA, who will be sitting on the board, comments: “We’ve been trying to treat and prevent pet obesity for 20 years, but the problem hasn’t gone away. In fact it seems to have got worse despite everyone’s efforts. It’s incredibly frustrating. So, is there any point in fighting on in the same old way if we’re not winning the battle?

“Let’s take a step back, review our knowledge, re-evaluate our approaches, think outside the box and innovate. What could we learn from social scientists, human psychologists and others engaged in trying to tackle the very same problem in people – especially children?”

Members of the Pet Obesity Task Force include:

Mark Evans, chief veterinary adviser, RSPCA BVetMed MRCVS
Professor John Innes BVSc PhD CertVR DSAS(Orth) MRCVS
Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore BSc BVM&S PhD MACVSc MRCVS
Daniel Chan DVM DipACVECC DipACVN MRCVS
Nicola Ackerman BSc(Hons) RVN Cert SAN MBVNA
Rachel Casey BVMS Dip(AS)CABC MRCVS
Dr Ian Campbell GP
Mike Jessop BVetMed MRCVS
Dr Jacques Debraekeleer DVM, DipECVCN
Simon Wheeler Head of marketing at Petplan

The RCVS has announced that over the next 6 months, it is investing £225,000 in its Professional Conduct Department’s concerns investigation process.

The investment is being made to increase the speed at which concerns are either closed or referred, ensure that the process meets its service standards and reduce stress for the public and profession.

The decision to increase investment in the process was made by the College’s Operational Board in response to a steady increase in the number of concerns being investigated. The College forecasts that it will receive in excess of 1,000 concerns raised about the professional conduct of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses this year.

The RCVS developed a simplified, three-stage concerns process in 2014 which included the introduction of targets for cases to be either closed or referred at each stage. In order to ensure that these targets can be met, the College will now be hiring five paralegals to assist the existing five case managers.

Eleanor Ferguson, Acting Registrar, said: "Currently we are only closing or referring just over half of concerns we receive at stage 1 (case examiner stage) within our four month target. In order for the system to run more smoothly we will be investing in extra staff to help clear the backlog and ensure that these targets are met going forward.

"Similarly, in order to deal with the increase in the number of cases being referred to Preliminary Investigation Committee (stage 2), we will be increasing the frequency of these committee meetings from one to two per month.

"It is important to add that this investment is not just about dealing with concerns more quickly but is also about quality of service and having more staff on hand will ensure that this quality is maintained in terms of how we communicate with complainants and members of the profession. Speeding up the process will reduce the stress and anxiety felt by all involved."

More details about the College’s concerns investigation process and its different stages can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/concerns

Laura Padron Vega, a veterinary surgeon who was struck off in 2018 for falsely backdating Certificates of Competence whilst working as an Official Veterinarian, has been restored to the Register by the RCVS Disciplinary Committee.

Ms Padron Vega had also been found to have failed in her duties as an OV by being unprepared for, and unaware of, new regulations. She also did not take adequate steps to ensure that the two individuals for whom she had given veterinary certification were licensed to perform slaughter in accordance with the regulations.

Ms Padron Vega originally applied for restoration in December last year, at which time the Disciplinary Committee had concerns about her keeping up-to-date with the knowledge and skills needed to return to practice, and decided to adjourn for six months to allow her to prove that it was appropriate to restore her name to the Register.

At the latest hearing, Ms Padron Vega sought to address the concerns that the Committee had raised about her professional development. In addition to the documentation she provided in her original restoration hearing, which included positive testimonials from colleagues, she provided evidence of her continuing professional development (CPD).

This included a letter from her previous employer, who confirmed she had more recently worked for them as a Certification Support Officer from February to March 2021, where they received positive feedback on her conduct.

The documentation also included a letter from another practice confirming that Ms Padron Vega had been offered a position of employment with them, and a separate letter from practice veterinary surgeon, Dr Khan MRCVS, confirming that he would be her mentor. Dr Khan also confirmed that she had been coming to the practice for work experience and he considered her to have good working knowledge of current medicines used within the practice. He further outlined in his letter what CPD support the practice would be providing for Ms Padron Vega as part of her employment with them.

An additional piece of evidence was a testimonial from Dr Max Rutana MRCVS who confirmed that Ms Padron Vega had worked unsupervised for a period of three weeks, and that he found her clinical notes during this period to be satisfactory and they received no complaints about her conduct from clients.

Ms Padron Vega also submitted CPD documentation which confirmed she has taken a Certification Support Officers’ course and examination in mid-December 2020.

In response to questions from the Committee about her small animal practice experience and how long she had been shadowing Dr Khan for, Ms Padron Vega explained that she had completed 80 hours of shadowing with Dr Khan and that in her future employment under his mentorship, he would be available to support her. She also explained that her job offer was evidence that she would continue to be trained in the relevant area of veterinary work.

Cerys Jones, chairing the Disciplinary Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “During the hearing, we heard evidence from Dr Khan who provided reassurance of Ms Padron Vega’s continued professional development with his practice and the ongoing supervision that she would be under. He explained that the supervision would last at least three months.

“The Committee’s view is that Ms Padron Vega accepts the findings of dishonesty that were made against her at the original Inquiry hearing. In her Reflective Statement, she acknowledges that veterinarians have a professional responsibility to ensure the integrity of veterinary certification, that she is now aware that when signing documents as a veterinary surgeon they need to be approached with care and accuracy. Further she has undertaken a CPD course on this very ethical issue and has passed the examination set at the end of that course. The Committee is confident that Ms Padron Vega is unlikely to repeat the conduct which resulted in her being removed from the Register. It is the Committee’s decision that she should be restored to the Register.”

Dechra Veterinary Products has produced a pair of presentations, aimed at pet owners, for vets to use in receptions and at client events. The presentations cover canine hyperadrenocorticism, aka Cushing's syndrome, and feline hyperthyroidism.  

Matthew Olsen, Product Manager, said: "We are committed to delivering a wide range of support materials and tools to enable vets to provide help and information to their customers.  We have developed an owners' booklet on both Cushing's and hyperthyroidism and have now backed this up with PowerPoint presentations for vets to use with their clients.  Some veterinary practices are using technology to revolutionise waiting room displays and we have responded to their needs by producing a presentation they can use on their waiting room information screens."

The Dechra Hyperadrenocorticism presentation covers what Cushing's is, what causes it and what owners need to look for. The presentation also explains the treatment options available. The Hyperthyroidism presentation details what the condition is and gives information on the thyroid gland. It highlights what cat owners need to look out for, including weight loss in spite of a ravenous appetite, increased fluid intake and increased restlessness.  The presentation also advises people of what to do should they suspect their cat has hyperthyroidism and what the treatment options are.       

Garden Lodge Veterinary Clinic in Holywood, County Down, has used the Hyperthyroidism presentation at both its practices. Partner Tom Fitzsimons said: "We have used the presentation on our reception information screens.  The presentation has raised owners' awareness and shown them it is a manageable condition.  It's led to an increase in the number of cats we are now testing for Hyperthyrodism.  We also plan to run the Cushing's presentation in the future." 

Veterinary Practices interested in getting hold of a free copy of the Hyperthyrodism and Hyperadrenocorticism presentations should contact Matthew Olsen at Dechra on 01743 441 632 or email matthew.olsen@dechra.com

Paisley-based Laura Benson RVN has been suspended for nine months by the RCVS VN Disciplinary Committee for stealing from her veterinary practice and asking a colleague to input false clinical records about her pet.

Ms Benson faced six charges.

The first was that between January 2018 and November 2019 she took a number of bags of dog food and two horse wormer syringes from the practice without paying for them. 

Charge 2 alleged that between November 2018 and November 2019 she took a number of items of animal food and one or more boxes of horse wormer and paid less than the correct amount for them.

Charge 3 was that between October 2018 and November 2019 she arranged for or allowed a friend to receive a discount on items from the practice, without consent from the practice.

Charge 4 alleged that in December 2019 she asked a veterinary surgeon colleague to input details of treatment and/or medicine for her cat into the clinical records of another of her animals that was also registered to the practice.

Charge 5 was that in relation to charges 1, 2 and 3, her conduct was dishonest.

Charge 6 alleged that in relation to charge 4, her conduct was dishonest, potentially compromised the integrity of a professional colleague and was potentially detrimental to animal welfare.

At the outset of the hearing, Ms Benson admitted to charges 1,2,3,4 and 6 of the allegations and the Committee accepted these admissions. The Committee considered evidence from Ms Benson’s colleagues including witness statements, written testimonial and clinical records for her animals.

When asked about taking items from the practice, Ms Benson explained that she did not intend to take items without paying for them and that she had not realised how much she had taken. She also explained that she had paid back in full what she owed to the practice. The Committee considered that Ms Benson’s conduct had involved a degree of premeditation as she had repeatedly taken items over an extended period. They also considered that there had been a potential risk of injury to animals resulting from Ms Benson’s request to incorrectly write up her animal’s veterinary records.

The defence attested that no actual harm had come to any animal because of Ms Benson’s actions and that she previously had an unblemished career in veterinary nursing. She had also admitted most of the charges against her and paid for the items she had taken in full.

Cerys Jones, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee considered that in the case of Ms Benson, there had been a potential risk to animals had her pet’s records been incorrectly completed, although no harm resulted. The request to alter the records had been a short, single event, but the taking of items had been repeated over a period.

"The Committee also considered that Ms Benson had abused the trust placed in her as a senior nurse with managerial responsibility. We took into account that there was some evidence of Ms Benson being overloaded by work, but there was no evidence of any health condition during the time of the misconduct which might explain her actions.”

The Committee therefore found Ms Benson guilty of serious professional misconduct and decided that a nine-month suspension from the Register was the most appropriate sanction.

Cerys Jones said: “The Committee accepted that Ms Benson had developing insight in making her admissions and we give her credit for her long unblemished career. She admitted to a large part of the allegation, expressed remorse for her actions and has repaid the practice. We have also heard a number of positive testimonials which spoke positively of Ms Benson’s recent conduct.

“However, dishonesty is a serious matter in relation to professional practice and taking no action in response to the serious nature of Ms Benson’s disgraceful conduct would not be proportionate or serve to protect animals and maintain public confidence in the profession.

“Having carefully considered matters, the Committee decided that the appropriate and proportionate sanction, was to suspend Ms Benson’s registration for nine months.”

Ms Benson has 28 days from being informed of the outcome of the hearing to appeal the Committee’s decision.