Virbac has announced that it is hosting another day of CPD and surfing on Friday 26th April.

During the morning's session, Senior Field Veterinary Advisor Alex Allen BVM&S MRCVS will discuss 'Current thinking on companion animal vaccines', including CaniLeish, Virbac's vaccine for Leishmaniosis. Dermatologist Peri Lau-Gillard DrMedVet CertVD DipECVD MRCVS will then talk on 'Awful Atopics.'

The venue is the Atlantic Hotel, Newquay (close to Fistral Beach), with delegates transported to the nearby Surf School after lunch for their surfing lesson. A buffet lunch and post-surfing drinks will be provided by Virbac.

Territory manager and organiser Della Tomlinson said: "After last year's event we have had requests to repeat it from as far afield as London and Edinburgh, and we think that £30 for 3 hours of quality CPD is great value. As well as the obvious fun element of the surfing, we're deliberately holding the event on a Friday so vets can take advantage and enjoy a well-earned weekend away at a great location. Sadly this will have to be at your own expense!"

For more information or to book a place please contact Claire Lewis on 01359 243228 or claire.lewis@virbac.co.uk.

The RCVS has launched ‘Let’s talk adjustments’, a campaign to raise awareness of reasonable adjustments employers should make to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to an employee’s disability, whether it be physical or mental.

Reasonable adjustments can include changing working arrangements and providing equipment, services and support.

The campaign will address common myths and misconceptions surrounding reasonable adjustments and highlight the legal obligations of leaders and managers around implementation.

The campaign, which will run until the end of July, is being launched after an RCVS/British Veterinary Chronic Illness Support (BCVIS) survey concluded there is a need to increase awareness about reasonable adjustments, promote wider discussion and equip organisations with the information they need to implement them.

The research also indicated that improved knowledge of legislation is needed, with communication also being raised as an important issue, so that individuals feel empowered to ask for the support they need.

MMI Lead, Rapinder Newton, said: “Our ‘Let’s talk adjustments’ campaign will support people to have these important conversations by sharing information, educational resources and guidance on good practice.

"It will also provide examples of different types of adjustments, including examples that are specific to the veterinary context.

“We know that physical and mental health are deeply interconnected.

"Reasonable adjustments can support both physical and mental health but also helps to safeguard mental health through allowing individuals with disabilities to thrive.

“We will be keeping people updated on the campaign, which has its own dedicated section on the RCVS website, via the RCVS social media channels, as well as providing information in RCVS newsletters, so do keep an eye out for this over the coming months.”

https://www.rcvs.org.uk/lifelong-learning/leadership-diversity-and-inclusion/reasonable-adjustments-campaign/ 

Photo courtesy: https://depositphotos.com 

Dechra Veterinary Products has announced the appointment of Bob Parmenter as managing director of its UK business. 

Commenting on his appointment, Bob said: "I'm pleased to have joined Dechra at a very exciting stage of the company's development. I've been following the growth of Dechra over recent years and with its acquisition of VetXX in January, I believe that the business is now strongly placed to further establish itself as a leading player in the animal health industry."

Having spent nearly 40 years in the industry, Bob Parmenter has previously worked for Schering-Plough, Mallinckrodt Veterinary, Pitman-Moore, Coopers Animal Health and ICI Pharmaceuticals. "My career path has enabled me to experience all aspects of the animal health market. I'm confident my industry-wide knowledge will provide Dechra with additional experience as we continue to build our reputation and strengthen our UK market position."

Former MD Giles Coley, who joined Dechra in 1999 and has managed the UK business since 2003, has been promoted to European Pharmaceutical and Export Sales Director.  As a member of Dechra Veterinary Product's European Board he will be responsible for co-ordinating pharmaceutical sales across Europe and developing the company's export sales.

Vets Now, the out-of-hours emergency services provider is to launch the Vets Now Hospital service in Glasgow city centre, where it will offer emergency and critical care together with a range of specialist referral options. 

This follows on the heels of The University of Glasgow Small Animal Hospital, a new £15 million facility which opened at the end of August.

Vets Now says that the new hospitals and the range of clinical services on offer to the profession and pet owners will make the west of Scotland a centre of excellence in advanced clinical care for animals.

The opening of the two facilities will also offer both organisations a new platform on which to develop further their long standing relationship through future collaboration in the areas of teaching, training and investigation into animal disease.

Vets Now Group Managing Director, Richard Dixon said: "The opening of the two facilities presents a number of opportunities for both organisations to work collaboratively to develop teaching and training for undergraduates, residents, interns and nurses, and to work together to gain further understanding into animal disease through clinical investigation and the practice and promotion of evidence based medicine."

Professor Stuart Reid, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University said: "The expanded service which will be offered by the Small Animal Hospital and the new Vets Now Hospital obviously presents an enhanced range of choices for pet owners and first opinion vets in Scotland and an opportunity for both organisations to work collaboratively to ensure that undergraduates and clinical professionals have access to the best training and opportunities to develop professionally.  We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for a number of years and we look forward to the new opportunities which the opening of the two hospitals will bring in the future."

The Small Animal Hospital opened on 31 August.  The first Vets Now Hospital will open in Glasgow on 31 October.

Hill's has added to its range of Science Plan Snacks with a large biscuit size, big bag version for large breed dogs. The 400 gram packs are available as Large Breed Light and Large Breed Healthy Mobility Snacks at a launch price of £2.49 (normal recommended retail price £4.99).

The company says that this follows fantastic feedback from veterinary practices about Science Plan Snacks, and requests for more variants tailored to fit the needs of their client's pets.

The Science Plan snack range offers products across five areas of functionality which, according to Hill's, have proven to be highly motivating for clients: light, immunity support, healthy mobility, oral care and skin & coat. There are adult variants across the range and puppy variants in immunity support and skin & coat.

For further information, please contact your Hill's Territory Manager or Hill's customer service on 0800 282438.

The RCVS Council has announced its agreement with wholesale reform of the College’s governance arrangements to improve the efficiency and accountability of its decision-making processes.

The changes agreed by Council included almost halving the number of Council members and formalising lay and veterinary membership.

Under the proposals approved by Council it would be reduced to 24 members – comprising 13 elected veterinary surgeons (constituting a majority of Council), six appointed laypeople, three members appointed on behalf of the UK veterinary schools and two veterinary nurses. There would also be the option to appoint an additional member on behalf of any allied professions that RCVS Council may choose to regulate as associates of the College.

Professor Stuart Reid, Senior Vice-President of the RCVS and Chair of the Governance Panel that developed the recommendations, said:  "I am delighted that Council so fully supported our proposals for a new structure. The new composition will ensure that both veterinary nurses and laypeople have a guaranteed place at the Council table, as well as maintaining a majority of elected veterinary surgeons and important input from the veterinary schools.

"The proposal recognises the unique nature of the RCVS and will allow us to expedite our decision-making process, making us more fleet of foot and better able to respond to the needs of the profession and the public. It has also been constructed to allow Council to evolve its position, ensuring it remains relevant into the future. If all goes well we hope that the changes could come into force as soon as March 2017."

Liz Cox, the Chair of VN Council, particularly welcomed the changes in respect of veterinary nursing representation on RCVS Council, adding: "It is an historic decision for veterinary nurses and one that has been long awaited. It is only right that those who work so closely alongside veterinary surgeons in practice should have a direct input into regulation that affects us all."

Council’s approval of the recommendations was the culmination of two years of debate and consultation with the profession and other stakeholders. This included a formal consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) last year which garnered 52 responses – including from the British Veterinary Association - most of which were supportive. Different options for reform had, in turn, been developed by a Governance Panel, chaired by Professor Reid, which was set up by Council in March 2015 to consider various options.

Defra will now run a short informal consultation to provide those who responded to the initial consultation the opportunity to comment on the proposed reforms. If no issues are raised Defra officials will seek approval from the Government to proceed with a legislative reform order (LRO) to make the necessary changes to the Veterinary Surgeons Act.

This LRO will be scrutinised by parliamentary committee and voted on in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. Once this has been passed there will be a three-year transitional period, agreed by Council members, during which Council’s numbers would be gradually reduced.

Genitrix has launched a new system called Osteokine, which produces Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP). PRP, an autologous solution containing therapeutically significant concentrations of platelets, is known to accelerate the healing of injuries and is already widely used in human medicine. It is increasingly being used in the treatment of horses.

The Osteokine system, developed by German company Orthogen which also manufactures joint therapy Irap, comprises two interconnected blood bags.

The system involves taking citrated whole blood from the horse and placing it into the first, red-capped Osteokine bag for processing in a centrifuge. The plasma and platelets are then transferred to the second bag, and a second centrifuge process separates the plasma and generates a pellet of PRP, which is extracted and used to treat the horse from which it was taken.

Treatment with PRP has been shown to accelerate wound healing in all kinds of tissue particularly tendons and ligaments and has also been used in bone healing. It has been noted to reduce perioperative traumatic pain while the higher collagen content provided by PRP can create improved scar resistance.

Commenting on the launch of the Osteokine system in the UK, Rob Watkins, Marketing Director of Genitrix, said: "Therapeutic care of equine lameness is an area of particular expertise for Genitrix and the innovative treatments we've brought to market, including Acell, HY50 and Irap already form part of the staple ‘toolkit' of many equine vets.

"The benefits of PRP in terms of accelerating wound healing and vasculerisation are already widely accepted as are the advantages of an autologous approach in terms of eliminating the risk of disease transmission. To date, however, the process of extracting PRP has proved complex and expensive and only provided in specialised laboratories.

"Osteokine, in contrast, offers a cost-effective approach based on a system which is simple to operate in practice and takes only 20 minutes. We believe it offers a highly effective approach to treating wounds and injuries in horses."

For further information on Osteokine, contact Genitrix on 01403 786345. 

Vygon Vet, a division of Vygon (UK) Ltd, has announced the launch of its website - www.vygonvet.co.uk.

Vygon has been supplying the veterinary market for 15 years. The new website means the company's products can now be bought direct online. The range includes: Vascular Access, IV Management, Needle-Free Devices, Respiratory, Digestive Tract, Regional Anaesthesia, Tissue Adhesive, Urinary & Rectal Tract and Theatre Products.

In addition to product information and technical data, the website offers guidance notes and tips about basic procedures.

Les Davies, Managing Director of Vygon (UK) Ltd said: "The launch of the new website demonstrates our commitment to the veterinary market and we hope that it not only enables veterinary professionals to order our products with ease, but that they also find the guidance notes and advice a valuable resource for their practice."

Vygon Vet products can also be ordered by telephone or through your veterinary wholesaler.

Fifty young people from low and middle income backgrounds will have the opportunity to learn what it takes to become a vet and prepare to apply to a veterinary school, at a summer school run by the Sutton Trust and the Royal Veterinary College.

The RVC joins nine other UK universities in providing 1900 summer school places this year, helped by a three-year grant of £750,000 to the summer school programme from Barclays.

Each year, around 1,500 applicants apply for 664 places at the seven veterinary schools in the UK.

The 50 successful applicants to the RVC summer school this year will enter a week-long residential course with all expenses covered. The academic programme will focus on Bioveterinary Sciences, Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Nursing taught by full-time academic staff. It will include practical dissections, clinical skills, farm-based sessions and laboratory periods. The participants will also be given sessions on the application process and interviews.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: "I'm delighted that the Royal Veterinary College has joined the Sutton Trust UK summer school programme. Veterinary courses are highly competitive, but it is vital that young people from low and middle income backgrounds have a fair chance to access them.

"Veterinary life is an attractive career choice for many bright young people, not just for the interest and variety of the work but also for the earning opportunities. The 50 students who enrol at the Royal Veterinary College this year will be given the best opportunity to prepare for university courses through our highly successful summer school model."
 
Professor Stuart Reid, Principal at the Royal Veterinary College, said:  "For many years the Royal Veterinary College has been focused on widening access to veterinary education to the most able students regardless of their background. The Sutton Trust has a long and successful tradition of supporting under-privileged students into higher education and we are proud to be working with the Trust's summer school programme.

"We hope that the summer school will demonstrate the broad range of exciting opportunities available to students with an interest in veterinary science and encourage more students from non-traditional backgrounds to consider a veterinary career."

Young people interested in applying to Sutton Trust summer schools can find more information at http://www.suttontrust.com/students/uk-summer-schools/

Elanco will be hosting a panel discussion about hydatid disease at BSAVA Congress on Friday 21st March.

The panel will present the latest information on the prevalence of this zoonotic disease, review prevention strategies, and highlight the significance of cystic echinococcosis in humans.

The panelists are:

• Professor Peter Chiodini Consultant Parasitologist at University College London Hospitals
• Ian Wright, ESCCAP Chairman and Director, Veterinary Surgeon & Parasitologist
• Dr Marisol Collins, Veterinary Surgeon and Lecturer in Veterinary Pharmacology and Clinical Skills at Liverpool Veterinary School
• Dr Laura Nabarro, Consultant in Parasitology, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD), University College London Hospitals.

Dr Carolyn Kyte MRCVS (pictured), Elanco's UK Technical Consultant said: “We are concerned about potential changes in the distribution of Echinococcus granulosus in the UK and a subsequent change in zoonotic risk.

"We are hoping this cross-disciplinary discussion will provide Congress and Expo attendees with the latest insights the profession needs to allow individual, risk-based parasite control in dogs.

"The responsible use of parasiticides needs a true One-Health collaborative approach.”

The Kennel Club has confirmed that the BBC has pulled out of broadcasting Crufts next year. 

According to the Kennel Club, the decision was reached following what it described as 'unreasonable demands' from the BBC, including the exclusion of certain breeds of dog from the group competition at the show.

The Kennel Club says the BBC's demands took no account of the measures it has in place to improve the health of pedigree dogs, or of the fact that judges will be trained to help ensure that all dogs being awarded prizes at Crufts will be healthy representatives of their breed.

Ronnie Irving, Kennel Club Chairman, said "I am very sorry that BBC audiences around the world will not be able to join us in celebrating all dogs in 2009 and to see the remarkable diversity of dogs and activities on show at Crufts; ranging from the show classes to agility displays, the Friends for Life competition and the unsung heroes who take part in breed rescue.

"However, we have been forced to reject the insupportable conditions imposed by the BBC, who have told us they will only televise the show in 2009 if certain breeds are excluded from participating.We are unable to agree to these demands, as it would compromise both contractual obligations and our general responsibility to dog exhibitors and our audience and we believe it would be inappropriate and counterproductive to exclude any recognised breed from Crufts.

"We are obviously disappointed and confused with this outcome as we hoped the broadcast would have supported our focus on health and welfare issues, given advice about caring for and training dogs and showcased the charitable work that we support. This TV exposure would have benefited all dogs and given viewers a well-rounded picture of what the new Crufts in 2009 is all about."

In October 2008 the Kennel Club announced a strategy to show how it is focusing its activities on the health and welfare of all dogs. It announced mandatory compliance with a strict code of ethics for all breed clubs registered with the Kennel Club.

Earlier this month, it completed a review for each of the 209 pedigree dog breeds in the UK and announced revised standards that it says will have far-reaching benefits for the health and welfare of dogs. These new breed standards and health plans will benefit from research that has been funded by the Kennel Club in conjunction with veterinary research centres over a number of years. The overall aim is that all pedigree dogs should be fit for function and that breeders and judges should not reward dogs with obvious conditions or exaggerations, which would be detrimental in any way to their health.

Bayer Animal Health, the maker of Veraflox, has produced a new animation which explains the considerations veterinary surgeons should take into account when choosing which antibiotic to prescribe. 

The animation outlines the key steps that should be taken when faced with a suspected bacterial infection and includes factors such as culture and sensitivity testing, resistance and the mutant prevention concentration.

The company says it produced the animation in response to research it carried out last year in which nearly 500 veterinary professionals (465 practising vets and 45 students) participated.

48% said they felt that not enough is being done to educate veterinary professionals on the responsible use of antibiotics and how to avoid exacerbating the urgent issue of antimicrobial resistance.

Vicky McAlister, Group Product Manager at Bayer said: "In response to this research Bayer is developing a suite of educational resources to arm vets with practical and applicable tools that help them look beyond the 'tip of the iceberg' of bacterial infections, educating about not just the clinical cure, but bacteriological cure, too." 

The animation is part of a wider awareness programme entitled ‘What Lies Beneath‘ in which Bayer says it aims to better understand the challenges the veterinary industry faces when prescribing antibiotics, so that additional tools can be developed to help vets confidently use antibiotics responsibly. 

The programme will also include a series of webinars led by experts in various fields including veterinary medicine, laboratory diagnostics experts, behavioural psychologists and microbiologists. The webinars are due to be released later in the year, and will present a different perspective on common issues such as compliance, how to make appropriate antimicrobial choices and the approach to and interpretation of relevant diagnostic tests.