RCVS CEO Nick Stace has published a refreshingly candid acknowledgement of recent concerns voiced by the profession on his blog, www.nickstaceblogs.org.

In his post, he gives a firm commitment to listen to the profession, asking just that in return, MsRCVS get more involved in College matters, such as voting in the elections and getting involved in consultations (starting with this one).

Definitely worth reading the full post: http://nickstaceblogs.org/2014/05/06/receiving-you-loud-and-clear/

Bayer Animal Health has re-designed Drontal Cat and Drontal Cat XL tablets from a round shape to a smaller ellipsoid one, in order to make worming an easier process.

Bayer's Drontal brand manager Dan White said: "Market research conducted among 218 cat owners in August revealed that an ellipsoid, smaller tablet was preferred. In fact, 69% of non-Drontal Cat users indicated they would prefer to switch from their current worming product to an ellipsoid, smaller tablet. So we have re-designed the shape of the tablet across the Drontal Cat range.

"Drontal is the only wormer that kills every type of gastrointestinal worm commonly found in UK cats. So it was not surprising the research also showed Drontal to have the highest brand awareness, at 37%, of all cat worming products."

The new Drontal Cat Ellipsoid tablets are now available, and in new pack sizes of 2, 24 and 96. For large cats, Drontal Cat XL Ellipsoid has new pack sizes of 2, 8, and 48, and these packs will be available in early 2011.

For more information about the new Drontal Cat tablets, please contact your Bayer territory manager.

Specialists in internal medicine from Davies Veterinary Specialists (Davies) in Hertfordshire and Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service in Solihull are urgently seeking canine patients with chronic small intestinal diarrhoea, to help with a multi-centre study on faecal matter transplantation (FMT).

Faecal matter transplantation (FMT) has been used in people to treat Clostridium difficile infections and has also been trialled in conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

The researchers believe that FMT offers a potential new option for the treatment of chronic diarrhoea in dogs and the study will investigate whether it contributes to a more rapid resolution of clinical signs. The study is being conducted in association with eight other private practices or universities around the country.

Julien Bazelle, a European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine at Davies said: "The goal is to recruit, over a short period of time, canine patients with chronic small intestinal diarrhoea, for a randomised trial in which the cohort receives or not FMT at the time of the initial investigations and prior to any other treatment.”

Dogs aged 6 months to 10 years with a history of chronic small intestinal diarrhoea (+/- other GI signs) are needed to participate in the study. Half of the dogs will receive FMT and the other half will be managed without. FMT will be performed in eligible patients during the sedation for their routine abdominal ultrasound. Transplanted faecal matter will be administered via a retention enema.

To be eligible, dogs must not have received antibiotics, probiotics or steroids recently.

If you have a potentially suitable patient please contact: julien.bazelle@vetspecialists.co.uk or Fergus.Allerton@willows.uk.net

Building work has started on the new Harper & Keele Veterinary School, which is due to take its first students on the veterinary medicine course in 2020, and will also serve students on Veterinary Nursing, Veterinary Physiotherapy and wider animal sciences courses at Harper Adams.

The 2,200sqm building – equivalent to half a hockey pitch or four netball courts – will include a range of facilities across two floors. It will have two new lecture theatres, a number of IT-rich teaching and learning spaces, general teaching rooms and various environments for teaching clinical skills.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Llewellyn, said: "Our plans for the Veterinary School are proceeding well, with our first student intake to the new veterinary medicine course due in 2020.

"The building on the Harper Adams site will provide a great range of teaching facilities for our students, to complement the wide range of animal facilities we already have on campus.  We are excited to see the progress that is being made with the Harper & Keele Veterinary School, which is generating considerable interest within the veterinary profession, and we look forward to seeing the new building take shape in the coming months."

Picture shows: Vice Chancellor Dr David Llewellyn, McPhillips’ Marketing Manager Mark Kiddie, Site Manager Ed Bickford, McPhillips’ Managing Director Paul Inions, Head of Estates and Facilities at Harper Adams University, Jonathan Cain,

The RCVS has announced that the Codes of Professional Conduct for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses have been updated to state that you should not refer to yourselves or others as 'veterinary nurses' unless registered.

In fact, the change occurred back in June last year, but was only announced via RCVS News and as a one-liner within the 'Overview of decisions made at RCVS Council'.

The announcement raises the pretty fundamental question of what ARE veterinary surgeons and RVNs to call their unqualified colleagues, if not veterinary nurses? How indeed are those unqualified staff working in veterinary practice to describe their job title to their friends, down at the pub? 

VetSurgeon.org sought to clarify the situation with the College, and the first point to make is that the new part of the CoPCs refers only to the use of the words 'veterinary nurse' when used in conjunction. The words 'nurse' or 'nursing' are not protected at all. 

The College says that it is not within its remit to instruct veterinary surgeons or registered nurses as to how they should address unqualified staff, but suggested: 'Care Assistant' or 'Auxilliary'.

However, Ben Myring, RCVS Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer said: "There is nothing to stop someone calling themselves a 'nursing assistant' or a 'head nurse'".

The Codes of Professional Conduct obviously apply only to those who are regulated by it. The title 'veterinary nurse' in unprotected in law and can therefore be used by anyone else. 

So, the immediate implications seem to be as follows:

• Veterinary surgeons and nurses must not refer to unqualified nursing colleagues as 'veterinary nurses'. 
• Currently acceptable alternatives (for the moment at least) are 'nurse' (on its own), 'care assistant, 'auxilliary' or 'nursing assistant'.
• Marketing and other materials which a regulated individual has responsibility for should be updated to reflect the change (for example, if a small practice owned by a veterinary surgeon refers to its unqualified nursing assistants as veterinary nurses on its website, that should be changed).
• When asked, down the pub, what they do, unqualified nursing assistants are legally still entitled to describe themselves as 'veterinary nurses'.

Do you have any other suggestions as to how unqualified nursing staff should be styled? Post them below.

Dechra Veterinary Products has issued a recall for Prednidale 5 mg Tablets because of a microbial contamination.

The following batches are affected:

• 119501 Prednidale 5mg Tablets Expiry July 2021
• 120633 Prednidale 5mg Tablets Expiry October 2021

Dechra is contacting wholesale dealers and asking practices to examine inventory immediately and quarantine products subject to this recall.

For further information contact Ms Carol Morgan: carol.morgan@dechra.com .

Royal Canin has announced the launch of a summer campaign to help small animal practices develop their relationships with cat-owning clients.

'Summer of the Cat' runs throughout July, August and September. As part of the campaign, cat owners are being invited to share adventures their cat has over the summer with their vet practice, for the chance to win a year's supply of Royal Canin cat food.

Entry forms, which contain spaces for photos and drawings, will be distributed to practices along with other promotional materials such as balloons, posters, bunting, tent cards and wobblers.

The competition - which also gives entrants the chance to win large A3 posters of their 'Summer of the Cat' storyboards - is being supported by a promotional offer to 'feed your cat free for a week' from July to September.

Veterinary Marketing Manager, Lindsay Calcraft, said: "Customers will be able to buy any 1.5 - 2kg bag of feline Veterinary Care Nutrition from their vet and get a 400g bag free. Those cat owners taking up the offer will also receive a money off voucher (£3/€4) for their next purchase to encourage loyalty and increased footfall in the participating vet practices."

For more information, visit www.royalcanin.co.uk or contact your Veterinary Business Manager.

The new President of the RCVS), Dr Melissa Donald MRCVS, has promised to spend much of the year listening to veterinary professionals and communities across the UK, to better understand the issues affecting them.

Melissa, who was invested at the RCVS AGM last week, graduated from the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine in 1987, starting her career as a food animal intern at Iowa State University in the United States before moving into mixed veterinary practice in Ayrshire in 1990.

Over the next 25 years, she and her husband Kenny developed Oaks Veterinary Centre into a small animal practice with a focus on dentistry.

Melissa was first elected to Council in 2016, was re-elected in 2020 and has served on a number of committees including the Education Committee and Finance & Resources Committee.

Since 2019, she has served as Chair of the Standards Committee, leading the development of proposed new guidance on under care and out-of-hours emergency care and pain relief.

Melissa has also been President of the British Veterinary Association’s Scottish branch and the Ayrshire Veterinary Association and, outside of work, enjoys running, and caring for her dogs, cats and sheep.

In her opening speech as RCVS President, Melissa outlined her sense of community with her fellow vets, as a relatively small but prominent profession that punches above its weight, and how she intended to strengthen this as President.

Melissa said: “When I looked this up in June, there were over 300,000 doctors registered with the General Medical Council.

"We, the veterinary profession, have around 30,000 registered with the RCVS to look after farmed, pet, lab animal, exotic, zoo and wildlife species.

"In other words, all animals EXCEPT the human, and we protect humans too, with public health work!

“Even excluding farmed fish, over 300 million animals are being cared for by 30,000 professional veterinary surgeons and their teams.

"That is the scale of our small but mighty community.

"Being part of a community doesn’t mean we all have to be clones of each other, but a group that can agree to disagree, and is there for each other in times of need.

“With this close proximity to each other, communication is key.

"My mother has offered me many wise words over the years, most frequently being ‘engage brain before opening mouth’ but just as important as speaking is listening and actually hearing what is being said.

"So, over this year I will try to get out and about as much as possible, focus on hearing what our community is saying and engage in many conversations as we work together."

Manchester-based Anca Bucur MRCVS has been suspended from the Register of Veterinary Surgeons for two months after she was found to have issued a veterinary prescription for tramadol intended for use by her father.

Ms Bucur MRCVS faced three charges against her.

The first charge was that in April 2024, she wrote a prescription for 60 tablets of tramadol 50mg, indicating that it was for the treatment of an animal, when it was intended for the treatment of a human.

The second charge was that she allowed the prescription to be presented at a pharmacy and/or failed to stop that.

The third charge was that her conduct, in relation to the first two charges was dishonest, and misleading, and took place in circumstances where she was not professionally qualified to write a prescription for human use.

At the outset of the hearing, Ms Bucur admitted all the charges and the Committee accepted her admissions.

In relation to charge three, the Committee found that Ms Bucur had been aware that she should not have written the prescription, that she should not have indicated that it was for an animal, that she should not have deleted the prescription for the clinical record on the practice management system, and she should not have allowed or failed to prevent the prescription from being presented for dispensing.

The Committee therefore found all charges proved.

In terms of aggravating factors, the Committee considered that Ms Bucur’s conduct had given rise to a risk of injury because she was not professionally qualified or sufficiently informed to issue a prescription for tramadol, that she had acted recklessly with regard to the potential effects of a controlled, potentially addictive drug and that her conduct had been premeditated.

It also accepted the submission that there was an abuse of Ms Bucur’s professional position as a registered veterinary surgeon, because this had allowed her to issue a prescription.

The Committee also found that Ms Bucur’s conduct was aggravated by her having involved other persons in her misconduct, namely her partner, in an attempt to have the prescription dispensed.

The Committee noted that the charges involved findings of dishonesty, which is regarded at the higher end in terms of the spectrum of gravity of misconduct.

In mitigation, the Committee took into account that the facts proved related to a single incident of the issuing and attempted use of a prescription.

The Committee was of the view that the Ms Bucur’s conduct had failed to promote protection of public health and had breached the legislation around access to controlled drugs.

Even though this was a single incident, the Committee considered that members of the public, if aware of the facts, would be alarmed and concerned at Ms Bucur’s actions.

As a result, the profession could be brought into disrepute and public confidence in the profession undermined.

The Committee therefore found that Ms Bucur’s conduct amounted to serious professional misconduct in a professional respect.

The Committee then considered whether there were any relevant additional personal aggravating or mitigating factors.

The Committee did not find any further aggravating factors; in mitigation it noted that Ms Bucur had no previous complaints of adverse matters in her career.

The Committee accepted that Ms Bucur had made early, open and frank admissions to her conduct.

She had also offered a fulsome and genuine apology and remorse in her witness statement and in the hearing.

The Committee also accepted that she had since worked without further incident and concluded from her witness statement and evidence that she had developed full insight into her misconduct.

She was able to provide a notable number of references and testimonials which were uniform in speaking to her positive qualities as a veterinary surgeon.

The Committee was able to conclude that this has been a very serious but single lapse of judgement, and that there was a relevant context in that Ms Bucur had clearly acted out of concerns to help her father, however misguided.

There were no suggestions of harm, or risk of harm, to animals.

However, the Committee could not ignore that Ms Bucur’s misconduct had occurred in relation to a controlled drug and had contravened important protections designed to protect the public.

Neil Slater, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee balanced the effect that a suspension would have on Dr Bucur, by depriving her of the ability to practise for a period, with the public interest.

"However, it decided that, in the circumstances, the interests of protecting the public, including the wider public interest, outweighed Dr Bucur’s interests.

“The Committee decided that, in all the circumstances, a suspension was the appropriate and proportionate sanction.

“The Committee considered for how long the suspension should be imposed.

"It considered that the suspension was not required to allow for Dr Bucur to gain any further insight.

"It would purely be required to mark the Committee’s disapproval of Dr Bucur’s misconduct, as a signal to the public and to the profession.

"The Committee concluded that the least period required in all the circumstances is two months.

“The Committee therefore directed to the Registrar that Dr Bucur’s registration be suspended for a period of two months.”

https://www.rcvs.org.uk/concerns/disciplinary-hearings 

Dechra has launched Fluboral (flubendazole), a water-soluble wormer for chickens and pigs.

Fluboral controls gastro-intestinal nematodes including Ascaridia galli (adult stages), Heterakis gallinarum (adult stages) and Capillaria spp. (adult stages) in chickens and Ascaris suum (adult and L4 intestinal stages) in pigs. 

Dechra says Fluboral’s formula allows it to mix in drinking water quickly and easily with five seconds of stirring. 

Fluboral has a guaranteed 24-hour stability without sedimentation of the suspension after dilution in drinking water and Dechra says there is no risk of inhomogeneous mixing.

Johnny Wells West, key account manager – pig and poultry at Dechra, said: “Fluboral is a welcome addition to our Solustab range of water-soluble products, providing effortless and efficient parasite control in drinking water to enable farmers and producers to start medication quickly and cost-effectively, as and when needed.”

https://www.dechra.co.uk/products/livestock/prescription/fluboral#Fluboral. 

A study from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found there’s no substantial link between popular conformation in rabbits, including floppy ears or flat faces, and an increased risk of dental problems¹.

According to the RVC, recent studies estimate dental disease affects up to 18% of the UK's rabbits and breeds with lop ears and short skulls (brachycephaly) have long been suspected of being more at risk.

To investigate whether there is any truth to that suspicion, a team of RVC researchers led by Maria Jackson RVN, Research Assistant in Rabbit Health and Welfare, and Dr Charlotte Burn, Associate Professor in Animal Welfare and Behaviour Science, set out to explore whether these physical features are linked to dental problems.

The study involved visual dental checks of 435 volunteered pedigree rabbits from 49 breeds at British Rabbit Council shows and breeders’ studs across the UK.

The researchers assessed tooth and mouth health using an otoscope, while also recording ear type, head shape (on a purpose-made visual scale), body size, age and sex.

The findings revealed that:

• Many rabbits had no obvious dental issues with 68.28% of rabbits having no incisor abnormalities and 55.40% having no issues with their cheek teeth.
• Lop-eared rabbits were not more likely to have dental problems but were 4.03 times more likely to have watery eyes – a symptom that could be linked to other health issues.
• Flat-faced (brachycephalic) rabbits did not show more dental abnormalities than those with longer faces.
• Longer-faced rabbits (dolichocephalic) were slightly more likely (1.39 times) to have a specific dental issue known as “step or wave mouth”, where the premolars and molars have a step-like pattern and don’t align normally.
• Older age and sex were more consistently linked to dental abnormalities. Male rabbits were 2.06 times more likely to have an incisor abnormality and 2.23 times more likely to have slanted or curved incisor occlusal surfaces. While females were 2.18 times more likely to have long first cheek teeth, although the clinical significance of some of these findings isn’t clear.

In conclusion, the study concluded that diet, environment and regular dental checks might be more important in the development of dental disease.

The researchers also concluded that any breeding decisions should be based on veterinary assessment of dental health, including otoscope or radiography examinations rather than relying solely on visual inspection of the teeth or a rabbit’s conformation.

Maria said: “Our findings add to the evidence that suggests lop ears and a brachycephalic head shape are less important in the development of dental issues in rabbits than was once thought.

"It’s clear that all rabbits, not just those with a non-wild conformation, can be affected by dental problems.

“The importance of feeding good-quality hay or grass and supplementing the diet with extruded pellets, not muesli, cannot be overstated, as diet may well be more important than conformation in the development of dental disease.

"Likewise, providing regular veterinary dental check-ups to rabbits is crucial to facilitate early dental disease detection and give case-specific dietary and treatment recommendations to slow disease progression and support the welfare of rabbits.” 

Reference

1. Jackson, M. A., Betts, M., Hedley, J., & Burn, C. C. (2025). Rabbit Dental Abnormalities: Investigation of Conformational Risk Factors in a Pedigree Rabbit Population. Animals, 15(7), 980. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15070980. 

Photo: depositphotos.com

Remote Monitoring Ltd has launched RemoteM, a new fridge monitoring system which it says has already saved a Yorkshire practice thousands of pounds. 

The system consists of a number of small wireless sensors which are placed in each fridge and which transmit data to a base station. It records a temperature history for each fridge, transmitting the data in real time to secure cloud storage, from where it can provide reports on the changing temperature in each fridge for compliance and regulatory purposes.

RemoteM is self-installed and battery operated, and it transmits data using the mobile phone network, so it is not reliant on a power source or working internet connection. Temperature alarms can be sent to one or more recipients, using email, automated voice calls or SMS. 

Dalehead Veterinary Group, which has practices in Settle, Bentham and Gisburn, began trialling the RemoteM system almost a year ago. 

Dalehead has six fridges at its Settle practice. Before installing RemoteM, practice staff needed to record daily readings of fridge temperatures, taken at different times of the day. As well as being a time-consuming process, it risked being inaccurate, as simple in-fridge monitors do not record all fluctuations in temperature.

Practice Manager Emma Spence said: "RemoteM has already saved us at least £4,000.

"One of our small animal vaccine fridges failed overnight, and the instant alarm meant we were able to respond immediately, with our on-call vet moving the stock to another fridge without risk of deterioration. At various times of year when we can have high values of stock in individual large fridges, this could have been even more critical."

The practice says the system has also proved useful in alerting staff to fluctuating temperatures in warm summer months, helping to ensure that vaccines and medicines are used in optimum condition.

For this reason, RemoteM sensors are also used outside fridges to monitor stock held at ambient temperatures, where the alarm trigger is set at 25 degrees to ensure stock does not exceed manufacturers' recommended storage temperature limits.

Another benefit of the system has been that Dalehead's insurer has said that with RemoteM, it is happy for the practice to continue to use its older fridges, instead of stipulating that they are replaced every three years. 

So, it's not just saving the practice money, then. It's helping reduce pollution too. 

For more information, call 0330 223 4553, email: info@remotem.co.uk or visit: www.remotem.co.uk.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has set up a Working Party to consider whether the time has come for new legislation to regulate the profession.

The Legislation Working Party was set up on the recommendation of the College’s Brexit Taskforce, which considered that in light of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union and the deficiencies in the existing legislation, now would be a good time to review the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

The Working Party, which is expected to have its first meeting in May, will be chaired by RCVS Junior Vice-President Professor Stephen May and will include the British Veterinary Association’s President, Gudrun Ravetz, RCVS CEO Nick Stace, RCVS Registrar Eleanor Ferguson, Chair of VN Council Liz Cox, RCVS Treasurer and Junior Vice-President elect Amanda Boag, and RCVS Council members Kate Richards and lay member Richard Davis.

The Working Party’s remit will be to ensure that the College’s vision for the future of veterinary legislation is given proper consideration so that it can respond to future opportunities to support a new Act; to propose a list of principles on which new legislation should be based; and to make recommendations as to whether the new legislation should be a ‘Veterinary Services Act’ providing an umbrella for allied professionals and exploring compulsory practice inspection.

Professor Stephen May said: "The UK leaving the EU will necessitate some changes to the Veterinary Surgeons Act as it currently exists so this feels like an opportune moment to carry out a wholesale review of the legislative basis for regulation of the veterinary profession in the UK.

"Clearly using 50-year-old legislation has its limitations, and while we have been able to make use of legislative reform orders and changes to the Royal Charter to make significant changes to the College – for example, in terms of our disciplinary and governance arrangements – the fact is that this somewhat antiquated legislation is the basis for all we do.

"For example under the current Act veterinary nurses still lack statutory regulation and protection of title, there is no underpinning for our continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and specialist/ advanced practitioner status and the College lacks the power of entry or similar power needed for compulsory practice inspection.

"We hope that, by giving the legislation a fresh look, we can consider how it could better cover the veterinary industry as a whole and not just the rather narrow definition given in the original Act."

The Legislation Working Party is to meet at least four times and will report to RCVS Council in due course.