The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) has launched a new 'Use Medicines Responsibly' campaign.

The main thrust of the campaign is an initiative by NOAH to encourage pharmaceutical companies to add: 'Use Medicines Responsibly' as a strapline to their own advertising campaigns, with a link to the NOAH information resource for prescribers and users of animal medicines: www.noah.co.uk/responsible.

Speaking at the NOAH annual members' conference in Northampton, NOAH chief executive Phil Sketchley said: "NOAH believes responsible promotion of animal medicines to be an important link in the chain towards responsible use. Companies' promotional material can educate prescribers and users of animal medicines to the benefit of their animals' health and welfare.

"We believe this new advice resource, with the reminder on advertisements, will help."

Pfizer Animal Health, maker of the equine wormers Equest & Equest Pramox, has launched Stable Mate, a new app to help horse owners manage their daily equine healthcare regime and get maximum enjoyment from their horse.

Pfizer says the new app has been described by testers as 'undoubtedly the best equestrian electronic management system you could wish for'. It includes an organiser in which to keep horses' records and details of their management requirements. It also includes Track My Ride, a GPS mapping and exercise planning service, and a news feed direct from Horse & Hound.

Stable Mate allows users to keep records for up to six horses on their iPhone. They just need to enter the information needed to keep track of each horse's health routine, including worm control, vaccinations, dentistry, farriery and feeding regime. The app then creates a calendar of events, appointments and reminders designed to make it easy for owners to keep their horse's essential healthcare needs on course.

Records can be passed to a yard manager or friends when the owner goes on holiday, making a temporary transfer of care straightforward. Stable Mate also offers general equine health advice, from the essentials of pasture management to understanding vaccination protocols.

Track My Ride is a GPS navigation system that allows owners to map the route, duration and speed of each ride. Pfizer says it's a great device for planning and monitoring exercise programmes, that owners can use it to explore new hacking routes safely and that they'll never have to worry about finding their way back to their horse box again when hunting or doing a long distance ride. Details of each ride are stored in a history log and can be shared with friends through social media.

Paul Blanc, Pfizer's equine brand manager said: "We have tried to develop an app that is all about the horse and their owner, making it as easy as possible for owners to keep their equine health care on track as well as add to the fun and pleasure with their horse. Stable Mate has well and truly surpassed our expectations. We hope that owners and riders find Stable Mate useful and enjoyable."

Stable Mate is currently available only for iPhone with Android and Blackberry coming soon.

Stable Mate is available free from the iPhone App Store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stable-mate/id532341393?ls=1&mt=8. To find out more visit www.wormingyourhorse.info.

Merial has announced the results of a survey which suggests that whilst diagnosis of gastric ulcers in horses is improving, there is still room for improvement.

The survey of 50 equine vets, which was conducted in May this year, showed that the number of practices owning a scope has more than doubled over the past six years. Half of equine practices now own a scope. Over the same period the average number of monthly scopes has risen from 1.5 to 9.25 and referrals from practices without a scope has risen by 65%.

Merial's Louise Radford MRCVS said: "The survey also showed that symptom recognition among vets prompting the need for an endoscopy has also risen. The vast majority of vets now consider changes in behaviour, loss of appetite and poor performance as potential signs. In addition, 100% of those surveyed would consider an endoscopy when presented with the signs of recurring colic.

"However whilst this is great progress, when diagnosis is compared to the incidence of ulcer, we know that more needs to be done. It is believed that up to 30% of leisure horses have some degree of gastric ulceration, and this increases in sports horses, yet just a fraction of this figure represents those scoped."

Richard Hepburn BVSc MS(Hons) CertEM(IntMed) DipACVIM(LA) MRCVS, American and RCVS Specialist in Equine Internal Medicine at B&W Equine Hospital says he is pleased that more horses are being scoped for gastric ulcers but says that further education is needed: "We've seen a huge leap in the appreciation of the incidence of gastric ulceration in non-racing animals, which long term will better our understanding of the individual clinical relevance of particular lesions, and the benefits of treatment and management change.

"This should improve both performance and horse welfare, as well as increasing client satisfaction. Despite the huge increase in the diagnosis and treatment of equine gastric ulcers it is still believed that many horses go undiagnosed."

BVA Congress 2008 will combine both political and CPD sessions under the theme ‘Vets in a changing environment’. Building on last year’s BVA Congress in Belfast, hailed by many delegates as ‘the best Congress for many years,’ Congress 2008 aims to provide excellent networking potential at a friendly, popular Congress where wide-ranging CPD and political sessions are all part of the attraction.

Alongside a thought-provoking and topical contentious issues programme will run three parallel wide-ranging CPD programmes run by partner organisations including the Association of Government Vets, Association for Veterinary Teaching & Research Work, British Cattle Veterinary Association, British Equine Veterinary Association, British Small Animal Veterinary Association (Metropolitan Region), British Veterinary Zoological Society, BVA Overseas Group, Laboratory Animals Veterinary Association, the Royal Veterinary College, Sheep Veterinary Society and the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons.

BVA says Congress 2008 has something to offer everyone, whether Defra’s new chief scientist Professor Bob Watson talking on climate change - the global challenge, Stephen Gates on inspirational leadership, Neil Morrison OBE on empowerment through livestock, Adrian Boswood on cardiovascular medicine or Keith Chandler on field equine dentistry.

This year’s Congress will be held in the heart of London, at the Royal College of Physicians by Regents Park, a venue which offers exceptional conference, meeting and banqueting facilities with convenient links to transport on its doorstep. Having returned to London, BVA Congress will also make use of some of the facilities the capital has to offer with the Party Night at the world famous Café Royal and the Congress Banquet at Stationers Hall, one of the few ancient livery halls remaining in the City of London and certainly one of the most beautiful.

Date and location: 25 - 27 September, Royal College of Physicians, London

Equine charity The Horse Trust has reported an unprecendented number of enquiries from people wanting to rehome their horses and ponies. 

In the three weeks since the financial crisis resulted in repossessions, job losses and cash shortages, more than 500 people made inquiries about having their horses rescued or rehomed.

Susan Lewis, The Horse Trust's marketing manager said: "There is a new generation of horses which is being affected in this way. Animals which have been cherished for 20 years and are now approaching retirement age are becoming too expensive for owners to maintain at livery - especially as the winter season is approaching with its inherent requirements for additional feed, housing and veterinary care."

She added: "Most people are saying: 'Help, what can I do? I adore my horse which has lived with me since I was a tiny child - but now I can barely feed myself let alone my horse. He has always come first - but having lost my home and the field in which I keep him, I just don't know where to turn'.

"It isn't a new story - and we have for many years warned horse owners that they face the issues of cost, care and commitment well into the old age of a horse, which can be up to 30 years. Now, however, it seems that we are facing a more widespread crisis."

Like most other horse charities, the Trust's Home of Rest for horses is full to capacity.

"We simply can't take on any other animals," said Susan. "The charity pound is now stretched to breaking point as people's purses dry up - and with rising feed prices and veterinary charges, it now costs more than £17 a day to keep a horse here.

Pet food company tails.com has launched Data Labs, through which it will share its animal health data with veterinary surgeons to help improve the lives of dogs and their owners.

The company has been gathering information on the health, wellbeing and life expectancy of hundreds of thousands of dogs since 2014.

Sean McCormack (pictured right), Head Vet at tails.com, said: “As a vet in practice, you gain an understanding of general animal issues and trends. But what this data can do is look over hundreds of thousands of dogs, unpick all of the nutritional, breed and age-related data we’ve collected over time, and then provide an insight-rich window into the best possible way to care for our dogs.

“We’re really just scratching the surface in terms of what we have at our disposal. There’s real potential for Data Labs to fundamentally change the way that we view dog nutrition and dog health going forwards.”

According to the company, the database has already revealed that:

• in certain breeds, a significant proportion of owners are unaware that their dog is overweight;
• being overweight or obese can take months, or in some cases, years off the lives of dogs;
• there is evidence to suggest that there are improvements in life expectancy when overweight dogs return to an ideal body weight;
• neutering dogs is associated with a longer life expectancy across 15 of the studied dog breeds.

Lorna Brightmore, Lead Data Scientist at tails.com, said: "Even at this early stage, we are finding strong associations between a number of health factors and longevity and our conclusions will only become stronger over time.”

The first major milestone of Data Labs will be the publication of tails.com’s first peer-reviewed scientific paper.

The paper will detail the effects of body weight, body condition, gender and neutering on the longevity and health of dogs, with further scientific papers planned for publication in the coming months and years.

For more information, visit www.tails.com/gb/data-labs/.

The new RCVS brand has been highly commended in the 'Brand Development' Category of the Membership Communication (MemCom) Awards.

The new look, which was launched last year, aimed to clarify the role and function of the College, with the strapline 'Setting veterinary standards' and a professional new livery of blue and gold.

The award was made at a presentation at the Institute of Directors on 17 May, and the judges' citation said: "[The rebrand] sought to overcome a remote and stuffy image whilst at the same time seeking to underline that it is the only Royal College that is primarily a regulatory body acting in the public interest," adding that "to put this into second place took a remarkable entry".

The top award in the category was taken by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, with its book 'Watching Waterbirds', endorsed by the TV celebrity Kate Humble.

Lizzie Lockett, RCVS Head of Communications said: "Design can be subjective but the important thing is what it communicates. We are delighted to have received this commendation in recognition of the work we have done to ensure the role of the College is clearer for both the public and the profession."

A new session has been added to Ceva Animal Health UK's Cardio Academy CPD website entitled "Thoracic X-rays: Abnormal Features". 

In the 30 minute multimedia presentation, the cardiology specialist Nicole Van Israël discusses X-ray abnormalities within the cardiovascular and respiratory systems of cardiac patients. This includes a discussion on how to measure heart size and how to identify and interpret lung patterns.

Participants can then receive a CPD certificate by completing the quiz for this session. The Cardio Academy CPD website is free of charge and can be accessed on www.cardioacademy.cevalearn.com.

In addition, the first four sessions can still be accessed which cover the Pathophysiology of Mitral Valve Disease by Adrian Boswood, Clinical Examination of the Cardiac Dog by Gérard Le Bobinnec and Thoracic X-rays - How to Proceed and Thoracic X-rays - Normal Features by Nicole Van Israël.

For further information, please contact your local Ceva account manager.

With less than one month to go before all cats are required to be microchipped, Michelle Townley MRCVS, veterinary advisor to HomeAgain, has shared six ways to address the more common concerns that pet owners have about microchipping: 

Tip 1 – Make sure that pet owners understand the functions of a microchip properly
Michelle says: "Some customers I’ve spoken to wrongly believe that microchips function as GPS trackers. To help manage pet owners’ expectations I always stress the importance of a microchip in lost pet recovery scenarios, where they serve as a permanent form of identification."

Tip 2 – Stress the importance of pet owners updating their contact details with their microchip provider
Michelle says: "Pet owners often think that updating contact details with their vet will automatically sync these changes with the microchip database. It’s vital to inform owners that they must separately update their contact information with their microchip database.  I’d recommend regularly reminding pet owners to check and update their microchip registration."

Tip 3 – Reassure pet owners that microchips are safe for their cats
Michelle says: "I’ve had some owners express worries about allergic reactions or rejection of the microchip by their cat's body. So it’s worth taking the opportunity to dispel this myth  during routine wellness exams by explaining microchips are made from inert, biocompatible materials designed to be nonallergenic and nontoxic. 

Tip 4 – Make sure to discuss the longevity of microchips with pet owners
Michelle says: Microchips are designed to last the lifetime of the pet without needing a power source and that their functionality can easily be verified during any veterinary visit. If you find an owner expresses concerns about this, you could offer to check the microchip as part of regular health checks to demonstrate its reliability.

Tip 5 – Emphasise how every cat needs a microchip – regardless of age or activity level
Michelle says: "All vets will know even indoor or elderly cats can escape or wander off and older cats can become disoriented more easily. It is worth reminding owners that microchipping is a safeguard, ensuring their pet can be identified and returned home if lost. The new law means that pet owners can also face a large £500 fine if their cat isn’t microchipped."

Tip 6 – Explain how not all microchips are the same and the importance of getting the right one
Michelle says: I often explain that microchips vary in terms of the technology they employ, such as the new 'Thermochip' by HomeAgain that also measures a cat’s subcutaneous temperature. It’s worth talking pet owners through the different microchips available and the database options so they can make an informed choice.

http://homeagain.co.uk/Cats 

Newly-invested RCVS President, Dr Sue Paterson FRCVS, has announced that her focus for this year will be on widening access to the veterinary profession to those from different socioeconomic, ethnic and religious groups.

She said: “My theme will be focussed on recruitment and particularly widening participation, as one of the three themes of the RCVS Workforce Action Plan.

"I want to get out during my presidential year and talk to school children and teachers, especially head teachers at their conferences, to make them aware of the opportunities that are available to a veterinary science graduate.

“I want to continue to work with the Veterinary Schools Council’s Widening Participation Vet Schools Network to make school children from all backgrounds aware, whether they are from a large, single-sex private school, or a mixed-faith inner-city comprehensive, that veterinary science is accessible to them. 

“A veterinary science degree equips graduates with the appropriate skillset to follow a myriad of different career paths.

"For example, in clinical practice caring for people’s beloved pets or working with farmers to produce high-welfare food in an economical and sustainable way. Not to mention groundbreaking research into human and animal diseases, public health to help safeguard food security, the pharmaceutical industry to develop new and innovative treatments, and the armed forces to maintain the health and welfare of military working animals. I could go on. 

“As professions, and this means not just veterinary surgeons but veterinary nurses, we need to get out there and sell ourselves to the wider public.

"We have made a start, but we need to become more inclusive and diverse.

"We need to do some myth-busting about the real requirements needed to be a vet or vet nurse.

"There is no doubt you do need to have good A levels to study veterinary medicine, but, beyond that, bright students from any background can join our professions.

"You can be a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse if you are black or white; Muslim or Christian; and from any socioeconomic background.”

Sue's speech is available to read in full at www.rcvs.org.uk/features.

MSD has launched the Porcilis Health Management Vet Academy, a 12-month CPD programme designed to support the development of veterinary surgeons working in the pig sector.

Rubén Del Pozo Sacristán (pictured right), technical manager for pigs at MSD Animal Health UK, will be delivering the seminars.

He said: “At MSD Animal Health UK, we’re committed to helping further the knowledge and expertise of vets, so we have put together a series of seminars which will focus on common and demanding production challenges and diseases facing pig producers.”

The monthly seminars will be suitable for all vets, but especially those who are new to pig medicine.

Each seminar will be worth two to three hours of CPD time, with certificates available for all participants.

Rube added: “Of the 12 seminars we have planned, we’re hoping to hold four of these in a face-to-face capacity, with dinner included for those who attend, to allow for networking and further discussion.

The programme is as follows:

• January – Enteric diseases
• February – Gut health
• March – Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex
• April – PRRS control
• May – PCV2
• June – Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae
• July – Biosecurity
• August – Antimicrobial reduction
• September – Passive immunity: colostrum and lactogenic
• October – Vaccination and intradermal vaccination
• November – Reproductive diseases
• December – Management during lactation

For more information on the academy, or to register your interest, speak to your MSD Animal Health account manager.

The RCVS Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee has ruled that Somerset-based William Kane is fit to practice after he was convicted of three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Mr Kane was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months in September 2024.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years until he had passed an extended driving test, and was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months, and to pay a victim surcharge of £187.

It was alleged that the conviction rendered Mr Kane unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.

From the outset, Mr Kane admitted the facts contained in the charge, but did not accept that this rendered him unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.

After the criminal proceedings, Mr Kane wrote to express his deepest regret for his actions and the pain and guilt they had caused, stating that there was not a single day that had passed that he had not thought about the family that was affected by his actions, and the lifelong consequences that they now face.

He went on to express that he understood that as a member of a trusted profession, his conduct must reflect not only his clinical competence, but also his integrity and accountability.

He also noted that he had sought to recognise and address the consequences of his actions and that he is determined to make a positive contribution to society and to the profession.

The Committee found the charge proved on the basis of Mr Kane’s admission and the Certificate of Conviction.

The Committee found a number of factors relevant to the case:

• there was no explanation for the accident
• Mr Kane was not intoxicated, nor was he distracted by using his mobile phone
• he was not carrying out any type of manoeuvre, for example overtaking where he shouldn’t
• his car was not in a dangerous condition
• no concerns had been raised about the manner of his driving, other than the moment immediately before the collision
• the judge repeatedly described the accident as a ‘momentary lapse of attention’, whereby Mr Kane’s car drifted into the opposing lane of traffic for a couple of seconds and there was then a catastrophic collision
• whilst the consequences were severe, the culpability, said the judge, was low and just crossed the threshold between careless and dangerous driving;
• the judge found there to be no aggravating features
• the judge, who had the benefit of watching dash-cam footage from another car that captured the collision, described it as a ‘mistake’.

The question for the Committee was whether Mr Kane’s conviction of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, when put into proper context, rendered him unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.

This was not a conviction in any way linked to his practise and there was no suggestion that he represented any sort of a risk to animals in his care.

The Committee was not, therefore, concerned with any issues arising out of the need to protect animals, but rather with whether a finding of unfitness to practise was needed to uphold standards of conduct and behaviour in order to maintain public confidence in the profession.

Kathryn Peaty, Chair of the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee took into account the public interest which includes maintaining public confidence in the profession and the regulator and upholding proper standards in the profession.

"The public interest also includes allowing an otherwise competent veterinary nurse to continue in practice, where appropriate.

“Agreeing with the judge that this was indeed an exceptional case, the Committee did not consider that Mr Kane’s conduct was liable to have a seriously detrimental effect on the reputation of the profession and concluded that the public, in full knowledge of the circumstances of this particular case, would not expect a finding that the conviction renders him unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.

"Rather, the public would recognise that whilst the consequences were appalling and tragic for the family involved, in terms of Mr Kane’s culpability this was a momentary piece of dangerous driving, categorised by the judge as a ‘mistake’ rather than anything more blameworthy.

“The Committee therefore concluded that Mr Kane’s conviction does not render him unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.

"This is not to in any way detract from the catastrophic consequences for the family, but rather is to reflect the context, exceptional circumstances and level of culpability in this case.”

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