Non Clinical - Recent Threads

Starlink

carina palmer — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:53:37 GMT

Do any of you use Starlink for business for their internet and VOIP and if so how do you get on with it.I have found Starlink for business a massive improvement for internet speeds compared to what BT has to offer us with their old copper lines in our rural community .However we are having issues setting VOIP up on it . We answer an incoming call but it continues ringing on the callers end for 3 -4 more rings before connecting to us , we therefore don’t know at what point the callers can hear what we are saying.Any help would be greatly recieved.

Spay vs Spey

Beats — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 20:19:14 GMT

Is there a correct and an incorrect spelling, or are both acceptable in common usage?

I consider Vetsurgeon to be the authoritative place to make such enquires re UK spelling!

The DEFRA white paper is out – what do you make of all this?

Chris Ritchie — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:40:45 GMT

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/white-paper-a-step-closer-to-improved-legislation

Sixty years! But now there's real progress being made on the Veterinary Surgeons Act and there's a host of proposed reforms which DEFRA says will "radically modernise the industry, delivering better protections for households and greater transparency around prices – helping pet owners understand what they are paying for, avoid unexpected costs and choose the best value care for their pets".

Among the proposals: there will be an independent veterinary ombudsman, and veterinary businesses will be statutorily regulated with a mandatory licensing system similar to care homes and GP surgeries. It also recommends changing the approach to fitness-to-practise processes. Plus veterinary nurses and other professional groups will be statutorily registered.

The RCVS said it agreed that the profession required modern legislation to protect animal welfare and noted that it was ready to separate its professional leadership and regulatory roles if DEFRA determined it necessary.

Lots more in the news piece. Discuss!

The Veterinary Edge July issue is now online

Chris Ritchie — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:20:55 GMT

Hello!

Just a quickie to say the July issue is now online here: https://indd.adobe.com/view/df696ccb-38db-4b36-9143-1a507b86242e. The print copies should be landing on practice doorsteps in the next few days.

If you prefer to read online, you can find all our digital issues at www.theveterinaryedge.com.

Certainly curious to hear people's thoughts on TVE: we've never done a readership survey.

Mindful that veterinary teams are busy and there's not a lot of downtime, do you get the time to read it among the stack of other periodicals? And if so, do you find it a worthwhile read ... or (be gentle!) not?

How do we minimise the impact of under-treatment on animal welfare?

Lucy Fleming — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:08:59 GMT

There's been a fair few concerns expressed here, and in the wider media generally, about the impact of "over treatment" on animal welfare, in the context of both the cost to the owner and the welfare of the animal. As a GP through-and-through, I'd say I see, numerically, a lot more animals that are impacted by under treatment of chronic conditions that lead to either pain, or other unpleasant sensations for the pet (nausea, thirst, dyspnoea etc). Even after almost twenty years in practice (how did that happen?) I sometimes struggle to get these patients on treatment for a variety of reasons, and that's of the animals that actually come to see the vet for routine checks, there are plenty that never set foot through the doors of the clinic.

I'm sure we've all experienced the elderly dog that creaks its way up from the waiting room floor to creak into the consult room for its booster (but he never cries out so he can't be in pain) or the elderly cat that is brought in with a condition score of minus 1 out of 9, a heart rate of 753bpm and a goitre the size of its left eyeball (but there's nothing you can do, is there, and I don't want him messed about).

Realistically, cost has a lot to do with this, though it's by no means the only thing.

I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on how we maintain or even improve awareness and basic, welfare-maintaining treatment in our patients.

What can we do to mitigate cost concerns as much as possible, and how do we ensure that all vets (especially newer graduates) feel confident to offer treatment without perhaps being as secure in a definitive diagnosis as they might like?

What techniques have you found successful in getting owners to realise the impact these conditions on their pet and get on board with the idea of things like analgesia. Is fear of pharmaceuticals and side effects having a big impact?

How do we reach the irregular/ non attendees and their pets?

Introductions: your new editor/moderator

Chris Ritchie — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:23:56 GMT

Hello!

Some of you may know me, but for those who don’t I’ll introduce myself (as concisely as I can).

I’m a seasoned veterinary journalist, having started working on Veterinary Times and (at its outset) The Veterinary Business Journal back in the 1990s – together with my father, RCVS Honorary Associate David Ritchie.

Am I a nepo baby? Tricky one, that: my father needed an assistant editor and I was at a loose end having just left college; he taught me how to put a magazine together and I taught him what a megabyte is.

I went on to work on the Veterinary Review, was then editor of Animal Health News for John Alborough, and eventually the family firm licensed and then owned the Veterinary Practice journal for some years – until we sold it (and our CPD events) to 5m Publishing.

Then COVID happened, and we were twiddling our thumbs, so we decided to try a new kind of veterinary publication and thus The Veterinary Edge was born! We went on to purchase the VetIndex and VetCPD Congress from Simon Guiton, the latter of which is now called VetEdge Congress, and together with the VOA we created the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Congress. Two years ago I launched (the sadly-too-costly-to-produce, although still a website) Pet&Vet magazine – and now, excitingly (for me, certainly) I find myself Arlo’s successor.

VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk have a strong and earned reputation that I am committed to honouring and continuing: no sweeping changes planned, but I’m seeking to build on the excellent resources they already are. So, for anyone who is interested, here is the plan:

Encourage more veterinary professionals to these professional platforms to discuss professional matters. These fora are ‘safe spaces’ for such discussions and don’t rely on algorithms that decide what you see and when.
As executive editor of The Veterinary Edge I receive a great deal of content from lots of talented authors, and so we’ll be running ‘guest editorials’ and features on here to provoke thought and start discussions. If you’d like to contribute in such a way, please get in touch.
I’ll be posting news updates and points of discussion on social media too, so please follow me on https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-ritchie-9a6a7529/.

To conclude: essentially, I’ve grown up in the veterinary media over 30+ years; no, I’m not a vet but I do have a supreme fondness for the profession(s), the animals you treat, and a keen awareness of the issues you’ve experienced and the new ones facing you. I’ll pop into discussions here and there and look forward to talking with you.

How are practices handling pre-appointment intake without adding more reception admin?

Hichem Brh — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:05:14 GMT

I’m currently researching workflow problems in independent veterinary practices, especially the gap between an appointment being booked and the patient being ready for consult.

Many practices already have a PMS and sometimes online booking, but I’m trying to understand what still happens manually:

- Do you collect owner/pet details before arrival?
- Is this done through your PMS, email, paper forms, phone, or not at all?
- Does online booking actually reduce reception workload, or does the same admin still happen later?
- Which PMS handles intake/check-in well?
- Would a separate workflow layer be useful if it reduced chasing and gave reception/vets a clearer queue, or would double entry make it a non-starter?

I’m building a small tool around intake links, QR check-in, live queue, consult handover, and PMS-ready export, but I’m very aware that practices do not want “yet another system”.

For context only, this is the current resource page:
https://myvetkit.com/resources

I’d really appreciate honest feedback, especially from reception teams, vets, and practice owners

GP Specialisation

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:09:30 GMT

I haven't quite gone yet

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/new-primary-care-vet-specialty-training-proposals-move-to-consultation

Now I get that it creates a more satisfying and structured career path for some vets. Fair enough.

What I struggle with is identifying the benefit to the people ultimately paying for it: pet owners.

This training won’t come at zero cost. Someone will have to fund the fees, study time and supervision, and in the end those costs are likely to find their way into veterinary fees.

And creating a “specialist GP” risks reinforcing the inflationary idea that simply being a competent, experienced veterinary surgeon is somehow no longer enough.

Could it produce better outcomes? Possibly. But is a lack of expertise the profession’s biggest challenge right now, or is affordability the bigger issue?

Could it reduce costs for owners? Perhaps, if it reduced referrals and allowed more cases to be managed in-house.

But I can’t help feeling this is another step in a direction veterinary medicine has been travelling for years: improvements in quality accompanied by increases in cost.

At some point, someone has to ask whether the bigger problem is a lack of expertise, or a lack of owners who can afford the expertise the profession already has.

The RCVS will be consulting on these proposals more widely in due course.

I hope that when it does, thought is given to how this could make care more affordable, not less.

And it's goodnight from him ...

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:53:10 GMT

Hi all,

After 26 years doing this, I’ve decided it’s time to hang up my boots.

There are lots of reasons, but perhaps the biggest is the realisation, some would say belated, that I’m no longer particularly in tune with the veterinary zeitgeist.

As an almost-60-year-old, overweight, deaf, pale male from Somerset, I’m also not exactly representative of, or likely to be especially enticing to, the site’s future audience.

Also, I’ve developed an opinion about veterinary medicine that is not universally popular.

In short, and driven by scientific progress, the direction of veterinary education, and ever increasing regulatory standards, the profession has evolved into one that delivers levels of care that many owners struggle to afford and sometimes seems disproportionate to the species being treated.

You may agree with that view, disagree with it entirely, or fall somewhere in between. But it has made me realise that I’m probably no longer the right person to be moderating discussions about the profession.

What I do still believe, very strongly, is that there remains a place for algorithm-free, provenance-checked discussion. A place where people can exchange ideas, challenge each other respectfully, and explore complicated scientific and professional issues in more than 280 characters.

In fact, in an age of AI-generated content, social media outrage and disappearing attention spans, I think that sort of space is more important than ever.

The good news is that VetSurgeon.org isn’t going anywhere.

I’m delighted to be handing editorial responsibility for VetSurgeon and VetNurse to Chris Ritchie, who many of you will know through Veterinary Edge and his wider work within the profession. I believe the sites will be in very good hands.

I’ll still be around behind the scenes helping with the technical side of things, but I’ll be stepping back from the front line.

I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to these communities over the years. I won’t attempt to name individuals because I would inevitably miss somebody important, but please know how grateful I am.

This community has given me far more than a job. Many of you know that one of my daughters has faced serious health challenges over the years, ones which would have made a conventional office career impossible. There were (many) times when I didn’t know whether she would still be alive by the end of the day, which would have made working away from home difficult.

So I will always be VERY grateful to all of you who participated in discussions, making these sites the success that they became, and giving me a way to pay the bills while being where I needed to be.

I’m now going to work full time on my YouTube channel which covers gadgets, technology and AI tools that are increasingly shaping all our lives.

If you’d like to support my efforts, or at least make sure I don’t come back, do subscribe at www.arlo-guthrie.com

Otherwise, I hope you’ll give Chris and his colleagues a very warm welcome and continue supporting the community as enthusiastically as you always have.

I shall be around for a little while yet, passing things across to Chris ... but in the meantime, thank you again for the last 26 years.

Arlo

Is the end of the RCVS nigh?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:01:02 GMT

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/mps-call-for-end-to-veterinary-self-regulation

As stated, the EFRA position seems more ideologically driven than evidence based. Not sure I agree that just because other professions are independently regulated, that means the vet profession should be too, or that consumer confidence would necessarily be improved.

Still, for as long as I have worked on the periphery, there has been this tension about an organisation whose members often seem to feel should be working in their interests.

Not to mention the fact that voter turnout has never quite been like the Harrods sale.

What do you think? Do you care much either way?

Who needs stock photos for practice marketing any more?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:36:36 GMT

This story caught my eye, https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/new-veterinary-image-library-launches-with-5-000-plus-animal-photos and I feel slightly bad making this point because I've met Toby Trimble and he's a nice chap.

But I cant help wondering whether now is a good time to be launching a library of veterinary images for practices and veterinary suppliers to use in their marketing materials.

I looked at one of the images which you can license for £79, and described it to chatgpt with the following prompt:

"Create an image of a black vet, side on, kneeling and holding a dog lead attached to a terrier sitting on a veterinary weighing scale against a white wall background, a couple of posters on the wall; vet in blue scrubs."

This is what it produced.

It took 2 minutes. It cost nothing beyond my £20-per-month subscription.

The bigger question may be whether AI changes what people want from imagery altogether.

Stock photography has long suffered from looking staged.

As AI-generated images become commonplace, perhaps the most valuable images will be authentic photographs of real vets, real nurses, real clients and real patients — imperfections and all — taken on nothing more sophisticated than an iPhone.

And there's another thing about this, which is that AI image generation can already be trained on photos of specific people you want to appear in an image.

It’s still a bit hit-and-miss, but it’s improving rapidly, and it won’t be long before you can reliably tell ChatGPT:

“Create an image of [vet name] kneeling in front of a terrier on a weighing scale.”

... and receive a studio-quality image featuring a recognisable member of your team.

Take it a step further and upload a photo of the practice consulting room or weighing scales, and AI can place that person into a realistic version of their actual working environment while improving the photography at the same time.

If that becomes commonplace, practices won’t just be choosing between stock photography and AI-generated imagery.

They’ll be choosing between generic images and bespoke images featuring their own people, their own premises and their own brand.

Would welfare-based insurance cover solve the price problem?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 11 May 2026 16:14:18 GMT

Sharing a post here that I put up on Linkedin and wondering if anyone here has any thoughts:

As if we needed it, more research has found pet owners are worried about rising vet bills. What's more, the results are startlingly similar to another study published in the Veterinary Record a few weeks ago.

At that time, Joshua Stern argued that this kind of data does not indicate a systemic problem, just an 'unmet need', which can addressed by emphasising the breadth of treatment options available.

He also said that I should write a solutions-based article which explains how vets could continue advancing care whilst simultaneously bringing prices down.

I continue to disagree with the idea that this is primarily a communication problem rather than a systemic one.

If large numbers of owners repeatedly report anxiety about affordability, across multiple studies, it becomes difficult to argue that the issue exists only at the level of consultation-room communication.

And I’m not convinced that simply emphasising the breadth of treatment options, aka contextual care, fully solves the problem either.

Because unlike getting the fridge repaired, there's a lot of emotion attached to the dog, and people will always want more treatment than they can afford, and resent it when they can't.

What's more, people make rational, logical decisions about their fridge. If it cost £500 to replace, they won't spend £600 fixing it. The same is not usually true of the dog.

Joshua argues — and he is not alone in this — that I am wrong to talk about a “rational” limit on spending, and that I am simply projecting my own view of what constitutes rationality.

But society clearly does make judgments about proportionality in healthcare spending, whether we admit it or not.

If someone spends £30,000 treating a 15-year-old dog, many people would regard that as disproportionate. A billionaire may view it differently, but the earlier research suggested owners themselves place the limit far lower than modern veterinary medicine increasingly assumes — somewhere well south of £3,000.

It was suggested that I write an article which shows how vets can continue advancing care whilst bringing prices down.

I don't think that's possible. Advancing care whilst bringing prices down seems oxymoronic.

I think the solution may lie in offering a lower, more affordable standard of care, perhaps based more strictly on the welfare needs of the animal, and supported with an appropriate level of cheaper insurance cover.

In other words, shifting cheaper insurance from simply offering less comprehensive financial protection to supporting a consciously different model of veterinary care — one focused more on welfare thresholds than maximal intervention.

Of course that doesn't restrict those who want the highest clinical standards for their dog. But the cost of that should not come from the premiums paid by low-income owners.

Just a thought!

Can I have some feedback on a website please?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 08 May 2026 14:23:01 GMT

Hi all,

I need to up my game on the youtube side of things. So I've redesigned my website and I wonder what you think? It only has one job to do!

Be as rude as you like - I have to develop a thick skin in this game

Thanks for any thoughts / opinions. And if you're interested in any of the things I cover (on the list), do drop your email in the box. I wont spam you! Promise. Just one email when there's a new film.

https://arlo-guthrie.com/

Worming pets - good for the environment or bad? What about driving?

Beats — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:09:15 GMT

RCVS PSS 19.2.7 (Environmental Sustainability) - The practice provides resources on preventative healthcare. Guidance: Reducing the demand for healthcare through prevention will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with healthcare. Examples could include:... de-worming programmes.

RCVS PSS 10.1.30 (Medicines) - A practice must be able to demonstrate that when using Endoparasiticides, it does so responsibly, and is accountable for the choices made in such use. ... Endoparasiticides are linked to various environmental concerns such as the development of resistance...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RCVS PSS 19.2.4 (Environmental Sustainability) - Routine appointments to and for clients are planned to reduce mileage. Small animal examples: ... avoid unnecessary re-check appointments...

RCVS PSS 10.1.32 (Medicines) - For ... antiparasiticides, a physical examination should be carried out at the time of prescribing unless there are exceptional circumstances. Veterinary surgeons should be prepared to justify their decision in cases where these medicines are prescribed without a physical examination, an explanation of the relevant exceptional circumstances should be set out in the clinical records.

What is an acceptable level of care?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:44:54 GMT

Prompted by Kate Richardson's case study, and in particular her desire to:

[quote userid="6386" url="~/f/clinical-questions/31345/what-would-you-do/248698#248698"] to help develop a contextualised approach to cases and gain confidence that you can mange cases like this with confidence and no fear of retribution[/quote]

Together with some very interesting replies to a post I made on Facebook, esp from mariette asselbergs, which raised the issue of the continuing systemic bias towards excellence, and a post on here a while back where someone was explaining how you are judged (in any DC case) as to whether a number of your peers would consider your actions acceptable ...

All lead me towards thinking ... perhaps we should have a series of discussions here on VetSurgeon, titled Minimum Acceptable Care: [name of condition]

Leading to a list of condition-based discussions which reach a conclusion of an agreed level of care that would be defensible.

I'm thinking back to Kate's point as to whether this would be helpful for new grads in particular.

What do you think? If you think this has legs, would anyone like to kick me off with a condition (start a new thread with that title).

Which serves clients better, a £200K CT scanner or better nursing care?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:10:41 GMT

Prompted by a discussion on Linkedin, about this news story: https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/pet-insurance-is-out-of-reach-for-many-lower-income-uk-owners-study-finds I want to ask what the general view is here about whether a £200K CT scanner is the best way to serve clients and make money, over other ways of spending that kind of money.

I look at the study in that news report and think .... so only 35% of low-income owners are insured, largely because they cant afford insurance. And of all owners, only 20% would spend over £3k of their own money on treatment, which doesn't leave much change from a scan.

And surely this type of equipment has an inflationary effect on veterinary care more broadly. Do they really pay for themselves or are they to some degree subsidised by other areas of the business?

But even if they DO pay for themselves, they must surely be raising the cost of insurance premiums. It's the many who pay for the CT scans of the few. As this study starkly illustrates, that does seem to be pricing lower income owners out of the market.

Then I wonder, would the clinical care of clients' pets be better served by investing that £200K (plus the training and the maintenance, so probably £300K), in more or better paid nursing care, for example?

NEW: VetSurgeon Discussions — easier to follow

Arlo Guthrie — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:11:03 GMT

Why?

VetSurgeon discussions offer several things that social media platforms struggle to provide:

• Discussions you can actually find again

• Algorithm-free visibility — see every reply

• Space to express nuance and detail

• Profiles that give context to people’s opinions

In a science-based profession, I think those things really matter, and I hope you agree!

What VetSurgeon hasn’t previously offered is a convenient way to follow discussions without being flooded with notifications.

Now it does.

What’s happening?

I’ve introduced a new way to follow discussions on VetSurgeon without endless notifications.

Instead of getting an email every time someone replies to a thread, you can now subscribe to a daily, weekly or monthly digest which summarises:

the latest discussion topics raised by colleagues
new replies to ongoing discussions
the latest veterinary news on the site

Even better, the control for it is placed in the title bar of most pages, making it VERY easy to change your preference at any time.

For example, you might switch to daily updates while following an interesting discussion, then revert to weekly or monthly afterwards — or switch it off entirely when you’re on holiday.

Help rebuild the discussion

If you agree that an algorithm-free platform that offers space for nuanced and thoughtful discussion is an asset to the profession, please help the community grow and thrive:

• Subscribe to the Digest

• Post a question or discussion

• Join an existing discussion

• Spread the word. Tell a colleague about VetSurgeon. Share our public content on social media.

An important note

As we try to reboot discussions on VetSurgeon, there is one thing I will insist on.

Please treat colleagues with kindness and respect, particularly newcomers.

If VetSurgeon is going to become a thriving professional community again, that culture is essential.

Thank you

Thank you to all of you, and in particular Lesley Strong for being the first out of the stalls with a question!

Please keep the interesting discussion topics coming.

Inspirational influences

Alasdair Hotston Moore — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 22:42:04 GMT

The death of Dr Barbara Weaver recently has made me think. Which colleagues have left a mark on your career? Living or deceased.
Barbara was one of mine, A woman in veterinary science way ahead of her time. Kind and funny. Occasionally irritating ( aren’t we all?). Not only interested in the pharmacology of anaesthesia but the physics and practicalities. And above all, deeply caring for her patients and own pets

Does this script sound plausible?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:09:06 GMT

I've been approached by a scriptwriter who asked if he could join and see what you think of a short bit of script he's written for a vet scene - specifically whether it is plausible and accurate.

I said I'd post if and see what you think.

7. EXT. FARM YARD. DAY. ALICE (Blonde, attractive, well spoken, intelligent, funny.) is with CHARLIE PASCO (Sixties, farmer, Cornish.) They are in a stable.. ALICE examines the horse. CHARLIE stays at the door of the stable.
ALICE So what actually happened?
CHARLIE My daughter was riding him this morning. She said he didn't feel right. Then he took a tumble.
ALICE Right.
ALICE examines the horse's fetlock.
ALICE (cont'd) Ok. Well the cut isn't too bad.
ALICE takes a close inspection of the horse. She takes out a stethoscope. She listens to the horse's heart intently.
ALICE (cont'd) His resting heartbeat is too high. He must be in pain.
ALICE puts her hands on the horses girth and the horses winces in pain. She then does the same thing to the shoulders, girth and flank and gets the same reaction.
ALICE Has he lost weight recently?
CHARLIE My daughter reckons he has.
ALICE Has he been eating normally?
CHARLIE Not all the time.
ALICE He may have ulcers. I will need to take him in. First I'm going to get a sedative and clean his wound.
ALICE walks out of the horse box. CHARLIE looks at the horse and shakes his head.

Anyone?

CMA Final Report

Beats — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 07:42:26 GMT

I'm not sure I can cope with this added level of bureaucracy to each consultation.

How are others feeling?

A job in a charity clinic is looking very appealing all of a sudden!

VetSurgeon Debugging

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:02:15 GMT

Oh my god, I am having a WILD time with AI here.

There have been a number of bugs with VetSurgeon that I have been aware of, and which bugged the hell out of me (and some of you too, I suspect) but the money wasn't there to fix them.

Chat GPT has removed that little barrier!

I shall post details of any of them as I find and fix them. If there are any that have been bothering you, let me know and I will fix.

First up ...

1. Edit posts on tablet or mobile.
The 'More' Menu under each forum post worked on desktop but not on tablet or mobile. Now it works. Hoobloodyrah!

2. COMMENTS section under news stories
Now styled better, to hopefully nudge people into commenting more. And there's a link to login and comment for people who arrive at the news story logged out.

3. Layout improved in news section
Little tweaks mainly for when viewing in portrait, either on a phone or tablet.

4. Iconography updated at higher resolution

5. Password-protected pages now have a better designed logged out version of the page which explains the value of membership

6. New system installed which should speed new member registrations.

7. Complete facelift for recruitment adverts in the job section

Setting up isolation unit for a pet shop?

Andreas Ege — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:52:54 GMT

Hello,

we have had a person contact us about providing an isolation unit for him. He is about to open an exotics pet shop but apparently does not have the space to set up a separate dedicated isolation room.

We are tentatively interested in providing it as a service depending on how many new animals he will be having come in over a given time and whether he can provide the necessary equipment (we do have a couple of vivariums, but only fairly basic heating and monitoring equipment, it's sufficient to hospitalize a reptile for a day's stay or so but I would not like to use it for a prolonged time). So far we have spoken to the VDS. They will provide us with some links to check but generally advised caution as we may be straying into pet shop regulation territory and probably would not be covered by VDS insurance. They also have advised us to contact the local authority, which we haven't done yet.

Has anybody on here any experience with this kind of thing?

Call answering services (and clinical funding).

Karen Eggleton — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:08:32 GMT

Hello all,

Please could I have current recommendations for call answering services? I've been telling myself for years as an independent ambulatory service that I don't need the use of, but now with the incoming platform economy and more, its becoming apparent I may. A pause of a few minutes in calling a voicemail back can lose me half a day's work which is quite painful!

As a separate and possibly daft question, anyone any knowledge of where, if anywhere, to go looking for funding applicable to veterinary clinical practice, not related to clinical research or mental health research?

I'm looking to try to role out a veterinary palliative care service. I have the only qualification currently available. As an area of vet med, its not widely understood which makes it harder to get it up and running! Currently I either take on more debt to step away from my current clinical practice to dedicate to it, or work painfully slowly to roll it out alongside my current work (more appealing option unfortunately). So just wondering if there is an alternative I'm missing? Not for profit considered. Just need to pay my bills. RCVS/BSAVA grants aren't applicable that I can see.

Thank you!

New Guidelines Suggested for Banning Certain Dog Breeds

David Bentley — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 09:01:40 GMT

Apparently a group of MPs (in conjunction with which vets, may I ask?) have produced a list of 67 dog breeds that could be banned due to various health problems they suffer with.

Whilst I can understand Pugs and Frenchies being in the list, I am at a complete loss why Border Collies, one of the fittest breeds there is, are on this list. The list of breeds was published in the Daily Mail yesterday and other breeds on the list which I question are Beagles and various terriers. Reasons for being on the list includes bulbous eyes, short legs and mottled haircoats, the latter I suspect being the reason why Border Collies may be on the list due to potential health problems if two merles are bred together. ( which hardly ever happens in my experience). Has April Fool's day come early?

Why have you changed it from Discussions to Debate?

Kate Richardson — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:48:24 GMT

Discussions is a much friendlier word. Debate is more angry (I know it doesn't have to be)

Discuss