Alasdair Hotston Moore's Groups Activities

Complications from dog castration

Beats — Thu, 28 May 2026 21:29:58 GMT

What complications (things happening as a result of the castration procedure that otherwise wouldn't have occurred) do you see from dog castrations?

Surgical site infections (SSI)

Other wound complications (if so what)

Clipper rash / Inflamed skin on scrotum or where shaved

Vomiting or diarrhoea

Scrotal haematoma

Other (please specify)

Thanks!

PS - I'm trying to audit outcomes for these going forwards, but really struggling to decide what a bad outcome looks like and how to go about this - I'm not interested in just producing some meaningless figures going "aren't we great" but some actual genuine figures looking at positive and negative outcomes from a more objective and scientific outlook. My suspicion over the years is that we see more clipper rash problems with dog castrates causing obvious distress than actual wound infections, but the various classification schemes I have seen to-date only focus on the wound itself (aiming at SSI incidence). Interested to hear other folks thoughts!

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.

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

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

Should dental radiography be mandatory?

David Mills — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 20:15:19 GMT

I had a lovely debate on an ethics panel at the BVDA Congress yesterday (thanks Rob Davis) where the last discussion point was that dental radiography should be mandatory for practices carrying out dental procedures. I believe there are some moves to make this a RCVS requirement.

What do people think?

This article summarises it better than the above

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../

My take is that you need an incontrovertible reason (i.e. to as to be sure) to make anything mandatory. Equally, I can see the benefits of dental rads. But are the benefits so overwhelming and the risks so severe to justify the position?

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?

Do you think it's OK to 'have a go' at surgery any more?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:40:53 GMT

We live in an era of refer-all, and from time to time I hear vets saying they are frightened to give something a go (either because of repercussions from client or from RCVS if it goes wrong), or just that it's not the done thing any more.

Would you agree that far fewer vets are happy to give something a go these days?

Do you think that is a good or a bad thing?

If you think it is a bad thing, then what do you think are the main drivers of the refer-all culture or barriers to 'having a go'.

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).

Ban the 3-way tap!

Beats — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:21:08 GMT

I've always hated 3-way taps.

For draining fluid, I use the Active Drainage Extension | Infusion Concepts

where I can hold the needle where I want it and just suck and squirt with the syringe.

For ear flushing, what would be the equivalent product?

Second opinions

Vet2Vet — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:27:10 GMT

Hi , discussion recently in the workplace regarding how to disagree with the previous vets diagnosis ( if this is relevant ) - do people find this tricky or impossible in a more complaints orientated world . How do you navigate this if owner asks for written record of this ? Obviously , you have to make notes and owner has to be informed or your opinion if you take on the case .

Use of UCDA long term post-cholecystectomy for GB mucocoele, yes or no?

Yantha Smyth — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 18:54:10 GMT

Hi, I recently saw a dog who several months ago had cholecystectomy for GB mucucoele via referral. The dog is doing very well clinically. The owners had asked the referral centre what they recommended long term regarding diet but they were told to ask their primary vet. They have settled on a low fat diet (unsure of %) and smaller more frequent meals than prior to surgery.

I looked into it after seeing the dog, to help confirm this was the right thing to do/ see if was necessary, and it seems to be the case. However, I also saw mentioned that some patients are treated medically with UCDA long term as well, but there was no further explanation as to what circumstances you would choose to do this or not.

Does anyone have advice or experience on this please? Perhaps clinical signs, persistently raised liver enzymes?

thanks in advance

VICE

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:19:29 GMT

As I am sitting here buried under the hood building all sorts of new things into VetSurgeon and VetNurse, I have been giving some (more) thought to the purpose of these forums.

It's not 'somewhere other than Facebook or Linkedin' because that battle is lost.

But actually, the one thing I still believe passionately, is that VetSurgeon offers a far superior platform for scientific discussion.

Provenance of author
Long form responses allow for nuance
Easy to refer back to (ie creates a knowledgebase)
No algorithm manipulating what you will see, so less of an echo chamber.

These are all things which really are better than other platforms.

I've joked recently about the profession needing an equivalent of NICE for assessing the cost-benefit equation of, well, everything, objectively.

And as I was walking in the hills this morning, I thought perhaps that's it. VICE. We could just have regular discussions about any aspect of clinical care or equipment, analyse the cost-benefit equation, and then summarise. Possibly then drop the summary into a new knowledge base, but we can get to that later.

Whaddyathink?

Anyone up for giving this a trial run? I'm minded to start with something dental, or something orthopody. Maybe dental radiography, the discussion started the other day would be a good starting point.

I am thinking it could run as follows: Topic opens with a summary of available evidence today. Follow by discussion introducing any other evidence. Challenging existing evidence. Getting some data on cost. Then finally concluding with some kind of rating, based on the cost/benefit analysis. Or perhaps better than a star rating system, a standardised cost per annum figure. I'm thinking: cost of procedure amortised over extended lifespan (or cost of procedure over extended qol).

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?

Delusional medicine

Alasdair Hotston Moore — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:19:24 GMT

One of my concerns is when colleagues take that view that treatments with no rational basis are harmless. Client wants to try reiki? Harmless? No. It diverts money and energy (emotional effort, for example, not quackery energy) from treats that might be effective or delays effective treatment.

Sadly it’s the same for treatments with no biological plausiblility provided by the clinic. Whether it’s omeprazole with NSAIDs or antibiotics for acute diarrhoea. But we can convince ourselves they work of course because most dogs don’t get ulcers or NSAIDs and diarrhoea almost always gets better

One more bugbear (illustrated by comments on VVUK): I always do X because I once did Y and I’ve never had a problem since. So personal experience based on n=1 trumps anything anyone might try to demonstrate with a case series or retrospective because personal experience seems more valid.

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Latest film about a chapter of the book: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas. And this time it's personal! I've often found doctors to be in the grip of false cause fallacy and confirmation bias. I wonder whether the species of patient makes vets less prone to it. www.vetsurgeon.org/.../138143 Curious how often you're confronted by someone who is convinced about crystal healing, or homeopathy, or some other, perhaps less obvious form of quackery. Once week? Once a year? And what do you tend to do. Appease? Champion science?[/quote]

Tangent of: The medicine seemed to work. That's the problem.

The medicine seemed to work. That's the problem.

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:17:22 GMT

Latest film about a chapter of the book: Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas.

And this time it's personal!

I've often found doctors to be in the grip of false cause fallacy and confirmation bias. I wonder whether the species of patient makes vets less prone to it.

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/m/veterinary-controversies-ethical-dilemmas/138143

Curious how often you're confronted by someone who is convinced about crystal healing, or homeopathy, or some other, perhaps less obvious form of quackery. Once week? Once a year? And what do you tend to do. Appease? Champion science?