Judith Joyce's Activities

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?

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).

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

Happy New Year!

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 18:51:13 GMT

Just to wish everyone a slightly belated Happy New Year. 2025 was a bit of an ordinary one, a bit 'vin de table' for me - pedalling along but not getting very far, so I want to make this one a vintage.

Starting off by producing more (and hopefully better) film content, especially 'Veterinary Controversies'.

Also want to get out a bit more ... going to Prague for a weekend soon (anyone been there? I've heard it's nice), followed by a dad-daughter trip to Krakow, which I'm looking forward to ... we're going to Auschwitz, which people say is a very moving experience.

Anyone got anything exciting coming up in 2026.

How far should we go in the treatment of animals?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:54:45 GMT

This is the first question raised by the new book Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas, so I met up with the author, lovely man called John Webster, who developed the five freedoms, and this is what he thinks...

What do you think?!

By the way, if you'd like to buy the book here's a link: https://amzn.to/3Jqynjy

How much difference will the CMA proposals make?

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:18:22 GMT

I'm curious. The CMA investigation was precipitated by growing disquiet over the rising cost of veterinary care.

The CMA exists to ensure that there is a healthy competitive marketplace for the benefit of consumers: more competition and therefore lower prices.

So how much does everyone think that the proposals will reduce the cost of veterinary care? 5%, 10%, 25%. Or is it 0%.

Or might the new requirements be just another inflationary factor, and put prices UP by a few percent?

Also, if they DO get the requirement to push clients to buying meds online, will it necessarily be a bad thing?

I mean competitively yes, because the biggest online pharmacies are owned by the corporates.

But the immediate impact would be an increase in fees to make up the shortfall.

Would it would necessarily be a bad thing if drugs go down and fees go up?

I've always thought vets have significantly undersold the value of the consultation, preferring to hide it behind the drug markup.

Perhaps its a good thing for the profession if the revenue is switched from drug markup to consultation fees???

Has the CMA just rearranged a few deckchairs?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:24:37 GMT

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/cma-vet-investigation-rearranges-deckchairs-on-the-titanic

I wasn't really expecting the CMA to do very much, and at least on that score, it hasn't disappointed.

But what do you think about the proposed remedial actions, and whether they will make a blind bit of difference?

Is the vet nurse at fault here, or the systems / culture / environment where she worked?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:46:54 GMT

https://www.vetsurgeon.org/b/veterinary-news/posts/vet-nurse-suspended-for-falling-asleep-on-the-job

This struck me as a really backward-looking result.

In the airline world, falling asleep is recognised as a human factor and if it happens, the reasons for it investigated. It's not the 'fault' of the person who fell asleep, just a weakness of the human body. The question that should be being asked is: "Why did she fall asleep".

And then she lied. It's a strong word, that, but there are degrees of lying (or 'being economical with the actualite').

She apparently put in the records that she had taken the pulse and changed the water, after the fact, in order to hide that she'd fallen asleep.

ie, she added the record after she knew the animal was fine.

Whilst not condoning that, it does make it seem like a pretty white lie, as far as they go. Animal fine. Write in notes that pulse had been taken, when it hadn't. Nobody would be any the wiser.

It would be a different thing if she had claimed to give some time-dependent medication or something.

But this seems like an entirely understandable and human reaction, where surely the more constructive thing would have been to investigate what processes are in place to stop people with medical issues from working late hours, or how to foster a blame free culture in which people can feel free to own up to things like this without fear.

This does nothing of the sort.

Seems a bit medieval to me.

What do you think?

antibiotics for skin - what do you think of latest guidelines to help us be more responsible

Beats — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 20:45:25 GMT

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vde.13342

Apparently amoxicillin/clavulanate and cefalexin are now considered 1st choice, while TMPS is relegated to second choice.

And we wonder why we read about reports of dogs with MRSP...

Vets are just in it for the money, aren't they?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 16:55:59 GMT

First veterinary mythbuster. I hope you like it:

Now I am sure I am not to everyone's taste, and others may not like other aspects of the film. But if you DO think it is a useful counter to the current narrative, then DO share it. You can do so on Youtube, Tiktok or Facebook.

And if you want to reciprocate the support, then do advertise any veterinary vacancies you have on VetSurgeon Jobs or VetNurse Jobs.

Finally, if you have any suggestions for the myth you would most like debunked next (ie the one that would make your life so much easier if we could educate people with the truth), then fire away.

We did discuss this in another thread where there are a few ideas, but still thinking of the things you have to waste most time explaining to clients.

Survey: vets reveal the true cost of the cascade

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:46:30 GMT

Last year David Mills and I carried out a survey into factors affecting clinical advice. One of the questions was about the cascade, and we decided the results of that should be considered separately.

The headline finding here is that vets say 23% of owners (nearly 500,000 animals) a year are finding human use drugs licensed for veterinary use unaffordable.

The point of this work is to stimulate some proper discussion. Various organisations push the line that vet licensed versions of human drugs that have been used for decades are necessary for safety, to promote drug development etc., but with no evidence to support these claims and without apparently having done a cost-benefit analysis to check that any safety or efficacy benefit outweighs the reduction in treatment caused by unaffordability.

What does everyone think about the points raised by this piece?

www.vetsurgeon.org/.../cascade_2D00_final_2D00_ii.pdf

Good news for the future of the veterinary profession

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 23 May 2025 16:25:03 GMT

This in The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/dogs-v-babies-canines-parenting-falling-birthrates-grfz0627h about a paper which asks whether the falling birthrates in Western society and the increase in the number of people who consider their dog to be their 'child' is coincidence.

Here's the paper https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/1016-9040/a000552.

Honestly, I think the world has gone mad. But hey, at least the demand for veterinary services isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Does make me think. I mean, I may think it's daft, but if people really do see their animals as children, then perhaps there is nothing wrong if they want to spend £20K (or more) on their dog.

But maybe that is the problem with rising vet prices ... the profession is being led entirely by the 16% of owners who will stop at nothing for their fur baby, and not providing the low cost alternatives for people who have a more arms length relationship with their dog and therefore don't want to spend eye-watering sums.

Thoughts?

Allison Bailey wins her case against Linnaeus Veterinary Ltd

Jo Godsall — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 19:55:20 GMT

Allison Bailey wins her case against Linnaeus Veterinary Ltd trading as Palmerston Veterinary Group.

allisonbailey.co.uk/.../

Do you think Zoetis vet retention white paper proposals are the answer?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 19:57:59 GMT

www.vetsurgeon.org/.../radical-overhaul-of-the-veterinary-profession-proposed-as-half-of-uk-vets-contemplate-quitting

Have only skim read the report thus far, but initial thought is that I can't make up my mind whether the proposed solutions to the retention crisis are actually going to address the fundamental problem, which is that (tell me if I am wrong), the role has changed from being a universally respected pillar of society, loved by all and sundry, working towards a partnership with a stake in the business, to being an employee on the 9-5 treadmill, referring all the interesting stuff, and if not less respected, certainly facing the brunt of the backlash over increasing veterinary costs.

I can imagine that a more diverse veterinary workplace should be better placed to address the needs of a diverse client base, and probably better able to cope with the slings and arrows that get fired by disgruntled clients.

And for sure, spreading the workload and using technology to make life easier is all good common sense.

Likewise, elevating client communication to the same level as clinical skills makes sense.

But the bottom line is ... do you think the job is as much fun as it was even twenty years ago. Or is that a case of rose-tinted spectacles, and it's not worse, just different.