Kate Murphy's Activities

Brucella Canis in Veterinary Professionals

Steve Leonard — Fri, 15 May 2026 16:18:42 GMT

Hi,

This is a sensitive subject and is troubling a lot of small animal practitioners currently with regards what is the risk to our teams, clients and patients.

I have a colleague who has kindly consented to having me sharing her situation with you as it highlights how little we know about this disease in people. She had minimal contact with a dog who subsequently tested positive late last year (who knows how many other unknown carriers she has done dentals, spays etc on).

Unfortunately, earlier this year she became quite unwell with a fever. She was pregnant and tragically miscarried. Her GP has a sister who is a vet and was happy to test for B.canis. She had high serology results and a positive PCR result.

Weeks later she still is positive on both tests and her infectious disease specialist has told her the only people he is seeing this in is pretty much always veterinary professionals.

Treatment is not without significant risk to her health. She would need to hospitalised for IV antibiotics that carries significant risk of AKI and then possibly up to 6 months of oral tx. Elimination is not certain.

She is not an isolated case and there are potentially lots of chronic / subclinical cases out there. Her consultant stated he has approached BVA and BSAVA for funding to do some more research into the situation because wider finding doesn't seem to be available (as it affects such a limited cohort - i.e. us). This funding doesn't seem to have been forthcoming but I am not sure when the approach was made.

Obviously, all our first thoughts were that in endemic countries they must see it all the time however according to her specialist is that surveillance is pretty much non-existence as low-priority in countries with plenty of other significant health issues to contend with.

In addition, like me, many of you may be blood donors and it struck me that is there a potential risk to recipients that hasn't been addressed here?

My colleague is well, thankfully and coping admirably with these difficult decisions regarding how to proceed. I think it has affected all of us who know her and I'm sure some of you also have friends and colleagues who may be facing a similar situation.

We don't want a knee-jerk panic response so I thought I would speak to you all here as you are an 'evidenced based' group that will give this proper thought. Also I know in many of your referral centres and universities there are people looking at the canine side, and possibly the human side already. If there is, it would help my colleagues to know that is the case. If not then maybe we can try and get some data and possibly approach BVA/BSAVA again with an idea of helping quantify the risk a little better.

Your thoughts gratefully received.

Steve

Opportunity for Advanced Practitioners in Medicine and Cardiology in a fast growing independent practice in Cornwall

Kate Murphy — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:29:03 GMT

Beacon VetCare is a rapidly growing independent practice in Cornwall and they are looking to expand the team with RCVS Advanced Practitioners in Medicine and Cardiology or those pursuing qualifications in those areas (you will also see adverts for experienced general practitioners coming up as a new practice comes online in 2026. Specialists considering relocating to Cornwall are also very welcome to get in touch. This is an exciting opportunity to join a practice that has a fee structure to make it workable for clients to take the next steps, has invested in equipment to support those medical investigations and will consider all requests for new kit seriously and in a timely manner. The targets set are to treat clients and their pets as you would want to treat your own, no targets/KPIs bar that. The practice is lively, friendly and supportive and always looking to do the right thing. Socially there is alot going on from from invites to quiz nights, theatre event and park runs and events supported by the owners organising nice get togethers to suit everyone. This is an incredible opportunity for someone to be involved in developing the medicine service internally and externally in a fantastic part of the country. I am working in another role and so support vets remotely with case guidance and with some on site support as and when needed after the day job. If you'd like to know more - please contact colin.whiting@beaconvetcare.co.uk or message me if you want an off the record chat first katemurphyvet@gmail.co.uk

ECVIM Congress 2025

Jenny Ross — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:00:53 GMT

Hello,

I've just signed up to attend ECVIM Congress this year in Maastricht. I was just wondering who else is planning on attending? I've never been before and I'm just trying to figure out how to get there/where to stay! I'm a GP vet (medicine cert holder) based in North Cornwall.

Many thanks,

Jenny

Does anyone have any experience using Maropitant in chronic rhinitis?

Lucy Fleming — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 12:55:24 GMT

I vaguely remember being told that maropitant can be a useful treatment for chronic rhinitis in cats. But that's about all the information I can recall! Does anyone else's brain have anything more useful to hand (dose, case selection etc)? Evidence would be great, anecdote perfectly acceptable!

Does anyone have any imidocarb?!

Katie McCallum — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 13:11:57 GMT

Hi all,

I work at Cambridge Uni and we are shortly about to see an emergency babesia case who is in dire need of imidocarb. Does anyone in our region/slightly further afar have any in stock? The clients may be willing to travel.

Apparently the drug is completely out of stock....

Thanks so much in advance,

Katie

CsA in canine pancreatitis

Roger Wilkinson — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:59:46 GMT

Hi SAMSoc guys,

Quick question. Do we have an anecdotal feeling for how effective cyclosporine is in managing canine pancreatitis e.g. in Spaniels?

As I understand it I think we have a fair consensus that corticosteroids are often helpful. I think Texas A&M study with cyclosporine ongoing. I just have a case at the moment doesn't tolerate steroids very well and no personal experience with CsA in that setting.

Many thanks

Roger

How long does One-Alpha take to kick in for hypocalcemic cat post-thyroidectomy?

Beats — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 20:24:58 GMT

I haven't seen a hypocalcemic cat post thyroidectomy for years - last one I treated was with AT10.

I had this 4kg cat on 0.05ml one-alpha 2mcg/ml oral drops and 1ml Collo-Cal-D daily from the day aftersurgery when ionised calcium was only 0.6.

a week on, and there has been no improvement. has been getting 3ml 10% calcium gluconate SC (diluted 1:1) about twice daily, is lethargic compared to pre-op levels had been but eating cihcken well and in reasonable form on cage restriction, but calcium hadn't picked up at all.

Is really hard to medicate, so I'm going to keep in until have stable plan.

I have increased up to 0.2ml one-alpha and 1.5ml collo-cal-D orally today as I would have expected some effect in 3 to 7 days and has been nothing and I don't think will survive on oral meds only in the near future based on current trajectory.

I'm expecting that in another 2-3 weeks the damaged parathyroid will hopefully be working again, but I can't guarantee that and it seems quite far off at any rate and would like to have the cat home on a stable oral plan that is giving reasonable ionised calcium of at least >0.8 ideally.

So is 0.2ml One-Alpha daily a reasonable dose? How long from startig that should I expect ot see a difference? Should it be improving the calcium level even if not getting loads of oral calcium supplmeentation, or do I need to be giving more oral calcium supplmeentation also (may be tricky with this cat - but any handy products or tricks appreciated if I need to be doing more of this.

It goes without saying that this is a budget charity case, so checking ionised calcium every couple of days and giving meds is fine, but anything really intensive like iv calcium infusions with 6 hourly monitoring is not going to be on the cards.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions or experiences!

To vaccinate or not vaccinate?

Joanna Hansen — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 20:08:07 GMT

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could canvas opinions....

A 4yo FN Labrador with a history of atopic dermatitis (currently managed with cytopoint injections monthly), has had one episode of IMPA about 15 months ago (treated with tapering preds and ciclosporin) and presumed IBD (diagnosis on Cx not biopsies) (managed with hydrolysed diet, probiotics and 5mg/kg ciclosporin, originally SID but recently moved to BID dosing).

She is due her "full" vaccination in October. She has previously been vaccinated as normal, with no obvious flare ups of her immune-mediated disease in the immediate weeks following vaccination. She is a social dog, attends weekly classes of some sort (agility?), and does walk in rural areas.

Would you;

a) vaccinate as normal, with owner's acknowledging risks

b) titre test for viral components and if adequate just give lepto vacc

c) not vaccinate at all because the risk from immune-mediated disease is larger than infectious disease

Thanks in advance for your thoughts/opinions :)

Likely causes of this lesion?

Elizabeth — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 15:14:24 GMT

Not at work just now so history is sketchy, but keen for answers/suggestions if possible.
Young adult cockapoo, with vomiting multiple times over a day , treated symptomatically ( prevomax) then anorexic apart from trying to eat grass for a couple of days. Biochem incl cpl snap test all normal, inflammatory WBC picture.
Did an ex-lap, saw this focal area of inflammation on the small intestine and mesentery changes as pictured. Nothing palpable in the lumen at this area. There didn’t appear to be any leakage. Dog started improving and eating post-op.

I did wonder whether I should biopsy the area but worried about healing so didn’t.
Any suggestions of potential causes? Previously stuck, now passed FB? There was no fluid in the abdo, no haemorrhages, temp 39.0( from memory)

Medicine Clinician role available at Rowe Referrals

Kate Murphy — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 08:21:17 GMT

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Referral Medicine Clinician to join the team at Rowe Veterinary Referrals | South West Vet Referrals - Rowe Referrals, Bristol.

Rowe Referrals is a multidisciplinary team of experienced advanced practitioners providing high level referrals for the South West, South Wales and beyond. We are primarily based in a large hospital practice with a separate, busy first opinion team. As a medicine clinician, you would be expected to take responsibility for your own cases and help build the internal medicine service offered by working collaboratively with the other members of the team. This could include the soft tissue and first opinion team. We have a team of 13+ nurses to support our clinicians, specialist imaging support and the support of a diploma holder in internal medicine for advice.

This is ideally a full-time position with a requirement for availability for phone advice and OOH by negotiation.

We would expect applicants to be advanced practitioners in small animal medicine or residency trained or boarded and have experience and confidence in managing referral level cases, including writing referral reports. Experience in imaging (use of CT and ultrasonography) would be advantageous. Good communication skills and a willingness to work in a team are essential.

For further information on the role and to discuss package/benefits please contact David Nutbrown-Hughes (davidnutbrown-hughes@rowevetgroup.com) Clinical Director or Toby Evans-Bowen (toby.evans-bowen@rowevetgroup.com) Referrals Manager

Email regarding telemedicine in the UK

Yvonne McGrotty — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 21:28:27 GMT

Hi everyone

If you have received an email from someone claiming to be an internal medicine specialist in USA in which they ask for information regarding telemedicine in the Uk, please could you contact me? I have been asked on behalf of Harry Cridge at MSU to send this email as it appears there is someone impersonating him and sending emails to various medicine specialists in the UK using a fake email address.

Thanks and best wishes

Yvonne

IDEXX 'test then treat' - is sensitivity a best guess?

Sarah Keir — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 17:34:33 GMT

I'm updating a presentation from a good few years ago on antimicrobial use and one of the biggest changes is the change to using IDEXX 'test then treat' as apposed to traditional culture and sensitivity. The identification seems straight forward: "Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF or MALDI) mass spectrometry represents new technology for rapid microbial identifications". However, it is not clear if the sensitivity is real or a best guess; "Antibiotic susceptibility panels run at IDEXX Reference Laboratories are based on specimen type/site, species, and organism."

Does anyone have any info on this?

Ideas for meetings

Sarah Keir — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 19:58:08 GMT

Dear SAMSoc members,

Are there any particular topics you would like to be covered in the SAMSoc meetings? Doesn't have to be new, flashy stuff and I particularly welcome ideas for first opinion/general practice/certificate level.

Thank you

Sarah

ITP

Kate Murphy — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:07:57 GMT

Hi All

Posting this for a colleague so I only have brief details..

8yr FN Whippet with refractory ITP, platelet count remains <30 despite pred, ciclosporin and mycophenolate.

Vincristine was given at original diagnosis. Extensive investigation has not found underlying cause.

No clinical bleeding and dog currently well.

Query is specifically..does anone have any experience of melatoninin these cases.

I’ll start with my response: no experience at all

Thanks for any sharing of experience,

regards

Kate Murphy

Vacuolar hepatopathy or something more interesting

Kate Murphy — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 21:20:22 GMT

Hi All

My colleague Kerry Simpson asked me to post this case on her behalf - please see details below

regards

Kate Murphy

Jess is a 4yr old Border Collie who was referred for investigation of liver disease (elevated ALT and ALKP). 4 months prior to referral she had presented to the referring vet with haemoabdomen and a hepatic mass was removed. This was lobar hepatocellular carcinoma. However, at surgery the appearance of the liver had been noted as abnormal with patchy changes.

On presentation she was lean (BCS 4/9), but there were no abnormalities on physical examination.

The following diagnostics were performed:

Haematology-no significant abnormalities

Biochemistry-ALT 219, ALKP 1030, Cholesterol 13.9, Trig’s 4.8

Ultrasound-The liver is mildly enlarged with mildly rounded margins. The echogenicity is increased, overall it is quite bright with echo drop out even when scanning at low frequencies. There are multiple varying sized moderately well defined hypoechoic nodules throughout the parenchyma. Gall bladder has a small amount of sludge. Adrenals 5mm. No abnormalities within pancreas/GIT/kidneys/bladder, no lymphadenopathy

Aspirates of the liver: Vacuolar hepatopathy.

Jess was therefore booked for liver biopsies. She represented and bloods were repeated. They demonstrated the following changes: ALP 905, ALT 425, AST 138, Cholesterol 11.3, Gluc 2.5. Blood gas (venous) pH 7.29, Glu 2.2, Lactate 10.15

Liver biopsy demonstated cloudy swelling of the hepatocytes with micronodular hepatocyte hyperplasia. Special stains were requested and demonstrated:

“Hepatocytes throughout all zones, including the enlarged hepatocytes, contain large amounts of bright magenta pigment on PAS stains. This confirms that the cloudy swelling of the hepatocytes is due to glycogen accumulation within the cytoplasm of these cells.”

I suspect this dog has GSD Type IIIb; although have a recheck booked to rule out Hyperadrenocorticism and perform a glucagon stimulation to confirm this suspicion. There is a case report in people of HCC related to GSD IIIb.

I am interested in peoples thoughts and if they are aware of other cases?

Many thanks

Dr K Simpson BVM&S CertVC PhD FANZCVS (Feline Chapter) DipECVIM-Ca MRCVS

RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine

European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine