How To Manage Cases of BOAS

It was only a few weeks ago when the BBC highlighted the suffering endured by some of the increasingly popular brachycephalic breeds of dog as a result of their extreme facial anatomy. I was pleased to see it was one of the most read BBC stories of the day, and I hope it will have educated many dog owners about the problems faced by these ever popular breeds.

Legalities of Treating Wildlife Casualties in Practice

Imagine a scenario, a good client (in fact you could almost call her a friend) recently set up a hedgehog rescue centre and is keen to have a stock of veterinary medicines so she can provide preventative medicine as well as treat any sick hedgehogs. She will bring occasional hedgehogs in for clinical assessment and phone for advice when necessary. What would you do? Is it okay to hand over a bottle of antibiotics, or even a bottle of pentobarbitone to euthanase a hedgehog on welfare grounds?

Ketoacidosis in Dogs

The highly respected Professor Mike Herrtage from Cambridge University has legendary status in the veterinary world and can always be relied upon to deliver information packed, relevant and practical veterinary webinars for ‘The Webinar Vet’. It therefore came as little surprise that this webinar covering ketoacidosis in dogs was no exception.

Investigating Urinary Incontinence Including Medical Surgical Options

RCVS and European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery, Alison Moores, led last week’s Platinum Members webinar discussing all aspects of diagnosing and managing urinary incontinence in our small animal patients. Dogs did however feature predominantly as this is a condition rarely seen in our feline friends. Differentiating between true incontinence and other conditions such as UTI or partial urinary tract obstructions can be the biggest challenge, and Alison delivered a logical and practice relevant approach on how to achieve this and then go on to manage these conditions as effectively as possible.

Improving Surgical Techniques: Choosing The Best Suture Type, Suture Pattern And Knots In Soft Tissue Surgery

It can be all too easy to slip into the habit of always using the same suture material and the same technique for specific surgical procedures, forgetting at times why you ever made those choices in the first place. This habitual behaviour can be a positive factor in improving surgical technique according to RCVS recognised and European Specialist is Small Animal Medicine Alison Moores BVSc (Hons) Cert SAS Dip ECVS MRCVS who led this webinar.

Immune Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia

Immune mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA or AIHA) may be primary immune-mediated or secondary. In primary IMHA, the cause is not known and there may be genetic influences in certain breeds of dogs, eg Cocker spaniels, Poodles, Old English Sheepdogs.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in the Dog and Cat

West Highland White Terriers (WHWT) in their ‘twilight’ years presenting with a cough and crackles on thoracic auscultation are surely only suffering from one condition, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis IPF. According to Professor Brendan Corcoran, who led last week’s webinar covering IPF, I’m surprisingly not too far off the mark.

Hydrotherapy - The Power of Water

Listening to speakers as passionate about their subject as Sue and Sara made participating in this webinar on hydrotherapy a real pleasure. Sue Hawkins founded Hawksmoor hydrotherapy in Warwickshire and works alongside long-term colleague Sara Marlow, a qualified vet nurse. Being new to the world of webinar speakers, both Sue and Sara confessed to being understandably nervous, but you really wouldn’t have known it, they did a fantastic job.

How To Support Your Grieving Client

Euthanasia is unfortunately a significant part of our job and although I believe my handling of euthanasia is caring and compassionate, I do detach myself from the emotion of most cases and can sometimes forget just how traumatic it can be for an owner. This is reflected in last week’s veterinary webinar organised by ‘The Webinar Vet’ led by Caroline Hewson (The Pet Loss Vet) who cited a study of 500 owners having experienced their pet being euthanased.

Helping Vets in Developing Countries

Chasing up overdue bills from clients is one of the least pleasurable part of running a veterinary clinic. But for some vets living in developing countries, getting paid at all is a blessing. Imagine that you are called out to a cattle ranch somewhere in rural Africa. The farmer wants his cows to be artificially inseminated, because his livelihood is dependent on it.

Has My Pet Been Poisoned? Toxicology Testing Made Easy

Being confronted by a dog or cat which has ingested poison can be quite daunting, especially for those who have taken the phone call, so knowing and understanding the resources available to best manage these cases is vital. ‘The Webinar Vet’ organised for Nick Carmichael, an RCVS Recognized Specialist in Clinical Pathology, to lead a veterinary webinar discussing the available resources necessary to deal with any case of poisoning in pets.

Feline Triaditis

RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine, Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore from Edinburgh University, delivered a practical webinar on how to successfully diagnose and manage triaditis in cats by using her very own Bengal female cat  ‘Ninny’ as a perfect example of how to approach these challenging cases. It also becomes clear listening to Ninny’s amazing story that feline triaditis does not often present purely as a singular condition but usually develops as a result of ongoing gastrointestinal problems, and once triaditis has been established a myriad of other conditions may then develop including diabetes, lymphoma and hepatitis.