Livestock deaths during Hurricane Florence: preventable suffering of innocents?

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Thursday September 20th, 2018

Hurricane Florence storm has caused devastation in the USA, killing over thirty people, most of them in North Carolina. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been stuck without power. There have also been devastating impacts on livestock farms, and for some reason, these have been largely unreported.

News and Comment

No Comments

Cannabis Oil for Animals – Banned or Supported by the Government?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Monday September 17th, 2018

Last Friday, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) released, rather out of the blue, a really surprising press release. The VMD is the regulator for the manufacture, sale, prescription and use of veterinary medicines in the UK, and in this press release, they have formally declared that “The VMD considers that veterinary products containing Cannabidiol [CBD, a substance derived from the cannabis plant] are veterinary medicines.” In this blog, we’re going to be looking at the consequences of this ruling!

News and Comment

No Comments

Pets “scared” when being put to sleep – wake up call or fake news?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday September 11th, 2018

There’s another viral article doing the rounds on Facebook at the moment… but this one really is hitting a tender spot. The article, most recently reported by the Evening Standard, is a heartfelt plea from a vet for owners not to “make them transition from life to death in a room full of strangers in a place they don’t like. The thing you people need to know that most of you don’t is that THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!!!!” So is this something we should be really guilty about, or is this Fake News? Or, perhaps, is there more going on here than meets the eye?

Life as vet - what its like

1 Comment

Pet insurance should be more affordable. Here’s why it’s so expensive in 2018.

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Monday September 10th, 2018

Pet insurance has made a huge difference to many animals’ lives. The principle is simple: you pay a relatively small monthly sum to the insurance company, and if your pet is unfortunate enough to fall seriously ill or have an accident, the insurance covers the costs of the vets’ bills. Of course this is subject to the expected caveats of pre-existing conditions and excess contributions, but still, the principle is sufficient to make a huge difference to the affordability of vets’ bills for thousands of people. The benefits for animal health and welfare have been immense.

News and Comment

10 Comments

What’s in a name?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Monday September 3rd, 2018

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet…” - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet We recently came across a really interesting comment on Facebook - a dog owner, who went into her practice to get her dog “neutered”, but then backed out because the vet used the word “castrated”. She thought it sounded so cruel, she never got him done - despite the fact that, of course, it’s two different words for exactly the same thing. In the US it’s sometimes called “altering”, and in Australia “desexing”... but however you dress it up, it is still surgically separating a boy dog from his testicles! So why was the owner so upset by one term but not the other?

Life as vet - what its like

2 Comments

Genetic Breakthrough in Muscular Dystrophy?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Friday August 31st, 2018

There have been a series of exciting headlines in the news in the last week or so about a radical new gene-therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and how this research in dogs might lead to a cure for the condition… but what have the scientists actually done? How realistic is the hype? Why was it tested in dogs at all (a question a lot of animal welfare organisations have raised)? And why is it being reported in an animal health blog?! In this blog, I’m hoping to answer all these questions, and explain why this is such an important breakthrough.

News and Comment

2 Comments

A battle has been won against puppy farms. Now what about the war?

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Wednesday August 22nd, 2018

The government is going to ban third party sales of puppies and kittens in England

A British vet, Marc Abraham, has been campaigning against puppy farms for over a decade. This week, he and fellow-campaigners gained a huge victory, with the announcement that the UK government is planning to ban third party sales of puppies and kittens. This radical move – tagged as “Lucy’s Law” by campaigners – means that breeders of puppies and kittens will have to sell directly to the public. The new regulations will force breeders to be directly accountable for the animals that they sell. There will only be two links in the chain: breeder and new owner. Rehoming organisations are the only exception to this rule.

News and Comment

2 Comments

My dog’s eaten… is it poison?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Monday August 20th, 2018

As vets, we see far too many dogs who have, one way or another, been poisoned. In fact, one recent study by the British Veterinary Association suggested that 94% of vets had seen at least one poisoning case in the previous year - and the average was one a month, so it isn’t a rare problem! However, there are a lot of common beliefs surrounding poisoning (and what constitutes a poison) in pets and, in this blog, we’d like to explore some of them and introduce our new online Poisons Guide that we hope will help to save you (and your vets’!) time and anxiety, by helping you to determine how serious a possible poisoning incident is.

Dogs

No Comments

My dog is panting excessively – what could be wrong?

Kate Cavanagh BVSc MRCVS - Friday August 10th, 2018

For dogs, panting can be a natural reaction to exertion, heat, excitement, and fear. If the panting is excessive it may be a sign or symptom that something is wrong.

Dogs

No Comments

Can I put ice in my dog’s water bowl?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday July 31st, 2018

There’s been a lot of interest in a post that’s gone viral on Facebook recently, about the alleged dangers of giving dogs ice cubes in hot weather. This has gathered a great deal of interest… but there are some serious problems with it, and in this blog, I’m going to look at them.

News and Comment

2 Comments

All the latest info on caring for your pet

The government is going to ban third party sales of puppies and kittens in England