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.

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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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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