UK Government Rejects Proposal To Add Staffordshire Bull Terriers To List Of Banned Dogs

PETA, the notorious animal rights activist group, likes to stir up controversy from time to time. While they have undoubtedly done good in bringing public attention to animal abuse in various forms, they’ve previously drawn ire for a number of stances that have been misguided at best and underhanded at worst, such as trying to convince people that drinking milk causes autism (and you thought the anti-vaccine people were bad enough).

Some Thoughts on Demodicosis - Part 1

I was fortunate to attend the World Dermatology Congress in November 2008 in Hong Kong. These gatherings are always fantastic opportunities to meet with colleagues and learn new ideas in the field of dermatology. I want to report on some of the lectures as well as give my own thoughts on the subject. I am a private practitioner and hopefully my way of doing things is helpful for you in general practice.

Questions Answered From The Leptopspirosis Webinar Part 4

Q34: Is human disease also treated with doxycycline? C: I am not sure if doxycycline is used in all cases, but I was once treated preventively with doxycycline myself (I got the flu shortly after being in contact with a dog with leptospirosis, so I was treated while test results were pending, which came back negative).

Questions Answered From The Leptopspirosis Webinar Part 3

Q27: Could you tell me more about serotypes in Asia, more specific Indonesia. And is L4 available in this area? Dutch vet based in Jakarta. C: Challenging question! I cannot find any data on serovars causing disease in dogs in Indonesia. I could find some data in humans: –       A very good recent study mentions multiple serovars in South-East Asia: “There were negligible differences in predominate serogroup representation by geographic location, as evident from the various acute jaundice studies. The predominance of Hurstbridge serogroup, against a background of jaundiced disease, varies with previously documented findings from Indonesia. In an outbreak of jaundiced disease in South Sumatra (Indonesia), Australis, Grippotyphosa and Icterohaemorrhagiae were the most frequently recognized serogroups.

Questions Answered From The Leptopspirosis Webinar Part 2

Q16: Do you get dogs that solely show respiratory signs or would you always expect to see some evidence of renal or liver issues too? C: See question 8.   Q17: Did you run clotting factors before doing the biopsy?C: Yes, I always check a platelet count and coagulation times before all liver biopsies.

Questions Answered From The Leptopspirosis Webinar Part 1

Following on from the fantastic webinar presented by Catherine Bovens on Leptospirosis there we just too many questions to get through on the  live webinar so Catherine has very kindly gone through and answered them all.  Some of the questions are more relevant for Michelle Townley from MSD to answer so we will upload those answers when we have then.

Shoulder Lameness In The Dog

Forelimb lameness in the dog is commonly encountered in general practice and, most of the time, diagnosing these cases is relatively easy; the dog with a torn nail or an obvious site of pain. But sometimes cases can prove more challenging. In my experience dogs with shoulder lameness fall into this ‘challenging’ category and trying to ascertain that pain is associated with the shoulder seems to be the hardest part. Despite lameness and orthopaedics not being my favourite subject, I jumped at the opportunity to improve my skills in this area by tuning into last week’s veterinary webinar covering ‘shoulder lameness in the dog’

Shelter Medicine - Changing The Way We Think

Having just returned from 2 weeks in the South of France I eagerly ventured back to ‘The Webinar Vet’ to seek out a webinar I had missed. ‘Shelter medicine’ led by Dr Rachel Dean caught my eye and led to a very welcome return to CPD.  Shelter medicine was not an area of veterinary medicine focused on during my university years but Rachel explained that there is an increasing level of interest with one of the first lectureships in shelter medicine being provided by Nottingham University.

Robots & Mastitis Control

Peter Edmonson is an Irish veterinary surgeon currently living in the UK. He has 35 years of experience in dairy practice in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, China and the UK.  He has set up his own consultancy, ‘UdderWise,’ which aims to deliver practical solutions to the dairy industry throughout the world. In this webinar, Peter begins by defining a robot as a food factory. It has advantages in that milk quality should improve...

Reproductive Emergencies: The Black Hole Of Emergency Medicine

The topic of reproductive emergencies immediately brings to mind the whelping bitch and the potential requirement for emergency veterinary intervention. From this point however, my knowledge of all other reproductive emergencies becomes somewhat hazy perhaps because I have rarely encountered other types of reproductive emergencies in my veterinary career. I also don’t remember being taught much about this subject matter at vet school.

Questions From the Dermatology Series from the Royal Canin Scientific Support Team Part 3

ATOPY AND VCN SKIN Q: Do you have a diet that helps with improved coat condition in cats that get matted easily, esp. Persians? For long-haired cats that are prone to matting, we would always advise regular grooming, as very often this will be the most effective way of keeping the matting under control. It is also important to consider obesity, arthritis and other causes of joint pain in a cat that used to be able to keep its coat in good condition but now fails to do so, as very often a problem resulting in painful and or reduced mobility for the cat can also result in reduced grooming,

Questions From the Dermatology Series from the Royal Canin Scientific Support Team Part 2

FOOD ALLERGY AND HYPOALLERGENIC Q: How does James Wellbeloved fare as a hypoallergenic food trial? To my mind there are 3 levels of diets which are currently marketed as ‘hypoallergenic’: 1)The naturally-sourced or named-protein products (such as James Wellbeloved) – they take their proteins from ingredients which aren’t normally associated with adverse reactions to food but are not manufactured to the same standards as elimination diets 2)