Biting the Hand That Feeds: Causes for owner directed aggression in dogs

Sezan Oxgunay Bsc(hons), Msc, CCAB  from the Dog’s Trust led last week’s excellent webinar on owner directed aggression in dogs and was quick to state that a fifty minute CPD session was too short a time to go into any great depth on this vast subject area. Sezan explained the main aim of this webinar was to deliver enough knowledge to enable first opinion vets to offer basic advice within a consult to keep both the owner and pet safe whilst the necessary time is taken to seek more indepth advice from a behaviourist.

Biliary Tract Abnormalitiesin Dogs and Cats: Not as rare as most clinicians think!

Last week’s webinar led by Professor Mike Willard made it abundantly clear that cats and dogs with biliary tract abnormalities will not be handing their diagnosis to the often frustrated vet on a plate. Instead, they like to make it as challenging as possible often presenting with vague clinical signs whilst delivering several red herrings along the way which could easily lead most vets up the proverbial garden path. Professor Willard not only offered these warnings in last week’s webinar, he also advised on how to spot the pitfalls which could so easily send vets in the wrong direction and how to get back on the right track to a correct diagnosis.

Beginner's Guide To Blood Gas Analysis

The words acid-base and anion gap have been wandering aimlessly around my head since my college days without any particular purpose, probably because I never really grasped their meaning or relevance to real life cases. Last week’s veterinary webinar organised by ‘The Webinar Vet’ proved a revelation being the first time  I actually fully understood blood gas analysis with Tobias Grave TA,GPCert(SAP)DipACVECC, MRCVS from Vets Now Glasgow Referrals explaining it concepts in a practical and relevant way.

Are You Obeying The Law?

It’s not often I’m surprised, but last week’s veterinary webinar organised by ‘The Webinar Vet’ genuinely surprised me. I’ll be honest, the thought of sitting down and participating in a veterinary webinar covering the safe and VMR (Veterinary Medicine Regulations) compliant dispensing in 2013 didn’t thrill me, but I knew it was important to ensure I was up to speed.

A Practitioner’s Guide To Canine Lymphoma

Lymphoma (LSA) is a relatively common disease entity in veterinary medicine.  Most small animal practitioners will encounter LSA in their practice, and will be asked to provide information and treatment recommendations for pets with this condition.

Approach to Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Gastrointestinal bleeding would be hard to miss in its most dramatic form with voluminous hematemesis being a clear give away sign. The majority of our patients, however, do not present this way and may only show vague non specific clinical signs. Last week’s webinar led by Jonathan Lidbury BVMS MRCVS PhD DCVIM DECVIM-CA demonstrated...

An Update On Controlled Drugs

Despite understanding the importance of our responsibility towards the use of controlled drugs, a webinar discussing this specific topic was always unlikely to enthuse me. However after watching last Thursday’s Platinum Member’s webinar, Pam Mosedale turned what could have been an exceedingly dry subject into an interesting and practical update on the supply and storage of control drugs (CDs) which would benefit the entire practice team.

Anaesthesia in Reptiles

Performing anaesthesia in reptiles is an area I’ve had little experience as a small animal practitioner apart from once attempting to perform a chamber induction in a tortoise which seemed to take an alarmingly long time. Most owners phoning the practice regarding their exotic pet are actively encouraged by the well trained receptionists to seek advice at a more ‘specialist’ exotic practice.

c-section

Anaesthesia for Caesarean Sections in Dogs and Cats

Caesarean section is usually performed as an emergency procedure, so getting to grips with both the anaesthesia and analgesia for this event is essential to ensure the best possible outcome for both mother and her offspring. Sheilah Robertson led last week’s webinar discussing this particular topic and talked us through how to devise an anaesthetic management plan...

Anaesthesia For The Brachycephalic Patient

Anaesthesia In brachycephalics will get the hearts of most vets racing but, whether we like it or not, the general public’s desire for these airway challenged breeds means we are having to do more and more of these particularly high risk anaesthetics.

Anaesthesia and Analgesia in the Geriatric Patient

There won’t be many vets who don’t have concerns over anaesthetising the elderly patient, especially with studies showing that cats and dogs over 12 years old are twice as likely (cats) and eight times as likely (dogs) to die within 48 hours of an anaesthetic.

A Message From Our Founder – Anthony Chadwick

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few months thinking about the challenges that the veterinary profession and the wider world face. Practices are very busy; many still seeing clients outside or separate from their animals; there are workforce shortages caused by Brexit and the pandemic; more animals have been taken on during the pandemic and may now be given up again. It’s a tough situation and you have my profound sympathy.