Pain has a significant impact on animal welfare and analgesia is considered to be imperative in helping to alleviate it. In the first of a series of guidelines produced for primary care vets the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has summarised current recommendations on the safe use of analgesia in horses. The guidelines have been published in the January issue of the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) and can be downloaded here: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.13198 Clinical guidelines are standard practice in human medicine and have been shown to influence clinical decision making in clinical settings. BEVA is following suit with this series of guidelines for clinical practice, aimed at equine primary care in an ambulatory setting. BEVA primary care clinical guidelines: Analgesia, produced by a panel combining clinicians and analgesia researchers, is the first to be published. It summarises current underpinning evidence and combines it with expert opinion on impacts of ou ...

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has organised and sponsored a number of upcoming webinars, including as part of the Webinar Vet’s online Virtual Congress.   The first webinar takes place at 12.30pm on Thursday 23 January 2020 and is hosted by Elinor O’Connor, a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Professor of Occupational Psychology at the University of Manchester Alliance Business School. Her talk, titled ‘The importance of recovery from work for psychological wellbeing’, will address the importance of having time after work to restore one’s physical and metal resources and how this maintains wellbeing.   The webinar will explore what recovery from work entails and how it supports wellbeing as well as considering practical tips for enhancing recovery from work. To register for the webinar’s live broadcast, or to watch the recording after the event, visit: www.thewebinarvet.com/webinar/the-importance-of-recov ...

The VN Futures project will be holding a series of three webinars this year addressing issues around recognising the value of veterinary nurses’ work, including maximising the potential of veterinary nurses and leadership opportunities within the profession.   The lunchtime webinars will be delivered between February and June 2020 via the Webinar Vet and were developed by the VN Futures Career Progression Working Group, one of the working groups set up following the publication of the joint Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) VN Futures Report and Action Plan. This group was set up specifically to look at actions around developing more structured and rewarding career paths for veterinary nurses.   We encourage nurses, vets, practice managers and owners to attend these webinars as they address topics that will benefit the whole practice team.   All three webinars take place at 12.30pm and will last one hour. They are as follo ...

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the British Equine Veterinary Association have made a donation of £7,000 to the Australian Veterinary Association Benevolent Fund to help assist the work of the veterinary profession who are dedicating their lives to the wellbeing of animals caught in the wildfires. Both Associations are also appealing to members to make donations. BSAVA President Sue Paterson said: “Throughout Australia there are massive areas of land reduced to tinder, thousands of homes and people’s livelihoods destroyed as well as the devastating effects of the fires on the millions of native animals.  “Whilst we can offer our support and offer condolences to the courageous people of Australia who are dealing with this natural disaster, BSAVA feel that we should be more proactive and we hope our membership will support our decision to make a donation to the Benevolent fund set up by the Australian Veterinary Association. As the welcome rains have arrived to ...

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has been disappointed to learn of City & Guilds’ decision to withdraw veterinary nursing from its portfolio of qualifications, meaning the Awarding Organisation will accept no new registrations from 1 September 2020, and cease certificating existing qualifications from 31 August 2023.   The specific qualifications affected will be as follows:   ·         Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Small Animals) (7457-03) Ofqual Accreditation No: 600/6052/9 ·         Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Equine) (7457-13) Ofqual Accreditation No: 600/6052/9 ·         Level 3 Diploma in Small Animal Veterinary Nursing (7457-33) Ofqual Accreditation No: 603/5101/9 ·         Level 3 Diploma in Equine Veterinary Nursing (7457-43) Ofqual Accreditation No: 603/ ...

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has launched a pilot project to tackle equine obesity. The scheme uses a traffic light colour system of vaccination reminder stickers which vets can place on the front of passports at each vaccination appointment. Pending the success of the six-month pilot, the initiative will be rolled out across the UK in the summer.  Obesity is one of the biggest problems facing equine welfare in the UK but despite the best efforts of numerous equine welfare charities to address the issue, a significant proportion of owners are either not recognising obesity in their horses, or not being motivated to subsequently take action.  BEVA decided to confront the problem in a different way, using knowledge gained from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) – a government think tank specialising in behavioural economics and psychology. Lucy Grieve, President Elect of BEVA and part of the association’s obesity campaign working group, explains: “Determined t ...

Member charities of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) have collaborated to produce two practical guides; one to help horse owners find ways to cut costs without compromising on care and another on making the difficult decision to rehome a horse. Equine charities are continuing to receive large numbers of calls from horse owners seeking alternative homes for their animals. There are over one million horses and donkeys in the UK and the charitable sector has limited space available and must prioritise welfare and rescue cases. “Of course we want to be able to help every horse,” said Nic De Brauwere, Chairman of NEWC. “But with limited funds and resources available we have to prioritise on those in greatest need. By showing how outgoings can be reduced without compromising on the horse’s quality of life we aim to help owners in making the decision to keep their horse and help prevent inadvertent neglect or abandonment. Otherwise we can help them safely navigate the rehoming rou ...

In August 2019 the BHA published a notice regarding samples of injectable Omeprazole 100mg/ml (Bova UK), which had been found to contain low levels of testosterone. Due to the presence of testosterone, the BHA advised against the possession, use or attempted use, and administration or attempted administration of this product, with reference to the BHA Rules of Racing. Subsequent to that notice, Bova UK investigated and established the source of the testosterone, and have since removed this source from the manufacturing process. Bova UK have supplied the BHA with confirmation from analytical laboratories in Australia and the UK that testosterone is not present in samples of injectable Omeprazole 100mg/ml. Additionally, Bova UK have confirmed that they test multiple samples from each batch of injectable Omeprazole 100mg/ml for testosterone, using a validated method of analysis. Bova UK have also stated that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) have been informed of all steps taken to resolve the issue. ...

Animal Health Trust launches interactive website detailing up to date information on diagnoses of the disease across the UK. Horse owners, vets and paraprofessionals can now access the most up to date information on Strangles diagnoses from across the UK at the click of a button using a new online resource from the Animal Health Trust. The new website, from the Surveillance of Equine Strangles project, is a huge step forward in the sharing of information about this harmful disease. It will quickly become a vital tool for people owning and working with horses, especially those travelling around the country to areas which have seen higher rates of diagnoses of Strangles. You can view a short video tour of the new interactive web tool here Strangles, as one of the most commonly diagnosed infectious diseases of horses worldwide with more than 600 outbreaks in the UK each year, causes immense welfare problems for horses and significant economic costs to their owners. The new online tool ...

Four of the UK’s leading veterinary surgeons and animal welfare scientists have been appointed to the board of trustees of the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), the vet-led charity announced today (2 January).  Wildlife and zoo animal specialists Romain Pizzi and Justine Shotton; equine vet Deidre Carson; and biologist Charlotte Burn join 9 other experts on the AWF board. As trustees, they will play a key role in ensuring that AWF continues to improve animal welfare by funding research, supporting veterinary education and encouraging debate on animal welfare issues.  Former British Equine Veterinary Association president and Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons associate partner Deidre Carson commented: “I am passionate about animal welfare, conservation and biodiversity and believe that vets should be leading the way in improving the way animals and our environment are managed.  I am looking forward to working with other enthusiastic and knowledgeable people to progress the work of AWF ...