Pets'n'Vets, a Glasgow-based partnership, has revealed plans to open what it describes as the city's first veterinary 'super practice'.

Located at a 7500 sq ft customised facility in the Auldhouse Retail Park in Pollokshaws, The Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital will provide comprehensive pet care seven days a week, caring for animals around the clock and providing late night consultations when required. Pets'n'Vets says it believes it will deliver a step change to the standard of veterinary care available in the city.

Pets'n'Vets partner Oliver Jackson said: "Having provided excellent veterinary care to the Southside's pets for over 40 years we feel that this will create a cutting-edge facility in which to do so for the next 40 years.

"Our plans for this ambitious new facility have been modelled on the American concept of a vet 'super-practice', designed to deliver the whole suite of pet care services, from nail clipping to vaccinations to some of the most complex surgical veterinary procedures - and will provide these services locally, at sensible cost and to the highest clinical standards with one of the best qualified, first opinion veterinary surgeons in the West of Scotland and one of the best medical experts too.

"This is a really exciting initiative that will bring a real first to Glasgow. It will enable us to care for animals 24 hours a day as there will be nursing staff living on-site so that animals can receive continuous treatment through the night. The location of the facility means that pet owners and, more importantly, sick animals, will not have to travel too far and, given the size and scope of the facility, we expect to be able to reduce significantly the waiting list before veterinary procedures can be scheduled.

"The whole idea behind The Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital is that we will be in a position to provide continuous lifelong veterinary care regardless of the problems that life brings - our vets and nurses often first meet our friends and their pets as a puppies, kittens and kits and we get to know pet and owner exceptionally well over the years - in the event that that pet requires a complex surgical procedure or in-patient medical care, we want to be able to offer that too, rather than the pet and owner being referred to an unfamiliar veterinary hospital.

"A particularly exciting aspect of the development is that some of the services will be led by our qualified veterinary nurses in conjunction with the surgeons. To facilitate this, the practice will in addition to the vet consulting rooms, house two specialist nurse consulting rooms."

The Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital will feature a cat examination room which, unusually, will not feature a consult table. Instead, this new facility will feature steps and an artificial tree that will enable the nurse or vet to better assess its movements.

Partner Oliver Jackson said: "This is an ultra-modern arrangement which is aimed at allowing us to examine cats in a more natural way - we hope that this will assist us to diagnose many more cases of feline arthritis, a disease that a recent study accepted was often missed by the traditional, consulting table means of examining cats."

Similarly, the dog room will not feature a consult table but will have facilities for physiotherapy or play - and there will be a special garden enclosure for exercising any dogs requiring to stay at the facility for any length of time.

The 'super practice' will feature separate cat and dog waiting and consultation rooms as well as separate in-patient wards to reduce stress. In the clinical wing, the facility boasts two sterile theatres, specified to the highest clinical standards, with a separate scrub area, a designated dental theatre, large patient preparation area as well as state-of the art diagnostic suites.

Pets'n'Vets says the hospital design has been carefully considered to encourage the best possible clinical care. For example vets' stations overlook the intensive care unit and the preparation area remains open plan, taking advantage of natural light provided by a large overhead atrium, whilst specialist air extraction systems ensures sterility by separating the area into clinical zones.

In addition to the dog and cat accommodation the hospital will also have an isolation ward which will be separate for any animals with potentially contagious diseases and a ward dedicated to less usual pets with facilities for everything from rabbits and guinea pigs to albino hedgehogs as well as vivaria for looking after reptiles.

The Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital will also feature a private area for pet owners needing to spend a little more time, perhaps on those sad occasions when a pet has to be put to sleep, as well as a dedicated and more relaxed room where owners will be able to discuss the health of their pet with the vet.

Oliver said: "We want The Roundhouse to be a place for learning and meeting, so there will be a coffee station for owners and a homely, relaxed and welcoming feeling. We're also planning to host school trips and the facility will feature a little veterinary practice where kids can play, with stethoscopes and little white coats for them to wear.

"As a practice, Pets'n'Vets has always been very involved in training and this new facility will enable us to do that on an unprecedented scale. Our ambition is that The Roundhouse will become a drop-in centre for people to come with their animals to learn and to play as well as to receive medical treatment."

The Roundhouse Veterinary Hospital will create six additional full-time jobs when it opens this summer. Pets'n'Vets says that many of the treatments currently delivered by its nearby surgery on Pollokshaws Road will transfer to the new facility, enabling it to create Glasgow's first dedicated vaccine clinic at the old surgery.

Virbac has has announced the launch of Buprevet, a buprenorphine-based, injectable solution indicated for the potentiation of sedative effects of centrally-acting agents in dogs and for use in cats and dogs as part of a multimodal approach to analgesia.

Buprevet is presented in a 10 ml multi-dose bottle which can be broached up to 25 times and can be open for up to 28 days.

Sarah Walker MRCVS, Product Manager, said: "Buprenorphine is a potent, high affinity, synthetic opioid agonist which forms a key element of practice anaesthetic protocols and complements our existing anaesthetic range. Its potentiation effects means less sedation is needed in the pre-medication and in the anaesthesia, facilitating smoother recoveries with more comfortable patients."

"Buprenorphine is a tried and trusted solution for analgesia in many practices. Buprevet can be given pre-operatively to allow analgesia during and after surgery. It works effectively as part of a pre-emptive approach to analgesia, alongside products such as Inflacam and Carprox in our NSAIDs range."

Academics from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and the neurology team at Southmead Hospital Bristol have published the results of study examining the use of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) therapy as a treatment for headshaking syndrome in horses.

The authors say that the condition, a neuropathic facial pain syndrome, often leaves affected horses impossible to ride and dangerous to handle, and can result in euthanasia. At present there are no consistently safe and effective methods for the treatment of headshaking in horses, and the condition is estimated to affect between 10,000 and 20,000 horses in the UK.

The study, which is published in the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), aimed to discover whether PENS therapy, developed by Algotec Research and Development Ltd, is safe, effective and sustainable for the management of trigeminal-mediated headshaking in horses.

Seven horses diagnosed with trigeminal-mediated headshaking were recruited to the trial.  All procedures were carried out in sedated horses with a needle-*** sized area of skin desensitised with local anaesthetic to help probe insertion. A disposable PENS probe was placed just beneath the skin adjacent to the nerve under ultrasonographic guidance. The nerve was stimulated for 25 minutes following a protocol of alternating frequencies and a perception threshold based on human clinical data. The probe was removed and the procedure repeated on the other side. Three or four treatments were used during the protocol, with treatments being repeated when signs of headshaking recurred.

All horses tolerated the procedure well. Three horses developed a haematoma at the site on one occasion and two had increased clinical signs for up to three days following first treatment.  Six horses responded well after the first treatment and returned to ridden work at the same level before headshaking began.  Five horses continued to respond to further treatment.

Veronica Roberts, Senior Clinical Fellow in Equine Medicine in the University's School of Veterinary Sciences, who led the study, said: "Headshaking in horses is a major welfare issue and can be a significant cause of distress.

"Although it is clear that further work is required, including increasing the number of cases and refining the treatment procedures, the study shows that PENS therapy should be the first-line treatment for trigeminal-mediated headshakers, which have failed to respond to conservative treatment, such as nose-nets." 

Reference

• Neuromodulation using percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the management of trigeminal-mediated headshaking; a safe procedure resulting in medium term remission in five of seven horses. V. L. H. Roberts, N. K. Patel and W. H. Tremaine. DOI: 10.1111/evj.12394

The British Equine Veterinary Association has published the results of a survey it commissioned which found that horse vets in the UK are probably at greater risk of injury than any other civilian profession, including the prison service.

For the study, which was conducted by the Institute of Health and Wellbeing and the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow, 620 equine vets completed a work-related injuries questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that an equine vet could expect to sustain between seven and eight work-related injuries that impeded them from practicing, during a 30-year working life. 

If the 620 respondents were representative of the rest of the profession, the injuries they reported would equate to 26,452 per 100,000 equine vets in employment per year. That compares with 10,760 for people working in the prison service, 8,700 for policemen below the rank of sergeant, 6,980 for welders, metal formers and related trades, and 4,760 for construction workers.

Participants were asked to describe their worst-ever injury. Most were described as bruising, fracture and laceration, with the most common site of injury being the leg (29%), followed by the head (23%). The main cause of injury was a kick with a hind limb (49%), followed by strike with a fore limb (11%), followed by crush injury (5%). Nearly a quarter of these reported injuries required hospital admission and notably, 7% resulted in loss of consciousness. The most common reason for the examination during which the injury occurred was foot lameness, followed by dental and female reproductive. 

BEVA Past-President Keith Chandler said: “We were shocked to discover the extent of the injuries sustained. Of greatest concern is the number of vets who suffered head injuries and unconsciousness. These injuries appeared to be more common when certain procedures were being performed, such as endoscopy of the upper respiratory tract, when vets are often only partly sighted while using examination equipment, or during wound management and bandage-changes, where vets are often crouched-down for long periods, next to the patient.” 

38% of the ‘worst’ injuries occurred when the vet was working with a ‘pleasure’ horse and most frequently (48% of all responses) the horse handler was the owner or the client at the time of the injury. Whilst the number of laypersons or handlers injured at the same time was low, Tim Parkin, vet and lead researcher, pointed out: “This work should act as a wake up call to all involved in the training, employment and engagement of equine vets. The risks associated with handling and working with horses should be the primary consideration for equine vets and horses owners alike, every time a horse is examined or treated. In addition, the experience of the horse handler should be considered when undertaking riskier procedures.”

David Mountford, Chief Executive of BEVA said: “The results are very concerning and justify a careful prospective scientific quantification of the risks.  In the short term, knowledge of these risks allows us to better inform all vets who work with horses.  In turn vets will be able to inform horse owners, horse-keepers and trainers of the risks, and this may provide justification for having trained assistance on-hand or the more extensive use of sedative drugs in practice, potentially reducing the risk of injury.

"The British Equine Veterinary Association will now look to work with the Health and Safety Executive, Veterinary Schools, large employers of vets in the UK and our members to help develop policies to mitigate the risk of serious injury for vets working with horses.” 

Photograph courtesy Towcester Veterinary Centre

The Emergent Disease Foundation, One Health Initiative, Worldwide Veterinary Service, and UNISON have collaborated to launch Exotic pets: Reducing the of risk of human infection, a new leaflet which explains the hygiene measures that keepers of exotic pets should take.

The organisations say that they hope veterinary clinics, pet shops, medical centres, local authorities and schools will distribute the free leaflet which is also available to download.  

The Emergent Disease Foundation says the advice contained in the leaflet is taken from an independent scientific paper entitled 'A review of captive exotic animal-linked zoonoses' published in the Journal of Environmental Health Research.

The leaflet takes the line that it is inadvisable to keep exotic animals as pets, but for those who already have them, recommended measures include: thorough hand-washing with antibacterial soap and alcohol-based gels after handing or feeding an exotic pet; being careful not to touch hair, clothes (including pockets), door handles and other items immediately after handling exotic pets; closely supervising children so that they do not put their mouths close to the animal; and keeping animals, cages and equipment away from kitchens.

Clifford Warwick of the Emergent Disease Foundation, a charity focused on animal-to-human infections, said: "The modern world enables all too easy acquisition of exotic animals into the home. The pet trade in general, with its high turnover and diversity of species available, offers a speed-dating reservoir for bugs from far corners of the globe. My own advice is simple - avoiding exposure to bugs from exotic pets in the home is difficult and best avoided by not keeping them in the first place."

Dr. Bruce Kaplan of the One Health Initiative, which focuses on the connection between health and the environment, said: "As a former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trained epidemiologist, a retired private practice veterinarian and a public health and humanitarian minded 'One Health' activist for nearly 50 years, I wholeheartedly oppose private ownership of exotic pets due to the known scientific health and safety risks for people and animals.  It is a dangerous, irresponsible and irrational practice."

Owen Evans of the Worldwide Veterinary Service, a charity that provides a veterinary resource to animal welfare organisations worldwide, said:"We work on a day-to-day basis with animal health issues, so we are very mindful of how animals and people can share pathogens. Avoiding transmission is best served by minimising risks, which is what this new brochure aims to achieve."

The RCVS has published new guidance for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses on the use of social media and online forums, such as those on VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk.

The guidance sets out the professional standards expected of veterinary professionals, as well as providing advice on good practice, how to protect privacy, maintaining client confidentiality and dealing with adverse comments from clients.

The guidance has been developed by the Standards Committee, partly in response to demands from the profession and partly in light of recent decisions by the courts and other regulatory bodies which demonstrate that professionals can be at risk of legal or disciplinary action where their online conduct is unprofessional or inappropriate.

Laura McClintock, RCVS Advisory Solicitor said: "Whilst social media is likely to form part of everyday life for veterinary professionals, who are just as free as anyone else to take advantage of the personal and professional benefits that it can offer, its use is not without risk, so vets and vet nurses should be mindful of the consequences that can arise from its misuse."

The new guidance explains that vets and vet nurses are expected to behave professionally online, whether publishing material as themselves or anonymously. The College highlights the fact that demonstrably inappropriate behaviour on social media may place registration at risk, as the professional standards expected online are no different to those in the 'real world'.

Laura added: "Understanding and applying our new guidance should help vets and nurses to meet their professional responsibilities and reduce the risks of receiving complaints from clients or others, as well as potential civil actions for defamation."

The new guidance can be found on the RCVS website at: www.rcvs.org.uk/socialmedia 

Vet Futures, the joint initiative by the RCVS and the BVA to help the profession prepare for and shape its own future, has published a guest blog in which an academic argues that the profession needs to introduce safeguards to prevent inappropriate profit-seeking behaviour.

David Main is Professor of Animal Welfare at the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, with research interests in welfare assessment, animal welfare education and intervention strategies to improve welfare.

In his blog (www.vetfutures.org.uk/discuss), Professor Main says he believes the vast majority of individual veterinary surgeons and practices are not motivated by money and do have animals’ best interests at heart, but that the differences between the business structure of veterinary and medical practitioners in the UK means the profession is always at risk of standing accused of excessive profiteering. 

He said: “Since we still live in the age of the media scare story, it would seem prudent for the profession to embed some anti-profit seeking safeguards in our regulatory controls before, rather than after, a problem is highlighted.” One suggestion he makes is for the prohibition of turnover-based incentive schemes in favour of incentives based on health outcomes. 

He believes that such safeguards, which he says could be incorporated into the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme, would be a “healthy demonstration” that the profession has animal welfare rather than profit as its main priority.

Professor Main also argues that the profession urgently needs to deliver on society’s expectation of vets as animal welfare experts: “Veterinarians could perhaps... do more at an individual level to act as animal welfare advocates. It is easy to inform clients on the technical rationale for a specific husbandry change but then walk away knowing full well the client will not action the advice. In the medical profession, advanced communication techniques are becoming more widely accepted to promote positive change within their patients. Perhaps we should be more explicit in teaching our veterinary students influencing skills.”

In response to David’s blog, this month’s Vet Futures poll asks visitors ‘Do vets always act as animal welfare advocates?’

The previous month’s poll, which was based on an article co-written by Erwin Hohn and Adi Nell from MediVet, asked to what extent vets would be willing to work collaboratively with others if it would benefit all. Of the 50 people who answered the poll, 60% said they would be completely willing to work with others, 32% a lot and 8% to some degree – no one said they would be unwilling to work with others.

Somerset vet Stewart Halperin MRCVS has launched CarefreeCredit, a service designed to help pet owners pay for unforeseen veterinary bills, and take the burden of unpaid bills away from veterinary surgeons.

The new service is very simple. First, participating practices need to apply to CarefreeCredit and register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). CarefreeCredit will hold your hand through the FCA registration process, which is currently taking about three weeks.

Thereafter, you can then offer CarefreeCredit to any client who is faced with an unexpected bill which they can't pay immediately. They'll need to make an online application which can be done at any time of day, 365 days a year - crucial for out-of-hours emergencies. The application takes 4 minutes and decisions are instant.

Loans repaid over 12 months are interest-free for the pet owner. Loans repaid over 24 months attract interest at 7.9% APR.

Once the loan is approved, confirmation is sent to the veterinary practice, which can then drawdown the funds into the practice bank account via the CarefreeCredit online dashboard. The practice gets paid within 5 days of requesting a drawdown.

The cost to the practice of all this is 7% of the bill. Offered strategically to the right clients, that seems like a small price to pay. According to CarefreeCredit, practice revenue increases by 22% and debtors decrease by 58% in practices where finance facilities are offered. But that is, of course, only half the story. This also offers a professional and businesslike 'way out' when vets are at the receiving end of emotional blackmail (or worse) from clients who find they don't have the money to pay for their much-loved pet to get the medical care it needs. 

Stewart, himself the owner of a six-practice business, said: "The only way a credit facility like this works is that if it is so simple to use that front office staff see it as a help rather than a hindrance - a tool to make their lives easier rather than just another piece of admin to do. In order to get to this point, we have been through discussions with a number of consumer credit institutions as well as major retail banks. The system we can now provide is the market leader by a long way. The great thing is, vets love it as they can do gold standard work, get paid properly for it and receive the funds straight away. Owners love it as they can spread the cost at no or very low cost to themselves - and of course, the pets get treated immediately!"

For more information, visit: www.carefreecredit.co.uk

Bayer Animal Health has launched Remend Wound Spray Gel for cats, dogs and horses. 

The new gel contains Remend's structurally modified hyaluronic acid (HA). Bayer says it provides a matrix for cellular events that occur during the proliferative phase of the healing process, which has been shown to enhance healing¹, and can promote rapid wound closure 

Georgie Hollis BSc from www.vetwoundlibrary.com said: "Managing wounds can be challenging in veterinary practice; the progression of wound healing can be influenced by many factors, and selecting an appropriate product to apply should be based on the needs of the individual wound. A product that provides a moist healing environment and support of the proliferative phase ensures that cellular activity is optimised, helping to improve healing times and minimise scar tissue." 

Bayer says Remend Wound Spray Gel is designed for use as part of the overall management of wounds; additional measures such as lavage, debridement and control of infection are equally important, as is giving consideration to any secondary factors that may delay healing if not addressed. The product aims to achieve greater compliance amongst owners by providing an effective management option that is easy to apply. A single application may be sufficient to enhance wound closure in fresh uncomplicated wounds; however more complex wounds may require multiple applications in order to accelerate closure. 

For more information, visit: www.vetcentre.bayer.co.uk

References

1. Yang G, Prestwich GD, Mann BK. Thiolated Carboxymethyl-Hyaluronic acid based biomaterials enhance wound healing in rats, dogs and horses. International scholarly research network volume 2011, article ID 851593.

MSD Animal Health has announced the launch of The Big Tick Project, both to investigate whether ticks are carrying more pathogens and to raise awareness amongst the public.

The company highlights research which shows that nationally, tick distribution has expanded by 17% in the last 10 years and tick numbers have also increased in 73% of locations surveyed.¹ In addition, the company says there is evidence that ticks are feeding earlier in the year and feeding for longer², thus increasing their potential to pass on significant disease to both animals and humans. Lyme disease in particular can be serious health issue for both humans and animals, being increasingly recognised and recorded in the UK recent years³.

So, as part of the project, practices are being invited to collect ticks and send them to the University of Bristol for analysis. In addition, there'll be a national PR and marketing campaign fronted by the naturalist Chris Packham (pictured right).

Practices taking part in the project will receive a tick collection kit and marketing support pack including access to dedicated PR services, postcards and posters to raise awareness of ticks within their clinic and local community. The collection kit includes instructions, collection equipment and Freepost packaging to allow ticks removed from dogs to be sent to the university quickly and easily.

Professor Richard Wall from University of Bristol said: "For accurate results we need as many ticks as possible and I really encourage vet practices up and down the country to get involved. We need data from all types of practices ranging from urban to rural locations to help vets and human health professionals make more effective recommendations and help prevent tick-related disease."

To take part in The Big Tick Project, email a contact name and your practice details to: info@bigtickproject.co.uk.

References

1. Dautel, H., Dippela, C., Kaemmer, D., Werkhausen, A., Kahl, O., 2008. Winter activity of Ixodes ricinus in a Berlin forest. I. J. Med. Microbiol, 298, 50-54.
2. Scharlemann JPW, Johnson PJ, Smith AA, Macdonald DW, Randolph SE:  2008. Trends in Ixodid tick abundance and distribution in Great Britain. Med Vet Entomol, 22:238-47
3. Smith, F. D.  Ballantyne, R., Morgan, R., Wall, R. (2011)  Estimating Lyme disease risk using pet dogs as sentinels.  Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 35 (2012) 163-167

The RSPB has reported the results of two studies which revealed that a greater diversity of birds of prey, including some eagles, are killed eating carrion contaminated with diclofenac.

The RSPB says that these findings strengthen the case of banning the use of veterinary diclofenac in livestock across Europe, including Spain and Italy where the drug has already been approved.

In the first paper¹, published in the journal Bird Conservation International, scientists present results of tests carried out on two steppe eagles found dead at a cattle carcass dump in Rajasthan, India. Both birds had diclofenac residue in their tissues and exhibited the same clinical signs of kidney failure as seen in Gyps vultures experimentally given diclofenac. 

Steppe eagles are closely related to the golden eagles found in the UK, the vulnerable Spanish imperial eagle and other globally vulnerable or declining Eurasian eagles. Scientists now fear that all species in this genus, known as Aquila, are susceptible to diclofenac. With fourteen species of Aquila eagle distributed across Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America, this means that diclofenac poisoning should now be considered largely a global problem.

Dr Toby Galligan, RSPB conservation scientist and one of the authors of the paper, said: "We have known for some time that diclofenac is toxic to Gyps vultures, including the Eurasian griffon vulture, but we now know it is toxic to an Aquila eagle too. This suggests that the drug is fatal to a greater number of birds of prey in Asia, Europe and around the world. We had suspected as much from observed declines in non-Gyps vultures in Asia, but this study confirms our worst fears."

In another paper², published in Bird Conservation International, Dr Galligan led an examination of recent population trends in Egyptian and red-headed vultures in India. That study shows population declines of similar timing and scale as the declines observed in Gyps vultures, providing indirect evidence that these species have been impacted by diclofenac as well. 

After years of campaigning by conservationists, the governments of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan banned veterinary formulations of diclofenac between 2006 and 2010. Recently, experts have recorded a slowing of Gyps vulture declines as a result of the bans. However, formulations of diclofenac intended for use in humans are still widely available and illegally used to treat livestock, the carcasses of which are the main food source for vultures in South Asia.
 
It was announced in March that veterinary diclofenac had been authorised for manufacture and use in Italy and Spain and had been distributed to other European countries. Since then, a coalition of organisations including the Vulture Conservation Foundation, the RSPB and BirdLife International have been campaigning for this decision to be reversed.

Dr Galligan continued: "In light of recent developments in Europe, our findings take on an even more worrying meaning. All of Europe's charismatic Aquila eagles, like the Spanish imperial eagle and, closer to home, the golden eagle, are opportunistic scavengers and therefore could be at risk of diclofenac poisoning.  As we have seen in South Asia, wherever free-ranging livestock are treated with diclofenac, population declines in vultures and eagles can occur. The European Commission needs to recognise this problem and impose a continent-wide ban on veterinary diclofenac before it can impact on our birds."

Last week, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) announced measures against the drug. 

In a statement the VMD said: "The UK's Veterinary Medicines Directorate is taking the issue of diclofenac's risks to vulture populations seriously. As a precautionary measure the VMD will not approve any requests from vets to import products containing diclofenac. Furthermore, the VMD has agreed not to issue any export certificates which name diclofenac-containing products in the list of products to be exported."

Sacha Cleminson, Head of International Biodiversity Policy at the RSPB, said: "The announcement from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate is a welcome signal to Europe that the UK is taking the issue seriously. This new evidence underlines the need for a ban across Europe, and ultimately beyond." 

References

1. Diclofenac is toxic to the Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis: widening the diversity of raptors threatened by NSAID misuse in South Asia. Anil K. Sharma et al Bird Conservation International Online. 26th May 2014.

2. Have population declines in Egyptian Vulture and Red-headed Vulture in India slowed since the 2006 ban on veterinary diclofenac? Toby H. Galligan et al. Bird Conservation International Online. 1st April 2014.
   

VetSurgeon.org member, Martin Atkinson MRCVS has had his first book, A Test of Patients, published on Amazon Kindle (£6.59).

Described as the experiences and musings of a veterinary surgeon, the book is a collection of anecdotes collected over the period since Martin qualified from Liverpool in 1975 up until his more recent self-appointed sainthood (or not, as the case may be), as the owner of St Martin's Veterinary Clinic.

Martin said: "This book is a collection of short stories recording some of the more entertaining aspects of my veterinary career plus one or two fantasies and musings. It is meant to be amusing but also carries some serious messages. It is illustrated in a suitable quirky way by my daughter Alice.

"This book has been a labour of love rather than a commercial enterprise and has not been professionally proof read or edited so there are one or two typos and formatting bloomers including one in the very first sentence! I hope this dos not detract from the reader's enjoyment".

Limited signed copies of the book are also available direct from the author (£8.99 inc p&p) by emailing your details to: martin@gconnect.com.

Martin is donating earnings from the book to animal charities, including Cats Protection, BSAVA Petsavers, The Dogs Trust and the PDSA.