The Vet Record Podcast

Editor in chief Suzanne Jarvis talks to David Black and Anna Judson about how disease risk is likely to change in the UK as climate changes. Who should be responsible for monitoring it at the national, regional and local level, what should we expect with disease occurence and changes in range, and what can vets in practice do about it?

RUMA's Steve Howard and Kit Sturgess join editor in chief Suzanne Jarvis to talk about the new condition-specific toolkits released by RUMA. These cover canine acute diarrhoea and cat bite abscesses, and provide resources to help practitioners decrease their use of antimicrobials. They also discuss what the target reduction in use is and where we are on this. The toolkits can be accessed at: https://rumacae.org.uk/national-amu-reduction-targets

In this episode, Josh Loeb, Vet Record's senior news reporter, is joined by Michael Seals, chair of the Animal Sentience Committee, and committee member Richard Cooper, to discuss the origins of the committee and questions surrounding it. Set up in 2022, the committee has a remit to report to Parliament on the implications for the welfare of sentient animals arising from any area of policy. But how does it report to Parliament, and which of the many areas of policymaking does it consider most pertinent?

With record temperatures being recorded in the UK this summer, editor in chief Suzanne Jarvis talks to the RVC's Emily Hall, Jude Bradbury and Dan O'Neill about heat-related illness and heatstroke in companion animals. With the focus on dogs, we discuss this quintessential contextualised care condition. Mortality is high if body temperature exceeds 41.0°C, so the most important action is to cool the animal as soon as possible, with the overriding message being 'Wet then vet'. There is a companion In Practice article at https://bit.ly/4vwxVlB

Vet Record senior reporter Josh Loeb is joined by Ed Simmons from the British Cattle Veterinary Association and BVA junior vice president Gwen Rees to discuss the newly released bovine TB strategy for England and what it might mean for the future of bTB control. Ed and Gwen were both part of the bTB Partnership that produced this new strategy. Will it be implemented by Defra and what will the reaction be from farmers? These and other questions are discussed.
 
Links to the published articles mentioned in the episode:
https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.70328
https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.70358
https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.70484

In this episode, Josh Loeb is joined by Rowena Packer, senior lecturer in companion animal behaviour and welfare science at the Royal Veterinary College, to unpack the complex - and often confusing - realities of buying a puppy. She describes the growing influence of trends and social media, and why making the ‘right’ choice isn’t always straightforward.

In this episode, we are joined by Paul Reynolds, chair of the British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. We discuss problems in the rehabilitation sector, such as overtreatment and delayed euthanasia, and efforts to produce standards that rehabilitators can sign up to in order to improve practice in this area.

Do you know what risk is and how to assess it to aid clinical decision making? In this episode, Rachel Dean and Caroline Scobie build on their recent In Practice article to explain what relative and absolute risk is, and how to put that knowledge into practice for the patient in front of you. They use canine neutering as an example – a very common consultation in general practice – to illustrate how to build confidence in your clinical advice to owners depending on what is important to them. And while published research can help inform the advice you give, by doing your own clinic audit you can also assess what works for you in your practice.

In this episode, equine vet Phoebe Putt chats to Alexandria Lipka and shares her honest reflections on returning to clinical work after maternity leave. Drawing on her own experience as a first-time mother, Phoebe discusses the concept of 'matrescence' and why it is often misunderstood or overlooked in the workplace. She explores the challenges and emotional realities of returning to work, the role of employers in providing meaningful support and how maternity leave can equip clinicians with valuable new skills rather than diminishing them.

With the CMA's final remedies now out, Suzanne and Josh are joined by BVA president Rob Williams to find out what vets and veterinary businesses serving clients with companion animals need to know. Remedies include a requirement to publish price lists, a cap on the price of prescriptions and an obligation for practices to make it clear if they are part of a chain.