The Vet Record Podcast

Sir Charles Godfrey's expert panel on bovine TB (bTB) recently updated the government on the latest evidence pertaining to the epidemic. Defra is expected to publish a new strategy next year setting out how it plans to eradicate the disease in England by 2038. Is eradication by 2038 still feasible? What has to change to enable the deadline to be hit? In this episode Godfray, together with vet and Cambridge epidemiologist James Wood, explain why the endemic status of bTB should not lead to a mindset of 'living with it' and why there is still cause for hope amid the misery of bTB.

Danielle Gunn-Moore's passion for feline medicine and all things cat comes through, but also her curiosity and love for people she has encountered in the profession, both as a mentor and mentee. She talks about the challenges of coming from a poor background and of her disability, which is having an increasing effect on her. She discusses the need to maintain feline-specific specialists, and how anatomy and pathology have value in veterinary medicine.

Maggie Roberts is probably best known for her work at Cats Protection; however, she has had a hugely varied career. In this episode, she talks to deputy editor Alexandria Lipka about her early days as a student in Edinburgh, working overseas in Australia and Malawi, and how she became fully embedded within the charity sector. She currently runs her own consultancy company offering services to support animal charities.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) released guidelines on neutering last year. These promoted controversy and are now being revised. Caroline Allen from the RSPCA, who convened a charity roundtable on neutering, joins the Vet Record Podcast to discuss the issue from the perspective of the rehoming sector.

In this episode, Sheila talks about starting life as a 'traditional' veterinary practitioner in mixed practice and how circumstances led her into switching to the State Veterinary Services after about 20 years. She talks about looking at the consequences of decisions - and how she needs to look wider than solely animal health risks in her role as chief veterinary officer for Scotland.

In this episode, Malcolm highlights the value of encouraging and flexible colleagues - at all stages of his career - and how adversity led him into getting interested in representing his profession, both for the British Equine Veterinary Association and the BVA. As BVA president, he found himself promoting 'Great Veterinary Workplaces', thinking more deeply about animal welfare and being involved with the association's campaign around microaggressions, highlighting the value of understanding others’ points of view. He also talks about his enthusiasm for live music.

In this episode, Caroline Scobie speaks about her interest in evidence-based veterinary medicine and how that has led to collaborations outside of the traditional practitioner role. Her interest has been furthered by undertaking an MSc in evidence-based medicine and that has led to Caroline taking a closer look at what diagnostics can do and the limitations. She explains how her nosiness is the ideal skill for a vet, both with clients and with colleagues.

In this episode, David talks about making the change to study veterinary science after initially starting another degree. He discusses how he got into farm vetting despite having no background in the sector, and the value of having skills from other non-veterinary work—in this case, running a bar—and maintaining a flexible attitude. He shares his proud moment of representing Black British veterinary students in the USA, the importance of supportive colleagues and the need to look for opportunities when things don't go as planned.