Early bird discounted registration for this year's BVNA Congress ends on 31st July The annual three-day event takes place between Friday 11th – Sunday 13thOctober 2024 at the Telford International Centre. This year’s theme is ‘Progression’ to inspire reflection on how far the profession has come and enable blue-sky conversations of where it could go in the future. There are over twenty streams at Congress, covering subjects like emergency and critical care, anaesthesia and analgesia, primary care and first opinion nursing, referral nursing, One Health, feline nursing, behaviour, exot ..read more

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is calling on the profession to support pet owners in choosing a healthy, sustainable diet for their cats and dogs. The association says that its research has found that 94% of companion animal vets say they have clients who feed a raw diet, 42% who feed meat-free diets and 29% who feed insect-protein in place of meat. However, 6 in 10 vets are unsure how many of the cats and dogs they see are fed meat-free diets. In a new policy position, the BVA is now urging vets to talk to all cat and dog owners about what they feed their pet, an ..read more

Dechra has announced its acquisition of a Invetx, a biotech company.  Invetx specialises in developing protein-based therapeutics for chronic conditions in companion animals, with a focus on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Dechra says these therapies have targeted modes of action and therefore are often more effective, provide an extended duration of activity and have fewer side effects, all of which help to extend and improve the quality of life for companion animals while decreasing the care burden for pet owners. Jesper Nordengaard, Chief Executive Officer of Dechra, said: "I regard ..read more

Lite Ltd has been rated as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted after inspectors visited the RVN training provider and graded all aspects of its provision. A team of three Ofsted inspectors carried out a four-day inspection, reporting that: Leaders have a clear and highly ambitious intent for the veterinary nurse curriculum Leaders and tutors have very high expectations for all apprentices Apprentices develop high levels of confidence and resilience in their apprenticeship Apprentices value highly the compassionate support they receive from staff at LITE. Leaders and tutors ensure that apprentices on ..read more

Dechra has launched Lodisure, a 1mg chicken-flavoured amlodipine tablet for the treatment of feline hypertension.  Available in packs of 56 (4 x 14 tablet blister packs), Lodisure tablets are divisible for accurate dosing. The recommended starting dose is 0.125-0.25 mg amlodipine per kg bodyweight per day, which equates to half a tablet for cats weighing less than 4kg (and more than 2kg) and one tablet per day for cats weighing between 4kg and 8kg. It can be administered directly to the cat or given with a small quantity of food. Dechra companion animal brand manager, Sarah Musgrave ..read more

HeartVets, the UK’s largest cardiology referral practice has become an Employee Owned Trust (EOT). The practice, which has nine clinicians (including three RCVS Recognised Specialists), eleven RVNs, two human-trained cardiac physiologists and a dedicated referral administrator is the first referral practice in the UK to become an EOT. Dave Dickson, a director alongside Jo Harris, said: "The decision to transition the clinical side of the business into employee ownership was led by the core values of the team and the desire to preserve our independence as a referral service. "In an industr ..read more

CVS is embarking on a new study to investigate and document the clinical and clinicopathological features, treatments and outcomes of colitis in UK adult horses. A team of researchers led by Tim Mair, CVS Equine Veterinary Director and Specialist in both Equine Internal Medicine and Equine Soft Tissue Surgery at Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic, will review 100 cases of colitis in adult horses and 100 controls referred to seven equine veterinary hospitals in the UK: five CVS equine veterinary hospitals as well as Rossdales Equine Hospital and University of Liverpool’s equ ..read more

Staff at South Wales-based, VetPartners-owned Valley Vets have gone on strike for two weeks after pay negotiations broke down earlier in the year and 94% of British Veterinary Union members at the group voted in favour of industrial action.  VetPartners says Valley Vets has around 200 employees, less than half of which are members of the union, although the BVU says 50% are required for recognition. Suzanna Hudson-Cooke MRCVS, Branch Chair at BVU said: “Fees at Valley Vets have increased by 25% in two years, which is hurting pet owners whilst some staff at Valley Vets are being paid ..read more

The RCVS is hosting a free one-hour webinar about self-compassion, presented by Mind Matters research grant recipient Dr Katherine Wakelin, Clinical Psychologist, and Sarah Corthorne, trainee Clinical Psychologist, at 7:00pm on Tuesday 3rd September 2024. The webinar will discuss the importance of self-compassion and provide an overview of Katherine and Sarah’s research into the effectiveness of an online compassion focused therapy (CFT) intervention in improving the mental wellbeing of veterinary professionals. Katherine and Sarah will also go into more detail about how to get the m ..read more

Following the publication of the new WSAVA Guidelines for the Control of Reproduction in Dogs and Cats earlier this year, Virbac (maker of Suprelorin) has produced a range of learning content on the subject. The content covers the main points in the WSAVA’s report and offers up-to-date information and advice. For example, Virbac highlights how the report raises concerns about increasing moves to early neutering, or for neutering to be used as a method of behavioural control, as not all aggressive behaviours are testosterone related. For that reason, a “c ..read more