Heart failure is common in diabetic cats : findings from a retrospective case-controlled study in first-opinionpractice

Diabetes mellitus is common in the cat and the prevalence of this condition appears to be increasing (Peterson 1998,Rand and Marshall 2004, Rand and others 2004). The prognosis for cats with diabetes mellitus in first opinion practice has received little attention in the literature; few data indicate why diabetic cats die. Death in people with diabetes is overwhelmingly because of cardiovascular disease (Grundy and others 1999, Almdal and others 2004, Bell 2004, Bertoni and others 2004, Nichols and others 2004). Experimental induction of diabetes mellitus in various laboratory mammals also causes cardiovascular disease and heart failure so that the prevalence of cardiac disease and failure in diabetic cats seemed worthy of examination. The purpose of this study was to examine the prognosis and cause of death for a cohort of consecutive cases of feline diabetes mellitus diagnosed in a first opinion veterinary practice, and to compare these with control cats matched for age, breed and sex

Heatstroke – providing evidence-based advice to dog owners

With increasing summer temperatures and milder winters, the risk of heatstroke in dogs is growing. Veterinary nurses have a vital role in identifying high risk patients and advising owners of the risks of heatstroke. Nurses are able to recommend preventative measures and first aid necessary to minimise the risk of heatstroke; in addition to increasing the chances of survival where heatstroke does occur. This article will provide an overview of the evidence that can be presented to owners during nursing consultations, and the prognosis of patients presenting with heatstroke

Broken biosecurity?: veterinarians’ framing of biosecurity on dairy farms in England

There is seen to be a need for better biosecurity – the control of disease spread on and off farm – in the dairy sector. Veterinarians play a key role in communicating and implementing biosecurity measures on farm, and little research has been carried out on how veterinarians see their own and farmers’ roles in improving biosecurity. In order to help address this gap, qualitative interviews were carried out with 28 veterinarians from Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon farm accredited practices in England. The results were analysed using a social ecology framework and frame analysis to explore not only what barriers vets identified, but also how vets saw the problem of inadequate biosecurity as being located. Veterinarians’ frames of biosecurity were analysed at the individual, interpersonal and contextual scales, following the social ecology framework, which see the problem in different ways with different solutions. Farmers and veterinarians were both framed by veterinarians as individualised groups lacking consistency. This means that best practice is not spread and veterinarians are finding it difficult to work as a group to move towards a “predict and prevent” model of veterinary intervention. But diversity and individualism were also framed as positive and necessary among veterinarians to the extent that they can tailor advice to individual farmers. Veterinarians saw their role in educating the farmer as not only being about giving advice to farmers, but trying to convince the farmer of their perspective and values on disease problems. Vets felt they were meeting with limited success because vets and farmers may be emphasising different framings of biosecurity. Vets emphasise the individual and interpersonal frames that disease problems are a problem on farm that can and should be controlled by individual farmers working with vets. According to vets, farmers may emphasise the contextual frame that biosecurity is largely outside of their control on dairy farms because of logistical, economic and geographical factors, and so some level of disease on dairy farms is not entirely unexpected or controllable. There needs to be a step back within the vet-farmer relationship to realise that there may be different perspectives at play, and within the wider debate to explore the question of what a biosecure dairy sector would look like within a rapidly changing agricultural landscape

Miniature Schnauzers under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2013: demography, mortality and disorders

Individual dog breeds are often reported as predisposed to specific breed-related disorders but reliable epidemiological data on disease prevalence are sparse. The Miniature Schnauzer in the UK is a popular small breed dog that is often considered as relatively healthy and long-lived, but is this really true? This study aimed to use data from the VetCompass™ Programme at the Royal Veterinary College to characterise the demography, mortality and common disorders of the general population of Miniature Schnauzers under veterinary care in the UK