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Tag: Cattle

What to do when on call

When you’re on call during the week, by the time you’ve got home (if you get straight home without being called), eaten and vegged out in front of the TV, you do not have much time to be bored before heading to bed.

However, weekends on call have a lot more time to fill between carvings and telling the third client in a row we outsource small animal out-of-hours work.

Sleepless nights

I barely slept the first few times I was on call. Even without being called, I would toss and turn, worrying about what could be on the end of the telephone. When I eventually fell asleep, I’d wake up several times in a panic thinking I’d missed the call. I’m not a fantastic sleeper anyway, but always having half an ear open to the telephone makes things so much worse.

Jordan’s new-found feline friends have kept her company while on call.

I had been “on call” throughout university or while on externship EMS, but someone else was always there to do the triage and tell me what to do. Being the person on call is a totally different ball game. Even with backup, being the first one to speak to a panicked owner or farmer is still daunting.

The first weekend I was on call, I was paired with another vet, but fell asleep on the sofa after a morning of small animal consults, and an afternoon spent drenching and injecting sick cows.

Trapped

Since I live almost as far from my practice as is acceptable for being on call, I was scared to leave the house, not wanting to be any further away. I felt trapped, not able to go anywhere and not wanting to start doing anything constructive in case I had to drop it for a call-out.

I couldn’t go for a cycle ride or run unless I essentially stayed within a five-minute radius of home, which would be pretty boring.

I still hadn’t got round to sorting out a gym membership, so couldn’t plonk myself on a treadmill and leave when duty called. Despite having a knack for baking and cooking, I didn’t want to start anything I’d have to leave unfinished and ruin the perfect dinner or cake.

I had, however, gained some on call buddies in the form of kittens, so they provided moral support while I essentially dithered, not achieving anything while waiting for the telephone to ring.

My next weekend on call pretty much consisted of binge watching Grey’s Anatomy (yes, I know, I’m late to that game) and having a catch-up with a couple of friends, who came over to my house with the knowledge I may have to leave at any time to attend to a potential disaster. I was lucky we were not disturbed, but I still had my eye on the telephone and was half-expecting it to buzz at any moment.

Carving out pastimes

To while away the hours, Jordan combined her love of Game of Thrones with a bit of pumpkin carving and produced the House Targaryen coat of arms.

This weekend, however, I thought of something a bit more fun to do while waiting for the telephone to ring.

After a reasonable Saturday surgery and seeing to a horse’s wound, I went shopping (still within a reasonable distance) and found a pair of perfectly sized pumpkins to carve. If the telephone rang, I could stop mid-pumpkin and come back to it later – ideal.

Up for the challenge, my better half and I spent an obscenely long time on our masterpieces. I think they turned out pretty well – mine following on from a line of Game of Thrones-themed pumpkins in previous years, his reflecting the excitement for the new series of Blue Planet in the form of an angler fish.

Last resort

Someone once told me in a lecture weekends on call were good for cleaning and catching up on laundry. I have, so far, managed to avoid resorting to this, but that may well be the plan for the next one.

Before long, I expect I’ll be spending my on call weekend decorating a yet-to-be-found Christmas tree (now that’s a scary thought – how is it already that time of year?).

I’m still looking for inspiration on how to enjoy being housebound. What do you do with your weekends on call?

October 30, 2017
Getting the most out of EMS placements

A few weeks ago, I finished my last final year rotation, and I’m days away from finishing my last ever EMS placement – where has the time gone?!

Everybody warned us final year would fly by, but this is ridiculous. Surely it can’t be almost a year since I sat in one of the small animal hospital meeting rooms, practically shaking with fear on my first day of emergency medicine – my first day of final year – and yet, here I am.

With 12 weeks of preclinical and 26 weeks of clinical EMS under my belt, I’ve picked up a few handy tips along the way.

On the whole, I’ve had some fantastic placements, seen some incredible things and travelled to a number of far-flung destinations, but (as ever), with hindsight, there are a few things I may have done differently.

So, for those students in their earlier years, here are some things to bear in mind.

Plan your placements

This sounds obvious, and the majority of placements will need to be planned well in advance (often a year or more), purely due to practice availability. But, if you have the luxury of choice (if the practice has lots of free dates), really think about what you want to achieve before final year, and try to have at least a taste of small animal, farm and equine before rotations, if possible.

I got to final year and realised I’d had very limited experience in farm practice, so felt a bit lost at the beginning of the farm rotation. However, having now done more farm EMS – which accidentally ended up all happening at the end of final year – I feel so much more confident.

Also, think about how much EMS you want to do at which stages of the course.

You have to spread it out and start somewhere, and while you need to give yourself some downtime in final year, I think you also get a lot more out of placements the further through the course you are.

Listen to recommendations

Talk to people in your year and in the years above.

Some practices are really keen to teach, which results in a much more helpful experience for you and them alike.

The quality of your EMS placements can make a real difference – don’t get stuck somewhere you’re only allowed to stand in the corner and watch.

Do a spay clinic

Spay clinics allow you to gain hands-on experience that may be tricky to come by otherwise.

The quality of the surgery might be different to what you would see in the UK, but these clinics allow you to get hands-on experience, which may be more tricky to come by at home.

You will practise tissue handling, suturing and ligature placement – all transferable skills.

Again, listen carefully for recommendations as some clinics are better than others.

Be adaptable

There’s more than one way to skin a cat – likewise, you’ll see many different approaches to the same technique, which could be something as simple as giving an IV injection.

I was “told off” in the university hospital for giving a horse an IV the way I’d been shown on EMS. The following week – on the first opinion part of our rotation – I was told to do it a different way, again.

Learn how your supervising vet would like you to do things to stay out of trouble, but in the end you will find your own preference.

Take tips on board

The vets you meet on EMS have been in practice a while – they’ve made their mistakes and got the T-shirt, so take stock of any handy tips they might give.

Recently, one vet expressed surprise I was rectalling cows with my “strong” hand (I’m right handed), but didn’t really expand on why they were taught to use the left.

Another, older vet, strongly advised me to switch to my weaker arm because “years of having your hand squeezed inside a cow will give you horrendous arthritis”, and you’d rather that happen to your left hand and keep your right hand working. Subsequently, I swapped and soon felt competent with my left hand. I do still think the right hand is better for horses though…

Most importantly, while it can be difficult to tread the line between being too imposing and too shy, you do need to put yourself out there. Offer to do things to help you know you’re capable of, such as setting up a fluid bag.

And, most importantly, enjoy yourself!

April 3, 2017
The consequences of making a mistake
Beef farms in Scotland can be quite picturesque.

Fertility work makes up a large proportion of cattle veterinary work in the UK and, after spending a month on the farm rotation at university, I can appreciate the importance of getting it right – and how hard it can be.

Experienced large animal vets make it look easy – they scan the uterus and ovaries, and decide what drug to give to aid getting the cow in calf, all in a minute or two.

In the meantime, I’m still fumbling about trying to palpate what, I think, may be the uterus or ovaries while the cow squeezes and gradually cuts off the circulation in my arm until I can barely feel my fingers.

Meanwhile, the vet has zipped through several cows already.

When things go wrong

What happens if you misdiagnose a pregnant cow as negative and administer prostaglandin, or give a cow steroids without realising she’s in calf?

On one fertility visit this week, we discussed when things go wrong. For example, what if:
- you misdiagnose a pregnant cow as negative and administer prostaglandin (PGF_2α)?
- a vet gives a cow steroids for any number of reasons without realising she’s in calf?
The outcomes of both of these scenarios are almost inevitably abortion, which can have a number of repercussions on the farm – and, potentially, the vet.

Negligence or misconduct?

Many new graduates are terrified of being called up for “fitness to practice” for making a mistake such as those aforementioned. However, during a Veterinary Defence Society (VDS) workshop at the SPVS Lancaster weekend earlier this year, it was emphasised a difference exists between negligence and misconduct in the eyes of the RCVS.

What I took away from this session was, in simple terms, negligence involves making a mistake – such as missing a diagnosis, giving the wrong treatment accidentally, eliciting side effects from something due to missing something in the case history – whereas misconduct is actively doing something you know you shouldn’t – such as trying to cover up a mistake, lying or misleading a client.

Mistakenly giving PGF_2α to a pregnant cow would be classed as negligence and, on the whole, the VDS would have your back; the farmer may receive some compensation for his losses, but the incident wouldn’t tarnish your career. In the same situation, misconduct would be denying you had administered any treatment.

In short, you won’t get struck off for easily made, one-off mistakes, but you may if you lie about them.

In the news

Our conversation about accidentally aborting cows led us to discuss the case of Honey Rose, the optometrist convicted of gross negligence manslaughter. News reports vary, but, from what I can gather, she failed to diagnose papilloedema (swollen optic discs) in an eight-year-old boy, which would have been an indication of the hydrocephalus he died of five months later.

It is reported she claimed to have been unable to examine his eyes properly because he had photophobia – a claim considered false by the judge. However, she had also failed to look at retinal photos taken by a colleague, on which the papilloedema was evident.

Going by the RCVS’ rules, missing the diagnosis or not looking at the retinal photos would be negligent. However, denying she’d been able to carry out a thorough examination, despite written records suggesting otherwise, would be misconduct.

Rose was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a 24-month supervision order, and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

In your defence

As vets, we have the VDS to help us in these situations – and, while it would be truly awful to make a mistake resulting in an animal’s death, we would not be at risk of imprisonment.

Doctors and dentists also have defence societies that will fight their corner, but optometrists? To my knowledge, an equivalent does not exist – and this was the first case of an optometrist convicted of manslaughter in the UK, which added to the complexity of the legal battle.

The death of a little boy is devastating, but, as medical professionals know, death is a risk with many procedures, no matter how small the risk may be. It’s frightening to think jail could be a consequence for those in the medical profession.

So, while I gradually lost the sensation in my right arm as I tried to reach an ovary of the 10th cow in a row, I mulled this over and realised I was extremely thankful for the safety net the VDS provides and would not take working with animals for granted.

After all, if I’d decided to be a doctor instead, I could be rummaging around in another human’s back end rather than a cow’s!
- For further details of the Veterinary Defence Society and its services, visit www.thevds.co.uk
October 19, 2016
RCVS council election manifesto: Melissa Donald

MELISSA DONALD

BVMS, MRCVS

Otters View,
Purclewan Mill, Dalrymple, East Ayrshire KA6 6AN.

T 01292 560083

M 07921 384852

E melissadonald88@gmail.com

PROPOSERS: Alison Lambert, Freda Scott-Park

I started as a food animal intern at Iowa State University, having graduated from Glasgow (1987). After two children, my first full-time position was in a traditional mixed two-person practice in Ayrshire.

For the next 25 years, I helped develop the practice to become a 100 per cent small animal, forward-thinking, customer-focused, five-vet business. I became the new graduate mentor for the practice and developed a special interest in small animal dentistry.

In 2004 became an A1 Assessor for nurse training (now clinical coach), and later RCVS practical OSCE examiner for VN exams.

Outside of work, I have my family to keep me grounded, several dogs, cats and sheep. I enjoy running, swimming, cooking, reading and have started writing children’s books. My husband and I have also run a 1,500-acre beef/sheep hill farm.

In 2012, I set up our local “parkrun”, being event director until 2014, and enjoyed being a volunteer at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014.

I am a past president of Ayrshire Veterinary Association and represented Ayrshire on BVA council, also serving on its members’ services group committee. I am a BVA and BSAVA member and have voted in nearly every RCVS election since I graduated.

Manifesto

The veterinary profession continues to evolve as it has always done over its long history. I feel this is a really exciting time to be involved in the RCVS, with the Vet Futures project going into its next stage of actioning the recommendations made. Change is only frightening if it is unknown and with this we have some degree of control.

I am pleased with the new updated practice standards scheme, which feels more like a useful tool to general practice rather than a regulatory “award”. It is also more client friendly and I hope more practices make use of the system to promote themselves, thus improving minimum standards.

My experience with mentoring school, veterinary and nurse students (our future) over the years has allowed me to open their eyes to all the career options they have, as well as the reality about the hard work, stress, student debt and mental health issues they will encounter to some degree. But I also feel vets should be supported throughout their careers, not just as new graduates, and this should be looked at.

The RCVS council needs to be made up of 24 diverse veterinary surgeons as it strives to represent the broad range of services vets provide. I have the experience to help with this. It also needs a good age and gender mix.

We have a wonderful profession we are all passionate about, and I am as proud today of being part of it as I was when I graduated.

I humbly seek your vote. I am an enthusiastic person with a half-full approach to life and almost 30 years’ general practice experience. I now have the time to fully commit to this important role.

March 24, 2016
Mega dairies: intensive farming? Or just efficient?

Delegates who participated in the farm stream at the 2016 Association of Veterinary Students (AVS) Congress in Liverpool (myself included) had a visit to a so-called “mega dairy”.

So-called “mega dairies” often receive bad press for their size.

The herd we visited had around 1,000 milkers, which seems large when compared to the UK dairy herd average of 123 (according to AHDB Dairy). Yet, in the grand scheme of things – when considering the real dairy giants in places such as the US with herds ranging up to 30,000 and the proposed 100,000 cow dairy in China – it’s questionable as to whether this farm could really even be considered “mega.”

Putting numbers aside, the real reason we were taken to the farm was to see how these large-scale, high-intensity dairy production units function.

Preconceptions versus reality

The public shudders at the words “intensive farming” and, as a vet student, I like to think I have a slightly more informed view on what that means. Saying that, I hadn’t been to a dairy farm on such a scale as this before and was pleasantly surprised by the forward-thinking approach to every aspect of dairying.

The concept behind many of the methods used on this farm is based on maximising production by reducing stress levels in the dairy cow, thereby minimising any health implications and reduction in yield. This is done by time budgeting by accounting for time she wants to spend feeding, lying down, eating, drinking and socialising. The “leftover” time is used for milking, with management tasks fitted around – i.e. pregnancy diagnosing during her time at the feed face.

Regulation and reduction

Milking is fitted around the cows’ “social” time.

Interestingly, the zero-grazing system allows for the cow to regulate her own feed intake depending on her stage of lactation. The straw-based total mixed ration fed is the same for every cow, and differences in energy requirements rely on the reduction of rumen size during late pregnancy to sufficiently reduce intake. This minimises fat cows during late lactation and drying off.

Digital motility assessing scales are used to pick up any load imbalances, which can then be addressed immediately, opposed to 2-3 weeks later, when the cow would begin to show clinical lameness. There is also emphasis on the milking parlour being a stress-free environment so the cattle can enjoy being there without the need for food bribery.

Efficiency effects

Maximising efficiency is key, not only in terms of the cow, but the unit as a whole. Water used on the farm is recycled five times by using it for drinking water, washing and filtering bedding sand from slurry. This process also allows the sand to be cleaned, dried out and reused for bedding. Large solar panels on the roofs of the open-sided housing sheds provide more than enough electricity for the whole unit, with the surplus being shipped out to the surrounding area.

Research has shown the optimum environmental temperature for a cow is much lower than perceived – this is accounted for by the huge open-sided housing buildings and ventilation system. Each detail seems to have been meticulously considered, with continual monitoring and data analysis taking place to ensure production efficiency is maximal. In the efforts to reduce antimicrobial use within the veterinary profession, the farm’s claim to have halved its use, and any veterinary involvement in the last few years, can only be applauded.

Time for change?

Efficiency measures on the farm include water recycling and solar panels (file image).

With its huge open sheds, cows bedded on a calculated depth for maximal comfort with access to feed at any time and constant monitoring for early signs of stress or ill health, while not the idealistic picture of a cow moseying around a field at her leisure, was not far off, and certainly not the grim jumped-to conclusion when it comes to intensive farming.

Public perception is always going to be a huge hurdle for farming, but perhaps we can change that through the right sort of publicity, starting with abandoning the phrase ‘intensive farming’ and all associated misconceptions, and replacing it with something like ‘efficient’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ farming, because that is exactly what it is.

March 9, 2016
Being English in Scotland

Coming from the centre of England, studying veterinary medicine in Scotland has its quirks. In my first week I was immersed in an entirely new language that had nothing to do with my choice of course.

One of my Scottish friends loves to remind me of the golden moment in an introductory lecture when I leaned over and whispered “who’s Ken?” (as in “I dinnae ken”, or “ken what I mean?”).

But this week, during a lecture on bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), I was left wondering about the geographical impact of studying in Glasgow compared to friends who stayed closer to home.

North of the border

The BVD virus has a pretty interesting mechanism that, while making for fascinating reading, is the reason it wreaks havoc on the UK’s cattle industries and can be pesky to both diagnose and get on top of in the herd.

While BVD is prevalent all over the UK, Scotland is significantly further ahead than my home turf in the control of this disease, mainly due to a government-implemented eradication programme in recent years.

In England, however, many farmers are unaware of the disease or reluctant to undertake the costly exercise of hunting persistently infected calves within the herd, which, at the moment, is not compulsory – unlike in Scotland.

Now there was a lot of joking about England letting the side down and being a bit useless, but the reality is that until England plays catch-up and implements an eradication scheme, it’s going to be extremely difficult for the Scottish eradication to be 100% successful – short of throwing up a double fence between us and them.

Regional issues

If I were studying elsewhere, I wonder how the emphasis would differ depending on the prevalence in that region. Several times in my lectures I’ve heard Angiostrongylus (heartworm) brushed off as a differential if the animal has been to the south of England, with little much else said.

Would that be given more time in an area with higher prevalence, if I were studying in London for example?

At the end of the day, we all come out as vets, no matter where we’ve studied, and, while some topics may get more emphasis because of their regional importance, we’ll still need to pay particular attention to those conditions or diseases more commonly found in the areas we end up working in. So I don’t think geography has a dramatic impact long term (unless you never intend to leave your university city).

And after all, Scotland knows how to ceilidh.

November 30, 2015
Vets aren't limited to life in practice

Image ©iStock.com/nsj-images

When many people think of veterinary jobs, they think of those in the industry who work in veterinary practices, dealing with pets and farm animals who need examination or treatment. The truth, however, is that veterinary training can make it possible to work in a variety of different roles for different organisations – it’s the key to a career that can be incredibly varied.

Those who work in a general practice will find their roles are quite diverse: day-to-day tasks could include the diagnosis and treatment of animals, operations, diagnostic tests, health checks, vaccinations, neutering and more. However, there are other career options that those with veterinary training may like to consider.

Some vets choose to work in industry rather than choose to have daily contact with animals, with industry roles available for those interested in working with biological products, chemicals and drugs to develop, test and work on the production of such substances.

Others may opt for a career that is more about regulation and standards, choosing to focus on a career that involves inspecting premises such as pet shops, zoos, farms, cattle markets, riding stables, catteries and kennels, in order to ensure the standards of care and hygiene present in these places comply with legal requirements.

Alternatively, there are openings available for those who are veterinary trained and are looking to work in the public health sector.

Bodies such as the Department for Environment, Health and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) work to help to both prevent and control outbreaks of disease that are spread by animals, with roles like these possibly including such tasks as working on the prevention of foot-and-mouth disease, or visiting slaughter houses and food processing plants to assess the ways in which the risk of the spread of disease can be reduced.

It is clear that good veterinary training – and the right skill set – can open doors to a variety of different careers. The important thing for you is to decide just which one is the right one for you…

December 5, 0001