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Tag: microchip

  • 2018 – finishing the year strong

    2018 – finishing the year strong

    How often do you hear people say “I will start it in the new year” or “next year I will start this”? Well I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions as there is no benefit in waiting four weeks to start, change or act on something you can be doing now.

    In essence, waiting is either due to fear, procrastination or poor planning – none of which will help you move forward. Most businesses are already getting in the festive spirit and starting to wind down; however, I believe finishing the year strong, and as you mean to go on, is much more beneficial. If you start to make plans, prioritise and take action before the end of the year, you will end 2018 strong and focused, which means in January the pathway to success won’t be as steep or as hard to climb as you’ll be halfway there.

    A big part of my role as a director at Animal Emergency Service is making sure the company continues to move forward, evolve and grow. Three weeks before the busiest time of the year the leadership teams are working hard and moving towards our one year goals we aim to complete by March 2019. We have been chipping away at them for nine months and we can’t stop now.

    So, here are three ways that can help you and your practice end 2018 strong.

    Let go

    Poli
    “The team will feel a great morale boost when they see and feel that they are moving towards tackling something they always wanted to achieve.”

    Everything that has happened, or not happened this year, is in the past and cannot be changed. Whatever decisions or choices you made have bought you exactly to this point in your life.

    Maybe you haven’t made the progress you were hoping for as a practice, in your role or as a team. It is time to forgive and forget, hold your head high, and focus on what’s next. It often helps to list the things you and your team have achieved over the year; this can help put things into perspective.

    Plan now

    Don’t wait until January to address things or plan for the year. If you wait, by the time you begin to take action or complete anything, you will be well into February or March. Create a list of priorities now. Ask yourself:

    • What do you want 2019 to look like for you?
    • As a team what you do you want 2019 to look like?
    • What do you want to achieve as a practice?
    • What did you learn from 2018?
    • What is one big thing you want to complete in 2019 that will move your team or practice forward?

    Examples could be renovating the reception area, raising funds for new equipment, starting a staff-mentoring programme or a client-focused initiative. Next, ask yourself:

    • What are six major steps or milestones you need to reach along the way to achieve it?

    Breakdown and create a plan based on those six steps/milestones then pick three things you can take action on before the end of the year, so you can start the new year with momentum. Even the smallest steps will be pushing you and your team in the right direction.

    Focus your time and efforts

    Without a doubt this is a distracting time of year, so it’s more important to focus on what you can do to setup the beginning of 2019 for success. Prioritise and schedule in time to tick those three important tasks off your list before the end of the year. By laying the groundwork now, you will be setting the tone for a positive start in January, and a driven and focused team environment.

    Christmas is also a time for family, friends and fun, and taking time out, but imagine how much more enjoyable it will be if you feel accomplished and fulfilled because you have already had movement forward on what is important to you. The team will feel a great morale boost when they see and feel  they are moving towards tackling something they always wanted to achieve.

  • Cats reunited

    Cats reunited

    The day-to-day working life of a vet can be tough for a multitude of reasons, but sometimes it’s the simple things that make it all worthwhile – for example, something as simple as a microchip.

    While dog microchipping is now compulsory, cat owners retain the freedom to decide whether they wish to chip their beloved felines.

    Accident(al) reunification

    Recently, a concerned member of the public brought a cat into my practice that had, unfortunately, been hit by a car. Once establishing the injuries weren’t life-threatening, on scanning the chip and searching the pet ID database, we were able to get in contact with the owner.

    It transpired the cat had been missing for three years and travelled an impressive distance before coming under our care. After some emotional telephone calls, owner and cat were reunited.

    But this isn’t an isolated case.

    Déjà vu

    Just a month previously, I was visiting another practice when a cat was bought in by a lady who’d taken it in as a stray and looked after it temporarily.

    When the cat’s microchip was identified, she was more than happy to try to find its previous owner. However, the chip was registered to someone who’d given the cat to a friend. Despite, this, the person who’d last owned it was eventually tracked down.

    Having been missing since 2010 – and, therefore, assumed dead and reported to the pet database – as such, they were shocked and delighted to discover the cat had resurfaced after so many years of getting up to God knows what.

    Chip importance

    In my short time in practice so far, I have personally witnessed these two long lost cat scenarios – on separate occasions, two felines were reunited with their respective families several years after having gone missing. The cats, having been found by members of the public, had been scanned and identified thanks to their microchips. The joy and gratitude these owners had was so heartwarming to witness.

    As a cat owner who has personally experienced the trauma of having cats go missing, there is no question whatsoever of whether to chip.

    Luckily, in the second case, the owner was still found, despite the details registered to the chip having not been updated. This just highlights the importance of not only chipping, but also ensuring the details registered are accurate.

    However, it is surprising how many owners still don’t bother. If these anecdotes don’t persuade potential cat owners to chip their pets, I don’t know what will.

  • VIDEO: Patricia Colville @ BSAVA Congress 2016

    VIDEO: Patricia Colville @ BSAVA Congress 2016

    Rebecca Hubbard speaks to outgoing BSAVA president Patricia Colville during the association’s 2016 congress.

    Dr Colville speaks briefly on a number of topics, including the highlight of her presidency, the launch of the association’s PDP resource and microchipping regulations. She also reveals the thing she’ll miss most about being involved in the day-to-day running of the BSAVA, while offering a word of advice to her successor, Prof Susan Dawson.

     

  • Lost and found: why microchipping is a must

    Lost and found: why microchipping is a must

    Hinckley Times article
    Doogle’s plight found its way into the hallowed pages of The Hinckley Times.

    One of our cats – Doogle, a home-loving feline who rarely sets foot outside the garden – recently got himself caught under my mum’s car, only to drop out when she’d driven along a few streets and run, startled, across the fields toward the next village.

    Posters, local press coverage and Facebook shares resulted in a few potential leads on his whereabouts (we’d localised him to 2-3 miles from home) but, as a cat that doesn’t normally roam far, we never thought he’d find his own way back. The only comforting factor was the knowledge he was microchipped – should someone find him and take him to a rescue centre or vet, he’d be returned to us.

    Cats vs. dogs

    As cats tend to stray (or get lost), the advantage of microchipping them is clear, but it isn’t a legal requirement. It will, however, become law in England and Scotland for dogs to be microchipped from 6 April 2016. This change in the law means that all dogs must be chipped by 8 weeks of age and the appropriate details registered to the chip must be up to date.

    Unfortunately, while we did have Doogle microchipped, we realised we hadn’t registered our contact details with the microchip company, despite him being 18 months old and having been chipped as a kitten.

    This is something many dog owners will have to consider in line with the new law: if an owner does not keep the dog’s information up to date on a relevant database, or the dog is unchipped, a notice may be served giving 21 days in which to rectify the situation. If they still fail to comply, a fine of up to £500 can be issued or the dog may be seized and microchipped.

    Raising awareness

    Doogle
    Doogle managed to make his way home without the aid of microchip technology, but not all pets are so lucky.

    Ignorance is no excuse, so we must make clients aware of the new regulations, and in some cases, the exemptions:

    • Working dogs that have their tails docked in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006 are allowed an extended time limit of 12 weeks before they must be chipped (this applies to England and Wales only – tail docking is entirely banned in Scotland).
    • Implantation can also be delayed if a vet believes it could adversely affect a dog’s health. In these cases, the vet must certify this is the case and state the expiry of the exemption, by which time a chip must be inserted.

    The introduction of the law will help trace inherited defects, tackle puppy farming and promote responsible dog ownership, not to mention the peace of mind that chipping gives owners should their pets be lost or stolen.

    Much to our disbelief, Doogle managed to find his own way home two weeks after he first went missing, so we never relied on his microchip for him to be returned, but we can now appreciate the relief of knowing it’s there (with the correct details registered) if he ever disappears again.

  • Barking up the right tree – with Trusty Paws

    Barking up the right tree – with Trusty Paws

    Originally a charity set up by veterinary students for the homeless hounds of Glasgow in October 2014, Trusty Paws has become incredibly successful and has received a huge amount of public support.

    The Trusty Paws Clinic logo

    This success has allowed the charity to run monthly clinics at the Simon Community Scotland drop-in centre, providing free health checks, vaccinations, microchipping, and flea and worming treatment for the pets of the homeless.

    Essential supplies, such as food, coats and harnesses for the dogs, are also given out at these clinics for those in need.

    Branching out

    The success of the Glasgow clinics has led to a branch of the charity opening in London, with the first clinic taking place in November 2015.

    Run by fourth year RVC students, the clinics take place at the West London Day Centre in Marylebone, which also provides other services for the homeless.

    The expansion of the charity is excellent news for the pets of the homeless, for whom we can continue to provide the veterinary care they deserve.

    In at the deep end

    The Glasgow clinics are organised by the student committee, but health checks are conducted by other fourth year student volunteers. Last week I had the chance to get involved and, under the supervision of a volunteer vet, conducted my first full consultation that didn’t involve actors in a communication skills class.

    My patient, Bruno, wasn’t particularly well. The owner said he was not himself (he certainly looked depressed), had lost a significant amount of weight since his last visit and had a slow heart rate, in addition to some evident skin issues.

    The vet suspected Cushing’s disease, so we referred him to the local Pets’n’Vets branch that undertakes any secondary veterinary care Trusty Paws patients require. They have conducted blood tests, paid for by the charity, and have confirmed the diagnosis.

    Offering support

    While a little daunting to be thrown straight into a full consultation, I thoroughly enjoyed helping out at the clinic and would certainly encourage other students (whether in Glasgow or London) to do so in the future.

    The clients are extremely appreciative and evidently love their pets dearly, so it’s easy to see the benefits of such a charity to everyone involved.

    • If you can’t get directly involved, but wish to offer financial support, donations can be made via PayPal.
    • Alternatively, the charity has two Amazon wishlists (one for Glasgow, one for London), enabling supporters to purchase specific products that each clinic requires.

  • Helping the hounds of the homeless

    Homeless man with dogs
    Image ©iStock.com/artefy

    The homeless come with a certain stigma – particularly those with pets at their side.

    Should we be concerned for the welfare of those animals, whose owners cannot afford to feed themselves so surely cannot adequately care for a companion?

    Of course we should.

    However, instead of claiming these pets should be removed from their owners, Ruby Shorrock (a fourth year vet student at the University of Glasgow) took a different approach.

    Being homeless can be extremely isolating and lonely. For some of these people, their dog is their only companion, and can often be the only thing keeping them going. A dog can also provide a connection to home, and so the reluctance to give them up is understandable.

    Despite this, many shelters refuse to accommodate dogs and so the help available can become increasingly restricted for homeless dog owners.

    In light of this, Ruby founded Trusty Paws, a non-profit organisation that hosts free clinics and provides preventative care for hounds belonging to the homeless. The clinics involve a free health check (a clinical examination performed by veterinary students, supervised by a qualified vet), microchipping, flea and worming treatment and vaccinations. Dog food packages and other supplies such as leads and dog coats are also given out at the clinics.

    The Trusty Paws Clinic logo
    Trusty Paws: a vaccination clinic for dogs belonging to the homeless, run by fourth year vet students at the University of Glasgow.

    There have been three Trusty Paws clinics in Glasgow so far, with several grateful clients being able to benefit from the supplies donated and the services provided by the students. Everyone involved is delighted with how the clinics have been received.

    Plans for 2015 include registering as a formal charity and organising public fundraisers. The Trusty Paws team also intends to tackle the problem of local shelters and hostels not allowing dogs.

    Trusty Paws relies entirely on donations and sponsorship and the response to requests for both has been exceptional. The concept has really taken off and looks to gain popularity and success in the future.

    The work of Trusty Paws is a fantastic way of not only actively ensuring quality care for homeless pets, but also raising awareness within the community to tackle public perception. If these misconceptions can be eliminated, others will be willing to accept that pets are a huge part of the lives of homeless people too and, perhaps, be encouraged to help the situation instead of avoiding eye contact with that person sitting in a doorway on a rainy evening.

  • PETS with rabies, in the UK?

    dog with rabies
    Close-up of a dog’s face during late-stage “dumb” paralytic rabies. Animals with “dumb” rabies appear depressed, lethargic, and uncoordinated. Gradually they become completely paralyzed. When their throat and jaw muscles are paralyzed, the animals will drool and have difficulty swallowing. Image credit: CDC/Barbara Andrews

    Lectures on legislation regarding veterinary-related issues are never the most interesting, often involving endless lists of dates and figures, but the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) lecture this week had a slight edge to it.

    Among other important factors, such as microchipping and documentation, the focus was quite obviously on the recent changes to the rules regarding rabies.

    It was evident that abolishing the blood test was not a great move in the opinion of this particular lecturer. But he’s not alone – there seems to be a ripple of discomfort throughout the veterinary community in response to the new regulations.

    Pets are now free to travel within the EU just 21 days after having received one dose of the rabies vaccine, despite the incubation period of rabies being up to three months.

    Although Defra claims the risk of rabies entering the UK is still very low, there still seems to be an underlying concern within the veterinary world.

    It has been proposed that the potential increase in risk of exposure to rabies means that vets should be routinely receiving the rabies vaccination.

    I myself have had a course of rabies vaccinations. Not because I’m a vet student, but because I was travelling in South America, where there was a possibility of coming into contact with rabid animals.

    However, my understanding is that the vaccine does not prevent you developing rabies if bitten, but just puts it off for 24hrs, to give you time to get back to the UK to be appropriately treated. With this in mind, would providing the vaccine for those working in the veterinary profession in the UK be of any benefit if it is purely used to “buy time”?

    I’m not convinced that vaccinating vets would be an effective measure to take, but we must now include rabies as one of our differential diagnoses and be open to the possibility (however slim) of being presented with rabid animals in practice. Perhaps more advice about the risks and clinical signs of rabies would put the minds of vets and owners alike at rest.