Clinical

Canine mange, part 1: causes and diagnosis

The historical and clinical aspects of the common causes of canine mange, plus the approach to diagnosis, have been covered in part 1 of this series. Part 2 will discuss treatment and management...

PDSA Animal Wellbeing report on pet health and welfare

The estimated pet population and proportion of UK adults who own pets is calculated each year. In 2022 there were an estimated 11.1 million pet cats, 10.2 million pet dogs and 1 million pet rabbits in...

Canine stress in the veterinary environment

Owners play an important role in preparing their dog for the veterinary visit (Reimer et al, 2021)..

Infective endocarditis in dogs and cats

The normal endocardium is resistant to adherence of pathogens, but it can become susceptible when damaged. Mechanical or inflammatory lesions can cause bacterial seeding within the endothelium. In one...

Chronic pain in small animals: how to create a pain management plan

Traditionally, pain was regarded as chronic when it lasted or recurred for more than 3–6 months (Merskey and Bogduk, 1994). This definition presents some limitations, as it does not take into account...

Malnutrition in dogs and cats

There is clear evidence that malnourished people have poorer outcomes in a number of diseases. There is similar evidence in canine and feline medicine to support the notion that malnourished patients...

Endocrine disease in guinea pigs: a review on hyperthyroidism

It is widely agreed that hyperthyroidism in guinea pigs is relatively rare and clinically underdiagnosed (Brandão et al, 2013; Künzel and Mayer, 2015; Di Geronimo and Brandão, 2020). In a study by...

Managing canine apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma

English Cocker Spaniels, Labradors and German Shepherds, followed by Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, were over-represented in a study of British dogs with AGASAC (Polton et al, 2006). Among those...

Canine pheochromocytoma: diagnosis and surgical management

Clinical signs associated with pheochromocytomas are secondary to the release of catecholamines, local infiltration and metastatic disease (Gilson et al, 1994b; Barthez et al, 1997). Catecholamine...

An exploration of setting healthy personal boundaries as a veterinary professional. Part 2: how to set and maintain personal boundaries

Figure 1 shows a comparison between Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943) and Levin's boundary pyramid (Levin, 2020). Our survival may depend on our ‘bottom line’ boundaries being met. As our...

Leishmania: case management and UK transmission

The signs associated with Leishmania infection are immune mediated and in dogs commonly include lymphadenopathy, alopecia, dermatitis, hyperkeratosis, dermal ulcers, anorexia, weight loss,...

Gallbladder mucocele part 2: treatment and prognosis

Although many gallbladder mucoceles are discovered during abdominal ultrasonography while screening for other diseases, patients with mature gallbladder mucoceles or gallbladder rupture can present as...