Vet Times

Tag: Behaviour

  • Commonly held beliefs that don’t do us any good, pt 4

    Commonly held beliefs that don’t do us any good, pt 4

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    Belief #4: A career in veterinary science doesn’t pay well Compared to many other professions, veterinary science is not what you would call a high performer on the salary front. Depending on who you ask, vet wages fall somewhere between that of a plumber and a hat rack. But is this always true? Here’s a…

  • Always learning

    Always learning

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    Following the recent plea to the UK Government by the British Veterinary Association, I’ve seen several articles over the past month all addressing the welfare and ethical issues concerning the sale of rabbits by themselves. I’ll be honest, reading these articles has filled me with a mild sense of guilt as I myself had a…

  • The big eater

    The big eater

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    If I were a leukocyte, I know what I’d be… I’d be a band neutrophil. Inexperienced, rushed out from the bone marrow before I was really ready, one of the first into the fray, clueless and surrounded by terrified comrades. It wouldn’t even be the bacterial toxins that finished me off. My uselessness in the…

  • Types of tumour

    Types of tumour

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    I’ve talked about “The Big C” before, and how “cancer” – despite the fear the word induces – is a broad term for a wide variety of diseases that share a similar cause (uncontrolled cell division). As descriptive terms go, it’s not much more specific than “virus”. Today, I’d like to dig into that a…

  • The only way is ethics: neutering

    The only way is ethics: neutering

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    I thought now would be a good time for a brief reprise on my series about ethical dilemmas involving animals, and not because I like the pun in the title. Okay, a bit because of that… In the UK and US, at least, we regard the neutering of canine and feline patients as routine (as…

  • Are you firework ready?

    Are you firework ready?

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    The season of terror will soon be upon us, and by that I don’t mean Halloween – I refer, of course, to the dreaded Bonfire Night, and the influx of owners requesting a magical cure for their dogs’ noise phobia. We’re all guilty of losing track of time, but this time of year particularly seems…

  • 15-minute consults: a waste of time?

    15-minute consults: a waste of time?

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    Many practices still have 10-minute small animal consultations – mine included – until recently, when we made the move to 15-minute appointments. It was initially debated as to whether we could offer longer consultation times in a specified time block, reserved for “sick pets” only. However, this was decided against due to the difficulty of…

  • Being woke – the journey to greater welfare

    Being woke – the journey to greater welfare

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    I’m going to start with a trigger warning: this blog contains the word “woke” – partly because I am genuinely “down wiv da kidz”, but also because this word, for me, sums up where we are with understanding the full extent of our responsibilities, both as an industry and as humans with regard to animal…

  • The client from hell

    The client from hell

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    “Never work with children or animals,” advised WC Fields – I think I’d be inclined to add “the public” to that. While, on the whole, my client interactions have been good, every now and then you do get the occasional nutter. I’ve had drunk clients, barely able to stand up, let alone comprehend their half-bald…

  • Perks of the job

    Perks of the job

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    I always thought it would be a rewarding job. That was one of the reasons for doing it, after all. I don’t mean financially – although, when I was training, I thought the money would be nice, because everyone knows vets do alright, don’t they? After I qualified and calculated the hours I worked compared…