Vet Times

Tag: Pain Management

  • The fallacy of prophecy

    The fallacy of prophecy

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    Evolution by natural selection has provided us with some wonderful tools to make sense of and manipulate the world. All of us carry around one of the most complicated objects in the universe within our skull, and our bloated, folded brains are able create illusionary facsimiles of the world around us, and imagine what may…

  • Two cats: a tale of diametric treatments

    Two cats: a tale of diametric treatments

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    I thought I would take well to emergency work; I’m a night owl, and when animals crashed or bled in general practice I kept my cool and worked logically, but quickly, to discover the problem and fix it – or at least, attempt to. I had recently left my post as clinical director, and picking…

  • The wonder of cells

    The wonder of cells

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    Since starting a career in clinical pathology, I have seen a lot of strange and wonderful sights down my microscope… It’s like being given a window into weird new worlds – tiny battlegrounds of leukocytes, tumour cells and microorganisms, against a backdrop of cytokines, stroma and necrosis. It’s not quite Saving Private Ryan, but with…

  • AFAST, part 2

    AFAST, part 2

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    Part one of this series looked at how to perform an abdominal focused assessment with sonography for trauma (AFAST) – this week looks at how to interpret abdominal fluid scores (AFS) in a clinical setting. To recap – the score is out of a possible 4, with each site allocated a 0 or 1 based…

  • Mastering the art of veterinary medicine

    Mastering the art of veterinary medicine

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    Veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery, veterinary science; whatever you want to call it, veterinary has all these academic connotations – and rightly so. But a lot of what we do is not black and white – very few “textbook cases” or one-size-fits-all diagnostic approaches exist. There are so many balls to juggle – client requests, patient (and…

  • Nail clipping

    Nail clipping

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    “Clip nails” It seems innocuous. It looks so simple and routine on the consulting list – no worrying about history taking, no complicated diagnoses or treatment plans – just clip the nails. A quickie that may even give you a chance to snatch a few minutes back so you can stay on time: this is…

  • Screen burn: thoughts on telemedicine

    Screen burn: thoughts on telemedicine

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    With the recent announcement that the UK’s first veterinary telemedicine service is set to launch, there is much debate over whether this type of service is a good thing. The major bugbear most vets have with telemedicine is the absence of a physical examination. While teleconsultations (or, indeed, just a telephone call) can allow a…

  • Head trauma, part 3: hypertonic saline 7% or mannitol?

    Head trauma, part 3: hypertonic saline 7% or mannitol?

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    As discussed in part 1 and part 2 of this series, many dogs and cats can recover from severe brain injuries if systemic and neurological abnormalities are identified and managed appropriately and early enough. The initial trauma to the brain parenchyma is followed by secondary damage resulting from haemorrhage, ischaemia and oedema. As the brain…

  • Paw parents and fur kids: humanising the owner-pet relationship

    Paw parents and fur kids: humanising the owner-pet relationship

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    “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” I thought I would begin this blog with some Shakespeare this month – for no other reason than I felt like it. However, it’s another “trigger warning” blog (sorry), so am I just trying to intellectualise and…

  • Money and medicine: compromising care for cost

    Money and medicine: compromising care for cost

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    Here’s a good way to start a blog: Victorian humour. Man: I say, Doctor, how’s that old chap you’ve been treating? Doctor: I fear he is beyond medical help. Man: Oh no! Is he dying? Doctor: No, he ran out of money. Hey, I never said it was a topical blog… Uncomfortable bedfellows In my…