Vet Times

Tag: welfare

  • Should I be a vegetarian?

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    Vegetarianism can be quite the controversial topic, with many people choosing not to eat meat or particular types of meat for varying reasons – be that moral, financial or simply down to taste and preference. But how should I stand on the matter, from the point of view of a vet student? While on EMS,…

  • Planning the RVN/SVN year

    Planning the RVN/SVN year

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    We can start our good intentions now! Let’s make 2014 the year of pre-planning and proactive rather than reactive decisions… promise? To help, here’s a few dates we already know: RCVS diploma exams – written and OSCE [link]. City & Guilds (C&G) and Central Qualifications (CQ) exams are held “in-house”, so you should contact your…

  • Food (with added equine) for thought

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    For a nation of horse lovers, the discovery of equine DNA in food products earlier this year was horrifying. It caused nationwide outrage, with many people sickened that they may have unknowingly consumed meat from the same species as their beloved pets and, in many cases, best friends. But are we just being a bit…

  • Paging Doctor Google

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    Something I have noticed in the past few years (and mentioned in my last post) is that people are leaving sick animals longer before bringing them to the vet. I wonder if other colleagues have noticed a change too? In the early noughties the norm in canine and feline practice used to be a day or…

  • Exotics and the last-gasp presentation

    Exotics and the last-gasp presentation

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    For the first part of my career my “special interest”, and something I became gradually better known for, was exotics. However, in my first jobs, getting the bosses to take the specialty (and me) seriously was tough. At first they couldn’t see the attraction of these “novelty species”, as one old timer put it. Then…

  • Where are all the RVNs?

    Where are all the RVNs?

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    I have perused VN Times, Veterinary Times, recruitment websites, and spoken to those in practice, but am left with one question: where are all the RVNs? A recent issue of Veterinary Times had 20 vacancies for the south-east of England alone! In 2008 the BBC stated there were 16,000 “nurses” in practice (Lantra 2008 survey), yet the…

  • Proud to be a VN

    Proud to be a VN

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    The September 2013 issue of VN Times has a brilliant article by Hayley Walters. Please, please read it! The article, entitled “Teaching clinical skills the animal welfare way in China”, is available to read and download here (You will need to be registered with Vetsonline to access it, but it’s free to sign up, and…

  • Thoughts on the prescribing cascade

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    When I graduated the cascade was new and few people had even heard of it in practice. It filtered through quickly and now it’s part of automatic thinking about what drug to use when. So much is it now integrated in to my thinking that I forget why I objected to it at the time.…

  • OSCEs

    OSCEs

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    It’s rolling around to another OSCE window – that memorable day in a SVN’s life when their skills and nerves are put to the test. I remember mine well. My boyfriend drove me to them (thank you darling) and they were handily timed at 10am. I would be finished and having a pub lunch by…

  • The fanatical pursuit of canine appearance

    The fanatical pursuit of canine appearance

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    Crufts was on telly recently. My wife made me watch it (or so I’ll assert to my dying day). Personally, I find it all a little repugnant, in a similar but not identical way I find beauty pageants for children repugnant. The fanatical pursuit of canine appearance goes against a lot of why I became a…