A season for reflection

Stress and anxiety implications on long-term patients — nursing considerations

The implications of stress and anxiety in long-term inpatients requires further investigation in the veterinary setting. The requirement for further evaluation of how to reduce patient stress is imperative to positive patient outcomes.

Low-stress handling for long-term wound care

Many canine patients have a requirement to return to the veterinary practice on a regular basis for treatment. Those that have associations of fear or anxiety with a practice, can find themselves in extremely stressful situations, effecting not only the animal but also the owner. Therefore it is important to take into consideration the welfare of the animals that are returning for further consultations, such as wound care. Consideration of what can be done to try and make these visits as stress-free as possible is essential. The veterinary nurse should be aware of methods that can be utilised to distract patients when undergoing potentially uncomfortable and stressful treatments.

Surgical treatment options for hip dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is thought to be the most commonly diagnosed orthopaedic condition in dogs. There are both conservative and surgical treatment options available to the owner and there will be a number of factors which will be involved in their decision making. This article will focus on the surgical treatment options, giving the veterinary nurse (VN) the knowledge of the options available and what is involved, in order that the VN can help the owner in their decision and, if applicable, the VN has the knowledge to be able to work within the surgical team when performing these surgical procedures

The use of quality of life scales for hospice and end-of-life patients

Quality of life scales can be an important tool to the veterinary team. This article explores the use of two quality of life scales, their benefits and limitations using three case studies.

Equine behavioural first aid

It is common for equines to become difficult to handle during procedures, veterinary or otherwise, as a direct result of handling during the procedure and as a consequence of poor mood state derived from inappropriate housing; these lead to pessimistic behavioural responses, which will include proactive defensive behaviour. Since poor equine behaviour is a common cause of injury to veterinary personnel, and not all equine owners and handlers have sufficient levels of competence to cope with dangerous equine behaviour, both the veterinary practice and the client are likely to benefit from veterinary personnel trained and competent in behavioural first aid. Behavioural first aid can prevent problematic behaviour from escalating, protect human safety and improve equine welfare.

Erratum

How to intubate a reptile

Intubation in reptiles can be challenging in some species. From their anatomy, anaesthetic protocols, technique, and recovery, reptiles have several special considerations. With the right instruments, intubation can be performed successfully on reptiles. In this article, we will discuss the various tools that help to properly intubate reptiles. We will also discuss techniques that will help with intubation on reptile patients as well as protocols for anaesthesia and recovery.

Do owners administer inappropriate doses of anthelmintic based on an inaccurate perception of their horse's bodyweight?

Background: Inaccurate dosing and repeated administration of anthelmintic from the same drug class are indicated as factors associated with equine helminth resistance; and resistance is specifically related to the under-dosing of anthelmintic products. Research indicates that many owners may still rely on visual estimation to determine a horse's bodyweight. Aim: The pilot study aimed to investigate whether owners administer inappropriate doses of anthelmintic based on an inaccurate perception of their horse's bodyweight. Method: Data were collected from 16 horse owners with varying experience and from a variety of equine disciplines. A series of questions were presented in order to capture specific information. Owners were asked to provide the dose of anthelmintic (kg) that they had most recently administered to their horse, to estimate the bodyweight of their horse, and to provide a body condition score (BCS) for their horse using the guide provided. Each horse was then weighed on an equine weighbridge to obtain an accurate bodyweight. The estimated bodyweight was compared with that of the accurate bodyweight, and the most recently administered dose of anthelmintic was compared with both the estimated bodyweight and the accurate bodyweight. The BCS provided by each owner was compared with that of the BCS provided by the researcher. Data were tested for normal distribution using a Shapiro-Wilks test, and analysed using an independent-samples t-test or a paired-samples t-test. Results: All of the owners inaccurately estimated the bodyweight of their horse, however there was no statistically significant difference between the estimated bodyweight and the accurate bodyweight (<i>p</i>=0.738). Owners with less experience more accurately estimated the bodyweight of their horse when compared with owners with more experience, but there was no statistically significant difference in accuracy between the two groups (<i>p</i>=0.085). There was no statistically significant difference between the accurate bodyweight and the dose of anthelmintic that owners had administered to their horse (<i>p</i>=0.074), but there was a statistically significant difference between the estimated bodyweight and the dose of anthelmintic that owners had administered to their horse (<i>p</i>=0.034). Conclusion: Horse owners administer inappropriate doses of equine anthelmintic based on an inaccurate perception of their horse's bodyweight, however the horse's estimated bodyweight does not appear to be the only influencing factor when deciding on the dose of anthelmintic to be administered.

Training vets, saving turtles

Wildlife Vets International is a British charity which provides critical veterinary support to international wildlife and conservation projects. One of its many important projects involves training vets in Greece and Spain to help save sick and injured turtles. These animals are victims of plastic pollution and other human activities. Matthew Rendle describes how WVI is helping to save the Mediterranean's turtles, and explains how you can help.