Clinical

Mitral valve disease and dilated cardiomyopathy in canines

Normal cardiovascular function provides the body with nutrients and removes metabolic waste. The heart is the pumping force behind this system, and is divided into two sides to prevent mixing of...

Adjunctive analgesics

Adjunctive analgesia has the potential to relieve pain and improve patient comfort in veterinary patients, especially when traditional analgesics alone have failed. This article reviewed some of the...

Reflections on nutritional assessment: The Veterinary Nurse workshop 2014

Following small group introductions (Figure 1), the workshop began with a review of nutritional assessment and discussion surrounding the importance of nutrition and deleterious effects of...

Preventative healthcare in companion animals: understanding owner triggers and changing behaviours

Pet ownership is known to have a number of positive impacts on the health and wellbeing of owners. According to a 2005 paper written for the British Medical Journal (McNicholas et al, 2005), benefits...

Canine atopic dermatitis: diagnosis and management

CAD is a complex interaction between genetic, immunological, environmental and microbial factors. CAD has recently been described as: ‘…a genetically predisposed inflammatory and pruritic allergic...

Early enteral nutrition — principles and practice

The gastrointestinal tract has a high metabolic rate and is composed mostly of cells that have a short life. Early enteral nutrition (EEN) contributes to improved gastrointestinal (GI) function,...

Safe delivery of anaesthetic agents in cats and rabbits

Supraglottic airway devices (SGADs) were developed for use in human anaesthesia to offer a simple and effective alternative to endotracheal intubation. SGADs are defined as devices that ventilate...

Improving patient safety in the perioperative period: surgical safety checklists

The operating room (OR) is acknowledged to be one of the most complex work environments in human health care, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it has such a high potential for complications...

Factors associated with steam sterilisation failure

Human error is cited as the main cause of steam sterilisation process failures, followed by equipment mal-function and steam quality/performance (Figure 1) (Chandrapati, 2008)..

The role of antimicrobials in wound dressings

The evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the clinical challenge they pose to wound management has been well publicised (Guyot and...