Clinical

The legal, ethical and welfare implications of feeding vegan diets to dogs and cats

‘A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.’ .

Pheromones and 25 years of pheromonotherapy: what are they and how do they work?

Pheromones are biologically active semiochemicals (chemical signals from one organism to another capable of bringing about a change in the recipient organism); they are secreted from the body of one...

Canine developmental elbow disease part 2: surgical and non-surgical management

There is conflicting evidence as to the benefit of surgical management of different forms of elbow disease. In a study by Burton et al (2011) conservative management resulted in the same outcome in...

Emergency cardiac pharmacology for nurses

The heart contains four chambers, the left and right atria and left and right ventricles. These four chambers receive and send blood through several vessels and valves to keep the body perfused with...

Flea infestation: a snapshot on the common products and the reasons for treatment failure

Fleas are laterally flattened, dark brown insects around 2–5 mm in size. Although fleas are wingless (Figure 1), they are highly mobile because of their strong hind legs adapted for jumping (Wright...

Clinical assessment of muscle condition in cats

Muscle tissue is constantly undergoing both protein synthesis and protein breakdown, in both health and disease states. The balance between synthesis and breakdown processes determines whether...

Canine developmental elbow disease part 1: aetiopathogenesis and diagnosis

The most common age for onset of clinical signs of developmental elbow disease is between 6 to 10 months of age, however some dogs only present as middle aged or older adults when they have advanced...

ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome

In ARDS inflammation is triggered by either a primary condition, such as septic shock or pancreatitis, or by a severe pulmonary insult which could include aspiration pneumonia, pulmonary contusions,...

Socialisation: is it the ‘be all and end all’ of creating resilience in companion animals?

McMillan (2016) suggested that social animals that form strong relationships and are integrated most strongly into group living are most likely to survive, reproduce, and raise offspring to...

Thoracic trauma in small animals: road traffic accidents

Triage is the process of categorising and prioritising patients based on their severity of condition. Nurses should be confident in their abilities to triage patients efficiently and categorise...

Assisted feeding techniques in hospitalised felines

Domestic felines require specific dietary components in comparison to domestic canines. Felines are obligate carnivores; a term which defines their inability to synthesise vitamin A, arachidonic acid...

Identifying wound infections for veterinary nurses

The inflammatory phase is the initial stage of wound healing and is initiated immediately an injury occurs. Haemostasis is triggered to stop haemorrhage and inflammatory mediators are called to the...