Clinical

Lyme disease: a growing UK threat?

Lyme disease was first identified as a distinct medical condition in the town of Lyme in Connecticut, USA, from where it gains its name. Lyme disease is now recognised as a widespread disease in...

Anaesthesia of cats and dogs with cardiac disorders: the veterinary nurse's role

It will, of course, be the veterinary surgeon who makes a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and develops an anaesthetic plan, but veterinary nurses must have an awareness of the condition and how it...

How can you tell when a fish is sick?

Before clinical signs of illness are discussed, it is important that veterinary practitioners are familiar with the appearance of healthy fish. The following are characteristics displayed by a healthy...

Desensitisation and counterconditioning — not a task for the enthusiastic amateur!

Learning is a change in an animal's capacity for expressing a behaviour due to a particular experience (Lieberman, 1993). Learning is about how the environment alters behaviour (Mills, 2009); although...

Wound healing and dressings: the role of RemendTM

While the majority of wounds that are encountered will heal without any issues, there are a number of topical, and systemic medications that can enhance the wound healing process, allowing the wound...

Hard to heal wounds: dealing with the problematic wound

When considering the closure of wounds, the timing of closure can be assigned to various categories. First either primary closure or first intention, whereby the wound is immediately sutured closed at...

Equine neonates and infection control

The foal's immune system develops during fetal life so they are born immunogenically competent, but as the equine placenta does not allow transfer of immunoglobulins to the fetus, foals are born...

The raw deal: clarifying the nutritional and public health issues regarding raw meat-based diets

In developed countries, the categorisation of raw meat-based diets as ‘unconventional diets’ is testimony to widespread availability and use of nutritionally complete, and balanced manufactured diets...

Feline hyperthyroidism: current treatment options and the role of the veterinary nurse

The goal of treatment is to return the hyperthyroid patient to euthyroidism and this is achieved either by the curative methods of radioiodine or surgery, or the lifelong control of thyroxine...

Biology, diagnosis and management of sarcoptic mange

The life cycle of Sarcoptes mites occurs in the superficial (keratinaceous) layer of the animal's epidermis. Female mites create tiny burrows into the skin in which they lay eggs over a period of 2–3...

Cognitive dysfunction in older dogs and cats: the role of the veterinary nurse in screening

Head (2013) suggests while dogs do have natural cognitive decline in different domains, like humans this is individual to the animal. Clinical behavioural signs are often referred to by the acronym...

Perioperative hypothermia and surgical site infections part 2

In animal physiology it is known that a reduction in core temperature of 1–1.5°C occurs shortly after the induction of general anaesthesia due to the re-distribution of heat from the core to the...