Chronic illness and resilience in the veterinary industry

The colloquial term ‘spoonies’ has been adopted by many suffering from chronic illnesses to describe the debilitating effect of limited physical and emotional energy that chronic pain and fatigue can...

Health and husbandry of companion parrots

Looking after the health of parrots occurs even before the patient presents to the veterinary clinic. It is important for front-of-house staff to discuss appropriate carry cages with owners prior to...

Nurses' views of pet owners: online pet health information

An online survey was designed and adapted from a previous survey targeting veterinarians (Kogan et al, 2017). Before distribution, the authors reviewed and pilot tested the survey, incorporating...

Practical strategies for supporting elderly cats and their owners, both at home and in the veterinary surgery

Elderly cats are susceptible to developing a number of different health problems that can adversely affect their welfare and may also result in behaviour changes. The most common medical conditions...

Feline stress in a nutshell — why does it occur, how can it be recognised, and what can be done to alleviate it?

Even the owners of highly sociable indoor cats will describe the frequent tendency of their cat to actively desire periods of solitary independence. This level of freedom to remove themselves from the...

Changes in behaviour in elderly cats and dogs, part 1: causes and diagnosis

The age-related decline in cognitive function in cats and dogs is associated with a number of pathological processes occurring in brain tissue, some of which are similar to the changes seen in...

Five myths commonly associated with neutering in dogs

It is widely believed that neutering will help calm boisterous, over-excitable adolescent dogs down. However this is often not the case. In most cases these dogs are receiving insufficient mental...

Obesity and the health and welfare of the leisure horse

Obesity is a qualitative term (Wyse et al, 2008), defined as the accumulation of excess fat (adipose tissue) within the body (Thatcher et al, 2012). It has also been defined as a disease in which...