Ceva Animal health has launched Marbox, a broad-spectrum anti-infective, based on marbofloxacin, for the rapid treatment of bovine mastitis and respiratory disorders. According to the company, Marbox effectively provides two products in one bottle because it can be used as a high dose single injection or administered at a lower dose over several days.

Ceva says mastitis and respiratory disorders currently account for around 60% of antimicrobial prescriptions. Marbox can be used intramuscularly as a single injection for the treatment of respiratory infection. Alternatively it can be used for the treatment of acute mastitis; intravenously for the first injection and then subcutaneously at a lower dose over three days. It has a milk withdrawal of just 36 hours after subcutaneous injection.

Marbox is presented in an ergonomic CLAS vial which makes for light and shock-resistant handling, resulting in fewer breakages and reduced costs. It is available in 100 and 250 vial sizes and contains 100mg marbofloxacin per ml.

Marbox can be used in combination with Meloxidyl, Ceva's new, single shot anti-inflammatory. The product joins Ceva's bovine range of anti-infectives, which includes Cevaxel, Florkem and Spectam Injectable.

For further product information contact CEVA Animal Health Ltd, 90 The Broadway, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1EG, telephone 01494 781510 or visit the website at http://www.ceva.uk.com/

A new study carried out by academics at the University of Bristol's Animal Welfare and Behaviour research group has revealed that chickens empathise. So, if you've wondered why the chicken crossed the road, it was probably to help a friend.

More specifically, the research - funded by the BBSRC Animal Welfare Initiative and published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. - demonstrated that domestic hens show a clear physiological and behavioural response when their chicks are mildly distressed.

Researchers say the study is the first to demonstrate that birds possess one of the important attributes that underpins empathy, and the first study to use both behavioural and physiological methods to measure these traits in birds.

During one of the controlled procedures, when the chicks were exposed to a puff of air, the hens' heart rate increased and eye temperature decreased. The hens also changed their behaviour, and reacted with increased alertness, decreased preening and increased vocalisations directed to their chicks.

Some of these responses have previously been used as indicators of an emotional response in animals. In domestic chickens, time spent standing alert is associated with higher levels of fear.  Previous research carried out by the same group has shown that hens also selectively avoid surroundings associated with high levels of standing and low levels of preening.

Jo Edgar, PhD student in the School of Veterinary Sciences, said: "The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.

"Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.

"We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of 'empathy'; the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another."

The researchers say they used chickens as a model species because, under commercial conditions, chickens will regularly encounter other chickens showing signs of pain or distress due to routine husbandry practices or because of the high levels of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders.

Reference:
'Avian maternal response to chick distress', J L Edgar, J C Lowe, E S Paul, C J Nicol, published online ahead of print Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 9 March 2011.

Picture:
Gemma Richards, University of Bristol

Ceva Animal Health has renamed Tildren, its tiludronate-based bisphosphonate infusion for the treatment of bone spavin in horses, as Equidronate.

Tiludronate has been used to treat bone spavin and navicular disease in Europe for many years and was licensed for bone spavin in the UK in 2008. Ceva says trials published last year show that horses suffering lameness caused by bone spavin can show marked improvement following treatment with an Equidronate infusion, in combination with controlled exercise.

Bone spavin is a chronic aseptic osteoarthritis of the distal tarsal joints and is considered to be one of the most common forms of hindlimb lameness in the horse. Horses with bone spavin experience abnormal bone remodeling changes. According to the company, Equidronate helps to modulate the osteoclasts to help prevent excessive bone removal and give the osteoblasts a chance to catch up. This in combination with adjusting levels of exercise helps to harmonise the bone adaptation needed for the horse to perform its athletic duties.

In the trials one in four horses showed marked improvement; two in four showed improvement, which, when combined with other treatment, enabled the horse to resume former levels of activity and one in four horses showed no response.

Ceva Animal Health has produced a range of explanatory leaflets for horse owners on bone spavin, navicular disease and sacroiliac disease, as well as a helpful booklet detailing the discharge procedures for horses that have been treated with Equidronate.

For free copies and for further product information contact your Ceva sales representative, ring Ceva on 01494 781510 or visit the website at http://www.ceva.uk.com/

MDC Exports is launching a cat cage at BSAVA Congress which it claims will revolutionise the way cats are cared for in veterinary surgeries

According to the company, plastic cages currently in use tend to harbour germs where cats have made scratches in their surfaces. This cage, however, is the first of its kind to be made from stainless steel, which cats' claws cannot damage.

MDC claims the hygienic Cat Cage will protect animals from disease and infection during their stay in surgery making for happier, healthier patients. The company says the stainless steel Cat Cage is strong, durable and can be flame sterilized. The handles can also be colour-coded, for example, yellow means neuter, red means post-anaesthetic and green means ready to go home. Each stainless steel Cat Cage also comes with a two-year free replacement guarantee.

For more information, visit MDC Exports at BSAVA Congress 2011 on stand 123. All visitors to the stand will receive a complimentary NipLok - the quick-release tourniquet that can be operated one-handed

Identics, an animal identification company run by veterinary surgeon Egbert de Vries, has launched Labtags, a system with which you can tag animals and takes tissue samples simultaneously.

Egbert said:  One of the diseases for which this tag has proven to be useful is Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD). BVD Antigen testing is an important method of identifying the persistently infected (PI) animals in a herd.

"Use of labtags can be integrated in an accreditation scheme to achieve BVD Free status. It removes the need for taking blood samples and therefore simplifies the implementation of the accreditation scheme.

"BVD Antigen testing is not solely used for achieving an accreditation status. Persistently infected (PI) animals in your herd allow for the circulation of the BVD virus and have a negative impact on herd fertility and calf health. Identifying these animals is necessary for good herd management."

Two different labtags are available from IDENTICS. The first is the green button tag with a sequential number, which can be used as a complimentary tag to your double tagged animal. The second is a DEFRA approved tag with your UK herd number and individual animal number, allowing you to tag and sample your newborn calves with the correct tag without any extra work.

For more information, visit www.identics.co.uk, start a conversation with Egbert, email: info@identics.co.uk, or telephone: 01994 342100 / 07787 420646

The BSAVA has announced that comic Michael McIntyre has joined the line up for Congress Party Night.

McIntyre will be joining comedian Fred MacAulay and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin 

To register for BSAVA, click here.

VetSurgeon.org has launched a new register of veterinary locums as a resource for practices that need to find a locum quickly and at no cost.

Veterinary locums can add themselves to the register free of charge, and include full details of the service they offer.

Practices that need a locum can then search the register by area. After they've used the locum, they are encouraged to comment beneath the locum's entry on the register.

At the time of writing, about a dozen locums have added their details to the register, so it's still early days. Hopefully, however, this will grow into a really valuable resource for both practices and locums.

To add your name to the register, click here and follow the instructions linked to from the right hand side.

Bayer Animal Health has announced it'll be running the 'Be Lungworm Aware' campaign in April 2011. The campaign is targeted at dog owners to raise awareness of the risks associated with the lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum. 

A Bayer spokesman said: "Over the past years, the spread of A. vasorum has been cited by independent experts, and disease caused by this parasite is increasingly diagnosed. Previous lungworm awareness campaigns have been successful in increasing dog owner awareness of A. vasorum and how their dogs can become infected. However, there is still a lack of recognition as to the signs associated with this infection, so the continuing education of dog owners is extremely important."

The national 'Be Lungworm Aware' activity for April includes TV, radio and print advertising in the form of an educational 'public information' style feature. A national awareness day is also planned for 6 April, which will include radio broadcast and web chat TV, and feature veterinary surgeon Luke Gamble and TV presenter Jenni Falconer.

Bayer has produced a package of veterinary support materials to allow practices to take part in the campaign and raise awareness at a local level. Materials include: an educational waiting room wall display and DVD, and client leaflets. A PR pack has also been produced which contains useful images and information which can be used on websites and in newsletters, as well as a press release for issuing to the local media and radio stations. To order these support materials, practices should contact their local Bayer representative or ring 0845 2574798 quoting 'Be Lungworm Aware'.

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee has directed that a veterinary surgeon from Berkshire be removed from the Register, following his administration of a prohibited substance to a racehorse and his subsequent attempts to conceal his actions.

At a six-day hearing that concluded yesterday, James Main, a partner in the O'Gorman, Slater, Main & Partners veterinary practice in Newbury, and former lead veterinary surgeon to racehorse trainer Nicky Henderson, faced four charges of serious professional misconduct concerning his treatment of Moonlit Path, a six-year-old mare owned by The Queen.

Three of the charges related to Mr Main breaching British Horseracing Authority (BHA) rules by injecting Moonlit Path with tranexamic acid (TA) on the day she was due to race; the fourth charge related to his dishonest concealment of this treatment in his practice clinical records. Nicky Henderson had himself faced a BHA Inquiry into this case in 2009 and subsequently been sanctioned.

The Committee heard that on 18 February 2009, Mr Henderson's yard requested a veterinary surgeon attend Moonlit Path to administer an injection of Dycenene the following morning. The injection was requested as the mare was prone to exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage. Mr Main attended on the morning of 19 February and injected the horse with intravenous tranexamic acid. Moonlit Path raced at Huntingdon later that day, along with the eventual winner, and favourite, Ravello Bay - another horse trained by Mr Henderson. Moonlit Path finished sixth and a urine sample taken from her after the race tested positive for TA.

Of the four charges, Mr Main admitted injecting Moonlit Path with TA on the day she was due to race when he knew this breached the BHA's rule prohibiting any substance other than the horse's usual feed and water being given on race day. However, Mr Main denied knowing that, if tested, a horse would test positive for TA (thereby imposing a strict liability on the trainer); he denied administering a prohibited substance to a horse with the intention to affect that horse's racing performance; and, he denied dishonestly concealing the TA injection by omitting it from his clinical records and referring to it as a 'pre-race check'.

The Committee heard and carefully considered evidence from Mr Henderson and his employees, from BHA investigating officers and its Director of Equine Science and Welfare, from an expert equine physiologist and from Mr Main himself. In its findings, the Committee stated it was "unimpressed by Mr Henderson's evidence and surprised by his apparent lack of knowledge of the rules of racing".

Whilst the Committee accepted Mr Main believed at the time that Moonlit Path would not test positive for TA, it considered he failed to fully inform himself of the medicinal product he was using; especially so as TA does not possess a Marketing Authorisation as a veterinary medicinal product. In so doing, he did not meet his professional obligation to provide Mr Henderson with the information and advice he needed.

The Committee concluded that TA was a prohibited substance and, whilst accepting that Mr Main's concern had solely been for Moonlit Path's welfare, he had actually breached BHA rules by affecting her performance through administering such a substance.

Finally, the Committee found that Mr Main had deliberately concealed the TA injection to Moonlit Path by describing it in his notes as a 'pre-race check' - a protocol developed over several years between the practice and Mr Henderson. Such inaccurate clinical records were in breach of the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct and led the Committee to conclude he had acted dishonestly. The Committee also found Mr Main "did not act with candour" by claiming to have administered the TA injection the day before the race. On questioning by the Legal Assessor, however, he admitted that he had known that Moonlit Path was racing the same day that he administered the injection.

Professor Sheila Crispin, chairing the Committee, said: "[We] regard it as wholly unacceptable practice that a veterinary surgeon should be party to serious breaches of rules of another regulatory body in the field of animal welfare ... and which go to the very integrity of racing.

"Whilst the findings relate to a single incident, [we] are satisfied that Mr Main's actions amounted to pre-meditated misconduct ... It is highly relevant that Mr Main held positions of responsibility within the racing industry where he was required to uphold the rules and standards of the profession," she added.

Noting Mr Main's "long and hitherto unblemished career as a highly respected equine veterinary surgeon", the Committee accepted Mr Main's evidence that the reason for the administration of tranexamic acid was solely his concern about the welfare of the horse. Nevertheless, it found his evidence was "evasive, lacking in candour and on some aspects of the case his evidence was untrue".

Professor Crispin concluded: "...proven dishonesty has been held to come at the top end of the spectrum of gravity of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect ... Having considered carefully all the mitigation put forward on Mr Main's behalf, [we] have concluded that Mr Main's behaviour was wholly unacceptable and so serious that removal of his name from the Register is required."

Veterinary surgeons are being called on to help recruit dogs for a clinical study called EPIC - the Evaluation of Pimobendan In dogs with Cardiomegaly caused by pre-clinical mitral valve disease (MVD).

The long-term study, which is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim, will assess whether using pimobendan in the pre-clinical phase of MVD has a benefit in extending the time to the onset of clinical signs. It involves 36 centres globally with the aim of recruiting 360 dogs in total.  In order for dogs to be eligible for the study they must: 

• have a moderate to high intensity systolic heart murmur due to mitral valve disease
• have radiographic evidence of cardiomegaly (Vertebral Heart Score (VHS) > 10.5)
• be at least six years of age
• weigh between 4.1kg and 15kg
• have not been on, nor have previously chronically received, any prescription medication for their cardiac disease
• be in good general health, with no other conditions that may have an impact on their expected lifespan (certain medications are allowed to be used concurrently).

The three veterinary cardiologists from the UK involved in the randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel group study are Adrian Boswood MA VetMB DipECVIM-ca DVC MRCVS from the Royal Veterinary College (the RVC) in Hertfordshire, Sarah Smith MA VetMB DVC MRCVS from Sarah Smith Cardiology in Derbyshire and Mark Patteson MA VetMB, PhD DVC CertVR MRCVS from Heart Vets at Vale Referrals, Gloucestershire.

Adrian Boswood, veterinary cardiologist from RVC said: "The implications of this study for dogs and their owners could be enormous. If the research shows that pimobendan is effective before clinical signs of MMVD appear, this could lead to a new treatment option for practitioners."

For further information on the study or if you have a dog that may be suitable for the trial, please contact the nearest study investigator - Adrian Boswood on 01707 666605, Sarah Smith on 07515 359241 or Mark Patteson on 01453 547934.

Ceva Animal Health, maker of the veterinary behaviour products DAP and Feliway, is once again sponsoring the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors' series of one day behaviour seminars to keep veterinary professionals up-to-date with companion animal behavioural issues.

Featuring presentations by top pet behaviourists, the seminars will cover a range of topics based on questions that pet owners frequently ask veterinary professionals in practice.   

Contributing to six hours CPD per event, the topics covered in the seminars are: 

• My dog is aggressive - what should I do? - Dr Rachel Casey - 13 May - South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire
• General 'house problems' with dogs and cats (part one) - Claire Hargrave - 10 June - Mere Golf and Country Club, near Manchester, Cheshire
• Breeds and their needs - Clare Wilson - 8 July - Henley Golf and Country Club, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire
• 'Best practice' opportunities for practices regarding puppies - Clare Wilson - 9 September - Henley Golf and Country Club, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire
• Common behavioural issues with small furries - Dr Anne McBride - 21 October - South Hill Park, Bracknell, Berkshire
• General 'house problems' with dogs (part two) - Kendal Shepherd - 11 November - Mere Golf and Country Club, near Manchester, Cheshire

Places on the seminars cost from £70.  For further information, please contact the APBC on 01386 751151 or visit http://www.apbc.org.uk/

The Vet Channel has launched VetPod, a customisable video display system for practice waiting rooms.  

The VetPod system is comprised of three elements: a website where you select the media you want to display in your waiting room, the VetPod, which downloads the videos you select, and a monitor on which to display them in your waiting room.

The Vet Channel says it is updating its media library regularly, so you can pick content which ties in with your practices' clinical focus, marketing strategy and promotional offerings.

The system also allows you to upload your own logos, photographs and videos, and display practice specific information, such as staff news, opening hours, special clinics and promotions. In addition The Vet Channel's in-house design studio can create bold, eye-catching media content to reflect your brand and promote every aspect of your services.

Anthony Beliovich from Companion Care said: "Enquiries about microchipping and flea treatment increased by 25% after we installed The Vet Channel."

For more information, visit  http://www.thevetchannel.co.uk/, email  enquiries@thevetchannel.co.uk, or ring: 0844 8111406

Alternatively, you'll be able to see a demonstration of VetPod at BSAVA Congress this year.

The RCVS is looking to recruit two veterinary surgeons as part-time Postgraduate Deans, to help oversee new veterinary graduates during their Professional Development Phase (PDP).

Freda Andrews, RCVS Head of Education said: "The PDP is an online recording system to guide new graduates as they work towards achieving the "year one competences" - the competences expected of a new graduate who's had about a year's experience in practice. Postgraduate Deans monitor PDP participants' progress and respond to their queries, and ultimately sign-off the graduates once their PDP is complete."

The roles have become available as two of the current post-holders, Stephen Ware and Professor David Noakes, wish to hand over to new colleagues.  Both Stephen and David have served as Postgraduate Deans since 2007, when the PDP first became a requirement for all new veterinary graduates.

Stephen said: "Being a Postgraduate Dean gives you the opportunity to assist new graduates in the early stages of their career. It is also a way to encourage employers to take a responsible attitude towards new vets, particularly during their first job or two."

Postgraduate Deans are expected to spend up to 20 days a year working mainly online from home, and attend occasional meetings at the RCVS in London.  They need experience of general practice, and to be used to dealing with and advising students, or employing and supporting new graduates. A sympathetic understanding of the challenges faced by newly qualified veterinary graduates is also required.

Further information about the role can be found at www.rcvs.org.uk/jobs, and information about the PDP, including a preview, at www.rcvs.org.uk/pdp.   

Applicants should send a brief CV, and a covering letter setting out their relevant experience, to education@rcvs.org.uk by 7 March 2011.