Companion collection - Interviews

  Epilepsy is one of the most intensively studied neurological conditions in dogs but much of what we know about the disease has been gathered from research on an unrepresentative population of referral practice patients. Matthew James and colleagues were awarded this year’s BSAVA PetSavers Veterinary Achievement Award for a project which investigated how epileptic dogs are managed in first-opinion practices and what can be offered to improve their treatment. John Bonner reports…

  BSAVA volunteers are instrumental in the success of the Association, at the same time as nurturing their own personal development. RVN Kelly Eyre talks to Companion about her new role as Deputy Chair of the Congress Organizing Committee in preparation to step up to Chair in 3-years-time.

  ‘Every blood donor is a hero’ – according to the World Health Organization, which used the phrase to promote World Blood Donor Day a few years back. But so too are the people who plan and manage blood donation schemes. They ensure that the procedure is comfortable and safe for those that both give and receive this magical life-saving fluid. People like Charlotte Russo, the veterinary nurse responsible for running the transfusion medicine service at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals at the Royal Veterinary College. John Bonner finds out more…

  In a country where human healthcare is still largely free at the point of delivery, grumbles about the costs of veterinary services are a regular topic for debate in the national chatroom. So, someone who will cheerfully agree to pay an annual vet bill stretching nearly into seven figures is a very unusual client. John Bonner went to meet Patrick Williams, Chief Executive of the Cinnamon Trust to find out more about his charity, a small but powerful force in the world of animal welfare.

 Jenny Hammond, Professor of Veterinary Education at the Glasgow Vet School, was the recipient of this year’s BSAVA Amoroso award for outstanding contributions to small animal studies by a non-clinical member of university staff. Jenny helped lead the team that redesigned the undergraduate curriculum at Glasgow and continues to influence thinking on how to train new generations of veterinary graduates at home and abroad.

  A novel oral vaccine for dogs has been declared a game changer in efforts to lift the ancient curse of rabies, the most deadly of all zoonotic diseases. Gowri Yale, Scientific Advisor to the Mission Rabies charity, told John Bonner how the product will be used to control canine rabies in India and what barriers may stand in the way of eliminating a condition that kills about 60,000 people a year worldwide.

  This month, Carl Gorman steps up to the plate as the new BSAVA President for the coming year. Carl talked to John Bonner about his early career, his many and varied interests and the goal he has set himself for his presidential year.

  BSAVA members can be pleased with the way their organization dealt with the challenge of continuing to provide high quality CPD during the COVID-19 crisis. But in a rapidly evolving educational landscape, there is no room for complacency; the Association is working hard to ensure that the training it offers will suit the changing needs of its audience. Dr Claire Vinten, new Head of Education at Woodrow House, told John Bonner what the BSAVA will be doing to stay top of the class.

 Robyn Lowe is one of those rare individuals that appears to have almost inexhaustible reserves of energy. As well as working in a busy small animal practice, she is a tireless campaigner to improve the mental health of all members of the veterinary team, she treads the streets of Manchester providing outreach care for pets owned by homeless or vulnerable individuals, and she hammers away at a computer keyboard correcting the misinformation about veterinary treatment that is generated and spread via social media platforms. And at weekends she likes nothing more than to go hiking across the UK countryside in the company of like-minded colleagues.

 Mark Lowrie was born in Liverpool and grew up in the Cheshire village of Frodsham. He attended the local High School where he remembers playing the title character in the school production of ‘Oliver’. That was a one-off event, he recalls, noting that the role had been played a few years earlier, with presumably far more success by a certain Daniel Craig. Realizing that even at local level, competition for a career on stage would be tough, he took his mother’s advice and opted for one in veterinary medicine. A good choice by the man who was named PetPlan Vet of the Year 2022.

 Heather Bacon is the veterinary educationalist charged with developing the curriculum for the new vet degree course to be offered by the University of Central Lancashire. She is determined that the school will provide opportunities for students who, like her, are members of the first generation in their family to benefit from a university education. John Bonner finds out more.

  The new BSAVA President is Alison Speakman. Alison was born in Wigan, the daughter of an engineering lecturer and a teacher, so it is no surprise that education has been a lifelong passion. As President, she hopes to guide the Association’s CPD activities – and help teach its members to embrace and nurture their own wellbeing.

  Glasgow vet Ross Allan developed a passion for speech radio as a child and remembers at 11 or 12 years old sending letters to the BBC offering comments on its output. So, it is a real thrill for him to take a break from his clinical work for his fortnightly appointment with Ask the Vet, part of BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings show. John Bonner tuned in to hear what he had to say.

 Mary Wakeham is the Founder and Chief Executive of Refuge4Pets, a charity providing foster care for the companion animals owned by victim survivors escaping domestic abuse in Devon and Cornwall. She also carries out sociological research into the circumstances in which people and pets are subjected to physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their own family members. She told John Bonner how her findings shed new light into the dark corners where the perpetrators use animals as tools to help them exert coercive control over their victims.

  BSAVA Honorary Secretary Krista Arnold was born in Vienna to an Austrian mother and a Swiss father. Her parents split up when she was young and she grew up in a multigeneration household with her mother, aunt and grandparents who had a market stall and poultry meat business.

 Lavinia Economu was awarded the RCVS Student Community award this year for her role in setting up the student organization Animal Aspirations. This aims to promote diversity in the veterinary world by reaching out to children from groups that are under-represented in the profession.

 Stephanie Sorrell volunteers for the BSAVA and is the present Chair of the Education Committee. Stephanie spoke to Companion about her career progression and her ambition to promote engaging interactive BSAVA CPD.

 Sean Taylor was the first UK veterinary practitioner to enrol for the master’s degree in veterinary forensics and law, organized by the University of Florida. That training has helped inform his work as an expert witness in animal welfare cases. He is the founder of the consultancy Lockgate Animal Forensics and also works in practice in Greater Manchester.

 Emma Gerrard is the first veterinary nurse to be appointed to an officer role with the BSAVA, as chair and council representative for the Association’s Cymru region. She was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire and grew up in Cambridgeshire. In 1996, the family moved to the Mid Wales/Shropshire border where Emma has remained ever since.

  Nottingham vet school student Rheanna Ellis is working to cure the profession of its diversity problem. She is part of a student team aiming to make veterinary practice a more welcoming place for people from ethnic minority backgrounds and other under-represented groups.

 Terry Ryan Kane is a genuine high flyer. She is a qualified pilot who has enjoyed a successful career in two different branches of veterinary practice and as a scientific advisor to the US Congress. Her current job involves teaching colleagues to care for the most important species in the human food chain – and one that has been neglected by the veterinary profession.

  “A modern gothic suspense novel done right” was the verdict of the influential US literary magazine Kirkus Reviews on the first book by a new author. Entitled ‘The Au Pair’, it was written by Cambridgeshire veterinary surgeon Emma Rous. John Bonner caught up with her as she dots the i’s and crosses the t’s on her second novel.

Lyndsey Uglow heads the Animal Assisted Intervention Group at Southampton Children’s Hospital, which won the Kennel Club’s Friends for Life competition at Cruft’s 2020. This annual award celebrates “the unique relationship people have with their dogs” and in this case recognized the tonic that Lyndsey and her team has provided to thousands of children with severe medical conditions.

  When Alasdair Hotston Moore graduated from Cambridge vet school in 1990, his plan was to study for a PhD in immunology. Nearly 3 decades later he still hasn’t found time for that doctorate but he has done lots of other things – lecturing in soft tissue surgery at Bristol, managing a private surgical service and now his biggest challenge – as the first westerner to run a referral hospital in China. (The interview with Alasdair Hotston Moore took place before the coronavirus pandemic)

 If you are one of the many among us who are keen to help avert a looming environmental catastrophe – but don’t really know where to start – then let Jen Gale be your guide. Jen is a 2004 RVC graduate who has now left clinical practice to explore ways to encourage everyone to adopt a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Founder of the web site Sustainable(ish) and author of the Sustainable(ish) Living Guide, she offers advice and encouragement to those wanting to take baby steps towards creating a world that will be able to support future generations.