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.

Chris Laurence is a member of that select band of people who have been made honorary life members of the BSAVA. He is known to the profession as the former chief vet of two of the main animal welfare charities. But he is also noted for his contributions to various other charitable bodies, within the ranks of the British Army as a distinguished and long serving officer in the Signals Corps, and for the residents of Tytherton, Wiltshire, as the main driving force behind the campaign to build a new village hall. John Bonner wondered where he gets the energy.

  ‘Care killed the cat’ is the original formulation of that familiar expression about the dangers of what can happen to our feline friends if they give free rein to their natural inquisitiveness. In this case, the word ‘care’ actually meant ‘worry’ rather than ‘tenderness’ but the staff and supporters of the charity International Cat Care would strongly disagree with either interpretation of the phrase. John Bonner reports on the people devoting care, consideration and more than a little curiosity to improving the lives of cats across the globe.

 Eric Isselée is a Belgian photographer who has made a career out of ignoring WC Field’s injunction to ‘never work with children or animals’. He developed his distinctive style through taking pictures of toddlers at nurseries and has used the same techniques in capturing images of up to 1700 different animal species. His work with companion animals has regularly graced the cover of BSAVA Companion.

  Hill farmer and veterinarian Keith Powell believes that bracken is a blight on the beautiful landscape around his home in the Brecon Beacons. So he has led a project intended to replace that toxic and invasive weed with woodland, providing aesthetic, environmental and economic benefits for the local community. John Bonner reports…

  This month, Fergus Allerton, who took on the editorship of Companion in September last year, speaks to John Bonner about his future plans for Companion.

 Ditte Vasby and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen veterinary school won one of this year’s BSAVA clinical abstract awards. Ditte spoke to Companion about the group’s research into determining the accuracy of VacciCheck for distemper, parvovirus and infectious hepatitis.

  Wanting to help yourself and your colleagues to improve clinical skills will always be the main reason why people are prepared to give up their time to serve as a BSAVA volunteer. But there are plenty of other talents that the Association’s members can develop after they become involved in setting up and running one of its major CPD events, according to Tom Reilly, the new Chair of the BSAVA Congress Committee.

  Greyhound racing may not have the high public profile that it enjoyed in Britain years ago but, as a vehicle for off-course gambling, it still attracts a large international television audience. Olivia Cook is one of the vets working to assure punters that the races are fair and the dogs are well cared for.

  When the first lockdown made Laura Sullivan’s vet skills temporarily superfluous, it meant that she had time to spend making environmentally-friendly washable surgical caps for her existing online business. Now, she is back at work stitching her clients’ animals back together, but she still has time to make her own contribution towards more sustainable veterinary practices.

  By day, Andrew Smith is clinical director of a mixed practice in Aberdeenshire. At night, he dwells in the world of spirits. His hobby is distilling gin made from the finest botanical ingredients available on his home patch.

 Meredith Sheil has made a huge contribution to improving animal welfare in Australia by developing a combination local anaesthetic and antiseptic used to reduce pain and infection risk in farm livestock undergoing routine surgery. That is quite a leap from her original job as a human medic and researcher into paediatric heart disease.

 Lucy O’Donovan is a veterinary surgeon with a keen interest in mental health issues – and also a passion for art. She has set up cRxeate, an online community of vets, doctors and dentists, to explore ways that clinicians can give expression to their creative talents and help them deal with the pressures of a stressful job.

  Fell runners are more aware than most of us that life has its ups and downs. For endurance athlete and Edinburgh University veterinarian Jasmin Paris, the last 18 months have had both. In January 2019, she smashed the existing record for Britain’s most gruelling race but then in March this year she joined the rest of the country in lockdown. So she is forced to distance herself from the wild mountain landscapes that are her passion. Companion finds out how she is getting on.

 Olivia de Rivaz has managed to combine her role as a small animal practitioner with a burgeoning career as an artist. Olivia was born and raised in Surrey, and is the youngest of three children of a senior civil servant father and a charity fundraiser mother. She graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2006 and now lives in Wiltshire.

 Robert Johnson is a practitioner from New South Wales and a former president of the Australian Veterinary Association. He has a life-long interest in reptile medicine although, as he explains, his patients have not always appreciated the care that he has given them. In his spare time, he is also an accomplished cartoonist, and on the cricket field, an obdurate late order batsman.