The Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital

31/10/2024

💥*FIREWORKS*💥

This weekend sees the return of Bonfire Night. This can be a worrying time for animal owners, but our students have helped to create a small information sheet below to help try an ease those concerns and advise you on how best to manage this November.

Stay safe and let our office know if you would like to speak to a vet.

15/10/2024

Interested in undertaking a PhD on horses and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? A great opportunity for a science graduate who is interested in horses and research to develop further skills in epidemiology and microbiology within a fantastic research group. AMR is a critical public health issue and has important consequences for people as well as horses and other animals.

Applicants need to have an honours degree in an appropriate subject e.g. veterinary science, bioveterinary science, biological or medical sciences, microbiology, animal science. For further details about this 3.5 year funded PhD studentship see:
https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/developing-approaches-to-surveillance-for-antimicrobial-resistance-amr-in-the-equine-population/?p173945

11/10/2024

We think a pair of horse ears are a great addition to any aurora borealis photo 😁🐴

Cheshire sky last night 🤩

10/10/2024

💚💚World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on the 10th October. This year's theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health is workplace mental health. The theme highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for the benefit of people, organisations, and communities.💚💚

In recognition of this our lovely office manager made green ribbon pins for all the staff to wear and brought in some treats for everyone 😍 Little acts of kindness can make the world of difference to someone.

Today the staff were encouraged to reflect on their own mental health as part of world mental health day 💚

03/10/2024

Referring Vets - Can you help?

Exciting tendon research is being conducted at the University of Liverpool, aiming to find improved ways of assessing tendon function and healing. We have had a fantastic response to a previous advert seeking uninjured horses so we are now looking for:
· Thoroughbred racehorses or event horses with a core lesion to the superficial digital flexor tendon undergoing a standard conservative rehabilitation programme.

We aim to follow these recruited patients from close to the point of injury and then at subsequent monthly intervals. Each examination would involve the horse undergoing an ultrasound examination during which the opposite limb is lifted and lowered multiple times. The procedure takes no longer than 30 minutes and can be done at your clinic or on the yard.

If you are able to assist with patient recruitment or require further information, please contact Connie Bowkett-Pritchard [email protected] or Peter Clegg [email protected] at the University of Liverpool.

24/09/2024

🚨 Breaking news 🚨

Liverpool university has been placed the top of all veterinary programmes in the UK by the Times and Sunday Times 🎉

Read more here:

https://www.thetimes.com/uk-university-rankings/league-table

19/09/2024

🦏🦏🦏🦏🦏👍👍👍

19/09/2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78d67enlgjo

All creatures great (and not so small), our talented equine team are prepared to deal with all….. 🦏🦏🦏🦏🦏

Specialist surgeons perform a ground-breaking operation on a rhinoceros at a Merseyside safari park.

12/09/2024

A number of staff from our equine hospital, practice and veterinary postgraduate unit teams are attending and presenting at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) congress in Liverpool over the next 3 days. If you are attending, please pop over to say hello - the stand is up & happy hour will be starting soon too!

16/08/2024

Equine vet and student team volunteering visit to Egypt

Helen Braid, one of the vets from our equine practice team, and four Liverpool final year vet students have recently returned following a 3 week trip to the Animal Care in Egypt - ACE hospital based in Luxor. Helen and the students (Alex, George, India and Rhiannon) volunteered their services at Animal Care in Egypt as part of our final year student electives programme. Our hospital and practice team regularly volunteer their equine veterinary expertise to support a number of different UK and overseas charities. It is great that we are able to help benefit the health and welfare of horses in the UK and overseas and also provide our students with the opportunity to see veterinary care from a different perspective. Please see below for a summary of the trip. If you would like to donate and learn more about what this wonderful charity does, go to: www.ace-egypt.org.uk.

Following Luke Edwards’ visit to the charity last year, we set up a new elective for our veterinary students for 2024 (an elective is a three week clinical placement that the students choose to do at the very end of their degree). Helen and four of our final year students flew out to Luxor (Helen had a brief interlude in Cairo on the way down!). The team were based at Animal Care in Egypt’s hospital in Luxor. Animal Care in Egypt (ACE) is a UK-based charity and their veterinary clinic has a team of highly skilled Egyptian veterinary surgeons and support staff running a busy multi-disciplinary hospital. The vets at ACE work to very high evidence-based standards and provide excellent veterinary care to their patients. The charity also provide educational programmes for Egyptian vets, locals, school children and tourists.

The visit also coincided with a major heatwave with Helen and the student team performing their veterinary duties in sweltering temperatures reaching 49C degrees some days and not dropping below 36C at night. The donkey and horse inpatients and outpatients kept them busy, with patients coming and going in a variety of very different and interesting methods of transport (and very willing and well-trained donkey and horse passengers!).

The team treated many wounds, battling with the local fly population (whose bites hurt!) to keep these wounds clean and free from developing maggots and infection. With much flushing and wound care from the team at the clinic, alongside painkillers and short courses of antibiotics, these wounds quickly started to heal with excellent results.

We are so lucky to have easily-accessible vaccinations against tetanus for our UK horses – unfortunately, this is not the case in many parts of the world, including Egypt. As a vet with 11 years experience, Helen has been privileged to have only seen three cases of tetanus in the UK, which is a reflection of how successful our vaccination programme is in this country. Within three weeks in Egypt, she witnessed four cases of tetanus in donkeys – some recovered but even with intensive care, sadly some did not make it. Rabies is also seen in Egypt, with donkeys and horses mainly being infected following bites from infected dogs. Sadly, this is a fatal disease and also provides a challenge for vet teams when providing care for animals who may potentially be infected, as any bite or scratch should be considered as a potential risk requiring a prophylactic course of rabies vaccinations, as there is no cure for rabies and the disease is fatal. We are incredibly privileged in the UK to live in a country where rabies is eradicated (it has been eradicated in the UK since 1922), so having to consider rabies as a potential risk was a new experience for our students!

There was never a dull moment – sarcoids, kick wounds, leg fractures….. you name it. But they did get the opportunity to do a bit of local sight seeing in this amazing country before heading back home (as the heatwave also ended!).

Well done to Helen and the student team (Alex, George, India and Rhiannon) and a big thank you to Animal Care Egypt and all of their wonderful staff for their support and hard work. Please take a look at the fantastic work they perform and help to support them if you can (www.ace-egypt.org.uk).

27/07/2024

Look at this lovely foal go!

Boris was admitted to the Phillip Leverhulme Equine Hospital in May this year for emergency treatment when he was just two days old. He received around the clock care in our intensive care unit from our hospital team and students. It was so rewarding for everyone to see him recover.

We are delighted to see him doing so well at home.

18/07/2024

Congratulations to our 2024 vet graduates! 🎓🩺🐾🐄 🐴🐰🎉 It’s been a pleasure teaching you all - where have those years gone? Wishing you all every success in your veterinary careers. We hope that you enjoy the evening celebrations tonight with your family and friends too. Thanks also to wonderful Merseyside Police horses Carter and Silver and riders Constable Jess and Constable Vicki.

16/07/2024

Calling all equine surgical ECVS / ACVS residents:

The University of Liverpool presents Veterinary Fundamentals in Arthroscopic Surgical Training course - September 9-10th 2024 at Leahurst Campus. Aimed exclusively at ECVS and ACVS residents, this course provides in-depth training in core equine arthroscopic skills focusing on carpus/tarsus and distal limb. Delegates will receive high-quality practical training in the fundamental skills required to explore and treat common conditions successfully.

To see course details and book a place go to: https://payments.liv.ac.uk/short-courses/veterinary-postgraduate-unit/day-evening-courses/equine-cpd/veterinary-fundamental-arthroscopic-surgical-training

19/06/2024

Thoroughbred and Thoroughbred cross horse volunteers needed!
Owners and Vets - Can you help?

We are conducting an exciting study on tendon injuries of the lower leg in horses. This project is investigating a potentially better way to monitor tendon healing after injury. This is a non-invasive study using equipment similar to what we use for standard ultrasound scans of horses' legs.

This study will involve horses wearing an adapted tendon boot that holds a different type of ultrasound probe. They will also have a weighted saddle pad placed as shown in the picture. The tendons will be assessed when the horse is standing and when a foreleg is intermittently lifted up as in the video.

What do we need?
• We need to scan a small number of Thoroughbred (Tb) and Tb cross horses that do not have any tendon injuries as a comparison (Normal group). These horses need to be 5 years old or less or 15 years of age or older.
• We also need a small group of Tb racehorses (any age) that have recently being diagnosed by a vet as having an injury to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT)
• The procedure takes less than 60 minutes and horses do not need to be sedated.
• The scan can be performed at Leahurst or at your yard (ideally no more than 90 minutes from Leahurst) and will be done in conjunction with your vet (injured horses)

For more information or to discuss enrolling a horse in this study, please contact veterinary surgeons Connie Bowkett-Pritchard [email protected] or Professor Peter Clegg [email protected]. This project is funded by the Horseracing Betting Levy Board and has full ethical approval from the University of Liverpool.

19/06/2024

If you are at the Royal Cheshire Show today why not come and say hello to our team of veterinary surgeons from the Equine Hospital (including specialist equine surgeon Dave Stack and equine internal medicine specialist Amie Wilson) and Leahurst Farm Animal Practice, together with some of our wonderful vet students and researchers on the university’s stand in the Agricentre tent? Lots of treats and a chance to have a go at calving on one of our 🐮teaching models!

23/05/2024

Veterinary physiotherapists, we're inviting you to take part in our survey investigating occupational injuries associated with working with horses. The study is being undertaken by veterinary physiotherapist and postgraduate student Victoria as part of her University of Liverpool Master’s degree. All answers are valuable to our research and you do not have to have sustained an injury at work to participate in the study. If you would like to take part (the questionnaire is completely anonymous), please click on the link or scan the QR code and read through the information before completing the online survey.

Survey link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/liverpool/survey-of-equine-veterinary-physiotherapists-injuries

Thank you in advance for participating - it really helps improve our understanding of the risks involved in working with horses as a veterinary physiotherapist.