Veterinary Voices UK

29/09/2025

Please, don't punish me.
I'm not naughty, I'm scared.

➡️Challenging canine behaviour has been on the rise; over a quarter of owners say their dog has developed at least one new problem behaviour during lockdowns.

➡️One study found that dogs under three years of age are at a proportionately high risk of death due to undesirable behaviours.

➡️The theory of 'dominance' as a corrective technique has led to an increase in punishment-type behavioural corrections.

➡️This punishment training style is concerning to evidence-based behaviour professionals

➡️Recent literature highlights the negatives and damaging effects these corrections can have on dogs.

✅Please, choose your behaviourist or dog trainer wisely...

✅Read more here:
https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/dominance-debunked

✅Read more here:

Dog Behaviour and Training, Does Aversive Training Work Better Than Other Methods?
https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/dog-behaviour-and-training-does-aversive-training-work-better-than-other-methods

29/09/2025

Is it necessary to assert dominance over our dogs like a wolf pack leader?

Should we allow a new puppy to sleep in our bedroom with us during their first few nights?

"We're concerned about the rise in self-proclaimed dog trainers on social media sharing downright dangerous misinformation."

Tune in as Rosie Bescoby, clinical animal behaviorist from Pet Sense - Dog, Cat & Rabbit Behaviour debunks some behaviour and training myths with ⁠vet Danny Chambers.

Rosie shares her expertise, providing invaluable insights into responsible and effective training, and discusses the link between pain and behavioural problems.

Listen to their chat here⬇️
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/Dog-Training---Should-We-Be-The-Dominant-Wolf-e2j9771

28/09/2025

Rethinking Career Progression in Veterinary Medicine: A Conversation with Jamie McClement

Listen Here 🎧: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4pmj1Axjl1J8NRVTzf3uGw?si=1dg2hju_RZivs9ZLpvVguQ

In veterinary medicine, it's easy to place immense pressure on ourselves to succeed. We often feel we must juggle everything—clinical work, home life, exams, further education, side projects, and more. But this constant balancing act can lead to stress, dissatisfaction, and feelings of inadequacy. Imposter syndrome becomes a quiet companion. But does it have to be this way?

In this conversation, Jamie McClement BVSc MSc CertSAS FRSB FRCVS and senior vice chair for the Association of Advanced Veterinary Practitioners shares his journey from general practice to referral vetting. Initially, Jamie was determined to keep a hand in every area of veterinary work. But over time, he came to realise that trying to do it all wasn’t sustainable—or beneficial. Instead, he discovered that narrowing his focus wasn’t a failure, but a way to deliver better care and make the most of his skills.

Reflecting on this transition, Jamie explains:

“Because if you try to do everything, especially things that you're not massively good at, it just gets really, quite, quite stressful, and you don't really enjoy it so much.”

In typical Jamie fashion, even moments of serious insight come with a touch of humour. He recalls a conversation that unexpectedly shaped his thinking:

“One of my uncles actually was speaking about this with me. He just said something so dull—he said that what he does is, he has like a five-year plan. Every five years he sits down with his wife and works out what they want to do, what their goals are. And I thought, that is just the most boring thing I've ever heard.
And then I realised—I was drifting. He’d had a really successful career. And actually, it turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. It gives you focus. It makes you stop and ask, ‘What do I actually want to do?’”

We also explore how critical interpretation of clinical literature is a skill that many in the profession don’t develop until much later in their careers—something that could be introduced and nurtured much earlier.

Another key topic we discuss is the evolution of the veterinary nursing profession. Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) are attaining advanced qualifications and training, yet many report that their workplaces aren't adapting fast enough to fully utilise their skills. This lack of opportunity can lead to deep frustration and career stagnation.

They reflect on the missed potential; There’s a real sense of disillusionment among RVNs who’ve undertaken higher education, only to return to roles where nothing has changed. It’s demoralising to invest so much in your development, only to find your scope hasn’t expanded.

This conversation is a timely reminder: Progression doesn’t always mean doing more. Sometimes, it means doing less—but doing it better. And importantly, it means creating space for others in the profession to grow, thrive, and feel valued.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4pmj1Axjl1J8NRVTzf3uGw?si=1dg2hju_RZivs9ZLpvVguQ

26/09/2025

26/09/2025

Should pain be better considered as a cause of behaviour issues?

Small animal vet and APBC registered behaviourist Sophie White (BVetMed MSc MRCVS) describes her perspective on the relationship between chronic pain and behaviour, giving some great tips to manage behavioural problems in a more simple way. In conversation with our very own Danny Chambers MP, they discuss this fascinating topic, and Danny reflects how this may relate to equine veterinary practice.

Sophie describes how she combined her passion for working with dogs experiencing chronic pain with behavioural issues after encountering problems with her own rescue dog. This started her journey to better understand the relationship between the pain and behaviour. Now, years later in her capacity as referral behaviour specialist she reports around 50% of cases sent to her by vets are clinically unwell, with pain the untreated root cause of the behaviour issue. This includes gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal pain. We discuss why this may be, including discussions about how pain can often be masked in the consulting room.

We discuss the topic of euthanasia due to behaviour problems, and how a lot of guilt is often felt putting an otherwise healthy animal to sleep. We consider the animal welfare perspective, and how in order to put safe precautions in place for human safety animal welfare may be compromised, making euthanasia a better option for some animals.

Sophie discusses the benefit of a pain relief trial if there is even a tiny chance of pain being a factor, ideally before referral to a veterinary behaviourist.

Pain is a subjective personal experience and cannot be ruled out. Referral is still an important thing to do, particularly when dealing with aggressive animals for safeguarding purposes, but whilst waiting to see her, patients could be undergoing a pain relief trial so the behaviour issue can be dealt with more quickly. If referral isn’t an option within the context of this client/ patient then a pain relief trial or discussion with a veterinary behaviourist about medications, may also bring some comfort to the client that before euthanasia is considered, they have tried something for their animal.

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/pain-should-be-considered-as-one-of-the-leading-factors-in-behaviour-issues-e2rij4s

25/09/2025

September: Pain Awareness Month

Is mutilation perfect?
Is unnecessary aesthetic procedures perfect?
Is pain perfect?

Ear cropping is illegal in England and Wales, under Section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and Northern Irish and Scottish equivalents ban the practice unless medically indicated. Furthermore, ear cropping of dogs is a prohibited surgical operation in all European states that have ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals (Council of Europe 1987).

➡️Despite this, it's on the increase

Despite this figures released in February 2022, show a 621% increase in the number of reports of ear cropping raised with the RSPCA (England & Wales) in the last six years.

Disappointingly, 4% of owners who got their pet from abroad did so because they wanted a dog with cropped ears. This is the equivalent of over 26 thousand dogs - not taking into account those illegally imported or done in the UK.

People cite injury and ear infection for a reason to crop - as well as status.

There is no evidence to back up their claims - ear cropping can be physiologically and psychologically damaging

Read more in The Skeptic

https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2023/03/time-to-drop-the-crop-why-cutting-off-the-tips-of-dogs-ears-is-never-right/

24/09/2025

September: Pain Awareness Month

Canine Arthritis Management once put out a 'Blunt Monday' stating that 100% of vets polled on a private veterinary forum would give NSAIDs to their own pet.

➡️Why did they ask this question?

In a recent poll in Veterinary Voices UK 73% of veterinary professionals had experienced owners who had stopped or refused treatment with NSAIDs citing safety concerns as the reason why - this is partly due to a huge amount of misinformation surrounding NSAIDs in animals.

Anecdotes are very powerful but are not based on evidence... so what is the evidence and why are people so scared?

Read more in our article 'Death By Pain Relief? Probably not'.

Please remember that that the risk of serious adverse effects from NSAID use is very low. However, NSAIDs are very effective pain controlling drugs, and denying their benefits without a realistic assessment of the risks may lead to animals being left in pain with a significantly reduced quality of life.

https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/post/will-nsaids-cause-renal-failure

24/09/2025

Pain Awareness Month

'He's limping, but he's not in pain!'

This is something we hear, a lot.

And unfortunately it can lead to a huge amount of pets carrying on with chronic pain without the necessary medicinal or multimodal support.

An article by Vet Help Direct helps to explain more about where this confusion stems from:

Limping and stiffness can be caused by several different conditions. The most common being acute injuries and skeletal issues like osteoarthritis (OA). As many as 80% of dogs over 8 years old have OA in one or more joints.

The way that our dogs display pain may not be how we expect; limping usually equals pain or discomfort!

The article covers:

➡️ The difference between acute and chronic pain
➡️ If your pet will ever limp without pain
➡️ Treatment options

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2022/04/12/your-dogs-limping-that-means-hes-in-pain/

22/09/2025

Dealing With Imposter Syndrome with Katie Ford

Despite passing all their exams and being fully qualified, many veterinary professionals feel as though they are somehow a fraud, not capable of doing their job to a high enough standard, and going to be found out.

"Imposter syndrome is often the curse of high achievers."

In this humourous and personal discussion, Danny Chambers and Katie Ford discuss how vets can identify and deal with Imposter Syndrome.

Katie Ford is a vet, a coach, and an expert in dealing with Imposter Syndrome. More info at www.katiefordvet.com and here on Vet Voices.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dealing-with-imposter-syndrome/id1729083308?i=1000644122255

18/09/2025

➡Risk factors for Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome

➡How can we avoid extreme conformation and breed for longevity, health and welfare in brachycephalic dogs?

💬Conformational risk factors of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) in pugs, French bulldogs, and bulldogs

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5538678/

We all know that many brachycephalic breeds are appealing to prospective owners, and although the trend of buying these breeds is reducing slightly they are still incredibly popular. Because of their popularity, breeders who are working hard to breed flat faced breeds with less extreme conformation and improved health cannot keep up with demand - so unscrupulous and unethical breeders take their place.

We know that brachycephalic dogs have health conditions linked to their conformation. We should be doing everything in our power to breed away from these issues.

Take a look at the study above, it is interesting to note that within the breeds seen, BOAS risk factors varied!

Although brachycephalic dogs can include, but not limited to, English Bulldog, French Bulldog, Pug, Chihuahua, Shih Tzu and more there are breeds within this group of flat faced breeds who are 1) experiencing a trend of extreme breeding and public desire for extreme conformation and 2) experience different issues associated with brachycephalism.

For example, we know that these issues are not simply just related to Brachycephalic Obstructive airway syndrome but also some of these breeds may be more predisposed to dystocia, spinal/ neurological disorders (linked to the bob or corkscrew tail), ocular disorders, sleep disorders and skin disorders.

Again, there are some breeds typically not associated with brachycephalism that are also presenting with BOAS, and even within these brachycephalic groups there risk factors can vary.

BOAS can be related to a number of conformational issues such as mega glossa, inverted saccules, stenotic nares, soft palate obstructions, chondromalacia of larynx and more.

If we can understand the conformational risk factors we can start to work towards breeding these dogs for healthier conformation. This includes ensuring they have a tail, open nares, elongating the snout while also trying to ensure that this correlates with internal structure positive change.

This study also bring up factors such as eye width, neck length and shoulder width as possible factors (and various ratios associated with these measurements).

Therefore when looking to pick a puppy, we can look at their features alongside health tests to ensure that breeders are making positive change in their breed.

➡Pugs
Among the direct measurements, the BOAS (+) dogs had significantly greater eye width. Pugs with moderately/severely stenotic nostrils had greater odds of being BOAS (+) than those with open/mildly stenotic nostrils. There was a clear trend that the higher the functional grade, the higher the proportion of high-BCS

Conformational factors EWR (Eye width ratio (EWR): eye width / skull width and Skull index (SI): skull width/ skull length were significantly associated with BOAS after adjusting for other factors. There was a tendency for dogs with higher EWR and SI to be more likely BOAS (+)

➡ French Bulldog

French bulldogs that had moderately/severely stenotic nostrils had greater odds of being BOAS (+) than those with open/mildly stenotic nostrils. Neck girth ratio (NGR): neck girth (NG) / chest girth (CG) was significantly associated with BOAS in French bulldogs.

➡ English Bulldog
Neuter status, stenotic nostrils, and neck girth (NG) / chest girth (CG) (NGR) were significantly associated with BOAS index.

➡ Other considerations

Have you viewed the mum and puppies together in a home environment (multiple times)?
Have they all been microchipped before leaving?
Has dam and sire been health tested?
Have they received appropriate preventative care?
Have they both had a 'Respiratory Function Grade' done, at least within the last 1-2 years?
Did they whelp naturally?
Can you hear mum or dad breathing loudly when at rest?
Do they have excessive skin folds?

➡ Remember, you may have your heart set on one of these breeds, and if you are prepared to care for their needs, then you may consider getting one.

But you must NOT fuel the irresponsible (and sometimes illegal) breeding of these dogs with poor health and welfare. Please, pick the breeders who are trying to improve their dogs to become healthier and have less extreme conformation.

17/09/2025

Social Media is a great way to disseminate good information to lots of people.

It's also a good way for misinformation to be shared and 'cute' images to reach thousands without thought to how it could encourage poor animal health and welfare.

'Bro was shocked' - a dog with extreme facial folds shows 'shock' when their folds are pulled up manually so they can actually see.
Bro was shocked, you know what? We are too.

Shocked, disappointed, disheartened.

Skin fold dermatitis results from skin friction, moisture and lack of ventilation deep in skin folds, and can be very painful and irritating. Skin folds can occur within typical conformation (body shape) in some breeds, or can follow obesity or skin diseases.

A study by Vet Compass at the The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) found:

➡️ Skin fold dermatitis is often a chronic problem requiring life-long skin care. Before purchasing a breed with marked skin folding, owners should commit to the dog’s need for life-long skin care.

➡️ Breed-typical skin folds promote undesirable antibiotic use in dogs.

➡️By moving away from extreme body shape such as short skulls in highly predisposed breeds such as English Bulldog, French Bulldog and Pug , future generations could be protected from skin fold dermatitis.

✅ This research adds further evidence to the welfare concerns around high popularity of dog breeds with extreme body shapes.

16/09/2025

Dog Bite Awareness

Report videos like this, educate yourself and your children on respecting dogs, giving them space and reading body language.

➡️ Animal videos on social media can be cute, but veterinary and behaviour professionals regularly see some that are described as adorable when in fact they fill us with anxiety to see!

➡️Reading a dogs body language can be difficult, but it's important to teach all the family how to pick up signs of a stressed, upset or agitated dog, especially children. Dogs usually tell us MANY times before they bite but often in a very subtle way.

➡️Everyone has their bad days, and we must not push our canine companions to the brink of their patience by failing to recognise telltale signs that the situation they are in makes them uncomfortable.

➡️Every dog is individual, some climb the ladder of communication/reaction (see picture in comments) quickly, others will be telling us for a LONG time that they are unhappy and are uncomfortable with the situation before they are pushed to react.

➡️ Veterinary professionals come across many people who tells us the dog has bitten without any warning, but the likelihood is (although not in every case) that the dog was telling us and we just didnt know how to listen and we know it can be very hard, which is why we want to educate.

Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC stated:

➡️Dog behaviour expert Dr Carri Westgarth, from the University of Liverpool, said: "It is important to remember that any dog can bite regardless of how well you know the dog, and most bites will occur in the owner's home.

"...We should ensure that we give dogs their own safe space to be alone, give them plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, and when your dog wants to be left alone - leave them be.

"Dog bites to children can be very severe so ensure that you observe children and dogs closely and intervene when necessary.

"Dogs do not want to bite you, it is a last resort response for them, so watch out for any warning signs of them being uncomfortable in a situation and remove yourselves, or them, from it."

Every dog is individual but some signs are:

➡️Licking lips?
➡️Yawning?
➡️Whale eye?
➡️Frozen?
➡️Crouching?
➡️Tense?
➡️Rolling on back?
➡️Ears back?
➡️Panting?
➡️Turning away?

It may save a life, a child or the dogs!

Listen to our Podcast on how to recognise the signs a dog is uncomfortable and may be about to bite
Dog Bites - Is It All A Big Misunderstanding?⬇️
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/veterinary-voices/episodes/Dog-Bites---Is-It-All-A-Big-Misunderstanding-e2g0766/a-aavthnv