The Underdog Vet Podcast

Welcome to this episode of The Underdog Vet Podcast!

In this episode’s Animal Advocate Interview, I spoke with Katherine Clarke an internal medicine specialist at a large referral practice in Hertfordshire, England.

After graduating from Bristol vet school in 2011 Katherine started her vet career in a first opinion, small animal practice before embarking on the long journey to specializing in internal medicine.

Katherine and I had a very enjoyable chat that covered a wide variety of thought-provoking subjects including the best, the worst and the funniest parts of the job!
 
This is such a great episode and I’m excited for you to hear it!

Terms mentioned in this episode:
MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (type of advanced imaging)
CT: Computed Tomography (type of advanced imaging)TPLO: Tibial Plataea Levelling Osteotomy (a surgical technique for addressing cranial ligament rupture injury)
Antibiotic Stewardship: An organisational or healthcare system-wide approach to promoting and monitoring judicious use of antimicrobials to preserve their future effectivenessClinical Sign: Another term for a symptom seen with an illness
UPC: Urine Protein Concentration, used to measure the amount of protein in the urine

Welcome to this episode of The Underdog Vet Podcast!

WARNING - THIS EPISODE BRIEFLY DISCUSSES THE SUBJECT OF SUICIDE, IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING RAISED IN THE TALK, PLEASE USE THE LINKS PROVIDED IN THE EPISODE TEXT

In this episode’s Animal Advocate Interview, I spoke with James Russell, the President of Vetlife.

Vetlife is a charity that provides independent, confidential and free help for everyone in the veterinary community including vets, vet nurses, students and non-clinical staff.
James joined the charity in 2016 as a volunteer, and in 2023 became the President of the charity.
 
James started by telling me about the origins of the charity, why it was set up and how it’s being run today. We went on to discuss some of the unique challenges those who work within veterinary medicine face and how it can affect their mental health. We concluded our chat by talking about the importance of having a supportive workplace and recognising potential difficulties and what we can do to help both ourselves and our colleagues in
those circumstances.

Links:
Vetlife Website: https://www.vetlife.org.uk/
Vetlife Helpline: 0303 040 2551
Vetlife Impact Report 2024: https://www.vetlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Vetlife-Impact-Report-2023-D4.pdf
Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/
Sophie's Legacy: https://sophieslegacy.com/

Welcome to this episode of The Underdog Vet Podcast!

In this episode’s Animal Advocate Interview I welcome back veterinary surgeon and researcher Dr Paula Boyden.

Paula first joined me on Episode 5 of Series 1 where we discussed the important work of The Links Group - you can find the link to that in this episode's details.

Paula wears a variety of hats within animal welfare, and in this episode she was chatting with me about something she's done a lot of research in - importing dogs into the UK.

Paula and I started by talking about the importing of puppies and dogs into the UK, we then moved onto the thorny subject of exotic diseases that may be introduced into the UK by dogs coming from other countries and finished by delving into the risks posed to the UK dog population by some of these diseases.

Terms used in our discussion:
Shedding: Spreading viral particles while you talk, exhale, eat etc
Vector: Any organism that functions as a carrier of an infectious agent between organisms of a different species

Sandfly: A colloquial name for any species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking fly
Vertical Transmission: The transfer of virus from parent to offspring
Vector borne: Diseases that are transmitted to humans and other animals by blood-feeding arthropods, such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas
Heartworm: A parasitic roundworm, a small thread-like worm, which causes dirofilariasis in dogs.

Dirofilariasis: Infection of the heart in dogs by the parasite Dirofilaria, transmitted by certain insect bites.

Non-endemic Disease: Diseases not routinely found in a country/area.
Clinical Signs: Signs and symptoms of a disease seen in those suffering from it.

Links:
APHA: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-plant-health-agency
DEFRA: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
The Balai Directive: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/balai-directive-registration-of-premises-to-export-animals#:~:text=The%20Balai%20Directive%20states%20that,completed%20to%20register%20a%20premises.
Association of Dogs and Cats Homes: https://adch.org.uk/
BSAVA Info for Vets on Brucella canis: https://www.bsava.com/article/brucella-canis-bsava-scientific-information-document/
Puppy Contract Info: https://puppycontract.org.uk/
Kept Animals Bill Info: https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/kept-animals-bill/
Paula's Previous episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/51iK6u5giwqDB2idTtLxrd?si=PziFymrDT6qjvgiiyywgag

Paula's Previous episode on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s1-e5-paula-boyden-bvetmed-mrcvs-the-links-group/id1605602533?i=1000560413671

Welcome to this episode of The Underdog Vet Podcast!

In this episode’s Animal Advocate Interview, I spoke with Dr Meghan Vaught a vet from the Maine Veterinary Medical Centre in Maine on the East coast of America.
 
Meghan is a Critical Care Specialist and one of the medical directors at the hospital. She was the lead vet on a particularly upsetting case back in June 2022.
 
Meghan and I discussed the details of the case, its coverage in local media and the subsequent repercussions of that coverage.
 
We then moved on to talk more generally about the impacts on vet staff, team morale and the importance of teamwork. And finally we spoke about how pet owners can be best prepared for unexpected veterinary bills!

Some terms mentioned in the podcast that not every listener might be familiar with:

Free fluid/pleural effusion: Fluid seen in spaces within the body where it shouldn't normally be seen
Double cavity: Meaning more than one body cavity is affected eg the chest and the abdomen
Core Credit: Financial services company
Wells Fargo: Financial services company

Links:

Dr Meghan Vaught's Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mvaughtdacvecc/
Maine Veterinary Medical Center Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rarebreedvets/
Not One More Vet: https://www.nomv.org/
Vetlife: https://www.vetlife.org.uk/
Maine Veterinary Medical Centre Statement: https://www.instagram.com/p/CetDa8JNSbo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Support the podcast: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theunderdog

Welcome to this episode of The Underdog Vet Podcast!

In this episode’s Animal Advocate Interview, I spoke with Jemima Harrison, a TV producer, dog rescuer
and all-round animal welfare campaigner who also runs a small gundog rescue.
 
She’s probably best known for having produced the ground breaking investigative documentary Pedigree Dogs
Exposed.
It aired on BBC One back in 2008 and exposed a multitude of welfare issues within the pedigree dog
breeding and showing industries.
 
Jemima and I discussed the heart breaking issues raised in her documentary, whether she feels things have
improved since then and what her latest projects are.

Definitions:
Coefficient Of Inbreeding: Inbreeding is a measure of how closely related your dog’s parents were. The higher the inbreeding coefficient, the more closely related the parents. In general, higher inbreeding coefficients are associated with increased incidence of genetically inherited conditions, reduced fecundity, and reduced life span
IVDD: Intervertebral Disk Disease (https://vetspecialists.co.uk/fact-sheets-post/intervertebral-disc-herniation-or-slipped-disc-fact-sheet/)
DCM: Dilated Cardiomyopathy (https://vetspecialists.co.uk/fact-sheets-post/dilated-cardiomyopathy/)
F1/F2/F3 Cross: F1 crosses in animals can be between two inbred lines or between two closely related species or subspecies.
DM: Degenerative Myelopathy (https://veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/canine-degenerative-myelopathy/)

Links:
Pedigree Dogs Exposed: https://documentaryheaven.com/bbc-pedigree-dogs-exposed/
Pedigree Dogs Exposed Blog: ⁠http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com/
Coefficient Of Inbreeding information from BSAVA: https://www.bsava.com/position-statement/inherited-diseases-and-exaggerated-characteristics/
Brachycephalic Working Group: http://www.ukbwg.org.uk/
CRUFFA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cruffa/?locale=en_GB
Anti epilepsy Drug that can cause birth defects: https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/sodium-valproate/#:~:text=The%20risks%20of%20valproate%20during%20pregnancy&text=It%20can%20harm%20the%20baby,as%20the%20child%20grows%20up.