Vet Voices On Air

What if it's not arthritis?
Lower back pain can look like hip osteoarthritis, behavioural change, skin disease, anal gland problems or simply people thinking it's just ‘old age’. Diagnosing it requires far more than finding one painful spot—it takes careful history-taking, clinical reasoning and seeing the bigger picture.
In this episode of Vet Voices on Air, we sit down with RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Neurology Colin Driver to explore the complexities of diagnosing and managing chronic lower back pain, particularly degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS). From recognising subtle behavioural changes and differentiating neurological from orthopaedic disease, to understanding when imaging, medical management or surgery may be appropriate, Colin shares practical advice that every veterinary professional can take back into practice.
But this conversation quickly becomes about much more than spinal disease.
We discuss what contextualised care really means, why there is rarely a single "right" answer for every patient, and how balancing evidence, patient welfare, owner circumstances, ethics and finances is one of the greatest challenges in modern veterinary medicine.
The episode also takes an honest look behind the scenes of specialist practice. Colin speaks openly about complications, cognitive bias, decision-making under pressure and the emotional burden of making mistakes—topics that are rarely discussed publicly but affect every veterinary professional.

What happens when three veterinary students are trusted to think differently?
This episode begins with an incredible achievement: three University of Cambridge veterinary students who won a Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) competition, securing up to £100,000 to turn their vision into a real-world project.
But this isn't simply a story about winning a competition—it's a conversation about the future of veterinary medicine, the role of students, and why One Health thinking has never been more important.
Together, Francesca Haldane, Shreya Patel, Rudi Bruijn-Yard share how they developed an ambitious proposal to tackle Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Uganda through a sustainable, community-led vaccination programme designed to outlive external funding.

The launch of the Innate Health Assessment (IHA) has sparked a passionate debate in the dog world.
*Special Extended Episode*
Supporters see it as a practical, simple tool to help improve canine welfare by addressing extreme conformation. Critics have raised concerns about fairness, scientific validity, breed identity, and fears that it could ultimately threaten certain breeds.
To separate fact from fiction, Veterinary Voices UK sat down with Professor Dan O'Neill, veterinary epidemiologist at the Royal Veterinary College and one of the architects of the IHA, alongside Marisa Heath, Director of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare  (APGAW) and a long-standing animal welfare advocate.
Veterinary Voices UK opened up the discussion to everyone to pose their questions and concerns, and the discussion explored the most common questions raised by breeders, owners, veterinary professionals and the wider dog community.

In this episode, Robyn is joined by Dr Camilla Edwards from First Opinion Veterinary Ultrasound (FOVU) for a really practical, honest conversation about making ultrasound less scary and more useful in everyday practice. If your machine is gathering dust, only comes out for the odd pyometra, or you feel that familiar imposter syndrome every time you pick up the probe – this one’s for you.

In the latest Vet Voices on Air, Robyn is joined by Dr. Marie Francesca Menniti, MRCVS (residency-trained clinical nutritionist) to unpack a hot topic in pet feeding: home-prepared diets.