Tag: equine
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On yer bike…
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I would like to introduce you to something I discovered during my time researching for Horrible Histories: the dandy horse – a horse that, while not a living creature, still managed to cause stress for veterinary surgeons. The British dandy horse was developed from the German Von Drais’ pedestrian cycle and was at the height…
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The revision roller coaster
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At this stage of the year, it’s hard for me to write about anything but revision. So, for those of you reading this as a means to escape, I can only apologise. At the same time, if your idea of time off from studying is reading my work-related articles, then I think we need to…
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DO look a gift horse in the mouth
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If you don’t come from a “horsey background” (like me) then the equine side of the vet course can feel a little overwhelming. From a different number of ribs and guttural pouches to the inability to vomit, horses have an abundance of clinical differences to our smaller patients, and so (quite rightly) often need to…
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Do I have a hound or a horse?
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The longer I live with a greyhound, the more I recognise similarities between owning a greyhound and owning a horse. I’m not quite at the stage where I’m considering a stable for Joey, but there are definitely personality traits and physical needs that are very similar between equids and hounds. Plastic bags Ah yes, the…
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Diarrhoea at midnight: the OOH conundrum
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The veterinary staffing crisis is hitting out-of-hours providers, which could potentially have a huge impact on the rest of the profession. Practices that outsource their out-of-hours care have been warned to have a contingency plan, while those struggling to staff their own in-house OOH services won’t have the option to outsource. There is no ideal…
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Lockdown 2.0 as a vet
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During the last lockdown, I wrote about the struggles of working in a veterinary practice through COVID. And while that has changed slightly, it has still been an extremely tough year for all members of staff throughout the profession. In March, practices up and down the country resorted to emergencies only, and postponed all routine…
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Mixed new grads
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As a student, I remember sitting in the passenger seat of a farm vet’s car on the way to a cow caesarean, desperately trying to remember anything he might ask me about calvings. Instead, he quizzed me on the top 10 small animal emergencies. I think he was trying to reassure me that not many…
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Accessibility to veterinary medicine, part 2: attracting students
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So why is the veterinary profession struggling to attract students from underprivileged backgrounds? Whether it has anything to do with economical geography or not, many vets will tell the same story – they were told repeatedly during their childhood and teenage years that they would never make it as a vet and to pick another…
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The borrowers?
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Having written on what I see as the perils of the popularity of “borrowing” pets via apps and websites, I was saddened to see that, with the COVID-19 puppy boom, these are now being seen as a “normal” alternative to doggy day care. A sad narrative of puppy farm dogs with behavioural issues and ill…
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What would you do?
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Having returned from an equine visit, I clambered out of the car in the practice car park and started gathering some equipment that needed cleaning. A few parking spaces over, one of our other vets was stood with her back to me, sporting a visor, deep in conversation with a client via a rolled down…