Veterinary Record最新文献

The 2025 horse breeding season sees the release of the 49th consecutive edition of the Horserace Betting Levy Board Codes of Practice for the prevention and control of specified infectious diseases. In this article, Sidney Ricketts, James Crabtree and Richard Newton describe how the first edition of the codes came about in 1977 and their evolution over the past five decades.

Background: Negative veterinary client complaint behaviour poses wellbeing and reputational risks. Adverse events are one source of complaint. Identifying factors that influence adverse event-related complaint behaviour is key to mitigating detrimental consequences and harnessing information that can be used to improve service quality, patient safety and business sustainability.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with five veterinary client complainants and five veterinary client mediators. Qualitative content analysis of the transcripts was used to identify categories of capability, opportunity and motivation influencing client behaviour. One category of motivation identified focused on the desired outcomes of complainants. Two hundred and eighty resolved veterinary‒client mediation cases related to adverse events subsequently underwent content analysis to quantify these desired outcomes.

Results: Client complaint behaviour was motivated by clients' emotional reactions, perceptions and beliefs and desire to achieve an outcome as a result, and was influenced by previous complaint experience, technological ability, self-confidence and broader organisational and societal factors. Although financial redress was the most commonly identified desired outcome, apology, honesty, accountability and prevention of future events were valued.

Limitations: Small data sets and interpretative analyses limit the generalisability of the findings.

Conclusions: Proactively engaging clients in relation to adverse events is likely to reduce negative complaint behaviour and facilitate veterinary quality improvement.

Background: Gastrointestinal ulceration in cats can be life threatening due to the risk of perforation and septic peritonitis. However, the ultrasound findings associated with this condition and their diagnostic sensitivities have not been described. Therefore, this multicentre retrospective study aimed to describe the clinical features and ultrasound findings for cats with gastrointestinal ulceration and estimate the diagnostic sensitivity of in these cases.

Methods: Hospital medical record databases were retrospectively searched for feline cases with 'ulcer' keywords. Cats were included in the study if they had undergone an abdominal ultrasound followed by surgical, endoscopic or postmortem histopathological verification of gastrointestinal ulceration.

Results: Twenty-four cats were included. On ultrasound examination, all cases showed a mucosal defect filled with hyperechoic microbubbles located in the stomach (29.2%), pylorus (16.7%), duodenum (29.2%), jejunum (20.8%) or ileocecocolic junction (4.2%). Single lesions were present in 75% of cases. Perforations occurred in 16.7% of cases. Wall thickening was detected in 62.5% of the cats, and loss of wall layering was observed in 54.2%. Underlying aetiologies included neoplasia (33.0%), inflammation (33.0%), trauma (12.5%) and foreign bodies (12.5%).

Limitations: The retrospective design limits standardisation of ultrasound techniques and records, thereby potentially limiting the generalisability of the findings.

Conclusion: Ulceration was identified by ultrasound in 75% of cats. Solitary ulcerative lesions with associated wall thickening and crater-like defects were most commonly documented.

Background: Veterinary communication plays a key role in client satisfaction, patient outcomes and clinician wellbeing. Communication assessment tools can help to facilitate improvement strategies.

Methods: Over a 5-month period, pet owners attending a small animal hospital were asked to complete a survey assessing their understanding of commonly used veterinary terms and phrases, either online or in paper format. Scores were used to identify areas requiring improvement and investigate the effect of demographic characteristics on owner understanding.

Results: A total of 378 completed questionnaires was received. Over 97% of owners rated the quality of veterinary communication as good or moderate to good. However, approximately one-fifth believed that communication could be improved. While veterinary terms and phrases were broadly understood, none was correctly interpreted by all respondents, and common misconceptions were identified. Respondents with prior medical knowledge scored higher.

Limitations: The survey methodology allows for misinterpretation of questions, response bias and non-compliance with the requirement that respondents do not receive help in completing the survey from external sources.

Conclusion: While pet owners generally perceived veterinary communication to be good, some commonly used terms and phrases were frequently misinterpreted. Vets should therefore be encouraged to use lay terms when communicating with clients and to take time to confirm that their intended message has been fully understood.

Background: Good oral health is essential for the performance and welfare of cattle, as it directly affects their feed intake and feed efficiency. However, little is currently known about the epidemiology of dental disease in cattle.

Methods: This study investigated the prevalence of lesions in the dental arcades of 1006 slaughtered cattle. The periodontal evaluation was performed by the same person, using a periodontal probe and flashlight as the heads passed down the slaughter line, and the results were recorded on an odontogram.

Results: Of the 1006 slaughtered animals evaluated, 115 (11.4%) were male and 891 (88.6%) were female; 735 (73.1%) were beef cattle and 271 (26.9%) were dairy cattle. Gingival recession was more frequent in incisors, while periodontal pockets were observed mainly in incisors and molars. Dairy cattle showed a higher prevalence of gingival recession and periodontal pockets than beef cattle. In beef cattle, an association was observed between age and gingival recession, while in dairy cattle, age was linked to tooth wear. No significant differences were observed between males and females.

Limitations: As the examinations were carried out postmortem, it was not possible to evaluate the prevalence of gingivitis.

Conclusion: The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the complex relationship between sex, breed type, age and oral health in cattle, highlighting the need for further research to clarify these associations and develop targeted management strategies to promote animal health and welfare.