The Seller’s Declaration has been revised with the support of British Equestrian (BEF) and British Horse Society (BHS) to make the purchase process more efficient for both buyer and seller.
BEVA says the new Declaration is a more extensive, stand-alone document which the buyer should request from the seller directly before the formal process of the PPE commences.
In this way the seller is obliged to disclose any pertinent information, such as previous lameness, stereotypies, specific management requirements, previous veterinary interventions and details of preventative dental care and worm control, prior to the PPE proceeding.
Lucy Grieve, Veterinary Projects Officer at BEVA, said: “BEVA’s new Seller’s Declaration will iron out the PPE process to make it smoother and more efficient for all three parties involved: buyer, seller and vet.
“The advantage is it cuts out the vet as a middleman… asking if the horse has received any medication, or coughs on dry hay and so on.
“The new Seller’s Declaration means that the seller should declare those things to the buyer straight off.
"If completed in advance, it should give the buyer more robust information on which to base proceeding with the PPE or not.”
https://www.beva.org.uk/Resources/Clinical-resources/PPE-toolkit
That'll bring the GB list price down from £434 to £347.20, something which can only be good news at a time when the veterinary profession is facing greater scrutiny over the cost of care than ever before.
The company says it will also be increasing the product discount, which can be discussed with its Account Managers.
MSD says the price drop makes Bravecto Injectable the most affordable way to protect dogs with Fluralaner and highlights the convenience of annual dosing and the fact that it avoids tricky discussions about where to buy the product.
https://www.msd-animal-health.co.uk/
For the challenge, Wendy had to run for at least 20 minutes every day.
On a previous attempt, she reached day 605 before being put out of action with a skiing injury.
Wendy's work takes her to all sorts of interesting places and sticking to the challenge has had her running in the African bush, through the jungles of Sumatra and on the ice in Japan, braving temperatures as low as -20C in Finland, to 35% during an Italian heatwave.
It has also meant running on through a 10-day bout of dysentery!
At the end of it all, Wendy raised over £3000 for The Painted Wolf Foundation, a charity working to reverse the decline of painted wolves.
Wendy said: ‘I first saw painted wolves in Botswana twenty years ago – a pack ran out in front of us and I hadn’t seen them before.
"They were stunning.
"The more I learned about them – how they work together, collaborate and look after each other – the more drawn I was to them.
"They are on the IUCN red list, which means they are critically endangered, with only around 6,500 left spread across southern and eastern Africa.
"I decided to use my 1,000-day streak to raise money for the Foundation to support the work being done to help these amazing animals.’
https://www.gofundme.com/f/running-for-1000-days-for-painted-wolves
https://paintedwolf.org
HaemoVet haemostats are individually sterile packed in a variety of forms ranging from dental cubes, flex dressings and flowable powder.
Invicta says the range is affordably priced with dental cubes costing £1 each, packaged in 24 individual blistered packs with a three-year shelf life.
Rob Watkins, Managing Director of Invicta, said: “Most practice staff are familiar with using absorbable haemostats in routine and emergency surgery.
"However, statistics show that just 17% use them regularly1.
"Many staff cited price as a reason and this coupled with the rising costs of consumables spurred us to bring an affordable option to practices.”
The HaemoVet range comprises of sponges, powders or flowable syringes of gelatin matrix designed to provide rapid and safe haemostasis2.
For dental applications, there is also a sponge impregnated with colloidal silver.
Rob added: “The HaemoVet range provides practices with a much more affordable option and are carefully packaged in individual sachets to avoid waste to make it the economic and environmental product of choice.”
HaemoVet is available from Invicta Animal Health, which will also give training and information on its use.
T: 01403 791313Email: mail@invictavet.comW: invictavet.com/haemovet
References
To help practices engage with pet owners on the topic, Animalcare has developed a collection of educational waiting room display materials, social posts and a national competition for the best practice-to-client dental communication.
For the competition, practices are invited to submit photos of their waiting room display and/or social media videos which show how Plaqtiv+ dental care products are used as part of a home oral hygiene routine.
Each element counts as an entry, so submitting a video and a photo of a practice waiting room display counts as two entries for the prize draw to win a Nespresso coffee machine and pods worth £180.
Submit your entries to animalcare@animalcare.co.uk, including your name, practice name, practice postcode and photos of your waiting room display or a link to your social media video.
animalcare.co.uk/dentalhealthmonth
In the first episode, host Ian Wolstenholme will be joined by Dr David Reader, Senior Lecturer in Competition Law at the University of Glasgow, and Dr Scott Summers, Lecturer in Law at the University of East Anglia.
David and Scott, who've used the CMA investigation as a focus for their research, will talk about what prompted their investigation, what the CMA is seeking to understand and why this scrutiny matters for practices, clients, and the wider veterinary sector.
They'll provide insights into things like transparency, pricing, consumer trust, and how regulatory attention may influence day-to-day clinical and business decisions.
Ian said: “We will try and hone in on what the changes will mean in reality for independent practices with advice and guidance on implementation and delivery, drawing on the experience of our own team and other experts in the profession.”
FIVP Practice Matters is available from Spotify, Apple, and the FIVP website.
Each year, the Louise O’Dwyer Bursary recognises a Vets Now nurse who exemplifies a commitment to advancing veterinary nursing and upholding Louise’s passion for shared learning.
The winner gets a £2,000 CPD allowance to further their professional development and inspire others.
During her time as Principal Nurse Manager (Maternity Cover) at Hemel Hempstead, Alice has championed team development, mentoring colleagues and encouraging further qualifications.
She introduced a skills rotation programme to ensure all team members, nurses, vets and animal care assistants alike, remain confident in essential procedures, and has played an important role in supporting new clinicians and fostering a collaborative approach to complex cases.
Alice plans to use the bursary funding to pursue a Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Medical Nursing) at the Royal Veterinary College, aiming to bring fresh insights back to both the Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes teams.
Alice said: “I’m truly honoured to receive the Louise O’Dwyer Bursary.
"Louise’s dedication to education and her infectious enthusiasm for emergency and critical care have inspired so many of us.
"I hope to use this opportunity to deepen my expertise in medical nursing and share that knowledge with my colleagues, just as Louise did.”
Veterinary surgeons will also be asked to verify each horse’s health status via a brief questionnaire (around 4 minutes).
The results of the questionnaires will be used to develop a scoring algorithm to measure the impact of health on a horse’s quality of life.
Zoetis says support from the veterinary profession is going to be pivotal to its ability to deliver a valid and reliable measurement tool, one that has the potential to transform the welfare of horses worldwide.
To that end, vets who contribute will gain early insight into a scientifically validated HRQL instrument designed to:
If you would like to participate, of if you would like more information contact Dr Cory Noble at cory.noble@zoetis.com.
The company makes GIQuest, a patient-side lateral flow faecal calprotectin test, which it says can be used to guide next steps in dogs and cats with chronic GI conditions, including chronic enteropathy (CE; previously IBD), food responsive enteropathy (FRE) and GI side-effects associated with NSAID use.
Carus says that a validation study conducted at the University of Bristol has shown that its GIQuest can reliably distinguish dogs and cats with inflammatory enteropathy from healthy controls, with high sensitivity and specificity.
The company says faecal calprotectin is already well established in human medicine as a non-invasive marker of intestinal inflammation and is increasingly being adopted in veterinary practice to support diagnostic decision-making and treatment monitoring.
Lucy Williams MRCVS, from Carus Animal Health, said: “Individual case experiences often highlight nuances that don’t always come through in formal studies.
"Bringing these together can help illustrate how faecal calprotectin testing is being applied in different clinical scenarios, from refining diagnostic pathways to supporting monitoring and owner communication.
"By sharing practical insights from everyday cases, the profession can collectively build confidence around when and how this tool is most useful in practice.”
Case studies can be submitted by both veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses and may include, but are not limited to: dogs or cats with chronic or recurrent GI signs, suspected inflammatory enteropathies, monitoring response to dietary or treatment trials or identification of GI inflammation in patients receiving long term oral NSAIDs.
As a thank you for taking part, the five strongest submissions will each receive a £100 gift card, and the first 20 eligible entries will receive free access to a GI-focused CPD course with The Webinar Vet.
In addition, entries submitted before 31st January will be entered into a draw to win a delegate ticket to SPVS Congress (Birmingham, 26–27th February), worth £675.
Entries close on 1st March.
Further information and case study form/guidelines available here: https://carusanimalhealth.com/giquest/prizes
https://carusanimalhealth.com/giquest
The awards celebrate talented veterinary professionals who are going above and beyond for their patients and clients, supporting wellbeing and positive workplace culture, driving positive change across sustainability, delivering inspirational leadership and mentoring, and pushing the boundaries of veterinary science.
The winners will be announced at a special awards dinner at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on Thursday 11 June 2026, as part of BVA Live.
BVA President Dr Rob Williams MRCVS said: "Our new BVA Awards event is a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on our outstanding vets and veterinary teams.
"If you know an inspirational vet or vet team who always goes the extra mile, this is your chance to nominate them and give them the recognition they deserve.”
The Awards:
The nomination deadline is 16 March 2026.
https://www.bva.co.uk/membership/bva-awards-2026/
In the UK-wide online study, 1,772 dog owners assessed short clinical “vignette” scenarios describing 30 common canine conditions, based on VetCompass patient records.
Each owner reviewed three scenarios and judged both the likely condition and how urgently veterinary care was needed.
Their responses were compared with consensus opinions from experienced veterinary surgeons.
Owners were highly accurate at recognising conditions with clear visible signs, including epilepsy, kennel cough, flea infestation, anal gland disease and osteoarthritis.
However, they were less accurate with conditions that have more variable or subtle signs, such as mast cell tumours, glaucoma, diabetes and gastrointestinal foreign bodies.
Owners also underestimated the urgency of treatment in 28.4% of responses.
Conditions most often rated as less urgent than veterinary surgeons advised included ear infection (otitis externa), corneal ulcers and heatstroke.
Underestimating urgency is a major welfare concern because it can delay treatment, prolong suffering and, in severe cases, result in death.
Participants also reported which information sources they used, both for the vignette scenarios and habitually for their own dogs.
The most commonly used sources for their own dog’s health were personal knowledge or experience (73.7%), contacting their local veterinary practice (61.1%) and internet searches (49.2%).
Reputation (66.8%), factual correctness (65.6%) and availability (39.5%) most influenced their choice of information source.
Using online dog health groups—either habitually or to identify vignette conditions—reduced the accuracy of assessments.
Habitual use of these groups also increased the risk of underestimating urgency by 30%.
However, when used specifically to help answer the vignette scenarios, dog health groups reduced the risk of underestimating urgency by 50%.
General internet searching improved condition recognition but had no effect on urgency assessment.
Owners who habitually contacted their veterinary practice for advice were more likely to judge urgency in line with veterinary recommendations, highlighting the importance of strong working relationships between owners and practices.
The researchers suggest that telephone triage, telemedicine and veterinary-endorsed information resources may play an increasing role in supporting better decision-making.
Emerging AI tools may also help in future, although further research is needed to assess the reliability and risks of such systems.
Dr Rowena Packer, Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science at RVC, said: “This study highlights a welfare gap between what dog owners observe and how they perceive the need for veterinary care.
"Problems without obvious external signs are most at risk of having urgent treatment underestimated.
"With better triage support, including telemedicine and carefully designed AI tools, there is an opportunity to improve awareness and reduce harmful delays.”
Reference