News

Research reveals Vitamin D as potential determinant of cancer immunity and immunotherapy success

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 09:49:00 GMT

Specialist pathologist researchers from the ��app (RVC) – working alongside The Francis Crick Institute (FCI) and other partners – have discovered that a diet high in vitamin D encourages the growth of a type of gut bacteria in mice which improves their immunity to cancer. These findings indicate a connection between vitamin D and the immune system, suggesting how increased levels of vitamin D could also play a crucial role in cancer immunity and immunotherapy success in humans.

Mouse colon: small size, combined with careful handling and processing allows the whole mouse colon to be histopathologically assessed.

The research revealed that mice showed better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers when feeding them higher quantities of vitamin D, as well as improved responses to immunotherapy treatment. Similar effects were also apparent when gene editing was used to remove a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood and keeps it away from tissues.

Essential for bones and teeth, the body produces vitamin D as a response to sun exposure. While direct sunlight is the most accessible source of vitamin D, typically between October and March in the UK, we don’t get enough sun exposure. Vitamin D can be found in a small number of foods, and supplements can be useful in helping provide the daily requirement and avoid people developing deficiencies.

Building further on the RVC’s partnership with the FCI in specialist histopathology expertise, Dr Alejandro Suarez-Bonnet and Professor Simon Priestnall of the RVC provided expert assessment of the intestine of the mice providing crucial data to support the study. This included uncovering that vitamin D acts on epithelial cells in the intestine, which in turn increases the amount of a bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis. This microbe gave mice better immunity to cancer as the transplanted tumours didn’t grow as much. Understanding how this happens is something the researchers are now exploring.

To test whether the bacteria alone could strengthen cancer immunity, mice on a normal diet were given Bacteroides fragilis. Findings indicated that these mice were more likely to resist tumour growth but not when they were placed on a vitamin D-deficient diet.

Prior studies have proposed a link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk in humans, although the evidence hasn’t been conclusive. To build on previous work, the researchers analysed a series of data sets and analysis of cancer patient populations, which suggested that people with low vitamin D levels were correlated with tumour development, and gene signatures of vitamin D activity were associated with improved patient responses to immunotherapy.

Although Bacteroides fragilis is also found in the microbiome in humans, more research is needed to understand whether vitamin D helps provide some immune resistance to cancer through the same mechanism.

Dr Alejandro Suarez-Bonnet, Anatomic Pathology Residency Director, and Lecturer in Comparative Pathology, at the RVC said:

“In the delicate balance of health and illness, this outstanding research has revealed the power of vitamin D to shape the immune response against tumours, illuminating new pathways for effective cancer therapies. Scientific findings like these reinforce our passion and determination to fight cancer from every front possible."

Professor Simon Priestnall, Head of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, and Professor of Veterinary Anatomic Pathology, at the RVC, said:

“This important work builds on the RVC’s reputation as a leader in experimental histopathology expertise. It also crucially demonstrates how independent in vivo assessment contributes to greater understanding of how to positively impact cancer treatments in humans. More research is now needed to give us deeper insight into the role of vitamin D but the potential possibilities we’re beginning to uncover in preventing or treating cancer is incredibly fulfilling and exciting.”

The research team comprised researchers from the RVC, the FCI, the National Cancer Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Aalborg University in Denmark.

Notes to Editors

Image caption: Mouse colon: small size, combined with careful handling and processing allows the whole mouse colon to be histopathologically assessed.

Reference

Evangelos Giampazolias , Mariana Pereira Da Costa, Khiem C. Lam, Kok Haw Jonathan Lim, Ana Cardoso, Cécile Piot, Probir Chakravarty, Sonja Blasche, Swara Patel, Adi Biram, Tomas Castro-Dopico, Michael D. Buck, Richard R. Rodrigues, Gry Juul Poulsen, Susana A. Palma-Duran, Neil C. Rogers, Maria A. Koufaki, Carlos M. Minutti, Pengbo Wang, Alexander Vdovin, Bruno Frederico, Eleanor Childs, Sonia Lee, Ben Simpson, Andrea Iseppon, Sara Omenetti, Gavin Kelly, Robert Goldstone, Emma Nye, Alejandro Suárez-Bonnet, Simon L. Priestnall, James I. Macrae, Santiago Zelenay, Kiran Raosaheb Patil, Kevin Litchfield, James C. Lee, Tine Jess, Romina S. Goldszmid, and Caetano Reis E Sousa. Vitamin D regulates microbiome-dependent cancer immunity. Science (April, 2024). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh7954

The full paper can be accessed here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh7954

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk

Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

Ken Follett, international best-selling author is Blood Donor Appeal's first donor

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:57:00 GMT

We are celebrating the 20th birthday of our life-saving Blood Donor Programme – which has supported thousands of cats and dogs over the years. To mark the special occasion and provide more pets with this vital service, we have launched a special appeal to raise £150,000 to build the team a new home.

Our Blood Donor Programme is the first and only veterinary hospital in the UK with a dedicated transfusion medicine service. It is also the only organisation in the UK that stores feline blood products. Since the first donor cohort of just 19 dogs twenty years ago, the programme currently benefits from 150 dogs and 62 cats who regularly donate their blood to others being treated at the RVC Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA).

As well as ensuring a reliable supply of blood products for our hospital, the programme has also pioneered the development of transfusion medicine in cats and dogs carrying out research into the welfare of donors, how to store cat blood and amazingly, using dog blood to help cats.

This was the case for Millie, a six-month-old kitten who was brought into the RVC with acute anaemia and hypoglycaemia, and Feline Infectious Peritonitis. While the condition is nearly always fatal without therapy, thanks to first donor Neville, a ginger tabby, and then an emergency xenotransfusion from Willow, a border collie, Millie made a full recovery. Neville’s owner, Nicole, said “The donor team were always fantastic with Neville. He always came home happy and full of treats. Knowing that his donation has helped save the lives of other cats makes me feel very proud.”

Similarly, Rocco a three-year-old Chihuahua, had been attacked by other dogs and suffered extensive soft tissue and skeletal damage including pelvic fractures, acute kidney injuries, bite wounds and needed to have a back leg amputated. Rocco received several life-saving blood transfusions from donors Mabel, Murphy and Oliver. Owner Po said, “The families who bring their pets to give blood are amazing, we can’t thank them enough.”

With the service expanding over the years, the demand for cat and dog blood continues to grow. While fundraising efforts for the Blood Donor Programme have taken place for several years, in its 20th year, we have launched a special birthday appeal to raise £150,000 towards creating new facilities. This will not only improve the experience for donors but will also create separate dedicated areas for dogs and cats and give the team space for their own laboratory to process and store donated blood products.

Dan Chan, a local resident and the RVC’s Professor of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, said:

"I've seen first-hand how blood donations help pets every single day and the ground-breaking clinical treatment and expert care that is provided at the hospital.

“Thanks to our special donors, blood transfusions have saved thousands of lives at the RVC over the last two decades and there are many more in need of help. Therefore, this appeal is essential in allowing us to expand and enhance our current facilities to ensure even more cats and dogs can be treated. Anything you donate will be hugely appreciated and help us to achieve this important goal.”

The special appeal’s first donor is Ken Follett, founder of the Follett Trust and best-selling author, who said:

“The aim of The Follett Trust is to support local charitable causes and those causes which are close to mine and my wife, Barbara’s, hearts. As dog lovers, we have had many Labradors over the years, and so have seen first-hand the high-quality care provided by the ��app. We are grateful to the RVC for its continued dedication to both pets and their owners and are proud to be able to support this new and vital venture.”

Donate Today

Find out more about or Blood Donor Programme's life saving work by reading our supporter magazine Paws & Hooves

RVC researchers help uncover potential breakthrough in treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn��app�s or Colitis)

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:09:00 GMT

Pathologists from the ��app (RVC) have been working with scientists from the Francis Crick Institute (FCI) to untangle a complex pathway that could help explain how interactions between microorganisms and the body’s immune defences lead to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Currently, 1 in every 123 people are living with Crohn’s or Colitis in the UK.

These incurable conditions cause excessive intestinal inflammation leading to persistent symptoms like abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The intestinal immune response to microorganisms is tightly controlled to limit inflammation, but when factors like genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers combine, this inflammation can progress and cause disease.

Dr Alejandro Suarez Bonnet, Lecturer in Comparative Pathology and Professor Simon Priestnall, Professor of Veterinary Anatomic Pathology at the RVC, led the assessment and validation of the in vivo experiments. Their paper has been recently published in Nature Immunology and builds on the now well-established strategic partnership between RVC and FCI in expert histopathological support. It is hoped this work could lead to the identification of new ways to treat inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr Alejandro Suárez-Bonnet commented:

“This publication is the product of a multidisciplinary approach with the contribution of top scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and the collaboration of RVC pathologists. As a veterinary and comparative pathologist specialist, I am very proud to say that the work I do on a daily basis helps to reveal the mechanisms of diseases in human patients. The work we perform during months, sometimes years, is fundamental to validate in vivo results which eventually leads to high impact publications such as this.”

Professor Priestnall said:

“This exciting research builds on the now well-established partnership between the RVC and the Francis Crick Institute in provision of specialist histopathology expertise. We work with a large and growing number of Crick research groups to evaluate and assess in vivo models for a range of diseases from colitis and TB to cancer. The input we provide from experimental design through to reporting is often crucial for proof of in vitro concepts and ultimately publication.”

Cytokines are small proteins that are crucial in controlling the growth and activity of other immune system cells and blood cells. Mutations in the cytokine IL-10 (Interleukin 10 ) or its receptor result in IBD in children, suggesting the pathway is important in controlling intestinal inflammation. Earlier research by the same team have previously shown that two other proteins known as transcription factors, c-Maf and Blimp-1, drive the activity of the IL-10 gene in T cells.

In the current study, researchers deleted one or both proteins in T cells to understand their role in maintaining gut health. Removing these proteins was not enough to induce colitis, but when combined with an environmental trigger – infection with the bacteria Helicobacter hepaticus – IL-10 activity in T cells was reduced and inflammation progressed.

The researchers revealed that each protein was protective against inflammation in different ways beyond their action on IL-10, acting additionally through different immune pathways that impact distinct T cell activities.

The team uncovered how these pathways could be relevant in human IBD by studying data from colon biopsies of patients with IBD. There were similarities in the genes expressed in humans with IBD and the bacteria-induced inflammation resulting from an absence of either c-Maf or Blimp-1.

More about RVC Pathology services: /pathology-and-diagnostic-laboratories

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

The RVC celebrates 20 years of life-saving blood donations by launching birthday appeal

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 08:55:00 GMT

The RVC is celebrating 20 years of its life-saving blood donation programme provided at its North Mymms Hawkshead campus – which has supported thousands of cats and dogs over the years. To mark the special occasion and provide more pets with this vital service, the RVC’s charity, The Animal Care Trust (ACT), has launched an appeal to raise £150,000 towards new facilities.

Established in 2004, the RVC’s blood donor programme is the first and only veterinary hospital in the UK with a dedicated transfusion medicine service. It is also the only organisation in the UK that stores feline blood products. Since the first donor cohort of just 19 dogs twenty years ago, the programme currently benefits from 150 dogs and 62 cats who regularly donate their blood to others being treated at the RVC’s Small Animal Referral Hospital.

As well as organising a reliable supply of blood products to its Small Animal Referral Hospital, the RVC has also pioneered the development of transfusion medicine in cats and dogs carrying out research into the welfare of donors, how to store cat blood and amazingly, using dog blood to help cats.

Similarly, Rocco a three-year-old Chihuahua, had been attacked by other dogs and suffered extensive soft tissue and skeletal damage including pelvic fractures, acute kidney injuries, bite wounds and needed to have a back leg amputated. Roco received several life-saving blood transfusions from donors Mabel, Murphy and Oliver. Owner Po said, “The families who bring their pets to give blood are amazing, we can’t thank them enough.”

With the service expanding over the years, the demand for cat and dog blood continues to grow. While fundraising efforts for the blood donor programme have taken place for several years, in its 20th year, the ACT is launching a special birthday appeal to raise £150,000 towards creating new facilities. This will not only improve the experience for donors but will also create separate dedicated areas for dogs and cats and give the team space for their own laboratory to process and store donated blood products.

Dan Chan, a local resident and the RVC’s Professor of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, said:

"I've seen first-hand how blood donations help pets every single day and the ground-breaking clinical treatment and expert care that is provided at the hospital.

The special appeal’s first donor is Ken Follett, founder of the Follett Trust and best-selling author, who said:

“The aim of The Follett Trust is to support local charitable causes and those causes which are close to mine and my wife, Barbara’s, hearts. As dog lovers, we have had many Labradors over the years, and so have seen firsthand the high-quality care provided by the ��app. We are grateful to the RVC for its continued dedication to both pets and their owners and are proud to be able to support this new and vital venture.”

Supporters can share donations with the RVC by visiting www.rvc.ac.uk/act or calling 01707 666237.

As part of the appeal, the RVC will announce its cat and dog ‘winners’ of its ‘Blood Donor of the Year’ awards next month as well as celebrating those pets who have played an integral part in donating over the years, in celebration of World Blood Donor Day in June.

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

About The Animal Care Trust

The RVC Animal Care Trust (ACT) is the RVC’s registered charity and has been raising funds for the RVC’s hospitals, research and students since 1980.

The RVC retains top spot in global rankings

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 09:01:00 GMT

The ��app (RVC) is, for the fourth consecutive year, celebrating its leading position for Veterinary Science in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2024. It is the fifth time the RVC has earned the top ranking.

QS analysed the reputation and research of almost 5,000 institutions across 55 narrow subject areas and five broad subject areas, creating more than 19,100 ranked entries. The rankings were then finalised using several indicators including, Academic Reputation; Employer Reputation; Citations per Paper; and H-Index, which quantifies the output and influence of scholarly output.

For the eighth consecutive year, the RVC maintained its perfect score of 100 for Academic Reputation. It has also strengthened its achievements in Employer Reputation, reflecting the employability and impact of the RVC’s graduates and alumni and the institution’s standing amongst employers. The institution’s scores for citations and H-Index have also improved at 99.7 and 98.1 respectively.

Professor Stuart Reid CBE, President & Principal of the RVC, said:

‘’We are delighted to receive news of the latest QS rankings and to know that, in a highly competitive sector, our reputation continues to be recognised internationally. Being ranked highly by one’s peers is humbling, and I am grateful for the efforts of all those who contributed to this outcome. It is particularly pleasing that our graduates and alumni are making such a positive impact with their employers in their chosen careers.’’

The RVC offers internationally recognised undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. Complementing each other, these programmes support the RVC’s veterinary remit and are also underpinned by an intensive research portfolio. Teaching in its internationally renowned first-opinion and specialist referral services provides students with access to innovative diagnostics and treatments across numerous species throughout their education and training.

The full set of rankings can be found at: https://www.TopUniversities.com/subject-rankings/2024

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivodevivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2024.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

The RVC helps shape international agreement on what constitutes naturally healthy body shapes for dogs

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:01:09 GMT

The International Collaborative on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) has published a position paper, heavily informed by research from the ��app (RVC), that helps owners to recognise good innate health in dogs. The international agreement is the first of its kind and provides a guide for animal caregivers, and the wider public, to identify healthy natural physical characteristics in dogs and to predict and assess potential health and welfare based on body shape. This will help anyone who cares about dogs to understand how likely a dog is to suffer from negative impacts resulting from an extreme conformation.

Innate health is a concept that has been developed following a decade of research at the RVC and refers to a dog’s capacity to enjoy life without limitations from health issues linked to extreme conformations. Common examples of these health risks include chronic pain caused by, for example, eye ulcers because of protruding eyes, or physical incapacity, such as being unable to sleep or exercise fully due to breathing difficulties caused by being flat-faced.

Also acting as an informative guide, the new paper identifies examples of extreme conformation that prospective owners can look out for and hopefully avoid when deciding on the type of dog they will acquire. These include:

Flat-faces (brachycephaly)
Large and protruding eyes
Shortened, twisted legs
Facial or body skin folds
Tailessness
A clearly overshot or undershot jaw
A disproportionately broad head and shoulders
Eyelids turned in or out
A bulging or domed skull
A sloped back with an excessively low rear end and excessively flexed hind legs.

Conversely, a dog with good innate health because of its naturally healthy body shape should have the ability to breathe freely and oxygenate effectively; maintain body temperature within a normal physiological range; move freely without effort or discomfort; eat and drink effectively; hear, smell, see, self-groom, eliminate and sleep effectively; communicate effectively with other dogs; and, where applicable, breed without assistance.

ICECDogs Infographic - click for full version

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor for Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC and co-founding ICECDogs member, said:

“I have spent the past decade researching and developing the innate health concept at the RVC in London. No owner ever wants an unhealthy dog but the huge popularity of dogs with extreme conformations suggests that many owners have not fully grasped the link between body shape and quality of life for dogs.

“The new ICECDogs position on innate health helps owners understand that extreme conformations are not natural, normal, healthy or desirable for dogs. Innately healthy body shapes can now become a new normal for dogs that we can all celebrate.”

The RVC and other evidence suggests that many dogs with extreme conformations endure a lifetime of potential or real suffering from poor innate health which can significantly reduce their overall quality of life. The ICECDogs paper has received support from major UK dog welfare groups that are part of the UK’s Brachycephalic Working Group and builds on the RVC’s wide research in this field.

Dr Dan O’Neill, who is also Chair of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group, further added:

“The UK BWG welcomes this international position that consolidates our shared human ethical commitment to avoiding extreme conformation in dogs. The BWG supports all welfare-focused activities that aim to protect the health and welfare of dogs from the adverse impacts of brachycephaly as an extreme conformation in dogs.”

Aiming to raise awareness about what a naturally healthy body shape in dogs looks like, as well as hopefully contributing to a decline in ownership trends of dogs with extreme conformation, the ICECDogs is calling for support from owners, breeders and the general public to improve the welfare of dogs by:

Not promoting, breeding, selling, or acquiring dogs with extreme conformations
Carefully considering the issues relating to extreme conformations before taking a final decision on what type of dog to acquire
Understanding the criteria for good innate health and insisting that every dog must meet these innate canine norms.

Dr Michelle Groleau, ICECDogs member and Director Animal Welfare, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), said:

“The escalation of extreme conformations in animals and the serious harms resulting from them are a priority issue for the CVMA. There is an urgent need for the public to be made aware of the severity of the current situation and to learn how they can contribute to a solution”.

The full ICECDogs paper, can be accessed at: www.icecdogs.com.

Notes to editors

The full ICECDogs paper, can be accessed at: www.icecdogs.com

More information about the UK’s Brachycephalic Working Group, can be found at: http://www.ukbwg.org.uk/

More information about the RVC’s VetCompass research, can be found at: /vetcompass/papers-and-data/original-publications

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

About ICECDogs

Further information is available at: https://www.icecdogs.com/

The International Collective on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) is a global multi-stakeholder group that works together to minimize welfare issues resulting from extreme conformations in dogs by seeking out and applying evidence-based canine and human approaches.

The current focus of the ICECDogs is to support national/regional multi-stakeholder groups engaged in the issues raised by extreme conformation in dogs, and to act as a leader in the development and dissemination of policy and guidance on minimizing extremes of conformation and promoting moderate, healthy conformation in dogs.

ICECDogs collaborates with (multi-)stakeholder groups in the following countries:

Australia
Canada
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
New Zealand
Sweden
United Kingdom

New research from the RVC highlights most common disorders in UK pet guinea pigs

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 19:00:08 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC) has identified the most common conditions in pet guinea pigs in the UK are overgrown nails, ringworm and eye ulcers. Several of these common conditions are linked to sedentary lives in captivity and therefore offer opportunities to reduce their frequency. These findings will not only help veterinary teams to improve clinical care for guinea pigs but also provide owners with evidence-based health information so they can provide more natural living conditions for their pets.

The guinea pig is a hugely popular pet in the UK. They are generally considered docile, lively and easy to care for by prospective owners. However, these beliefs may reflect limited awareness of common disorders due to the lack of research into the health issues affecting the subset of the species kept as pets.

Therefore, the study, led by the RVC’s VetCompass programme, investigated anonymised veterinary clinical records of a random sample of 3,785 guinea pigs from the 51,622 guinea pigs under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2019. Researchers analysed the diagnosis and mortality information to learn more about the most common disorders diagnosed in these guinea pigs and also about how long guinea pigs live overall.

Overgrown nail(s) was the most commonly recorded disorder overall, with a one-year frequency of 26.55%, showing that over a quarter of guinea pigs were affected every year. Other commonly recorded disorders included ringworm (dermatophytosis) at 6.02%; eye ulcer (corneal ulceration) at 4.99%; diagnosis not completed (formal diagnosis not reached) at 4.39%; anorexia (not eating) at 4.04%; and abscess (painful; infected swelling) at 4.02%.

The study also identified substantial health differences between male and female guinea pigs. For example, male guinea pigs had shorter lifespans overall and were predisposed to bite injuries and dental disorders, whilst females were more susceptible to eye disorders.

Other key findings include:

The average adult bodyweight for guinea pigs overall was 1.05kg. The average bodyweight of males (1.10kg) was heavier than females (1.00kg).
The average age of guinea pigs in the study overall was 2.21 years. The average age of females (2.33 years) was older than males (2.14 years).
Female guinea pigs had a higher probability than males of corneal ulceration, ocular/conjunctival foreign body and abdominal mass.
Male guinea pigs had a higher probability than females of anorexia, bite injury, overgrown incisor(s), dental disease and wound(s).
The overall average age at death was 4.03 years. The average lifespan of females (4.58 years) was statistically higher than males (3.74 years).
The most common causes of death were anorexia, collapse and peri-anaesthetic death.
Only 2.95% of guinea pigs had a formal breed name recorded.

These results contribute to an improved understanding of the common disorders in pet guinea pigs in the UK. Many of the most common disorders such as overgrown nail(s)and corneal ulceration are related to animal care such as levels of exercise, diet and bedding conditions. Therefore, raising awareness of these risk can help owners to prevent and detect these conditions. Routine veterinary health checks are recommended for guinea pigs to allow early detection of disease and also provide an opportunity to advise owners regarding husbandry and diet.

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor of Companion Animal Epidemiology at RVC, and lead author of the study, said:

“This study highlights that many of the most common health issues of pet guinea pigs are related to how we keep them as pets in captivity. With this new awareness, owners can better understand the world from the guinea pigs' perspective and provide exercise, bedding and nail care to ensure these wonderful creatures enjoy healthier lives.”

Dr Vicki Baldrey, Lecturer in Exotic Species and Small Mammal Medicine and Surgery at RVC, and co-author of the study, said:

“This research will help us focus our undergraduate teaching and continuing education materials on the most commonly seen conditions in pet guinea pigs, to ensure vets are as well informed as possible, not only to diagnose and treat these much-loved pets, but to advise owners on optimal husbandry practices to prevent problems and enhance welfare.”

Notes to Editors

Reference

Dan G. O’Neill, Jacques L. Taffinder, Dave C. Brodbelt, Vicki Baldrey, (2024) Demography, commonly diagnosed disorders and mortality of guinea pigs under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2019 - A VetCompass Study. PLOS ONE

The full paper is available and will go live upon publication: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299464 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299464)

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

About the VetCompass™ Programme

VetCompass™ (The Veterinary Companion Animal Surveillance System) is an epidemiological research programme at the ��app (RVC) which investigates anonymised clinical records from veterinary practices to generate evidence to support improved animal welfare. VetCompass shares information from more than 1,800 veterinary practices in the UK (over 30% of all UK practices) covering over 28 million companion and equine animals. To date, VetCompass™ has led to over 130 peer-reviewed publications that have supported welfare-focused work across the range of animal stakeholders including the wider general public, owners, breeders, academics, animal charities, universities and government.

For more information, visit: /vetcompass

X (Twitter): @VetCompass

Final year BvetMed Student attends fully funded dairy welfare rotation in Canada

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 11:50:00 GMT

Last month, RVC Year 5 BvetMed student Yuri Burton seized a unique educational opportunity by participating in a week-long dairy welfare rotation hosted by the University of Guelph in Canada. This fully funded program is designed to provide final-year veterinary students with hands-on experience in dairy cattle welfare.

The University of Guelph (Ontario Veterinary College) is among the select few institutions globally to offer a specialised rotation focusing on animal welfare to final-year veterinary students, accommodating 10-12 students per session.

The rotation, centred on the welfare of dairy cattle, offered participants a comprehensive understanding of herd management and preventative medicine. With a focus on bovine welfare, the program's teachings also encompassed high-level principles relevant to students pursuing various veterinary specialties.

Saputo, a leading company in the dairy industry operating in Canada, the UK, and other countries, sponsors the rotations. This sponsorship enables students from distant locations to attend by covering transportation and accommodation costs, eliminating financial barriers to their educational opportunities.

RVC student Yuri said:

“Attending the Dairy Welfare rotation at Ontario veterinary college was an amazing opportunity that not only allowed me to further my understanding on dairy welfare how we as vets can work with farmers to improve dairy cattle welfare but also provided opportunities to learn more about different production systems, some of which we do not operate in the UK. It was also a great opportunity to network with other students from around the world. During my time there I worked with veterinary students from the University of Guelph (Ontario Veterinary College), Université de Montréal, Tuskegee University and Bristol University. Derek, Lena and the whole team at OVC were amazing, they created a relaxed and supportive working environment that only added to the great experience”.

The dairy welfare rotation runs for one week, occurring twice per year in late November and early February.

The RVC celebrates 25 years of veterinary nursing courses

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:21:50 GMT

The ��app’s (RVC) Centre for Veterinary Nursing commemorated its Silver Jubilee Reunion on Saturday 16^th March. This follows 25 years of RVC undergraduate veterinary nursing courses and 16 years of postgraduate veterinary nursing courses. With more than 80 guests in attendance, the event welcomed alumni, past and current staff, as well as special guests and speakers to mark the significant milestone.

The day began with a welcome message from RVC President & Principal, Professor Stuart Reid CBE, followed by a series of guest speakers. Attendees were then invited on guided tours of the Hawkshead Campus where alumni reconnected with familiar surroundings as well as seeing the significant growth and development of the RVC’s facilities over the years.

The keynote speeches were delivered by prominent registered veterinary nurses (RVN) on their experiences and career journeys. Guest RVN speakers included Belinda Andrew-Jones, Matthew Rendle and Gemma Crowley as well as the RVC’s senior blood transfusion RVN, Charlotte Russo. They talked about their career journeys and showcased their passion for their work as well as their determination, leadership and ability to make the most of opportunities that came their way. Not only enriching their own careers but through dissemination, they also forged new opportunities for other RVNs.

Over the last 25 years, the impact of courses such as these has been substantial, and the sector has evolved. There are now more RVNs in leadership roles, they can own their own practices and VNs are awarded Professional Registration by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

The industry now celebrates a more diverse veterinary nursing population with many involved in research and dissemination of knowledge. There are also more academic development opportunities post registration at institutions including the RVC, including the new RCVS CertAVNs, MScs in VN and more RVNs undertaking PhDs.

The Silver Jubilee Reunion showcases the RVC’s continued commitment to excellence in veterinary nursing education. As a leading institution dedicated to high-quality education, professional development and career opportunities, its courses suit veterinary nurses at all stages of their careers. Its undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD courses help empower veterinary nurses while increasing visibility and promotion of the profession.

Perdi Welsh, Director of Veterinary Nursing at the RVC, said:

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary nursing courses over the past 25 and 16 years, respectively. The reunion provided a wonderful opportunity for our alumni, staff and guests to reconnect and reminisce about their time at the RVC and celebrate the wonderful contributions veterinary nurses make to the profession.”

Hilary Orpet, Deputy Director of Veterinary Nursing at the RVC, said:

“It’s incredibly fulfilling to have been involved in our veterinary nursing education from the start of the first-degree course to developing the Foundation degree and later the BSc pathway. The success of all veterinary nursing students who have graduated from the RVC is certainly something to be celebrated and the ideal opportunity to shine a light on the many who have gone on to become leaders within the profession.”

More information about Veterinary Nursing at the RVC can be found here: /study/veterinary-nursing

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New RVC research proves clinical benefits from surgical intervention for dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:31:00 GMT

A new study from the ��app (RVC) has revealed that surgical management of cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) ruptures in dogs causes better outcomes for reducing lameness compared to non-surgical management.

The study demonstrated substantial clinical benefits following surgical management for CCL, with short-term lameness reduced by a quarter and long-term lameness by a third. The study’s findings provide a strong evidence base for veterinarians and owners when deciding on the most appropriate treatment for CCL rupture in dogs.

Previous RVC VetCompass research* had reported that CCL rupture affects approximately 1 in 180 dogs and that Rottweilers, Bichon Frise, West Highland White Terriers and Golden Retrievers are at greatest risk of CCL rupture, with dogs most commonly affected in middle-age.

Decision-making on treatment for CCL ruptures often hinges on deciding between surgical and non-surgical management. However, until now, the evidence comparing clinical outcomes between surgical versus non-surgical management in dogs has been limited. Previous observational studies were limited to reporting associations that can be confounded rather than showing the truer causal link between treatment and outcome.

To fill these data gaps, this new study measured clinical outcomes following surgical vs non-surgical treatment for CCL rupture to report on short- and long-term lameness as well as the use of pain relief medication prescription. These data were analysed using novel causal inference methods and demonstrated a substantial causal link between receiving surgical management and better outcomes.

Led by the RVC’s VetCompass Programme and supported by an award from Dogs Trust, the study was based on anonymised clinical records from more than two million dogs under first opinion veterinary care in the UK in 2019.

This study applied causal inference methods to the analysis of random samples of 815 dogs with CCL rupture aged between 1.5- and 12-years-old to replicate a randomised clinical trial and explore the impact of the different treatment methods. Balancing the arms of the study for variables including age, breed and bodyweight, the researchers compared the outcomes for the dogs who received surgical management for CCL ruptures to those that were managed non-surgically.

The results showed that dogs managed surgically were 25.7% less likely to show short-term lameness at 3 months post-diagnosis and 31.7% less likely to show long-term lameness at 12 months post-diagnosis than dogs managed non-surgically.

Surgically managed dogs were 38.9% less likely to have a pain relief prescription at 3 months post-diagnosis, 34.1% less likely at 6 months and 32.7% less likely at 12 months than dogs managed non-surgically. These findings also similarly demonstrate lower longer term pain in surgically managed dogs.

Camilla Pegram, VetCompass PhD student at the RVC and lead author of the paper, said:

“This study used an exciting new approach that allowed us to determine ‘cause’ rather than being limited to ‘association’. Surgical management for CCL rupture is often considered as providing better outcomes than non-surgical management, but this study now provides an evidence base to support this. Whilst surgical management might not always be feasible for some dogs, the findings allow vets to quantify the benefit in their discussions with owners.”

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC and co-author of the paper, said:

“Uncertainty when deciding on the best treatment option for their ill dog is one of the hardest challenges for any owner. This new VetCompass research uses Big Data analyses from millions of dogs to give owners of dogs with cruciate rupture the best evidence to support the best possible treatment decisions. Good science should be caring as well as scientific.”

Paula Boyden, Veterinary Director at Dogs Trust, said:

“We’re delighted that Dogs Trust can support a wide range of groundbreaking studies through its Canine Welfare Grants. This study has revealed useful data that can help vets guide owners to make the most appropriate decision to deliver the best outcome for their dog. We hope this new insight will lead to improved dog welfare.”

Reference

The new paper:

PEGRAM, C., DIAZ-ORDAZ, K., BRODBELT, D. C., CHANG, Y., FRYKFORS VON HEKKEL, A., WU, C., CHURCH, D. B. & O’NEILL D.G. 2024. Target Trial Emulation: Does surgical versus non-surgical management of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs cause different outcomes? Preventive Veterinary Medicine.

The full paper is available from Preventive Veterinary Medicine and can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2024.106165

Previous supporting paper:

*PEGRAM, C., DIAZ-ORDAZ, K., BRODBELT, D. C., CHANG, Y., FRYKFORS VON HEKKEL, A., WU, C., CHURCH, D. B. & O’NEILL D.G. 2023. Risk factors for unilateral cranial cruciate ligament rupture diagnosis and for clinical management in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK. Vet J.

The full paper is available from Vet J. and can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2023.105952

Media enquiries

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research led institution with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

http://www.rvc.ac.uk

About the VetCompass™ Programme

VetCompass™ (The Veterinary Companion Animal Surveillance System) is an epidemiological research programme at the ��app (RVC) which investigates anonymised clinical records from veterinary practices to generate evidence to support improved animal welfare. VetCompass shares information from more than 1,800 veterinary practices in the UK (over 30% of all UK practices) covering over 28 million companion and equine animals. To date, VetCompass™ has led to over 120 peer-reviewed publications that have supported welfare-focused work across the range of animal stakeholders including the wider general public, owners, breeders, academics, animal charities, universities and government.

For more information, visit: /vetcompass

X (Twitter): @VetCompass

Media reactions of National Food Strategy overlooked need for greater government action for reform, say researchers

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 09:00:00 GMT

New research suggests that more emphasis on individual responsibility to tackle issues relating to food, instead of systemic change was pushed within media, in response to the National Food Strategy (NFS). Researchers from the ��app (RVC) alongside the University of Edinburgh, examined media coverage and X (Twitter) sentiment of reactions to better understand how public perception was impacted in regard to where responsibility lies.

The NFS was a government-commissioned independent review in 2021 that offered 14 recommendations to reform the UK’s food system in a bid to tackle issues relating to food, such as high child obesity and rising levels of stunting. Since the strategy’s launch, the findings have been widely debated within the media, with questions being raised around how and who should fix the ‘broken’ food system.

Through the use of ‘framing’ – promoting different positioning and perceptions of stories – the media has the capability to shape and influence public opinion and policy direction. In the case of the NFS, the study found that coverage of the strategy’s findings placed greater responsibility for change on consumer’s personal choice. This was opposed to acknowledging the persistent structural challenges within the food system that require systemic change that can only be achieved through government intervention.

From the analysis, NFS recommendations appeared to be portrayed as issues of free choice, shifting the debate away from government action correcting for market failure. In contrast, the industry was showcased as equipped to intervene on its own accord. Coverage was also found to focus more on “culture wars”, for example, framing dietary recommendations as detrimental to the poor, without including these important voices within the debate.

The researchers of the paper recommend that there is a need to shift from this approach to one which discusses interventions that reform the structural causes of poor food systems outcomes in the UK, such as rising obesity and environmental run-offs of food production. Only then will the onus for dietary change switch from consumers to the government and the industry.

With the 2024 general election looming in the UK and the roll-out of post-Brexit policies such as the Environmental Land Management Scheme and Sustainable Farming Incentive, there is a need for nuanced reporting and debate to showcase greater diversity of stakeholder views to help better inform and shape public opinion on food systems reform.

Dr Mehroosh Tak, Senior Lecturer in Agribusiness at the ��app, and lead author of the paper, said:

“The paper speaks to existing debates on food systems transformation by stressing the need for structural solutions instead of technofixes aimed primarily at the consumers. This requires reframing ‘what we eat’ from issue of consumer choice to a wider transformation of the broken food system.

“The study argues for the re��app�politicisation of British food policy as a structural problem that contests the nature of what food is produced and how it is made accessible to consumers as essential for policymakers to view the food system transformation as part of a wider social justice process.”

Notes to Editors

Reference

Tak, M., Blair, K., & Marques J., Who is responsible for fixing the food system? A framing analysis of media reactions to the UK’s National Food Strategy. British Food Journal, 126:13

The full paper is available here: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BFJ-04-2023-0338/full/html

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New RVC research finds inbreeding is contributing factor to mid and late-term pregnancy loss in Thoroughbreds

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 10:26:00 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC), in collaboration with Cornell University, has found that inbreeding is a contributing factor to mid and late-term pregnancy loss (MLPL), but not early pregnancy loss (EPL) in Thoroughbreds. This is the first study which explores the effect of genomic inbreeding levels on late term pregnancy loss in the horse and will help inform mating choices to minimise the risk of miscarriages in Thoroughbreds.

Inbreeding is a common practice in the livestock industry because individuals with desirable traits are highly prized for breeding. However, excessive inbreeding is known to increase the probability of uncovering homozygous recessive genotypes which have previously been associated with an increased risk of retained placenta and lower semen quality in horses.

Approximately five to 10 per cent of equine pregnancies end in early pregnancy loss and a further seven percent of pregnancies are lost between Day 70 of gestation and 24 hours post parturition (MLPL). However, to date, there has been no definitive analysis to investigate the association between genomic inbreeding levels and pregnancy loss in horses.

Therefore, the research team, led by Dr Jessica Lawson, Alborada Trust Research Fellow at the RVC, and Professor de Mestre at the Baker Institute for Animal Health at Cornell University, together with previous PhD student at the RVC, Dr Charlotte Shilton, analysed DNA samples from 189 individuals, including a control group. The study found that Thoroughbred pregnancies lost in mid and late gestation (MLPL) had significantly higher inbreeding metrics than UK Thoroughbred adults. However, pregnancies lost early in gestation (EPLs) showed no significant difference in inbreeding metrics compared to the adults.

Whilst Thoroughbred breeders make careful selection of their mating and breeding choices, this research shows the critical importance of cognisance in mating decisions in the industry. These findings also highlight the need for further research to continue to identify and characterise genomic changes which may be lethal to the pregnancy.

Dr Jessica Lawson, Alborada Trust Research Fellow at the RVC, said:

“This research provides critical evidence showing that mating highly related individuals does have a tangible effect on our breeding operations, as there is a real risk of a mare losing her pregnancy late in gestation and failing to produce a foal at all that season.

“The take home from our work should be to carefully consider breeding choices that involve mating of highly related individuals as, ultimately, this may increase the chance of the foal inheriting mutations which may not be compatible with life. We are already working on the next step, looking to identify these changes so more specific advice can be provided in the future”.

This research was funded by the Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Horserace Betting Levy Board, the Alborada Trust, and partial PhD studentship funding from the ��app's Paul Mellon Trust for Equine Research.

The ��app provides equine reproductive services and neonatal support at the equine hospital and practice in South Hertfordshire.

Notes to Editors

Reference

Lawson JM, Shilton CA, Lindsay-McGee V, Psifidi A, Wathes DC, Raudsepp T, et al. Does inbreeding contribute to pregnancy loss in Thoroughbred horses? Equine Vet J. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14057

The article is available to read here: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.14057

More information about the RVC’s equine reproductive services and neonatal support can be found at: https://rvc.uk.com/equine-reproductive-services

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New research from the RVC finds that one in seven pet rabbits suffer with dental disease

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:36:00 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC) has identified that each year, more than one in seven companion rabbits under primary veterinary care in the UK are suffering from dental disease, a condition which can cause severe pain. The most significant demographic risk factors for rabbits in developing dental disease were found to be older age, being male, and having low bodyweight.

Veterinary professionals have always believed dental disease to be one of the most common and serious disorders in companion rabbits, often resulting in significant pain, enforced selective eating and behavioural changes in the animal, but now this new study provides evidence to show the true scale of the issue.

Previous studies suggested that lop ear and brachycephalic (flat-faced) skull conformations were associated with an increased risk of dental disease, but those studies were limited by small sample size and selection bias. This new study, therefore, aimed to strengthen the evidence base on demographic and conformational risk factors for dental disease in rabbits by using the largest sample of rabbits ever investigated for a study of this kind.

The RVC research team, consisting of experts from VetCompass, the Animal Welfare team, Exotics team and an MRes (Master of Research) student, collated patient records from 161,979 rabbits under UK first opinion veterinary care in 2019. A random sample of 2,219 confirmed cases of dental disease was extracted and compared against 117,890 rabbits without recorded dental disease. Using these data, the team analysed conformational characteristics, including ear type and skull shape of the rabbits, to explore associations with the disease.

The research found that a significant 15.36% of all rabbits were formally diagnosed with dental disease in 2019, though this figure may only be the tip of the iceberg, with many more rabbits believed to be affected but not formally diagnosed. Of the rabbits diagnosed, there were 3.14% with incisor teeth affected and 13.72% with cheek teeth affected. Over half of the affected rabbits (8.20% of all rabbits) were newly diagnosed with dental disease in 2019.

The findings identified that older age, lower bodyweight and being male were the most important demographic risk factors for rabbits in developing dental disease. Additional findings also include that:

Lop-eared compared to erect-eared rabbits, and brachycephalic skull shapes compared to normocephalic skull shapes, were not significant risk factors for dental disease, suggesting the conformation of a rabbit plays a much lesser role in whether the animal develops the disease than other factors such as age and diet.
Rabbits that were five years old and older had 7.58 times the risk of dental disease compared to rabbits aged less than one.
Rabbits weighing more than 2kg had a significantly lower risk of developing dental disease compared with rabbits weighing less than 1.49kg.
Male rabbits had a 1.23 times higher risk of having dental disease than female rabbits.

This research highlights a dental disease crisis in pet rabbits and suggests that all companion rabbits would benefit from regular dental examinations, irrespective of breed, ear type or skull shape. Particular emphasis should be placed on rabbits with a lower-than-expected bodyweight, that are older or male. Owners should also be vigilant for subtle signs of dental issues, such as selective eating, reluctance to eat hay, drooling and pawing at the face. Owners with any concerns about dental disease in their rabbit should seek advice from their veterinary practice.

Maria Jackson, Veterinary Nurse and Research Assistant in Rabbit Health at the RVC, and lead author of the paper, said:

“Despite being the third most popular pet in the UK, I feel rabbits have been largely overlooked in companion animal research. Our study shows over 230,000 pet rabbits in the UK may be suffering with dental disease at this moment in time. Routine dental checks and feeding a diet predominantly of good quality hay is clearly important for all our rabbits, not just those with lopped ears or a short face.”

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor of Companion Animal Epidemiology at RVC, and co-author of the study, said:

“This new research highlights a major welfare crisis in pet rabbits caused by dental disease. Owners have a legal duty to protect their animals from unnecessary suffering. This can begin with ensuring all rabbits get an appropriate diet of mainly hay and grass. The biggest single risk factor for pet rabbits developing dental disease appears to be captivity.”

Dr Charlotte Burn, Associate Professor in Animal Welfare and Behaviour Science at the RVC, said:

“Any rabbit can suffer dental disease, and these new findings suggest that owners and vets should particularly watch out for it as rabbits get older, especially if the rabbits are thin and male.

“Interestingly, this very large study didn’t show any association between rabbit head and ear shape and dental disease at all, casting doubt on whether brachycephalic and lop-eared rabbits may be more affected than other rabbits.”

This study was supported by a grant from the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW).

Dr Huw College, Chief Executive and Scientific Director of UFAW, said:

“A crucial part of our work as an animal welfare charity is providing grants and awards to support innovative research which helps us better understand animal welfare problems. We were therefore delighted to support this study which has advanced our understanding of dental disease in pet rabbits and suggested some practical steps to improving welfare for these animals too.”

This research was funded by RVC Animal Care Trust.

Notes to Editors

Reference

Jackson MA, Burn CC, Hedley J, Brodbelt DC, O'Neill DG. Dental disease in companion rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Frequency and risk factors. Vet Rec. 2024;e3993.

The full paper is available from Vet Record and can be accessed here: https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.3993

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

About the VetCompass™ Programme

For more information, visit: /vetcompass

X (Twitter): @VetCompass

About the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW)

The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) is an international independent scientific and educational animal welfare charity and membership organisation. UFAW’s vision is a world where the welfare of all animals affected by humans is maximised through a scientific understanding of their needs and how to meet them. UFAW promotes an evidence-based approach to animal welfare by funding scientific research, supporting the careers of animal welfare scientists and by disseminating animal welfare science knowledge both to experts and the wider public.

UFAW’s work relies on the support of members, subscribers, and donors. To learn more about our work, to become a member of UFAW, or to donate, please visit www.ufaw.org.uk/

Media Contact: Carly Halliday (media@ufaw.org.uk)

Study from the RVC indicates that feeding commercial feedstuff aids healing and prevention of recurrence of equine squamous gastric disease

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:00:12 GMT

A new study by the ��app (RVC) has revealed early indications that feeding a particular commercial feedstuff to horses suffering from Equine Squamous Gastric Disease (ESGD) aids the prevention of disease recurrence.

The research, undertaken in association with British Horse Feeds, used a commercial beet pulp/alfalfa/oat fibre mix in 10 horses experiencing naturally occurring ESGD and identified positive outcomes more commonly for those horses fed the mix during both the healing and the prevention phases compared to those fed the mix during the prevention phase only. Further studies including larger numbers of animals are now warranted to evaluate this beneficial effect in more detail.

Equine squamous gastric disease refers to injury of the squamous mucosa (inner lining) of the stomach as a consequence of sustained exposure to acid. Spontaneous healing of ESGD is variable and treatment is recommended for any horse with a clear disruption of the gastric squamous epithelial integrity. The current drug of choice for acid suppression is the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole. This drug is typically used in combination with management changes to help reduce the risk of acid exposure.

While methods to treat and/or prevent ESGD effectively without requiring the continued use of pharmaceutical agents is desirable - with many commercial products are available on the market - there is currently little data on the efficacy of these supplements. Feedstuffs are also often recommended to mitigate potential damage from acid associated with ESGD. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of feeding a commercial beet pulp/alfalfa/oat fibre mix in relation to healing and/or preventing the recurrence of the disease.

During the process, all animals were treated with omeprazole as per the attending veterinarian's recommendation. Five of the horses were randomly allocated to also be fed a commercial beet pulp/alfalfa/oat fibre mix (1Kg/horse divided into 2 meals/day) while the other half had no additional feed for one month (healing phase). A gastroscopy was then repeated to assess the response to therapy. If the ESGD had healed, omeprazole therapy was discontinued, and the commercial feed was given to all horses for a further month (prevention phase) to assess its ability to prevent recurrence. A gastroscopy was repeated at the end of the second month to determine ESGD recurrence.

All owners were also advised on changes in management (increase in pasture turnout, constant access to good-quality hay and reduction of non-structural carbohydrate intake) by the attending veterinarian to further support healing as per the normal procedure for dealing with cases of ESGD.

The study found that feeding a commercial beet pulp/alfalfa/oat fibre mix to horses with naturally occurring ESGD during both the healing and the prevention phases (rather than just the prevention phase) alongside management change recommendations was associated with complete prevention of recurrence. In contrast, ESGD recurred in 60% of horses that were fed the commercial diet only during the prevention phase.

Professor Nicola Menzies-Gow, Professor in Equine Medicine at the RVC, and lead author of this research, said:

“These initial findings are really promising in terms of us being able to explore the possibility of the healing and prevention of ESGD without the continued use of drugs. What it shows is that we now require further studies with larger numbers of animals allocated to all possible control and treatment groups to corroborate the findings of the present study.”

Branca Gebbie, Business and Trade Manager at British Horse Feeds said:

“We are delighted with the study's positive outcome, affirming our belief of how our composition mix of Fibre-Beet can be used to support gastric physiology with pectin, emulsifiers, and alfalfa, reducing stomach acidity and maintaining a healthy stomach lining to prevent ESGD recurrence. This reinforces our dedication to produce innovative, effective feeds for equines that are supported by nutritional and clinical evidence based veterinary research.”

Notes to Editors

Reference

N.J.Menzies-Gow, T.Shurlock. The effect of feeding a commercial feedstuff on gastric squamous gastric disease (ESGD) healing and prevention of recurrence. Science Direct. February 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2024.105015

The article is available to read here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080624000224?via%3Dihub

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

Registered Veterinary Nurse celebrates 30 years of service at the RVC

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:00:00 GMT

Katie Bacon, a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) at the ��app (RVC), is celebrating thirty years of service caring for animals at the institution’s world-leading hospital.

Katie always loved learning about science at school and knew she wanted to care for animals but wasn’t sure in what capacity. During her studies, Katie came across a book about the role of an Animal Nursing Assistant which sparked her interest in caring for animals in a clinical setting.

After school, Katie began her career at Wood Street Vet Hospital in Barnet where she worked in the practice during the weekdays and studied a veterinary nursing course in London on a half-day leave each week and during the evenings.

Katie qualified in July 1993 and joined the RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA) in December 1993 as a medicine nurse. In 1994, Katie moved into emergency care at the hospital.

As an Emergency and Critical Care RVN, Katie is part of the advanced veterinary team that cares for the sickest patients who may be emergency, trauma, medical, neurological or post-surgical cases. Katie’s nursing role includes supporting all of her patient’s needs including monitoring their overall health, administering medication/fluids, pain management, diagnostics such as blood work and providing lots of love. Many of the patients in the emergency department require intensive nursing care including managing catheters, drains and wounds - this can often be on a one-to-one basis.

During her long career dedicated to caring for animals, Katie’s highlights have been witnessing the introduction of the cardiac bypass programme at the RVC and achieving successful mechanical ventilation outcomes. Katie also remembers caring for the first Cutaneous and Renal Glomerular Vasculopathy (CRGV) patient (also known as Alabama Rot, CRGV is a rare, potentially life-threatening, disease in dogs) and the post-operative nursing of hypophysectomy (surgery to remove the pituitary gland) cats at the hospital.

Katie chose to work at the RVC because of the diverse range of experts at the institution who each have a variety of skills, experience and backgrounds. Katie was also keen to benefit from the vast development opportunities to support her passion for nursing as the RVC offers its staff a host of study, research and career development options, including Postgraduate and CPD courses.

Katie is about to embark on the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) course certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and endorsed by the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society.

To celebrate the special anniversary, her team at the RVC organised the delivery of some beautiful bespoke cupcakes.

Speaking on her role, Katie Bacon, RVN at the RVC, said:

“I fell into emergency and critical care quite early and fell in love with it. The work is so dynamic; you never stop learning. It’s hard and challenging but the pleasure at the end of the day is that your skills and knowledge have helped our patients. I love how hands-on I can be with them – that’s my style of nursing. What you put in is what you’ll get out, but it is a team effort - we can’t work without the vets, patient care assistants and other support roles.

“We can’t save all patients, but I can do my very best to work with the team to give the patients the best chance – it’s always about the patient.

“To celebrate 30 years at RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital is fantastic, I still love my job and I look forward to continuing to work with all my lovely colleagues.”

Vicky Lipscomb, Professor of Small Animal Surgery and Clinical Director of Queen Mother Hospital for Animals at the RVC, said:

“Katie is quite simply phenomenal at her job, which she goes about in an understated way giving every patient 100 percent dedication and the highest standards of expert care.

“Katie is encouraging and patient with students and her positive approach to work is hugely supportive to all her colleagues. I have relied on Katie many times over the years and feel very lucky to work with her.”

To find out more about studying to be an RVN at the RVC, please visit their website.

Note to Editors:

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New study from the RVC identifies most common findings in pre-purchase examinations of horses

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:47:00 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC) has found that lameness is the most common prejudicial PPE finding in prepurchase examinations (PPEs) in horses in the UK. It was also found that horses with a higher purchase price are more likely to undergo a five-stage vetting (5SV), compared to a two-stage vetting (2SV).

Dr Jason Tupper MRCVS, Head of Equine Practice at the RVC, conducting an equine exam

PPEs are performed for prospective horse buyers to identify any prejudicial findings that could make the horse unsuitable for its intended use – be that elite competitions, breeding or leisure riding. Although PPEs often follow a standardised process, the examination can only result in a recommendation based on the opinion of the veterinary surgeon at an isolated point in time. PPEs are therefore, in large part, a subjective process and often debated in the equine world.

Previously, there has been limited research into PPEs. However, it is hoped these new findings will encourage future studies into the merits of 5SV and 2SV PPE formats and the diagnostics used. This will, in turn, help to better inform prospective horse buyers when considering their purchase.

The RVC team, including Dr David Bolt, Senior Lecturer in Equine Surgery; Dr Jason Tupper, Head of the RVC Equine Practice; and Annabel Shelton (RVC BVetMed 2023 graduate), analysed 133 PPE certificates of a mixed, non-racing population of horses, from three first opinion equine practices. The researchers assessed the examination format (i.e. 2SV or 5SV); any diagnostic imaging obtained (e.g. radiographs); the purchase price; animal signalment; the horse’s intended use; the PPE outcome; and any prejudicial findings identified.

The key findings were:

57.1% of horses examined had prejudicial findings
The most common prejudicial finding was lameness as the primary prejudicial finding (55.3%)
Other common prejudicial findings included diagnostic imaging findings (14.5%); respiratory system findings (6.6%); skin conditions (5.3%); and cardiac abnormalities (3.9%)
68.5% of horses underwent a 5SV compared to 34.1% which underwent a 2SV
Horses with a higher purchase price were more likely to undergo a 5SV
Horses with a higher purchase price were also more likely to undergo pre-purchase radiography and more likely to have prejudicial findings identified.

Dr Jason Tupper, Head of Equine Practice at the RVC, and co-author of this research, said:

“A pre-purchase examination can discover a number of issues before buying a horse. This study reveals lameness to be the commonest issue. Few horses are perfect when it comes to temperament and health. The vetting process determines the issues and the vet can then help the purchaser weigh up their significance and decide if they can compromise and accept the issues or not. Further studies can now focus on the cost/benefit of radiology as part of the vetting procedure and the potential use of gait analysis.”

Dr David Bolt, Senior Lecturer in Equine Surgery at the RVC, and author of this research, said:

“Although this study only reflects a sample of all horses undergoing PPEs in the UK, the findings were very interesting and hopefully result in further studies about PPEs which could provide invaluable advice for people who want to purchase a horse.”

Notes to Editors

Reference

Shelton AV, Tupper J, Bolt DM. Prejudicial findings regarding suitability for intended purpose during pre-purchase examinations in a mixed horse population—A retrospective observational study in the United Kingdom. Equine Vet J. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14061

The article is available to read here: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/evj.14061

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

South African student awarded international scholarship to study at world��app�s top vet school

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 11:26:33 GMT

Student, Thalia Tollemache Dufour from Johannesburg in South Africa, has been awarded an international scholarship to study at the world-renowned ��app (RVC) in her pursuit of becoming a wildlife vet. This scholarship is part of the institution’s goal of widening access and participation for underrepresented learners interested in working with animals.

From a young age, Thalia knew she wanted to work with animals. Growing up and spending time in South Africa’s national parks, her passion for animals and conservation came from learning knowledge from game rangers about the connectedness between all forms of life and the impact of poaching. After researching veterinary universities in her last years of secondary school, the RVC’s inclusive and innovative approach to teaching and learning, alongside its reputation as the number one veterinary school in the world, appealed to Thalia and she knew she wanted to apply.

In support of encouraging more young people from all backgrounds to be able to access careers in veterinary science, the RVC offers a variety of scholarships. As part of this, every year it awards a full fee-waiver scholarship to one standout international student entering its BVetMed programme.

After finding out about the RVC’s scholarship, Thalia worked hard to build her portfolio with relevant knowledge and work experience. Following a rigorous interview and admissions process, Thalia was shortlisted, and shortly after, was awarded the scholarship based on achieving her conditional offer and on her merit and efforts.

Now in her first year of studies, Thalia not only enjoys the lectures and practical lessons taking place at the RVC’s Camden Campus but is also embracing her new lifestyle and the experiences that living in London offers. She hopes to specialise in orthopaedic surgery and eventually work with anti-poaching teams.

Thalia Tollemache Dufour, student and international scholarship recipient at the RVC, said:

“The RVC was always my first choice as it projected such an inclusive, innovative, kind, and forward-thinking attitude towards education and its students. When I first received my conditional offer of the scholarship, the emotion was overwhelming, and I shed happy tears with my family for a good while.

“So far, I am loving every minute of the experience and the course. The content is interesting, and the lecturers are inspiring. It is incredible to look back on how much we have already learned in the last few months. This scholarship has changed my life, providing me with a clear path towards achieving my life goals and giving me the opportunity of becoming an independent and highly educated woman in the future; a privilege not everyone has.”

During her five-year course at the RVC, Thalia will gain a thorough understanding of the science underpinning veterinary practice and research, and develop fundamental skills including problem-solving, communication and teamwork. She will also gain practical experience at the RVC’s veterinary hospitals, helping to prepare her for a career in the industry.

Imelda McGonnell, Vice Principal for Students at the RVC, said:

“We are dedicated to being an organisation in which equality, diversity and inclusion underpin all that we do. As part of this, we offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to support students who might otherwise not be able to study with us but are passionate about working with animals.

“We were delighted to welcome Thalia to our institution this year. Her scholarship is a testament to her passion for veterinary care and dedication to her studies. We look forward to seeing her skills and knowledge progress during her time with us and welcoming another cohort of scholars in September.”

Media enquiries

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research led institution with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New Thoroughbred genetic fracture risk scoring system developed by the RVC discovers collagen is contributing factor

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:35:00 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC) into genetic risks of fracture in Thoroughbred horses has found that horses with lower levels of collagen type III have a higher risk of fracture.

Previously, there has been limited research into this disease with no specific genetic mechanisms identified. However, these new findings have enabled the RVC to develop systems to identify genetically high-risk horses. This will provide a greater understanding of how best to identify, diagnose and manage horses at high risk of fractures and contribute to greater health and welfare of Thoroughbreds.

Bone fractures are common in Thoroughbred racehorses, due to the forces the bones can experience, and are sadly a leading cause of euthanasia, with approximately 60 horses each year having to be euthanised on UK racecourses because of this disease. However, fracture is a complex condition, with both environmental and genetic risk factors affecting a horse’s susceptibility.

Conducting the research, the team, led by Dr Debbie Guest, Senior Research Fellow at the RVC, developed a polygenic risk score, which provides a measure of disease risk due to a variety of genes, and used this to determine the distribution of scores across the general UK Thoroughbred population.

The team were then able to utilise this information to select cells from horses whose risk placed them at the extreme ends of the population with either very low or very high risk. These cells were then used in laboratory studies to establish a cell model and investigate the genetic factors involved in fracture risk.

The research found that collagen type III, a gene which is required for normal bone formation, is expressed at lower levels in bone cells from horses with a high genetic risk of fracture. This is because they have a change in their DNA sequence in the region which controls how much collagen III is produced.

Additional research is now being conducted to validate the risk-scoring system in another cohort of horses. Further studies using this system and cell model will help to identify other genes and processes to better understand why some horses are inherently more susceptible to fracture than others.

Dr Debbie Guest, Senior Research Fellow at the RVC, said:

“Bone fractures are a major welfare concern in Thoroughbred racing. We know that there are many environmental risk factors for fracture and much has been done over the years to reduce these risks. Despite this effort, fractures sadly still occur, and we know that some horses are genetically more predisposed to fracture than others.

“The development of a polygenic risk score for fracture will allow us to identify horses that are at high genetic risk to allow the targeted use of diagnostic imaging and close monitoring of their bone health. This study has also demonstrated the power of using cell models to work out what differences exist in bone cells from high and low-risk horses and therefore why some horses are at high risk. This is vital to develop new interventions for high-risk horses in the future so that they are less likely to suffer from a catastrophic fracture”.

The research was funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the Anne Duchess of Westminster Charitable Trust and The Alborada Trust.

Notes to Editors

Reference

Palomino Lago, E.; Baird, A.; Blott, S.C.; McPhail, R.E.; Ross, A.C.; Durward-Akhurst, S.A.; Guest, D.J. A Functional Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Upstream of the Collagen Type III Gene Is Associated with Catastrophic Fracture Risk in Thoroughbred Horses. Animals 2024, 14, 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010116

The article is available to read here: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/116

For more information please contact

Jasmin De Vivo at jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

New research highlights surprisingly good health characteristics in Shih Tzu dogs in the UK

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 00:01:22 GMT

New research from the ��app (RVC) has found the most common conditions diagnosed in Shih Tzu dogs in the UK are periodontal disease (inflammation of the gums and tissue around the teeth), anal sac impaction and ear disorders. While the findings suggest that the breed is predisposed to a number of conditions, the overall disorder profile of the Shih Tzu is surprisingly different and better than many other common flat-faced breeds.

The Shih Tzu is the seventh most common dog breed in the UK, with an estimated UK population of more than 300,000 that accounts for 3% of all UK dogs¹. Shih Tzu are a flat-faced breed, also known as a brachycephalic breed, with this extreme body shape linked to number of serious eye and breathing health issues because the short muzzle causes excessive facial skin folds and shallow eye sockets. However, until now, there has been limited information available on the most common health issues in the Shih Tzu breed.

The new study was led by the RVC’s VetCompass Research Programme and investigated anonymised clinical information on 11,082 (3.29%) Shih Tzus from an overall study population of 336,865 dogs under veterinary care during 2016.

Dental (periodontal) disease was the most recorded disorder in Shih Tzu, with 9.5% of dogs diagnosed with the condition each year. Periodontal disease was more common in older dogs, emphasising to owners that extra veterinary and home care is needed to protect the dental health of their Shih Tzu ages.

The other common disorders found in Shih Tzu were anal sac impaction (7.4%), ear disorders (5.5%), otitis externa (4.7%; inflamed ear canal), vomiting (4.4%) and umbilical hernias (3.9%; when internal tissues push out through weakened muscle tissues).

However, despite the Shih Tzu being a flat-faced breed, their overall health profile of common disorders was quite similar to the health profiles of non-flat-faced dogs previously reported ². This suggests the Shih Tzu is much less severely affected by its flat-faced conformation than other common brachycephalic breeds such as French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs and Pugs. For example, the reported frequency of otitis externa in French Bulldogs was 14%, almost three times the level reported for Shih Tzus (4.7%)³, while the frequency of corneal (eye surface) disorders in Pugs was 8.7%, more than double that reported in Shih Tzus (3.5%).

Other key findings include:

The frequency of anal sac impaction, umbilical hernias and eyes problems were substantially higher in Shih Tzu dogs than previously identified in dogs overall²
Female Shih Tzu dogs had a higher probability of umbilical hernia, while males had a higher probability of aggression, heart murmur, skin lesions and haircoat disorders
The average adult bodyweight for Shih Tzu overall was 7.9kg. The average bodyweight of males (8.5kg) was heavier than for females (7.3kg)
The most common causes of death were bowel diseases (diarrhoea, vomiting etc.) (9.6%), heart disease (9.6%) and poor quality of life (9.6%)
The overall average age at death of Shih Tzu was 12.7 years. This is longer than the average of 11.2 years reported for dogs overall in the UK⁴

This information on common disorders can help vets, breeders and owners prioritise prevention and management of these disorders in Shih Tzu. Although some disorder predispositions were identified in Shih Tzu such as eye and anal sac problems, the overall longevity and disorder patterns were not that dissimilar to dogs overall² suggesting that Shih Tzu can be considered as a more typical dog in terms of common health issues compared to other popular flat-faced breeds.

Dr Fiona Dale, VetCompass Epidemiologist at the RVC and lead author of the paper, said:

“Shih Tzu are small, popular dogs in the UK. While we found that the top disorders in the breed were similar to those commonly reported in dogs overall, Shih Tzu appear to be predisposed to a number of conditions including eye conditions. In order to effectively prioritise the welfare of their dogs, owners of Shih Tzu should be vigilant for eye problems to allow earlier diagnosis and treatment.”

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC and co-author of the paper, said:

“Flat faces in dogs have been linked to several serious health problems, but this new study highlights that the health profile of each flat-faced breed can be quite unique. The 12.7 year longevity of Shih Tzu suggests the overall health of the breed is much less severely compromised than other flat-faced breeds such as French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs and Pugs that live less than eight years on average.”

Bill Lambert, Health, Welfare and Breeding Services Executive at The Kennel Club, which helped to fund the research, added:

“This research enables better understanding of breed-specific health concerns, and these findings will feed into the Shih Tzu breed health and conservation plan, managed by The Kennel Club to identify and monitor any concerns, and continue to improve health.

“We’re pleased this study indicates that most disorders faced by Shih Tzu are fairly common for all dogs, and that there don’t seem to be any prevalent extreme health conditions, including those which can be associated with other brachycephalic breeds. It remains crucial, however, that all puppy buyers do thorough research regarding health and go to a responsible breeder; this plays an important part in improving the health and welfare of all breeds, now and in generations to come.”

Main Reference

Dale, F., Brodbelt, D. C., West, G., Church, D. B., Lee Y. H & O’Neill, D. G. (2023) Demography, common disorders and mortality of Shih Tzu dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK. Canine Medicine and Genetics

The full paper is available from 1:00 am CET / 8:00 am China Standard Time /12:00 am GMT on 24th January 2024 and can be accessed at: DOI: 10.1186/s40575-023-00135-y.

Additional References

O'Neill DG, McMillan KM, Church DB, Brodbelt DC. Dog breeds and conformations in the UK in 2019: VetCompass canine demography and some consequent welfare implications. PLOS ONE. 2023;18(7):e0288081.

O’Neill DG, James H, Brodbelt DC, Church DB, Pegram C. Prevalence of commonly diagnosed disorders in UK dogs under primary veterinary care: results and applications. BMC Veterinary Research. 2021;17(1):69.

O’Neill DG, Baral L, Church DB, Brodbelt DC, Packer RMA. Demography and disorders of the French Bulldog population under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2013. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology. 2018;5(1):3.

Teng KT-y, Brodbelt DC, Pegram C, Church DB, O’Neill DG. Life tables of annual life expectancy and mortality for companion dogs in the United Kingdom. Scientific Reports. 2022;12(1):6415.

Media enquiries

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin De Vivo jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research led institution with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.
http://www.rvc.ac.uk

About the VetCompass™ Programme

VetCompass™ (The Veterinary Companion Animal Surveillance System) is an epidemiological research programme at the ��app (RVC) which investigates anonymised clinical records from veterinary practices to generate evidence to support improved animal welfare. VetCompass shares information from more than 1,800 veterinary practices in the UK (over 30% of all UK practices) covering over 28 million companion and equine animals. To date, VetCompass™ has led to over 120 peer-reviewed publications that have supported welfare-focused work across the range of animal stakeholders including the wider general public, owners, breeders, academics, animal charities, universities and government.

For more information, visit: /vetcompass

X (Twitter): @VetCompass

The pawfect storm: study finds high levels of problem behaviours and use of aversive training methods in pandemic puppies

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:01:56 GMT

The average number of owner-reported problem behaviours among ‘pandemic puppies’ was five, with problem behaviours more likely in owners using aversive training techniques, says the ��app

Four in five (82%) ‘pandemic puppy’ owners have reported using aversive training methods in attempts to address their dog’s problem behaviours, according to a new study by the ��app (RVC). However, this rise in negative reinforcement/positive punishment (e.g., owners shouting at their dog or using training equipment that is unpleasant for dogs, rather than using reward-based methods such as praise and treats) not only negatively impacts animal welfare, but is often poorly effective, and in some cases, can even result in new problem behaviours in dogs due to the fear and anxiety it can cause.

This study – funded by Battersea and part of the ongoing RVC Pandemic Puppies project that follows a cohort of puppies purchased during the covid pandemic in 2020 under the age of 16 weeks from breeders in the UK – sought to identify risk factors linked to four areas. These included owner-reported problem behaviours, use of training methods, expectations vs realities of behaviour and training, and seeking professional advice for behaviour and training of these puppies as they hit 21 months. This is a pivotal age when problem behaviours increase the risk of owners deciding to rehome or euthanise their dogs due to these issues.

More than 1,000 UK owners were asked to identify problem behaviours they saw in their young dogs. The list of 24 behaviours that owners considered as problems ranged from control behaviours (e.g., pulling on their lead) and attention-seeking behaviours (e.g., jumping up, clinginess) to aggressive behaviours (e.g., towards other dogs, people and guarding food), and fear/avoidance behaviours (e.g., anxiety/fear around other dogs, people, loud noises) and more.

Almost all (97%) owners reported their dog displayed at least one problem behaviour from the list. The average number of owner-reported problem behaviours at 21 months was five, while 20% of owners reported eight or more. The three most common behaviours that owners considered a problem were pulling on the lead (67%), jumping up at people (57%) and not coming back when called (52%).

When the behaviours were grouped, the most frequent behavioural problems were control behaviours (84%), attention-seeking (77%), fear/avoidance behaviours (41%) and aggressive behaviours (25%).

When asked about the dog training methods they used in the first 21 months of ownership, 96% of owners reported verbally praising their dogs as a training method. However, 80% also reported using one or more aversive methods/aids – with 39% of participants admitting to using two or more aversive training aids.

The most commonly used aversive training method/aid was physically moving the dog (e.g., pushing them off if they jump up at a person or on furniture) (44%), followed by shouting at them/telling them off (41%) and leash corrections (e.g., yanking their lead if they pull) (40%). Other methods reported included the use of a range of aversive training equipment including rattle bottles/cans/discs, water pistols/spray bottles, choke chains and more.

Owners were less likely to use aversive training techniques if they had attended online puppy classes with their dog (while they were under 16 weeks) during the pandemic, demonstrating the value of educating owners in humane training techniques at an early stage of ownership.

Dr Rowena Packer, Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science at the RVC, and lead author of the study, said:

“Problem behaviours in dogs are a major welfare challenge, not just for affected dogs but also for their caregivers, causing stress and lifestyle changes for many owners. Our findings indicate that problem behaviours are extremely common in Pandemic Puppies, and in many cases, are potentially being exacerbated by owners using punishment-based training techniques.

“Although we understand these problem behaviours can be very frustrating for owners, they are often a sign a dog is struggling to cope or that they haven’t been taught an appropriate response in a situation, rather than dogs intentionally behaving ‘badly’. Punishing problem behaviours can lead to dogs becoming anxious and fearful, going on to develop further problem behaviours, including aggression.

“Gaining a deeper understanding of the risk factors for problem behaviour development is important in helping us provide effective advice to owners. A key piece of guidance arising from our study is that attending puppy classes is a vital way to support owners in using the best training techniques available. We appreciate many pandemic puppy owners missed these opportunities due to lockdown restrictions, but thankfully, there are also many science-based behaviour professionals available running adult classes and consultations who can support owners and dogs using effective, humane training techniques, who we would encourage all owners troubled by their dog’s behaviour to reach out to.”

Robert Bays, Battersea’s Senior Animal Behaviour Manager, said:

“At Battersea we have seen a significant increase in the number of dogs coming to our centres with certain behavioural issues, such as separation anxiety, which can often be linked to the pandemic and the training challenges this unusual time presented. Without the right kind of positive training and support, a small behaviour problem in a puppy or dog can quickly escalate into a serious issue, so we are deeply concerned by this study’s findings that so many owners are using aversive training methods. This approach can often cause further behavioural problems in adulthood and lead to suppression of behaviour, not to mention significantly damage the relationship between pet and owner, which can be challenging to overcome in the future.

“We believe that this new research from the RVC, supported by a grant from Battersea, will really help provide the animal welfare sector with a greater understanding of the behavioural needs of a whole generation of dogs, and in turn, the needs of their owners, so that we can offer the appropriate support and training advice they need.”

As a wider longitudinal study, later timepoints in this cohort of dogs’ lives will continue to be investigated for the same and broader outcomes in the future, including the potential impact on these puppies’ later adult-dog behaviour, their health, and their bond with their owners (including relinquishment).

Notes to Editor

Other findings in the study included:

Separation related behaviours were seen in one third of dogs (31%) and were more likely in dogs with young owners aged 25-34, dogs who show other forms of attention-seeking behaviour, fearful behaviour and more behaviour problems overall.
Almost two fifths (39%) of owners in the study had not previously owned a dog.
Thirty three percent of owners found that training their dog was harder than expected, which was more common in first time owners.
Fifteen percent of owners found their dog’s behaviour was worse than they had expected, which was particularly high in owners of large dogs (weighing >40kg) and those showing a range of problem behaviours, including aggression.

For media enquiries, please contact:

jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk or rvc@plmr.co.uk
Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

The ��app (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London.
It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with reciprocal recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and the AVMA in the USA and Canada.
The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2023.
The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.

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