Cross-sectional survey of sources of information accompanying veterinary product advertisements in two professional print publications.

Background: Veterinarians should be able to easily access scientific evidence about medical products and devices to incorporate into their clinical decision making. While the characteristics and quality of supporting information accompanying device and pharmaceutical advertisements have been studied in human medicine, little is known about this topic in veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to characterise the supporting information provided by manufacturers of prescribed products, tests or devices in promotional material found in two commonly read UK-based veterinary publications.

Veterinary services during the COVID-19 pandemic: less stressful for cats and their carers?

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic saw major changes to small animal veterinary practice, many of which may have had an impact on stress in cats presented to the clinic. The aim of this study was to examine the nature of feline outpatient visits before and during the pandemic, and examine signs of stress noted in cats before, during and after these visits.

Methods: A questionnaire was used to gather data on cat owner experiences of visits to the veterinary clinic.

Happy cats: stress in cats and their carers associated with outpatient visits to the clinic.

Objectives: The importance of the effects of stress on cats is well recognised, with visits to the veterinary clinic a common cause of stress. The aim of this study was to explore owners' experiences of stress, both for themselves and their cat, during veterinary visits, and to gather data on owners' perception of resources within the clinic to reduce stress in their cats.

Methods: A questionnaire aimed at cat owners with recent experience of an outpatient visit to the veterinary clinic was developed and distributed.

Veterinary surgeons', veterinary nurses' and owners' experiences of feline telemedicine consultations during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: There has been increasing provision of veterinary telemedicine consultations, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, little evidence currently exists examining these remote consultations. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore veterinary and cat owner experiences of telemedicine consultations during the pandemic.

Methods: Two questionnaires, one aimed at veterinary professionals and one at cat owners, were launched in September 2020.

The Dolittle factor: 'Talking to the animals' during veterinary consultations.

Background: The aim of the study was to identify and analyse the frequency and types of dialogue directed to animals by veterinary surgeons (i.e. pet-directed speech) in 55 routine companion animal consultations in the United Kingdom and United States.

Priorities for Research into the Impact of Canine Surgical Sterilisation Programmes for Free-Roaming Dogs: An International Priority Setting Partnership.

Surgical sterilisation is a core activity of free-roaming dog population management (DPM) programmes globally. However, there is limited published evidence on its impact at the population level. To support evidence-based decision making in this field, it is important that research conducted is relevant to those involved in working with free-roaming dogs and implementing such programmes.

Assessing the Feasibility of Retrospective and Prospective Clinical Audit in Farm Animal Veterinary Practice.

As a quality improvement tool, clinical audit has been extensively described in the medical literature. There is scant literature on the use of clinical audit in the farm animal veterinary setting. This study describes the process and feasibility of prospective and retrospective data collection for farm animal clinical audit performed at three different farm animal practices in the United Kingdom.

Equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction: Identifying research priorities for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis through a priority setting partnership.

Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder of older equids. To date, key research areas likely to have the greatest impact on equine health have not been identified. In human medicine, public and patient involvement is widely used to inform research agendas.

Evaluating the role of surgical sterilisation in canine rabies control: A systematic review of impact and outcomes.

Current recommendations for the elimination of canine-mediated human rabies focus on mass dog vaccination as the most feasible and cost-effective strategy. However, attempts to control rabies are often combined with canine surgical sterilisation programmes. The added value of sterilisation is widely debated.

Implications of a Novel Method for Analyzing Communication in Routine Veterinary Patient Visits for Veterinary Research and Training.

The patient-centered clinical method (PCCM), a model developed to characterize communication during patient-physician visits in the 1980s, identifies elements of patient-orientated, physician-orientated, and shared dialogue during the encounter. The model also includes elements that reflect the emotional aspects of these interactions, recognizing expressions of feelings and exchanges related to both personal and medical interests. Fifty-five routine veterinary patient visits in the United Kingdom and United States were analyzed using the novel application of a PCCM adapted for veterinary patient visits.

Validation of text-mining and content analysis techniques using data collected from veterinary practice management software systems in the UK.

Electronic patient records from practice management software systems have been used extensively in medicine for the investigation of clinical problems leading to the creation of decision support frameworks. To date, technologies that have been utilised for this purpose such as text mining and content analysis have not been employed significantly in veterinary medicine. The aim of this research was to pilot the use of content analysis and text-mining software for the synthesis and analysis of information extracted from veterinary electronic patient records.

Topics discussed, examinations performed and strategies implemented during canine and feline booster vaccination consultations.

Vaccination consultations account for a large proportion of the small animal veterinary caseload. The aim of this study was to determine the content of canine and feline booster vaccination consultations and gather opinions on strategies used to optimise these consultations. An online survey of UK veterinarians was conducted.

Developing practical recommendations for preventative healthcare consultations involving dogs and cats using a Delphi technique.

Preventive healthcare is the focus of a large proportion of UK small animal veterinary consultations. The evidence base for how to optimise these consultations is limited. Therefore, evidence-based practical recommendations are needed for veterinary surgeons conducting these consultations.

Systematic review of the factors affecting cat and dog owner compliance with pharmaceutical treatment recommendations.

The aim of this systematic review is to describe and assess the quality of the existing evidence base concerning factors that influence the compliance of cat and dog owners to pharmaceutical and specifically polypharmacy treatment recommendations. PubMed, CAB Abstracts and Google were searched to identify relevant literature and search results were filtered according to predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Standardised data extraction and critical appraisal were carried out on each included study, and a Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine level of evidence grading was applied.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Experiences and Attitudes towards Clinical Audit of Farm Animal Veterinary Surgeons in the United Kingdom.

Clinical audit is a quality improvement tool used to assess and improve the clinical services provided to patients. This is the first study to investigate the extent to which clinical audit is understood and utilised in farm animal veterinary practice. A cross-sectional study to collect experiences and attitudes of farm animal veterinary surgeons in the UK towards clinical audit was conducted using an online nationwide survey.

Owner and veterinary surgeon perspectives on the roles of veterinary nurses and receptionists in relation to small animal preventive healthcare consultations in the United Kingdom.

Veterinary receptionists and veterinary nurses rarely feature in published practice-based research, yet are integral to small animal veterinary practice in the UK. The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of UK-based owners and veterinary surgeons about veterinary nurses and receptionists in relation to their role in preventive healthcare. Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with 15 dog and cat owners and 14 veterinary surgeons.

Variation in the Reported Management of Canine Prolapsed Nictitans Gland and Feline Herpetic Keratitis.

Treatment variation in medicine may be driven by evidence gaps, clinician factors, and patient preferences. Although well-documented in human medicine, variation in clinical management is relatively unexplored in veterinary practice. Clinical vignette questionnaires were administered to a cross section of general practitioners (GPs) and veterinarians with postgraduate training in ophthalmology (PGs) to survey recommended management of canine prolapsed nictitans gland ("cherry eye", PNG) and feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) keratitis.

Motivators and barriers for dog and cat owners and veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom to using preventative medicines.

Routine use of preventative medicines is advocated as part of responsible dog and cat ownership. However, it has been suggested that the number of owners in the United Kingdom (UK) using preventative medicines to protect their pets is in decline. The aim of this novel study was to use a qualitative methodology to explore the attitudes of pet owners and veterinary surgeons in the UK to using preventative medicine products in dogs and cats.

"I Always Feel Like I Have to Rush…" Pet Owner and Small Animal Veterinary Surgeons' Reflections on Time during Preventative Healthcare Consultations in the United Kingdom.

Canine and feline preventative healthcare consultations can be more complex than other consultation types, but they are typically not allocated additional time in the United Kingdom (UK). Impacts of the perceived length of UK preventative healthcare consultations have not previously been described. The aim of this novel study was to provide the first qualitative description of owner and veterinary surgeon reflections on time during preventative healthcare consultations.

Analysing the opinions of UK veterinarians on practice-based research using corpus linguistic and mathematical methods.

The use of corpus linguistic techniques and other related mathematical analyses have rarely, if ever, been applied to qualitative data collected from the veterinary field. The aim of this study was to explore the use of a combination of corpus linguistic analyses and mathematical methods to investigate a free-text questionnaire dataset collected from 3796 UK veterinarians on evidence-based veterinary medicine, specifically, attitudes towards practice-based research (PBR) and improving the veterinary knowledge base. The corpus methods of key word, concordance and collocate analyses were used to identify patterns of meanings within the free text responses.

Owners and Veterinary Surgeons in the United Kingdom Disagree about What Should Happen during a Small Animal Vaccination Consultation.

Dog and cat vaccination consultations are a common part of small animal practice in the United Kingdom. Few data are available describing what happens during those consultations or what participants think about their content. The aim of this novel study was to investigate the attitudes of dog and cat owners and veterinary surgeons towards the content of small animal vaccination consultations.

Use of clinical vignette questionnaires to investigate the variation in management of keratoconjunctivitis sicca and acute glaucoma in dogs.

There is little peer-reviewed research assessing therapeutic effectiveness in canine eye disease. Current treatments used in first opinion and ophthalmology referral practices are also somewhat poorly documented. The aim of this study was to investigate the current management of canine keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) and acute primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) by veterinary surgeons.

The Awareness of the International Veterinary Profession of Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine and Preferred Methods of Training.

Evidence-based veterinary medicine (EVM) is an evolving discipline in veterinary medicine so it is important to periodically "benchmark" opinion about EVM across the profession. An international survey to assess veterinarians' awareness of EVM was conducted. Veterinarians were surveyed via an online questionnaire (all countries) or a postal questionnaire (UK only).

Prevalence of and risk factors for FIV and FeLV infection in two shelters in the United Kingdom (2011-2012).

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infections in cats presented to two RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) animal rehoming centres and to identify risk factors for infection. All cats presented at each centre between August 2011 and August 2012 were subjected to a patient-side test for FeLV/FIV on entry. Kittens under three months and cats euthanased within a short time of presentation were excluded from the study.