VetNI

Veterinary Northern Ireland

Introducing our first conference speaker – Marie Holowaychuk

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‘Dr. Marie Holowaychuk is a veterinary specialist in small animal emergency & critical care medicine and an advocate for wellness in the veterinary profession’

Marie is an enthusiastic speaker, dedicated locum, skilled consultant, and accomplished researcher, as well as a champion for wellness among veterinary care providers.  She has been speaking to audiences about small animal emergency and critical care medicine for more than 10 years.  Her sessions are engaging and include case examples from her practice experience in hospitals across Canada and the USA.

She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004 and then did a rotating internship in small animal medicine & surgery at Washington State University. After that, she completed a 3-year residency in small animal emergency & critical care at the renowned North Carolina State University.After becoming board certified in 2008, Dr. Holowaychuk was Assistant Professor of Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ontario until returning home to Alberta in 2013. Since then, she has become a certified yoga instructor and avid proponent of wellness in the veterinary profession.  Dr. Holowaychuk is passionate about sharing her knowledge and expertise about caring for critically ill small animals. She also promotes well-being and self-care among veterinary professionals by offering veterinary wellness workshops & retreats.

Marie will be lecturing on ‘Wellness in the Veterinary Workplace’, ‘Myths and Misconceptions in Canine Trauma’, ‘The Entitlement Generation: understanding and working with millennials’, ‘Clinical assessment and management of bleeding patients’, ‘How can we thrive (not just survive) in veterinary medicine’.

You can hear Maries lectures at the AVSPNI Small Animal conference in May at the Armagh City Hotel.

To find out about our other speakers and topics at conference visit our conference brochure here!

To register for conference click here!

Conference Hotel Accommodation is booking up FAST!

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Coming to the AVSPNI Spring Conference in the Armagh City Hotel?  Accommodation is filling up quickly this year and our advice would be to book your room ASAP to avoid disappointment!  The benefits of staying within the conference hotel are that you are right in the hub of the conference atmosphere, you only need to roll to bed after the legendary Friday night party night and essentially you will be well looked after with a good hearty breakfast the following morning!!

Hotel Accommodation
Book your rooms at the Armagh City Hotel by calling their reservation line
on 028 9038 5050 or 028 3751 8888, Option 1 or by e-mailing [email protected]

All rooms in the hotel are held for us on Friday night so you MUST tell the hotel you are attending the Vet Conference to secure a room.  Rates are:
£71 Single;     £84 Double/twin;     £120  – 2 bedroom apartments with shared bathroom, accommodating 2, 3 or 4 people

For other accommodation locally, see www.armagh.co.uk

For more information about the conference and our excellent speakers click here! 

To register your place for conference, complete a Registration Form

What is Obesity? AVSPNI March S/A meeting

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‘What is Obesity, a look at the science’ is our topic for our March small animal meeting kindly sponsored by Royal Canin.

The speaker for the evening will be Louise Brennan who has been a specialist member of Royal Canin’s dedicated weight management team since 2014 and has spoken to veterinary organisations on behalf of Royal Canin on the epidemic of canine and feline obesity.

For more information and how to register Click Here!

Calm Vet, Healthy Pet – Spring conference 2017!!

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This year’s Spring Conference will be held once more in the Armagh City Hotel.  With a packed programme of Vet and Vet Nurse CPD and the legendary Friday night party night, this is set to be one of the best conferences to date! 

Our speakers have been hand-picked to deliver top quality CPD for vets & vet nurses with lectures by Marie Holowaychuk, Ross Bond, Claire Defries and Sarah Caney. 

Our theme for this year is CALM VET, HEALTHY PET focusing on Dermatology, Feline Medicine & Critical Care Without Stress.  So join us at Armagh to increase your knowledge, meet with old friends, make new ones and party the Friday night away with our ‘Black and White’ party night.  Dress code: Monochrome! 

For more information on lecture topics and our speakers, click HERE!

For a registration form, click HERE!

NI Vet & Beekeeper to deliver ‘Honeybee’ Webinar

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NI Vet and Beekeeper John Hill will be delivering a free webinar hosted by Webinar Vet at 8.30pm on the 9th February 2017.  Johns topic of ‘The remarkable world of the Honeybee’ will cover statistics on importance of bees to pollination, occupants of the hive, natural history, a few pests and diseases, future threats and BBVA.  John has a vast knowledge on the life and work of the honeybee and as the president of the BBVA, has a passion for Beekeeping and preserving this great species.  A webinar not to be missed! For More information Click Here!

 

 

A successful AVSPNI Omagh Day 17

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On a (very) windy day in Omagh, 120 practitioners attended the AVSPNI annual Omagh day, held at the AFBI labs.  A steady stream of people arrived for the 2pm kick off which was opened by the AVSPNI president Cahir King who welcomed our guests and practitioners.  This was followed by the Chief Executive Officer of AFBI, Sinclair Mayne who spoke before Alan Hartley started off the presentations.

Our first speaker, Alan Hartley spoke on ‘keyhole/spay surgery’ followed by John Haughey whose talk was titled ‘AI Mares’.  A well deserved cup of tea in the break gave our vets a chance to catch up and after the break we heard from our sponsor for the day, MSD.

Our penultimate speaker Melanie Spahn gave a presentation on ‘Enucleations in cows’ and our last (but not least) speaker of the day was Paul Crawford whose talk was titled ‘Save money and the environment – Anaesthesia’.  With a big sigh of relief from 4 our practitioners, our day at the lab had ended and all members headed to the Silverbirch hotel for AVSPNI annual AGM and three course meal.

Chris Tufnell, the RCVS president kindly judged the 4 presentations by our practitioners in the lab and gave a short talk on each at the Silverbirch before announcing the winner of the Frank Mullen Memorial trophy as Paul Crawford who spoke on Anaesthesia.

follow Vetni on Twitter #omaghday17 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/veterinary.northernireland/#

BVA are urging vets “keep backyard flocks safe”, as more Avian Flu cases confirmed

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Following announcements that the Avian Influenza Prevention Zones across Great Britain, in place since early December, will be extended until 28 February, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Veterinary Poultry Association (BVPA) are urging backyard poultry keepers to protect their flocks with practical biosecurity steps.

Over the last week, there have been several confirmed cases of the H5N8 strain of Avian Influenza in wild birds and backyard flocks in Carmarthenshire, Yorkshire and at a swannery in Dorset.

As private poultry keepers are faced with changing the way they usually keep their birds, BVA and BVPA are offering advice on sensible ways in which keepers can separate captive birds and backyard flocks from wild birds.

BVA and BVPA would recommend the following tips to keepers of captive birds and backyard flocks:

  • Read and act on Defra’s Avian Flu (bird flu) factsheet designed for keepers of small flocks of poultry, which includes helpful advice on protecting your birds
  • If you do not have a permanent building to house your birds in, think how you could adapt an outbuilding, such as a shed, or erect a temporary structure like a polytunnel using netting to prevent contact with wild birds – the key is to stop contact between wild birds and your flock
  • Think of your flock’s welfare while the prevention zone is in place: check for and remove any hazardous substances from any building where you are housing your birds; make sure there is natural light; and that the environment is interesting to reduce the risk of feather pecking by, for example, adding straw bales and perches
  • Remember that good biosecurity reduces the risk of infection: keep food and water supplies indoors where they cannot be contaminated by wild birds; feed your birds indoors and keep them away from standing water; keep movement in and out of enclosures to a minimum and scrupulously clean footwear before and after visits.

BVA President, Gudrun Ravetz, said:

“The confirmation of Avian Influenza in a number of small flocks shows the very real risk that the disease poses to backyard flocks and the importance of keeping them separate from wild birds. We know that not all backyard keepers will have to hand buildings that they can immediately house their flocks in, so Defra’s leaflet gives practicable advice on alternatives, including temporary structures.

“Biosecurity is also as important to smallholders and hobby keepers of birds as it is to large scale and commercial poultry keepers. Tight biosecurity, such as maintaining high levels of cleanliness and hygiene and not allowing visitors to come close to your birds, is essential.

“Signs of avian flu can vary between species of bird and could range from very mild signs like seeming ‘off colour’ or reduced feed or water intakes through to the severity of death.  If you are concerned about your flock, please speak to your local vet.”

BVPA President, David Welchman, said:

“BVA and BVPA’s advice to backyard poultry keepers mirrors the advice issued by governments in England, Scotland and Wales. It is important to keep backyard flocks safe and well during the current outbreaks of Avian Influenza in Europe. Thorough biosecurity is critical in reducing the risk of infection, and we cannot emphasise enough the current importance of keeping captive birds separate from wild birds. We are also very pleased that the Defra factsheet gives advice on how to maintain good welfare for your poultry during the Prevention Zone period so we’d urge keepers to read the factsheet and act on it.”

Anyone with suspicion of the disease in their birds should report this to the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 0300 0200 301 immediately.

NIVA AGM 2017

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On Wednesday 25th January 2017 the annual NIVA AGM will take place in the Seagoe Hotel, Portadown.  If you are a BVA member there is a BVA NI Branch AGM at 7pm.  If you are a NIVA member there is a NIVA AGM at 7.45pm and for all Vets and guests, there is a presentation by Prof. Cook titled ‘all data great and small: Vet practice in the digital age’.

For nominating new NIVA council members/Officers forms are available at www.vetni.co.uk/NIVA

For more information and a look at the programme Click Here!