Page 18 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

Clinical services
Sports medicine, osteoarthritis & pain clinic opens at the RVC
Today’s modern athletes may take things like physical therapy, underwater treadmills and even musculoskeletal ultrasound for granted, but now a new sports rehab clinic will be offering these services to athletes of a four-legged variety.
The RVC has opened the UK’s rst specialist clinic for sporting, show and working canines, such as greyhounds, police and competing dogs. The clinic is led by Dr Pilar Lafuente. She is a recognised specialist in both small animal surgery and canine sports medicine and rehabilitation. The clinic is based at the RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital for Animals.
The state-of-the-art facility includes musculoskeletal ultrasound, MRI scanning and scintigraphy, as well as objective gait analysis with a pressure mat. And the premier league-style treatment doesn’t stop there as the rehabilitation clinic also
offers an underwater treadmill, swimming pool, electrical stimulation and physical therapies, under the care of full- time veterinary physiotherapist, Emily Cowderoy.
The clinic also offers a transdisciplinary specialist approach into the treatment of osteoarthritis and chronic pain management for domestic cats and dogs. Chris Seymour and his team from the Anaesthesia & Analgesia department, provide rst hand support for those patients suffering from chronic pain that don´t respond to the most common therapies.
Sporting and working dogs like border collies, hounds, terriers and German Shepherds can suffer from chronic and sport-speci c injuries such as stress fractures, impact injuries and tendon issues that don’t usually affect the more traditional domesticated household pet dog. The new clinic differs from traditional veterinary practices by offering a holistic approach to these sorts of canine sporting injuries. Usually, if a dog was brought to a veterinary clinic with complex set of clinical signs it may have to see several different specialists at different times.
The aim of the RVC’s specialist facilities – like this clinic – is to bring a transdisciplinary approach to caring for pets. This means bringing all clinical services together, ensuring the animals get the best holistic and individualised patient care.
The clinic will be supported by RVC staff in Anaesthesia & Analgesia, Orthopaedic, Physiotherapy, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Soft Tissue Surgery, Oncology, Cardiology, Internal Medicine and Diagnostic imaging.
Introducing Shelter Medicine at the RVC
The provision of a quality small animal rst opinion experience has always been an important part of training the vets of the future at the RVC.
The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital has hosted a popular two week nal year rotation for many years where students gain practical rst opinion experience.
In February 2014 the hospital expanded this to provide a third week of rotations to nal year students. This week focuses on Shelter Medicine, creating the rst UK formal rotation in this eld. Former BSAH Head Vet Louise Allum was excited to accept the challenge of becoming the new Head Vet of the Shelter Medicine Programme.
Shelter Medicine is all about improving the welfare of homeless animals whether they are living in state of the art rehoming centres or out on the streets of London. This emerging eld was rst taught at Cornell University, USA in 1999. Shelter Medicine has developed greatly in the last 15 years and is now offered in most veterinary schools in the USA. Re ecting this progress, Shelter Medicine was formally recognised as a specialty by the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA) in 2014.
Shelter Medicine encompasses many aspects including preventative healthcare, management of infectious diseases, managing populations of animals inside