Other projects

Comparing the perception and attitudes of different groups of people (e.g., veterinarians, animal shelter staff, and feline-owning public) towards feline immunodeficiency virus in cats against published literature

Student Research Project Grant: £500 awarded in 2024

Institution: University of Edinburgh

Lead researcher: Danielle Gunn-Moore

On its discovery, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was represented as a disease of high mortality and morbidity.

Aim: This undergraduate project aims to investigate whether the perception of and attitude towards FIV in different groups involved in feline care has changed alongside increased scientific understanding of the disease to determine whether stigmatisation of FIV infection remains in the cat-care community.

Investigating the peri- and post-operative outcomes of neutering female dogs by ovariohysterectomy or ovariectomy

Student Research Project Grant: £1200 awarded in 2024

Institution: University of Nottingham

Lead researcher: Gary England

Neutering by ovariohysterectomy (OVH) is reportedly the most common procedure and the one taught in vet schools; however, laparoscopic techniques and neutering by ovariectomy (OVE) are increasing in frequency.

Aim: This undergraduate study will examine differences in the perioperative and post-operative outcomes when surgical neutering is performed by laparoscopic OVE compared to an OVH by celiotomy.

Pathways to waterways for imidacloprid in Seresto collars

Clinical Research Project Grant: £5154 awarded in 2022

Institution: University of Sussex

Lead researcher: Rose Perkins

There is growing concern among the general public and within the veterinary profession that pesticides used in companion animal flea and/or tick products may be entering the environment at levels sufficient to cause ecological harm. However, little is known about the environmental fate or impact of many of these products, to inform evidence-based decisions regarding their use.

Aim: This study aims to investigate pathways to the environment for imidacloprid contained in collars, with a focus on routes to waterways.

A mixed methods approach to quantifying and characterising vaccine uptake and vaccine hesitancy in UK companion animals

Joint-funded PhD grant: £50,000 awarded in 2020

Institution: University of Liverpool

Lead researcher: Gina Pinchbeck

Vaccination is an essential component of preventative healthcare, and the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases has been associated with reduced vaccine uptake. Vaccine hesitancy is a major threat to global health that shows strong variation and is poorly understood.

Take home message: Time between vaccinations in cats and dogs was found to have increased in recent years, with more vaccinations recorded within 3 years versus 1 year of a consultation. Vaccination uptake was lowest in older animals (>2 years), those that had been neutered, and those from a socioeconomically deprived area. Strategies to encourage owners to vaccinate their animals could therefore consider targeting areas of high deprivation.

Read an article about the study published in BSAVA’s Companion magazine. Findings were presented as abstracts at BSAVA Congress 2023 and 2024 and can be freely accessed. They were also published in the August 2024 issue of Vaccine.

Exploring adverse event reporting following vaccination in veterinary free-text clinical narratives

Student Research Project Grant: £2100 awarded in 2023

Institution: University of Liverpool

Lead researcher: Gina Pinchbeck

Suspected adverse drug reactions (sADRs) following vaccination are of concern to dog owners, especially regarding the Leptospira vaccines (L2 and L4). The aim of this project was to explore the frequency, severity, and duration of vaccination-related ADRs reported in free-text clinical narratives from electronic health records.

Take home message: Of 5,818,296 canine vaccine event records, L2 and L4 vaccines had a very low sADR prevalence, of 0.0022% and 0.0135% respectively. This provides useful data that may alleviate owners’ concerns regarding immunisation of their dogs against Leptospirosis. Findings were presented as a clinical abstract at BSAVA Congress 2024, which can be accessed here.

Using citizen science to develop a ‘canine aging and wellbeing’ tool for use in veterinary practice

Citizen Science Project Grant: £110,470 awarded in 2019

Institution: University of Liverpool

Lead researcher: Carri Westgarth

Many UK dogs live into old age, but owners may not recognise or report age-associated signs of disease which lead to negative welfare. This study investigated dog owner and veterinary professional experiences and attitudes towards ageing in dogs, how health care is offered, barriers to its delivery, and some best-practice solutions.

In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 owners of 21 dogs (aged 8 to 17 years mean: 13) and 11 veterinary professional (eight veterinary surgeons, two nurses and one physiotherapist). Open-text responses from 61 dog owner were collected using an online survey. Transcripts and survey responses were inductively coded into themes.

Four themes were constructed: “just old age”, barriers to care, trust in veterinary surgeons, and tools to improve health care. Age-related changes were mostly perceived as “just old age” by dog owner. Many dogs were no longer vaccinated and did not attend check-ups unless owners identified a problem. The greatest barriers to health care were finances (dog owner), owner awareness, willingness to act and consultation time (veterinary professional). Trust in veterinary professional was more likely when dog owner experienced continuity, prioritisation of care, clear communication and an accessible, knowledgeable and empathic veterinary professional. Participants suggested that senior health care and communication between dog owner and veterinary professional could be improved through questionnaires, and evidence-based online information. These findings were published in the July 2023 issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice.

The themes that emerged from the qualitative data were used to develop surveys that went out nationwide to veterinary professionals and owners of senior dogs to gather quantitative data (published in Frontiers of Veterinary Science) that formed the basis of a traffic light-coded checklist to help owners know whether to seek advice from a veterinary practice and to guide discussions during consultations. This checklist is available as part of an Ageing Canine Toolkit that owners and veterinary professionals can use together to provide the best care for senior dogs. The toolkit, comprising a leaflet and poster, was launched at BSAVA Congress 2023. It is freely available to download and veterinary professionals can request free printed copies of the leaflet and poster for their practices.

Further information is available here.

Ex vivo assessments of cell salvage and swab washing devices

Clinical Research Project Grant: £9944.14 awarded in 2022

Institution: University of Surrey / Fitzpatrick Referrals

Lead researchers: Andrea Galliano and Ivan Kalmukov

Haemorrhages are a major complication of surgery, with blood transfusions the gold standard of treatment. In human surgery, intraoperative cell salvage collects and filters suctioned blood and bloody fluid, before cells are washed, concentrated, and delivered to the patient. The washing of blood-soaked swabs can improve red blood cell recovery, but manual washing is labour intensive and time-consuming. Little is known about such techniques in veterinary medicine.

Take home message: This study showed that a cell salvage device was efficient at recovering canine erythrocytes in an ex vivo setting. The findings were published in the November 2022 issue of Veterinary Surgery.

The study also compared red blood cell recovery by manual swab washing with that achieved with a newly devised filtration apparatus based on a mesh basket and pan that function like a colander. Twelve recently expired units of canine packed red blood cells underwent quality analysis before being volume-expanded with anticoagulant and divided into two equal aliquots that were used to soak surgical swabs. One set of swabs was processed using manual agitation in saline solution while the other underwent gravity-aided filtration with saline washing using the mesh apparatus. The resulting bloody fluid was processed using the Cell Saver Elite Autotransfusion System (Haemonetics).

The volume, manual packed cell volume, complete blood count, and red blood cell mass, calculated as the product of the volume and packed cell volume, were measured before and after salvaging. Red blood cell mass recovery was then recorded as a percentage. The red blood cell mass recovered by manual agitation and filtration averaged 85.73% and 83.99%, respectively, which was not significantly different. This work has the potential to improve the recovery of red blood cells during haemorrhage, which can then be transfused back to aid recovery of the patient. It was published in the July 2022 issue of the American Journal of Veterinary Research.

Exploring recording of adverse drug reaction reporting in veterinary free-text clinical narratives

Student Research Project Grant: £2300 awarded in 2021

Institution: University of Liverpool

Lead researcher: Heather Davies

There is significant under-reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in relation to prescribed medicines in human medicine, and this is suspected in veterinary medicine. This undergraduate project aimed to determine how frequently events recorded as suspected ADRs are reported in small animal general practice.

The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) electronic health records dataset was searched using regular expressions designed to identify case narratives which may record a suspicion of an ADR.

Take home message: Of the 827 cases of suspected adverse drug reactions identified out of a total of 10,565 records reviewed, the vast majority (approximately 90%) were not reported. Most of these sADRs (74%) were related to dogs and the majority (70%) of sADRs were listed as “expected” (i.e. already listed in the product information). The clinical severity of the reaction didn’t appear to impact whether it was reported.

Presentation of an abstract of these findings at BSAVA Congress 2022 won the PetSavers Clinical Abstract Award for that year. The work was also published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice, and our report of the results can be read here.