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Vet Voices On Air

Veterinary Voices UK

The team at Veterinary Voices discuss topical and controversial issues with key opinion leaders from the veterinary profession.

www.vetvoices.co.uk

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  • 22 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 45 min
  • English

Episodes 22

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  • September 6 · 53 min

    When Birds Come Through the Door: Avian Emergency Care Made Practical

    “They are masters of presenting very vaguely for vastly different things.” — Mark Naguib In this in-depth episode of Vet Voices on Air, Robyn is joined by Mark Naguib BVMS(Hons) CertAVP(ZM) MRCVS, RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Zoological Medicine , an experienced avian and exotic veterinary surgeon, to explore the realities of avian medicine in general practice—covering both wildlife birds and companion species. While Vet Voices On Air has previously focused on wildlife casualties and considerations with Emily LLewyn and wildlife rehabilitation with Paul Reynolds, this episode goes broader, tackling the overlap between wild, captive, and pet birds, and addressing one of the biggest barriers many veterinary teams face: confidence.

  • August 23 · 45 min

    Your First Veterinary Job: Dream Role or Job from Hell?

    You’ve spent years working towards becoming a vet or RVN. Then comes the first job. But what happens when the career you dreamed about doesn’t feel quite so dreamy once you’re actually living it? “We all have that glass slipper image of the practice that we feel is best for us.” — Robyn In this episode of Vet Voices on Air, Robyn is joined by veterinary surgeon and graduate mentor Alison Price and recent graduate Danielle Golds for a refreshingly open conversation about those crucial first years in practice.

  • August 9 · 55 min

    The Food Bowl Connection: Understanding Pet Nutrition Beyond the Bowl

    In this episode of Vet Voices On Air, Genever Morgan and Georgia Woods-Lee explore one of the most debated topics in companion animal medicine: pet nutrition. From raw feeding and kibble to insect protein, plant-based diets and minimally processed foods, they discuss why feeding choices have become so personal—and why conversations about nutrition can be surprisingly complex.

  • July 26 · 55 min

    Lower Back Pain, Clinical Reasoning, Contextualised Care & Learning From Complications

    What if it's not arthritis? Lower back pain can look like hip osteoarthritis, behavioural change, skin disease, anal gland problems or simply people thinking it's just ‘old age’. Diagnosing it requires far more than finding one painful spot—it takes careful history-taking, clinical reasoning and seeing the bigger picture. In this episode of Vet Voices on Air, we sit down with RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Neurology Colin Driver to explore the complexities of diagnosing and managing chronic lower back pain, particularly degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (DLSS). From recognising subtle behavioural changes and differentiating neurological from orthopaedic disease, to understanding when imaging, medical management or surgery may be appropriate, Colin shares practical advice that every veterinary professional can take back into practice. But this conversation quickly becomes about much more than spinal disease. We discuss what contextualised care really means, why there is rarely a single "right" answer for every patient, and how balancing evidence, patient welfare, owner circumstances, ethics and finances is one of the greatest challenges in modern veterinary medicine. The episode also takes an honest look behind the scenes of specialist practice. Colin speaks openly about complications, cognitive bias, decision-making under pressure and the emotional burden of making mistakes—topics that are rarely discussed publicly but affect every veterinary professional.

  • July 12 · 43 min

    When Students Lead: The Future of Veterinary Medicine

    What happens when three veterinary students are trusted to think differently? This episode begins with an incredible achievement: three University of Cambridge veterinary students who won a Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) competition, securing up to £100,000 to turn their vision into a real-world project. But this isn't simply a story about winning a competition—it's a conversation about the future of veterinary medicine, the role of students, and why One Health thinking has never been more important. Together, Francesca Haldane, Shreya Patel, Rudi Bruijn-Yard share how they developed an ambitious proposal to tackle Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Uganda through a sustainable, community-led vaccination programme designed to outlive external funding.

  • June 28 · 1 hr 17 min

    The IHA Debate: Health, Hype and Hard Questions

    The launch of the Innate Health Assessment (IHA) has sparked a passionate debate in the dog world. *Special Extended Episode* Supporters see it as a practical, simple tool to help improve canine welfare by addressing extreme conformation. Critics have raised concerns about fairness, scientific validity, breed identity, and fears that it could ultimately threaten certain breeds. To separate fact from fiction, Veterinary Voices UK sat down with Professor Dan O'Neill, veterinary epidemiologist at the Royal Veterinary College and one of the architects of the IHA, alongside Marisa Heath, Director of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) and a long-standing animal welfare advocate. Veterinary Voices UK opened up the discussion to everyone to pose their questions and concerns, and the discussion explored the most common questions raised by breeders, owners, veterinary professionals and the wider dog community.

  • June 14 · 30 min

    Building Confidence in Ultrasound with FOVU

    In this episode, Robyn is joined by Dr Camilla Edwards from First Opinion Veterinary Ultrasound (FOVU) for a really practical, honest conversation about making ultrasound less scary and more useful in everyday practice. If your machine is gathering dust, only comes out for the odd pyometra, or you feel that familiar imposter syndrome every time you pick up the probe – this one’s for you.

  • May 17 · 46 min

    Burnout, Moral Injury & Compassion Fatigue – When Caring Starts to Hurt

    Veterinary work is rewarding but also challenging. This resource explores three key psychosocial factors—burnout, moral injury, and compassion fatigue—that may impact the wellbeing of veterinary professionals. Sudden crises, ongoing stress, trauma, and ethical dilemmas can all contribute. While many other issues affect wellbeing, this guide focuses on these three. It applies to all veterinary team members, offering insights into recognizing, preventing, and responding to these challenges in the workplace

  • April 19 · 41 min

    Too Hot to Handle: The Truth About Heatstroke

    Heatstroke is one of the most lethal yet most misunderstood emergencies in veterinary medicine—and it doesn’t only happen on scorching summer days. In this in-depth episode Robyn from Vet Voices on Air is joined by two leading voices in the field: Dr Emily Hall, primary care vet, educator, and researcher whose PhD focused on the epidemiology of heatstroke in UK dogs, and Emily Cockerill, referral RVN and Lowland Rescue search dog volunteer with extensive real-world experience managing dogs working in extreme conditions. Together, they unpack what heatstroke actually is, why it’s so dangerous, and why time and temperature matter more than almost anything else. Using clear, evidence-based explanations, they explore what happens inside the body when temperatures rise—how proteins “cook,” organs fail, and why once a critical threshold is crossed, the damage is irreversible.

  • April 5 · 51 min

    Beyond the Rosettes: the real conversation about breed health after Crufts 2026

    In this powerful and much-needed episode of Vet Voices on Air, we dive into one of the most emotionally charged and complex conversations in the dog world right now: breed health, extreme conformation, judging decisions, health testing, genetic diversity, and what meaningful change really looks like after Crufts 2026.

  • March 22 · 38 min

    The Pet Dental Debate: Prevention, Groomers & Anaesthesia-Free Cleaning

    Pet dental health is one of the most overlooked areas of animal care, and in this episode of Vet Voices On Air with Robyn, we tackle a topic that is becoming more common, more visible, and often more confusing for owners: anaesthesia-free dental procedures. Joining us for this important discussion are Alix, an ECVS and RCVS-recognised veterinary dental specialist, and Cat, a registered veterinary nurse and full-time groomer. Together, we explore what periodontal disease really is, why it is so common in dogs and cats, and where the line lies between helpful home maintenance and treatment that truly requires veterinary intervention.

  • March 8 · 35 min

    The Pain in Your Practice You Can’t See: Endometriosis in a Female Dominated Workforce

    Vet Voices On Air episode for Endometriosis Awareness Month – March 2026 The 2021 RCVS report shows that the UK veterinary profession is overwhelmingly female: 57% of all registered veterinary surgeons are female 96.8% of veterinary nurses are female Nearly 80% of veterinary degree students are female Now put that next to the Endometriosis UK statistic that 1 in 10 females are affected by endometriosis. That means in every practice, in every lecture theatre, in every on-call rota… someone is likely living with a chronic, often invisible disease – whether they feel safe enough to say it out loud or not.

  • February 22 · 40 min

    Are We Evolving As Quickly as Our Clients?

    The episode challenges the profession to rethink how it communicates, so that in a world of instant information, veterinary professionals remain the trusted guide – not the last resort after a Google spiral.

  • January 25 · 46 min

    Inside the Cross-Border Pet Trade: Illegal Imports, Cropped Ears, Declawed Cats and the Future of Ethical Breeding

    In this Vet Voices on Air episode, Robyn Lowe hosts a powerhouse panel to unpack the brand new Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 – the law many are calling the Puppy Smuggling Act, but which reaches far beyond puppies alone. Featuring: Dr Danny Chambers – Vet & MP, who brought the Bill through Parliament Dr Sean McCormack – Vet, conservationist & presenter (ear cropping and welfare campaigner) Dr Alison Skipper – Vet & Veterinary and Research Advisor, Royal Kennel Club Cat the Vet – Vet, educator, welfare advocate & media commentator

  • January 11 · 47 min

    From colics to the Commons: when your out-of-hours vet becomes your MP

    Ever wondered what actually happens when a horse vet swaps night shifts and colic calls for Parliament and policy. In this episode of Vet Voices On Air, Robyn speaks to her friend Danny Chambers – founder of Veterinary Voices UK, equine vet and now MP (since July 2024) – about life on the green benches and what it really means to have “a vet in the room” in Westminster.

  • Dec 21, 2025 · 26 min

    Season 2 Finale: Vet Voices on Air – We Survived 2025 (Somehow)

    Listen to the finale episode of Vet Voices on Air for the full mix of chaos, laughter, penguins, snails, politics, hiking storms, and heartfelt community chat – available where you usually find us. Wishing you a Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays / peaceful festive on-call rota May the on-call gods be gentle, the chocolate be out of reach of dogs, and your 2026 be full of more glimmers than grumbles. See you in January for SEASON 3!

  • Nov 23, 2025 · 53 min

    Decision Points: The Wildlife Rehab Paradox with Paul Reynolds

    In this episode, Paul and Robyn explore how public expectations, rehabilitation centre realities, and veterinary clinical decision-making can sometimes pull in different directions. From questions around treatment thresholds and release suitability, to the emotional weight of euthanasia decisions, we unpack why different groups may see the same situation differently — and why that’s okay (but also requires some understanding and respect, as wildlife facilities and veterinary professionals often face substantial abuse for their decisions around wildlife care) What we cover: Why members of the public often see saving an animal as the only ethical outcome How rehabbers balance compassion, resources, legislation and welfare The veterinarian’s responsibility to consider suffering, prognosis and humane limits The importance of understanding biosecurity, facility standards and the wider ecosystem And most importantly… how we can communicate with more empathy, transparency and shared understanding This episode isn’t about who’s “right” — it’s about bridging gaps, improving collaboration and building a clearer shared knowledge of why different decisions are made. When we understand each other better, wildlife welfare always wins.

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