Join our host Robyn Lowe discussing one of her favourite topics: guinea pigs with Hannah Messer, RVN and manager of the Potato Patch Guinea Pig Sanctuary.

We discuss the main reasons guinea pigs require rehoming and touch on the overwhelming numbers of guinea pigs that are currently needing rescue. It is essential for owners to fully understand basic feeding, housing and enrichment needs of the guinea pig they are taking on and we debate the role veterinary staff have to educate clients on this and the extent this should be explored in history taking when presented with a guinea pig with health issues.

We run through optimum indoor and outdoor housing provision, and how for owners and guinea pigs each may have its pros and cons. We tackle the idea that guinea pig temperament and confidence with being handled can vary hugely, largely based on how much exposure to humans they have in the early phases of life. Many may be very nervouswhen handled and are not suited to a home that wants to handle them regularly.

It is important we do not fall into the trap of picking guinea pigs based on looks, but instead to understand how their needs reflect our own and decrease the owner: guinea pig mismatch.

Hannah is doing an important job. To access more information on this and other guinea pig related facts, you can follow Hannah via The Potato Patch page on Facebook.

This podcast is on the emotive subject of veterinary suicide in which John Gibson shares his personal story of the loss of a loved one to suicide with Robyn Lowe. It is a very open and deep conversation that may be a difficult thing for you to listento right now. If you feel able and safe to listen, then please remember that if you feel affected in anyway by this podcast, to reach out for support.

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You can contact Vetlife helpline, whose phonelines are available 24/7 on 0303 040 2551 or by anonymous web contact through the website link: https://helpline.vetlife.org.uk/

In addition, if you are experiencing thoughts about ending your life you can text CANMORE to 85258, they are available 24/7.

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Following the death of his son Cameron, John, alongside his wife Isobel, founded the Canmore trust, a charity that works towards both suicide prevention and postvention. They work with people struggling to want to stay in the world, to find a safe space despite the struggles and difficulties they may be facing right now. They have a particular interest in the veterinary profession as their son Cameron was a newly qualified vet. They work on both an individual and policy level to prevent veterinary suicide.

We talk frankly about the different patterns and types of grieving we may experience as individuals within a team, how this may be experienced at different times and the misalignment that may create. We touch on disenfranchised grief, discuss how more support is needed for veterinary mental health around animal euthanasia as well as the importance of postvention support following suicide in theworkplace. Postvention support may indeed prevent future suicide attempts.

Please join us to hear from John, a determined, compassionate individual whose purpose is to bring hope and support to those experiencing suicidal thoughts or grieving a loved one to suicide.

“The available estimates indicate that Europe’s pet trade (cats, dogs, exotic) is the third most profitable illegal trade in the EU, after narcotics and weapons,”

Tune in to hear Robyn Lowe in conversation with Rowena Packer and Zoe Belshaw to discuss their research findings into the shocking reality of puppy sale scams and illegal puppy smuggling, where animal health, behaviour and welfare is hugely compromised for financial profit.

Rowena is a senior lecturer in companion animal behaviour at RVC and Zoe is a European and RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine. They discuss their research findings, particularly the increase in puppy sales throughout the pandemic and the change in methods of acquisition.

Importing puppies is often illegal and unethical. Ongoing research has shown that there is an increasing trend in the number of puppies purchased with passports (i.e imported puppies), in 2021 at least 1 in 10 puppies were imported. In 2020, Dogs Trust found that 14% of all adverts reviewed were for imported puppies (29% in England), at least 18% of the imported puppies were confirmed by the seller as being under the minimum 15 weeks of age.

It is something we in the veterinary profession, and prospective puppy owners, need to know more about, and we hope that this podcast provides some insight and tools to identify when this is likely to be going on, for example any puppy who has been imported under the age of 15 weeks will have been done so illegally.

We also discuss the hugely damaging impact this has on the puppies, dams and sires from a behaviour, disease and welfare point of view. This issue is becoming more prevalent, and we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our clients so that we can try and tackle this, ultimately by identifying puppy sellers who are part of the illegal puppy trade and boycotting these purchases.