EDITORial
Someone has a birthday coming up……… This year CAV turns 50! And that is an incredible achievement that is worth celebrating.
and Dr Jess Beer rounding out our Puppy Project (these wonderful speakers will also be presenting at the upcoming NZVA conference in June).
I first became a CAV member – or a Companion Animal Society (CAS) member as it was then known – over half of CAV’s lifetime ago. Don’t go doing the maths on my age now … please? In the years since I have been a member, I know I have certainly seen some change. And change is the only thing in life that is certain – right? Even this beloved newsletter has undergone a few facelifts, and we hope to provide you some insight into this in the upcoming year. Since the inception of CAS in 1972, some incredible people have done some incredible things on behalf of you, the companion animal veterinarians of New Zealand. One of those “incredible things” was the hosting of WSAVA in Auckland in 2013. This was driven strongly by the CAS committee (before my time) and involved a huge amount of work and dedication. The work that went into hosting that event also set up CAV members to benefit for years into the future. To see speakers from all over the world presenting in little old New Zealand was an inspiration and for me, sowed the seed that this committee might be something I should find out more about. And since I have joined the committee, we have also had some memorable moments. Most notable in recent times was the banning of tail docking in New Zealand. This was a goal for CAV/CAS members who had been championing this issue tirelessly, and for a long time before I was here. We have represented you at stakeholder meetings with Dogs NZ, the National Cat Management Strategy Group, and Companion Animals New Zealand. We have provided input into the National Cat Management Strategy Document, and reviews of Animal Welfare Regulations including Significant Surgical Procedures. We drafted, reviewed and circulated policies and position statements on Companion Animal Vaccinations, The Ethical Guide to buying a Puppy, Responsible Dog Ownership, The Breeder’s Toolkit, and Behaviour Modifying Collar Use on Dogs.
2
We worked alongside other SIBs and with the NZVA to establish veterinarians as critical workers at the outset of COVID-19 in 2020 and then worked with the Vet Team providing advice for companion animal practitioners throughout 2020 and 2021. We even provided some support in 2020 in the form of free Balint therapy sessions for a few members. In 2020, CAV, alongside the Wildlife Branch, hosted a fantastic webinar presented by Dr Elsa Flint and Dr Yolanda van Heezik on the management of wildlife and companion cats. Last year we provided practitioners with content on management of FIV (check out the summary for the new Australian Feline Retrovirus Guidelines on page 10) and then hosted a great webinar on this topic from A/Prof. Richard Squires and Dr Mark Westman. Recently practitioners told us they were struggling with an explosion of puppies and finding challenges in balancing good advice on socialisation with vaccination requirements. So we surveyed the membership to find out what current practice was, sought expert advice on socialisation from a veterinary behaviourist and then set to reviewing current literature on vaccine protection. This was presented in the December issue of Companion Quarterly. You told us through the survey that a resource with a checklist would be useful in discussions with your clients so Jess, CAV and CANZ have collaborated to produce the Socialisation Handout on page 12. In early March we hosted a fantastic webinar from Lindsay Skyner
There is no doubt that there has been a lot of politics. In fact, if you ask me, far too many politics. Structural changes to our association have occurred right throughout my presidency. There was the Change Project involving changes to the constitution and governance. There have been (now) three different iterations of our veterinary support role at national office, each one looking slightly different. And of course, we have recently been through a NZVA restructure that has created another wave of passionate discourse. So what has not changed? What has not changed is this ….. 1) We are still here unwaveringly for you through the good and the bad (and I know the COVID-19 epidemic has brought both of those aspects). 2) Companion animal veterinarian’s welfare, and the welfare of the animals we care for is still the guiding principle of every decision our committee makes. 3) We still debate issues robustly, accepting that we sometimes we won’t always agree. We are vets after all! 4) We are still (and always) open to suggestions from you about how we can communicate with you better, or what projects you would like to see us work on for you. 2022 will bring some new changes. We have some exciting ideas for webinars in the making. We want to improve our ability to communicate with you, so you know what we are up to, and we know what is important to you. Just quietly, we are also planning on a bit of a party at the NZVA Mega Conference in June. And that is something I think everyone deserves. But even if conference does not happen, because we do live in an uncertain world, keep reading your Companion Quarterly and e-CAV so we can share some good news stories about this amazing branch and the wonderful people who have supported it since 1972.
Natalie Lloyd, CAV President
Companion Quarterly: Official Newsletter of the Companion Animal Veterinarians Branch of the NZVA | Volume 33 No 1 | March 2022
