Kelly Nickalls

Luckily for me, hay fever season seems to have passed for this year, although I know many are not so fortunate! My symptoms are mainly eye-related, and while irritating, I can manage them well with eye drops. Recently, a friend mentioned that their dog seemed to be suffering from hay fever this year, with red, itchy eyes the main symptom. This set off alarm bells – I'm not veterinary qualified, but I've read enough issues of this journal to know that eyes are not something to mess around with.

After some interesting conversations with readers at last month's BVA Live, I have been reflecting on the concept of contextualised care in veterinary practice and how this impacts practice. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into veterinary services for household pets is leading to scrutiny of treatments and veterinary practice in general. Contextualised care is seen as a way to help address some of the concerns raised by the investigation.

From 10 June, owners in England must ensure all pet cats over the age of 20 weeks are microchipped and registered on a compliant database or they may receive a fine of up to £500. Compulsory microchipping aims to help reunite lost or stray pet cats with their owners, with charities highlighting that no matter how far from home they are found or how long they have been missing, if a cat has a microchip there is a high chance they will be returned home.