Vets have been in the news a lot over the last week or so, with both good and bad press. The Panorama  programme on BBC 1 highlighted some poor standards in the care of the animals and the conduct of the staff within one chain of corporate veterinary practices. Personally I was sad to see the standards of this sector of the veterinary profession drop to such a low ebb. It is an area which needs addressing by the professional body which oversees vets, The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, better known as the RCVS.

In direct contrast and on a better and much happier note, the excellent work of the “Bionic Vet” Noel Fitzpatrick, has been the subject of a series of 30 minute programmes on the BBC over recent weeks. In contrast to the Panorama programme, his work is pioneering and above all, is of the highest standard. His surgery has all the latest equipment including an MRI scanner, modern digital X-ray equipment and state of the art kennelling and hydrotherapy pool. I have subsequently tended to think of my own practice as pretty well “non-bionic” as we have virtually no hi-tech equipment and rely on herbal and homeopathic remedies which have been in use for many years. Nevertheless, regardless of the type of medicine practised, I have always tried to maintain high standards of care and courtesy in much the same way as Noel.

To meet the needs of the modern pet owner we need the likes of Noel and his colleagues and indeed all the vets that specialize in different areas of veterinary medicine including those vets that use alternative or natural medicine. Sandwiched between the specialist vets, we rely on those vets in regular everyday practice to keep us supplied with cases. These are just the same practices that most pet owners rely on for quality, professional, day to day care.