12
| PET GAZETTE | TRADE TALK
VIDEO CONSULTANT FIRSTVET TO
LAUNCH IN UK
FirstVet provides a digital platform for consultation on veterinary queries, via 10 to 15
minute videos
Swedish veterinary video platform, FirstVet,
has announced it is to expand into the UK.
FirstVet provides a digital platform for
consultation on veterinary queries, via 10 to
15 minute videos. FirstVet has experienced
accelerated growth in Sweden, with user
numbers more than doubling since last
summer.
Through the videos consultants can
offer advice and prescriptions, as well as
referral to the nearest appropriate clinic, or
confirm that a health issue is not serious.
David Prien, co-founder and CEO of
FirstVet, said: “Telemedicine has proven
increasingly integral to human healthcare,
and our animal friends should benefit too.
Through FirstVet we establish a natural first
point of contact before assessing whether
comprehensive physical treatment at a vet
is needed.
“Veterinary care is not subsidised by the
government, so people need to know that
they can depend upon a service that is
both reliable and cost-effective.”
WEAR REFERRALS CARRIES
OUT FIRST COMMERCIAL ANKLE
REPLACEMENT FOR DOGS
Vinny, a three-year-old chocolate Labrador, was the recipient and is said to be recovering well
after becoming the first dog in the country to benefit from the state-of-the-art technique
Referral centre and animal hospital, Wear
Referrals has announced it carried out the
UK’s first commercial ankle replacement
for dogs and is now championing the new
procedure.
Wear Referrals, which is part of the
Linnaeus Group and based in Stockton-on-
Tees, carried out the inaugural operation
and is one of only three clinics in the UK to
have been chosen by American company
BioMedtrix for a prospective clinical trial of
its new canine ankle replacement system.
www.petgazette.biz
Vinny, a three-year-old chocolate
Labrador, was the recipient and is said to
be recovering well after becoming the first
dog in the country to benefit from the state-
of-the-art technique.
Neil Burton, a specialist in small animal
surgery and head of orthopaedic surgery at
Wear Referrals, said: “This was the first case
of a BioMedtrix ankle replacement in the UK
and we are delighted on two fronts.
“First of all, the operation went very well
and Vinny is doing excellently at the two-
month post-operative stage. He’s off all
medication, is walking well, there are no
issues with the implants and the bone is
healing uneventfully. We are also thrilled to
be able to fly the flag as the first veterinary
specialists in the country to undertake this
surgical procedure.”
Burton was assisted during the
three-hour operation by Wear’s senior
orthopaedic surgeon Maciej Krukowski,
as the pair used the specialist prototype
instrumentation to remove the damaged
cartilage and bone in the joint, which was
then replaced with the implant.
DOGROBES TO
SUPPLY FIFE
ARMS HOTEL
WITH DRYING
COATS
The coats will be hung in the Boot Room at
the Fife Arms for guests to use, and will be
on sale at the hotel’s shop
Pet accessory company, Dogrobes is to supply
its range of dog drying coats to The Fife Arms
hotel in Braemar.
The Fife Arms is a Victorian coaching inn that
is located in the Scottish village of Braemar
amidst the landscape of the Cairngorms
National Park and provides “luxury first class
hotel” accommodation for visitors and their
dogs.
The building displays traditional architectural
characteristics of the area and was remodelled
by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, an architect
of national repute whose fame grew after royal
patronage during the Victorian period.
Margaret Reynolds, owner of Dogrobes
said: “We are very proud that we’re made in
Britain. We have one large manufacturer and
two other smaller manufacturers who are
all based in Scotland. We also use a team of
talented and up and coming designers for our
exclusive collection.”
Federica Bertolini, general manager of the
Fife Arms, added: “Araminta our tweed and
tartan designer introduced the dog robes to the
Fife Arms. We had to have them immediately,
made in Scotland, stylish and very useful just
what we like to sell in our shop.”
Dogrobes also won a contract to supply the
UK arm of Orvis, an American family-owned
retail and mail-order business specialising in
pet accessories and treats for dogs and IMS, a
wholesaler to the veterinary profession.
June 2019