WIRRAL veterinary surgeon Alan Leyland, who is currently President of the Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons, writes for the Wirral Globe. Readers with queries about their pets can write to Mr Leyland via the Wirral Globe office, Globe House, Catherine Street, Birkenhead, L41 6HW.

HAVING just taken delivery of a new scanner for electronic identification of dogs and cats, it occurs to me how far-fetched this idea would have seemed 30 years ago when I first qualified.

A small glass-coated microchip about the size of a grain of rice is injected under the skin of the dog or cat. This totally inert apparatus is coded to give a unique identification number for that animal.

Should the animal become a stray anywhere in the country, passing a small hand-held reader about the size of a book over the animal will prove ownership. In the future any stray or injured animal can be positively identified if it has been microchipped.

The system includes permanent central recording of the number and details of the animal's owner, which is included in the initial cost.

Until recently there were various systems of chips which were not necessarily compatible when they were read.

All that has now changed with a system capable of reading chips.

There are now so many scanners in veterinary surgeries and all the places where stray or injured dogs and cats may end up there is a high chance of recovery.

Keeping pace with new developments means constant attendance at refresher courses, referred to as Continuing Professional Development. Recently the two vets in my practice have attended courses on orthopaedics, urology, exotic animals, management topics, opthalmology, and soft tissue surgery.

These courses can be very enjoyable. For example, the British Small Veterinary Association holds an annual congress in Birmingham, in April. Over four days there are an incredible number of lecturers running concurrently for all levels, from sessions for veterinary nurses through to refresher standard and specialist on a wide range of topics.

Specialist divisions of the profession also hold satellite meetings here. However, there is a strong social programme where you can meet up with all your old colleagues.

The society of which I am currently President (Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons) has a busy programme of events running through the year.

We are concerned with any matter to do with practice, which includes management issues, such as a two day computer seminar.

We do look for ways to make our meetings different, and to achieve this we combine some of them with physical activity such as sailing and skiing.

These courses are very popular but genuinely hard work. You definitely look forward to getting back to work for a rest, but it's a great way to keep up to date.

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