Companion collection - How to...

Following on from the comprehensive FIP update published in last month’s Companion, here are some frequently asked questions based on questions submitted to the FIP advice email – a service founded by Sam Taylor, Séverine Tasker, Emi Barker, Danièlle Gunn-Moore and Stephanie Sorell, with input from Petra Cerna and Sally Coggins. This service provides advice free of charge to vets to raise their confidence in the treatment of cases of FIP as our knowledge of antivirals emerge and develop, and the goal is to increase access to care for cats with FIP. Around 4000 emails have been answered to date by the team.

 Isuru Gajanayake, from Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, discusses the causes, diagnosis and the nutritional and medical management of canine PLE.

    In the June 2025 edition of Companion, James McMurrough, Charlotte Duncan and Bethany Thomas from Vets Now Manchester focused on the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. In this second part of the two-part series focus is turned to the classification and treatment of this condition.

  BSAVA Policy works closely with subject experts and Government to support members and the wider profession with challenging scenarios that may be encountered on a daily basis in practice, including zoonoses such as Brucella canis. In this article, Emi Barker, from Langford Vets, Bristol, shares her expertise with some top tips for vets in practice when dealing with suspected cases of Brucella canis infection. These tips are intended to support the BSAVA Scientific Information Document (SID) on the topic (available in the BSAVA Library at: https://tinyurl.com/brucella-sid), and to be read alongside it. Further information is available in the Brucella canis Hub (https://tinyurl.com/brucella-hub), which brings together key resources on B. canis from the BSAVA and from government sources.

  In this the first part of a two-part series Bryn Jones, from Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, focuses on the causes, Clostridia and consequences of AHDS.

 Isuru Gajanayake, from Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, discusses the pivotal role nutritional support has to play in the care of critically ill dogs and cats.

  Dana Grigore and Craig Breheny are encouraging clinicians to include dysautonomia in their differential list when presented with suggestive clinical signs, despite the rarity of the condition.

 Lucy McMahon from Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists has written this article to raise awareness of when to suspect leptospirosis in dogs and describes how to make a diagnosis in suspected cases.

  Alexander J German and Richard Barrett-Jolley from the Institute of Life Course and Medical Science at the University of Liverpool have recently published some research results which take a closer look at vegan diets for dogs.

 Heidi and Daniel Hargreaves are passionate about wildlife conservation and as a celebration of International Bat Night (24–25 August), they lead us into the private world of bats.