The Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP)
The Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP) is the BSAVA's monthly scientific journal, featuring original, peer-reviewed articles, case reports and other scientific and educational information from around the world. The aim of JSAP is to facilitate the dissemination and implementation of new ideas and techniques relating to clinical veterinary practice, and ultimately to promote best practice.
JSAP is provided to BSAVA members as part of their membership benefits. Members - to access JSAP, log in then click on the 'read latest issues' button at the bottom of the page.
You can search for JSAP articles from within the BSAVA Library by clicking on the JSAP tab from the search results page. If you are a BSAVA member and already logged in, you can click through from the search results to access the full article.
You can view a selection of infographics which give a summary of JSAP papers on a variety of topics here.
March issue - in JSAP this month
More than 90% of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses have experienced a work-related injury, indicating that a health and safety cultural shift is needed, a study published in this month’s JSAP has revealed. Animal-related injuries were the most common type for vets, nurses, and animal care assistants, with injuries frequently occurring during animal restraint (particularly cats), anaesthetic recovery, and from needlesticks. After the injury, 16% of nurses and 19% of vets attended hospital, and fewer than 10% of vets and nurses took time off work, either because they thought the injury was genuinely minor, could still work with a reduced workload, used annual leave, or wanted to “just get on with it”. Most staff didn’t report their injuries because the injury was minor, it was too much effort, they forgot to, or because of the perception that it’s “just one of those things”. The study highlights a poor injury culture, marked by a lack of knowledge of practice health and safety protocols and policies, underreporting injuries, and a culture of presenteeism.
February issue - in JSAP this month
Gonadectomy before 2.9 years of age in female dogs and 2.2 years in males is associated with a substantially increased risk of Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease (CrCLD), this paper shows. The study took a different approach to previous research, by treating gonadal hormone exposure as a continuous variable, rather than categorising dogs by arbitrary age cut-offs. The prevalence of CrCLD was 2.49% in females and 1.89% in male dogs. The risk of CrCLD was highest in dogs with the least gonadal hormone exposure, before 1054 days and 805 days old for females and males, respectively. The minimum risk was at approximately 2.9 years for females and 2.2 years for males. This suggests that gonadectomy is very likely to be associated with an increased risk of CrCLD, and that previously suggested arbitrary cutoffs of 2 years of age may not be scientifically grounded. Overall, these findings reinforce that removal of gonadal hormones should be performed after musculoskeletal maturity, if at all.
January issue - in JSAP this month
The majority (94%) of dogs exposed to electronic cigarette or e-liquid remain asymptomatic or develop only mild signs, a study in this month’s JSAP has confirmed. From the canine cases reported to the Veterinary Poisons Information Service for electronic cigarette or e-liquid exposure, over half (53%) of dogs remained asymptomatic following oral exposure to e-liquid. Among those that developed clinical signs (47%), emesis, hypersalivation, and tachycardia were the most common. Other potential signs of nicotine toxicity, such as tremor, ataxia, or tachypnoea, occurred in less than 7% of cases. Clinical signs generally resolved within a few hours, with a median recovery time of 3 hours. Out of the dogs, 28% received no treatment or observation only, and 45% received gut decontamination. A moderate, severe or fatal outcome was reported in 6% of cases. This confirms that the majority of dogs exposed to e-liquids can be managed conservatively.
You must be logged in and a BSAVA member (excluding veterinary nurse student member) to use the links.
A collection of JSAP reviews for primary care practice is freely available to all.
If you are not a member of BSAVA and wish to receive JSAP, you can either become a member or subscribe to the journal via our publisher, Wiley.