Blog

Flank or midline spay – where is it best to cut? BY ILONA OTTER | February 20, 2025 Flank or midline approach for female cat/dog spay? Welcome to the world of spaying and neutering! February is officially recognized as Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, culminating in World Spay Day on the last Tuesday of the month. During this time, lots of amazing non-profit organizations, programs, and private vet clinics join forces to share valuable information and organize spay/neuter campaigns. Many of these efforts continue

Just keep spaying – CATS!!!! BY ILONA OTTER | AUGUEST 20, 2024 I received an email this morning from Sushmita (name changed), asking my help for what to do when there are kittens being left on the streets and she already has seven such kittens rescued in her house. This situation is so common for so many people concerned about animals and their welfare. Abandoned, helpless kittens left on the roadsides and kind people trying their best to save their lives by syringe

Outreach adventures to spay/neuter clinics BY ILONA OTTER | October 6, 2024 When most of your work is with your laptop in the office; writing reports, going through accounts, planning projects and budgets and addressing staff recruitment needs, there is nothing better than a little adventure in the form of a field work trip. Over the last couple of years with the WVS India team, I have been focusing on developing the concept of owned dog spay/neuter campaign clinics as way of complementing

A study by Purdue University (US) scientists published in January 2024  reviewed the existing literature concerning access to veterinary care, in order to understand how “access to veterinary care” has been defined in the literature, map a broad list of potential barriers that may influence access to veterinary care, and identify how access to care impacts the welfare of animals, both companion as well as livestock species. In terms of the barriers to accessing veterinary care, ten distinct themes were

On this World Veterinary Day, as I sat down for my morning coffee and to check on messages in my phone, I was very happy to see first the message from Dr Shireen Lawrence, thanking me for the mentoring I had provided to him over ten years ago, as he was beginning his career as a veterinarian. It was fully unexpected message and I felt very honoured and humbled by him remembering and recognising me in such a role, so many years later.