CAM blogs

CAM Meets Hannah Capon

Hannah Capon  MA Vet MB MRCVS
Hannah is founder of CAM and currently the CEVA Animal Welfare Vet of the year 2019.

 

Hannah kindly agreed to answer the following questions:

What are your feelings on how we currently manage this common debilitating condition in dogs?

Having set up CAM in 2016, I think my feelings then were that we were as a profession not managing this disease very well. There were pockets of excellence and inspiration, but there were huge gaps in understanding both professional and public. The last 3 years have been a whirlwind for me and I have met many people who are offering services above and beyond for owners of arthritic dogs. Their knowledge, experience and ability to blend aspects of different disciplines into a treatment plan have taught me so much.

These people have been busy working away from the spotlight ensuring the animals in their care get a truly multimodal approach.

 

As a veterinarian what do you feel is essential for managing canine arthritis effectively?

I hope that more CPD, education and professional networking regarding multimodal management will help other professionals start their journey on improved chronic pain management.

I hope that in the next few years we will move away from our reliance on NSAIDs having learnt to identify the disease earlier, and action treatment plans that look at all aspects of the dog’s life.

 

How do you see treatment options for arthritis progressing over the next ten years?

I think education is key in improving how we manage this disease, and as seen with our platform this information needs to readily accessible to all both in terms of cost and understanding. Through awareness and education we will identify this disease earlier, as well as refine our management plans and move away from blanket treatments.

In addition we need to work on making the lifestyle changes imperative to controlling pain and progression sexier so that it is more likely to be delivered to those that need it, and more likely to be listened to, by those receiving it. This may mean we need to increase the science behind it, or improve peoples uptake through inspiring stories, bold  media and peer to peer learning.

CAM has grown and changed since I first wrote the website. I have learnt so much from many talented generous souls who truly have animal welfare as their driver. I hope that we can find the funds to rewrite a bigger better website and incorporate more of a rapidly changing understanding of this disease.

 

If you could have the opportunity to give one tip/piece of advice to an owner with a dog suffering from arthritis what would it be?

If I was only given 5 seconds of someones time to give them advice that would positively change their dogs life… I would shout get rid of slippery flooring and get your dog to a body condition score of 4-5/9.