Matt Gurney – BVSc CertVA PgCertVBM DipECVAA MRCVS
Matt is Joint Head of Anaesthesia, RCVS and EBVS®European Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia
Matt graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2003 and spent several years enjoying mixed practice before returning to Liverpool to undertake a residency in anaesthesia and analgesia. From 2009 to 2018 he developed and led the anaesthesia service at Northwest Veterinary Specialists, a multidisciplinary specialist hospital in Cheshire.
Matt is a European Veterinary Specialist and an RCVS Recognised Specialist and is currently Vice President of the European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia & Analgesia. In October 2018 Matt returned to his roots in the south and joined Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists. His main interests lie in acute and chronic pain management.
Recently Matt contributed to the development of an app designed for vets and nurses in practice on anaesthesia of dogs and cats. Matt lectures nationwide on a variety of topics including acid base balance, pain management, CPR and local anaesthesia.
Matt kindly agreed to answer the following questions:
What are your feelings on how we currently manage this common debilitating condition in dogs?
Recognition of the early signs of OA is known to be the biggest barrier to effective long term arthritis management. Owner education in this regard is key from my perspective and CAM is doing exactly that!
As a veterinarian what do you feel is essential for managing canine arthritis effectively?
Close evaluation of behavioural and emotional indicators of pain gives us the means to measure the effect of the pain of arthritis on our dogs and allows us to monitor our treatments This is my number one that we should ensure in each case.
How do you see treatment options for arthritis progressing over the next ten years?
In the field of drugs for treating arthritis our hope is that we see development of drugs that are more effective than our current options although this is a big hope! Probably more realistic is that we will see the use of more combinations of drugs combined with close evaluation of the individual patient through pain scoring.
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?
Resist the temptation to over-exercise. I see too many cases where owners over-estimate what their pet can manage which results in a very sore dog for several days after the event.