Shelter medicine encompasses vital aspects of physical and psychological health and welfare, infectious disease management, epidemiology, diagnostic testing and population control. The challenge of being a good shelter medicine clinician is balancing the health and welfare needs of the individual as well as that of the larger.
The aim of this manual is to introduce the reader to a new way of thinking when approaching cases in the shelter environment; each chapter has a number of Quick Reference Guides that provide specific practical information on a number of subjects.
The manual is divided into three main sections:
- Principles of shelter medicine and population health: it covers the principles of shelter medicine, describing how to approach problems and be an effective decision maker within the shelter context
- Prevention, management and control of disease in the shelter medicine environment: it covers the prevention, management and control of infectious diseases and the management of behaviour in the shelter environment
- Working with people in the shelter environment: it deals with the understanding of the objectives, policies and values of the individual organization that runs the shelter.
About the Author
Rachel Dean, BVMS, CertSAM DSAM(Feline), PhD, MSc, MRCVS, RCVS, graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1996 and worked in mixed, dairy and small animal general practice before becoming the Fort Dodge Feline Fellow at the Feline Centre at the University of Bristol (2002-2005). She undertook a PhD (Epidemiology of feline injection site sarcomas) at the Royal Veterinary College/Animal Health Trust before becoming the Founding Director of the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine/Clinical Associate Professor in Feline Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Nottingham (2009-2018). Rachel is currently the Director of Clinical Research and Excellence in Practice and co-chairs the Clinical Board for Vet Partners. Rachel is the inaugural chair of the ACV and co-founder of the Vets in the Community clinic in Nottingham. Rachel holds the RCVS diploma in feline medicine, an MSc in Evidence-based Healthcare from the University of Oxford and is recognised RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority.
Maggie Roberts, BVM&S, MRCVS, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1986 and spent most of her career in private small animal practice, where she developed an interest in feline medicine. She has also worked in Malawi and Australia and was appointed the first Cats Protection Veterinary Officer in 1997. She became a partner in private practice but returned to Cats Protection as Head of Veterinary Services in 2006. Maggie is now Director of Veterinary Services and has responsibility for the charity’s work on cat welfare and neutering. Her professional interests are shelter medicine and feline population control and she is a founder member of the Association of Charity Vets. She was the recipient of the J A Wight (aka James Herriot) Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to the welfare of companion animals in 2013.
Jenny Stavisky, BVM&S, MRCVS, PhD, FHEA, qualified from the University of Edinburgh in 2002. After starting out in mixed practice in the Peak District, she moved to the University of Liverpool to take a PhD in epidemiology and virology. This was followed by a move to the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in 2010 to work in shelter medicine research. She is now a Clinical Lecturer in Shelter Medicine at Nottingham, which involves teaching practical skills to final year students within shelters, charity and primary care practice, as well as applied clinical research. She is a founder member of the ACV and co-founder of the Vets in the Community Clinic. She was named Chris Laurence Vet of the Year at the 2017 CEVA Animal Welfare Awards.
