Livestock Matters - Autumn 2018

22 Livestock Matters Autumn 2018 Me and My Practice: Laura Bland Pursuing an interest in sheep with new AI service The development of a sheep AI service is further expanding the variety of work for young vet Laura Bland of Cliffe Veterinary Group, in East Sussex. Laura came to the practice two years ago, and splits her time 50:50 between companion animal and farm animal work. Laura explains: ‘On my farm days, I’ll have a set of booked-in calls to go out to, before returning to the practice. I’m mostly working with beef and sheep farmers, and smallholders. However, I also accompany my colleagues to dairy routines. ‘Being mainly based at the Lewes practice, I’m always the emergency vet! So I’ve been gaining a lot of experience in treating downer cows, random injuries, and assisting difficult calvings.’ Laura also gives a lot of advice by phone: ‘Smallholders in particular, can often not know where to start when there’s a problem. So they ring us. Often, just by having a chat over the phone I can establish whether a visit is needed or whether verbal advice will be enough to resolve the issue. ‘This year, I’ve been advising smallholders and sheep farmers on worm egg counts, and how to get a worming programme started. If it’s a big farm then I’ll arrange to visit, but if it’s a small flock then I can often put a plan in place by phone. ‘My role is developing now so that I’m also getting involved in preventative health planning, and drawing up herd and flock health plans. This started by accompanying senior vets on health planning visits and seeing how the planning consultation is run. We have our own Cliffe Vets health plan templates for dairy, beef suckler, beef rearer/finishers, calf rearers and sheep, which makes it easier not to forget to discuss something!’ Laura Bland Cliffe Veterinary Group Finishing off a successful Caesarean Laura assisting with laparoscopic AI Me and My Practice