Page 6 - Paws and Hooves - Spring 2016

Celebrating 30 years of life-saving care at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals
There’s so much to celebrate about the RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA), which was established 30
years ago thanks to generous supporters. Over the following 30 years, people like you have come with us on an incredible journey, helping to equip and extend the QMHA so it can treat and care for the sickest animals.
Since its opening the QMHA has delivered over a quarter of a million treatments to cats and dogs, at the same time as advancing science
and standards of veterinary care immeasurably. Today, it is the largest hospital of its kind in Europe and one of the leading veterinary hospitals
in the world. Its staff treat many thousands of extraordinarily sick animals every year, for whom they are often a last hope. And all of this is made possible by your donations to the RVC Animal Care Trust.
The QMHA is a centre of excellence in numerous areas of veterinary medicine and everything it does has the sole intention of driving forward the care of animals. With your support, innovative treatments are exclusively available at the QMHA to help animals suffering with problems with their hearts (see Mabel’s story on page three), livers, immune or nervous systems, to name just a few. The hospital also delivers unique, specialist clinics which
address and inform the understanding of a range of common animal health concerns including diabetes, epilepsy and the speci c issues associated with increasingly popular short-nosed breeds. QMHA vets are also involved in clinical research which impacts on the treatment of sick animals around the world.
In 2015 the hospital had its highest number of visits from poorly pets ever, over 15,000, and is expecting to care for many more throughout 2016. Your help has made this possible, enabling the hospital to expand three times over the past 30 years. With more space comes the potential to help the increasing volume of pets needing specialist veterinary care,
as pet ownership continues to rise and animals live longer. In 1986 the QMHA could house 60 patients at any one time, today there is capacity for 220. The three surgical theatres in the QMHA in 1986 have more than doubled to eight in 2016.
Just like human hospitals the QMHA has consultants across multiple specialties, all of whom are leaders in their respective elds. In fact there are over 200 staff working together in the hospital to deliver the best possible treatment for each and every pet
they see. No other veterinary hospital in Europe has the same degree of expertise under one roof, available to help every patient in need.
So with all these incredible facilities and staff, what does the next 30 years hold for the QMHA? With
your help its staff will be able to help more animals than ever. The hospital has plans for more expansion and new services to address emerging veterinary issues such as trauma and emergency medicine, lifestyle diseases and problems associated with an aging pet population. QMHA vets will continue to research and inform veterinary care and utilise the
latest technology to provide inventive solutions to the veterinary problems present now or arising in the future. And the hospital will continue to play a pivotal role in educating the vets of the future.
Right now, fundamental to all of the teams in the QMHA and the animals they treat is having leading-edge diagnostic imaging equipment and their most urgent need is for a new CT scanner.
6 Paws & Hooves 2016