The RVC Animal Care Trust was founded in 1982 in order to launch an appeal to fund the building of the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals – the UK’s first veterinary referral hospital.

The Hospital is now the largest hospital of its kind in Europe and is a leader in the development of veterinary clinical care. Not only have we raised funds to help build the hospital, we also fund the purchases of much of the industry-leading equipment needed to ensure pets and animals receive the best possible clinical care, and also so that RVC students are taught the very latest techniques and treatments.

Recent support from the ACT has led to the funding of:

Blood Transfusion Service
The RVC’s dedicated Blood Transfusion Service takes blood donations from wonderful cat and dog blood donors and uses these to help save the lives of critically ill pets. We continue to support the service by funding vital facilities and equipment such as a donor room, blood storage fridge, plasma freezer, blood centrifuge and tube welder. We have also funded a new staff position to provide additional care and support for the cats and dogs that visit the RVC to make a donation. Find out more about the Blood Transfusion Service

Cat ward

The RVC continues to witness an increasing number of cats arriving that need to be hospitalised. With the rise in cases, the cat ward is often full to capacity and patients are cared for in the intensive care unit or emergency and critical care ward. This has put additional pressure on these vital and busy services and resulted in a need to expand and create more dedicated cat ward space.

Thanks to our supporters, we are expanding the current cat ward to create more space and accommodation for cats whilst they are in hospital. We are grateful to Petplan Charitable Trust and our other Trust supporters for their donations which will improve the lives of cats being cared for at the hospital.

CT scanner and anaesthesia monitors
The state-of-the-art CT scanner provides advanced functionality and decreased imaging time when scanning patients, enabling RVC vets to diagnose more animals, more quickly, and get them started on the life-saving treatment they need as soon as possible. Alongside the new scanner, new anaesthesia monitors have also been funded to increase patient safety by allowing them to be monitored at all times during CT scanning.

We support the RVC’s London-based first opinion practice, the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital (BSAH), with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.

Donations to the ACT help vets at the BSAH to provide the most advanced veterinary care possible to a wide variety of different species, including specialist care for exotic animals. The BSAH is also one of the largest primary care veterinary hospitals in the UK providing everyday veterinary care to the local community in Camden.

Recent support from the ACT has led to the funding of:

Ventilator for exotic pets
The ventilator eliminates the need for manual ventilation of exotic patients, meaning RVC vets and nurses can focus on monitoring the anaesthesia and ensure the welfare of the patient is not compromised.

Ultrasound scanner
The ultrasound scanner improves the diagnosis of serious illnesses in pets such as heart conditions and cancer. Better diagnosis and earlier treatment will make a critical difference to animals in our care, improving survival rates.

Subsidised care
The ACT has funded a subsidised neutering scheme at the Hospital for over 10 years, helping to prevent unplanned litters of puppies and reduce the ever-growing unwanted dog population. Thanks to the generosity of the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust, we also have a small subsidised care fund for regular clients on benefits who are unable to afford the cost of their pet’s treatment.

RVC Equine consists of an equine veterinary practice and a referral hospital with full diagnostic imaging facilities. The ACT has funded numerous equipment for the Equine team over the years including the UK’s first digital X-ray system for horses and pioneering endoscopy equipment which enables our vets to assess horses internally at full gallop.

Recent support from the ACT has led to the funding of:

Equine colic simulator
It is vital to the welfare of both students and animals that students receive effective training before they work with live animals. The equine colic simulator - a specialist life-sized model horse - allows students to practise complex techniques. The simulator is supplied with four sections of inflatable gastrointestinal tract as well as model reproductive organs. The model also has areas on the neck and leg where students can practise injections.

Equine rescue mannequin
Affectionately known as Muffin, the rescue mannequin is a vital piece of training equipment that enables vets to be effective responders to incidents involving large animals alongside the emergency services.

The UK Fire and Rescue Service responds to at least 5,000 incidents each year involving horses, including horse transporters involved in road traffic collisions, horses hit by traffic and horses trapped in mud, rivers and ditches. These incidents require veterinary attendance to improve the safety of rescue personnel and the welfare of the animal casualty.

The equine mannequin allows vets to provide a thorough knowledge of the techniques that should be used by the Fire and Rescue Service to move horses in need of rescue. It is paramount for equine veterinarians that will be called to an incident to manage the veterinary care of the animals during the rescue. Read more…

The RVC Farm Animal Practice offers a 24-hour referral service for first opinion practices and treat all farm animal species, including camelids (alpacas and llamas), goats, sheep and cattle.

Recent support from the ACT has led to the funding of:

Bovine activity tracker
The cow herd located at RVC's Boltons Park Farm have recently been fitted with an activity tracker named CowAlert. The CowAlert system consists of several monitoring sensors placed on their legs and they measure and track activity budgets, detect lameness and oestrus.

Technology and ‘big data’ are becoming more common on farms, and the data gathered from the CowAlert system will complement the clinical activity of RVC farm staff. Once the sensors have been tracking activity for a short period of time, the system can access historic data to learn cows’ individual behaviour and flag up any changes which may indicate an issue.

Early detection of lameness is vital, and early treatment results in improved recovery. The monitors will enable the long-term monitoring of the impact of lameness on the cattle and to develop early intervention tactics. These monitors may also help the detection of sub-clinical disease in the herd. Cows are naturally stoic in nature and as such may hide disease until it is advanced. Any detection of sub-clinical disease will have a huge benefit to the welfare of the cattle.

Bovine calving simulator
The life-sized calving simulator has multiple uses for teaching and learning at the RVC. Using the simulator, veterinary students can learn calving in a hands-on manner without the need for working on a live animal. In addition, students can learn rectal palpation and the simulator also has a functional udder allowing for the teaching of mastitis investigation and milk sampling.

The calving simulator comes with a life-size calf so that real-life situations can be reproduced, and the calf bends as a real calf would. The simulator also has various uterine inserts that can be used to practice artificial insemination and pregnancy diagnosis (there are various stages of pregnancy).

The RVC's Brachycephalic Clinic opened on Tuesday 1 July 2014 to care for brachycephalic dog breeds, also known as short-muzzled or short-nosed dogs. Brachycephalic dogs can suffer from long-term health problems that affect their breathing, eyes, bones and gait, heart, skin and ears. The clinic was the first of its kind in the country to exclusively specialise in the health of short-nosed dog breeds. The aim of the RVC’s new multidisciplinary clinic is to bring a ‘transdisciplinary’ approach to caring for brachycephalic dogs. This means bringing all clinical services together ensuring the animals get the best holistic and individualised patient care. Find out how the ACT are helping brachycephalic dogs.