Sheep veterinary expert, Dr Fiona Lovatt, has recently been awarded the National Sheep Association’s George Hedley memorial award for outstanding contribution to the industry. She outlined her career path and her concerns for the future when she spoke to Wendy Short from her home near Barnard Castle in County Durham.

Fiona knew that she wanted to be a vet from a very early age.

“I was about four years old when I decided on my future career,” said Fiona. “There was a wildlife rescuer who lived just down the road from my family home in south-east England and most of my free time was spent on helping to look after her menagerie of wildlife and pets.

“After qualifying at Bristol Veterinary School, I decided that farm practice was more appealing than small animal work. I love being outdoors and I like the way that the vet’s involvement tends to be fairly frequent and ongoing, allowing time for forging relationships. It also gives the opportunity to follow the farm’s progress, when it comes to improving animal health policies, and the chance to become part of the rural community.”

The Northern Farmer: Dr Fiona Lovatt

A job advertisement caught her eye and her first appointment, at Castle Vets in Barnard Castle, suited her so well that she has put down roots in the area. However, the demands of a young family, coupled with her interest in research developments, increasingly took her away from routine practice.

Following the completion of a PhD studying the genetics of South Georgia reindeer at Durham University, Fiona left the practice in 2012 to set up her own specialist sheep veterinary company, Flock Health. She currently runs the business with help from one other vet, plus administration support.

“Sheep have a lower individual value, compared with cows, but they still deserve the same level of veterinary care,” she explained. “The pig and poultry sectors employ specialist vets, but the economics and structure of the sheep sector mean that it will always be in the hands of general vet practitioners.

“Individual sheep keepers, especially those with smaller flocks, may not be able to invest in a wide range of veterinary advice, but it becomes more affordable if they get together in groups. One of my goals was to encourage sheep farmers to use vets more and to encourage vets to offer a better service to sheep farmers. That led to the launch of my Flock Health Clubs.”

The clubs are vet-facilitated business groups, where farmers pay a monthly subscription to their local surgery for regular meetings to learn about best practice and the latest scientific developments. The subject matter might include worm control, pre-lambing recommendations and methods for tackling lameness. By 2020, more than 100 vets had reported the establishment of a Flock Health Club.

A past president of the Sheep Veterinary Society, Fiona also teaches at Nottingham University, where she is a clinical associate professor. She is the chairman of the UK Sheep Antibiotic Guardian Group (SAGG) and the clinical lead for medicines for the veterinary charity RCVS Knowledge, through which she established Farm Vet Champions, a national initiative that empowers vets to use antibiotics responsibly.

Sheep health and welfare has improved over the past few years, she observed, but there is a new disease threat which currently causes her concern.

“Bluetongue could pose a serious threat by spreading around the country this coming summer. There were thousands of cases in the Netherlands in September and October 2023 and infected flocks suffered an average mortality of 25 per cent. Unfortunately, the bluetongue vaccine that was effective during the last UK outbreak does not cover the current virus strain.

“The classic symptoms to look out for are facial swelling and excess salivation and sheep may also have crusty erosions around the muzzle or around the teats. Bluetongue is a notifiable disease, so the vet must be informed about any suspected cases.”

Nevertheless, she has some good news for sheep producers.

“Following various initiatives, farmers have worked with their vets to significantly reduce the number of lame sheep in their flocks and there is plenty of advice available online about how to improve foot health.

“The message about using antibiotics more responsibly to minimise the risk of antimicrobial resistance has also been well received. We have good evidence of more responsible use at lambing time in particular, as farmers put ‘Plan-Prevent-Protect’ principles into practice.”

Perhaps surprisingly, she does not have a flock of her own.

“I don’t keep my own sheep, but I live in the middle of Teesdale surrounded by my neighbours’ flocks. I love the dale, the people in our farming community and also the landscape, which I enjoy by exploring on my bike, swimming in the Tees or skiing on the fells in the winter,” said Fiona.

Find more information about bluetongue at www.ruminanthw.org.uk/bluetongue-virus.