CAREER
Mike Guilliard gained his veterinary qualifications from the University of Cambridge Veterinary School. He has worked in Nantwich, Cheshire, for most of his professional career culminating in the building of Nantwich Veterinary Hospital in 1998. In 2003 he retired as Senior Partner of the Nantwich Veterinary Group to work as a consultant. In 2011 he formed his own limited company, Mike Guilliard Orthopaedics Ltd, to work as an independant veterinary surgeon offering small animal veterinary orthopaedics to neighbouring practices and private clients.
His interest in Greyhound orthopaedics has resulted in the publication of a number of peer reviewed papers in the veterinary literature on injuries in the athletic dog. He has also authored several book chapters in veterinary orthopaedic textbooks.
The interest in racing injuries has led to some novel surgical treatments. Historic methods of managing dislocations of the digits have given unreliable outcomes but the application of external fixators, a technique first published by Mike, has dramatically improved the prognosis for a successful return to racing without amputation.More recently Mike has pioneered a new successful treatment for corns that represents a paradigm shift in the understanding and management of this very painful problem.
An obscure hind limb lameness in the working Border Collie was elucidated by Mike together with a successful surgical treatment. He has also documented a tarsal fracture in the breed that is similar to the common central tarsal bone fractures in racing Greyhounds.
Hip dysplasia is an extremely common cause of lameness in many popular breeds and, despite a long running scheme (British Veterinary Association/Kennel Club hip dysplasia scheme) the incidence has barely decreased. Mike has been very vocal in highlighting the deficiencies of the scheme and advising clients on the true significance of their pet's hip score. To this end he became only the second UK vet to be certified to participate in the superior PennHIP method of predicting the carriers of the hip dysplasia genes. Clients now travel from all over the UK to have their dog's hips radiographed by Mike for one of the international schemes.
In 2012 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
LECTURES
Mike has lectured to veterinary audiences in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe as well as the prestigious annual BSAVA congress held at the NCC in Birmingham on several occasions.
AWARDS
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Mike has gained the BSAVA Dunkin Award on two occasions. This is presented annually to the best
paper by a General Practitioner published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice. The papers were entitled:
"Dorsal radicarpal ligament sprain causing intermittent carpal lameness in high activity dogs"
"Tears of the superficial palmar fascia in five racing Greyhounds and a Labrador retriever".
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In 2014 he was presented with the BSAVA Simon award for outstanding contributions in the field of veterinary surgery.
POSITIONS
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Treasurer of the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association (BVOA) for 9 years.
Previous treasurer to the Society of Greyhound Verterinarians.