Welcome to the latest collection of conversations, focussing on the world of animal welfare. We’re going to start this season by considering pain, analgesia and arthritis, with Professor Stuart Carmichael. Did you know that 40% of all dogs, across all ages, have pathological osteoarthritis? And that the condition can be detected in dogs as young as 6 months of age.  Or that 80% of cats over 10 years old with have arthritis?  In this episode we consider osteoarthritis, consider how this can affect young and older animals, and the challenges associated with recognising chronic pain. We look at the long term management, rather than acute relief of chronic pain, including monoclonal antibodies, regenerative techniques using stem cells and owner education. One of the main themes from this conversation is the team approach to this condition and we look at how the traditional 10-15 minute veterinary consultation needs to change to provide animals and their owners with a more rounded approach to pain management. We discuss the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance initiatives including the Blue Paw Award and practice accreditation scheme.  We also discover some of the surprising similarities between the management of osteoarthritis and dermatology cases!   Prof Carmichael has a wide experience as a specialist clinician in orthopaedics and in veterinary business management. He is Diplomate, a past Specialist and current Fellow of the RCVS.  He has been Director of both Queen Mother Hospital and Small Animal Hospital at Glasgow and Professor of Clinical Studies and Associate Dean for Clinical Services at Glasgow University. He has also been National Referrals Director at Vets Now Ltd, a Director at Fitzpatrick Referrals Ltd. and visiting Professor at University of Surrey. Charity roles have included acting as Board member and Chair of International Cat Care and as a trustee and Board member of Blue Cross. He is currently running a veterinary consultancy business, Joint Adventures Ltd., is a Co-Founder and Board member of the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance and is also Director and Co-founder of Aim-OA Ltd., providing a web-based Disease Management System for chronic osteoarthritis in dogs.  Further information: Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance – Providing information and education to veterinary professionals in the field of osteoarthritis Blue Paw – Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance Practice Accreditation Scheme – Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance Treated Like Animals - Simmons - 9781784273415 – Pelagic Publishing Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?