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In this sample of racehorses longer MC3 bones were likely to have been exposed to a greater dorsopalmar bending moment at the mid shaft that was reflected in a thicker dorsal cortex. The lack of a relationship between midshaft thickness and bone length within individual horses suggests that direct mechanical effects of conformation and environment were less important than the individual's level of skill (or the degree of laterality in their movements) developed before their exposure to fast exercise. It is likely that racehorses with longer right MC3 bones were more able to control the loading of the right MC3 than the left during fast exercise.

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Diagnostic challengeHistory An approximately 8-year-old, 11.0-kg female Standard Dachshund was presented to the University of Sydney Veterinary Teaching Hospital spay clinic for desexing. The dog, owned by a local shelter, was reportedly healthy in the weeks prior to desexing and appeared healthy, with a body condition score of 6/9 at the time of surgery. Clinical and gross findingsOn physical examination, the dog was normal other than having a small amount of clear, pale yellow vaginal discharge, which would, normally, have prompted a more thorough clinical examination followed by serum biochemical analysis, haematological evaluation (e.g. CBC) and ultrasound. However, as the agreement with the animal shelter is that the animals will be desexed unless they seem severely unwell, the dog proceeded to ovariohysterectomy surgery that morning.A ventral, midline coeliotomy approach was undertaken. A moderate amount of serosanguinous peritoneal effusion was present. On attempted exteriorisation of the uterus, many adhesions were encountered, requiring the skin incision to be extended. Omentum, mesentery and left kidney were adhered to the left lateral peritoneum. The main adhesion was between the uterine body and the colon, and seemed to be extramural. There was focal, mild, brown discolouration of the serosal wall of the uterus where the uterus and colon adhered. The adhesion between the uterus and colon was carefully separated by blunt dissection. Five pieces of hard, brown foreign material ( Figure 1) were embedded in this main adhesion and the adjacent peritoneal cavity. The uterine horns were shorter than usual (2.0 cm). The ovaries appeared cystic (1.5 × 1.0 cm). The uterine horns were dissected away from the adhesions in the broad ligament. After the ovariohysterectomy was completed, some intra-abdominal adhesions remained but were not surgically removed. The abdomen was lavaged with sterile saline before a routine three-layer closure. Anaesthesia was routine.

A recent opinion paper by Kipperman and German (2018) discussed the increasing prevalence of pet obesity, the risk factors contributing to this increase, and the role of veterinarians in helping manage pet obesity. They described the problem as a One Health problem as it has been previously characterized. Kipperman and German also reported a sample of medical records from their referring veterinarians wherein a surprisingly small number of veterinarians recorded information about pets’ body weight or discussions with owners about pet obesity. From their sample, they concluded that general practice veterinarians are not meeting their professional and ethical obligations to recognize and address pet obesity. This letter discusses reasons why veterinarians may not be adequately addressing the pet obesity problem. A similar situation exists in human medicine. Numerous studies in the human field have revealed some of the reasons many physicians do not address obesity with their patients. As it is likely that veterinarians have similar reasons for avoiding the obesity issue, obstacles identified by physicians in encountering overweight obesity are reviewed in this letter.

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