National Pet Poison Prevention Awareness Month: Johannah Maxwell
To mark National Pet Poison Prevention Awareness Month, we’re speaking to members of our alumni community to raise awareness about the hidden dangers lurking in our homes and environments that could put our pets at risk.
The month serves as a reminder for pet owners to stay informed, take precautions, and know what to do in case of an emergency. With the help of veterinary professionals, we can all play a part in keeping our beloved pets safe and healthy.
We spoke to Johannah Maxwell (BVSc 2020), who has experience working for vet charities and in Emergency Critical Care (ECC). In this profile, Johannah shared her career journey to date and what her time in ECC has thrown her way. When it comes to accidental pet poisonings, Johannah tries to ensure that pet owners aren’t made to feel too guilty about it!
Do you have any memories from your time as a vet student at Liverpool to share?
I really enjoyed studying in Liverpool and have lots of fond memories of the city and its people. I also really liked moving to Neston for the clinical years and everything that the Wirral had to offer. We lived directly on Parkgate parade, which was dangerously close to the great fish and chip shop and a peaceful place to be stuck during lockdown. Although I was never destined to work in the large animal world, I had a great farm rotation group who made the weeks of wading around in mud a fun time too.
Did anyone inspire you when you were a student?
I spent a lot of my EMS placements in charity practices (mostly the PDSAs in Liverpool) and found the vets working there to be inspiring. They taught me a lot about pragmatic medicine and managing busy (often chaotic) caseloads, as well as handling difficult and complex cases when referral or extensive diagnostics is not an option. I spent time shadowing Claire Wood (also a Liverpool graduate) who was at the time quite recently qualified herself but already doing impressive things. I was lucky to have some great mentors at my first job.
Tell us about your career to date. What inspired you to work in ECC, and how often does your work involve treating accidental poisonings?
I graduated in 2020, during the height of Covid-19 and its lockdowns. As mentioned, my time in charity during EMS had inspired me so I started the Blue Cross graduate programme in London. It was incredibly well supported (albeit a baptism of fire) and I completed the 18-month graduate programme across their four main hospitals. This did involve some out-of-hours work, and I learned that ECC was what I really enjoyed, so after that I went on to do the Vets Now cutting-edge programme, which is a 10-week CPD course focused on ECC training. I worked for Vets Now for two years before moving to a different out-of-hours practice locally, where I have just become lead vet and working towards completing my ECC certificate. I really love working in emergency, it gives me a healthy work life balance and the cases are a great mix of challenging and rewarding. It's a path I'd encourage people to consider if they are no longer enjoying general practice or looking for a new challenge.
What are some common toxins that pet owners may not realise are dangerous?
I think awareness of common household toxins has really increased; most owners now seem quite aware of the common dangers. I've seen daffodil bulbs cause some severe illnesses (bulbs in general can cause more of an issue than a lot of people are aware) as well as essential oils (like those added to potpourri). I've also seen one sad case of fatality in a cat that managed to get its owners ADHD medication (Adderall) which appears to be particularly enticing to felines for some reason.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to pet owners to prevent accidental poisonings?
Accidents happen! I've made my own dog sick for eating things he shouldn't at least three times in the past few years, so I mostly try to help clients not feel too guilty about it. General advice such as muzzling repeat offenders when on walks (especially off-lead), locking away bins/cupboards, and not leaving toddlers eating raisins unmonitored or putting mince pies on the floor on Christmas eve. Realistically accidents are always going to happen though, so ensuring pet owners know how to contact us (or giving them the VPIS client helpline) is more useful.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve heard of a pet eating (that they really shouldn’t have)?
There's been a few cases of dogs eating personal items that the owners would prefer not to share in public! One little Jack Russell passed an entire pair of underwear in front of a particularly busy waiting room, but he did feel a lot happier once they were out (and his owner was pleased he was fixed!).
Thank you, Johannah, for helping us celebrate National Pet Poison Prevention Awareness Month. If you’d like to share your own veterinary career journey or professional reflections with the University of Liverpool Veterinary Alumni Association, we’d love to hear from you via ulvaa@liverpool.ac.uk.