Michael Herrtage MA BVSc DVSc DVR DVD DSAM DipECVIM DipECVDI MRCVS

EBVS^® European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine

Professor of Small Animal Medicine

Personal profile:

Mike Herrtage graduated from the Liverpool University and is currently Professor of Small Animal Medicine. He is Dean of the Cambridge Veterinary School and is in charge of the small animal medicine and diagnostic imaging services at the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital. His clinical responsibilities include all aspects of small animal medicine and diagnostic imaging.

He was awarded the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (B.S.A.V.A.) Woodrow Award in 1986 for outstanding contributions in the field of small animal veterinary medicine and the B.S.A.V.A. Blaine Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal medicine in 2000. In 2014, he was awarded the World Small Animal Veterinary Association International Award for Scientific Achievement for outstanding contributions by a veterinarian, who has had a significant impact on the advancement of knowledge concerning the cause, detection, cure and/or control of disorders of companion animals.

He has been President of the British Veterinary Radiology Association, President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, President of the European Society of Veterinary Internal Medicine and President of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation. He is a Diplomate of both the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging and was until recently President of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Research

He has spoken at many international meetings and published over 200 articles in refereed journals.
Special interest in endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Mike Herrtage and his group have concentrated most of his research in the field of small animal endocrinology.

He has worked extensively on hyperadrenocorticism in the dog and the cat, mainly centring on improving the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. His group pioneered the use of ACTH stimulation testing to monitor the treatment in canine hyperadrenocorticism in the UK and developed the use of endogenous ACTH concentrations and adrenal ultrasonography to distinguish the underlying cause of canine hyperadrenocorticism. Most recently, he joined a multicentre study which compared the survival time in dogs treated with trilostane or mitotane and was able to demonstrate that the survival curves for both treatments in pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism were remarkably similar.

His work on diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats has centred mainly on the aetiology of the disease and improved monitoring during therapy. His group pioneered the use of continuous glucose monitoring in dogs and cats to improve the management of their diabetes.

His current work on the endocrine responses in critical illness has led to a number of new discoveries including some simple predictors of mortality.

Main collaborators

Dr Ian Ramsey (University of Glasgow)
Dr Brian Catchpole (Royal Veterinary College)
Dr Johan Schoeman (University of Pretoria)

Please visit Mike’s research profile for further information.

Publications

Key publications:

Watson, P.J., Roulois, A.J., Scase, T., Johnston, P.E., Thompson, H. & Herrtage, M.E. Prevalence and breed distribution of chronic pancreatitis at post-mortem examination in first-opinion dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice (2007) 48, 609-618

Schoeman, J.P. & Herrtage, M.E. Serum thyrotropin, thyroxine and free thyroxine concentrations as predictors of mortality in critically ill puppies with parvovirus infection: a model for human paediatric critical illness? Microbes and Infection (2008) 10, 203-207

Schoeman, J.P. & Herrtage, M.E. Adrenal response to the low-dose ACTH stimulation test and the cortisol-to-adrenocorticotrophic hormone ratio in canine babesiosis. Veterinary Parasitology (2008) 154, 2005-213

Dunning, M.D., Lowrie C.S., Bexfield, N.H., Dobson, J.M.& Herrtage, M.E. Exogenous insulin treatment after hypofractionated radiotherapy in cats with diabetes mellitus and acromegaly. Journal in Veterinary Internal Medicine (2009) 23, 243-249

Raffan, E., Loureiro, J., Dukes-McEwan, J., Fonfara, S., James, R., Swift, S., Bexfield, N. & Herrtage, M.E. The cardiac biomarker NT-proBNP is increased in dogs with azotaemia. Journal in Veterinary Internal Medicine (2009) 23, 1184-1189

Watson, P.J., Roulois, A., Scase, T., Holloway, A.,& Herrtage, M.E. Characterization of chronic pancreatitis in english cocker spaniels. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (2011) 25, 797-804

Davison, L.J., Herrtage, M.E. & Catchpole, B. Autoantibodies to recombinant canine proinsulin in canine diabetic patients Research in Veterinary Science (2011) 91, 58-63

Michael Herrtage MA BVSc DVSc DVR DVD DSAM DipECVIM DipECVDI MRCVS