I was intrigued by an item in the Guardian's Corrections and Clarifications column. While not as funny as the error in a recipe for kale curry (700 litres of stock?) it reminded me of a debate in the veterinary profession when I used to work at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The correction reads, 'A piece listed the neutering of male cats among procedures that qualified veterinary nurses can do. This was once an article of belief among some vets, but latterly it has been clarified among the practitioners involved that this is outside the nursing role'.
This was contentious back in the mid-nineties. My memory is that it all hinged on whether the cat's scrotum could be considered a body cavity or not, if the testes have descended. Only a veterinary surgeons can carry out an act of veterinary surgery, according to the legislation that governs the profession, and an act of veterinary surgery involves entry into a body cavity. I do not recall that it was ever resolved; it sounds as if it now has, though whether male cats will rejoice at the news is debatable.
