Petplan, National Police Dog Foundation announce first grant award recipientsSeptember 18, 2017Petplan and the National Police Dog Foundation (NPDF) announced the winners of the inaugural K-9 Health Insurance Grant, a joint effort between the Newtown Square, Pa., pet insurer and the Foundation, awards one year of pet insurance to five currently active police dogs throughout the U.S. The winning grant recipients are: Reximus, a 3-year-old German shepherd dog with the Nome Police Department in Alaska. ' handler, started the K-9 program at the Nome Police Department after many years without a K-9 unit. Reximus specializes in narcotics detection and is the only four-legged officer in all of Western Alaska. "I've been paying for Reximus' veterinary care, including airfare for emergency transport, with the understanding it may not be reimbursed," Timm said on his grant application. With his new Petplan policy, 90 percent of Reximus' unexpected veterinary expenses will be covered. Rudy, a 2-year-old German shepherd dog/Belgian malinois mix with the Upland Police Department in California Rudy's K-9 team is funded primarily through donations from the public (the city covers vehicle upkeep and the handlers' salaries only). The Petplan/NPDF grant will allow the Upland PD to maximize existing funds and put future donations toward …
SPONSORED CONTENTLife-saving results for parvovirus casesResearch has shown that puppies treated with our Canine Parvovirus Monoclonal Antibody have shorter clinic stays.1 Transform parvo treatment outcomes for your patients. + Read More
AKC Canine Health Foundation funds clinical trial to study cannabidiol in treating drug-resistant epilepsy in dogsSeptember 14, 2017By Veterinary Practice News Editors The AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF), which has funded more than $2 million for canine epilepsy research, launched an initiative in 2017 to further understand the most common neurological disorder that affects pure- and mixed-breed dogs. Improved treatments are urgently needed, especially for dogs with drug-resistant epilepsy or where side effects of currently available drugs are not tolerated, according to the organization. To that, the CHF has announced the beginning a major clinical trial to study the use of cannabidiol to treat drug resistant epilepsy in dogs. Stephanie McGrath, MS, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology), at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, will lead "Efficacy of Cannabidiol (CBD) for the Treatment of Canine Epilepsy." According to Dr. McGrath, up to 30 percent of dogs receiving standard anti-epileptic therapy remain uncontrolled for their seizures, and the side effects of the antiepileptic drugs are often unacceptable. CBD, a nonpsychotropic component of the Cannabis sativa plant, has been shown to have anticonvulsant properties; this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial study will be utilized to prove its effectiveness, she stated. "The timeliness and importance of research into the role of cannabis in …
AHS urges best practices to prevent, minimize heartworm transmission in dogsSeptember 14, 2017By Veterinary Practice News Editors The American Heartworm Society (AHS) has announced a new set of veterinary best practices for minimizing heartworm transmission in dogs relocated due to recent natural disasters, a cross-country family move, or other circumstances. The guidelines include recommendations for heartworm testing, treatment, and prevention, and were developed in collaboration with the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV). "Preventing transmission of D. immitis has always been a focus of the AHS Heartworm Guidelines," sais Chris Rehm, DVM, AHS president. "However, we believe we need to do more, given the potential for heartworm-positive dogs to serve as reservoirs for infection. For example, if a microfilaria-positive dog is rescued in one state and subsequently moved to a new home in another state where nearby pets are unprotected, mosquitoes feeding on the new dog can quickly become heartworm vectors. The results can be disastrous for unprotected pets in the vicinity." Measures can be taken to protect the health of both infected animals and their new neighbors, according to Dr. Rehm. While the ideal scenario is to treat infected dogs before transporting or traveling with them, situations often dictate that infected animals cannot undergo …
Which Procedure Was Performed?September 6, 2017 Presentation A body part removed from an 11-year-old Labrador retriever. Challenge What's your diagnosis? So what procedure was performed? Name two potentially deadly patho-physiological consequences of this condition (hint: one is a certainty; the other one is a possibility).
UA researchers get $4.8 million to develop valley fever vaccineSeptember 6, 2017The University of Arizona's (UA) efforts to prevent valley fever in dogs received a boost in the way of a $4.8 million, four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, providing the funding necessary to get the disease's delta-CPS1 vaccine to market, according to John Galgiani, MD, director of the UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence and principal investigator of the NIH grant. The vaccine, which could hit the market as soon as five years from now, will be developed for dogs first, but the end goal is to use it in humans, as well, according to Dr. Galgiani. There is currently no prevention or cure for valley fever, which is potentially deadly in both humans and dogs. Every year, an estimated 30,000 people and 60,000 dogs in Arizona get sick from valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, according to UA. The cocci fungus that causes the disease is found mainly in dusty areas of Arizona and California, and it contributed to the deaths of 54 people in Arizona last year, state officials said. Treatment for valley fever is expensive: $4 to $6 per-day meds, blood tests, and additional …
AAHA releases 2017 Canine Vaccination GuidelinesSeptember 5, 2017The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has released its newly revised Canine Vaccination Guidelines. Experts and veterinary practitioners believe vaccination protocols should be individualized based on the patient's risk factors, life stage, and lifestyle, according to the Lakewood, Colo.-based organization. Published in the September/October edition of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association—and for the first time as an online educational resource for the veterinary medical profession—these revised guidelines offer important updates to the 2011 AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines that will help practicing veterinarians meet patient and client needs in a complex infectious disease environment, according to AAHA. The new guidelines include the Lifestyle-Based Vaccine Calculator, an interactive tool to support a veterinary team's vaccination recommendations based on risk factors and lifestyle, quick-reference tables for client-owned and shelter-housed dogs, antibody testing algorithms, recommendations for overdue patients, rabies law and exemption resources, vaccine storage and handling information, immunotherapeutic product summaries, and an expansion of the Frequently Asked Questions section. The guidelines also provide expert insight on several controversial issues, including frequency, dosing, scheduling, and duration of immunity for core and noncore vaccines; titer result interpretation; and adverse reaction identification and reporting, AAHA stated. The …
Food as medicine messagingAugust 25, 2017Therapeutic diets, increasingly part of pets’ health care regimens, are good tools at veterinarians’ disposal when addressing specific ailments. A problem surrounding these diets, however, isn’t whether they work; it’s discussing their benefits with clients.
Boxer with a bleeding tongueAugust 24, 2017I’ve got another “dental zebra” for you. For those unacquainted with my dental zebra series, I am not referring to the striped horse but rather the rare diagnosis that is sometimes referred to as a “zebra” diagnosis.
The amazing grace of senior petsAugust 17, 2017I think the dilemma for a lot of veterinarians is the healthy pet,” said Steven Marks, BVSc, MS, MRCVS, Dipl. ACVIM, but he wasn’t trying to be humorous in his assessment.
Support veterinary clients' supplemental endeavorsAugust 16, 2017As pet owners become increasing proactive when it comes to their pets’ health, one category that surfaces regularly during veterinary exam room discussions is supplements.
