Cats and Toothache Vet CostsDecember 4, 2015Dental diseases are extremely common in cats. The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that approximately 70 percent of cats are affected by a dental disease by the time they’re 3 years old, and the likelihood increases as they age. Excessive tartar and plaque or tooth decay can cause painful dental problems in cats. These problems can also lead to other medical conditions in the heart, liver and kidneys, many of which can be fatal. Veterinary experts agree that regular oral care is essential to helping your cat live a long, healthy life. According to the Dr. Carol McConnell, vice president and chief veterinary medical officer for VPI, in Veterinary Pet Insurance article “Cats and Dogs Need Dentists, Too:” “Most people brush regularly and take care of their teeth because they know dental conditions can be painful and costly … Ideally, this mindset should translate to how people care for their pets’ teeth.” Treating dental disease in cats can also be costly. In 2011, VPI policyholders filed more than $8.5 million …
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Merck Launches H3N2 Canine Flu VaccineNovember 20, 2015Merck Animal Health today matched competitor Zoetis Inc. with the release of a dog flu vaccine that protects against the new H3N2 strain. Merck, based in Madison, N.J., received a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Canine Influenza Vaccine, H3N2, Killed Virus. Zoetis announced the same achievement, the first company to do so, on Nov. 12. Merck’s vaccine will be made available to U.S. veterinarians starting Monday. H3N2, which emerged in Chicago in March before striking dogs in other states, quickly caught the drug maker’s attention. “Early on, we suspected veterinarians were dealing with an outbreak of canine influenza and not kennel cough, which spurred us to implement the collection of nasal and pharyngeal samples from sick dogs that were tested by Cornell University,” said Kathleen Heaney, DVM, director of Companion Animal Technical Services. “We came to realize what was actually unfolding was the transmission of an influenza strain, H3N2, never before seen in the United States. “Based on the highly contagious nature of the strain, the severity of clinical disease and the rate at which we were seeing newly diagnosed cases, we knew we needed to act fast,” Dr. Heaney said. The canine …
When Breeds Cross, Hybrid Dogs AppearNovember 19, 2015Breed a border collie with an Australian shepherd and what do you get when a puppy emerges? The most popular hybrid dog in the Pets Best Insurance Services database. The pet health insurer teamed up with policy partner Farmers Insurance to determine which two purebred canines get together most frequently to produce offspring. Procreating border collies and Australian shepherds yield a hybrid known simply as a border-Aussie. Hybrids are defined as the progeny of two purebred dogs. Mixed breeds, according to Farmers, are “the offspring of two or more different dog breeds where neither the mother nor the father is a registered purebreed dog.” Mixed breeds are the most common dogs in Pets Best’s massive file of 140,000 canine insurance policies. Labrador retrievers are second, followed by hybrids. A fashionable example of a hybrid is the Labradoodle, the product of a Labrador retriever and poodle. But Labradoodles aren’t No. 1—or even No. 5—on the Pets Best list. Boise, Idaho-based Pets Best provided descriptions of the most popular hybrids from the perspectives of veterinary adviser Eva Evans, DVM, MBA, and the dogs’ owners. 1. Border-Aussie (border collie and Australian shepherd) The product of highly intelligent and agile livestock herders, …
Zoetis Unveils New Drugs for Dogs, HorsesNovember 18, 2015Veterinary drug maker Zoetis Inc. is celebrating achievements on both sides of the Atlantic after winning European approval of a new flea and tick preventive and USDA endorsement of a canine flu vaccine. The Florham Park, N.J., company also announced the release of an equine leptospirosis vaccine. The flea and tick drug, Simparica (sarolaner), is a chewable tablet given monthly to dogs as young as 8 weeks. It also is indicated for the treatment of sarcoptic mange, a contagious skin disease. Zoetis described the active ingredient, sarolaner, as a new ectoparasiticide in the isoxazoline class. Simparica, approved by the European Commission, was tested on more than 800 dogs in seven countries, Zoetis reported. The drug was found “to provide efficacy for at least five weeks against ticks and fleas” and “demonstrated a rapid onset of action, killing fleas before they have a chance to lay eggs,” the company added. Simparica kills four common European ticks—Dermacentor reticulatus, Ixodes hexagonus, Ixodes ricinus and Rhipicephalus sanguineus—as well as the fleas Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis. The tablets are expected to be released in early 2016 in dosages of 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 milligrams. U.S. veterinarians could see Simparica on …
Biogal Offers Rapid Distemper, Lepto TestsNovember 18, 2015An Israeli company this week released time-saving tests for the diagnosis of feline distemper and bovine leptospirosis. Biogal Galed Labs reported that the in-clinic PCRun Veterinary Molecular Detection Kits deliver results within 75 minutes, an improvement over waits of up to a week when polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are done in outside laboratories. The new tests confirm feline panleukopenia virus, also known as feline distemper, and bovine leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that causes miscarriages and other serious health problems in cattle. The feline test also may be used to check for canine parvovirus. The distemper test uses blood or feces samples, while the bovine test requires blood or urine. Both tests are available for research purposes only in the United States pending U.S. Department of Agriculture approval, said Lenny Small, Biogal’s vice president of marketing. Biogal previously released PCRun test kits for canine Leptospira (leptospirosis), Ehrlichia canis (canine Ehrlichiosis), Anaplasma platys (anaplasmosis), parvovirus, Leishmania and feline Mycoplasma haemofelis (feline infectious anemia). Biogal’s U.S. distributor is Phoenix-based Spectrum Labs Inc.
U.S. Unveils Canine Brucellosis Best PracticesNovember 17, 2015The U.S. Department of Agriculture is urging veterinarians to play a major role in stopping the spread of canine brucellosis, a contagious and incurable bacterial infection most often found in breeding kennels. The agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released best practices for veterinarians and kennel operators who may encounter the disease, which causes infertility and miscarriages in dogs. The document, available at http://1.usa.gov/1N9EioA, emphasizes the need for frank discussions between practitioners and breeders on how to protect both dogs and people from the zoonotic disease. A breeder could suffer “liability and damaged reputation” if an infected dog is sold, because “these puppies and adult dogs commonly come into contact with children, older adults and other immunocompromised individuals,” the document states. People are at low risk of contracting brucellosis. The approximately 200 people infected in the United States each year display flulike symptoms and are treated with antibiotics. The agency generated the guidelines with input from seven outside veterinarians. Among them was William Fortney, DVM, director of small animal outreach at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Veterinarians sometimes overlook brucellosis, Dr. Fortney said. “Ever since this disease was first identified, there has always been …
Smartphone App Helps Lost Dogs Get HomeNovember 17, 2015The success stories—more than 800 of them—put a smile on John Polimeno’s face. The founder and CEO of Finding Rover talks about the San Diego pet owner whose dog went missing. Having failed during a search of the local animal shelter, the owner downloaded the Finding Rover app onto her smartphone and uploaded a photo of her pet. The next day, an animal control officer picked up a stray dog and took its photo using Finding Rover. Within seconds, thanks to facial recognition software, a match was confirmed and the dog was soon back home. Frantic pet owners might search a shelter once, but “What are the odds of them going back to that shelter every day?” Polimeno said. The former construction company owner decided three years ago that there had to be a better way of reuniting lost dogs with their owners, particularly those animals lacking an identifying microchip or collar. Sitting in a Northern California coffee shop, he saw a missing-pet poster and thought of the time his dog was lost and how his kids cried as the family drove all over looking for the animal. Say ‘Cheese’ How do you get a dog to look directly into …
Basic Prices for Pet VaccinesNovember 4, 2015One of the last things most people think about when they bring home a new pet is the cost of vaccinations, but any long-time pet owner knows that yearly boosters can add up, especially if you have more than one animal. When you get the bill after a routine visit to the veterinarian, it’s easy to wonder where exactly the total came from. There are a lot of factors that go into determining that final bill, and several things to consider as you decide where to take your pet for his or her yearly shots. Vaccines for Dogs and Cats First, what is a vaccine? According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: “Vaccines help prepare the body's immune system to fight the invasion of disease-causing organisms. Vaccines contain antigens, which look like the disease-causing organism to the immune system but don't actually cause disease. When the vaccine is introduced to the body, the immune system is mildly stimulated. If a dog is ever exposed to the real disease, his immune system is now prepared to …
Elanco Introduces New Variety of InterceptorNovember 3, 2015Elanco Animal Health has released a chicken-flavored canine heartworm drug, Interceptor Plus, that fights tapeworms in addition to hookworms, roundworms and whipworms. The monthly oral medication has a different formulation than Interceptor Flavor Tabs, which the Greenfield, Ind., drug maker launched in early 2015 for both dogs and cats. Both products contain the active ingredient milbemycin oxime, but Interceptor Plus adds praziquantel, a tapeworm treatment. The chicken flavor of Interceptor Plus is a bonus for dogs suffering from beef allergies, Elanco stated. Interceptor Flavor Tabs are beef flavored. Marketed for sale through veterinarians, Interceptor Plus is indicated to prevent heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis. The drug protects against adult hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum), adult roundworms (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina), adult whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) and adult tapeworms (Taenia pisiformis, Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus granulosus). The medication comes in six-count boxes in four weight categories: 2 to 8 pounds, 8.1 to 25 pounds, 25.1 to 50 pounds and 50.1 to 100 pounds. Dogs should be tested for heartworm disease before Interceptor Plus is prescribed, Elanco noted. Users must be at least 6 weeks old and 2 pounds.
Going Broke, UC Davis Fracture Program Needs HelpOctober 30, 2015UC Davis veterinary students learning to save the lives of pets are now trying to breathe life into a service that has assisted hundreds of homeless animals. The Shelter/Rescue Fracture Surgery Program Fund, which was founded in 2008 and relies on donations, is running out of money, second-year student Ayswarya Sundaram said. “The program has been funded for around $30,000 a year, but more recently the costs are closer to $80,000,” Sundaram said. Collaborating with shelter and rescue organizations, the service accepts young dogs and cats in need of fracture repairs. University of California, Davis, veterinarians donate their time in the operating rooms at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, but equipment, drugs and post-surgery care must be paid for. The costs average $800 per patient, Sundaram said. The surgeries also serve as instructional sessions for veterinary students. “[The] fracture program is amazing because it helps us learn about orthopedic surgeries while at the same time helping shelter animals,” one student said. “If this program discontinues, due to lack of funds, it would be a great loss to us and the animals.” More than 450 fractures in shelter and rescue animals have been repaired over the years. Without medical intervention, …
