AKC Updates Website, LogoFebruary 25, 2015Staying current with technology, the 130-year-old American Kennel Club has launched a redesigned website along with what the registrar of purebred dogs describes as a streamlined, modern logo. The New York-based AKC contracted with the design firm Makeable to plan and build the new website, which is optimized for mobile devices and features greater functionality on all breed pages, the organization reported. “We spent more than a year immersed in research and discovery to ensure we presented a redesigned platform that would not only serve the members of our sport, but also the millions of dog owners around the country,” said AKC President and CEO Dennis Sprung. He called the website—www.AKC.org—“progressive and inclusive while also staying true to our heritage.” Besides maintaining an expansive log of purebred dogs, AKC advocates for canine health, oversees more than 5,000 clubs and affiliated organizations, and maintains rules and regulations governing competitions such as breed shows and agility events.
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Putney Releases Injectable Carprofen for DogsFebruary 12, 2015Drug maker Putney Inc. this week began selling Carprofen Sterile Injectable Solution, a generic version of Rimadyl, the anti-inflammation medication that has earned longtime rights holder Zoetis Inc. hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. The development gives Putney all three dosage forms of generic Rimadyl: injectable, chewable tablets and caplets. The active ingredient, carprofen, is formulated to control osteoarthritis pain and inflammation in dogs and for postsurgical pain. “Putney is helping veterinarians make pet health care more affordable for their pet owner clients by bringing new FDA-approved veterinary generic medicines to the market,” CEO Jean Hoffman said. Putney launched Carprofen Chewable Tablets in December. At the time, the Portland, Maine, company estimated industry sales of chewable Rimadyl and its generic equivalents at $70 million a year. Another U.S. drug maker, Bayer Animal Health, offers generic Rimadyl in soft chewable tablets under the brand name Quellin. Zoetis’ 2014 earnings report, released Wednesday, highlighted the threat to sales of one of its flagship products. “Growth was offset by competition to our Rimadyl franchise and competitive pressure in vaccines and parasiticides,” Zoetis stated. Rimadyl was released in 1997 by Pfizer Inc., which years later spun off its Pfizer …
Voyce Dog Monitor Available for PurchaseJanuary 28, 2015Voyce, a computerized collar that monitors a dog’s vital signs, is ready for the marketplace more than a year after winning acclaim at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. The $299 device, which requires a prepaid subscription plan, will ship in small, medium and large sizes in March, according to the manufacturer, i4C Innovations Inc. of Chantilly, Va. Orders also are being taken for extra-large collars, which should begin arriving on doorsteps in April. Voyce is being promoted to dog owners and to veterinarians, who can “partner with their clients,” i4C President Jeff Noce said. “By providing vets with objective data trends, previously difficult to obtain, there is now an opportunity for early detection and diagnosis, offering dogs, their pet parents and vets the ability to identify and implement treatment plans earlier and track treatment progress over time,” Noce said. Outfitted with WiFi technology, an accelerometer, sensors and a rechargeable battery, Voyce is designed to measure and transmit resting heart and respiratory rates, activity levels, rest patterns and calories burned. The data may be viewed on desktop and tablet computers and smartphones. Shared with veterinarians, the information helps “connect the dots between visits,” the company stated. The subscription plan …
Registration Opens in April for Free Eye ExamsJanuary 28, 2015Free eye screenings will be offered in May during the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists’ annual National Service Animal Eye Exam Event. The exams are open to certified and active working animals in the United States and Canada or those enrolled in a formal training program. Among the eligible occupations are guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and therapy. Registration for the eighth annual event, which is co-sponsored by Stokes Pharmacy of Mount Laurel, N.J., will run from April 1 to 30 at www.ACVOeyeexam.org. Owners or handlers of eligible service animals will receive a registration number allowing them to schedule a May eye appointment with a participating veterinary ophthalmologist. More than 7,000 animals were served in 2014 and more than 30,000 over the program’s seven years. While dogs are most commonly examined under the program, other animals, such as horses and a donkey, were checked in 2014. ACVO reported that the exams have rooted out eye ailments in hundreds of animals. One guide dog, Swap, was diagnosed in 2012 with pigmentary uveitis, a condition that affects the vision of golden retrievers. “Had I not gone to the event and had Swap’s eyes checked, …
Rabies Booster Works in Some Exposed PetsJanuary 26, 2015Pets whose rabies vaccination has expired will likely survive exposure to the deadly virus if they are quickly given a booster, according to Kansas State University researchers. The discovery also means that pet owners potentially could choose short-term quarantine of such animals at home rather than euthanasia. Many states now require unvaccinated pets that are exposed to rabies to be quarantined for six months at an animal control facility, a costly proposition for owners faced with paying thousands of dollars in kennel bills. “This has the potential to save a lot of pets’ lives,” said Michael Moore, DVM, MPH, the project manager at the Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Our hope is that now animals with an out-of-date vaccination status that are exposed to rabies will be allowed to be handled the same as dogs and cats with up-to-date vaccinations. They will be given a booster and a 45-day observation at home.” The study, published Jan. 15 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, was the first to present scientific data on animals with out-of-date rabies vaccinations, Kansas State reported. Most of the 74 dogs and 33 cats that Dr. Moore and his colleagues …
How To Sort Out Cats That Can't Close Their MouthsJanuary 21, 2015Originally published in the January 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News I’ve had a run of feline patients who presented with the inability to close their mouth. Coincidentally, a recently published review in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry discussed diagnoses behind the inability to close the mouth.1 Let’s review some of the more common causes. Differential Diagnoses When a cat is suddenly unable to close its mouth, there are only a handful of differentials: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) luxation; TMJ fracture or caudal mandible fracture; Open-mouth jaw locking; Acquired dental malocclusion; Mandibular neurapraxia (a.k.a. trigeminal neuropathy or trigemninal neuritis). The patient history and comprehensive physical examination provide clues for an accurate diagnosis. If no history of trauma exists and no signs of head trauma are seen, TMJ luxation and TMJ/caudal mandibular fractures are unlikely. Caudal mandibular fractures and TMJ fractures may result in a shift of the mandible and an inability to close the mouth. Symphyseal separation or parasymphyseal fracture will not typically cause an inability to close the mouth, therefore if a cat presents with symphyseal separation and is unable to close the mouth, this suggests additional trauma caudally, usually in the form of a TMJ luxation or caudal mandibular/TMJ …
Drug Maker Putney Celebrates Regulatory SuccessesJanuary 15, 2015Fresh off government approval of four generic animal drugs, manufacturer Putney Inc. this week reported receiving the go-ahead for a fifth: Enrofloxacin Antibacterial Injectable Solution. The generic version of Bayer Animal Health’s Baytril Antibacterial Injectable Solution is indicated for the treatment of bacterial infections in dogs. The Putney drug won the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, giving the company its fifth FDA endorsement in five months. Putney President and CEO Jean Hoffman credited the Portland, Maine, company’s research and development team for the recent approvals. “Only six generic pet medicines were approved by the FDA in 2014, and four of them were Putney products,” Hoffman said. The latest achievement made Putney the only manufacturer with an FDA-approved generic of enrofloxacin for pets in both flavored tablet and injectable dosage forms. The company’s Enrofloxacin Flavored Tablets are formulated for dog and cats. A rollout date for Enrofloxacin Injectable Solution was not announced. Three of the four Putney drugs approved in 2014—Dexmedetomidine HCl, Meloxicam Solution for Injection and Carprofen Chewable Tablets—are in veterinary pharmacies. The fourth, Carprofen Sterile Injectable Solution, is expected to be released soon, the company stated. Putney’s last approved drug of 2014, Carprofen Chewable Tablets, …
Study: Cancer Patients Benefit From Therapy DogsJanuary 14, 2015Therapy dogs lifted the spirits of adult cancer patients by improving their emotional well-being and quality of life, according to research co-sponsored by veterinary drug manufacturer Zoetis Inc. The clinical study, published this week in the Journal of Community and Supportive Oncology, involved patients receiving combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy for gastrointestinal, head or neck cancers. A questionnaire called the FACT-G (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—General) found that the patients’ emotional well-being jumped over the course of animal-assisted visits even as they underwent “marked and significant declines in both physical and functional well-being,” according to the researchers. Principal investigator Stewart B. Fleishman, M.D., of New York’s Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital called the work “the first such definitive study in cancer.” “Having an animal-assisted visit significantly improved [the patients’] quality of life and humanized a high-tech treatment,” Fleishman said. “Patients said they would have stopped their treatments before completion except for the presence of the certified Good Dog Foundation therapy dog and volunteer handler.” Besides Zoetis, the New York-based Good Dog Foundation and the Pfizer Foundation contributed to the research. “There is mounting evidence in human and veterinary medicine that the emotional bond between people and companion animals can …
Dogs Can’t Hide Feelings From ScientistsJanuary 13, 2015Research conducted by Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. has confirmed that dogs, like people, become flush with happiness and excitement. The findings, according to Purina behavior scientist Ragen T.S. McGowan, Ph.D., illustrate how the human-animal bond works both ways, lighting up the lives of both people and pets. “Scientists have known for years how to evaluate negative states such as stress and anxiety in animals,” McGowan said. “Less is known about how to measure positive states such as happiness or excitement.” McGowan and her team used thermal, or infrared, cameras to examine how external stimuli can generate joyful emotions in dogs, the company reported today. The cameras measured temperature fluctuations in dogs’ eyes, ears and paw pads as blood flowed to those areas. “Thermal imaging has been widely used in animal welfare studies to assess inflammation in racehorses, for example, or to see how certain conditions affect livestock’s stress levels,” McGowan said. “This is one of the first times it is being used to measure positive responses in pets.” Part of the study involved having people with no connection to a group of shelter dogs sit with and pet them for 15 minutes, the company stated. The dogs …
Elanco Completes Takeover of Novartis Animal HealthJanuary 9, 2015Novartis Animal Health is no more. The division of Swiss-based Novartis AG officially merged with Elanco Animal Health as of Jan. 1 in a $5.4 billion sale to Elanco’s parent company, Eli Lilly and Co. One day later, Novartis’ U.S. line of Sentinel canine heartworm and flea preventives was spun off to competitor Virbac for $410 million to satisfy regulators’ concerns. The marriage of Novartis Animal Health and Elanco created the world’s second-largest veterinary pharmaceutical company after Zoetis Inc. “Elanco’s acquisition of Novartis Animal Health brings together two strong companies with a passion for serving the customer,” said Rob Aukerman, president of North American commercial operations for Elanco. “We will continue to offer the products our customers trust, while significantly investing in the development of new solutions to our customers’ greatest unmet needs.” Absent from the Elanco portfolio are Sentinel Flavor Tabs and Sentinel Spectrum, which Fort Worth, Texas-based Virbac will now sell. The line generated more than $90 million in U.S. sales in 2014. Virbac also took on an undisclosed number of Novartis employees—“predominantly commercial teams,” according to the company. “The addition of these strong brands to Virbac’s current portfolio of products, together with the doubling …
