Florida Mandatory Spay/Neuter Bill Set For HearingApril 17, 2009 A bill that would mandate spay/neuter surgery for dogs and cats over 4 months of age in Florida is scheduled to be heard March 24 during a meeting of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee. The proposal, House Bill 451, describes pet overpopulation as a preventable problem that can be solved “simply by spaying and neutering companion animals.” As introduced, the bill requires the owner of every dog or cat in Florida to have each animal sterilized within 30 days of the animal reaching 4 months of age, or within 30 days of the owner taking in the pet. Criteria for exemption include: • Dogs with veterinary certification showing that sterilization would endanger the pet’s health because of its age, disability or illness. • A Greyhound used for racing, until retirement. • Show animals registered with an established breed registration group approved by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. • Dogs or cats that have earned or are earning a competitive sports title such as agility or obedience. • Animals trained or in training for use in law enforcement, military or rescue. • Animals for which an owner holds a …
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New Equine Surgery Center To Open In TexasApril 17, 2009A new 24-hour equine surgery center is opening in Granger, Texas, something that has been needed in the area for a long time, said Nancy St. Peter, DVM, Dipl., of Georgetown Equine Medicine and Surgery. "That's what's driven us," she said. "For years now, there has been no available [surgery] centers close enough for people in central Texas to go to." The 12,000-square-foot center, to open June 7, includes a surgery room, a knock-down room, a hydrolic surgery table, a gas anesthesia machine and a viewing room so others can watch the surgery. "We want to provide all the things that are more difficult for the regular horse doctor in the field to do," Dr. St. Peter said. "So our main focus is to take it up to a tertiary care level. Vets out in the field are usually providing primary care; the vet that has a little hospital is providing secondary care. We would like to be able to provide tertiary care, which you can not do in the field." In addition, the center will include digital X-ray and ultrasound machines, a podiatry center and diagnostics for lameness exams. The center will also be equipped to perform ophthalmology exams …
Texas Officials Makes New Regulations To Keep Livestock TB-FreeApril 17, 2009 The Texas Animal Health Commission has adopted new cattle entry, testing and movement regulations in an effort to keep the state’s cattle tuberculosis-free status. The new regulations, which were spurred by the concern about the recent findings of cattle TB infection in two New Mexico dairies, a Colorado bucking bull herd and an Oklahoma beef herd, include lowering the TB test-eligible age from six to two months for sexually intact dairy cattle entering Texas; identifying all Texas dairy cattle regardless of age with an official or TAHC-approved identification device prior to movement within the state; and requiring TB tests for Mexican-origin steers that are recognized as potential rodeo and/or roping stock, and entering from other states. Texas originally achieved cattle TB-free status in 2000, but lost it in 2002 when two infected cattle herds were detected. The state regained it in October 2006 after a rigorous TB testing program was initiated. “Reclaiming TB-free status was hard work for Texas producers and veterinary practitioners who participated in the testing program, and for TAHC and U.S. Department of Agriculture staff in Texas,” said Bob Hillman, DVM, TAHC executive director and Texas’ state veterinarian. “It’s not …
AVMA Survey Finds Vets Like Their Jobs, Happy TooApril 17, 2009 Veterinarians are apparently pretty happy and really like their jobs, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Veterinary Medical Assn. AVMA took data from its 2007 Member Needs Assessment, which surveyed members regarding job satisfaction and happiness, and compared it to existing job satisfaction data taken from a study published by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago in 2007. The comparison showed that veterinarians have a very high level of job satisfaction (3.55), just behind clergy (3.79), teachers (3.61) and psychologists (3.59), but above physicians (3.47) and lawyers (3.33). The average rating in the NORC study for all jobs was 3.3. One of the reasons veterinarians may like their job is because the field is so diversified, from small animal medicine to research to academia, according to Robert Dietl, DVM, chair of the AVMA Membership Services Committee. “There are a lot of opportunities in veterinary medicine, so you don’t get pigeonholed in a career you don’t enjoy,” he said. There is also innate integrity in the profession, said Charles Hendrix, DVM, former AVMA vice president and former chair of the AVMA Wellness …
UGA Receives $1.1 Million To Develop Vaccine Against Biological AgentsApril 17, 2009 The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded researchers at the University of Georgia a three-year $1.1 million grant to develop a vaccine to protect against the pathogens glanders and melioidosis. Both infectious diseases are considered to be potential biological warfare agents and have been identified by the Department of Health and Human Services as “top priorities for development of medical countermeasures.” The researchers will work at UGA’s Animal Health Research Center and test whether vaccination can protect mice in an aerosol model of infection. “These bacteria can infect by gaining entry through the nose and mouth and then adhering to the mucosal linings of the respiratory tract,” said bacteriologist Eric Lafontaine, Ph.D., co-principal investigator with immunologist Jeff Hogan, Ph.D., both in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Essentially we’re trying to identify the proteins that make the bacterium stick and then trying to counteract their ability to attach and cause infection.” Glanders, caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei, is endemic in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America. It primarily affects horses, donkeys and mules, but it can also affect goats, dogs and cats. …
ASPCA, University Of Florida To Host First Veterinary Forensics SymposiumApril 17, 2009More than 200 veterinary and toxicology professionals are expected to attend the first Veterinary Forensics Symposium April 9-11 in Orlando, Fla. The symposium, hosted by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in conjunction with the University of Florida's William R. Maples Center for Forensic Science, aims to advance the study of animal forensics. "For 142, years, the ASPCA has been dedicated to battling animal cruelty and improving the well-being of animals everywhere," said Ed Sayres, ASPCA president and chief executive officer. "Veterinary forensics is clearly the next frontier in our fight. We are proud to be a part of this ground-breaking event which will bring together areas of forensics that have previously been applied only to crimes against humans." Speakers will include Randall Lockwood, Ph.D., the ASPCA's senior vice president of Anti-Cruelty Initiatives & Legislative Services; Melinda Merck, DVM, the ASPCA's senior director of Veterinary Forensics; and Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, DVM, Ph.D., vice president and medical director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center. Attendees will also receive specialized training in veterinary forensics, as well as training in how to process animal cruelty cases. Continuing education credits are available. In addition, the ASPCA's new mobile "Animal Crime …
Oquendo Center Debuts at Western Veterinary ConferenceApril 17, 2009Following four years of development, the Western Veterinary Conference celebrated the grand opening of the Oquendo Center for Clinical Education during its annual conference held Feb. 15-19 in Las Vegas. The facility is dedicated to year-round hands-on training and has been constructed to meet ongoing educational needs. The mission of the center is “to provide the highest quality, clinically relevant, state-of-the-art, hands-on continuing education for veterinary medicine and other professions for the betterment of worldwide animal and public health.” The 66,000-square-foot facility offers laboratory and surgery suites, a 170-seat auditorium with surround-sound digital projection, multi-media instructional areas, small and large animal facilities, a kennel, radiology and imaging suite, a dental suite and more. It also offers educational instruction and participation with live animals, dead animals and animal models. “There’s no practice here, it’s all about education,” said Stephen Crane, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, chief medical officer and director of Oquendo Center Programs. “We’re about continuing education for graduates.” Courses are designed to focus on all organ systems across most animal species, including small animal orthopedics, food animal theriogenology and emergency care. Classes are continuously being developed and are listed online with classes scheduled throughout the year. The average …
FDA Names Dunham Director To Veterinary CenterApril 17, 2009 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has named Bernadette Dunham, DVM, Ph.D., its new director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine. She succeeds Stephen Sundlof, DVM, Ph.D., who has moved to director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Previously, Dr. Dunham served as deputy director of CVM and worked in coordinating and establishing policy in research, management, scientific evaluation, compliance and surveillance. She was also the director for CVM’s Office of Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Drug Development. Drs. Dunham and Sundlof will report directly to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. <HOME>
This Is My Brain On GriefApril 17, 2009 I’d written an article for this issue on the femininity of the profession and its highlights and pitfalls, but was thwarted by the impossibility of averting a slew of hate mail and what I like to call the Hillary syndrome as it applies to women in the profession. Instead, I’m taking the coward’s way out and treating you to a similarly timely discourse on the dangers of compassion fatigue. This week I’ve been exposed to six euthanasias, two of them this morning (an otherwise gorgeous Sunday in Miami) and another two in patients under 3 years old. One of the latter patients, a downer Dachshund whose prognosis fared better than middling, was particularly tragic and troubling. I no longer cry when I attend euthanasias—rarely, anyway. I know just what to say and manage not to make it sound canned or trite. I’m now expert at my catheters or butterflies and never foul up the deed, even when flying solo. As one of my colleagues likes to say, “I give good death—every time.” I’m sure most of you in practice for more than 10 years can boast the same fine stats. Nonetheless, surrendering yourself to the emotional …
Insulin Issues In Obese Dogs And Diabetic CatsApril 17, 2009 It is well-documented in humans and cats that obesity results in insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes manifests when either insulin resistance or inadequate insulin secretion no longer allows blood glucose to be regulated effectively, resulting in hyperglycemia. In many instances dieting and exercise, as well as dietary modification, can reverse this. Experimental work has shown that dogs made obese by feeding high-calorie diets also develop insulin resistance, though they do not tend to develop Type 2 diabetes. Many of these studies are short term with obesity induced within weeks to months and it is uncertain if the same changes occur in pet dogs that may have been obese for years. Insulin Resistance Researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Queensland, Australia, investigated insulin resistance and insulin production in six spontaneously obese dogs with a body condition score of 8 out of 9.1.1 The control group consisted of six age- and gender-matched lean dogs with a BCS of 4 or 5. A bolus of intravenous glucose (1g/kg) was given and frequent blood samples were collected over a three-hour period. Resting insulin concentration was almost four times higher …
