War Of Words Continues Between Blue Buffalo, PurinaMay 15, 2014 Blue Buffalo asserts that its pet foods do not use poultry byproduct meal. Nestlé Purina's Veterinary Diets Joint Mobility dog food contains salmon meal and poultry byproduct meal. Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. A burning feud between two pet food manufacturers escalated further Wednesday with Blue Buffalo Co. countersuing Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. and Purina again questioning its competitor's honesty. The dispute stems from a federal lawsuit that Purina filed May 6, claiming laboratory tests had discovered poultry byproduct meal and other undisclosed ingredients in some Blue Buffalo recipes. Blue Buffalo, based in Wilton, Conn., asserts in advertising and on packaging that its foods are all natural and do not contain poultry byproduct meal. Blue Buffalo's lawsuit, filed in the same Missouri court, accuses Purina of defamation, unfair competition and false advertising. "In response to Nestlé Purina's malicious attacks against us, we have initiated a lawsuit against them demanding that Nestlé Purina and the individuals working in concert with them be held accountable for their false accusations about Blue Buffalo and that their carefully orchestrated smear …
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Majority Of Dog, Cat Drugs Still Sold In-clinicMay 14, 2014Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Published in the April 2014 issue of Veterinary Practice News Spending on pet medications is expected to grow by $560 million this year in the United States, but the primary purveyors — veterinarians — will take in just over half of the additional bounty at best. The Rockville, Md., market research firm Packaged Facts disclosed in a new report, "Pet Medications in the U.S., 3rd Edition," that brick-and-mortar stores and online sellers continue to eat into a marketplace that veterinarians once dominated. Veterinarians sold an estimated 58 percent of dog and cat medications in 2013, followed by mass marketers such as Target and Walmart at 18 percent, Internet and mail-order retailers at 13 percent and pet specialty stores at 10 percent, according to the report. "The days of veterinarians having a virtual monopoly on sales of pet medications are a thing of the past," report author George Puro stated. The report, compiled from data obtained both inside and outside the pet industry, found that topical flea and tick products are increasingly in demand at Internet sellers and at retailers such as Walmart and Target. Internet giant Amazon.com …
BIVI Launches Low-Dose Feline VaccinesMay 14, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Ultra Fel-O-Vex line is produced by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. Cat owners who favor low-volume vaccines for their pets have something new from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. The St. Joseph, Mo., drug maker this month released what it called the only 0.5 mL vaccine line for cats. Ultra Fel-O-Vax comes in four formulations: • FVRCP, which protects against panleukopenia (feline distemper), rhinotracheitis (feline herpes virus infection) and two strains of calicivirus. • FeLV, for feline leukemia. • FVRCP + FeLV, for panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, both calicivirus strains and leukemia. • Dual FCV, for dual-strain calicivirus. The company in 2013 introduced a canine line, Ultra Duramune, which also provides 50 percent less volume per dose. A survey of cat owners found that 85 percent believe reducing the volume of vaccine injected over an animal's lifetime is important, Boehringer Ingelheim reported. "The goal of our Ultra Fel-O-Vax and Ultra Duramune vaccines is to offer veterinarians options when it comes to their vaccine protocols," said Kyle Malter, DVM, the pet vaccines technical manager at Boehringer Ingelheim. …
Abaxis, VCA Team Up On Equipment, Marketing DealMay 14, 2014 Follow up on Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. The VetScan VS2 produces test results from single-use plastic rotors. A majority of VCA Animal Hospitals will stock VetScan VS2 chemistry analyzers and diagnostic reagent discs under an agreement with equipment manufacturer Abaxis Inc. The companies this week announced two long-term agreements. The first will see Los Angeles-based VCA Antech Inc. purchase the analyzers and discs for use in many of its more than 600 North American veterinary clinics. The second is a marketing arrangement with VCA's Antech Diagnostic reference laboratories. Abaxis, headquartered in Union City, Calif., makes the VetScan VS2, a chemistry, electrolyte, immunoassay and blood gas analyzer. The countertop machine is designed to produce results within 12 minutes and will help VCA veterinarians "provide patient care on an even more timely and cost-effective manner," said Clint Severson, Abaxis' chairman, president and CEO. Abaxis also will work with VCA's veterinary-exclusive clinical laboratories "to capitalize on new growth opportunities within the animal health care industry," the companies stated. "This co-marketing agreement with Antech Diagnostics creates new and exciting opportunities for in-house testing and reference …
Zoetis Executives Share Good News With ShareholdersMay 14, 2014Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Zoetis CEO Juan Ramón Alaix addresses shareholders. More than $4.5 billion in sales and 180 product approvals have Zoetis Inc. feeling pretty good about where the veterinary drug maker is headed after its first year in operation. Zoetis chairman Michael McCallister and CEO Juan Ramón Alaix on Tuesday hosted the annual shareholders meeting in Shore Hills, N.J.—the first since Pfizer Inc. spun off its veterinary division as an independent company. Minor matters, from electing three directors to approving the selection of an independent auditor, took up part of the meeting. The remainder was filled with remarks from McCallister and Alaix, who oversee nearly 10,000 employees and a Florham Park, N.J., company that is the world's largest producer of medicine and vaccines for livestock and pets. Alaix touted Zoetis' global market position: second in Europe but first everywhere else. The company also ranks No. 1 in cattle and swine products, anti-infectives and drugs such as sedatives and pain medication. "We believe that this is an industry that is truly …
Advocacy Group Challenges EPA Over Flea Collar ChemicalsMay 13, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Senior scientists from the advocacy group say the chemicals found in flea collars are dangerous to children. The chemicals tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP) and propoxur are used in some dog and cat flea collars, and the Natural Resources Defense Council wants the chemicals eradicated from the pet industry. To that end, it sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 6 in an attempt to force a decision. Manufacturers Hartz Mountain Corp., Sergeant's Pet Care Products Inc. and Wellmark International defended the formulation of their flea collars. "We have provided all of the relevant data to the EPA to support the safe use of our products," a Hartz representative stated. Dr. Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the two neurotoxic pesticides particularly dangerous to children and cited scientific literature that linked the chemicals to neurodevelopment problems. The chemicals may be transferred when a child touches a collar and then puts her hand in her …
Women's Veterinary Leadership Group Starts Student ChaptersMay 13, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. A fledgling group striving to boost the number of female leaders in the veterinary profession has launched its first three student chapters at Cornell University, Texas A&M University and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. The parent organization is the Women's Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative (WVLDI), which Karen Bradley, DVM, of Onion River Animal Hospital in Middlesex, Vt., created in July 2013. "The purpose of the student chapters mirrors that of the WVLDI: to support women in seeking and achieving leadership, policy and decision-making positions within all areas of professional veterinary activity," said Cassandra Tansey, a Texas A&M student representative. "These determined and talented young women are exactly who we need in private practices, in local and state VMAs, and in veterinary colleges, shaping and expanding the future of veterinary medicine." Cornell WVLDI student chapter officers are, from left, Michelle Forella, vice president; Jordan Daniels, president; Katherine Schuhmacher, secretary; Yuan Kang, treasurer; and Becky Donnelly, historian. The chapters bubbled up after a March symposium organized by the Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA). "From my …
Trupanion Adds Rare Procedures To Standard Pet Insurance PolicyMay 12, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Trupanion, one of the nation's largest pet health insurance companies, has expanded its core policy to cover less common veterinary services such as bone marrow transplants, stem cell therapy and herbal therapy. Policyholders are entitled to 10 newly covered treatments as well as to wider coverage for conditions commonly seen in nonsterilized pets. Colloidal silver injections and platelet-rich plasma are among the treatments now offered to all Trupanion clients. "In order to provide value to all pet owners in all markets, as procedures, treatments and diagnostics become more mainstream and available to all policyholders to use, we add them to [the] core policy," said Kerri Marshall, DVM, the Seattle company's chief veterinary officer. The enhanced coverage, announced Thursday, is available throughout Canada and in most states, though regulatory approval is pending in some locations. Besides bone marrow, stem cell and herbal treatments, the 10 new covered services include colloidal silver injections, gold seed therapy, kidney transplants, platelet-rich plasma, polyethylene medication, shockwave therapy and hyperbaric oxygen. All 10 previously were available in a policy add-on.
Rural Vet Reflects On CareerMay 12, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Marv Maul, a former rural veterinarian, jokingly considers himself "a member of the exclusive veterinary society called the Order of the Green Armpit," according to The Gazette. In other words, he's had his arm so far up a cow's rectum that he was able to feel its uterus to determine if it were pregnant. A right-handed man, this was something he always did left-handed. That, and throw a Frisbee. THINKSTOCK Maul grew up around animals on his family's ranch in Kiowa, Colorado. The cattle ranch, started in the 1870s in Elbert County by Maul's great-grandfather, is still family-run. Farming was a big part of living at the Maul ranch, since they grew corn silage and alfalfa hay to feed their cattle. Maul and his three older brothers spent a lot of their childhood doing hard work, but they were also happy. Since his father did not believe in the newer farm machinery, Maul collected hay using a horse-drawn sulky rake. Dangers presented themselves often in such a life, such as an accident with a …
Vet Students Work At Pet Day At Oregon State UniversityMay 9, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Oregon State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, in Corvallis, Oregon, held its 27th Annual Pet Day earlier this month. First- and second-year veterinary students of the university create, organize and staff the event every year, in an effort to carry on the college's public service legacy as well as give back to the community. This year, Magruder Hall, the grounds where the College of Veterinary Medicine is located, was lively with four-legged visitors and their two-legged counterparts. Canines and humans of various ages gathered to participate in the festivities. There were 59 nonprofit and commercial booths. Visitors could research veterinarians, find a new kennel, gather information on animal health and wellness and nutrition or even get their dogs' nails trimmed. In less than an hour, the students had trimmed 10 dogs' nails and more were waiting in line. Molly, a Rottweiler-mix, was one. Her owner, Nikki Means, knew Molly did not like pedicures. "She's going to go crazy and make a lot of noise," she warned the students manning the booth, according to Corvallis Gazette-Times. Possibly …
