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Marilyn Iturri is an accomplished journalist with more than 25 years’ experience in magazines and newspapers. A Southern California native, she has worked in various writing, editing, training and management roles at The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. Now in her seventh year as editor of Veterinary Practice News, Marilyn works with staff to find and report relevant, useful and interesting stories. Her background in daily news reporting and interest in health-related topics are great assets to Veterinary Practice News and position the magazine as the leader in veterinary news, features and product reporting. |
September 20, 2010
About That Ad...
Many readers commented about the cover advertisement and news story in the September issue highlighting the online reality series presented by The Purina Veterinary Diets Project ... More»
July 22, 2010
The Costs of Caring
An acquaintance is thinking about getting another dog to keep his 2-year-old Lab mix company. The dog’s frequent canine companion recently died, and her owner worries that she won’t be as happy without some kind of doggie company. But the owner is one of those folks who doesn’t want to spend money at the veterinary clinic. He’ll get ... More»
July 12, 2010
Farewell, Miss Mickey
I never expected to miss this dog. She was a pain in the tush from the very beginning. In 1998, my friend Maryanne asked if I’d foster a young black and white cocker spaniel that had been rescued from the streets, just till she could find her a permanent home. I agreed, and took my two incumbent cockers to meet this little girl on neutral ground ... More»
June 22, 2010
Be Happy
Our Web Exclusive on “Transforming Client Anger” by Katherine Dobbs is getting good responses from readers. Seems like everyone knows an angry client, and probably more than a few of us have even been one in one context or another. One of the situations Dobbs warns of is that of “emotional contagion” – the phenomenon in which, after ... More»
June 11, 2010
Something for Everyone at Summer Conferences
It’s trade show season again, just in time for summer. After a lull in April and May, the veterinary community has embarked again on conferences this month with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, meeting this year in Anaheim, Calif. The Southern California weather is cooperating—or maybe that should say ... More»
May 13, 2010
‘TweetUp’: Social Media for Fun and Helping Dogs
Performing good works and having fun aren’t mutually exclusive. And social media like Twitter and Facebook offer more opportunities for doing both. At least one dog-lovin’ company found a way to use them to benefit an animal shelter at next to no cost—an impressive achievement in today’s economy. The benefit started out as a way for Southern ... More»
April 14, 2010
The Orangutan and the Hound
Sometimes the world can get really tiresome. Maybe "annoying" is a more a more appropriate characterization ... I get tired not so much of the news itself, but of the remonstrations that seem to invariably follow, whatever a particular story's subject might be. Entertainment can be hard to take at times. Give me total escapism at the ... More»
March 19, 2010
A Toast to Kindred Spirits
I usually rise when being introduced to new people. But on my way to the VetPartners and CareCredit reception at the American Animal Hospital Association convention in Long Beach, Calif., I tangled with a gas pump hose. It won. Right there at the gas station, in front of God and 5 o’clock traffic, I landed none too gracefully on my already bad ... More»
March 5, 2010
Where Did that Tumor Go
I'm not a veterinarian. I’m a journalist and an animal lover, and count myself lucky to work in the veterinary community.Leading Veterinary Practice News for some years now, I’ve often heard the expression “That tumor has a dog.” And I understood that it means that some owner let a tumor become enormous before bothering to take his animal ... More»
FEbruary 26, 2010
The Veterinary Practice News Family Welcomes a New Face
Some Veterinary Practice News readers may have wondered what happened to my colleague Senior News Editor Marissa Heflin. Marissa normally writes much of our news copy and attends the big veterinary conferences. This year, however, she missed the North American and Western veterinary conferences. Marissa is a tad sleep deprived but ... More»
January 15, 2010
On the Road to NAVC
As the first big veterinary conference of the year approaches, the pace picks up in our editorial offices here in Irvine, Calif. We are busy making appointments with newsmakers and planning meetings witih clients and readers, and generally looking forward to kicking off the new year at the North American Veterinary Conference. Typically, we look forward ... More»
December 29, 2009
Best Wishes for the New Year--And a Resurgent Business Climate
A new year and new beginnings seem to go hand in hand. And when that new year arrives after a particularly difficult one, it seems to be especially welcome. So it’s with much hope and excitement that many in the veterinary community regard the beginning of 2010. It’s too soon to know for sure, but there are signs that consumer confidence is on ... More»
December 18, 2009
Veterinarians in the News: Congratulations, Phil!
Veterinary Practice News columnist and blogger Phil Zeltzman, DVM, is a board-certified surgeon who strives to keep our readers current on issues and viewpoints in veterinary surgery. But he is passionate about other editorial pursuits as well, including a weekly newsletter he writes for pet owners. His newsletter is read in all 50 states and in 22 ... More»
October 30, 2009
In Praise of Pet Health Insurance
Thank goodness for pet insurance. I know that some reputable sources contend that a pet owner is better off to budget for pets’ health emergencies and set aside a certain amount every month in a savings account. But get real, Consumer Reports. Who does that? Even if someone showed that much fiscal discipline, veterinary medical bills can quickly ... More»
August 20, 2009
What We Had Here Was Failure to Communicate
How hard should it be for a client to point out an error to your staff? Especially when correcting it benefits the clinic, should it take five attempts for the person behind the counter to get it? We all have bad days, and I’ve had probably more than my share. Maybe the technician helping me that day was having her own bad day. But I was particularly frustrated ... More»
August 13, 2009
Truth and Lies in The Dog Food Aisle
There I was in my local Petsmart, perusing the dog food aisles. The store doesn’t carry the brand I normally buy, but I thought I’d look around to see what’s new. At first I thought the woman who approached me was a Petsmart employee, but it turns out that she represented one of the dog food lines the store carries. She asked about my pet and inevitably ... More»
June 18, 2009
Snakes Finally In the Running
It was bound to happen. More than halfway through the entry period for our annual radiograph contest highlighting the weird things that animals will ingest if given half a chance, not a single radiograph of a snake had been entered ... More»
May 18, 2009
Finding Ways to Help Clients Pay
The economic downturn is forcing some of us to face harsh realities. News reports about home foreclosures often include an element quoting local animal shelters as saying that more animals are being surrendered and even ... More»
January 23, 2009
Hello, Arnold? About That Fido Fine ...
Maybe you’re wondering what ever happened to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to raise the state sales tax rate and extend it to veterinary services. The proposal is still on the table, but it has yet ... More»
October 31, 2008
Red or Blue Doesn't Matter; I Can't Take Any More Ads!
I have a bad case of Election Overload, and I don’t even live in one of the states being contested in the presidential election. Folks in Ohio and Florida and Pennsylvania, among other states, are being subjected to even more TV and ... More»
October 29, 2008
A Short Respite From the World
It’s a treat to finally meet someone you talk and e-mail with frequently. Veterinary conventions often offer that very opportunity. On Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of finally meeting Dr. Phil Zeltzman, the board-certified ... More»
September 2, 2008
Is There Room for the Truth In the Comp Med Debate?
Can't we all just get along? I grew up in a loud Basque family, where arguing was weekend sport. My dad and his brothers could argue the fine points of everything and anything. The more hoarse they were afterward, the bigger their ... More»
August 12, 2008
Seasons of Change: Goodbye and Hello
Few people are lucky enough to work at jobs they truly like, let alone with people they like and care about. I count myself among the lucky. I’ve always enjoyed publishing, animals and science, so working on a trade magazine that ... More»
May 21, 2008
Our Annual Contest: Critter X-rays Again Include a Snake
For a moment, we thought that we might not get even one snake X-ray. That would have been unique, considering that radiographs of snakes took top honors in the first two years of Veterinary Practice News’ “They Ate WHAT?” ... More»
March 17, 2008
Ignore the News and Find Some Veterinary Laughs
Sometimes the news gets to be too much to bear. This past week saw New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer crash and burn in a spectacularly humiliating fashion in front of God and everybody. In the middle of the week came the story out ... More»
March 6, 2008
What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate
We like to think we have decent communication skills, but when it comes right down to it, do we? I worked in newspapers for 25 years and was regularly amazed at how bad we professional communicators can be at communicating with ... More»
FEbruary 5, 2008
Welcome to the VPN Editorial Blog
Welcome to the Veterinary Practice News Editors’ Blog! With the launch of our redesigned website, the editors felt compelled to participate in this popular and important venue of online information and opinion sharing. We hope our readers ... More»
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