8:52 AM July 04, 2009

Cover StoriesArchiveThe Bond & BeyondComplementary MedicineThe Dental EdgeReality CheckSurgical InsightsArchived ColumnsAvian & ExoticEquine & Large AnimalSmall AnimalPractice ManagementCanine Practice™Feline Practice™Honors/AwardsIndustryProfiles in MedicinePromotions/New HiresNew ProductsEquine & Large AnimalHolistic CareBooks & MultimediaRetail ProductsAssociations & ConferencesClasses & Continuing EducationInternational EventsOther Industry Events

Your Email:

What would you like to see more of in our magazine?

	News
	Products
	Education Series articles
	Small Animal articles
	Equine articles
	Veterinary Staff articles
	Columnists
	Profiles

Previous Poll Results...

Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog

The editors will blog about news, medicine, practice management and business, animals, clients, and really anything that affects the world of veterinary medicine, including our own experiences and topics we’ve covered in the magazine.

We hope our readers--veterinarians, technicians, nurses, assistants, receptionists, industry professionals, and the like--will enjoy reading our weekly blog and feel welcome to participate in discussions.

« Meet our bloggers »

Blog	Date
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. Winners ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	06/18/2009
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 abandoned ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	05/18/2009
Sometimes the Pig Just Won't Get With the Diet Program Two of my favorite veterinary writers, Dr. Phil Zeltzman, who writes a weekly e-newsletter for pet owners, and Dr. Patty Khuly, who writes a daily blog for pet owners, both recently tackled a touchy subject: weight ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	03/23/2009
Is Listening to Clients Too Much to Ask? As a journalist, I listen to and write about veterinarians’ thoughts, concerns and interests as part of my job. I rarely hear a veterinarian considering obstacles the client faces when bringing a pet to an emergency visit. I do hear about client ... Read more>> Jessica Tremayne, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	03/06/2009
Gag Me with a Pill Gun After more than three months of battling my kitty's corneal ulcer, which seemed to be healing, I found myself back at the specialty hospital with her eye worse than the first time the ophthalmologist examined her. Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	02/13/2009
Easy Ways to Promote Pet Dental Health Month Welcome to February, the ever-popular dental health month, when discounts on dental exams and cleanings are offered, pet dental swag is passed out and poor technicians spend 10 hours a day up their eye goggles in cat and dog ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	02/06/2009
It Can't Be All Doom and Gloom Out There I can’t help but believe that especially with regard to the veterinary market, the “economic crisis” is way overstated. Perhaps the four-doctor veterinary group we use for our pets is unusual as it does not accept appointments with clients. ... Read more>> Neal Halter, Account Executive	01/28/2009
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 ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	01/23/2009
Listen to the Groomer for the Customer Vibe I recently chatted with a groomer who's been working in the same veterinary hospital for almost 10 years. When she started at the clinic the staff consisted of one doctor, a couple of techs and a receptionist or two. As clientele has grown ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	01/19/2009
Holiday Gifts for Staff These are tough economic times and although veterinary clinics are said to be hanging in there, practice owners are probably keeping a close eye on excess spending. Spending and the holidays go hand in hand, so what's a ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	12/08/2008
When an E-mail Sounds Too Good to Be True Internet scams are certainly not new, but I was a little surprised to see one creeping into the veterinary profession. Last week, I received an e-mail with the subject line “donation inquiry” asking if I was interested in an ultrasound, autoclave and a ... Read more>> Marissa Heflin, Senior News Editor, Veterinary Practice News	11/26/2008
Customer Service Starts At the Clinic's Front Door My recent sub-par customer-service experience at a large veterinary specialty hospital illustrates how important it is for veterinary clinic staff to bond with clients--especially new clients. Making new clients feel important and appreciated is key in ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	11/20/2008
To Cone or Not to Cone: The E-Collar Question Elizabethan collars are an important tool of veterinary practitioners to deter pet patients from accessing parts of their bodies they shouldn't access. Surgery patients with stitches are one example. Some clinics' policies include mandatory E-collars ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Contributing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	11/03/2008
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 radio ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	10/31/2008
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 surgeon who ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	10/29/2008
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 ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	09/02/2008
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 reports on the ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	08/12/2008
"Voluntourists" Help New Orleans Shelters The American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s first “Our Oath In Action” event combined tourism and volunteerism July 17-18 in New Orleans during the annual conference of the American Veterinary Medical Assn. When I hear that the group was ... Read more>> Marissa Heflin, Senior News Editor, Veterinary Practice News	07/30/2008
What is Your Addiction? What is your addiction? Vodka over your lunch hour, pain medication when it doesn’t hurt, lying that you ate a meal when you’ve avoided food for days. About 8 percent of the general U.S. population has some form of addiction or substance ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	07/14/2008
Lose Those Wimpy Management Skills Whatever happened to giving credit where credit is due? I'm continuously surprised at the management trend of withholding public praise for any given staff member for fear of hurting others' feelings. I recently asked several veterinarian friends to ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	07/02/2008
Get Image Savvy -- Check Your Yelps Last month, a receptionist at the Animal Medical Clinic in Bountiful, Utah, took a call from a prospective client with a new kitten. Before the prospect confirmed her appointment, she asked, "Are you aware of your rating on CitySearch? It's not very ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	06/18/2008
Hard Economic Times Take a Toll on Employee Morale The health industry, including veterinary health, is typically considered immune from hard economic times because people and pets still get sick--and need to be treated--no matter how much money people ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	06/03/2008
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?” contest sposored ... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	05/21/2008
Saving for the Future May Take 'Tricky' Creativity As proven by the fiercely tight financial situation this country finds itself in, Americans are the worst money savers in the world. The lifestyle of paycheck-to-paycheck living has become the norm, particularly among Gen Y ... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	05/06/2008
It's All in the Mix Chance, my 90-pound mixed-breed dog, is not German shepherd, Rottweiler and Akita like I previously thought. (Blog entry March 4, “Breeding a Tailored Wellness Plan.”) He is German shepherd, Doberman pinscher and Samoyed, among some... Read more>> Marissa Heflin, Senior News Editor, Veterinary Practice News	05/01/2008
Drug Contaminants Aren't Just a Human Medicine Problem Walk over to your pharmacy shelf and pull off that bottle of generic heparin. Who makes the brand you use in your hospital and do you know where is it manufactured? At the end of March, the FDA said that it identified a contaminant in large... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	04/22/2008
New York State Veterinary Board Sets Uneasy Precedent in the Name Game Don't you hate it when someone gets props for doing a job you consider yourself more qualified to do? Apparently, New York State people nurses are feeling sensitive about veterinarians calling their veterinary technicians "nurses." Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	04/11/2008
Connection Goes Beyond Your Profession Although in our society we must choose a profession by which to put food on the table, our careers don't always define who we are. Yes, it takes certain personality types to become paramedics, chefs, race car drivers or veterinarians... Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	04/02/2008
Breeding a Tailored Wellness Plan Chance came into my life unexpectedly. I was working as a veterinary nurse in an emergency veterinary clinic in Los Angeles when a man came running through our front doors around midnight, exclaiming that he had hit a dog. Read more>> Marissa Heflin, Senior News Editor, Veterinary Practice News	03/24/2008
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 of... Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	03/17/2008
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 each other. Read more>> Marilyn Iturri, Editor, Veterinary Practice News	03/06/2008
My Vet Conference Sentimentality I love going to vet conferences. They are actually very sentimental for me. The socializing and personal relationships developed at conferences are priceless. Three categories of people I tend to meet absolutely make my day. Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	02/26/2008
Do-It-Yourself Do-it-yourself projects are a hobby of mine. I'm a big fan of redesigning, remodeling and adding on. I just refinished my bathroom vanity--new paint, new hinges and new hardware. Read more>> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	02/19/2008
My House-Call Vet Extraordinaire I never considered consulting a house-call vet mostly because I've never needed to. I've worked in clinics for more than 14 years and my pets have never seen a veterinarian who I didn't know personally. Read more >> Somyr McLean Perry, Managing Editor, Veterinary Practice News	02/06/2008
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. Read more >>	02/05/2008

Give us your opinion on
Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog

Reader Comments

Dr. Narda Robinson's assessment of cooling vs. warming foods was very disappointing and showed a strong bias without objectivity. While living in Hong Kong, China as a young man I heard of cooling and warming foods and paid attention to what I ate during different seasons of the year. Over the ensuing 30 years I have found that indeed there are foods that generate more heat during digestion than others and I have leaned towards those in times of cold weather and away during the warmer seasons. My family has done likewise and benefited from the choices. Wise people all over the world know that during hot times one stays away from foods higher in fats, such as chicken (with the skin and its subcutaneous fat) and marbled beef, and eat more rice, salads and fruits. In times of winter and high energy demands, then meats higher in fats are a wise choice. To lump the findings of warming and cooling foods into metaphorical descriptions and magical correspondences is insulting to practitioners of TCVM and those of us who have discovered correct aspects of what they teach.

Gilbert, Stillwater, OK
Posted: 5/6/2009 5:51:11 AM

Neovet - Intas Pharmaceutical Ltd have been pioneer to spread the message across India - "ONE EMOTION - The Joy and Pride of being a VET."
Starting April 25,09 through April 28 '09 Vets all over the country are celebrating World Veterinary Day. Activities viz; Prabhat Pherrys, Animal welfare camps, Continuous Veterinary Education, Technical Seminars, Family get together with fun filled activities like drawing competition for children of different age group, musical chair for ladies and above recognizing contribution of senior Vets by honoring them with Life time awards etc.

Onkar, Jaipur, IN
Posted: 4/26/2009 8:25:21 AM

Where on earth is the video you mention on Harvesting fat cells in dogs and equines

Marvin J., Pacific Grove, CA
Posted: 5/3/2008 7:06:51 PM

on hte criminal charges against ten.vet.to say iwas appalled,disgusted and angry noot only at the "vet

to say that i was appalled,disgusted and angry not only at the "vet" but also at the board for not immedialetly revoking his licence isunbelievalbe. what does the board feel horrible enought to censure a vet. i have been in practice for 40 years, some of that time with humane societies where i was responsible for euthanasia and i can count of one hand the times i ghad to do IC euthanasia.for dr.baber to say he was
ignorant of the law is laughable. and the profession wonders we as vets are becoming more and more cynical

'

monica, atlanta, GA
Posted: 2/12/2008 12:24:28 PM

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

| | | |
| | | | |

Aesculight Laser
Surgery Video

var addthis_pub = 'animalnetwork'; Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog

Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog