Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health Opens Vaccine Manufacturing FacilityApril 22, 2010 Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health on April 22 celebrated the opening of its new vaccine manufacturing facility at Biosciences Center Boxmeer in The Netherlands. Chris Buijink, secretary general of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, performed the official opening. The animal health company is investing $22 million in the new building, which has increased the floor space for the production unit from about 16,146 square feet to about 59,202 square feet. It will have four hi-tech production lines for bacterial vaccines with a media preparation capacity in fermentors ranging from 200 liters to 1,500 liters. The facility is compliant with current and anticipated regulatory requirements on Good Manufacturing Practices for veterinary medicines, with special sectors for bio-contained zones. In addition, the new facility allows production capacity to be expanded in order to meet the increasing demand for veterinary vaccines. Looking glass in fermentor, used for the visual inspection of the vaccine production process. The opening celebration included a scientific symposium titled, “Research and Technology in Bacterial Vaccine Development: Opportunities for a One Health Approach.” The symposium was organized in collaboration with Immuno Valley. Several industry leaders from Dutch universities and …
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United Kingdom’s Safeguard Launches Pet Insurance PolicyApril 21, 2010 Safeguard, a provider of caravan and motorhome insurance in the United Kingdom, has launched a new pet insurance policy. Pets are a major part of family life, as well as a large component of the caravan and motorhome community, according to the company, a division of Swinton Group Ltd. “Pet ownership can be expensive,” said Rita Sadler, Safeguard manager. “If your pet has an accident or becomes ill, vet bills can soon add up. This pet insurance policy offers financial security should your pet have to go to the vet so that owners won’t have to make difficult decisions about whether or not they can afford the treatment. “Taking our pet insurance through Safeguard will also cover things such as advertising costs if your pet goes missing, boarding fees and third part liability. As with all insurance policies it’s vital to check small print. Look at the excess, whether there’s a cap on veterinary fees and what cover is given to individual medical conditions.” Safeguard’s pet insurance covers: Veterinary fees – up to a maximum of about $6,160; Complementary treatment – up to about $385 with no time limit; Emergency boarding kennel fees – up to …
New Orleans Considers Mandatory Spay/Neuter OrdinanceApril 20, 2010 The New Orleans City Council has introduced an ordinance that, if passed, would require owners or keepers to spay/neuter all dogs older than six months. The council plans to discuss, and possibly vote on, the ordinance at its meeting on May 6. Exemptions would extend to dogs younger than six months, dogs present in New Orleans for less than 30 days and dogs that are used by a government or law enforcement agency or an agent thereof for government, rescue, law enforcement or other government purposes. A licensed veterinarian may also certify that a dog should not be spayed/neutered for a specific health reason. Owners or keepers who have obtained or submitted an application for an “intact dog permit” may also be exempt. An “intact dog permit” would be available from the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In order for the society to grant the permit, owners or keepers would need to adhere to the following conditions: Submit appropriate forms and fees, including, but not limited to, a written description of the dog, a photo of the dog and a photo of the dog’s living conditions; Proof the dog has been microchipped; Proof …
Winn Feline Foundation And Feline Pine Bring Funding To FIP ResearchApril 20, 2010 The Winn Feline Foundation and cat litter brand Feline Pine have partnered to fund research aimed at finding a treatment for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a fatal disease of cats. “We are so excited to be partnering with Feline Pine,” said Susan Little, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (feline practice), past president of the Winn Feline Foundation. “They are truly a company that cares about the life and health of cats and their support of the Winn Feline Foundation assists us in our goal to help ‘every cat, every day.’” The research project is being led by Alfred Legendre, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. FIP is believed to occur when there is a mutation of the common intestinal coronavirus. There is a depression of the cell-mediated immune response to the mutated virus, which results in an overproduction of antibodies and a loss of the cell-mediated immunity needed to destroy coronavirus-infected macrophages, according to the Winn Feline Foundation grant description. The polyprenyl immunostimulant (PI) stimulates cell-mediated immunity. The investigators will treat 20 cats diagnosed with FIP with PI. “We look forward to …
Purina Recalls Two Lots Of Horse, Poultry FeedsApril 19, 2010 Purina Mills LLC is voluntarily recalling two specific lots of 50-pound bags of Strategy Professional Formula GX horse feed and one lot of Layena SunFresh Recipe Pellet poultry feed. The company issued the recall after five customers complained about metal fragments they had discovered in a limited number of bags from one of the Strategy product lots. No animal health issues had been reported, according to Purina Mills. People who have purchased the recalled products should not store or use the products and are asked to return unused product to their dealer for replacement, according the company. Those with products that do not have the lot numbers below are not affected by the recall. The products being recalled were manufactured in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 24-25, 2010. They were shipped to retailers and dealers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Virginia. The following specific products and lot numbers are involved in the recall: Formula No. Item No. Description Lot Number 35SS
Herd Health & Welfare: A ResponseApril 19, 2010Editor: We would like to respond to Dr. Laura Zehnder Jones’ comments on the article “Food Animal Vets Dispute Abuse Charges” [February 2010]. One overarching concern seems to be about the farm size, business orientation and business relationships of many of today’s operations. We do not believe it is disingenuous to note that the majority of farms are family owned. Trends in business in recent decades have been toward larger entities regardless of whether the subject is retail businesses such as the shopping supercenters, the pharmaceutical industry, railroads or manufacturing. Animal agriculture has experienced these same trends. These trends reflect that increased scale often increases efficiency. In the face of an increasing population and reduced land mass resources, becoming more efficient has become a requirement for farm survival. It is common to observe changes in business structure and business processes as farms increase in size. Frequently, more formal, legal business relationships come into existence, which make possible shared ownership and management responsibilities among close relatives and across several generations. These larger farms are capital intensive and require extensive use of risk-management tools such as crop insurance, hedging and contracts to secure inputs and sale of production. …
Making Sense Of The Neuro ExamApril 15, 2010 The neurological exam seems to be one of the most confusing concepts in veterinary medicine. Let’s try to clarify things. To simplify, we will focus on the hind legs only. One way to look at the neuro exam is to divide it into an assessment of “the four stages” and an evaluation of four reflexes. Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Zeltzman. The patellar reflex causes extension of the stifle. The four stages require a functional spinal cord and a functional brain, and they help us determine a lesion’s severity. Reflexes tell us only where the lesion is localized. Since I am a surgeon and not a neurologist, I talked to Todd Bishop, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (neurology), of Upstate Veterinary Specialties in Latham, N.Y., to ensure the accuracy of the following information. Decline Into Nociception Patients might go through four stages between normalcy and being paralyzed with no deep pain: First-stage patients may feel back pain. They can exhibit pain by vocalizing. Certain breeds, such as beagles, are especially good at expressing their feelings. Others may arch their back. . As they …
‘Dr. Patty’? Uh, No. But ‘Dr. K’ Is OKApril 14, 2010 ‘Dr. Patty’? Uh, No. But ‘Dr. K’ Is OK‘Dr. Patty’? Uh, No. But ‘Dr. K’ Is OKrealitycheck, practicemgmtBy Patty Khuly, VMD04-07-2010 I talk a big game about my endless list of pet peeves. They dog me like a slobbery ball that keeps getting plunked in my lap while I’m trying to digest the last few pages of a great book. But most really aren’t pet peeves. Instead, they’re more on the order of the kind of thing any thinking, feeling person might detest. Case in point: Peeving it up on the subject of people who talk loudly on cell phones in closed spaces. Now that’s just rude! So how can it be a “pet” peeve if 200 similar basic etiquette peeves offer the same degree of I-want-to-strangle-him irksomeness? That was my long-winded intro to a truly personal pet peeve I happen to harbor: modern day veterinarians who go by their first name with a Dr. preceding it. As in, “Dr. Patty.” I don’t know about you but it kinda bugs me. Not so much when exuberant clients call out, “Dr. Patty!” and wave across the supermarket. They’re just being sweet and solicitous. …
TCVM’s Silk Road May Lead To DetourApril 14, 2010 Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) is etching its way into the curricula of AVMA-accredited institutions and the veterinary internship matching program.1 If this trend continues and tuition dollars support an ever-higher percentage of myth and folklore within college curricula, what it means to practice veterinary medicine may change in the foreseeable future. Diagnoses will devolve from scientific, specific descriptions of anatomic and physiologic abnormalities into vague constellations of pseudoscientific disruptions of abstract bodily processes. While this approach may have qualified as medicine millennia ago, it does not now. Having more faculty hop on the bandwagon of TCVM may mean that valuable course time better spent on evidence-based instruction will be replaced by outdated ideas from long ago and far away. Mainly over the past decade, Asian medical practitioners introduced TCVM to the U.S. By first gaining a foothold and a following within institutions of higher learning, they used those connections as business opportunities that lent legitimacy to unapproved and untested herbal products. Students may become de facto distributors for their teachers’ proprietary mixtures when they perpetuate product promotion in their practices. That some Americans fall for self-proclaimed masters in Asian arts is nothing …
Response Products Recalls Certain Dog SupplementsApril 13, 2010 Response Products of Broken Bow, Neb., has issued a voluntary recall for its Advanced Cetyl M Joint Action Formula supplement for dogs due to concerns of salmonella contamination. The affected products include 120-count bottles and 360-count bottle with lot numbers 1210903 and 0128010. The 120-count bottles were distributed nationwide from Jan. 8 to April 2, and the 360-count bottles were distributed nationwide from Feb. 11 to April 2. The lot number can be found directly above the bar code on the label. Contaminated pet food or treats can cause infections in animals as well as people who handle the products. Pets with salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Some pets may have a decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pains. No illnesses have been reported, according to the company. In a statement, Response Products said it issued the recall as a “precautionary measure” after learning that a component of the supplement’s beef flavoring called hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) had been recalled due to the potential for salmonella contamination. The HVP was provided by Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas, and its facility recently tested positive for salmonella, according the company. Multiple …
