Balancing Motherhood And Veterinary PracticeDecember 30, 2009 When building Coast Pet Clinic/Animal Cancer Center (Coast) in 1977 I was only 29 years old. We designed the upstairs with a big conference room and a full kitchen and bathroom that opened to a spacious room that could serve as a day care facility for babies and small children. But the children did not come to our practice, not until this century. A Chance to Help African Orphans As I write this, I’m getting ready to lead a group to South Africa to see Dr. Peter Brothers, a wildlife veterinarian who leads Brothers Safari. So I am making a special plea to readers to help feed orphaned African children who have lost parents to the AIDS epidemic. These children have nothing. In Malawi alone, 2 million of its 12 million people are orphans. Please join me in sending donations to Nourish the Children at NourishTheChildren.com. Nourish the Children had nutritionists from my alma mater, the University of California, Davis, create a special fortified food called Vita Meal to nourish starving children. In addition, …
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Know When To Leave It To The SpecialistDecember 30, 2009 I’ve got this acquaintance. She’s an educated professional and a commonsensical kind of person. Unfortunately, none of this kept her from suffering a failed root canal at the hands of a general practitioner dentist. She trusted him and he failed. Not only did he legitimately fail to provide a reasonable root canal, leading directly to an abscessed tooth that he never re-radiographed postprocedure. Where he most failed was in his duty to offer the services of an endodontist before performing the work. That got me to thinking about all the cases I see as a “second opinion” and all the disaster cases my significant other, a vet surgeon, treats on the back end of poor general practitioner judgment calls. Most of mine are cases that need not stop at another GP before heading directly to a specialist. That they land in my lap in the absence of a referring vet’s communication is testament that this “second opinion” was not recommended by their initial veterinarian. Rather, it’s an outright defection that represents a dereliction of trust in their regular vet—all of which might have been prevented given a simple referral to the appropriate source: a specialist. …
High Achiever: Lance S. Fox, DVMDecember 30, 2009 It’s a somewhat unlikely tale: Motivated by his father’s early death and his son’s premature birth, a 39-year-old veterinarian with limited climbing experience decides to take on the world’s highest mountain. Photo courtesy of Dr. Lance S. Fox. Dr. Lance S. Fox pauses on top of Mount Everest. But it’s all true, even the Hollywood-style happy ending. On the morning of May 21, after 10 final, exhausting hours of climbing—six of them by headlamp in the dark—Lance S. Fox, DVM, joined a very exclusive club. He reached the summit of Mount Everest, one of fewer than 3,000 people who have set foot on top of the world. And now the Wisconsin vet is telling his story to the world. Soon to be featured in the third season of the Discovery Channel series “Everest: Beyond the Limit,” Dr. Fox is drawing on his adventure during speeches to high school and college kids, hoping to persuade them to conquer their personal Everests. “My opening slide is ‘If You Believe, You Can Achieve,’ ” Fox says. “So often we hear people say the words, ‘I can’t.’ But I disagree …
Digital RadiographyDecember 30, 2009 Conventional X-ray technology has been used for decades, virtually unchallenged and unchanged. Now the rapid evolution of digital X-ray options makes veterinary consumers ask what’s the right system for me? How do I store my images? Who do I make them available to? About 25 percent of veterinarians use digital radiography equipment in their practice and 70 percent are expected to use the technology within the next five years, according to Idexx Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine. But the profession is divided when privacy enters the conversation, leaving some less eager to trust an outside company with the responsibility of storing images. Veterinarians agree that determining what to do with picture archiving and communication systems, or PACS, is a big decision. PACS are servers dedicated to the storage, retrieval, distribution and presentation of images. They can stay under the owners’ roof or be placed in the care of an outside company. While keeping images in-house solves privacy concerns, an off-site company takes responsibility for the images’ protection and can be a good way to protect records in the event of a fire or natural disaster. “There are a small percentage of clients who educate themselves to …
Dogged Determination: Dr. Gail C. GolabDecember 30, 2009 When Gail C. Golab was studying biomedical research in graduate school at Texas A&M University, well before she planned to become a veterinarian, she happened to live in a neighborhood popular with vet students. Other students knew that future vets lived there. So when they no longer could care for their pets, the students often dumped them at the housing complex. Golab and the veterinary students tried to take care of the strays. They bought food, tried to find new homes for the animals and held meetings to talk about the problem. But Golab quickly realized their efforts were likely to fail. “No one was trying to figure out why students were getting rid of the animals,” Golab, Ph.D., DVM, MACVSc (Animal Welfare), recalls now, more than 20 years later. “And it seemed to me that if we didn’t figure out the source of the problem, we wouldn’t ever be able to solve it.” First, she helped found a student chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, figuring that educating students on the costs and challenges of pets might keep them from adopting an animal they couldn’t keep. Then she …
AAHA Names Cavanaugh New Executive DirectorDecember 29, 2009Mike Cavanaugh, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, has been named the new executive director for the American Animal Hospital Association, effective Jan. 21. Dr. Cavanaugh is replacing John Albers, DVM, after 23 years with the association. “I am very pleased with the choice of Dr. Cavanaugh as AAHA’s new executive director,” said John Tait, DVM, president of AAHA. “He has an extensive history of accomplishments in veterinary medicine and is well suited to lead AAHA and maintain the high standards the association has set. “Mike possesses the leadership, innovative qualities, ethics, communication skills and analytic abilities to implement the direction of the [AAHA Board of Directors] and make decisions in the members’ best interests. I look forward to working with Mike in his new capacity as executive director.” Cavanaugh has practiced small animal medicine at various AAHA accredited practices, including West Ridge Animal Hospital in Topeka, Kan., a hospital he founded and owned from 1988-1996. Before joining AAHA, Cavanaugh served as director of Veterinary Hospital Services at Pfizer Animal Health of New York. He has also worked for Heska Corp. of Loveland, Colo., and Hill’s Pet Nutrition of Topeka, Kan. “Ever since I first discovered AAHA in veterinary school, I have always …
Researchers Use New Method To Develop Genetically Sterile ScrewwormsDecember 29, 2009 Scientists are developing transgenic sterile, male-only screwworm flies that could eliminate the need for the expensive irradiation technique now used in screwworm control programs, according to the Agricultural Research Service, the scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sterile insect techniques are used to control pests such as screwworms, Cochliomyia hominivorax, Mediterranean fruit flies and tsetse flies, among others. Screwworm eradication efforts in particular save U.S. livestock producers about $900 million annually in potential losses, according to the ARS. The ARS team involved with the project include entomologists Margaret Allen and Steven Skoda and geneticist Alfred Handler. Allen is at the ARS Biological Control of Pests Research Unit in Stoneville, Miss.; Skoda is a research leader with the ARS Livestock Insects Research Laboratory at Kerrville, Texas; and Handler works at the ARS Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research Unit in Gainesville, Fla. Using a genetic element called a “piggyBac transposon” as a vector, the researchers introduced a green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) into the genomes of eight screwworm strains. When viewed under ultraviolet light, the transgenic screwworms emitted a fluorescent glow, helping confirm GFP’s activation, according to ARS. The research also revealed that transgenic …
Dr. Joel Pasco Dies At 62December 29, 2009 Joel Pasco, DVM, founder of All Creatures Care Cottage in Costa Mesa, Calif., died Oct. 24 during a fishing trip to Convict Lake in the Sierras, the Daily Pilot reported. He was 62. Dr. Pasco, also founder of the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, Calif., was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2006. Last year he was told that he had about 12 months to live. In a story published in July in Veterinary Practice News, Pasco said he decided to surround himself with family and friends upon hearing the news. He would continue to pursue hobbies that brought him joy, like painting, sculpting, fishing and bonsai gardening. And, as long as he could, he would continue to practice veterinary medicine, the profession he’d loved for more than 30 years. “People ask me, ‘Why are you working? You should be retired,’ ” Pasco told Veterinary Practice News. “But my answer is, ‘I love what I do. I love my animal patients and I love my human clients, and my life would be very empty if I could not continue to do this.’ ” A celebration of Pasco’s …
Shelters Getting $1 Million In Pet Supplies From HartzDecember 28, 2009 Which animal shelters could use 2,000 pet products? Hartz Mountain Corp. of Secaucus, N.J., asked that question, and the public answered. As part of its Shelter Donation Program, the pet product manufacturer plans to ship $1 million worth of pet supplies to 150 shelters across the U.S. It's on track to meet its overall goal of donating $3 million worth of products to animal shelters in need. Hartz called on the public Dec. 13 to nominate a shelter to receive 2,000 pet supplies. (Due to the way Hartz stores and ships its products, each donation had to be a minimum of 2,000 items.) Within 10 days, the company received enough nominations to meet its goal of donating $1 million worth of supplies to animal shelters. “It seems everyone is in the holiday spirit as we’ve seen a tremendous amount of goodwill from consumers nominating animal shelters from all over the country, and we’d like to thank them for responding so soon and with such enthusiasm,” said Bob Shipley, Hartz’s senior vice president of customer relations development. “Sadly, it also reminds us that our animal shelters are really suffering this year and need everyone’s help. We …
Allergies And Resistant Staph Infections Dominate Dermatological ConcernsDecember 23, 2009Veterinary dermatologists say general practitioners following the “three strikes and you’re out,” policy tend to hold onto the client they referred when future veterinary care is needed. While the down economy may make an owner less willing to comply with treatment, holding onto a case without results for too long can make them leave the practice for good. Just as in general practice, specialists are reporting a slight decline in business correlating with their local economic conditions and the clients’ perceived importance of the problem, but they are also saying clients discuss their disappointment when their pet’s condition persisted for months even with their general practitioner’s treatments. “The general vet should refer cases that have been seen by multiple veterinarians without resolution,” says Terry Nagle, BVSc, MACVS, Diplo. ACVD, Northern California Vet Specialists, Sacramento, Calif. “The chance of making this client happy is very low considering the previous generalists likely treated the animal following the most likely diagnosis. The referring vet can be the hero that referred to a specialist that has the background to treat the animal’s tricky case.” Specialists say allergic dermatitis is still the most common reason they see clients, but the animal’s secondary bacterial …
