Mýa To Headline Tour For Life Animal Adoption CampaignApril 17, 2009 R&B singer, dancer and Broadway actress Mýa will serve as national spokeswoman for the North Shore Animal League America’s Tour For Life campaign. Organized by the Fort Washington, N.Y.-based no-kill shelter and sponsored by Nestle Purina PetCare Co., Bayer Animal Health and Fort Dodge Animal Health, the tour will visit 20 cities during April to promote the adoption of shelter animals. “This lifesaving tour is truly close to my heart, as both a pet owner and an animal lover,” said Mýa, who will host the tour’s grand finale event at famed toy store FAO Schwarz in New York City. During that event, celebrities will pose with puppies in the store’s windows. In May, Mýa joins the Broadway cast of the musical “Chicago.” As part of the tour, two of North Shore’s mobile adoption units will travel on separate routes through the country, helping more than 100 shelters and rescue groups adopt out animals. Nestle Purina, which has sponsored the tour since its inception in 2001, will provide a free gift with every adopted pet. Since its inception, the tour has helped place thousands of animals into new homes, according to North Shore. For …
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Not-So-Golden Age Of The Internet VetApril 17, 2009 Most veterinarians view the Web as an amazing tool. We Google away with impunity, intent on superior accessibility to subjects that span the spectrum of our interests and coddle our curiosity. We’d be loath to leave the Internet behind. Yet when it comes to our clients we’d rather they did without the Internet. Who needs the reams of printouts on the dubious benefits conferred by mega-dosed vitamins, snake oil preparations and juiced-fruit cancer cures? Indeed, the plethora of wasted paper drives me crazy, too. But so, too, does the common veterinary assumption that all Web-based research is to be discarded out of hand, deemed incomplete or downright unconstructive just because our clients did the work. After all, if you’re like me, you spend hours a week on the Veterinary Information Network, surf the Web for your veterinary news or drug data, and consider the Internet the single most useful tool for meeting your professional needs when it comes to jockeying for position in advance of the curve. It’s nonetheless true that, as a profession, we like to disparage the Internet’s impact on our working lives and we recoil in horror when our clients bring forth …
Laser Disc Surgery Shows Long-Term Success RateApril 17, 2009 Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences has been using percutaneous laser disc ablation surgery, an interventional radiologic procedure, on canine patients for almost 15 years with proven success, according to Robert Bahr, DVM, Dipl. ACVR, associate professor of radiology. The procedure is designed to prevent the recurrence of disc herniation with subsequent spinal cord damage. The procedure was first investigated by Oklahoma State’s George Henry, DVM, and Kenneth Bartels, DVM. Initial studies focused on the effects of laser treatment on tissues similar to the intervertebral disc material. The scope of the research was to discover the effects of laser energy on intervertebral disc material and how denatured disc might be kept from extruding or herniating in the future, causing spinal cord injury. Since 1993, when the procedure was first used on clinically affected dogs, Oklahoma’s teaching hospital has treated more than 300 cases. The success rate, which is based on the rate of recurrence in the treated dogs, has been good. “Our success rate is 96.6 percent,” Dr. Bahr said. “That means that out of all the dogs treated since the project began in 1993 (some 325 dogs total), only nine dogs …
BrightHeart Acquires Ohio PracticeApril 17, 2009BrightHeart Veterinary Centers recently acquired Veterinary Referral Clinic in Bedford Heights, Ohio. The clinic is now called Great Lakes Veterinary Specialists. "The name was chosen by the [clinic's] staff," said Alan Green, DVM, chief operating officer of BrightHeart. "It was an expression of the excitement they felt to have an opportunity to build a new practice, with a new image and a new commitment to excellence." Ronald Haffey is joining the practice as hospital administrator. Most recently he was the hospital administrator for the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. BrightHeart now has a combined staff of more than 400, including more than 100 veterinarians, in its network. <HOME>
Drug Shows Promise In Treating Equine Heart FibrillationsApril 17, 2009 The drug flecainide may change the way veterinarians treat atrial fibrillation in horses, according to veterinarians at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. Large animal internal medicine veterinarians Ase Risberg and Sheila McQuirk administered the drug orally to resolve a chronic case of atrial fibrillation in a horse, the school reported. Flecainide has been administered intravenously to horses in Japan and England, but Dr. Risberg believes this is the first time it has been administered orally or used in horses in the United States. <HOME>
LSU Equine Health Studies Names New DirectorApril 17, 2009 The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine has named Frank Andrews, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, the new director of the LSU Equine Health Studies Program. Previously, Dr. Andrews was professor and section chief of large animal medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Andrews recently received the Webster Pendergrass Outstanding Service Award from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The nomination noted his service to equine research, his education of horse owners, practitioners and veterinary students and his leadership with the Institute of Agriculture. <HOME>
FDA To Revise Compounding GuidelinesApril 17, 2009 The Food and Drug Administration plans to revise its Compliance Policy Guide on veterinary pharmaceutical compounding and offer it up for public comment. The FDA reports the move comes in response to numerous letters of concern and complaints from veterinarians, pet owners, compounding pharmacists and associations. According to the FDA, many letters expressed concern over the lack of clarity on circumstances in which compounding, especially of bulk drugs, is permitted. Others disagreed with FDA’s legal authority in the current policy and complained about the lack of prior public comment, stated the FDA. The FDA reports the draft revision should be available for comment this fall, at which time notice will be published in the Federal Register and a draft will be viewable on the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine Web site. The FDA’s current guidelines on veterinary pharmaceutical compounding were published in July 2003. <HOME>
Compounding Pharmacies Play Critical Role In Vet Practices, Study FindsApril 17, 2009 Having access to compounded medications is extremely important to 80 percent of veterinary practices, according to a new study conducted by Wedgewood Pharmacy, of Swedesboro, N.J. The survey also showed that 40 percent prescribe compounded medications every week and 31 percent do so every day. All of the practices surveyed prescribe custom-made medications at least several times a year. Some of the most important factors the respondents consider when choosing a compounding pharmacy are: Factor Percent Saying It’s Very Important Consistency of the product 94% Knowledgeable customer service people 85% Ability to prescribe by telephone 76% Available dosage forms and flavors 73% Prior experience with the pharmacy 72% Large selection of preparations 61% Access to pharmacists for consultations 58% The survey results are based on the responses of 295 Wedgewood Pharmacy customers. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents were veterinarians and the remaining were other professionals who facilitate veterinarians’ prescribing through compounded pharmacies. Sixty-two percent represented small- and companion-animal practices; 21 percent represented specialized equine practices, while the rest represented other types of practices including feline-only, zoos, rescue organizations and universities. <HOME>
Intervet Forms Companion Animal Business TeamApril 17, 2009 Intervet Inc., which recently received approval for its canine diabetes treatment Vetsulin, has formed a new Companion Animal Business Team to support its expansion in this market. "By having a focused team of professional sales, marketing and technical services representatives, Intervet is underscoring the importance of better serving U.S. companion animal veterinarians," said Dr. Sebastien Huron, director of the new team. "Intervet’s worldwide leadership and focused R&D initiatives provide a solid foundation for the delivery of new technologies designed to answer a variety of unmet medical needs of our pets." Intervet, a division of Intervet International, reports it plans to have a presence at all major veterinary conventions in 2005, starting with the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando in January. <HOME>
Entries Being Accepted For “They Ate WHAT?” X-ray ContestApril 17, 2009 Veterinary Practice News magazine’s fourth annual “They ate WHAT?” radiograph contest is accepting entries. The popular competition highlights the surprising variety of non-edible objects that veterinarians discover in their patients. Radiographs must have been taken in 2007 or later and must be submitted electronically to VPNeditor@bowtieinc.com. They must be accompanied by a 100-word explanation of the case and the submitter’s name, clinic address and telephone number. Previous years’ entries have included cats, dogs, reptiles, birds and various large animals whose radiographs disclosed dietary indiscretions involving knives, paper-towel holders, sewing needles, jewelry, rubber ducks, rocks and Super Balls, among an amazing variety of objects. The first-place winner will receive a digital single-lens reflex camera. Two runners-up will get digital point-and-shoot cameras. Eklin Medical Systems Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., is again sponsoring the contest. “Sponsoring the annual VPN contest is one of our yearly highlights,” said Gary R. Cantu, chairman and chief executive officer of Eklin. “With the proliferation of digital technology over the past few years, we expect to see many well-defined cases presenting an even greater variety of findings. Based on the last three winners, it will be interesting …
