Four Paws Helps Injured Bulgarian DogDecember 22, 2015A stray dog that lost a lot of skin in a fight with another animal is recovering after a three-hour autologous skin graft procedure. The operation was performed Dec. 18 in Sofia, Bulgaria, at a veterinary clinic operated by the animal welfare group Four Paws International. The 3-year-old dog, named Johnny, was missing a chunk of skin from his back when he was brought to the hospital in late October. Ruling out the possibility of a burn injury, veterinary staff reached out to Four Paws science director Sabine Hartmann, DVM. Dr. Hartmann then contacted Austrian wound expert Dieter Ponweiser, who agreed to help Johnny for free. Ponweiser brought with him the CelluTome Epidermal Harvesting System, manufactured by Texas-based Kinetic Concepts Inc., to transfer epidermal micrografts from Johnny’s shaved underside to the wound site. “The main advantage of this method is that the recovery period is much shorter in comparison to a conservative treatment, much less painful compared to classic skin transplants and there is no risk of infection,” Four Paws reported. Before the operation Johnny was given drugs and daily bandage changes, a routine that caused him “a lot of stress and pain,” according to Four Paws. …
SPONSORED CONTENTAre Your Patients Fully Protected?Fleas, ticks, heartworms, and intestinal parasites—dogs face multiple threats. See how a multi-parasite approach can offer your patients a broad range of protection. + Learn More
What We’re Learning About New Canine FluDecember 16, 2015Middle-aged dogs, not puppies or the geriatric, were hardest hit by the H3N2 influenza strain last March in Chicago. A survey conducted by Merck Animal Health found that 71 percent of stricken dogs were ages 1 to 7 and that day care and boarding facilities were the potential infection source in 8 out of 10 cases. Those are also the places commonly filled with adult dogs that are very social and active—locations perfect for transmitting a virus that infected more than 1,000 animals in Chicago, killing a small number, before spreading to other states. “In human literature they say the very young and the very old are the most susceptible to influenza,” said Jill Lopez, DVM, senior specialist for drug safety at Merck, who supervised the survey. What happened in Chicago with H3N2 disproved that axiom. Veterinarian-submitted data on 81 patients provided insight into the newly identified strain. Clinical Signs Nearly all of the 81 dogs—95 percent—presented with a cough, 70 percent were lethargic and 58 percent had a fever, some as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. “With many of the canine infectious respiratory diseases, you mainly see coughing,” Dr. Lopez said. “With influenza, you see fever and lethargy, too.” …
Cancer Drug Kinavet No Longer Approved for UseDecember 15, 2015Kinavet-CA1, a daily drug indicated for the treatment of mast cell tumors in dogs, is off the market in the United States at least temporarily because its five-year conditional approval expired. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported today that sale of the oral tablets, produced by AB Science of Chatham, N.J., must cease immediately. The company’s president of U.S. operations, Albert Ahn, DVM, expressed hope that Kinavet (mastinib mesylate) will return in the near future. “The short answer is that we are working to make it the shortest timeline possible,” Dr. Ahn said. “We are working closely with the FDA. We are in regular contact with them.” AB Science submitted documentation in a timely manner, he said. “We have been, over the past five years, generating the data that are needed for earning full approval,” Ahn said. “The FDA has reviewed that information and apparently they feel that there may be some information that may not be complete.” He called Kinavet an effective cancer drug. “We are very, very proud of Kinavet,” he said. “It has helped thousands of dogs that have suffered from mast cell tumors, which is one of the most common canine cancers and unfortunately …
World’s First ‘Test Tube’ Dogs Born at CornellDecember 14, 2015Nearly 40 years after the birth of the first human “test tube” baby, a team of scientists has produced the first litter of puppies conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine reported that the achievement could lead to the preservation of endangered dog species and the elimination of certain canine diseases. The researchers had to overcome peculiar challenges in order to successfully transfer to a host female 19 thawed embryos, seven of which developed into puppies that were delivered by Caesarian section in July. The findings were published Dec. 9 in the online journal PLOS One. “Since the mid-1970s, people have been trying to do [IVF] in a dog and have been unsuccessful,” said co-author Alex Travis, VMD, Ph.D., an associate professor of reproductive biology at Cornell’s Baker Institute for Animal Health. The healthy puppies—four males and three females—have different parentage. Eggs came from three female donors while sperm was taken from two males, leading to five purebred beagles and two beagle-cocker spaniel mixes. IVF is different from cloning, which has been achieved in dogs, in that IVF creates a new genome through fertilization while the latter procedure involves the transfer of DNA …
Merck Launches H3N2 Canine Flu VaccineNovember 20, 2015Merck Animal Health today matched competitor Zoetis Inc. with the release of a dog flu vaccine that protects against the new H3N2 strain. Merck, based in Madison, N.J., received a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Canine Influenza Vaccine, H3N2, Killed Virus. Zoetis announced the same achievement, the first company to do so, on Nov. 12. Merck’s vaccine will be made available to U.S. veterinarians starting Monday. H3N2, which emerged in Chicago in March before striking dogs in other states, quickly caught the drug maker’s attention. “Early on, we suspected veterinarians were dealing with an outbreak of canine influenza and not kennel cough, which spurred us to implement the collection of nasal and pharyngeal samples from sick dogs that were tested by Cornell University,” said Kathleen Heaney, DVM, director of Companion Animal Technical Services. “We came to realize what was actually unfolding was the transmission of an influenza strain, H3N2, never before seen in the United States. “Based on the highly contagious nature of the strain, the severity of clinical disease and the rate at which we were seeing newly diagnosed cases, we knew we needed to act fast,” Dr. Heaney said. The canine …
When Breeds Cross, Hybrid Dogs AppearNovember 19, 2015Breed a border collie with an Australian shepherd and what do you get when a puppy emerges? The most popular hybrid dog in the Pets Best Insurance Services database. The pet health insurer teamed up with policy partner Farmers Insurance to determine which two purebred canines get together most frequently to produce offspring. Procreating border collies and Australian shepherds yield a hybrid known simply as a border-Aussie. Hybrids are defined as the progeny of two purebred dogs. Mixed breeds, according to Farmers, are “the offspring of two or more different dog breeds where neither the mother nor the father is a registered purebreed dog.” Mixed breeds are the most common dogs in Pets Best’s massive file of 140,000 canine insurance policies. Labrador retrievers are second, followed by hybrids. A fashionable example of a hybrid is the Labradoodle, the product of a Labrador retriever and poodle. But Labradoodles aren’t No. 1—or even No. 5—on the Pets Best list. Boise, Idaho-based Pets Best provided descriptions of the most popular hybrids from the perspectives of veterinary adviser Eva Evans, DVM, MBA, and the dogs’ owners. 1. Border-Aussie (border collie and Australian shepherd) The product of highly intelligent and agile livestock herders, …
Zoetis Unveils New Drugs for Dogs, HorsesNovember 18, 2015Veterinary drug maker Zoetis Inc. is celebrating achievements on both sides of the Atlantic after winning European approval of a new flea and tick preventive and USDA endorsement of a canine flu vaccine. The Florham Park, N.J., company also announced the release of an equine leptospirosis vaccine. The flea and tick drug, Simparica (sarolaner), is a chewable tablet given monthly to dogs as young as 8 weeks. It also is indicated for the treatment of sarcoptic mange, a contagious skin disease. Zoetis described the active ingredient, sarolaner, as a new ectoparasiticide in the isoxazoline class. Simparica, approved by the European Commission, was tested on more than 800 dogs in seven countries, Zoetis reported. The drug was found “to provide efficacy for at least five weeks against ticks and fleas” and “demonstrated a rapid onset of action, killing fleas before they have a chance to lay eggs,” the company added. Simparica kills four common European ticks—Dermacentor reticulatus, Ixodes hexagonus, Ixodes ricinus and Rhipicephalus sanguineus—as well as the fleas Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis. The tablets are expected to be released in early 2016 in dosages of 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 milligrams. U.S. veterinarians could see Simparica on …
U.S. Unveils Canine Brucellosis Best PracticesNovember 17, 2015The U.S. Department of Agriculture is urging veterinarians to play a major role in stopping the spread of canine brucellosis, a contagious and incurable bacterial infection most often found in breeding kennels. The agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released best practices for veterinarians and kennel operators who may encounter the disease, which causes infertility and miscarriages in dogs. The document, available at http://1.usa.gov/1N9EioA, emphasizes the need for frank discussions between practitioners and breeders on how to protect both dogs and people from the zoonotic disease. A breeder could suffer “liability and damaged reputation” if an infected dog is sold, because “these puppies and adult dogs commonly come into contact with children, older adults and other immunocompromised individuals,” the document states. People are at low risk of contracting brucellosis. The approximately 200 people infected in the United States each year display flulike symptoms and are treated with antibiotics. The agency generated the guidelines with input from seven outside veterinarians. Among them was William Fortney, DVM, director of small animal outreach at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Veterinarians sometimes overlook brucellosis, Dr. Fortney said. “Ever since this disease was first identified, there has always been …
Smartphone App Helps Lost Dogs Get HomeNovember 17, 2015The success stories—more than 800 of them—put a smile on John Polimeno’s face. The founder and CEO of Finding Rover talks about the San Diego pet owner whose dog went missing. Having failed during a search of the local animal shelter, the owner downloaded the Finding Rover app onto her smartphone and uploaded a photo of her pet. The next day, an animal control officer picked up a stray dog and took its photo using Finding Rover. Within seconds, thanks to facial recognition software, a match was confirmed and the dog was soon back home. Frantic pet owners might search a shelter once, but “What are the odds of them going back to that shelter every day?” Polimeno said. The former construction company owner decided three years ago that there had to be a better way of reuniting lost dogs with their owners, particularly those animals lacking an identifying microchip or collar. Sitting in a Northern California coffee shop, he saw a missing-pet poster and thought of the time his dog was lost and how his kids cried as the family drove all over looking for the animal. Say ‘Cheese’ How do you get a dog to look directly into …
Basic Prices for Pet VaccinesNovember 4, 2015One of the last things most people think about when they bring home a new pet is the cost of vaccinations, but any long-time pet owner knows that yearly boosters can add up, especially if you have more than one animal. When you get the bill after a routine visit to the veterinarian, it’s easy to wonder where exactly the total came from. There are a lot of factors that go into determining that final bill, and several things to consider as you decide where to take your pet for his or her yearly shots. Vaccines for Dogs and Cats First, what is a vaccine? According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: “Vaccines help prepare the body's immune system to fight the invasion of disease-causing organisms. Vaccines contain antigens, which look like the disease-causing organism to the immune system but don't actually cause disease. When the vaccine is introduced to the body, the immune system is mildly stimulated. If a dog is ever exposed to the real disease, his immune system is now prepared to …
