3,000 Goldens Enrolled in Lifetime StudyMarch 24, 2015A suburban Chicago golden retriever will go down in history for her role in a ground-breaking study. Morris Animal Foundation announced today that young Chloe has enrolled as the 3,000th dog in the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, a years-long research project that aims to better understand canine diseases. The Denver-based foundation called the longitudinal study the first of its kind in the veterinary world. “We are extraordinarily grateful not only to the thousands of owners who enrolled their dogs in this study but also to the many veterinarians who are on the front lines helping us gather data,” said David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D., the president and CEO of Morris Animal Foundation. “Of course, the real heroes are all the beautiful golden retrievers we will be following throughout their lives.” Chloe’s owner, Meredith Walters of Riverside, Ill., didn’t hesitate to offer up her pup, especially since her golden retriever Amber died from cancer and Cushing’s disease at age 13. “My hope is that this study will uncover data that will lead to information on why golden retrievers in particular are susceptible to cancer,” Walters said. “I knew that by enrolling Chloe I could honor Amber’s memory in a tangible …
SPONSORED CONTENTThe clear reco for hidden stressOur therapeutic nutrition targets underlying stress in cats with GI or urinary issues — helping provide relief to pets and their humans. + Learn More
What You Need to Know About Jaw LockingMarch 13, 2015Originally published in the February 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News Last month, we discussed differential diagnoses for cats that are unable to close their mouths. One possible cause for cats’ and dogs’ inability to close the mouth is open-mouth jaw locking, which is rare enough that you may not have learned of it in veterinary school. Photo © 2012, John R. Lewis, University of Pennsylvania Figure 1: Open-mouth jaw locking in a Persian cat. Note the mouth is locked open so wide that there is no contact between maxillary and mandibular teeth. The slight shift of the mandible to the right suggests locking is occurring on the right. Clinical Signs and Etiology In cases of open-mouth jaw locking (OMJL), cats and dogs present with the mouth wide open, and the lower jaw often has shifted to the side where the coronoid process (the tip of the ramus) is locking on the ventrolateral aspect of the zygomatic arch (Figure 1). On presentation, patients may be drooling, pawing at the face and vocalizing. The defining clinical trait that allows OMJL to be distinguished from other possible causes of inability to close the mouth on conscious examination is that …
Purina: ‘No Quality Issues With Beneful’February 26, 2015Pet food manufacturer Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. is defending its Beneful brand as safe in light of a lawsuit that claims the food killed or sickened an undetermined number of dogs. The lawsuit alleges that the illnesses and deaths were linked to contaminated grain and food-grade propylene glycol used in eight Beneful kibble recipes. The document, filed Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, requests class-action status, which if granted could turn thousands of dog owners nationwide into plaintiffs. St. Louis-based Purina issued a statement calling Beneful “a favorite of millions of pet owners and their dogs.” “First and foremost, there are no quality issues with Beneful,” the company stated. “Beneful is a high-quality, nutritious food enjoyed by millions of dogs every day. In fact, in 2014, nearly 1.5 billion Beneful meals were served to millions of happy, healthy dogs who enjoy and thrive on this food.” The lawsuit was filed by Discovery Bay, Calif., dog owner Frank Lucido, who said his German shepherd and Labrador retriever became sick and his English bulldog died within weeks of starting a Beneful diet. Lucido’s attorney, Jeffrey B. Cereghino, claimed in the lawsuit that testing of Beneful by the Association for Truth …
AKC Updates Website, LogoFebruary 25, 2015Staying current with technology, the 130-year-old American Kennel Club has launched a redesigned website along with what the registrar of purebred dogs describes as a streamlined, modern logo. The New York-based AKC contracted with the design firm Makeable to plan and build the new website, which is optimized for mobile devices and features greater functionality on all breed pages, the organization reported. “We spent more than a year immersed in research and discovery to ensure we presented a redesigned platform that would not only serve the members of our sport, but also the millions of dog owners around the country,” said AKC President and CEO Dennis Sprung. He called the website—www.AKC.org—“progressive and inclusive while also staying true to our heritage.” Besides maintaining an expansive log of purebred dogs, AKC advocates for canine health, oversees more than 5,000 clubs and affiliated organizations, and maintains rules and regulations governing competitions such as breed shows and agility events.
Putney Releases Injectable Carprofen for DogsFebruary 12, 2015Drug maker Putney Inc. this week began selling Carprofen Sterile Injectable Solution, a generic version of Rimadyl, the anti-inflammation medication that has earned longtime rights holder Zoetis Inc. hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. The development gives Putney all three dosage forms of generic Rimadyl: injectable, chewable tablets and caplets. The active ingredient, carprofen, is formulated to control osteoarthritis pain and inflammation in dogs and for postsurgical pain. “Putney is helping veterinarians make pet health care more affordable for their pet owner clients by bringing new FDA-approved veterinary generic medicines to the market,” CEO Jean Hoffman said. Putney launched Carprofen Chewable Tablets in December. At the time, the Portland, Maine, company estimated industry sales of chewable Rimadyl and its generic equivalents at $70 million a year. Another U.S. drug maker, Bayer Animal Health, offers generic Rimadyl in soft chewable tablets under the brand name Quellin. Zoetis’ 2014 earnings report, released Wednesday, highlighted the threat to sales of one of its flagship products. “Growth was offset by competition to our Rimadyl franchise and competitive pressure in vaccines and parasiticides,” Zoetis stated. Rimadyl was released in 1997 by Pfizer Inc., which years later spun off its Pfizer …
Voyce Dog Monitor Available for PurchaseJanuary 28, 2015Voyce, a computerized collar that monitors a dog’s vital signs, is ready for the marketplace more than a year after winning acclaim at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. The $299 device, which requires a prepaid subscription plan, will ship in small, medium and large sizes in March, according to the manufacturer, i4C Innovations Inc. of Chantilly, Va. Orders also are being taken for extra-large collars, which should begin arriving on doorsteps in April. Voyce is being promoted to dog owners and to veterinarians, who can “partner with their clients,” i4C President Jeff Noce said. “By providing vets with objective data trends, previously difficult to obtain, there is now an opportunity for early detection and diagnosis, offering dogs, their pet parents and vets the ability to identify and implement treatment plans earlier and track treatment progress over time,” Noce said. Outfitted with WiFi technology, an accelerometer, sensors and a rechargeable battery, Voyce is designed to measure and transmit resting heart and respiratory rates, activity levels, rest patterns and calories burned. The data may be viewed on desktop and tablet computers and smartphones. Shared with veterinarians, the information helps “connect the dots between visits,” the company stated. The subscription plan …
Registration Opens in April for Free Eye ExamsJanuary 28, 2015Free eye screenings will be offered in May during the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists’ annual National Service Animal Eye Exam Event. The exams are open to certified and active working animals in the United States and Canada or those enrolled in a formal training program. Among the eligible occupations are guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and therapy. Registration for the eighth annual event, which is co-sponsored by Stokes Pharmacy of Mount Laurel, N.J., will run from April 1 to 30 at www.ACVOeyeexam.org. Owners or handlers of eligible service animals will receive a registration number allowing them to schedule a May eye appointment with a participating veterinary ophthalmologist. More than 7,000 animals were served in 2014 and more than 30,000 over the program’s seven years. While dogs are most commonly examined under the program, other animals, such as horses and a donkey, were checked in 2014. ACVO reported that the exams have rooted out eye ailments in hundreds of animals. One guide dog, Swap, was diagnosed in 2012 with pigmentary uveitis, a condition that affects the vision of golden retrievers. “Had I not gone to the event and had Swap’s eyes checked, …
Rabies Booster Works in Some Exposed PetsJanuary 26, 2015Pets whose rabies vaccination has expired will likely survive exposure to the deadly virus if they are quickly given a booster, according to Kansas State University researchers. The discovery also means that pet owners potentially could choose short-term quarantine of such animals at home rather than euthanasia. Many states now require unvaccinated pets that are exposed to rabies to be quarantined for six months at an animal control facility, a costly proposition for owners faced with paying thousands of dollars in kennel bills. “This has the potential to save a lot of pets’ lives,” said Michael Moore, DVM, MPH, the project manager at the Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Our hope is that now animals with an out-of-date vaccination status that are exposed to rabies will be allowed to be handled the same as dogs and cats with up-to-date vaccinations. They will be given a booster and a 45-day observation at home.” The study, published Jan. 15 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, was the first to present scientific data on animals with out-of-date rabies vaccinations, Kansas State reported. Most of the 74 dogs and 33 cats that Dr. Moore and his colleagues …
Study: Cancer Patients Benefit From Therapy DogsJanuary 14, 2015Therapy dogs lifted the spirits of adult cancer patients by improving their emotional well-being and quality of life, according to research co-sponsored by veterinary drug manufacturer Zoetis Inc. The clinical study, published this week in the Journal of Community and Supportive Oncology, involved patients receiving combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy for gastrointestinal, head or neck cancers. A questionnaire called the FACT-G (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—General) found that the patients’ emotional well-being jumped over the course of animal-assisted visits even as they underwent “marked and significant declines in both physical and functional well-being,” according to the researchers. Principal investigator Stewart B. Fleishman, M.D., of New York’s Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital called the work “the first such definitive study in cancer.” “Having an animal-assisted visit significantly improved [the patients’] quality of life and humanized a high-tech treatment,” Fleishman said. “Patients said they would have stopped their treatments before completion except for the presence of the certified Good Dog Foundation therapy dog and volunteer handler.” Besides Zoetis, the New York-based Good Dog Foundation and the Pfizer Foundation contributed to the research. “There is mounting evidence in human and veterinary medicine that the emotional bond between people and companion animals can …
Dogs Can’t Hide Feelings From ScientistsJanuary 13, 2015Research conducted by Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. has confirmed that dogs, like people, become flush with happiness and excitement. The findings, according to Purina behavior scientist Ragen T.S. McGowan, Ph.D., illustrate how the human-animal bond works both ways, lighting up the lives of both people and pets. “Scientists have known for years how to evaluate negative states such as stress and anxiety in animals,” McGowan said. “Less is known about how to measure positive states such as happiness or excitement.” McGowan and her team used thermal, or infrared, cameras to examine how external stimuli can generate joyful emotions in dogs, the company reported today. The cameras measured temperature fluctuations in dogs’ eyes, ears and paw pads as blood flowed to those areas. “Thermal imaging has been widely used in animal welfare studies to assess inflammation in racehorses, for example, or to see how certain conditions affect livestock’s stress levels,” McGowan said. “This is one of the first times it is being used to measure positive responses in pets.” Part of the study involved having people with no connection to a group of shelter dogs sit with and pet them for 15 minutes, the company stated. The dogs …
