Rehab medicine gets pets back on trackJune 21, 2018Elmo, an obese sealpoint Siamese cat, had severe hip arthritis. His pain was so severe that he was unable or unwilling to use his litterbox. Elmo’s dedicated owners brought him for rehab to Marti Drum, DVM, DACVSMR, at the University of Tennessee.
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MyCatDNA analysis aims to breed healthier catsJune 21, 2018MyCatDNA test, a new feline DNA test from Wisdom Health, a division of Mars Petcare, is designed to help veterinarians and breeders maintain the health and wellness of cats from a genetic level. MyCatDNA test, also known as the Optimal Selection Feline test in North America, provides insight into an individual cat's unique genetic makeup, allowing breeders to make more informed breeding decisions and subsequently lessen the chance of passing down inherent diseases to future generations. "New insights based on genetics, such as mutations linked to health conditions and traits, can transform the lives of cats and their offspring," said Leslie Lyons Ph.D., a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri–Columbia. "Having these discoveries and many other tools readily available to cat owners and breeders on a global scale can only improve the health care of cats and our breeding decisions." The MyCatDNA test develops a comprehensive view of a cat's unique genome, including inherited characteristics. The analysis is able to identify more than 40 genetic mutations that cause inherited feline diseases, as well as traits such as blood type, coat color/length, and body type. Owners can then access online health profiles for their …
Study explores predicting canine disease risk through genetic testingJune 21, 2018 Genetic testing can be used to predict if a dog is at risk for developing certain diseases, enabling preventative care for better health, reports a new study by Wisdom Health and Genoscoper Laboratories. Published in PLOS Genetics, the study, "Frequency and distribution of 152 genetic disease variants in over 100,000 mixed breed and purebred dogs," also shows fewer mixed-breed dogs than purebreds are affected by the most common disease-causing mutations tested in the study. "There has been a long-standing perception that mixed-breed dogs are less disease prone than purebred dogs," said Cindy Cole DVM, Ph.D., DACVCP, general manager at Wisdom Health. "This DNA-testing-based evidence shows that while mixed-breed dogs are in fact less likely than purebreds to develop the recessive disorders evaluated in the study, they may still be carriers." The study examined the DNA of more than 100,000 dogs (18,000 purebreds representing 330 breeds, types, and varieties, and 83,000 mixed-breed dogs) for the presence of 152 genetic disease mutations, including: Progressive retinal atrophy (multiple forms) Hyperuricosuria Collie eye anomaly Multidrug sensitivity (MDR1) von Willebrand's disease (multiple forms) Based on the 152 diseases tested: Approximately two out of 100 mixed-breed dogs are at risk of becoming affected; 40 …
Why annual screening for exposure to infected ticks is vitalJune 20, 2018It's important to remember that a single tick can transmit multiple infectious agents that may cause or contribute to serious illness, including kidney disease. And because dogs don't always show clinical signs, it can be challenging to understand the true harm of any given infection to a pet's health. This makes regularly screening of pets—including asymptomatic or seemingly healthy ones—to identify exposure to infected ticks all the more important. Here's a quick look at why regular, comprehensive screening is critical, and what veterinarians can do to help keep dogs healthy. All dogs need to be screened annually for exposure to infected ticks It's quite possible a patient could be fighting an infection without showing any signs of disease. That is why limiting screening to symptomatic pets and those known to have had a tick on them is too restrictive—it will miss infections. All dogs need to be tested, and pet owners need to be reminded that negative results are the goal in order to verify that preventive measures against ticks are working. A new study reinforces the importance of detecting exposure The study, found at idexx.com/ckdstudy, showed two key findings: 1) dogs with Ehrlichia antibodies …
Diagnosing the bleeding patientJune 19, 2018Bleeding diatheses are a relatively common occurrence in small animal medicine, whether in general practice or emergency settings. Understanding the interactions between the components of the coagulation system in addition to a physical exam and patient history are key to making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.
How 'brain candy' helps petsJune 18, 2018The female pit bull had a tough-chick approach to life: Be aggressive first; ask questions later. Her owner was a dog trainer and had taught her well as far as obedience training, but the dog was aggressive toward other dogs in the home and toward some humans.
College of Veterinarians of British Columbia bans onychectomyJune 14, 2018The College of Veterinarians of British Columbia (CVBC) has banned the practice of partial digital amputation, also known as onychectomy or declawing, of domestic cats, effective immediately. The province is the second in Canada to ban declawing, following the procedure's condemnation from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). "Elective and nontherapeutic declawing is ethically problematic and not an appropriate means of dealing with feline behavior issues," reads CVBC's statement. The college acknowledges there are medical conditions that may necessitate partial or full digital amputation as an appropriate medical therapy, such as biopsy for diagnosis, severe trauma, or medical conditions affecting the health of the nail (i.e. onychodystrophy, paronychia, neoplasia of the nail bed/phalanges), but adds there is no medical condition or environmental circumstance of the cat's owner that would justify declawing. Declawing has already been banned in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and several cities in California. Earlier this year, Nova Scotia became the first Canadian province to ban the procedure, with the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association amending its code of ethics to declare the practice, when performed electively, "ethically unacceptable." While CVMA does not regulate veterinarians in Canada and cannot enforce a nationwide ban, the association announced …
Canadian researchers team up to fight canine osteosarcomaJune 14, 2018A group of researchers called the Dog Osteosarcoma Group–Biomarkers of Neoplasia (DOGBONe) at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, have joined forces to determine more accurate ways of measuring bone cancer, with the main objective of identifying biomarkers to assess patients with canine osteosarcoma. The presentation of osteosarcoma in dogs is remarkably similar to that of humans, according to the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC); so much so that computers are unable to distinguish between tumor samples from each species based on gene expression patterns. These similarities make canine osteosarcoma research all the more valuable, as any progress in developing better treatments for one species means progress for the other as well. "The dogs are a model for the worst of the human disease," said Geoffrey A. Wood, DVM, Ph.D., DVSc (pathology), of the OVC's Department of Pathobiology. "Right now, the information we find out in human osteosarcoma serves as a model for the dogs. There's an opportunity to go both ways between the species, for the benefit of both." The team consists of the university's top osteosarcoma researchers from across four departments at OVC, including co-leaders Dr. Wood and Alicia Viloria-Petit, Ph.D., MSc, BSc, of the Department of …
Postoperative bleeding in greyhounds; what it may mean for deerhoundsJune 8, 2018In 2011 I wrote about research underway at The Ohio State University (OSU) to investigate the cause of excessive postoperative bleeding that occurred in many greyhounds one or two days after surgery.
Why an oral tumor diagnosis isn't always straightforwardJune 6, 2018When I was in veterinary school, my naïve impression of the process for obtaining a histopathologic diagnosis of tumors was this: fix the specimen in formalin, section and stain the tumor, look into the microscope, and obtain a definitive diagnosis.
