Three Techniques to Treat Toe FracturesJanuary 22, 2014 Although metacarpal and metatarsal fractures are fairly common injuries in cats and dogs, the best way to treat is somewhat controversial. Incomplete or complete fractures of one or two metacarpal/metatarsal bones can be treated with external coaptation. The splint should immobilize the carpus/tarsus completely to be effective. Generally, external coaptation requires six to 12 weeks to achieve bony union. Splints should be changed at least weekly to decrease the risk of pressure sores in an at-risk area because of the lack of soft tissue coverage. If three or four metacarpal/tarsal bones are fractured and displacement is present, external coaptation may be a poor choice. When multiple bones are fractured, the splint cannot maintain reduction properly, and while union may occur, the recovery will be prolonged and deformity is likely. Surgery is considered a better choice in such cases. Indications for surgery Internal fixation is used for simple or comminuted metacarpal/metatarsal bone fractures or in patients with three or four fractured bones. In multiple bone fractures, the fixation can be used for all fractured bones or for metacarpal/metatarsal bones 3 and 4 only, i.e. weight-bearing toes. Options for fixation include plating or wiring (rarely performed), …
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More "Zebras": Mandibular SwellingsDecember 17, 2013 My November and December columns focused on zebras. Not the actual animals, but rather the zebra diagnosis, that rare clinical presentation that may mimic a more common abnormality. I finished my November column by asking readers to share with me any zebras they have encountered. Linda Molesworth, VMD, of Huntingtown, Md., sees a zebra more frequently than most of us, because she is the proud owner of Zena (see photo above). Let’s continue to discuss dental/orofacial zebra diagnoses, in the context of mandibular swellings in dogs. Signalment—age, breed and sex—may be a very important component of the information gathered when creating a list of differential diagnoses. Take the example of a patient that presents for a ventral mandibular swelling. Many a mandibular swelling has been caused by a nonvital tooth with endodontic infection, often as a result of a tooth fracture, or extension of periodontal disease to the level where it can invade the endodontic system of a tooth. However, numerous other possible causes exist. If unilateral mandibular swelling is seen in a 14-year-old dog, the nonzebra diagnosis of neoplasia would come to mind. However, if nonpainful swellings were occurring in both mandibles of a …
The Lastest On The Deadly Canine ParvovirusDecember 3, 2013 While parvovirus’s clinical signs and treatment principles haven’t appreciably changed in recent years, our knowledge base on disease transmission and patient prognosis has vastly improved. At the CVC veterinary conference in Kansas City in August, Stephen C. Barr, BVSc, spoke to attendees on all things parvo. Some of his key points follow. Parvoviruses are extremely hardy, and remain infectious in the environment for more than five months. Not all disinfectant products work on parvo. Barr recommends a 1:30 bleach solution (5 percent sodium hypochlorite). Leukocyte numbers, character help track the course of parvo By Lou Anne Epperley, DVM For Veterinary Practice News The ELISA “snap” test for canine parvovirus is an efficient initial diagnostic test. Then, leukocyte counts and character can provide hints of the virus’s progress and the patient’s prognosis, according to Stephen C. Barr, BVSc, infectious disease specialist at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Barr told veterinarians at the CVC veterinary conference in Kansas City that CPV-2 infection causes necrolysis of myeloid and erythroid stem cells in bone marrow. …
Wellness Plans Allow Vet Clients To Budget For Pets’ Preventive CareDecember 3, 2013 In the minds of most veterinarians there’s a plan for just about every pet they see to ensure that pet’s immediate and long-term medical needs. But the reality, according to proponents of wellness plans, is that those details too often go unrelated to pet owners. "We really do have a full-year plan for their pets in our head,” said Carol McConnell, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary medical officer with Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, Calif. "When a pet comes in you look at the age, where they live, and other factors, and you formulate a plan.” It’s a detailed plan, Dr. McConnell said, adding, "But we’re clearly not good an explaining it to clients.” VPI in January launched a wellness service for veterinarians to offer clients called "Preventive & Wellness Services, which McConnell pronounces as "paws.” "We are basically positing ourselves as a silent partner with veterinarians,” McConnell said. She said the service is proving popular, with between 2,000 and 3,000 plans across the U.S. in place through more than 100 practices. Jeffrey S. Klausner, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, senior vice president and …
Veterinary Nutrition And You: Redefining The Future Of Pet FoodDecember 3, 2013 I’ve been to AVMA, NAVC, CVC and ACVIM and, after attending at least five of each of the above conferences over the past 15 years, I can attest that they’ve all got loads to offer. But that’s not to say there aren’t other international-level conferences worth your while. Take WINSS, for example. The Waltham International Nutritional Sciences Symposium is arguably the world’s premier pet nutrition conference. Yet until Mars invited me to attend this year’s October meeting in Portland, Ore., I’d never thought to venture outside the confines of my own customary conference rotation. Which would’ve been a shame. Not only would I have lost out on some killer doughnuts (Portland’s VooDoo Doughnuts fries up the finest), this meeting established that attending smaller symposia treating niche-ier topics can prove even more rewarding than the usual suspects. After all, there’s nothing quite so stimulating as some crisp non-tropical air, a fistful of fried dough, a huge conference hall teeming with veterinary nutritionists and three days chock-a-block with talks, presentations, hot topic sessions and even a bit of entertaining dissent. Most exciting of all, however, was not the banter that arose after one speaker attempted to dispel …
Dissecting The Cat-Dog Healthcare DisparityNovember 14, 2013 Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock lately, you’ve doubtless borne witness to the latest round of handwringing within our national community. This time it’s to do with our nation’s most populous but least served companion animal species: the cat. Though statistics tracking both canine and feline hospital visits reveal a significant downward direction, cats are far less likely to receive the routine treatment we’ve collectively determined they deserve. Yes, it seems that some cat lovers don’t care for their feline pets to the same tune they do their dogs. So say those of us who observe the differences between how people treat their own beloved cats and dogs on a daily basis. And so say our collegial powers that be. A Look at Numbers Because of this, Bayer Healthcare and the American Association of Feline Practitioners teamed up to confirm our suspicions with the Veterinary Care Usage Study III: Feline Fidings. Here’s a quick summary of the basic findings I received firsthand at a lunchtime panel discussion-style press event at the American Veterinary Medical Association conference in Chicago this past summer: * 52 percent of cats hadn’t seen a veterinarian within the past …
Staffs Embrace Laser TherapyNovember 14, 2013 Beside compassion, perhaps the most useful implement in the toolbox of Pamela Iles, practice manager and technician at Cat Haven Veterinary Clinic in Birmingham, Ala., is a laser beam. Cat Haven uses therapeutic lasers in a number of cases and for a variety of purposes: to treat arthritis and wounds; to help with nerve regeneration; for post-surgical pain relief; for sinusitis treatments. The clinic also uses laser therapy for calming purposes. Gingivitis, chronic otitis and renal disease are also on the long list of ailments that call for breaking out the therapeutic laser at Cat Haven, which purchased it last summer. Courtesy of Litecure LLC "We have seen remarkable results in virtually a short period of time,” said Iles, who has seen a great many cats regain nerve function and benefit from increased mobility. "The laser is improving the quality of life for many of our patients. Arthritic cats can run and jump, cats with sinusitis can breathe, cats with nerve damage can walk again. There are just never–ending possibilities.” But the bottom line is that laser therapy can improve a clinic’s functionality and bring in more income …
Wound Care 101 And BeyondSeptember 30, 2013 Dr. Schmiedt, assistant professor of soft tissue surgery at the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital, advises a back-to- basics approach. "I am something of a Luddite here,” Schmiedt said. "When dealing with hard-to-handle wounds, I think veterinarians should revert to the basics of wound healing. There is always a biological basis for why a wound won’t heal.” A wound stuck in the inflammatory and debridement stage, for example, is possibly being prevented from moving to the repair phase by dead or necrotic tissue, or an infection, or "some magic treatment one keeps slathering on,” he said. "If a wound is stuck in the repair phase with a granulation bed that will not contract and epithelialize, this is usually because the tension is too great for the myofibroblasts, there is infection or inappropriate wound care,” Schmiedt said. "Identifying that biological problem and correcting it is critical. Reverting to the latest device, cream or treatment is not the answer to getting wounds to heal.” Varied Approaches Bryden J. Stanley, BVMS, MACVSc, MVetSc, Dipl. ACVS, an associate professor in the surgery department at the Small Animal Clinical …
Animals Have Emotions, But What About ‘Theory Of Mind’?September 30, 2013We have come a long way since the Descartian view that animals are mindless machines or the Pavlovian or Skinnerian assessments that animals simply react to their environment reflexively and/or behave only in response to positive or negative reinforcement. Scientific thinking about animals’ cognitive processes has been stifled since the turn of last century by the likes of C. Lloyd Morgan’s famous canon which states that, "In no case is an animal activity to be interpreted in terms of higher psychological processes if it can be fairly interpreted in terms of processes which stand lower in the scale of psychological evolution and development.” According to this canon, anyone who ascribed an underlying emotion to an animal’s behavior was simply being anthropomorphic, projecting human feelings onto what were merely "dumb animals.” The extreme behaviorist’s view that animals’ behavior is to be observed and measured but not interpreted prevailed through much of the last century. Even ethologists, who studied the behavior of animals in the wild, did so more by observation and note-taking than by trying to ascribe behaviors to internal motivation or thought processes. To do so at the time would have been heresy. A Different Approach The …
Integrating Treatments For Joint PainSeptember 30, 2013 Combining holistic and conventional veterinary therapies, Michael Dym, VMD, advocates a four-pronged approach in using nutraceuticals to treat joint pain and arthritis in dogs and cats. He reports success with a glucosamine/MSN supplement, anti-oxidants, omega-3s and a homeopathic pain-killer, Traumeel, which he said is produced from natural ingredients. Dr. Dym practices holistic and integrative conventional veterinary medicine at Palms West Veterinary Hospital in Loxahatchee, Fla., and operates his own practice, making house calls in the Wellington, Fla., area. "Traumeel has been involved in human clinical studies and is proving as or more effective at reducing discomfort than NSAIDs,” Dym says. He says he has excellent results when treating both dogs and cats with it. Bonnie Mitchell, DVM, owner of Coastal Animal Clinic in Jensen Beach, Fla., recommends joint supplements as both a preventive and for treatment of dogs and cats with lameness issues. She says dogs seem to like chewable joint supplements—they think they are getting a treat. "It’s hard to get a cat to chew a tablet, so powder in their food works best for cats.,” she says. For an 80- to 90-pound dog, a loading dose can be expensive, so if Mitchell …
