Cat/Dog

Regenerative Medicine

December 4, 2009

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers found in dogs, with a survival rate of 0 to 2 percent under current treatment methods. These poor statistics have researchers constantly looking for better ways to increase diagnosed dogs’ lifespan. Steven Suter, VMD, MS, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVIM, is performing bone marrow transplants using a leukapheresis machine to harvest healthy progenitor cells from a canine patient’s blood. “With this method, the dog receives standard chemotherapy drugs, often referred to as CHOP,” says Dr. Suter, assistant professor of medical oncology at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Once in clinical remission, which means the dogs lymph nodes are of normal size, a high dose of Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) is given to clear as much cancer as possible from the dog’s blood. About 10 days later, it is then given Neupogen (filgrastim), which costs about $2,000 per patient. This drug increases the dog’s white blood cell count and also drives stem cells, called CD34+ progenitor cells, out of the bone marrow and into the peripheral blood.” After six days of Neupogen, the dog is mildly sedated and connected to the leukapheresis machine, which harvests the CD34+ progenitor cells from …

The Case for Year-Round Heartworm Prevention and Affordable Options

Veterinarians are often more than just clinicians - they’re advisors, educators, and, increasingly, financial counselors. In today’s economy, pet owners may hesitate to invest in year-round prevention due to budget constraints; but, skipping even a few months of heartworm protection can have serious consequences.

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Pressure’s On To Monitor Blood Pressure

September 1, 2009

Blood pressure monitoring, long a staple in preventive human medicine, is increasingly being incorporated into veterinary practices to enable earlier detection of many common diseases in pets. Keven Gulikers, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, of the Center for Veterinary Specialty Care in Carrollton, Texas, notes that blood pressure readings are becoming a more integral part of anesthetic monitoring. “And more family veterinarians are evaluating blood pressures in patients with diseases that can cause hypertension, such as chronic renal failure and Cushing’s disease,” he adds. Indeed, Nora Matthews, DVM, Dipl. ACVA, professor at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says regular blood pressure monitoring is commonly used to follow chronic diseases in pets. It is increasingly being incorporated into standard pet wellness programs. Thus, she notes, the cost of a blood pressure monitor is nominal when used on most patients in the practice. Routine Monitoring Andrew Schultz, director of veterinary monitoring and critical care for Sharn Veterinary Inc. of Tampa, Fla., agrees that acceptance and adoption of routine blood pressure screening is increasing, but he says it is still far lower than it should be. “Just think what happens every single time …

Rehab Becoming More Mainstream

August 6, 2009

Physical therapy has been intertwined with human medicine for most of a century. In fact, early practitioners were called “reconstruction aides.” But the application of physical therapy modalities to veterinary practice is comparatively recent. Photo by Dara Lyon Warner. An exercise stair, one of several types of equipment used with patients at Animal Rehabilitation and Wellness Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. Animal Rehabilitation and Wellness Hospital—ARWI.com —in Raleigh, N.C., is one of a relative handful of facilities dedicated exclusively to veterinary rehabilitation. The University of Tennessee, which offers a certificate program in canine rehabilitation, lists 275 certified practitioners in the U.S. and only 27 in the rest of the world. Animal Rehabilitation and Wellness Hospital was born of founder and CEO Annie Janis’ grief over losing her beloved dog, Tanana, to degenerative disc disease. Treatment options were minimal and rehabilitation was nonexistent. “Surgery was offered, but I was told she would probably never walk again,” Janis says. “If (rehabilitative therapy) had been available, I feel she would have stayed healthier, stronger and it would have increased her life span.” Sometime later, when Janis was seeking a veterinary …

Echocardiography Can Retool A Practice

June 10, 2009

The down economy has led many veterinarians to place continuing education and equipment purchases on hold, but business experts say companies should use the time to their advantage and retool. Adding a modality such as echocardiography is one way to attract “A” clients and make use of any extra time you or your technicians may have. Echocardiography debuted in the veterinary industry by means of specialty practice, but now general practitioners are increasingly getting involved and even investing in training technicians to perform echocardiography. From 65 to 70 percent of U.S. veterinary practices have some form of ultrasound equipment and find that clients are willing to spring for the exam fees. “Providing echocardiography exams as an inhouse offering shows that you want to continue to improve the standard of care you give to patients,” says Clint Roth, DVM, regional sales director of Sound Technologies Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. “Echocardiography is one of the few technologies that gives you dynamic information about the strength and level of function of the heart. It is integral in the diagnosis of canine and feline heart conditions, and at least 70 percent of clients will OK this type of procedure.” …

Raw Diets Linked To Salmonella

June 9, 2009

Veterinarians have a responsibility to provide pet owners with information about zoonotic disease that gives a realistic appraisal of any risks pets could present to the household’s human inhabitants and how to minimize this risk. This is especially true if the household contains small children or immuno-compromised individuals. While there are myriad potential patho-gens, this article will focus on one major concern: Salmonellosis. Why It’s Important Salmonellosis was in the headlines continuously last summer (2008) during a large outbreak associated with contaminated food. In this outbreak, at least 1,438 people were proved to be infected and 282 were hospitalized.1 Food-associated outbreaks are not unusual because contaminated food is the primary way that humans become infected with Salmonella. The infection can be acquired from meats and eggs, but many outbreaks have been linked to other sources such as sprouts, peanut butter, tomatoes or, recently, chili peppers. The majority of humans who become ill are young. The rate of diagnosed illness in children under 5 years old is five times higher than any other age group. This probably relates to the disease’s affecting children more severely than otherwise healthy adults. It is estimated that Salmonellosis causes 1.4 …

Treating Congestive Heart Failure

June 2, 2009

Karsten Schober, DVM, Ph.D., recently concluded a clinical study at Ohio State University that sought to utilize cardiac ultrasound to identify and stage congestive heart failure (CHF) in dogs. Twenty-one dogs with asymptomatic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), 23 dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (MVD) and 10 dogs with CHF caused by MVD or DCM were enrolled, for a total of 63 canine patients. Any dog with dilated cardiomyopathy or MVD was welcome to the study unless it was treated with high doses of diuretics. The study began in 2006 and concluded in April. “The patients were given a clinical exam, chest radiography, cardiac ultrasound, blood chemistry, NTproANP and NTproBNP,” Dr. Schober says. “The dogs’ owners were asked to monitor respiration at home three times a day. Patients were re-evaluated in five to 14 days, and the effects of treatment based on the initial diagnosis and home monitoring were assessed.” The results of the study may help to diagnose CHF earlier, better stratify cardiovascular risk, tailor therapy to specific dog needs, and reduce the exposure of radiation required for repeated thoracic radiography, which is current protocol. “A lot of thinking has to go behind the final …

Musculoskeletal Miracles

May 6, 2009

A year and a half ago, Mel and Helen King noticed their very fast poodle Josephine slowing as she ran the agility courses on which she had become a champion. A few weeks later, she became lame. The Kings, of Silver Creek, Wash., took her to an orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed a partial tear in her cruciate ligament and recommended surgery. “That would have ended her career and I didn’t want to do it,” Helen King says. “She lives for agility.” After researching options, the Kings opted for stem cell therapy, part of the rapidly emerging field of regenerative veterinary medicine. A photomicrograph of a cluster of equine adipose-derived regenerative cells. The techniques are being used in horses and dogs to treat tendon and ligament injuries, osteoarthritis and, to a limited degree, fractures. Stem cells are being used in other countries to treat humans with musculoskeletal problems, but the procedure is still in clinical trials in the U.S. Vet-Stem Inc., a Poway, Calif., company founded in 2002, has used its patented process to treat more than 3,200 horses and 1,500 dogs. Some 1,179 veterinarians have completed the firm’s free online training. …

Palliative Options In Cancer Care