Strategies For Battling Cat & Dog Ear InfectionsJuly 31, 2012 Ear infections in pets are painful, itchy, stinky, greasy, puffy, raw and seem to come in every color of the rainbow. Just about everyone agrees that ear infections are disgusting, but hardly any two veterinarians treat ears the same way. Some practitioners go for a definitive diagnosis. Others treat with a broad-spectrum medication and watch for the response. One veterinarian swears by Animax ointment. Another reaches for Otomax or Tresaderm. Some consider cleansers a key component in ear treatment and care, while others take a conservative approach. Job OneTalking to vendors of ear-care products can be as overwhelming as trying to get veterinarians to agree on the best ones and how they should be used. Veterinary Practice News talked with two nationally known veterinary dermatologists on the subject, along with representatives from veterinary otic manufacturing companies, for a current sampling of remedies. Job One is to diagnose the underlying cause, said Paul Bloom, DVM, owner of the Allergy, Skin and Ear Clinic for Pets in Livonia, Mich. “If you ignore this, you are doomed to recurrence,” warned Bloom, a diplomate of both the American College of Veterinary Dermatologists and the American …
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There’s Never A Good Time For LymeJuly 27, 2012 With more than 20,000 human cases reported annually, Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On the canine end, however, the number of Lyme-infected dogs is unclear because of the lack of a central reporting agency. Experts have found that veterinarians practicing in areas thought to be relatively free of Borrelia burgdorferi aren’t looking for Lyme disease. And in Lyme-endemic areas, the experts say, the disease may be overdiagnosed and overtreated in dogs. Though 95 percent of Lyme cases are found in just 12 states, specialists say using a single test—the SNAP-4Dx by Idexx Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine—can detect multiple vector-borne diseases. That means the bacteria/parasite presence in a particular region can be easily determined. “Veterinarians can take pre-emptive measures to detect exposure in pets, help draw conclusions if illness is present, and as public health professionals, use canine patients as sentinels for disease in the region,” says Andrew Eschner, DVM, senior technical services veterinarian at Merial USA of Duluth, Ga. “This organism has evolved to live in specific hosts and it doesn’t want to kill the host animal. It …
A Case Study: Infused Stem Cells And Lyme NephritisJuly 27, 2012Lyme nephritis is a well-described sequella of infection by the rickettsial organism Borelia burgdorferi through the deer tick vector (genus Ixodes). Pathogenesis of this syndrome is not clearly understood. Actual organisms have not been identified histologically in affected renal tissue, so the deposition of immune complexes appears to be the cause of the resulting glomerular disease and subsequent protein-losing nephropathy. Renal tissue injury is responsible for the symptoms associated with the illness, including uremia, hyperphosphatemia, hypertension, hypoalbuminemia and weight loss. In general, the prognosis for dogs with Lyme nephritis is poor, with high mortality rates associated with renal failure that has traditionally been treated supportively with IV fluids, phosphate binders, feeding tubes, antibiotic therapy and ACE inhibitors to address the proteinuria and hypertension. The recently improved availability of adipose-derived stem cell therapy by MediVet America Inc. for inflammatory processes other than cartilage damage and tendon/ligament injuries has expanded the treatment options for many illnesses that have previously been difficult or impossible to treat by traditional means. Harvesting the adipose tissue and subjecting it to a rigorous separation, purification and concentration process results in a collection of adult stem cells that are activated and stimulated by combining with platelet-rich plasma and …
Use Of CO2 Lasers In A Feline PracticeJuly 27, 2012 I have used a CO2 laser for about 10 years. My initial interest in this tool was for declawing cats. I was told that using it would result in less bleeding and less pain. The difference between declawing with it and with a scalpel is not great in kittens, because they heal so rapidly; but the difference is obvious in adult cats, especially overweight ones. Consequently, we abandoned other methods and made CO2 declawing our only option to clients. As we proceeded to use the CO2 laser for declawing, creativity set in. I found that it is a tool that either exclusively permits accomplishment of certain surgeries or is superior to the other options. The following are applications that make feline practice more successful. 1. Lesions in Difficult Places Oral tumors are frustrating because most affected cats are presented for drooling, poor appetite or fetid breath. Owners typically think there is a dental problem that can be solved with a good teeth cleaning or a few extractions. They are shocked to find that an aggressive, malignant tumor is present and that it is beyond surgical removal …
Ralph Brinster, VMD: A Lifetime Of Scientific AchievementJuly 6, 2012 Ralph Brinster, VMD, Ph.D., has spent more than 50 years researching various aspects of the human and animal germ line—the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs—a lifetime of research that has turned into many scientific breakthroughs. His first major achievement was developing a reliable in vitro culture system where mammalian eggs and embryos could be observed and experimented on outside the body. “I thought that was something I had to be able do in order to proceed in studying germ cells and fertility and how the embryo develops,” says Dr. Brinster, the Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. “So that was a major accomplishment.” Researchers continue to use this system for mammalian egg and embryo studies, including embryonic stem cell therapy, human in vitro fertilization and cloning. Brinster’s next goal was finding a way to change the germ line. Through various experiments using the mouse model, he found that changing the germ line was possible by injecting donor cells into blastocysts. These cells then colonized the blastocyst and became part of the embryo. In other words, the germ line could be permanently changed …
Therapeutic Lasers For Elite Level Equine CompetitorsJuly 2, 2012 The United States equine competition season for three-day eventing reached its apex at Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington, Ky. It is one of the pivotal international competitions which help determine who is to be selected for the Olympic teams competing in London this summer. The pressure on every athlete, human and horse, to stay healthy, focused and yet relaxed and comfortable is enormously challenging. The eventing season is an endurance trial that requires either avoiding or recovering from fatigue and injuries. Managing these conditions in both the human and equine athlete plays a big role in determining who advances and who goes home. Virginia is home to many of the top three-day eventing competitors, who mostly travel and compete in Florida and the Carolinas for the winter, then return North for the summer and fall events. As equine sports medicine veterinarians to elite competitors, my wife, Stephanie Davis, DVM, and I travel with our clients not just as their veterinarians, but also as participants. Dr. Stephanie is also an avid eventer at the preliminary level. We seek every advantage with technology to keep our sport horses at peak performance. Many …
Some Insight On Laser Overdosage ClaimsJuly 2, 2012 It is important to understand the order of magnitudes involved when it comes to applications in radiation. Far too often, people make overdosage generalizations without at least a relative scale. A prime example of such hand-waving arguments is the ubiquitous citation of the Arndt-Schulz law, which refers to “U” shaped dose response curves for external agents: below a threshold there is no effect, a small amount of something has small effect, a moderate amount has a large effect, and a large amount has either no effect or an adverse effect. This “law,” which was originally formulated in the world of pharmacology, has come in and out of favor several times, and now serves as one of the foundations of homeopathy. There is no doubt that there are issues relevant to laser therapy in which this idea applies; the creation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free-radicals is an obvious example. Free Radicals Radiation oncology takes special advantage of free radicals as they are potent DNA breakers; in fact, the hydroxyl radical that comes as a by-product of ionized water accounts for about two-thirds of all radiation-induced mammalian DNA damage**. In lower levels, however, ROSs serve …
The Evolution Of Laser TherapyJuly 2, 2012 The laser has been used for a variety of medical applications ever since its invention. The most common uses have been for surgical, ophthalmic and cosmetic procedures. These applications have mostly taken advantage of the laser’s ability to ablate or “vaporize” specific tissues. Applications for lasers used in a non-ablative therapeutic mode for tissue healing have also been used for many years, yet have not made the same impact as their more powerful counterparts. This is starting to change and veterinarians are playing a large role in the development and acceptance of laser therapy. The first report of laser therapy was found in the 1960s in an experiment performed in Hungary by professor Endre Mester.** Mester was investigating the effects of laser light on tissue, particularly whether exposure could cause cancer. He shaved the hair of mice and exposed them to various levels of 694 nm radiation from a ruby laser. He found that there were no adverse effects caused by any of the laser parameters but noticed that some of the exposure levels caused more rapid hair growth than the control. The field of medical lasers rapidly expanded since these early days. …
Repairing Fractures: Are You A Carpenter Or A Gardener?June 29, 2012 When we repair a fracture there are two basic approaches, which intuitively may seem mutually exclusive. The traditional approach is to “put the pieces back together” at all costs by focusing on the mechanical aspect. The carpenter-minded surgeon wants to reconstruct the bone so that it looks as close to the original bone as possible on postoperative radiographs. By ensuring anatomic reconstruction of the bony column with a variety of internal implants (plates, screws, pins, cerclage wires), we can provide instant mechanical support, which allows the patient to use the leg. This mindset is commonly used to repair simple transverse or oblique fractures, for example of the radius or tibia. Barely being able to see the fracture line on the postop films often gives the surgeon an instant high. The carpenter knows that clients don’t always understand the concept of confinement, and that a pet comprehends it even less. So the stronger the repair, the better the carpenter sleeps at night. There are clear disadvantages to this approach in some cases, classically in highly comminuted fractures. Meticulous reconstruction of each fragment to recreate the bony column leads to: • Opening up the fracture site and …
Digital Dental DifferenceJune 29, 2012 As veterinary dentistry continues to advance, practitioners are increasingly looking for ways to boost the level of services they offer and better their bottom lines. Dental radiography can play a valuable role. Jan Bellows, DVM, Dipl. AVDC, Dipl. ABVP, of All Pets Dental Clinic in Weston, Fla., says dental X-ray systems should be a required tool for veterinarians who do any dentistry. Yet he estimates that only 10 to 15 percent of practitioners are using such systems. An abscessed molar in a Dachshund. “In time, if we look into a crystal ball, this will become the standard of care,” he says. The value of dental X-rays in maintaining a pet’s oral health is undisputed. John Lewis, VMD, FAVD, Dipl. AVDC, assistant professor of dentistry and oral surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, says multiple studies have shown that dental X-rays reveal significantly more pathology than thorough oral exams alone. “It gives you a look at the other 50 percent of the tooth that exists below the gum line,” he says. “X-rays help pick up subtle problems due to bone loss and periodontal disease. And with cats, you need dental X-rays to …
