Brain Benefits Of CAVM For EpilepsyMarch 1, 2012 These are the footnotes for Dr. Robinson's March 2012 column, Brain Benefits of CAVM for Epilepsy. 1. McElroy-Cox C. Alternative approaches to epilepsy treatment. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2009;9(4):313-318. 2. Taylor J. Holistic treatments for epilepsy in dogs. The Bark. 2006;Issue 36. Accessed at http://www.thebark.com/print/134?page=show on 01-05-12. 3. McElroy-Cox C. Alternative approaches to epilepsy treatment. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2009;9(4):313-318. 4. Weissl J, Hulsmeyer V, Brauer C, et al. Disease progression and treatment response of idiopathic epilepsy in Australian Shepherd dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2011; Dec 19. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00853.x. [Epub ahead of print] 5. Ekenstedt KJ, Patterson EE, Minor KM, et al. Candidate genes for idiopathic epilepsy in four dog breeds. BMC Genetics. 2011;12:38. 6. Weissl J, Hulsmeyer V, Brauer C, et al. Disease progression and treatment response of idiopathic epilepsy in Australian Shepherd dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2011; Dec 19. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00853.x. [Epub ahead of print] 7. Ekenstedt KJ, Patterson EE, Minor KM, et al. Candidate genes for idiopathic epilepsy in four dog breeds. BMC Genetics. 2011;12:38. 8. McElroy-Cox C. Alternative approaches to epilepsy treatment. Current Neurology …
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Blending Passions To Benefit PetsFebruary 8, 2012 Following a passion is something most veterinarians can relate to. In fact, it’s the passion for animals that drives so many veterinarians to the profession. But what if an individual has more than one passion? Joshua Louis Lachowicz, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, an oncologist at BluePearl Veterinary Partners in New York City, integrated his two passions. He didn’t want his love of singing and songwriting to take a back seat to his other great love, veterinary medicine, any longer. So in October, he formally combined the two by launching the Joshua Louis Animal Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit group that assists owners in financial need by helping pay for their animals’ cancer treatments. Money is raised through fundraising and profits generated from the sales of Dr. Lachowicz’s original music. The foundation’s motto: “Helping Animals Fight Cancer…One Song at a Time.” Although the music industry would categorize his work as adult contemporary, Lachowicz, who performs under the name Joshua Louis, says he likes to call it “pop and soul.” Joshua Louis Lachowicz, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, has dedicated his life to both veterinary medicine and music. Merging the two allows Lachowicz to keep both interests …
Laser Therapy In A Rehabilitation ClinicJanuary 30, 2012 I have been practicing veterinary rehabilitation exclusively since 2005, and in that time have witnessed how laser therapy has been of therapeutic benefit to my patients and of financial benefit to my business. In terms of the bottom line, the laser treatments have contributed in two major ways. First is the fact that when I started offering laser therapy, the unit started to pay for itself within two months. The next contribution has come in terms of marketing. While my practice encompasses much more than laser therapy, the ability to offer it has increased the awareness of our clinic in general, and in some cases has added to the quality image that we strive to project. Chief was a poor candidate for surgical repair of his CCL rupture. One of the most rewarding conditions to treat is osteoarthritis. While this condition can occur in any breed at any age, most of the patients referred to us for this condition are geriatric dogs and cats. As with many geriatric patients, there are often other medical conditions being managed, and sometimes the use of some drugs that would help relieve pain and inflammation are contraindicated …
Find Fear, And Provide SupportJanuary 27, 2012 As many of my readers know, my 14-year-old cat Rosy (the red Somali), is now a patient of our local home pet hospice that was founded by my amazing friend and fellow veterinary technician, Valarie Hajek-Adams, CVT. What makes her amazing? Well of course after 35 years in “the biz,” she is a phenomenal veterinary technician. But that’s not all. She’s also amazing with the human members of the families she helps. Caring for the animal is second nature for her, and under the direction of the veterinarian of the hospice, she administers palliative care and monitors the quality of life for her patients. Working with the human family members, however, is another thing altogether. We all have to work with the pet owners when they need our services, and some of us are good at it, some not so great, some really like helping the owners, some merely do it to get the opportunity to help the animal. But hospice is a whole different thing. These owners need emotional support as much or more than the animal needs medical care. I find myself in the same situation with Rosy. Overall …
The Epulis: What’s In A Name?January 25, 2012 Practitioners and technicians in general practice are on the front line of diagnosis. Early detection of oral tumors improves outcome. Gingival masses may result from neoplastic, hyperplastic, inflammatory or infectious causes. Any mass arising from the gingiva may be correctly referred to as an “epulis” (plural is “epulides”). However, the term “epulis” has been adapted in veterinary nomenclature to describe specific gingival tumors arising from periodontal ligament cells, including acanthomatous, fibromatous and ossifying epulides. In recent years, the nomenclature for these odontogenic tumors has changed. Fibromatous and ossifying epulides are now often referred to under the same heading of “peripheral odontogenic fibromas.” Based on histological appearance, acanthomatous epulis is now referred to as “canine acanthomatous ameloblastoma.” This article describes a clinically rational approach to gingival masses noted during conscious oral examination. 1. Start with a thorough oral examination On conscious oral examination, look for clues of whether the gingival mass is neoplastic, hyperplastic, benign or malignant. Is it well-circumscribed? Is there evidence of mobile or displaced teeth in the area? Mobile teeth are more commonly seen with malignant neoplasms due to aggressive root resorption, whereas benign neoplasms cause slow movement of teeth …
Class IV Laser Sheds New Light On Treatment Of Elderly AnimalsJanuary 16, 2012 How best to measure the effectiveness of treatment with a Class IV laser? For Karen Miller Becnel, DVM, there is no better gauge than the Buddy system. Buddy is her own 14-year-old cat, who for years suffered from polyarthritis. By January, his condition had gotten so bad that she was considering putting him down. This is the same Buddy that had flunked acupuncture and had become so high-strung and crabby that he only let Dr. Miller Becnel even consider treating him with her new LiteCure laser if the beam came from afar, and then only when his favorite technician eased him into position. That was until Buddy felt the warmth in his joints and learned to associate the intense light with waves of relief. More than three months into his treatment, he has regained mobility and a level of comfort Dr. Miller Becnel thought might be unreachable. “The therapy has made believers out of all of us here,” says Miller Becnel, the owner-operator of The Cat Hospital of Metairie in Louisiana. “It’s a wonderful thing.” For veterinarians who treat a lot of geriatric and arthritic patients, the Class IV laser is a difference-maker, practitioners …
Stalking The Spay/Neuter StandardJanuary 12, 2012 In case you hadn’t noticed, the notion of the obligatory spay and neuter of 6-month-old pets is seriously at risk in the U.S. New veterinary research is inexorably chipping away at the 30-plus-year-old concept of peripuberal sterilization as the standard for idealized patient care. That’s not to say that prepuberal castration and ovariectomization of all pets isn’t desirable from a public policy standpoint—indeed, that may well remain the case everlastingly, despite the research. What’s in question is not the minimum standard of care (which still allows for the recommendation of spays and neuters at 6 months), but the optimum approach to individualized care. As veterinary medicine reaches for excellence in that highly profitable sector serving beloved pets whose owners expect the epitome of individualized care, the 6-month spay and neuter may well go the way of IV dexamethasone for cardiovascular shock—as in, it’s probably no longer considered a good idea. Granted, we don’t yet know the outcome of research into the model timing of spays and neuters, but if the large retrospective study out this past spring (JAVMA, May 15) is any guide, we’ll see more research in this vein for years to come. …
An Otitis Externa Strategy That Limits The EngagementsJanuary 5, 2012 Donn W. Griffith, DVM, M.S., has battled otitis externa for 40 years, and he has developed an alternative way to engage the enemy. In fact, he doesn’t treat it as war at all. “The conventional Western approach says to identify the organism (causing the infection) and try to kill it,” said Dr. Griffith, whose practice is Animal Medical and Emergency Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “The only problem is that, like in war, the enemy tends to recur.” So instead, Griffith’s Eastern-influenced goal is to restore balance. “You can go in and try to club all the bacteria to death, but then you might not know what the original fight was about,” he said. “So you’re doomed to repeat history. “I think one of the nicest things about alternative therapies is that they allow time to look for the cause of the problem,” Griffith continued. For 13 years, Deborah Brown has been promoting options other than antibiotics and steroids to neutralize ear infections. So she gets excited when she hears a practitioner like Dr. Griffith commit himself to an approach that includes alternative therapies. Brown is vice president of marketing for Pet King Brands …
Seeing Is Believing With Stem Cell TherapyJanuary 5, 2012 Veterinarians have seen so many technologies come and go over the years that they can’t help but ask, “Is this really the next level of treatment, or just another fad?” Today, stem cell therapy is much in vogue for the treatment of osteoarthritis and soft-tissue injuries. But will it become a conventional treatment, or is it a momentary phenomenon? Does stem cell therapy really work with pets, and do the benefits last? The science isn’t all that old. Veterinarians started hearing about stem cell therapy for horses in 2003 and as early as 2005 in small animals. While the potential was intriguing to veterinarians, the cell processing had to be outsourced. That meant two appointments for each patient. The tissue sample had to be sent to an outside laboratory, processed and returned. The cost to the client involved an outside processing fee of up to $1,500. Some veterinarians had a hard time selling the novel technology to animal owners. Then the technology began moving in-house, and success stories soon followed. One involved Thomas Newland, DVM, owner and medical director of Adobe Animal Hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. His patient, Molly, a 3-year-old spayed female Lab/chow …
Is It Time To Invest In Class IV Laser Therapy?January 5, 2012 Since the first Class IV laser therapy booth appeared at the 2006 North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, the modality has become arguably the fastest growing one in the veterinary profession. Why is everyone talking about laser therapy? Is it all hype? Why have more than 3,000 practices invested in it? To understand Class IV laser therapy’s rapid growth, one needs to recall practice trends of six years ago. Multi-million dollar marketing campaigns targeting pet owners transferred purchases of medications, food and products from veterinary practices to online and big-box pet stores. Similar direct-to-consumer campaigns focused on pharmaceutical solutions to pain management problems. These trends caught the attention of educated pet owners, which affected clinic revenue. The profession recognized this threat and developed renewed appreciation for sustainable practice-based service revenue, which could only be lost through competition from other practices. Clinical Considerations Class IV laser therapy does not treat conditions. Rather, it stimulates the body’s inherent healing mechanisms via a process called photobiomodulation or biostimulation. Pet owners searching for pain management solutions for older pets had begun to seek non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical solutions. Class IV therapy lasers provided the solution with a simple …
