MythBusters and a love of medicineAugust 12, 2022"We often don’t appreciate the merit of one way of thinking until it is held in counterpoint to another," writes Holly Sawyer, DVM. "I like science; I love medicine. I love that health professionals get to improve lives and treat disease. I love that veterinarians make a real difference in the world. I love that veterinary school taught me how to think in a unique and profound way."
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Adding a surgical suite in a weekendAugust 12, 2022It is possible to begin offering dental and/or surgical services in as little as a weekend. While practices will need some basic tools, they will not need a contractor and they will not need to move walls. It is an easier way to keep up with the latest advancements in equipment while offering new services or expanding on existing ones.
Determining ideal chest tube placementAugust 11, 2022There are many indications for placing a chest tube, or thoracic tube, in a patient. Chest tubes can be placed because of a pneumothorax, pleural effusion, chest injury, or after thoracic surgery. Most of the time, chest tubes are placed when evacuation of air or fluid needs to be done more than once in a short period of time. Chest tubes can prevent the veterinary staff from needing to perform multiple thoracocentesis on the patient causing unnecessary pain and discomfort.
Diagnosing tooth resorption in cats and dogsAugust 11, 2022Cats almost never get cavities, but they are prone to get cavity-like tooth defects called tooth resorption. Tooth resorption has had many different names through the years, including cervical line lesions, neck lesions, feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL) and “feline odontolysis.” Recent studies have helped clarify this disease starts on the root surface and not specifically at the cervical portion of the tooth, so we now simply call it “tooth resorption” (TR).
It's time to put diagnostic tests to the testAugust 11, 2022All too often, companies develop and promote diagnostic tests in the veterinary field with no reasonable evidence that using them will benefit patients. Given the lack of meaningful regulation in this area, completely useless tests based on pseudoscience are freely sold to vets and pet owners. Even tests that work as claimed may become widespread well before there is evidence to believe their use will improve patient outcomes.
Perivulvar skin fold disease in obese catsAugust 10, 2022Have you treated a female cat for recurrent bacterial cystitis? Was it an overweight to obese cat? If both are true, you may have noted severe dermatitis was present in the perivulvar and perianal areas. This group of findings is typical when an obese female cat has perivulvar skin fold disease.
Seven strategies to improve vaccine complianceAugust 8, 2022A client says, "I’m just here for the rabies shot, Doc,” a client says. When a pet owner chooses services below your standard of care, the patient risks exposure to diseases and parasites. Practice health also suffers.
From normal flora to resistant pyodermasAugust 4, 2022Upon learning a pet has a pyoderma, a common question is, “Where did the bacteria come from?” Owners are often surprised to learn the majority of pyodermas are from a dysbiosis of the normal flora, and not an external or environmental source.
Nutrition's role in dental healthAugust 3, 2022Nutrition can play a role in proper formation of the immature teeth. During amelogenesis (development of the organic enamel matrix and its subsequent mineralization), lack of proper nutrition can result in enamel hypoplasia or hypomineralization.
Urinary tract obstruction in catsAugust 3, 2022One of the most common emergency conditions managed in general veterinary practice is urinary tract obstruction (UTO) in cats. Despite this, there is controversy about many aspects of UTO management, and even widely accepted practices are often based on limited or poor-quality evidence.
