Free Service Animal Eye Exams Back for Ninth YearFebruary 16, 2016Online registration will begin April 1 for an American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists charity event that has provided service animals with 45,000 free eye screenings since 2008. The ninth annual National Service Animal Eye Exam Event will take place throughout May, but advance registration is required at www.ACVOeyeexam.org to allow time for appointments to be made with participating board-certified ophthalmologists. The event is co-sponsored by ACVO and Stokes Pharmacy of Laurel, N.J. Eligible service animals include those working in these fields: guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and therapy. An example is a young Labrador retriever named Rue, who is trained to act as a diabetic alert dog for Michigan teenager Katie Krampitz. “Rue maintains eye contact with Katie, responding to nonverbal as well as verbal instructions,” ACVO reported. “When Katie’s blood sugar level is out of range, Rue will locate her testing kit and bring it to her. If her blood sugar level gets too low, Rue can retrieve a juice box for Katie and is also being trained to call 911 should Katie be unresponsive.” Rue’s eyesight was tested during the 2015 event. She passed. “Katie and Rue’s story is just one of more than …
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MSU Gains 2 New Vet ScholarshipsFebruary 16, 2016The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine has gained two new scholarships with the help of a husband-and-wife team in Zachary, La. Both are MSU graduates. The Dr. Elizabeth B. Ezelle and Mr. Robert L. Ezelle Endowed and Annual Scholarships will be available to full-time students enrolled in CVM’s doctor of veterinary medicine program. Those selected must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average (based on a 4.0 scale), according to the university. A 2011 CVM graduate, Elizabeth Ezelle came to MSU after receiving an undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in 2006. She currently practices at Plains Veterinary Hospital in Zachary. Robert Ezelle is a 2005 Millsaps graduate who enrolled at MSU for a second bachelor’s degree. He completed mechanical engineering studies in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering in 2010 and now is a fired equipment engineer for ExxonMobil Global Services Corp. The couple used the ExxonMobil Foundation’s matching gift program to establish the scholarships.
Illinois Vet College Enhances Anatomy Class with Painted SkullsFebruary 12, 2016The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine has found that using painted skulls as a teaching tool can help students better learn anatomy. Ashley Lynch, one of the instructional laboratory specialists, came up with the idea of painting the skulls in 2014 after one student wrote, “I hate anatomy,” on the zygomatic arch of a canine skull. “The skull anatomy section is intense,” said Lynch, who assists 130 first-year veterinary students in the anatomy course. “They have about 80 pages on skull anatomy to memorize in four weeks. Identifying the parts on actual skulls solely by reviewing the two-dimensional images is very difficult.” Despite various attempts, they were unable to remove the graffiti, the university reported. “The only solution we could come up with was to cover over the writing with white paint,” Lynch said. “Then I got an idea. I used leftover model paint to make the individual bones of the skull different colors.” When the students saw the painted skull, they all wanted to use it because it was so helpful for distinguishing the bones, according to the university. Seeing the painted skull’s success, Lynch decided …
Florida Vet Professor Named Fellow in National Inventors GroupFebruary 11, 2016Roy Curtiss, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has been elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He’s being recognized for “the broad impact his scientific work has had on society and for his support and enhancement of innovation.” Dr. Curtiss’ career spans more than 50 years, contributing to the fields of genetics, microbiology, biomedical sciences and vaccinology. His pioneering work in the areas of microbial pathogenesis, genetic manipulation and vaccine development has been used to address problems of world concern in animal, human and environmental health, according to the university. Vaccines that Curtiss has designed, constructed and evaluated have been used to protect agriculturally important animals as well as humans from a variety of infectious diseases. Curtiss recently developed several new ways of constructing vaccines for different strains of salmonella, the university further noted. “Science excites me every day,” Curtiss said. “It provides new highs through learning something new, discovering new ways to achieve solutions to significant problems and through the process of successfully organizing joint efforts to make contributions.”
UF Professor, Brucellosis Expert Paul Nicoletti Dies at 83February 10, 2016Paul Nicoletti, DVM, MS, a longtime University of Florida benefactor and infectious diseases professor who got his start in government service, died Jan. 31. He was 83. Dr. Nicoletti, who was raised on a dairy farm in Goodman, Mo., may never have pursued veterinary medicine had he not received a $150 scholarship from Sears, Roebuck and Co., the university reported. “I’m not going to tell you I wouldn’t have gone to college without it, but for a 17-year-old boy who was tired of milking cows, the incentive that scholarship provided truly made a difference,” Nicoletti stated in a 2013 UF article. “It was not just a financial incentive, but a psychological one as well.” Nicoletti earned his veterinary degree from the University of Missouri in 1956 and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. His career in public health began in 1962 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he served as a regional epidemiologist. A four-year role with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization took him to Iran as an epizootiologist—someone who studies disease outbreaks in animal populations. His return to USDA landed him a job in Gainesville, Fla., in 1975, and about three years …
Quebec Forbids Cosmetic Veterinary ProceduresFebruary 9, 2016Cosmetic tail docking and ear cropping will be banned in Quebec starting in 2017, leaving Alberta and Ontario as the only Canadian provinces to permit the surgical procedures on dogs and cats. Quebec veterinary regulators also extended the tail-shortening protection to horses and cattle. British Columbia banned canine ear cropping last fall, but whether its move and Quebec’s will lead to a nationwide prohibition on cosmetic procedures is uncertain. The 4,400-member Ontario Veterinary Medical Association stated that it opposes cosmetic surgery but that the province’s regulatory body, the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, has not raised the issue since 2012. A meeting then involving pet breeders and OVMA “was unable to come to a consensus because it involved altering breed standards, and by 2013 CVO halted the process,” the organization reported. CVO will address the topic again in March. “The council of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario thoroughly examined medically unnecessary veterinary surgery, commonly known as cosmetic surgery, in 2011 and developed and published its current guidelines in 2012,” CVO stated. “The council is actively engaged in monitoring trends in animal welfare and risks to animal health in relation to the practice of veterinary medicine. Recent discussion in …
New Hospital Network Known as Ethos Veterinary HealthFebruary 9, 2016Four specialty hospital groups have officially merged under the newly identified parent company Ethos Veterinary Health. Ethos is made up of 13 referral hospitals stretching from the northeastern United States to Southern California. Each location will retain the name of its respective group: IVG Hospitals, Premier Veterinary Group, Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital and Veterinary Specialty Hospital. The corporate title was announced today, weeks after the merger closed in December and nearly 11 months after the marriage was proposed. The transaction is being funded through a $21 million secured loan from Citizens Bank of Boston, Ethos reported. “Becoming one organization allows us to fully leverage our collective expertise,” said CEO Ames Prentiss, the son of IVG founder John Prentiss, DVM. “We’re building a national model that will leverage the regional investments we made over the years in education, compounding pharmacy and reference lab expertise.” Ethos plans to expand its network of specialty referral and emergency hospitals over time, the company reported. The leadership at each of the four groups remains in place. “This is truly a merger of four companies with the same people in place, both locally and nationally,” Ethos stated. IVG Hospitals is the largest group, with hospitals in Natick, …
University of Guelph Creates Downloadable Tool to Improve Disease ResponseFebruary 9, 2016The University of Guelph recently reported that its researchers have created a decision-making tool that could aid in prioritizing responses to zoonotic diseases and outbreaks. “From rabies to Ebola, how do you decide which zoonotic diseases to prioritize?” said Jan Sargeant, DVM, Ph.D., director of Guelph’s Center for Public Health and Zoonoses, and a professor in the Department of Population Medicine at U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College. “There are not enough resources to prevent and control all of them.” Currently, different public health organizations use different prioritization criteria. “There was definitely a research gap in terms of understanding how individuals and organizations prioritize zoonotic diseases,” said Dr. Sargeant, former holder of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) chair in applied public health. She hoped to find ways to improve zoonotic disease responses among experts in agriculture, government and animal and human health, according to the university. Sargeant teamed up with Victoria Ng, Ph.D., a senior scientific evaluator at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), to create the new tool involving an Excel spreadsheet program. Based on a statistical method used in market research, the tool determines how …
Tortoise Relieved of Massive Bladder StoneFebruary 8, 2016How does a veterinarian remove a large bladder stone from a tortoise? Start with a power saw and finish with a bit of glue. Tampa, Fla., practitioner Peter Helmer, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, did just that after a 55-pound Sulcata tortoise called Sully needed a bladder stone the size of a softball removed from his abdomen. Sully’s owner, Renee Niehaus, took the tortoise to his primary veterinarian because of a nosebleed. When an X-ray revealed the stone, Sully was referred to a BluePearl Veterinary Partners specialty hospital, where he was placed in the care of Dr. Helmer. The veterinarian last week cut open a flap in Sully’s bottom shell using a surgical power saw, BluePearl reported. During the five-hour operation Helmer removed the stone and closed the flap using epoxy. “It went really well,” he said. “I’m always cautiously optimistic, and Sully appears to be doing just fine.” The 6-year-old tortoise was put on pain medication and antibiotics. It won’t be long before Sully, who Niehaus has raised since he was hand-sized, is back at work digging tunnels outside. “He thinks he’s one of the dogs,” said Niehaus, who runs the Largo, Fla., dog boarding and day care …
Trupanion Releases Direct-Payment Claims AppFebruary 4, 2016Pet health insurer Trupanion has moved to an electronic claims system for veterinary practices that install the new Trupanion Express Web-based application. Policyholders can settle their bills at checkout rather than wait for insurance claims to be processed, and hospitals receive same-day reimbursement from Trupanion, often within five minutes. Traditionally, “Pet owners are forced to pay veterinary invoices on their credit card in hopes of reimbursement,” said Trupanion’s CEO, Darryl Rawlings. “Meanwhile, veterinarians are forced to process cumbersome paperwork and bear the cost of credit card fees.” Trupanion Express is free to clinics and is compatible with AVImark, Cornerstone, ImproMed Infinity and VIA practice management systems. The app was developed over three years at a cost of $17 million and was tested at a select number of veterinary hospitals before the nationwide release Wednesday, the Seattle-based company reported. Among the clinics participating in the beta testing phrase was C.A.R.E. Centre Animal Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which was directly reimbursed more than $1.8 million, Trupanion stated. Stratham-Newfields Veterinary Hospital in Newfields, N.H., processed 1,956 claims from its 235 Trupanion-insured clients and was paid more than $530,000. “We pay the veterinarian directly so they won’t have to incur credit card …
