Peek And Shriek Surgeries: My Worst NightmareApril 17, 2009 There’s a catchy colloquial term used to describe the times we undertake surgical procedures that are well beyond our abilities. You may know it as the “peek and shriek.” And we all do it at some point or another in our careers. These are the times we wish we’d never anesthetized the patient and had the hubris to think we could cut him up. These are the times when the room suddenly seems to swelter and spin and the sweat starts to pool at your waistband. These are the times when vet surgeons incite our envy for their ability to surrender their stress to the knowledge that their skills make them much better at this than the rest of us. Whether it’s the raging mass coursing with monster vessels, the urethral stones encrusted in secret urethral cavities, the recalcitrant fractures splintering beneath our fingers, the bowel regurgitating its contents intra-abdominally, the heavily necrosed post-torsed stomachs or the ginormous cutaneous masses we somehow couldn’t manage to excise without leaving equally colossal wounds with no hope of primary closure, they give me nightmares. I detest these cases. They mostly make me want to curl up into …
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Hill’s Pet Nutrition Names Winners In America’s Fittest Pets ContestApril 17, 2009 Misty, a golden retriever owned by Dorene Davis from Holiday, Fla., and Thomas, an American shorthair cat owned by Sharon Decuir from Fort Worth, Texas, are the canine and feline grand prize winners of Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc.’s America’s Fittest Pets Contest. The announcement was made Jan. 19 at the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, Fla., at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex. The contest, one part of Hill’s participation in the AVMA/Hill’s Alliance for Healthier Pets—Obesity Awareness and Prevention Program, encouraged pet owners to work with their veterinary health care teams to make changes in their pets’ lifestyles and feeding habits to help them lose weight. These changes came through regular veterinary weigh-ins, monitored feeding, including the introduction of Hill’s Prescription Diet r/d brand pet food, and advocating regular physical activity. Through the program, Misty went from 118 pounds to 78 pounds and Thomas went from more than 17 pounds to 15.8 pounds. While Thomas' 1.2 pounds loss is the equivalent of a 130 pound woman losing 10 pounds. Decuir also announced that she lost 30 pounds herself just by being more health conscious. Other canine contestants included Behlee, a Jack Russell …
Pet Fair To Include Human/Animal Blood DriveApril 17, 2009 The fourth annual “Heroes Helping Heroes” pet fair will be held May 3 from noon to 5 p.m. at Cloud Nine Pet Services at Kimberly Memorial Park in Breinigsville, Pa. It will feature a joint human and animal blood drive sponsored by Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital Animal Blood Bank and Cloud Nine Pet Services, in conjunction with Miller-Keystone Blood Center. “The goal [of the event] is to make people aware of the importance of donating blood,” said Kimberly Rohrbach, CVT, supervisor of the animal blood bank. “The demand for animal blood products has grown as owners have become more knowledgeable and pet care technology has become more sophisticated.” Recruitment of potential donors is essential to keep up with the current demand for blood supplies, Rohrbach added. Dog and cat owners interested in having their pet become a donor can register for the blood donation program at the fair. Blood donations from dogs and cats will not be taken that day, but at a later date after pets have been tested and owners have gone through an orientation. Individuals wishing to donate their own …
Chinese Herb Known For Hemostatic AbilitiesApril 17, 2009 During the Vietnam War, Westerners first learned of the Chinese herbal mixture Yunnan paiyao, which means "the white medicine of Yunnan." Soldiers from North Vietnam often carried a tiny bottle of this product to ingest if they were hurt and bleeding, internally or externally.1 Over the decades, Yunnan paiyao has grown in popularity among complementary medical practitioners and even in some conventional medicine practices for its hemostatic and thrombolytic properties. At first glance, the foil packet of Yunnan paiyao capsules may seem puzzling, because an unidentified little red pill lies at one end. Folklore says that the North Vietnamese soldiers would take this red "hit pill" when seriously wounded and this would staunch the bleeding. The Chinese doctor Qu Huangzhang developed Yunnan paiyao in the Yunnan province of China in the early 1900s. Although the mixture's contents remained a manufacturing secret until fairly recently, suspicion grew that its main active ingredient consisted of pseudoginseng root, now called Panax notoginseng, notoginseng, "tien chi" or "san qi."2 Notoginseng offers the highest concentration of hemostatic constituents among all seven major ginseng types.3 Its origin in Yunnan makes sense because notoginseng grown there outperforms notoginseng grown elsewhere in …
My Big Fat Raw Food PeeveApril 17, 2009 If it’s so great or so awful, show me the research. There’s nothing like hearing of a client’s plan to take their pet to the raw side to stimulate vigorous discussion in the exam room. I’m referring to the raw food diet most commonly typified by the marketing-challenged acronym, “BARF.” The variously monikered, “bones and raw food” or “biologically appropriate raw food” diet is the bane of many a vet’s existence—including me. Nonetheless, I often take a fairly neutral stance on the subject, preferring to counsel clients through the process while littering the exam room air (not to mention my medical records) with disclaimers aplenty. Still, I love this topic. Nutrition is such an un-sexy subject for so many of us that it’s gratifying to find the one area within its purview that has the ability to raise our collective hackles (with the notable exception of the pet food recall, of course). I offer this disclaimer-ish preface to an article on feeding raw foods partly because I know I’ll be set upon by wolves within a few lines—no matter which way my opinion leans. Because, as many of you already know, raw food is …
Vetoquinol Appoints Teresa Hanson To Direct MarketingApril 17, 2009 Vetoquinol USA of Fort Worth, Texas, has hired Teresa Hanson as U.S. director of marketing and product management. Hanson will lead all marketing and product management activities for Vetoquinol’s veterinary and retail segments, including Tomlyn Products. A key focus will be increasing brand awareness among pet owners and veterinary professionals. Before joining Vetoquinol, Hanson held several marketing and business development leadership roles at Electronic Data Systems. “At Vetoquinol USA, our goals are providing products that enable veterinarians to practice better medicine and better manage their practices, and offering pet owners a comprehensive line of wellness products for the life of their pets,” said Manny Martinez, the company’s managing director. “With the addition of Teresa Hanson to our leadership team, we are 犀利士 well positioned for success.” <HOME>
Clinical Trials To Begin On New Pain Relief FormulationApril 17, 2009 Lesley Smith, DVM, an anesthesiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, is gearing up to begin clinical trials on a new injectable pain-relieving drug formulation, said to be the first extended-release product that delivers opioids continuously and effectively. She said the initial studies, which involved determining the appropriate dosages in beagles, had excellent results. “We’re hoping our new pain relief injections will perform as well as or better than the current standard of care, which is usually a continuous drip of fentanyl analgesic via an intravenous catheter,” Dr. Smith said. So far, the liposome-encapsulated opioids, developed by Timothy Heath, Ph.D., at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy and Lisa Krugner-Higby, DVM, of the Research Animal Resources Center, have provided steady, long-acting pain relief, coupled with ease of use. Depending on formulation strength, the injectable can provide pain relief for either five days (for acute pain) or 21 days (for chronic pain). “Because this is injectable, and intravenous catheters and constant observation are not necessary, the patient will not have to stay in a critical care unit,” Smith said. “Another advantage is that the pain …
Pharmaceutical NewsApril 17, 2009Intervet Develops Bluetongue Vaccine Intervet International bv has developed a vaccine against bluetongue serotype 8 for sheep and cattle. It is expected to be available in May. The United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has already placed an order with Intervet to supply 22.5 million doses of the vaccine. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bluetongue is an insect-borne viral disease primarily of sheep, occasionall goats and deer and, rarely, cattle. It is not contagious and is transmitted only by insect vectors. Just recently, the European Commission said it is will co-finance an emergency mass vaccination campaign against bluetongue. In principle, 100 percent of vaccine purchase costs and 50 percent of vaccine application costs will be covered by the Community budget, subject to certain ceilings for operational costs. Non-emergency vaccination campaigns in following years would be part of the Community co-financed eradication programs. Markos Kyprianou, commissioner for health, estimates that about 150 million to 200 million vaccine doses will be required. Intervet was bought by Schering-Plough Corp. of Kenilworth, N.J., last year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wedgewood, Flavorx Partner for Tasty Meds Wedgewood Pharmacy of Swedesboro, N.J., has teamed with …
Mixed Breeds Live Longer, Study SaysApril 17, 2009 Fireflies might prove a fatal snack to exotic reptiles, according to a health alert released by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Animal Poison Control Center (APCC). Veterinarians should alert pet owners and advise them to take steps to prevent both the intentional or accidental ingestion of these common insects, the center reported. Based on a handful of reports from reptile owners, symptoms of poisoning quickly follow a lizard's ingestion of fireflies. These symptoms include head shaking, oral gaping, unsuccessful attempts at regurgitation and a darkening in color. The symptoms usually appear within 30 minutes of ingestion, and death might follow within the hour. Death is thought to be a result of heart malfunction. "A single firefly would have a very high probability of resulting in death," says Dr. Steve Hansen, board-certified veterinary toxicologist and director of the APCC. The warning is being issued to amphibian and bird owners as well. In addition to the lizard cases, fatal poisonings in tree frogs have been documented. In another instance, a bird that ingested a firefly regurgitated it but did not die, says Hansen. The health alert is based on about a half-dozen …
Calif. Vets Face Off On Farm Cruelty MeasureApril 17, 2009California veterinarians are in conflict with one another again. This time, it's over Proposition 2, also known as "The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act." Proponents are trying to regulate the housing and care of farm animals, especially egg-laying hens. Other efforts are ongoing to provide more humane husbandry for pigs, veal calves and livestock. Most of the general population does not even think about the issues involved in intense food animal production. However, when people are asked how they would vote, they want to be kind. Our profession is being taken to task over this issue because opponents feel that Prop. 2 will force egg production out of California, while proponents feel that eliminating battery cages for egg-laying hens is the right thing to do and that industry can make the adjustment over time. Prop. 2 is supported by the California Veterinary Medical Assn. (based upon the "8 Basic Freedoms" adopted by the CVMA during Dr. Jon Klingborg's presidency) and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Assn. HSVMA is a well-funded national organization with thousands of members, including the members of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, who were merged into the group at …
