iVET360 2018 report analyzes key veterinary clinic marketing metricsOctober 8, 2018 iVET360 veterinary services company released its annual Veterinary Marketing Benchmark Report, revealing statistics and trends in veterinary marketing for 2018. In the report, the company analyzed the marketing metrics of 1,000 accredited hospitals and covered approximately 27,000 data points to highlight crucial new information for practices regarding their marketing efforts. Topics covered in the report include introducing Nextdoor as a marketing tool, stressing the importance of Google (specifically highlighting the power of Google Ads—a tool only being used by 10 percent of hospitals), proper SEO usage, all things Google My Business, and the average number of reviews a practice has across their most dependable social channels. "Along with providing marketing assistance to veterinary hospitals, our goal is to lead the way and educate the industry on the most current and relevant marketing methods," said Justin Vandeberghe, managing director of creative services at iVET360. "Hospitals often contact us looking for industry benchmarks while asking us what they should be doing, and this report outlines what that average veterinary hospital hopes to achieve." Veterinary practices can download the report and receive a complimentary digital report of their business (within 24 hours) by contacting iVET360 and providing their …
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Dog DNA company discovers why huskies have blue eyesOctober 8, 2018A duplication on canine chromosome 18 is behind Siberian huskies' blue eyes, according to a study published in PLOS Genetics by Adam Boyko, PhD, founder and CEO of Embark Veterinary, and Aaron Sams, PhD, senior scientist at Embark Veterinary Inc. and colleagues. According to the authors, this is the first consumer genomics study conducted in a nonhuman model and the largest canine genome-wide association study to date (the DNA of 6,000 dogs was tested). Embark Veterinary is a DNA research company with offices in Boston and Ithaca, N.Y., and a research partner of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Boyko, Sams, and colleagues used a diverse panel of 6,070 genetically tested dogs from owners that contributed phenotype data via web-based surveys and photo uploads. They found that a 98.6-kilobase duplication on chromosome 18 near the ALX4 gene, which plays an important role in mammalian eye development, was strongly associated with variation in blue eye color, primarily in Siberian huskies but also in nonmerle Australian shepherds. One copy of the variant was enough to cause blue eyes, or heterochromia. However, some dogs with the variant did not have blue eyes, so other genetic or environmental factors are still involved. …
Zoetis 2019 scholarships open to veterinary studentsOctober 6, 2018Zoetis and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges will partner once again in 2019 to provide scholarships to second- and third-year veterinary students in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Eligibility criteria for interested candidates include academic excellence, financial need, diversity, sustainability, leadership, and career interest. Scholarships will be awarded to students in all areas of professional interest, including food animal medicine, small animal clinical medicine, research, government services, public health, and organized veterinary medicine. "Zoetis continues its long-standing commitment to assist veterinary students in alleviating financial debt related to their education," said Christine Jenkins, DVM, DACVIM, chief medical officer and vice president, Veterinary Medical Services and Outcomes Research at the Parsippany, N.J., company. "Each year, we hear from Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarship winners about how these awards helped them offset educational expenses and facilitate experiential learning opportunities such as externships." Recipients of the 2019 Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarship Awards will each receive $2,000Â for the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year. Interested students can visit the Vetvance website to apply or download the Vetvance mobile app, which is available at the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store, from now through Nov. 28. Â
Five trends that will double the U.S. pet health insurance market by 2022October 5, 2018 The U.S. pet health insurance industry, estimated at slightly over $1 billion in 2017, will nearly double to reach $2 billion by 2022, according to Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts market research firm. The findings were featured in the recently published report, Pet Insurance in the U.S., 6th Edition. The pet insurance market will grow more than 14 percent per year, supported by a number of trends in both this emerging market and competitive ones, according to company experts. Increased consumer awareness will be crucial to growth. "Consumers are increasingly aware of the available pet insurance plans in the U.S. marketplace," said David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts. "Through marketing efforts and consumer education by pet insurance companies and associations, consumers are learning the benefits that pet insurance can offer when a pet becomes ill or injured. "For example, pet insurance companies use social media and their websites to grow consumer awareness of their offerings by sharing information on pet health, dog and cat breeds, and how pet insurance works. As market penetration remains low, these efforts are crucial to continued growth in the number of policies in force." Packaged facts targeted …
VolitionRx tests nucleosome diagnostic for veterinary space applicationsOctober 5, 2018 VolitionRx Ltd., a multinational Belgium-based life sciences company with offices in Texas, London, and Singapore, announced it is entering the veterinary market after "very encouraging" preliminary results from a study using its NuQ diagnostic blood tests for canine cancer testing. NuQ, currently used to screen for colorectal and prostate cancers, works by measuring and analyzing irregular levels of nucleosomes—a section of DNA wrapped around a core of proteins—in the blood to identify cancers. According to the company, the proof-of-concept study showed that blood nucleosomes also can be detected in dogs. With the promise of veterinary medicine applications, VolitionRx said it will now move NuQ into larger trials to answer the question of whether the method will work with animals. The company said it intends to outsource much of the veterinary clinical trial work through a partnership with Heather Wilson-Robles, DVM, DACVIM, associate professor and Fred and Vola N. Palmer chair in comparative oncology with Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences in the Small Animal Clinical Sciences department. "The Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine Oncology Department is excited for the opportunity to collaborate with Volition," said Dr. Wilson-Robles. "Its innovative work in …
NC State CVM student wins Walkin' Pets scholarshipOctober 5, 2018Walkin' Pets by HandicappedPets.com announced that Kelly Hood, a fourth-year veterinary student at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded the 2018 Walkin' Pets Veterinarian Scholarship. Hood, from Asbury, N.J., is an unconventional veterinary student who first worked in the entertainment business in New York City and Nashville for many years. She and her husband Charles relocated to Miami, where Kelly had difficulty finding a job in the entertainment industry. She eventually took a job at a kennel, which kindled a desire to redesign her life and become a veterinarian, necessitating a return to school to get her science degree before applying for veterinary school. Upon graduating from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2019, Hood intends to enter the field of small animal veterinary forensics. She also has completed veterinary mission trips to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Arizona, and the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina. On one of her last trips, she brought her six-year-old son Alex. While she was helping to spay and neuter dogs, Alex saw a person drive by and throw a dog out the car window. "Tracker" has joined the family, which also includes …
Companion Animal Health targets mast cell tumors with nanomedicineOctober 4, 2018Companion Animal Health (CAH) in Newark, Del., has secured an exclusive partnership with Nanospectra Biosciences Inc., a medical device company focused on the use of nanomedicine in selective thermal ablation of solid tumors. In 2017, CAH initiated clinical trials in the treatment of canine mast cell tumors using a combined laser and nanoshell therapy procedure that has the ability to destroy solid tumors without damaging adjacent healthy tissue. "Initial results are very encouraging and we anticipate publishing trial outcomes in the near future," said Brian Pryor, PhD, CEO, LiteCure LLC. "We believe this approach will deliver superior efficacy compared to commonly used cancer treatments and will extend pets' quality of life and longevity without harmful side effects." Visit companionanimalhealth.com for more information.
UC Davis study applies human cancer differentiation analysis to dogsOctober 4, 2018The University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine (UCDSVM) is conducting a clinical trial to study the potential application for canine cancer screening using cancer differentiation analysis (CDA) liquid biopsy technology from Anpac Bio-Medical Science Co. Studying at least 186 dogs in a blinded clinical trial, Anpac Bio and UCDSVM are investigating CDA's ability to identify cancer in blood samples from dogs confirmed with sarcomas or carcinomas versus healthy control blood samples from dogs of similar age and breed. Following the initial screening, UCDVSM will then test if CDA levels also correlate to treatment response (i.e. if the dogs' cells are responding to cancer treatment such as surgery or radiation) and monitor remission/potential recurrence. "Dogs are just like people; the sooner we identify disease, the better chance we have in treating and curing it," said John Reddington, DVM, PhD, Anpac Bio's chief advisor for veterinary and comparative research. "Unfortunately, dogs can't tell us when they don't feel well, so, we often catch diseases like cancer late stage. [Anpac Bio's] cancer differentiation analysis liquid biopsy technology has proven to be very useful in detecting over 20 human cancer types with just a single …
Penn Vet doctors receive NIH grant to target canine autoimmune diseaseOctober 4, 2018Nicola J. Mason, BVetMed, PhD, and Aimee S. Payne, MD, PhD, have received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Research Award, part of the institute's High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, for their work in targeting autoimmune disease in dogs. Under the grant, Drs. Mason and Payne are looking to evaluate a genetically engineered cell-based therapy to treat dogs with naturally occurring autoimmune skin disease known as pemphigus. Dogs are one of the few other species to develop pemphigus, a condition that mirrors pemphigus in human patients. Evaluation of this approach to treat pet dogs with the disease may ultimately lead to breakthrough therapies for humans. According to the Autoimmune Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins, at least 10 million Americans suffer from the more than 80 illnesses caused by autoimmunity. "The successful treatment of autoimmunity in the family dog using this unique approach would not only be a breakthrough in veterinary medicine, but could also change the way autoimmune disease is treated in humans," said Mason, associate professor of medicine and pathobiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Penn Vet. "We believe that this work may facilitate the translation of cellular immunotherapies for a broad range of canine …
Morris Animal Foundation funds three equine medicine pilot studiesOctober 4, 2018 The Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) will fund three pilot studies in horse health focusing on parasitic worms and equine metabolic syndrome. The studies, which collectively awarded more than $30,000 in grants, are in addition to eight large-animal research projects the foundation announced in April. Identifying Drug Resistant Parasites, University of Delaware Uses molecular methods to identify which species of equine parasitic worms come back first after deworming. Understanding drug sensitivity and specific resistance mechanisms will help researchers develop more effective and targeted deworming strategies. Evaluating New Equine Metabolic Syndrome Test, Murdoch University, Australia Investigates a new laboratory test to improve diagnosis of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), a metabolic and hormonal disorder in horses. A new efficient and cost-effective EMS test will help veterinarians better diagnose and manage this complex disease in horses. Understanding the Role of the Microbiome in Equine Metabolic Syndrome, Utrecht University, the Netherlands Studies the potential relationship between the bacterial composition of the microbiome and the development of EMS in Shetland ponies. Understanding how EMS develops, and the role of gut bacteria in this process, might provide new opportunities to intervene in early stages of disease and help prevent horses and ponies from …
