Innovative CT Scanner for Horses DebutsDecember 18, 2015Standing up for horses, a New York company has introduced a computed tomography (CT) system that permits whole-body scans of upright and moving equine patients. The Equimagine system uses two or four robotic arms to capture high-resolution, high-speed images from any direction within as little as five to 15 seconds. One of the first installations is planned at the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center, where surgery chief Dean W. Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, said the system can be used to diagnose fractures. “We believe that the technology will allow early identification of horses with incomplete occult fractures in areas that can proceed to catastrophic failure,” Dr. Richardson said. Equimagine, manufactured by Four Dimensional Digital Imaging (4DDI), is designed to generate CT, fluoroscopic and bone-density images and conduct tomosynthesis, dynamic video radiography imaging and digital radiography. A major benefit, 4DDI President George Papaionannou said, is that equine patients are not anesthetized and may be scanned in load-bearing positions such as standing or walking and running on a treadmill. The system will save practitioners “hours and logistical nightmares” compared with the use of traditional equipment, he said. CT scanners often require the use of anesthesia so patients remain still, but …
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Texas A&M Honors 2 Vet Faculty for Teaching ExcellenceDecember 18, 2015The Texas A&M Association of Former Students recently honored Audrey Cook, BVM&S, Dipl. ABVP (feline), Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ECVIM, and Ashley Saunders, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (cardiology) for their excellence in teaching and devotion to their students. Drs. Cook and Saunders are associate professors in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. “This [Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award] recognizes the important contribution Dr. Cook and Dr. Saunders make to the lives of so many here at Texas A&M University,” said Kathryn Greenwade ’88, vice president for communications and human resources at The Association of Former Students. “Texas A&M is fortunate to have many outstanding classroom teachers across our campus, and The Association is proud to recognize the best of the best annually with this meaningful award.” Every year, faculty and students select the honorees of The Association’s College-Level Teaching Award, and they are presented with a plaque and a stipend. The awards begun in 1955 and recognize outstanding members of Texas A&M’s faculty and staff for their commitment, performance and positive impact on Aggie students, Texas citizens and the world around them, the university …
Study: Equine Vets Lagging in Business SkillsDecember 17, 2015Keeping veterinary drugs locked up is a sensible idea. The same goes for sending client reminders and tracking payroll expenses. And maybe hiring a practice management consultant. But a survey conducted by two leading veterinary companies in cooperation with the American Association of Equine Practitioners found that inaction in many areas of business may be diluting the value and profits of horse practices nationwide. “With just a few small tweaks, equine practitioners can empower themselves with new management practices and business technologies that will greatly enhance the efficiency and profitability of their practice,” said researcher Edward J. Blach, DVM, MS, MBA. Merck Animal Health and Henry Schein Animal Health presented findings from the National Equine Veterinary Economic Study in December during the AAEP conference in Las Vegas. What the results showed was that equine practitioners don’t track revenue and expenses very well, and they tend to shun readily available management and communications tools. Of the nearly 500 AAEP members surveyed, 97 percent knew how much total revenue was coming in, but they couldn’t provide a breakdown in most instances. Only about one-third of the respondents could specify their laboratory, imaging, surgery and drug income. Just 1-in-5 could count …
Auburn Vet Professor Receives Teaching Excellence AwardDecember 17, 2015Elaine Coleman, DVM, Ph.D., an associate professor in Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, recently received the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence. The university made the announcement in early December. “Dr. Elaine Coleman is a truly worthy recipient of the Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching,” said Calvin Johnson, DVM, Ph.D., dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “She demonstrates teaching excellence through a deep personal commitment to student learning in a manner that confers a high level of self confidence in the application of knowledge toward clinical situations.” Dr. Coleman teaches veterinary anatomy and neuroscience to first-year veterinary students in the college’s Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology. “I consider Dr. Coleman to be the best and most effective faculty member I’ve had the privilege to work with,” said Edward Morrison, Ph.D., head of the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology. “Dr. Coleman demonstrates a profound knowledge of science that enables her to effectively span basic and clinical sciences. Her professionalism, dedication, style and method instill the life-long learning traits in the student …
What We’re Learning About New Canine FluDecember 16, 2015Middle-aged dogs, not puppies or the geriatric, were hardest hit by the H3N2 influenza strain last March in Chicago. A survey conducted by Merck Animal Health found that 71 percent of stricken dogs were ages 1 to 7 and that day care and boarding facilities were the potential infection source in 8 out of 10 cases. Those are also the places commonly filled with adult dogs that are very social and active—locations perfect for transmitting a virus that infected more than 1,000 animals in Chicago, killing a small number, before spreading to other states. “In human literature they say the very young and the very old are the most susceptible to influenza,” said Jill Lopez, DVM, senior specialist for drug safety at Merck, who supervised the survey. What happened in Chicago with H3N2 disproved that axiom. Veterinarian-submitted data on 81 patients provided insight into the newly identified strain. Clinical Signs Nearly all of the 81 dogs—95 percent—presented with a cough, 70 percent were lethargic and 58 percent had a fever, some as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. “With many of the canine infectious respiratory diseases, you mainly see coughing,” Dr. Lopez said. “With influenza, you see fever and lethargy, too.” …
Bet You Didn’t Know a Veterinarian Sang ‘Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer’December 15, 2015It’s the Christmas season, which means your veterinary office is likely full of Christmas decorations and the holiday music is playing softly in the background. If you have the season off, you might hear the Christmas tunes on your own radio, at stores while you shop or stuck in your head as you desperately try to think of something else. The ones stuck in your head are probably the most popular ones — “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” While you might not know how the songs originated or why they’re still stuck in your head, you can thank a veterinarian for bringing you that last one. Elmo Shropshire, DVM, first recorded the song in 1979 with his then-wife, Patsy. It was written by Dr. Shropshire’s friend, Randy Brooks, and Shropshire and his wife self-released 45 copies as a gag gift for their friends, SFGate reports. A disc jockey named Gene Nelson somehow got his hands on it and started playing it on KSFO. “One day I was driving to work and I turned the radio on and heard the DJ …
Cancer Drug Kinavet No Longer Approved for UseDecember 15, 2015Kinavet-CA1, a daily drug indicated for the treatment of mast cell tumors in dogs, is off the market in the United States at least temporarily because its five-year conditional approval expired. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported today that sale of the oral tablets, produced by AB Science of Chatham, N.J., must cease immediately. The company’s president of U.S. operations, Albert Ahn, DVM, expressed hope that Kinavet (mastinib mesylate) will return in the near future. “The short answer is that we are working to make it the shortest timeline possible,” Dr. Ahn said. “We are working closely with the FDA. We are in regular contact with them.” AB Science submitted documentation in a timely manner, he said. “We have been, over the past five years, generating the data that are needed for earning full approval,” Ahn said. “The FDA has reviewed that information and apparently they feel that there may be some information that may not be complete.” He called Kinavet an effective cancer drug. “We are very, very proud of Kinavet,” he said. “It has helped thousands of dogs that have suffered from mast cell tumors, which is one of the most common canine cancers and unfortunately …
Veterinary Drug Makers Merial, Boehringer Plan MergerDecember 15, 2015Merial, which makes leading pet medications such as Frontline and Heartgard, may merge with competitor Boehringer Ingelheim in late 2016, creating the world’s second-largest animal health company. Merial’s owner, France-based Sanofi S.A., reported today that it wants to trade Merial in exchange for about $5.2 billion and most of Boehringer’s human health care business. The asset swap would push Boehringer, with combined sales of more than $4 billion a year, to No. 2 on the rankings of animal health companies, behind only Zoetis Inc. “Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is and will stay strongly committed to bringing novel, innovation-driven solutions to veterinarians and animal owners,” said Andreas Barner, Ph.D., M.D., chairman of Germany-based BI. “Our combined animal health business would be well positioned for growth and emergence as a leader globally.” Among BI’s top animal medications are the swine vaccine Ingelvac Circoflex, the pain-relief drug Metacam and the Ultra Duramune vaccine for dogs. The merger would be “highly complementary” and build “on Merial’s expertise in companion animals and poultry and BI’s expertise in swine,” the companies stated. BI’s U.S. division, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., is located in St. Joseph, Mo. Merial’s headquarters are in Duluth, Ga., and Lyon, France. Lyon …
Researchers Breed Pigs Resistant to PRRS VirusDecember 15, 2015A team of researchers at Kansas State University, the University of Missouri and global biotechnology company Genus plc say they have developed pigs that are resistant to the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus. Researchers refer to the PRRS virus as the most devastating disease in the swine industry, one that has cost the U.S. pork industry more than $10 billion since it first appeared in the late 1980s. The discovery of PRRS-resistant pigs could significantly improve animal wellbeing and save hundreds of millions of dollars each year, said Raymond “Bob” Rowland, Ph.D., professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, and one of the researchers involved in the discovery. “In the decades that we have had the PRRS virus, we have looked at vaccines, diagnostics and other strategies and we have never been able to eliminate the disease,” Dr. Rowland said. has been studying the PRRS virus for more than 20 years. “This is the first time that we have established the potential to eliminate this devastating disease.” Rowland partnered with several University …
Nutri-Vet Sold to Manna Pro ProductsDecember 14, 2015Manna Pro Products LLC, a manufacturer of livestock feed and large-animal health care items, is moving into the cat and dog market. The Chesterfield, Mo., company reported Dec. 11 that it acquired Nutri-Vet LLC of Boise, Idaho, and in a second transaction, the Petnology Essentials line from 21st Century HealthCare Inc. of Tempe, Ariz. The terms were not disclosed. Nutri-Vet makes a variety of supplements—from Hip and Joint Advanced Strength Chewables for dogs to Multi-Vite Paw-Gel for cats—as well as medical products such as antimicrobial wound spray. The acquisition includes the Nutri-Vet and Optimal Pet brands and private-label manufacturing. Petnology Essentials’ product line ranges from a bladder care supplement for dogs to tear stain pads for cats. “Manna Pro’s acquisition of Nutri-Vet and Petnology are complementary extensions of our company that will benefit customers and the brands in our portfolio,” said Beth Rogers, vice president of marketing. Nutri-Vet co-founder Steve Twohig called Manna Pro “a successful company that has been a recognized leader in the care and nurturing of animals.” “Demand for high-quality companion animal products continues to grow, and consumers will benefit from Manna Pro’s experience, resources and innovation,” Twohig said. Nutri-Vet and Petnology Essentials will operate …
