WVA, Ceva announce new WVA Animal Welfare awardSeptember 20, 2018Following the World Veterinary Association (WVA) Animal Welfare Awards in 2017 and 2018, Ceva Santé Animale and WVA in collaboration with the International Veterinary Students Association will this year add a new category recognizing a veterinary student for his/her involvement and engagement in animal welfare. The WVA Animal Welfare Award 2019 will be presented to six selected veterinarians from the WVA's six geographical regions and to one veterinary student from around the world. The award ceremony will take place during the 35th World Veterinary Association Congress on April 28, 2019, in San Jose, Costa Rica. The aim of the WVA Animal Welfare Awards is to recognize and reward veterinarians who in their daily lives contribute to the protection and welfare of animals and have provided outstanding and exemplary welfare-related services to animals, animal owners, fellow veterinarians, and the public. "World Veterinary Association and Ceva Santé Animale recognize veterinarians and veterinary students for their exemplary work in protecting and promoting Animal Welfare," said the WVA in a statement. In addition, WVA and Ceva are hoping to expand the awards categories further to include veterinary schools in future editions, recognizing them for animal …
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KSU veterinary researchers, Anivive license FIP antiviral drugSeptember 20, 2018A collaboration at Kansas State University and Anivive Lifesciences is promoting the commercial development of GC376, an antiviral compound for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which previously has had no effective treatment or cure. Yunjeong Kim, DVM, PhD, ACVM, and Kyeong-Ok "KC" Chang, DVM, MS, PhD, virologists at KSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, and William Groutas, a medicinal chemist at Wichita State University, have been collaborating since 2006 to develop antiviral drugs for human and animal viruses. The licensing agreement was coordinated by the KSU Institute for Commercialization with Anivive Lifesciences, a California company whose proprietary software accelerates the discovery and development process of new pet medicines. "We have been working on antiviral drugs that inhibit a specific virus protease of some important human and animal viruses, and we were able to make very potent inhibitors of FIP," Dr. Kim said. "Through collaborative work with Niels Pedersen at the University of California, Davis—including a field trial on feline patients—we became increasingly hopeful that antiviral treatment may one day substantially benefit cats with FIP. Licensing our compound to Anivive Lifesciences is a huge step forward in transitioning our research to commercialization to make this treatment available to the …
Assistive devices give pets with disabilities a new "leash" on lifeSeptember 20, 2018The resources and support available are a much-needed big step forward from the days when a veterinarian had few options to offer a pet owner with a disabled pet. These days, when a pet owner with a disabled companion animal asks her veterinarian, “Will my pet still have a good quality of life?” the answer can be, in many cases, a resounding “Yes.”
Purina Institute seeks to advance nutritional scienceSeptember 20, 2018Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. intends for its newly launched Purina Institute to be "the global voice of Purina's science representing its more than 500 scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts who are on a mission to advance nutritional science to help pets live longer, healthier lives," said the company in a statement. The institute seeks to elevate the topic of pet nutrition with veterinarians to drive conversations with pet owners about the role of nutrition in overall pet health. Current research shows that 83 percent of pet owners say they completely trust veterinarians to provide helpful information on pet food, but only 22 percent of veterinarians report initiating nutrition conversations with their clients. The Purina Institute will: Share Purina's nutritional discoveries (e.g., brain and digestive health, molecular nutrition), while leveraging expertise from Purina and Nestlé affiliates making discoveries in human nutrition Facilitate knowledge sharing and innovation by showcasing objective, fact-based information sourced from the wider scientific community on current trending topics across pet and human nutrition Collaborate with the global veterinary community and scientific thought leaders by hosting scientific events, roundtables, panel discussions, and webinars at the Institute's Conference and Education Facility in St. Louis Support …
Auburn CVM, fine arts museum enhance student radiology trainingSeptember 19, 2018The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art have teamed up to teach veterinary students how to sharpen their radiology-reading skills. Students volunteered at the museum, examined works of art on display, and were asked to objectively describe the visual details they saw in each one and use the details to interpret the artwork. They then, along with Rachel Moon, DVM, DACVR, assistant clinical professor of radiology in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and Scott Bishop, curator of academic and public programs at the museum, entered the classroom to discuss their findings and interpretations. At the end of the session, students applied their newly developed skill set to examine radiographs and other diagnostic images. "Interpretation is based on our actual experience. There can be a lot of different interpretations based on a central theme," said Dr. Moon. "This is a pilot program for the college, but one that other medical training programs have adopted and one I felt was applicable to the clinical education of our student veterinarians." According to Dr. Moon, radiology is an integrated process between the art and the science of discovery …
How infographics boost veterinary practices' public relations and marketingSeptember 19, 2018Although infographics have been around for a while, many people aren't clear on what they are and how to use them. An infographic is a graphic display of data, information, facts, opinions, etc., intended to organize information in a visual, easy-to-digest manner to quickly and clearly help viewers understand the message. Often, infographics include photos, illustrations, statistics, and facts. Infographics actually have been around for centuries. No doubt you've seen them throughout your lifetime, you probably just didn't realize you were looking at one. One important infographic you likely encountered during your school years is the Periodic Table of Elements. Today, many businesses use infographics to share important information. They are ideal for the veterinary industry. Several of my Chicago-area clients used an infographic to help spread the word about the highly-contagious H3N2 Canine Influenza Virus when it first hit the United States in 2015. It was used by multiple veterinary clinics, local shelters, and news media, and was shared in print and via social media. It reached an estimated 100,000 people. This infographic was so popular that one of my colleagues discovered it at a local dog park. Someone, unknown to us, had likely come across the infographic …
Performance Dog recalls all frozen raw pet foodSeptember 19, 2018Bravo Packing Inc. of Carneys Point, N.J., has issued a voluntary recall of all Performance Dog products, a frozen raw pet food, due to potential Salmonella contamination. The company's recall comes after a sample of Performance Dog, collected during an FDA inspection, tested positive for Salmonella. No human or animal illnesses have been reported to date. Performance Dog generally works with the distributor Tefco, located in Brooklyn, which fills orders to brick-and-mortar retail stores or to consumers directly. Performance Dog comes frozen in 2-lb. and 5-lb. plastic sleeves. The recalled product has manufacture date code 071418. The manufacture date codes are printed on the boxes that contain the plastic sleeves, but not on the individual plastic sleeves. Therefore, if the cardboard box has been discarded, there are no unique identification numbers on the individual sleeves that allow customers to determine that they possess the recalled products. If you purchased this product since July 14 and cannot determine whether it is affected by the recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that you exercise caution and throw the product away. Consumers with questions should contact Bravo Packing Inc. at 856-299-1044, Monday - Friday 6 a.m. -2 p.m., and Saturday 4 …
Understanding the anatomy of canine and feline salivary glandsSeptember 18, 2018Salivary glands play an important role at the entrance to the digestive system. We tend to take these structures for granted until something goes wrong. Too little saliva results in xerostomia, though this condition seems to be rare (or rarely diagnosed) in the species we treat.
Purdue awarded $3M grant to expand DVM diversity, opportunitySeptember 18, 2018Purdue University's College of Veterinary Medicine has been awarded a $3.18-million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand access to the veterinary profession for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and address the need for more rural/food safety veterinarians. The Vet Up! National Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) Academy for Veterinary Medicine will address the national shortage of veterinarians in public health and rural/food animal practice in the state and beyond, as well as the lack of underrepresented individuals entering the veterinary profession. Vet Up! will leverage the university's history of diversity programming and partnerships with high schools as well as historically black colleges, universities, and state entities to design and deliver curricula that provide otherwise-inaccessible opportunities to students. Purdue's Evaluation and Learning Research Center will assess the impact of the programming on participants and the veterinary profession. The Vet Up! National Academy consists of three areas: Vet Up! Champions is a yearlong program to prepare high school students, working adults, and undergraduate students to attain their next level of education on the path toward a veterinary medical degree Vet Up! College is a summer immersion program to prepare undergraduate students to competitively apply to a …
Bayer, NeuroCycle partner to advance pet allergy treatmentsSeptember 18, 2018Bayer Animal Health and NeuroCycle Therapeutics Inc. have signed a global license agreement to advance allergy treatment options for companion animals. As part of the license agreement, Bayer will develop and commercialize novel compounds based on NeuroCycle's intellectual property. "[This] agreement underlines our strategy to combine the know-how from creative startup companies like NeuroCycle with opportunities derived from Bayer's research," said Douglas Hutchens, DVM, PhD, Bayer Animal Health's head of drug discovery, external innovation and chief veterinary officer. "It is a major milestone on our way to complementing our portfolio with novel treatment options against allergic diseases for the companion animal sector." The companies' goal is to maximize the humanitarian impact of their innovative technologies, according to Jed Hubbs, PhD, MS, CEO of NeuroCycle Therapeutics.
