University of Wisconsin Gains New Professorship in Companion Animal HealthFebruary 24, 2016The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine recently reported that Peter Muir, BVSc, Ph.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery and co-director of the Comparative Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, is the first to be named the Melita Grunow Family Professor in Companion Animal Health. The endowed professorship was made possible by a $500,000 gift from animal lover Melita Grunow and a match from UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge (Grunow’s brother-in-law and sister). The professorship will be bestowed upon a different SVM faculty member every five years and will provide $45,000 annually to support research that benefits companion animals. Dr. Muir plans to advance several research projects in the coming years with the help of the new funding, according to the university. This includes discoveries related to the genetic components of canine cruciate rupture, acquired laryngeal paralysis, and equine degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis; the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs; and the management of condylar stress fracture in Thoroughbred racehorses. “This professorship will definitely support some innovative discovery research,” Muir said. “I’m also excited about the possibilities it will create for the education of veterinary medical students and the career development of veterinary clinician-scientists.” …
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Veterinary Hospital Cares for Three Sea TurtlesFebruary 24, 2016In January, 2,000 sea turtles that had washed up on the shores of North Carolina. They were feeding when the temperatures dropped and they were unable to get back to warmer water quick enough. While some have been released back into the water, others are still in rehab and three had to make a trip to the Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital in Durham, N.C., for treatment. One turtle arrived with a hole in its shell, which a CAT scan revealed had nearly missed the spinal cord, according to The News & Observer. The turtle is expected to recover over the next few weeks. Another turtle arrived with paralyzed flippers. NC Aquariums’ Emily Christiansen, DVM, is considering an acupuncture treatment. The third sea turtle arrived at the veterinary hospital with a lacerated flipper. Mike Grafinger, DVM DACVS-SA Dipl. ACVS and co-owner of Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital, performed the surgical repair. Dr. Grafinger pioneered sea turtle flipper repair while he was a resident, The News & Observer reports. As seen in the video above, Grafinger stitched the flipper using a metal wire, then used red tubing as a splint. When the sea turtle …
Veterinary Staff Performs Cesarean Section on GorillaFebruary 24, 2016Have you ever had to perform a Cesarean section on an animal? What about on a gorilla? The veterinary staff at Bristol Zoo Gardens in the U.K. had to on Feb. 12. Kera, a western lowland gorilla, was showing “symptoms of potentially life-threatening pre-eclampsia,” according to the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England. Veterinary staff assessed Kera, and the decision to perform a C-section was made. It was the first time a gorilla had been born by the procedure at this zoo. Dr. David Cahill, St. Michael’s Hospital gynecologist and reproductive medicine and medical education professor at Bristol University, was called in. “Having been involved with the care of these gorillas over the years, with some trepidation and excitement, we were invited to the Zoo to assess the well-being of Kera, because she was in late pregnancy and showed some signs of being unwell,” Cahill told Bristol Zoo. “Following our assessment, we considered that Kera might have a condition that humans get (pre-eclampsia) and that the only way to treat it was by delivery. We also thought that the baby in her uterus was showing signs of being …
One Health Case Studies Now OnlineFebruary 23, 2016The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges has teamed up with another organization to publish 15 case studies on One Health topics. The material, produced by researchers and available at http://bit.ly/1WH4qr7, may be used by instructors in fields such as veterinary medicine, human medicine and public health. One Health is a concept that closely links the health of animals, people and the environment. “This is one of our most promising initiatives in the area of One Health,” said AAVMC’s executive director, Andrew T. Maccabe, DVM, MPH, JD. “What’s unique about this program is it unites different health professions on a common platform to begin educating new generations of health professionals about the One Health approach.” The case studies range from “A Veteran and His Dog,” which focuses on carbon monoxide poisoning, to “Pet Ownership,” which addresses the health benefits of human-animal interaction. Each online report, selected from among 34 proposals, targets a potential audience and offers student and facilitator materials. “Pet Ownership,” for example, is recommended for veterinary, veterinary technician, medical, nursing and public health students. Managing the project with AAVMC were the Association for Prevention, Teaching and Research and the Washington, D.C., organization’s Healthy People Curriculum …
Equine Ulcer Drug Performs Well in StudyFebruary 23, 2016A proof-of-concept study conducted by Jaguar Animal Health revealed that one of the company’s investigational new animal drugs, code-named SB-300, may be a faster and more effective treatment for glandular ulcers in horses. Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is commonly treated with omeprazole, but the drug may remain in a horse’s system for up to three days, a potential violation if a performance or race horse is required to be drug-free near the time of competition. Jaguar’s SB-300, which is made from a botanical extract of the Croton lechleri tree, is minimally absorbed within the gut, said CEO and President Lisa Conte, MS, MBA. “We intend to demonstrate that SB-300 is not systemically absorbed in horses, thereby providing a treatment regimen that can continue without mandatory withdrawal prior to competition,” Conte said. “Moreover, we also aim to demonstrate that SB-300 can be administered in the presence of feed, another constraint of omeprazole administration.” Jaguar’s blinded, randomized study looked at 30 standardbred or thoroughbred racehorses suffering from both non-glandular and glandular gastric ulcerations. Broken into three groups, the horses were either administered water-filled syringes every six hours, 5 grams of SB-300 divided into two doses a day, or 40 grams of …
Veterinarian Performs Emergency Surgery After Dog Swallows Coat HangerFebruary 23, 2016You’ve probably seen your fair share of dogs that have swallowed foreign objects. Some are common, some are strange and some are featured in our annual "They Ate What?!" X-ray contest. Then there are the dogs that swallow objects and end up needing emergency surgery. For Indy, an emaciated dog who swallowed an 8-inch portion of a plastic coat hanger, that is exactly what happened. Indy arrived at the Michigan Humane Society (MHS) weighing only 11 pounds. Her bones were visible and, according to MHS, “you could see an obvious hard object sticking out from her stomach.” Michigan Humane Society veterinarian Amy Koppenhoefer, DVM, examined Indy, only to find that the coat hanger the young dog had swallowed was embedded in her stomach. A portion of the dog’s stomach also had to be removed. Though the surgery was difficult, it was successful and Indy recovered at a foster home. She is now available for adoption. Do you have a similar story to share? Tell us about it in the comments.
Virginia Tech Researcher to Develop Porcine VaccineFebruary 23, 2016A researcher at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech has received at a two-year, $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop a new vaccine against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. The virus, first discovered in North America in 2013, has resulted in at least 10 million pig deaths, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). “The process starts in the laboratory here using molecular techniques to make genetic changes to the virus and test it in small-scale tissue cultures in the laboratory,” said Adam Rogers, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology. “If we find a mutation or mutations that will make the virus non-pathogenic, then we will move onto an animal test. We are starting with the emergent American strain of the virus so that we will end up designing a vaccine specifically targeted to control the disease here.” Rogers’ mentor X.J. Meng, University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Virology, said that even though the researchers were using the emergent U.S. virus strain, a new vaccine based on the U.S. strain …
MWI Buys U.K. Veterinary CooperativeFebruary 18, 2016Veterinary products distributor MWI Animal Health fortified its presence in the United Kingdom on Tuesday with the takeover of a 460-member buying cooperative. The terms of the transaction were not released. St. Francis Group works with veterinary practices across the U.K. and Northern Ireland and was founded in 1991 by veterinarian John Hodgkin, BVMS, MRCVS. The company, the largest of its kind in the U.K., negotiates vendor and manufacturer discounts on behalf of members. MWI was known as MWI Veterinary Supply Inc. until its sale in early 2015 to international drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen. “We believe that adding the resources of AmerisourceBergen to [St. Francis’] existing expertise and tools will further strengthen the impact they’re able to create for their members,” said MWI’s executive vice president and president, James F. Cleary Jr. MWI, which is based in Boise, Idaho, and does more than $3 billion in annual sales, last summer acquired Vetswest Ltd., a veterinary service provider to member U.K. practices.
Aratana Seeks Approval of Osteoarthritis TherapyFebruary 18, 2016Aratana Therapeutics Inc. is asking for U.S. and European approvals of a treatment for osteoarthritis pain and inflammation in dogs. Prompt action from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine could lead to Galliprant (grapiprant tablets) being made available to veterinarians this fall, according to the Leawood, Kan., company. An administrative New Animal Drug Application—the company’s first—was filed in late January. Aratana reported Wednesday that a marketing authorization application for Galliprant was submitted to the European Medicines Agency. If the agency and the European Commission approve the application, the therapeutic could be released overseas as early as 2017. The company described Galliprant as a “first-in-class piprant” that binds to the EP4 prostaglandin receptor antagonist on the PGE2 pathway to block pain and inflammation. “If approved, Galliprant will offer veterinarians a new option to treat dogs with osteoarthritis pain," said chief development officer Ernst Heinen, DVM, Ph.D. Five-year-old Aratana also announced that Tactress, a monoclonal antibody formulated for use in dogs with T-cell lymphoma, earned full licensure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Veterinary Biologics. Another product, Blontress, which is used to treat canine B-cell lymphoma, has a full USDA license as well. Aratana …
Study: Many Shelter Dogs Mislabeled as ‘Pit Bull’February 18, 2016Many shelter dogs are often mistakenly labeled as a pit bull, according to a new study by the University of Florida. The study, which was recently published in The Veterinary Journal, identified the inaccuracies through DNA testing. “Animal shelter staff and veterinarians are frequently expected to guess the breed of dogs based on appearance alone,” said Julie Levy, DVM, Ph.D., a professor of shelter medicine at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine and lead author of the study. “Unlike many other things people can’t quite define but ‘know when they see it,’ identification of dogs as pit bulls can trigger an array of negative consequences, from the loss of housing, to being seized by animal control, to the taking of the dog’s life. In the high-stakes world of animal shelters, a dog’s life might depend on a potential adopter’s momentary glimpse and assumptions about its suitability as a pet. If the shelter staff has labeled the dog as a pit bull, its chances for adoption automatically go down in many shelters.” The past few decades have brought an increase in ownership restrictions on breeds including pit bulls and …
