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 …
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Practice Specialist iVET360 Adds Service OptionsFebruary 18, 2016iVET360, which provides management services to more than 75 veterinary clinics nationwide, has split its offerings into three levels in a move to sign up more independently owned hospitals. The Portland, Ore., company assists with staff development, marketing and analytics. Until now, iVET360’s typical customer—a hospital averaging $3 million in annual revenue—purchased the all-inclusive Platinum service level. The new Silver and Gold levels are designed for clinics that “weren’t able to commit to the Platinum package,” said founder and CEO Matt Murray. Silver services focus on marketing aspects such as branding, the Internet, call tracking and client communications. The Gold package includes the Silver offerings and adds analytical software to help with operational needs and pet owner compliance. Not all of iVET360’s products come with a price tag. A free monthly webinar on marketing, staff training and operational analytics attracted a record 90 hospitals in February. The company reported that iVET360 customers saw revenue rise by an average of 17 percent in 2015 and the number of new clients increase by 24 percent. The management team includes three Oregon practitioners acting as advisers: Kim Freeman, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM; Laird Goodman, DVM, CVA; and Gregg Takashima, DVM.
Veterinarian Comforts Dog by Eating Breakfast with Her in Her CageFebruary 17, 2016Andy Mathis, DVM, runs Granite Hills Animal Care in Elberton, Ga. Just like other veterinarians, he treats many animals. While most of his (and your) patients are likely pets, the occasional stray comes in. For Mathis, that stray came in the form of a female pit bull. Dubbed Graycie, the dog was “emaciated, starved (20 pounds), dehydrated, hypothermic (temperature of 95), anemic… with a vaginal prolapse,” the Granite Hills Facebook page states. Mathis first considered euthanizing Graycie, but wanted to give her a chance, with the encouragement of friends and Facebook fans. He took her to the veterinary teaching hospital at the University of Georgia. Their treatment resulted in improvement of her temperature, rehydration and the temporary reduction of her prolapse. A urinary catheter was also put in place. Graycie returned to Mathis’s care a couple days later. From February 1 through 8, she ate on her own, gained some weight and her blood levels improved. Her urinary catheter was removed on February 8 and the following Thursday Mathis spayed her. Mathis wrote in the Facebook post that Graycie hasn’t been eating comfortably, so he’s taken to eating his breakfast with her in …
New Flea Medication Made for Cats, DogsFebruary 16, 2016CAP IM Supply Inc., a young company in the pet medications market, today released ParaDefense, a veterinary-exclusive flea preventive for cats and dogs. ParaDefense (imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen) is sold by distributor Henry Schein Animal Health and is marketed as a lower cost option for price-sensitive clients. The monthly topical drug also is seen as a way to entice pet owners to shop for anti-flea medications at a veterinary clinic—and visit more often—rather than purchase elsewhere. The Atlanta company cited a 2015 study that found two-thirds of pet owners bought flea and tick drugs from non-veterinary sources. ParaDefense contains the insecticide imidacloprid and the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen. A four-month supply comes in two sizes for cats and four for dogs. The medication is formulated to kill all flea life stages, work on dogs within 12 hours of application and remain effective after bathing, according to the manufacturer. ParaDefense is the first product from CAP IM Supply, which was established in 2014.
Free Service Animal Eye Exams Back for Ninth YearFebruary 16, 2016Online registration will begin April 1 for an American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists charity event that has provided service animals with 45,000 free eye screenings since 2008. The ninth annual National Service Animal Eye Exam Event will take place throughout May, but advance registration is required at www.ACVOeyeexam.org to allow time for appointments to be made with participating board-certified ophthalmologists. The event is co-sponsored by ACVO and Stokes Pharmacy of Laurel, N.J. Eligible service animals include those working in these fields: guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and therapy. An example is a young Labrador retriever named Rue, who is trained to act as a diabetic alert dog for Michigan teenager Katie Krampitz. “Rue maintains eye contact with Katie, responding to nonverbal as well as verbal instructions,” ACVO reported. “When Katie’s blood sugar level is out of range, Rue will locate her testing kit and bring it to her. If her blood sugar level gets too low, Rue can retrieve a juice box for Katie and is also being trained to call 911 should Katie be unresponsive.” Rue’s eyesight was tested during the 2015 event. She passed. “Katie and Rue’s story is just one of more than …
MSU Gains 2 New Vet ScholarshipsFebruary 16, 2016The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine has gained two new scholarships with the help of a husband-and-wife team in Zachary, La. Both are MSU graduates. The Dr. Elizabeth B. Ezelle and Mr. Robert L. Ezelle Endowed and Annual Scholarships will be available to full-time students enrolled in CVM’s doctor of veterinary medicine program. Those selected must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average (based on a 4.0 scale), according to the university. A 2011 CVM graduate, Elizabeth Ezelle came to MSU after receiving an undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in 2006. She currently practices at Plains Veterinary Hospital in Zachary. Robert Ezelle is a 2005 Millsaps graduate who enrolled at MSU for a second bachelor’s degree. He completed mechanical engineering studies in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering in 2010 and now is a fired equipment engineer for ExxonMobil Global Services Corp. The couple used the ExxonMobil Foundation’s matching gift program to establish the scholarships.
Illinois Vet College Enhances Anatomy Class with Painted SkullsFebruary 12, 2016The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine has found that using painted skulls as a teaching tool can help students better learn anatomy. Ashley Lynch, one of the instructional laboratory specialists, came up with the idea of painting the skulls in 2014 after one student wrote, “I hate anatomy,” on the zygomatic arch of a canine skull. “The skull anatomy section is intense,” said Lynch, who assists 130 first-year veterinary students in the anatomy course. “They have about 80 pages on skull anatomy to memorize in four weeks. Identifying the parts on actual skulls solely by reviewing the two-dimensional images is very difficult.” Despite various attempts, they were unable to remove the graffiti, the university reported. “The only solution we could come up with was to cover over the writing with white paint,” Lynch said. “Then I got an idea. I used leftover model paint to make the individual bones of the skull different colors.” When the students saw the painted skull, they all wanted to use it because it was so helpful for distinguishing the bones, according to the university. Seeing the painted skull’s success, Lynch decided …
Florida Vet Professor Named Fellow in National Inventors GroupFebruary 11, 2016Roy Curtiss, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has been elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He’s being recognized for “the broad impact his scientific work has had on society and for his support and enhancement of innovation.” Dr. Curtiss’ career spans more than 50 years, contributing to the fields of genetics, microbiology, biomedical sciences and vaccinology. His pioneering work in the areas of microbial pathogenesis, genetic manipulation and vaccine development has been used to address problems of world concern in animal, human and environmental health, according to the university. Vaccines that Curtiss has designed, constructed and evaluated have been used to protect agriculturally important animals as well as humans from a variety of infectious diseases. Curtiss recently developed several new ways of constructing vaccines for different strains of salmonella, the university further noted. “Science excites me every day,” Curtiss said. “It provides new highs through learning something new, discovering new ways to achieve solutions to significant problems and through the process of successfully organizing joint efforts to make contributions.”
UF Professor, Brucellosis Expert Paul Nicoletti Dies at 83February 10, 2016Paul Nicoletti, DVM, MS, a longtime University of Florida benefactor and infectious diseases professor who got his start in government service, died Jan. 31. He was 83. Dr. Nicoletti, who was raised on a dairy farm in Goodman, Mo., may never have pursued veterinary medicine had he not received a $150 scholarship from Sears, Roebuck and Co., the university reported. “I’m not going to tell you I wouldn’t have gone to college without it, but for a 17-year-old boy who was tired of milking cows, the incentive that scholarship provided truly made a difference,” Nicoletti stated in a 2013 UF article. “It was not just a financial incentive, but a psychological one as well.” Nicoletti earned his veterinary degree from the University of Missouri in 1956 and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. His career in public health began in 1962 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he served as a regional epidemiologist. A four-year role with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization took him to Iran as an epizootiologist—someone who studies disease outbreaks in animal populations. His return to USDA landed him a job in Gainesville, Fla., in 1975, and about three years …
Quebec Forbids Cosmetic Veterinary ProceduresFebruary 9, 2016Cosmetic tail docking and ear cropping will be banned in Quebec starting in 2017, leaving Alberta and Ontario as the only Canadian provinces to permit the surgical procedures on dogs and cats. Quebec veterinary regulators also extended the tail-shortening protection to horses and cattle. British Columbia banned canine ear cropping last fall, but whether its move and Quebec’s will lead to a nationwide prohibition on cosmetic procedures is uncertain. The 4,400-member Ontario Veterinary Medical Association stated that it opposes cosmetic surgery but that the province’s regulatory body, the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, has not raised the issue since 2012. A meeting then involving pet breeders and OVMA “was unable to come to a consensus because it involved altering breed standards, and by 2013 CVO halted the process,” the organization reported. CVO will address the topic again in March. “The council of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario thoroughly examined medically unnecessary veterinary surgery, commonly known as cosmetic surgery, in 2011 and developed and published its current guidelines in 2012,” CVO stated. “The council is actively engaged in monitoring trends in animal welfare and risks to animal health in relation to the practice of veterinary medicine. Recent discussion in …
