Do You Know a Hero Vet or Vet Tech?January 29, 2015The American Humane Association is looking for the next Eva DeCozio and Signe Corbin. The Washington, D.C., animal welfare organization is accepting nominations for the second annual Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Technician Awards, which will be presented in September as part of the nationally broadcast Hero Dog Awards. Dr. DeCozio, DVM, of VCA Apache Junction in Higley, Ariz., and Corbin, of Westlake Animal Hospital in Austin, Texas, last year were the inaugural winners of the veterinarian and veterinary technician awards. Nominations are being taken through March 13 at www.herovetawards.org. Finalists selected by a panel of judges will be entered in a public vote that runs from April 29 to July 13. Sponsoring the contest for the second time is veterinary drug maker Zoetis Inc. of Florham Park, N.J. “This year’s winners will be greatly deserving of all the accolades they receive, and we cannot wait to meet them in Los Angeles later this year,” said J. Michael McFarland, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, Zoetis’ group director of Companion Animal Veterinary Operations. The Hero awards “shine a bright spotlight on the best of the best,” said the American Humane Association’s president and CEO, Robin Ganzert, Ph.D. “Whether it’s …
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Georgia Vet College to Host Conference in MarchJanuary 29, 2015 (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Post by The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are invited to attend the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s 52nd Annual Veterinary Conference and Alumni Weekend, to be held March 27-28 at the UGA Center for Continuing Education. Hayley Murphy, DVM, director of veterinary services for Zoo Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker. She will discuss the Great Ape Heart Project, a multi-institutional effort aimed at investigating, diagnosing and treating cardiac disease in apes living in zoological settings. Other presentations will cover topics such as cushings disease, heartworm resistance, diabetes, radiography and compounding drugs, among others. Continuing education credits are available. Honors will also be awarded to distinguished alumni who have led accomplished careers in veterinary medicine. In addition, the annual conference provides training specifically for veterinary technicians. The 12th Annual GVTAA Technician Continuing Education Conference will be held March 28 at the Georgia Center. For details, visit vet.uga.edu/reunion.
First-Class Animal Transit Hub Coming to JFKJanuary 28, 2015The barking of dogs and the bellowing of cattle will compete with the roar of aircraft when The Ark at JFK opens in early 2016 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. A 178,000-square-foot animal handling, quarantine and veterinary operation is being built on the site of a vacant air cargo building in a $48 million project designed to ease the shipment of pets, horses, birds and livestock into and out of the Big Apple. An around-the-clock veterinary hospital will provide everything from general and internal medical services to emergency and critical care, surgery and advanced diagnostics. Overseeing the medicine side will be Lifecare Veterinary Health System, whose partners include Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey, the Veterinary Referral Center in Pennsylvania and East End Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center in New York. The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine assisted with the design of the privately owned Ark at JFK. “We developed The Ark concept to address the unmet needs for the import and export of companion, sporting and agricultural animals,” said founder John J. Cuticelli Jr., the chairman of Racebrook Capital. “The animal terminal will set new international airport standards for comprehensive veterinary, kenneling and quarantine …
Voyce Dog Monitor Available for PurchaseJanuary 28, 2015Voyce, a computerized collar that monitors a dog’s vital signs, is ready for the marketplace more than a year after winning acclaim at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. The $299 device, which requires a prepaid subscription plan, will ship in small, medium and large sizes in March, according to the manufacturer, i4C Innovations Inc. of Chantilly, Va. Orders also are being taken for extra-large collars, which should begin arriving on doorsteps in April. Voyce is being promoted to dog owners and to veterinarians, who can “partner with their clients,” i4C President Jeff Noce said. “By providing vets with objective data trends, previously difficult to obtain, there is now an opportunity for early detection and diagnosis, offering dogs, their pet parents and vets the ability to identify and implement treatment plans earlier and track treatment progress over time,” Noce said. Outfitted with WiFi technology, an accelerometer, sensors and a rechargeable battery, Voyce is designed to measure and transmit resting heart and respiratory rates, activity levels, rest patterns and calories burned. The data may be viewed on desktop and tablet computers and smartphones. Shared with veterinarians, the information helps “connect the dots between visits,” the company stated. The subscription plan …
Registration Opens in April for Free Eye ExamsJanuary 28, 2015Free eye screenings will be offered in May during the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists’ annual National Service Animal Eye Exam Event. The exams are open to certified and active working animals in the United States and Canada or those enrolled in a formal training program. Among the eligible occupations are guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and therapy. Registration for the eighth annual event, which is co-sponsored by Stokes Pharmacy of Mount Laurel, N.J., will run from April 1 to 30 at www.ACVOeyeexam.org. Owners or handlers of eligible service animals will receive a registration number allowing them to schedule a May eye appointment with a participating veterinary ophthalmologist. More than 7,000 animals were served in 2014 and more than 30,000 over the program’s seven years. While dogs are most commonly examined under the program, other animals, such as horses and a donkey, were checked in 2014. ACVO reported that the exams have rooted out eye ailments in hundreds of animals. One guide dog, Swap, was diagnosed in 2012 with pigmentary uveitis, a condition that affects the vision of golden retrievers. “Had I not gone to the event and had Swap’s eyes checked, …
Donors Bankroll Wisconsin Shelter ProgramJanuary 27, 2015The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine is launching the Shelter Medicine Program after successfully raising more than $1.3 million in grants, gifts and pledges. More than a third of the funding—$500,000—is a 10-year pledge from rescue advocates Jeff and Sara Wiesner, whose dogs have been treated at the teaching hospital, the university reported Jan. 20. “We hope the outcome of our gift is a better understanding among new veterinarians of the special challenges facing shelters and rescue groups and how each of them can make a difference helping these organizations,” Jeff Wiesner said. The new program will include a shelter medicine rotation, an elective course, an intensive weeklong course, clinical studies, externships and a student club, the university stated. Directing the program will be clinical assistant professor Sandra Newbury, DVM, the chairwoman of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ Shelter Standards Task Force. She wants to sharply reduce the number of animals—an estimated 2 million to 5 million—that are euthanized each year at U.S. shelters. “There is no affliction among companion animals that even approaches the level of mortality associated with animal homelessness,” Dr. Newbury said. “Veterinarians are uniquely positioned to support the incredible efforts of shelters by …
Study: Dogs with Spinal Cord Injuries May Require Customized TreatmentsJanuary 27, 2015A one-size-fits-all approach is not ideal for treating dogs with spinal cord injuries, according to a clinical trial conducted at the North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The findings may lead the way to personalized treatments for spinal cord injuries, and hopefully better outcomes for canine and potentially human patients, the college noted. The study included 19 paraplegic dogs, all of which had suffered similar spinal cord injuries. All dogs had been injured long enough to rule out any hope of unaided recovery. Two drugs were used in the study: 4-Aminopyridine (4-AP) and a derivative of the drug called t-butyl, which was developed by Daniel Smith and the Center for Paralysis Research at Purdue University. 4-AP has been tested on humans for spinal cord injury, and is currently in use as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. T-butyl has not been tested clinically on humans. Both drugs work by helping damaged nerves transmit signals, according to the college. The trial was a blinded, placebo-controlled, cross over study. All dogs were treated with a placebo and both drugs, each for a two-week block of time assigned randomly, to first determine whether the drugs were effective, and then see whether or …
Rabies Booster Works in Some Exposed PetsJanuary 26, 2015Pets whose rabies vaccination has expired will likely survive exposure to the deadly virus if they are quickly given a booster, according to Kansas State University researchers. The discovery also means that pet owners potentially could choose short-term quarantine of such animals at home rather than euthanasia. Many states now require unvaccinated pets that are exposed to rabies to be quarantined for six months at an animal control facility, a costly proposition for owners faced with paying thousands of dollars in kennel bills. “This has the potential to save a lot of pets’ lives,” said Michael Moore, DVM, MPH, the project manager at the Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Our hope is that now animals with an out-of-date vaccination status that are exposed to rabies will be allowed to be handled the same as dogs and cats with up-to-date vaccinations. They will be given a booster and a 45-day observation at home.” The study, published Jan. 15 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, was the first to present scientific data on animals with out-of-date rabies vaccinations, Kansas State reported. Most of the 74 dogs and 33 cats that Dr. Moore and his colleagues …
Wildlife, Exotic Animal Medicine Symposium to be Held in AprilJanuary 24, 2015The Wildlife and Exotic Animal Medicine Symposium will take place April 11-12 at the University of California, Davis. Up to 16 hours of continuing education credit are available. The program will include: “Developments in the Surveillance of Wildlife Zoonotic Viruses” by Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, Ph.D.; “Avian Self-Mutilation” by Liz Stelow, DVM, Dipl. ACVB; “Latest Developments in Locally Threatened Wildlife” by David Jessup, DVM, MPVM, Dipl. ACZM; “Diseases and Medicine of Pet Hedgehogs: An Update” by James Carpenter, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACZM; “Advancements in the Field of Clinical Oncology in Zoological Settings” by Tara Harrison, DVM, Dipl. ACZM; and “Rabbits & Rodents - Ectoparasites & Beyond” by Stephen White, DVM, Dipl. ACVD; among other topics. The symposium is sponsored by the Wildlife and Aquatic Animal Medicine Club and the Avian and Exotic Medicine Club. For details, visit the website here.
Interceptor Heartworm Drug Returns Under ElancoJanuary 22, 2015Elanco Animal Health has revived a long-gone parasiticide with the reintroduction of the heartworm drug Interceptor Flavor Tabs. The Greenfield, Ind., veterinary drug maker inherited Interceptor from Novartis Animal Health, which discontinued the monthly medication in 2013 because of quality-control issues. Elanco absorbed Novartis in a $5.4 billion takeover that took effect Jan. 1. Interceptor Flavor Tabs, which are set to return this spring, are an “integral part of the new Elanco’s parasiticide portfolio,” spokeswoman Cathy Martin said Monday. “Interceptor provides veterinarians with the right science at the best value,” Martin added. Pricing information was not released. Interceptor (milbemycin oxime) is formulated to prevent heartworms and intestinal worms. The drug is indicated for the treatment and control of hookworms, roundworms and whipworms in dogs and for adult roundworms and hookworms in cats. Norvartis had sold about 1 billion doses of Interceptor Flavor Tabs when production issues emerged in 2011 at a plant in Lincoln, Neb., interrupting the supply of a number of other popular veterinary drugs, including the anti-parasites Sentinel Flavor Tabs and Sentinel Spectrum. Sentinel reappeared in April 2013, the same month that Novartis announced that Interceptor was being discontinued. The Sentinel line was spun off to …
