KC Animal Health Corridor BoomingSeptember 11, 2014 The heart of the veterinary world beats in the central United States. The Kansas City Area Development Council reported that 56 percent of global animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales can be linked to the KC Animal Health Corridor, an area stretching from Columbia, Mo., to Manhattan, Kan. “This latest survey is a powerful endorsement of nearly a decade of cooperation, teamwork and strategic focus that has driven the activities of the KC Animal Health Corridor effort since 2006,” said Scott Bormann, chairman of the Corridor Advisory Board and vice president of U.S. operations for Merck Animal Health. Merck is one of eight animal health giants with operations in the corridor. The others, all in the world top 10, are Zoetis Inc., Merial Ltd., Elanco Animal Health, Bayer Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., Ceva Animal Health and Idexx Laboratories. Companies with a U.S. headquarters in the corridor accounted for 28 percent of worldwide sales of animal health products and diagnostics, or $7.1 billion a year out of $25.2 billion. Companies with a business location of some kind captured 75 percent of worldwide sales. The Kansas City Area Development Council has …
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Study Seeks to Find Deeper Insight on Link between Domestic, Animal AbuseSeptember 11, 2014 A new study is underway to look deeper into the connections between animal abuse and domestic violence to assess the need for better services to protect both human and animal victims in Australia. “Around 70 percent of women escaping violent homes also report pet abuse,” said Lydia Tong, DVM, of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Veterinary Science. “So vets are often the first to see evidence of abuse in a family, when they treat injured pets.” Dr. Tong is conducting the study with Domestic Violence NSW, an organization that offers domestic and family violence services in New South Wales, Australia. “Different forces on bones can tell a story—the skeleton of an animal keeps a distinct record that indicates the force applied to bones from past injuries, breaks or fractures,” Tong said. “But it can often be difficult for vets to say with confidence whether a fracture has resulted from abuse or accident.” In a previous study, Tong collected cases of abused dogs that were punched, hit with a blunt weapon or kicked, and examined the fractures from these injuries. She then compared these fractures to those caused by genuine accidents. Her results, …
Arizona’s New Vet Degree Program Backed by $9 Million GiftSeptember 10, 2014 #56789411 / gettyimages.com The University of Arizona (UA) will soon be the state’s first public veterinary medical and surgical program to train doctors of veterinary medicine thanks to a foundational gift of $9 million from the Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation. The new program, slated to begin in fall 2015, will help address the critical veterinarian shortage in rural Arizona communities and tribal nations, benefit bioscience businesses and promote public health, the university noted. The UA program will run year-round so students can complete their degrees faster, accumulate less debt and enter the workforce sooner. In what is called a distributive model, the final two semesters will be spent working in private veterinary practices, government agencies or other community partnerships to secure hands-on, real-world learning in communities throughout the state. Other clinical training partners will include federal and state animal health labs and regulators, U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security and animal shelter and rescue agencies. The UA reported that it already has letters of interest from many prospective partners. “For me, real-world experience is something that is oftentimes lacking when students …
Study Looks at Responsiveness of Anti-Epilepsy TreatmentsSeptember 9, 2014 New research from the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College (RVC) may shed light on why some dogs respond to anti-epilepsy treatments, and become seizure-free, while others continue to have seizures long-term. Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) are the most common treatment for canine epilepsy, according to the college. But in some cases, the side effects of drug treatment can impact upon quality of life as much, if not more than, a dog’s seizures, the college further noted. Past studies have also found that in a third of dogs, current drug treatments failed to reduce the number of seizures they experience by 50 percent. “Canine epilepsy is a complex condition and can be very distressing for the dog and their owner,” said Holger Volk, DVM, Ph.D., clinical director of the RVC’s Small Animal Referral Hospital. “Drug treatments can be successful in reducing seizures, but it is important to note that consistent remission is difficult to attain.” This new study analyzed patient data from six years of medical history taken from the epilepsy clinic at the RVC’s Small Animal Referral Hospital. At the point of follow up, only 14 percent of dogs studied were in seizure-free remission. It …
Is That A Banana? The Story Behind A Popular X-RaySeptember 5, 2014 The Veterinary Practice News 2014 annual "They Ate WHAT?!" contest has taken the world by storm. While the story of the Great Dane who ate 43 1/2 socks has been the most popular entry so far, a lot of interest been on Dragon, a bearded dragon who ate a toy banana and lived to tell the tale. Veterinarypracticenews.com Dragon, a bearded dragon, came into the Gladstone Animal Clinic because it wasn't eating. I called Andrew Rambo, DVM, of Gladstone Animal Clinic in Gladstone, Missouri to get the details of behind Dragon's diagnosis and surgery. As the story goes, Dragon was brought into the clinic because he was "turning his scaly nose up at food." Dragon, the breaded dragon was "friendly and well-cared for... We weren't sure what was wrong with him," Rambo said. An obstruction or blockage were possible causes for its acute anorexia, but Rambo needed to do an X-ray to properly diagnose Dragon. Dragon was living with his owner's grandmother, who was hesitant to do X-rays at first. Since Dragon wasn't a dog or cat, an X-ray seemed excessive. "But her granddaughter loved …
They Ate WHAT?! - A Look Behind The ContestSeptember 5, 2014 Veterinary Practice News editor Marilyn Iturri created the “They Ate WHAT?!” contest in 2006 to showcase the humorous situations veterinarians and pet owners can face as well as the clinical advances available through digital radiography. The 2014 contest was sponsored by Trupanion, a pet insurance company in Seattle, Wash. This year the first place winner, a frog that had eaten 30 rocks from inside his cage, was submitted by Shawn Messonnier, DVM of Paws & Claws Animal Hospital in Plano, Texas. Tim Gossman, DVM, of Gulf Breeze Animal Hospital took home the second place prize with his entry of a German shorthaired pointer that had swallowed a shish kabob skewer. The submission by DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital of a Great Dane who had eaten 43.5 socks was not only the third place winner, but also took the internet by storm. The competition was a hit with readers from the start. Some trends have been apparent from the first year. Veterinarypracticenews.com A dog who ate a shish kabob skewer took home the second place prize from Trupanion. “This year’s entries featured some of our old standards, such as …
You Asked For It: More Crazy X-RaysSeptember 5, 2014 The 2014 annual "They Ate WHAT?!", sponsored by Trupanion, was a huge success, and one of the entries even took the Internet by storm. We received a lot of entries and couldn't fit them all into the magazine. Check out some of the other entries we received. A Cat Ate What?! Matthew Schroeder DVM Crossroads Veterinary Hospital Painesville, Ohio Veterinarypracticenews.com The contents of Allie's stomach. A 2-year-old female spayed feline presented with vomiting and inappetance of 1 week duration. Abdominal palpation revealed an indistinct soft tissue mass in the cranial abdomen which required radiography. Radiographs revealed a stomach full of mineral opacity linear foreign material. Small intestines look moderately twisted and potentially plicated. Rest of abdomen within normal limits. Abdominal exploratory resulted in the removal of many large black hair-tie type rubber bands coated w/ fabric from the stomach. The owner recalled that the family was missing a large number of elastic headbands. Further examination revealed five to 10 large-sized black elastics that had been consumed by the feline patient. She made a …
Pet Insurer VPI Adopting Nationwide NameSeptember 5, 2014 Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), which covers more than 500,000 U.S. pets, is getting a new name: Nationwide. Parent company Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. announced Tuesday that a family of subsidiaries selling everything from automobile and farm insurance to mortgages and financial services will be rebranded over the next 18 months. Headquartered in Brea, Calif., VPI is the nation’s oldest and largest pet health insurer, offering a variety of plans to the owners of cats, dogs, birds and exotic animals. The company was founded by Jack Stephens, DVM, and issued its first policy in 1982. Dr. Stephens later left to start a competitor, Pets Best Insurance Services of Boise, Idaho. Nationwide aims to bring all its businesses, ranging from VPI to Nationwide Insurance, under the same corporate brand and an updated logo. “We’re a company that has a much larger footprint than most people realize,” said Steve Rasmussen, CEO of the Columbus, Ohio, parent company, which did nearly $24 billion in business in 2013. “Nationwide is in all 50 states and features more products and solutions than our competitors, but customers in many areas aren’t aware of our strength, offerings and …
Great Dane Eats 43½ SocksSeptember 4, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews DOVELEWIS EMERGENCY ANIMAL HOSPITAL The Great Dane who ate 43 1/2 socks has taken the Internet by storm. I woke up this morning and turned on the radio. The Kevin & Bean morning show on KROQ was sharing a news story, as the show does every morning. But this time my ears perked up and a smile spread across my face. The morning show hosts were talking about a story from Veterinary Practice News. Bean, one of the deejays, shared our They Ate WHAT? contest results, mentioning the DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland, Ore. entry. This annual contest is sponsored by Trupanion, a pet medical insurance company in Seattle. The DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital submitted a radiograph of a Great Dane who ate 43½ socks. The 3-year-old male was brought in for retching and vomiting. The radiographs showed a great deal of foreign material and a distended stomach. Exploratory surgery resulted in the removal of all the socks. Apparently this wasn’t the first time the Great Dane tasted socks. The owners, who wish to …
Patent Focuses on Alleviating Pain in Cattle Undergoing Dehorning, CastrationSeptember 4, 2014 A U.S. patent was recently awarded to the Kansas State University Research Foundation for technology that aims to alleviate chronic pain and improve performance of cattle undergoing dehorning or castration. The patent is for research conducted while at Kansas State University by former faculty member Hans Coetzee, BVSc, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVCP, now a professor of clinical pharmacology at Iowa State University, and Butch KuKanich, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVCP, associate professor of anatomy and physiology at Kansas State University. The patent covers administering meloxicam alone or administering a combination of meloxicam and gabapentin to help alleviate acute and chronic pain and improve the performance of cattle. Researchers found that combinations of meloxicam and gabapentin improved the welfare of cattle by reducing the severity of lameness. Meloxicam alone improved weight gain after dehorning and reduced the incidence of bovine respiratory disease after castration. “Once meloxicam was orally administered to beef cattle prior to these common procedures, the cattle gained more weight and had slower incidence of bovine respiratory disease because it allowed them to be more comfortable and less stressed,” Dr. KuKanich said. A significant benefit of this patented technology is that it reduces reliance …
