Veterinarian’s Memoirs PublishedAugust 5, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Most people probably know him as “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” his alter ego (or perhaps not so alter ego) on the Nat Geo Wild program of the same name. But Jan Pol, DVM has been a veterinarian for decades and has multitudes of stories to tell. Much of which he shares in his memoirs, “Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow.” Dr. Pol, 72, first began practicing veterinary medicine in his native Netherlands. He graduated from Utrecht University in 1970 and in 1981 he and his wife, Diane, opened his first practice, Pol Veterinary Services. Pol, known as a no-nonsense but empathetic veterinarian, is also a natural, charismatic storyteller. His memoirs, which he penned with the help of author David Fisher, is full of crazy, compelling, funny and sometimes bittersweet accounts of his veterinary career. His memoir, subtitled “My Life as a Country Vet,” includes stories on using an animal’s breath to determine what’s its ailment is, making tough judgment calls, and why it’s important to turn your car around before leaving them to attend to farm calls. Reviews have compared …
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Idexx Prevails in Advertising Dispute With AntechAugust 5, 2014 The National Advertising Division has rejected assertions that Antech Diagnostics’ AccuPlex4 screening test is superior to Idexx Laboratories’ SNAP 4Dx Plus. The advertising industry’s self-regulating arm in July recommended that Antech Diagnostics discontinue certain claims. The Irvine, Calif., company, which operates more than 50 veterinary reference laboratories, responded that it was “extremely disappointed” with the findings and would modify its advertising. AccuPlex4 and SNAP 4Dx Plus each test for heartworm and the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. Idexx, headquartered in Westbrook, Maine, challenged these claims: Tests prove that AccuPlex4 provides significantly more accurate and sensitive testing of low-worm burden heartworm infection than SNAP 4Dx Plus, with the ability to detect positive results up to one week earlier. Tests prove that AccuPlex4 permits substantially earlier and more sensitive detection of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, with fewer false negatives, than SNAP 4Dx Plus. Tests prove that AccuPlex4’s Lyme disease test detects infection earlier and provides broader disease information than Idexx’s SNAP 4Dx Plus and stand-alone Quant C6 test, and can distinguish between false positive and exposure/infection. Unlike AccuPlex4, the Quant C6 Lyme disease test is not a quantitative test, cannot measure antibody response …
Elanco, FDA Say Trifexis Played No Role in Dog DeathsAugust 5, 2014 Trifexis, a flea killer and heartworm preventive introduced in 2011, is being blamed for nearly 1,000 dog deaths, but both the manufacturer and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned that no evidence has been found tying the drug to the claims. Atlanta television station WSB learned after filing a Freedom of Information Act request that the FDA had received 965 complaints of Trifexis-related dog deaths. Pet owners have debated the drug’s safety on multiple websites and even started a Facebook page called Does Trifexis Kill Dogs? FDA, which approves and regulates human and animal drugs, acknowledged that dog owners and veterinarians have lodged formal complaints about Trifexis (spinosad and milbemycin oxime). “FDA is aware of adverse event reports in connection with Trifexis and continues to closely monitor them,” the agency reported in a prepared statement. “It is very important to realize that reports of adverse events do not necessarily mean that the product caused the event. Other factors, such as existing disease, exposure to chemicals or contaminants, foods, or other medications may have triggered or contributed to the cause of the event.” WSB-TV also reported in late July that 1,500 Trifexis complaints were …
CAPC Urges Additional Heartworm TestsAugust 4, 2014 The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) has updated its heartworm guidelines to recommend that a microfilariae test be performed annually on all dogs in addition to the customary antigen test and that veterinarians consider administering tests twice a year in heartworm-prevalent areas. Reports of an increasing number of false-negative antigen results led the Salem, Ore., organization to modify the guidelines July 28 after a meeting of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists. Some dogs appeared to have developed immune complexes that led to a rising number of false negatives involving commercial antigen tests. “Some of the CAPC parasitology specialists speculate that one of the reasons for the increase in these false-negative test results may be related to the practice of placing heartworm-infected dogs on long-term regimens of macrocyclic lactone preventives and antibiotics rather than treating them with an approved adulticide,” the organization stated. The combination treatment, known as the slow-kill method, came into favor with some veterinarians because of an ongoing shortage of Immiticide, an adulticide manufactured by Merial Ltd. Dogs managed with these protocols may experience prolonged inflammation, which could result in the formation of immune complexes that mask the detection …
Vets Stay Legal With Signing of Drug Mobility ActAugust 4, 2014 President Obama on Friday signed into law the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, which permits practitioners to legally transport and dispense controlled drugs away from their registered offices and across state lines. The legislation, HR 1528, was introduced more than 15 months ago by the only veterinarians serving in Congress: Reps. Kurt Schrader, DVM, an Oregon Democrat, and Ted Yoho, DVM, a Florida Republican. “This bill will not only benefit all who practice large animal veterinary medicine but the farmers and ranchers who rely on them,” Dr. Yoho said. “This law will allow veterinarians to practice their profession without fear of unnecessary government intrusion.” The law permits what the Drug Enforcement Administration in recent years had considered a violation of the Controlled Substances Act—the administration of drugs by mobile, rural and wildlife veterinarians away from the practitioner’s registered workplace. DEA sent warning letters to some veterinarians, but no one was ever charged, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported. AVMA’s new president, Ted Cohn, DVM, thanked Obama and Congress for “allowing us complete access to the medications we need to fulfill our oath to society.” “The health and welfare of our nation’s wildlife, food …
Holding On To What Makes You Happy As A VeterinarianAugust 2, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. I’m guessing that when you realized you wanted to be a veterinarian, it wasn’t because you were super excited about doing paperwork or thinking only about the science side of it. When was the last time you took a step back from your day-to-day veterinary life, away from your clients and patients and even from your staff and practice and reflected on why you became a veterinarian or why the job makes you happy? The Society for Veterinary Medicine and Literature wants you to remember the reason, as well as help veterinary students hold on to that reason. “Literature can help them retain their sense of joy about becoming/being a veterinarian,” Dean Elizabeth Stone, DVM, MS, MPP of the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College said, according to The New York Times. According to their website, “The Society promotes the reading and discussion of literary works to explore important issues in veterinary medicine—and for the intrinsic pleasure and value of reading and discussing good literature, a way of renewing one's joy in being a veterinarian and …
Vet Schools Debut In Arizona, TennesseeAugust 1, 2014Amid the debate over whether veterinary school graduates can afford mortgage-sized tuition debt and whether the United States has too many practitioners comes Kathleen H. Goeppinger, Ph.D., who sees a reason to produce more veterinarians. “I know the world says, ‘Hey, vets don’t get paid enough’ and ‘Vet school is expensive,’ but I also know that the desire to be a vet is very strong in many people,” Goeppinger said. The president and CEO of Midwestern University this month opens the nation’s 29th veterinary college, while 1,620 miles to the east in Harrogate, Tenn., Lincoln Memorial University launches No. 30. The two newest veterinary colleges — each eligible for provisional accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education — will add a combined 197 first-year students to the national rolls. Last year, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges counted 2,981 first-year students among the 11,474 DVM students enrolled at 28 schools on U.S. soil. Lincoln Memorial, a private liberal arts college set in the Cumberland Mountains of eastern Tennessee, offers master’s programs in nursing and physician assistance and awards a doctoral degree in osteopathic medicine. Midwestern, which despite its name sits on the sun-baked desert floor of …
Liposuction For Pets: Procedure Becoming Increasingly PopularJuly 31, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Our society is a bit obsessed with appearance. Countless ads pop up on radio, television and in magazines promoting breast augmentations, anti-aging creams and countless ways to lose weight (through exercise, weight-loss programs, special diets, medications and surgeries). One such option is liposuction. The ad may show a woman with a not-so-flat belly next to a picture of one with a toned stomach, telling people that liposuction was the answer. So when I saw in the news that liposuction was now available for pets, I thought our society had gone too far. But, like everything else, you have to read the fine print. Although referred to as liposuction, when the procedure is performed on pets it is not cosmetic (even if your client’s pet is hoping for a svelte figure). It’s actually used to improve the health of the pet. The non-invasive procedure removes the fat from lipomas in overweight and senior dogs. If gone untreated, they can grow quite large and impede the dog’s movement. “They can be really big,” Rebecca Pentecost, DVM, told Fox 8 Cleveland. …
MSU Vet Inducted Into AOSSM Hall of FameJuly 31, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @VetPetNews. Steven Arnoczky, DVM, was inducted into the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Hall of Fame at its annual meeting in Seattle on July 11. Dr. Arnoczky is a sports medicine researcher from the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He has conducted basic science orthopaedic research for 40 years. Only the second non-physician to receive this honor, Arnoczky is being recognized for basic science contributions to the advancement of ligament reconstruction of the knee and meniscal repair and replacement. “This extraordinary honor for Dr. Arnoczky reflects the human medical community’s recognition of his contributions to orthopaedic medicine,” said John Baker, DVM, Ph.D., dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “It speaks to his accomplishments in basic science and comparative research, and his contributions reflect well on the college’s leadership in the comparative medicine philosophy.” The AOSSM established the Hall of Fame in 2001 to honor members of the orthopaedic sports medicine community who have made original and significant contributions to the specialty. Induction is the highest honor given to a society member. There are currently 58 members from 11 countries …
Pre-Veterinary Program Launches At Centenary CollegeJuly 30, 2014 Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. Beginning fall of 2015, Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey will offer a pre-veterinary track degree: Bachelor of Science in Equine Science. “This is a wonderful opportunity for those who are interested in the field of veterinary medicine, as well as the science-associated careers within the industry,” Michael Fugaro, VDM, Dipl. ACVS and Professor of Equine Studies said, according to NJ.com. Designed for highly motivated students by the Equine Studies and Mathematics & Natural Sciences departments, the four-year program will consist of 20-credit course loads per semester. The program is for academically-minded students pursuing careers in veterinary medicine and other animal science fields. Those fields include physiology, biomedical research, nutrition, pharmaceuticals and technology. Students in this program will receive career development advisement from experts in the field, and will also be encouraged to participate in experiential learning and internships. They will receive skills training in the areas of pro-activeness, professional networking, handling stress and time management through the pre-professionals organization. The organization will also help students with graduate school options and applications. To learn more about Centenary College’s pre-veterinary degree, …
