VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe role of vets in animal-assisted interventionsJuly 16, 2025Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) employ this HAB, incorporating animals into health interventions that blend contemporary medicine with holistic approaches to enhance outcomes and quality of life. Veterinarians serve a key role in ensuring the safety of these programs and the health and safety of the animal participants, working together with various professionals and volunteers to ensure success.
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VPN Plus+ ExclusiveTime to dispel the myth cats vomiting is normalJune 4, 2025One of my biggest pet peeves is when clients come to me, as an emergency clinician, with an emergency, and when asked about chronic conditions/problems, clients do not mention vomiting. When I ask about vomiting specifically, I often get “Oh, well, yeah, Fluffy vomits about every other day to weekly” or, well, “Lucky gets hairballs a few times a month.” Usually followed by, “But that is normal.” Of course, I could go on. Please, please stop telling owners it is normal for their cats to vomit.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveUnderstanding the relationship between veterinarians, animal abuse, and One HealthApril 16, 2025Identifying an abused animal may help prevent the abuse or neglect of a human family member, friend, or even a stranger. This is a genuine One Health concern. Environmental factors, in addition to human and animal risk factors, play a role in the development of cruelty/neglect, and our veterinary intervention may save lives.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveYour essential guide to xylitol poisoning in dogsMarch 19, 2025While some people see benefits in the use of xylitol, others may develop GI upset, or as we see in dogs, much more severe concerns may arise. Xylitol is toxic to all dogs, with the risk of profound hypoglycemia and hepatic necrosis of key considerations. (Let clients know, too, some manufacturers use the term “birch sugar,” for xylitol on their labels.)
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe Lyme-positive dog: Is it necessary to treat a blue dot?February 19, 2025So, do we treat all 9.55 percent that test positive, even if they are asymptomatic and testing confirms exposure but cannot tell us which ones will, if ever, develop clinical signs? That is a lot of antibiotics to doll out for often asymptomatic patients. Sadly, because the disease is not reportable in animals, we have a much less clear picture of the true incidence of clinical cases than in human medicine, which also has significant underreporting concerns.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveCooperative care training can boost the HAB and reduce stressDecember 14, 2024Cooperative care training has repeatedly proven itself to me as a step above the rest. Without cooperative care training, I do not know where I would be today with my dog. Jasmine, aka Jazzy, a now over five-and-a-half-year-old female spayed German shepherd, Labrador, goofball mixed-breed dog, gives my life meaning. However, she is not without her challenges.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveTime to look at rabies with a One Health lensOctober 16, 2024World Rabies Day started in 2007 to raise awareness of the condition and educate people on ways to protect their pets and themselves. Globally, the public health community hopes to eliminate canine rabies-induced deaths in people by 2030. Practicing clinical veterinarians remain a crucial player in preventing rabies with a One Health approach.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveClearing up the confusion with aerosol disease transmissionSeptember 19, 2024Aerosol disease transmission, including droplet nuclei travel, is often a misunderstood and underestimated mode of disease transmission. As a result, veterinarians and veterinary infection control plans frequently fail to recognize measures aimed at this modality of spread. If we take steps to limit aerosol disease transmission, we can protect our patients, humans, and the environment, protecting the human-animal bond and ensuring a One Health infection control plan.
Are you prey to predatory journals?November 20, 2023All veterinarians should strive to practice evidence-based veterinary medicine. However, this can be challenging in today’s scientific climate, especially in the face of misinformation and the skyrocketing numbers of predatory journals.
Is owning a pet really good for our health?July 24, 2023AVMA and the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) describe the human-animal bond (HAB) as a “mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors essential to the health and well-being of both.”
