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Slips, trips, and falls are major hazards in veterinary practices, where wet floors and bustling activity are everyday challenges

Better flooring, better hospitals

Anne Chauvet, DVM, DACVIM, CHT-V, takes listeners into the world of veterinary neurology 

The physical exam approach to the neurologic patient

The week-long celebration honors the hard work and dedication of practice management professionals

Practice Manager Recognition Week officially begins 

Sue Ettinger, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), discusses the importance of cancer awareness with Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, in recognition of National Pet Cancer Awareness Month

Kicking off National Pet Cancer Awareness Month

Mariana Pardo, BVSc, MV, DACVECC, provided an overview on breathing patterns, respiratory sounds, lung auscultation; and what these different sounds, patterns, and signs may mean—and more—in her lecture at the 2024 NY Vet Show 

A guide for assessing respiratory emergencies

A powerful tool for addressing inflammation early in dogs with otitis externa

How Blue Buffalo ensures a high quality diet for both dogs and cats.

A diet with the pet in mind

dvm360 is the authority of veterinary medicine news, expert insights, animal health and pet care products, research, and regulations for veterinary professionals.


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Dr. Kelly Ballantyne owns Insight Animal Behavior Services in Chicago. Visit insightfulanimals.com.

dvm360®, the leading multimedia provider of animal health care communications, education and research for veterinary professionals, is honored to announce the winners of the fourth annual Veterinary Heroes® recognition program. In honor of the inductees, an award ceremony will be held during the 

, where the winners will be recognized for their unwavering commitment and extraordinary efforts within the veterinary profession. The ceremony will take place at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at noon PST. All Fetch Long Beach registrants may attend the award ceremony for no additional fee.

This year’s Veterinary Heroes program is supported by corporate sponsor Schwarzman Animal Medical Center and category sponsors Blue Buffalo Natural, MedVet, Banfield Pet Hospital, Thrive Pet Healthcare and PRN Pharmacal. The program recognizes those who have positively impacted animal care, demonstrating leadership, expertise and a commitment to improving the health and well-being of animals. These recognized individuals have excelled in their professional roles and influenced the broader veterinary community, setting new standards and inspiring others to continue evolving the practice of veterinary care.

“As their colleague, I’m truly honored to congratulate all of the winners of the fourth annual Veterinary Heroes award program and shake their hand,” Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer at dvm360 and the Fetch veterinary conferences, said in a news release. “It is my sincere pleasure to be part of an incredibly passionate and compassionate profession that goes above and beyond the call of duty for animals.”

: Geraldine Sprague — Tabernacle Animal Hospital (Tabernacle, New Jersey)

: Camia Tonge, M.S., LVT, VTS (SAIM) — Schwarzman Animal Medical Center (New York, New York)

: Jan Bellows, DVM, DIPL, AVDC, ABVP — Hometown Animal Hospital and All Pets Dental (Weston, Florida)

: Meghan Solc, DVM, DACVD — Dermatology for Animals, A Thrive Pet Healthcare Partner (Catonsville, Maryland)

: Dennis Tim Crowe Jr, DVM, Ph.D., DACVS, DACVECC, DACHM, NREMT-I, CFF — Veterinary Surgery, Emergency, and Critical Care Services and Consulting (Ventura, Thousand Oaks, California, and Bogart, Georgia)

: Susan V. Whittred, DVM — Patricia H. Ladew Foundation, Inc./The Paw Project (Oyster Bay, New York)

: Patricia Kennedy Arrington, DVM, CVFP — Jefferson Animal Hospital Regional Emergency Practice and Trauma Center (Louisville, Kentucky)

: Ann E. Hohenhaus, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology, SAIM) — Schwarzman Animal Medical Center (New York, New York)

: Valerie J. Parker, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM and Nutrition) — The Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio)

: Adrianne Hiller, BS — CityVet – MidCities (Bedford, Texas)

: Karl Maritato, DVM, DACVS-SA — MedVet Cincinnati (Fairfax, Ohio)

Veterinary Paraprofessional (non-credentialed support staff)

: Khalfani Carr — VCA Woodbridge (Woodbridge VA), Regional Veterinary Referral Center (Springfield, Virginia)

To learn more about the conference and to register, please visit the 

dvm360 announces winners of the prestigious Veterinary Heroes program. News release. dvm360 and MJH Life Sciences. September 6, 2024.

This year’s event is supported by corporate sponsor Schwarzman Animal Medical Center and category sponsors Blue Buffalo Natural, MedVet, Banfield Pet Hospital, Thrive Pet Healthcare and PRN Pharmacal.

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The FDA is advising pet owners to discontinue use of 6 of Darwin’s Natural Selections raw cat and dog food products, manufactured by Arrow Reliance, Inc. The announcement came after 5 FDA samples of these products tested positive for 

Arrow Reliance was advised by the FDA to recall the 6 affected product lots, according to the announcement.

 However, the company has not recalled these products and may still be distributing them.

According to Darwin's Natural Pet Products, they contacted their clients on the same day of the FDA's announcement to offer detailed information about the situation. "As the Darwin’s community knows, transparency in communication is important to us. It is second only to our top priority: the health and wellbeing of the pets we serve," Gary Tashjian, founder and CEO of Darwin's Natural Pet Products, told 

“As part of our outreach, we specifically communicated with customers who had already received product lots that were included in the FDA’s notice – about 3% of our customers nationwide," continued Tashjian. According to the company, only a small amount of product left their facilities, and they had stopped shipping any potentially affected products earlier this month as soon as the FDA informed them about the testing.

The impacted products include specific lots of Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats and Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs. They are sold in frozen 2-pound white and clear plastic packages with 4 separate units. The Darwin’s Natural Selections products for dogs comes in blue packaging. The cat food has a combination of blue and green packaging.

The following are the impacted varieties and lot codes

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10832 MFG. Date: July 25, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10856 MFG. Date: August 4, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10890 MFG. Date: August 13, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10828 MFG. Date: July 24, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10844 MFG. Date: July 30, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10887 MFG. Date: August 12, 2024.

Lot codes for these products can be found printed on the lower left corner of the front of the package. The FDA is also recommending that consumers regularly check the lot numbers of Darwin’s Natural Selection Antibiotic & Grain-Free products before feeding them to their pets.

In its announcement, the FDA urged any individual that has any of these 6 products to stop feeding it to their pets and dispose of it in a secure container that is inaccessible to other animals, including wildlife. The FDA also warned against the donation of these products. Moreover, the organization advises that consumers throw the products away if lot codes are illegible or if packaging has been discarded.

Should consumers be in possession of the affected pet food products, they should clean and disinfect all pet supplies and surfaces that came into contact with the food or pet, including refrigerators and freezers.

Veterinarians interested in testing pets for 

 can utilize the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN Network) if the pet comes from a household where someone is infected with either of these pathogens.

Darwin's Natural Pet Products maintains that their meals are safe. According to Tashjian, the company hired an independent 3rd party to conduct testing using conventional methods, and found that all lots tested negative for listeria. However, the testing did reveal small trace amounts of salmonella, which is inherent to poultry, Tashjian told 

“The products were flagged under the FDA’s zero-tolerance policy, which is largely designed for human safety, not pets. In fact, under the FDA protocol, the products tested positive for pathogens only following an incubation period," said Tashjian in an email to 

“At Darwin’s, the health and wellbeing of the pets we serve is our absolute top priority, which is why we have rigorous standards for quality and safety in manufacturing and sourcing. These protocols help ensure the safety of our products while maintaining the good bacteria that are crucial to pets’ gut health and immune systems,” he continued.

According to the FDA, animal companions may not always show symptoms when infected with Salmonella, but they could exhibit signs such as vomiting, diarrhea—including bloody diarrhea—fever, loss of appetite, and/or reduced activity levels. However, some animals may be asymptomatic and still shed the bacteria in their feces, contaminating the environment when they have a bowel movement.

 are rare in pets, but they can occur, according to the FDA.

 Symptoms may range from mild to severe diarrhea, anorexia, and fever, in addition to nervous, muscular, and respiratory issues. This infection can also lead to pregnancy loss, depression, shock, and death. Pets can transmit 

to humans even if they do not show symptoms. As with 

, infected pets can shed bacteria in their feces and saliva without appearing ill, potentially infecting their human counterparts.

In its announcement, the FDA expressed concern over about 

in pet food because these bacteria are especially concerning for public health, as they can impact both humans and animals, according to the FDA.

 "Pets can get sick from Salmonella and may also be carriers of the bacteria and pass it on to their human companions without appearing to be ill," wrote the FDA, in its announcement.

FDA advisory: Do not feed certain lots of Darwin’s Natural Selections pet food due to Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. News release. US Food and Drug Administration. September 20, 2024. Accessed September 23, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-advisory-do-not-feed-certain-lots-darwins-natural-selections-pet-food-due-salmonella-and?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Five FDA samples of Darwin’s Natural Selections raw cat and dog food products tested positive for Salmonella, with a 6th showing Listeria monocytogenes

FDA announces pet food products contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria

Missed out on Fetch Kansas City 2024? No worries—we’ve got you covered! Fetch On-Demand brings the best sessions, speakers, and CE opportunities straight to you, so you can learn when, where, and how it fits into your busy life. Whether you’re catching up between appointments, learning from the comfort of home, or squeezing in a quick session over coffee, Fetch On-Demand gives you the flexibility you need to earn CE credits your way.

Ready to jump in? Start exploring the best of 

Peter Weinstein, DVM, MBA, spoke alongside Kelley Detweiler, an expert on Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulatory compliance, about best practices for maintaining controlled substance logbooks during a session at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to general logbook compliance, the presentation covered how to handle and reconcile discrepancies, and the DEA’s position on hub loss and substance waste.

Weinstein and Detweiler began their presentation with a brief section about frequently asked questions (FAQs), addressing some common misconceptions. They explained that, according to Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, logbooks are not required to be bound, but they must be maintained in a manner that does not allow any log sheets to be loose or falling out of order. They also must be secured in consistent chronological order for the current 2-year period, according to Detweiler. Logbooks should also be stored close to where DEA-compliant controlled substances are being used, they are not required to be locked up, and they should never leave the premises.

Perhaps the strongest point of emphasis throughout the pair’s discussion regarding DEA-compliant logbooks was the significance of the entries consistently balancing out to 0. The DEA does not want variances. Similarly, it is their recommendation to never leave blanks in logbooks. If a practice is documenting waste, rather than leaving a field blank as in indication that there was no waste, filling in a "0" as a record that there was no confirmed waste was advised.

“[DEA]-compliant logs should tell the story of the controlled substance usage from the point of acquisition to the point of administration, dispensing, or disposition,” Weinstein said during their session at the Fetch dvm360 conference. “Disposition could be wasting, and/or expiration.”

For more information, Weinstein and Detweiler debunked myths and misconceptions surrounding DEA regulation in a 

According to DEA regulations, a full inventory of all controlled substances must be conducted biennially at a minimum following the date when the initial DEA inventory was conducted. Though, Weinstein compares waiting until the last minute to complete biennial inventory to getting taxes together each year on April 14, knowing they are due on April 15.

The speakers discussed conducting controlled substance reconciliations on logbooks, which is the process of comparing the actual amount of physical inventory "on-hand" against the amount of inventory that should be on-hand according to the logbooks, Detweiler noted. They compared to a checkbook of every drug from a specific category. If a practice is not reconciling their controlled substance logs on a regular basis, there would be no way to identify discrepancies or to identify if their logs are consistent with their inventory. Weinstein recommended that reconciliation logs be conducted by an authorized user and a witness, preferably on camera for an extra layer of security.

“So, the more you do a reconciliation, the more likely you are to balance out,” Weinstein said. “Don’t you hate it at the end of the day, when you’re balancing out the drawer, and there’s a penny off? Well, how about if that penny is 1 cc of fentanyl… what do you do to resolve [that]?”

In their session, the pair also recommended that reconciliations be conducted, at minimum, weekly. Although the DEA does not set forth a specific frequency for conducting reconciliations, the more often you reconcile the better. Frequency should be determined based on the size of the practice and volume of controlled substance use. If it's a large practice with higher controlled substance usage, reconciliations should be conducted daily or, if possible, at the end of each shift. In general, the more controlled substances a practice uses, the more often they should reconcile.

Detweiler stressed the urgency of recognizing discrepancies. “Because remember, if something doesn’t jibe, you have 24 hours to make notification to the DEA,” she said. “And that registrant who’s holding the bag needs to know immediately, because it affects their entire license and livelihood.”

Record-keeping for DEA-compliant controlled substances was discussed in a session at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City

Kelly Ballantyne, DVM, DACVB

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