Medical

Portland, Ore. -- Banfield, The Pet Hospital will discontinue ear cropping and tail docking surgeries, the company reports today.

New York -- Pets with cancer whose owners can?t afford treatment can get financial help from a newly established philanthropic fund, based on veterinarian referrals.

Fort Collins, Colo. -- Veterinary researchers at Colorado State University discovered that cells in diseased heart valves of dogs and humans produce serotonin, which they believe may be the driving force behind mitral-valve disease in both.

Washington -- As the deadline nears to implement Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft rules, federal agencies issued a set of frequently asked questions to help affected businesses, such as veterinary practices, comply.

Finding may offer improved treatment for human stress-related syndromes, such as burnout.

Abbott Park, Ill. ? A multi-year agreement to market a new chemotherapeutic agent for dogs was finalized by Abbott and Oasmia Pharmaceutical of Uppsala, Sweden.

As the weather gets nicer, more dogs and their owners will head to dog parks for a dose of fresh air. But what are the risks?

An AVMA resolution that would have revised its policy on use of random-source dogs and cats for research has been quietly killed.

Columbia, Mo. - Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Veterinary Medicine are growing cartilage in a lab that can be molded into permanent joint replacements for dogs and eventually humans.

Seattle - The Utah Veterinary Medical Association wants the AVMA to lay off the "hard-line slant" it took when the policy on ear cropping and tail docking was changed late last year.

Lakewood, Colo. - A study testing the effects or irradiated food led to the discovery that a cat's central nervous system can repair itself.

Gainesville, Fla. - Veterinarians and physicians from the University of Florida's Glycogen Storage Disease Program believe they have successfully used gene therapy to treat a dog born with glycogen-storage disease.

Osteoarthritis is a common problem for the athletic horse and has been estimated to cause 60 percent of lameness cases in the athletic horse.

Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the first license for an antimicrobial pesticide product to deactivate anthrax spores on hard surfaces.

Albany, N.Y. - New York veterinarians may have to certify some animal breeders if a bill is passed by state legislators.

The perception still exists that any veterinarian with some exercise equipment an underwater treadmill can practice rehabilitation.

Read more from the DVM Newsmakers Summit.

Roseland, N.J. -- Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health introduces the first vaccine against canine influenza virus (CIV). The vaccine was granted a conditional product license by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 27.

The owners of a pet-food company implicated in the 2007 recall that is estimated to have killed 4,000 pets pleaded guilty to some of the charges leveled against them.

Washington -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered Illinois-based Evanger's Dog & Cat Food Co. to cease distribution after the agency determined the company was not in compliance with various food processing rules.

National Report -- Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health just introduced Nobivac Lyme -- a vaccine specifically designed to provide protection by targeting two key outer-surface proteins involved in the transmission of canine Lyme disease, the company says.

Columbia, Mo. -- In a study that could have applications in human medicine as well, researchers at the University of Missouri are studying potential biomarkers in dogs that could lead to early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, helping identify patients at higher risk for the disease.

Uppsala, Sweden -- A new study conducted by researchers from three international universities concluded that an inherited neurological disorder affecting Golden Retrievers is caused by a DNA mutation.

National Report -- Southwest Airlines is making the sky friendlier to more species, allowing small dogs and cats to fly in plane cabins with their owners.

Lakewood, Colo. -- The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) released a 12-page consensus statement on equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) as a guide to veterinarians in managing the disease.

Philadelphia -- An outbreak that killed six dogs, resulting in the quarantine of two Pennsylvania SPCA shelters and a hospital, has been attributed to 'strep zoo,' a bacterial infection.

New York -- Misuse of spot-on flea-and-tick control products poses the greatest risk to cats, according to ASPCA?s Animal Poison Control Center.

Rockville, Md. -- Pfizer's Palladia (Toceranib phosphate) received approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug is the first one developed specifically for the treatment of cancer in dogs, the FDA reported today.

Philadelphia -- Isolated cases of severe canine illness resulting in six deaths closed two shelters and a hospital run by the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA).

National Report - More than 20 percent of veterinarians tested in 2006 showed evidence of past infection with Coxiella burnetii, the causative organism of Q fever.