News

I hurried into the exam room and uttered my usual cheery "Good morning!" before realizing that no one else was there.

Shifting societal perceptions, and a lot of money, fueling popularity.

Schaumburg, Ill. - Whether a veterinarian has helped animals impacted by disaster or lost it all in a catastrophe, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation has several resources at the DVM's disposal.

Hartford, Conn. - Connecticut lawmakers are eyeing legislation that would compensate owners of animals that are killed or maimed by other dogs.

Fort Collins, Colo. - A new company called VetDC will serve as a new arm of Colorado State University (CSU) to develop and market new products for the veterinary market.

Tallahassee, Fla. - Florida lawmakers want the state's Board of Veterinary Medicine to set minimum standards for vaccination clinics.

Durango, Colo. - About 150 dogs in Durango, Colo., have fallen ill with one local veterinarian can only call a "mystery."

Topeka, Kan. - It was designed to protect veterinary/client confidentiality, but pushback from the state veterinary board may table a state bill's chances to move forward this year.

National Report - The search for new deans of Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences and the University of California-Davis' (UC-Davis) School of Veterinary Medicine are well underway.

St. Paul, Min. - The University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center has opened a new trauma center designed to mimic the human model for clinical trauma care.

Nashville, Tenn. - Crossing your fingers and hoping it never happens to you is not an effective disaster management plan.

National Report - Nearly one-third of the veterinary professionals surveyed don't typically bring their own cat in for an annual wellness examination.

Magnolia, Ark. - Southern Arkansas University officials are talking about a new veterinary school.

Grafton, Mass. - Veterinarians at Tufts University discovered a new treatment for people suffering from E. coli poisoning.

Honolulu - Lawmakers in Hawaii are considering new continuing education (CE) requirements for veterinarians.

Two practitioners' takes-and your chance to chime in.

I've proudly promoted wellness testing because what is the cost of not testing?

Use this reader tip to mask that icky carpet smell.

A 5-year-old 79.2-lb (36-kg) castrated male Doberman pinscher underwent a routine dental prophylaxis.

Keep fecal messes to a minimum with this reader tip.

The serum chemistry profile, complete blood count, and urinalysis findings that indicate kidney disease.

Chronic anemia affects the body negatively in a number of ways and decreases an animal's quality of life.

First, a word of caution.... Assess each individual situation carefully and remember that anything can be dangerous in the right quantity (even water). Also, consider health status of patient. Once you take all these into account, there are many exposures that you may be able to talk clients through managing at home.

Case 13: 12 year old labrador retriever, pre-dental workup reveals ALT 250, alkaline phosphatase 355, BILIRUBIN 0.2.

It is important that the clinician formulate a treatment protocol based on a correlation of clinical course, laboratory and gross findings, and histologic findings rather than relying on histologic changes alone. Although treatment principles for cats and dogs with IBD are similar, drug selection and dosage regimens vary between these two species in some situations.

Immune suppression is the cornerstone of the treatment of IMHA. Commonly used medications include corticosteroids, azathioprine, and cyclosporine. Side effects can occur because of the medication used or could be from the immune suppression itself. To date there is little data on the incidence of side effects in dogs treated for IMHA.

Antibiotic therapy is indicated for treatment of suppurative hepatitis, cholangiohepatitis and hepatic encephalopathy, and prevention of septicemia. The bactericidal function of the hepatic reticuloendothelial (RE) system may be compromised in hepatic disease, especially if hepatic blood flow or oxygen tension is altered, resulting in septicemia.

Brucella canis is a non-motile, Gram negative coccobacillus with a host range limited to domestic and wild canids. Stray dog populations may act as a reservoir. There is a higher reported prevalence in purebred animals but few studies have attempted to compare populations of owned and stray dogs.

Intestinal biopsy may be accomplished two ways: endoscopy and surgery. CBC, serum chemistry profile, and urinalysis are useful and may point out systemic manifestations of the disease which will aid in correctly diagnosing and prognosing the problem (e.g., hypoalbuminemia due to histoplasmosis), but are also useful as a preanesthetic work up before endoscopy.

Methanol (also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol) is found most commonly in "antifreeze" windshield washer fluid and varies in concentration from 20-100% (with 20-30% being the most common form.) Methanol's metabolite, formaldehyde, is rapidly oxidized by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase to formic acid, which can cause metabolic acidosis if significant quantities of methanol are ingested.