News

Washington - U.S. Secret Service agents removed $62 million in counterfeit bills from circulation last year, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, USA Today reports.

Overland Park, Kan. - Fifty-three grand-prize winners were named in Fort Dodge Animal Health's "Twice a Year for Life" sweepstakes.

Manhattan, Kan. - Kansas State University's veterinary program unveiled a six-week intensive beef-production medicine course, funded by a $100,000 gift from Pfizer Animal Health Beef Production Medicine Fund. The funds will be distributed over two years.

Denver, Colo. - Veterinary organizations lost the first round in a fight to quash a controversial bill that would allow unlicensed professionals to perform certain health services without veterinary referral or supervision.

Richmond, Va.- State veterinary officials quarantined six farms in northern Virginia that could have come in contact with a horse infected with equine herpes virus-1 (EHV-1).

From DVM Newsmagazine--National Report - 4/1/07 - Worried pet owners nationwide flooded veterinary practices with calls last month, after nearly 1 percent of the pet food sold in the United States was recalled and later reported to have been contaminated with a rodent-killing toxin.

Princeton, Mass. – A large number of New England veterinarians are actively supporting a new program through which service dogs are trained specifically to assist disabled combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

I guess one of my favorite things about being a veterinarian is helping in the process of bringing a new critter into the world.

In veterinary medicine, patients often are diagnosed with a generalized hepatic disease or disorder.

Springhill, La. –– Two men and a teenager were sentenced for holding a mixed-animal veterinarian at gunpoint while his house was ransacked. The veterinarian was at home with his daughter during the incident.

Lexington, Ky. – The ongoing risk that equine viral arteritis (EVA) poses for American horses, its detection, carriers, possible new strains and the various means of prevention were the subject of a recent DVM Newsmagazine interview with expert Peter Timoney, MVB, PhD, FRCVS, chairman of the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He has spent 24 years studying EVA. We asked him the following questions:

Decision reflects Census report that unmarried couples head more than half of U.S. households.

Fort Collins, Colo. - Colorado State University's (CSU) veterinary college turned 100 this year.

National Report –– Implementing simple review processes and business procedures can safeguard veterinary practices from embezzlement and the risks that come with it - fraud, theft and financial downfall.

Miami - The American Association of Feline Practitioner (AAFP) seeks to cement its authority on welfare, devoting a committee to the topic and drafting principles for guidance.

National Report - Two companies engaged in animal testing and diagnostics have partnered to create the first USDA-approved test to identify Johne's disease in bovine milk samples.

For an inexpensive catheter guard for cats, I take the cardboard tube center from a roll of Vetrap (3M) bandaging tape and cut it lengthwise so it can be slipped over the catheter site on the cat's forelimb.

Dallas - More than 85 percent of horse owners have a dog.

Costa Mesa, Calif. - Improved communication, partnership and innovation are top priorities for Dr. Thomas Carpenter, new president of the American Animal Hospital Association.

Washington - Veterinarians fill top levels of national security, protect public health and command a unique skill set used to defend the nation's food supply. Yet these highly trained professionals aren't licensed to practice small-animal medicine.

Greenwich, Conn. – Pet-industry spending will top $40 billion in 2007, and the top market movers include animal health.

Las Vegas –– Explaining care benefits, catering your communication style to each client's personality and showing genuine interest in a pet-owner's concerns and questions are, according to a recent study, the best ways to ensure that owners are willing to pay for the highest quality of care for their animals.

National Report - A tidal wave of telephone calls from worried pet owners flooded veterinary practices nationwide last month after nearly 1 percent of all the pet food sold in the United States was recalled and later reported to have been contaminated with a rodent-killing toxin.

Associates with a yen to open their own practice often face what might seem an insurmountable barrier.

Urbana, Ill. - Human medications were responsible for the most cases of pet poisoning in 2006, according to a new report from the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Sacramento, Calif. - A controversial bill pushing the nation's first statewide mandate to sterilize dogs and cats pits California shelter leaders against breeders and spurs bitter debate among veterinarians.

Estate planning can be a real headache, but it is just one more thing that we do in order to protect our spouses and our dependents.

The move is designed to enhance Congress' support and the bill's chance of passing.

Mild winters, the northern migration of tick populations and the emergence of more frequent vector-borne zoonotic diseases left the editors of DVM Newsmagazine with questions.

Shawnee Mission, Kan. - Bayer Animal Health launched resQ pet identification system, considered a safe and convenient ISO-compliant microchip system to help reunite pets with their owners, the company reports.