The disruptive invasion of cedar trees, such as eastern red cedar, blueberry juniper and redberry juniper, has become a major issue for rangelands, wildlife and landowners. While providing habitat benefits for some species, they push out other species. These invasive trees are also very thirsty. An acre of them absorbs 55,000 gallons of water per year. One report indicated a … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2016
Prepare to be powder-free
It is inevitable that powdered gloves will join the dinosaurs of animal health SKUs, based on a pending FDA ruling. Whether it takes affect this year or is delayed into 2017, it is time to try out alternatives, writes Laura Thill. To see the FDA’s proposed ban, visit https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2015-N-5017-0001. Source: Vet Advantage, August 2016, page … [Read more...]
Banfield’s Aja shares his big picture
Dan Aja, DVM, chief medical officer for Banfield Pet Hospital, moved from private practice into industry roles. He shares some perspective on the challenges of those situations and about our industry. Following the Aja story is a micro-review of The State of Pet Health® 2016 Report (page 38), created by Banfield’s research team. In summary, Banfield data shows diabetes and … [Read more...]
Editorial – Carrier rate hikes will affect cost of goods
Minimum orders used to be commonplace in the animal health business. Not so today. In general, we have swallowed the costs of delivery in animal health supply chains. This is not true for those shipping products ordered from websites. In fact, it is common to see charges for shipping and handling on internet orders. The current boom of internet sales affects shippers, … [Read more...]
Industrial farms contribute to sound environmental practices
Livestock producers and farmers often get lumped together in terms such as, big ag, industrial farms and factory farming. These are not negative terms. In fact, industrial farms are good for the environment. Jayson Lusk, Oklahoma State University agricultural economics professor explains why in this well-researched op-ed. Source: New York Times Sunday Review, September 25, … [Read more...]
Pet sitting generated $391 million in 2015
Pet Sitters International (PSI), the educational association for professional pet sitters, released its 2016 State of the Industry Survey. PSI’s member pet-sitting businesses performed more than 17 million pet-sitting assignments and generated more than $391 million in pet-sitting revenues last year. Source: Pet Product News, September 20, 2016. Survey results reveal that … [Read more...]
JAVMA, October issue now available
We have been linking to the table of contents for JAVMA for your convenience. It is also easy to access an abstract of one of the articles. Check the box next to the article Then at the bottom of the table of contents page – click this link: View highlighted abstracts on one page The abstracts matching your selections will be visible to you for your … [Read more...]
The latest from VetFolio can help connect reps with prospects, clients
VetFolio brings together the best educational material in the industry through the combined efforts of the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). They provide a one-stop resource platform for professional and personal advancement under a new way of learning—Continuous Education. Source: VetFolio, September 22, … [Read more...]
Dermatology care can demand a quarter or more of practice time
Last week, Animal Health SmartBrief published a conversation with veterinary dermatologist Karen L. Campbell. Readers were asked to weigh in, as well. About 60 percent of those responding indicated they spent more than 26 percent of their time on companion animal dermatology. Source: AVMA SmartBrief, September 22, … [Read more...]
Editorial – Wild horse advocates respond to BLM advisory board
The wild horse debate continues. Clearly, the overpopulation of wild horses on public lands is a problem. The challenges are ecological, geological and economical, all compounded by weather patterns. From one perspective, wild horses never seem to be labeled as feral. It may be time to look at their management and control as we manage feral hogs, feral dogs, feral cats and … [Read more...]
Top 5 causes of ADR in older cats
ADR? This new acronym is soooo animal health! It means, Ain’t doing right. What follows from Glenn Allen Olah, DVM, PhD, DABVP, is a realistic view of the top five ADR causes in his practice. Dr. Olah reminds us that certain disease conditions are more common in cats more than 10 years old and are frequently a different mix than those conditions in kittens and younger adult … [Read more...]
Kick your inner critic in the pants
In the post Self-talk is worth understanding, we offered two resources to address the inner self-talk that sometimes occupies and weakens our thinking. Dan Rockwell assertively approaches this topic by giving the inner critic a persona. He says, “Your inner critic believes you’re a failure and wants you to stay that way.” Various resources state humans have as many as 70,000 … [Read more...]
Antibiotics in feed: a brief history – Sponsored Content
Ask anyone who has worked in animal health for 10 years or more what the hottest topics are, antibiotic resistance will be one of their first answers. Our world is rapidly adapting our approaches to food production, animal wellness and human health to be less dependent on antibiotics. While viewing this video, I reflected on the how the scientific method* brought us to where … [Read more...]
Self-talk is worth understanding
The responses to information about managing ourselves, teams and relationships continue to top the list of most-read posts at AHD. Bob Stahl explains how paying attention to your internal dialogue can free you from you self-doubt and help you become familiar with your own personal brand of autopilot. Source: Mindful, September 12, 2016. When you begin to bring mindfulness … [Read more...]
11 things you love about equine medicine
Portia Stewart takes readers on a fun ride from the perspective of DVMs and technicians who work with horses. The sequence is nicely illustrated as well. One of these is guaranteed to make you smile. Source: DVM 360, September 14, 2016. These were my two favorites: The feeling of relief after you float a horse's mouth, knowing you got rid of those sharp edges that … [Read more...]
Vet tech coming. Plan now.
Tony Bennett recorded “Who Can I Turn To” in 1964 when it hit the top five on the Adult Contemporary chart. Like Bennett’s recording, veterinary technicians are a hit practices worldwide. They are essential and the primary point of contact with clients. Without them, who would our industry turn to? National Veterinary Technician week is October 16th to 22nd. Plan time to … [Read more...]
Potential for ultrasound use with horses is almost unlimited
Ultrasound is commonly used to evaluate the female reproductive tract, as well as the, tendon and ligament a horse’s lower limb. The applications are not the limit, according to David Ramsey, DVM. Ultrasound is easily learned and can be used in less common situations, including colic. Ultrasound mechanics are straightforward. Ultrasonic waves are generated by a probe the … [Read more...]
DVMs lie to themselves
Veterinarians lie to themselves, according to Dr. Andy Roark. He says, “There’s one particular lie that undermines the way we practice, communicate and provide patient care. It affects how we educate veterinarians and how we operate our clinics.” Here’s the lie: If we just tell average pet owners what’s best for their pets, they’ll do it. Source: Dr. Andy Roark, August 27, … [Read more...]
Cull cows early and often
Cull cow weight and cull cow price have long been listed as key factors that affect profitability for cow calf producers. Jason Faubion, assistant director of the Ranch Management Program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recommends culling early and often to keep the ranch operating as efficiently as possible. Cows only earn a profit – and therefore their … [Read more...]
2-step calf weaning
Pressure from consumer groups challenges all levels of food animal care. It also makes our industry consider other ways to approach “what we already know.” Our team liked this article as it challenges the nomenclature for shipping fever and introduces a possible solution that more closely fits natural herd behaviors. “There is no event we impose on cattle more stressful than … [Read more...]
Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds turns 50
Just for fun! This May marked the 50th anniversary of one of rock music’s seminal albums — the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Beach Boy founder Brian Wilson’s opus was a compositional and engineering masterpiece that has had a lasting impression on everyone from the Beatles to Radiohead. The 1966 album featured Beach Boy classics—Wouldn’t It Be Nice, God Only Knows, and Sloop John … [Read more...]
Manage the pressure to discount
A longtime, good customer you cannot afford to lose suddenly asks, “Can you get me a better price?” Now what do you do. In our experience, price discussions are really about value. This customer doesn’t perceive the value equals the price you are asking, has forgotten the value he’s already getting or has read the latest book about negation. Source: Harvard Business … [Read more...]
Test your horse smarts
During a recent event, a UBM representative shared that quizzes and brain teasers were very popular. So, if you missed this one and you love horses, try these trivia questions. Source: DVM 360, September 2, 2016. Whoa! Stop what you’re doing and try your brain, which weighs about twice as much as a horse’s brain (that’s a freebie), at these horse trivia questions. … [Read more...]
Avoid email time traps
Email is not dead, according to Jocelyn K. Glei, but it does kill our productivity. Recent projections suggest that worldwide email usage will grow by 12 percent in the coming years. Let’s look at the numbers and then learn how to manage this invasive digital necessity productively. The average person checks their inbox 11 times per hour, processes 122 messages a day, and … [Read more...]
Let’s talk discounts
This topic parallels our editorial - Toot your own horn. A growing number of veterinary practices and independent dealers or retailers are using practice or business managers to monitor the delivery of services and their residual profits. Discussing discounting behaviors is challenging. Tanja Mimica, of ConsultMates, believes there are four key things that make discounting … [Read more...]
OUCH! Prevent needle sticks.
The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center says more than 80 percent of U.S. farmworkers have accidentally stuck themselves with a needle while vaccinating animals. A study in Australia published in 2009, showed around three quarters (75.3 percent) reported suffering at least one needle-stick injury (NSI) in the previous 12 months, while 58.9% reported suffering … [Read more...]
Pet foods questions need science-based answers
Pet owners sometimes blame pet food for causing an overweight pet. Pet obesity discussions generally follow one of two main themes: that many pet owners are in serious denial about their pets’ weight or that pet food may play a role in the pet’s obesity. Both lines of thinking originate because some pet owners don’t understand pet nutrition or the ingredients in pet food. … [Read more...]
5 tips to help you negotiate with liars
Research tells us that people tell one or two lies every day. Additional studies report that half of negotiators will lie when they have motive and opportunity. Even more studies tell us we can only correctly identify lies about half the time. Fortunately, scientific examination tells us that we can conduct conversations in ways that make it difficult for our counterparts to … [Read more...]
Editorial – Toot your own horn
Every day in a large percentage of veterinary practices, product is “given away.” Depending on the practice, most of these products are not recorded as a “sale at no charge.” This behavior contributes significantly to inventory shrinkage. As important, the value of the free goods is not realized by the client or by hospital staff. Additionally, hospital owners give away … [Read more...]
Editorial – Some U.S. teens are hungry – literally
A majority of animal health pros are parents or grandparents. This article so compelling I wanted to share it with our readers. A recent small, exploratory study shines a light on how food insecurity affects teens (ages 13 to 18) and threatens their well-being. An estimated 6.8 million people ages 10 to 17 are food insecure, meaning they don’t have reliable access to enough … [Read more...]