We often hear rhetoric about increasing transparency. Certainly, various internet-based search tools have created an increasingly transparent universe. David Brock discusses how selling would need to change if the price was the price period. Source: Partners in Excellence Blog, July 9, 2021. Link. . . . when we don’t have pricing as a crutch we leverage to sell, we must … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2021
The rise of the eco-friendly consumer. . . our employees
Opinion For decades, our industry focused on animals while feeling forced to deal with people. Harsh? Probably, but true. In the current companion animal context, we’re seeing a growing focus on the animal owner as part of the pet care community. Additionally, the animal health pros we employ come from five generations, all of whom have their own opinions and … [Read more...]
Manage web-side manners in telehealth to ensure client understanding
Verbal and nonverbal cues are as important during telehealth visits as when meeting face to face. Eye contact is especially important during virtual visits, writes Lori M. Teller, DVM, DABVP (canine/feline), CVJ. Source: JAVMA, August 1, 2021. Link. Dr. Teller recommends informing clients at the start of the visit that you may look away to consult records or to take notes. … [Read more...]
Purchase growth plateaus, but still ahead of 2020, VetWatch™
Monitoring the scope, velocity and importance of developments in the U.S. veterinary care sector, VetWatch™ helps veterinary hospitals and the animal health industry stay on top of the ever-changing landscape affected by current events through multiple sources of real-time data. Source: VetWatch, week ending July 3, 2021. Link. For the week ending July 3, aggregate YTD … [Read more...]
2021 Audubon photography awards
Compared to recent competitions, few winning images in this year’s Audubon Photography Awards came from far-flung expeditions. Most were taken by photographers working close to home. This may be a reflection of how birds provided solace during the challenging and restrictive conditions brought on by the pandemic. Enjoy! The finest images showed birdlife at its most tranquil, … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – July 8, 2021
AHD Archives provide quick access to posts by month. AHD Archives for June 2021. Link. AHD Archives for May 2021. Link. Extreme heat is becoming more frequent—and our infrastructure is going to need to adapt Source: Fast Company, July 2, 2021. Link. Engineers are being forced to rethink new standards and systems to become more resilient to deal with … [Read more...]
Scouring calves still need milk
Calves must maintain adequate fluid and nutrient consumption while dealing with diarrhea. Jesse Goff, DVM, reminded producers, “If you withhold milk from the calf, the calf starves. He says there is no scientific evidence supporting this common practice. Source: Hoard’s Dairyman, July 5, 2021. Link: Scouring calves still need milk. Goff also suggested feeding calves smaller … [Read more...]
Society ignores low-probability events that have far-reaching consequences
Vaccines are still beating the variants, but the unvaccinated world is being pummeled. Ed Yong shares three simple rules that underscore the danger of Delta, the name for the B.1.617.2. variant, a SARS-CoV-2 mutation <Link>. Source: The Atlantic, July 1, 2021. Link. Even highly vaccinated nations should continue investing in other measures that can control COVID-19 but … [Read more...]
Pets can catch Covid from owner, cats more susceptible than dogs
The more time a cat spent with its owner, the higher the risk of infection, new research finds.” Source: NBC News, June 30, 2021. Link. The researchers also found that the amount of time a pet owner spent with their dog did not have an effect on the pet’s chance of getting Covid-19, but that was not the case for cats. The more time cats spent with their human companions, the … [Read more...]
8 strategies to reduce dry period mastitis to improve reproductive efficiency (video)
Eight dry cow prevention strategies can help reduce the risk that new intermammary infections will develop post-calving, which, in turn, helps keep milk flowing on the dairy and improves reproductive efficiency. Dairy cows are most susceptible to new intramammary infections (IMIs) during the dry period.” - Brian Miller, DVM, Merck Animal Health Source: Progressive Dairy, June … [Read more...]
It’s written on goats’ faces
Tamsin Cooper says goats are smart. She shares how they use and read facial expressions and body language to communicate with each other and to gauge humans too. Source: Backyard Goats, March 3, 2021. Link. Scientific research has confirmed that goats seek out our faces when attracting our attention and they look to us for help and guidance. We also know that they are … [Read more...]
Songbirds dying in Mid-Atlantic states from mystery illness
Federal and state wildlife officials in the Mid-Atlantic region are asking people to stop feeding birds and filling bird baths amid dozens of reports of mysterious songbird deaths. “. . . what's especially challenging about this is that it's not localized . . . to one specific geographic area [and] it's not localized to one particular bird species," said Lisa A. Murphy, BS, … [Read more...]
Cookout food can be hazards for dogs
Neighborhoods were filled with smells of cookout smoke last weekend. Harriet Meyers reminds us that dog owners may be tempted to let their dog have a taste of grilled foods, but not all are safe for dogs to eat. She shares tips on the foods to watch out for. Source: AKC, June 23, 2021. Link. Meyers’ key points: Grilled steak bones, ribs, and chicken bones cause choking … [Read more...]
Defining how long is too long for a dog to be alone
Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question all along, writes Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA. Rather than trying to figure out how to best stretch the amount of time we can leave our dogs alone, we should be trying to help our dogs get more out of every day. 10 to 12 hours is too long for a dog to be alone in a single stretch.” - Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA Source: Whole Dog Journal, January … [Read more...]
Ticks suck. A guide to identify them and avoid bites.
Tick-borne diseases are at an all-time high. About 50,000 cases are reported each year and far more go unreported. Sheila Eldred shares information for humans to help prevent tick bites. Source: NPR, July 4, 2021. Link. … [Read more...]
Encourage good dog behavior at work or when working from home
Whether or not you work remotely, these tips from Pamela Reid, PhD, CAAB, can help make work more pleasurable when including dogs. Consider this article for social media posts and newsletters. Source: Animal Wellness, June 25, 2021. Link. … [Read more...]
Personalized medicine for cats with heart disease
Veterinarians at the University of California, Davis have found that a cat’s DNA alters how it responds to a lifesaving medication used to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart disease that affects one in seven cats. A simple genetic test led to an actionable discovery. This study was about figuring out why some cats weren’t responding as expected to clopidogrel therapy … [Read more...]
Correction to research referenced in May 18, 2021 post
It has come to our attention that Curtis W. Dewey, DVM, MS, CTCVMP, CCRP, of Elemental Pet Vets in Freeville, New York, along with Mark Rishniw of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, provided the research data for our May 18 post about canine cognitive dysfunction periodontal disease. The results suggest what is going on in a dog's mouth may be related to … [Read more...]
The trap of caring too much about what other people think
YOU DO YOU!” - Gregg Vanourek It’s not that expectations are bad, writes Vanourek. They’re needed and can be helpful in many ways. The problem is becoming addicted to approval or fenced in by others’ expectations, he says. Source: Gregg Vanourek, June 30, 2021. Link. Vanourek’s sense is that we tend to overweight the external factors of approval and status early in life, … [Read more...]
Mentorships help professional and personal advancement with mutual benefits
Mentorship is a two-way street and both parties find growth and value in the relationships that form. Wendy Hauser, DVM, and Heather Kvito-White, DVM, DACVIM, share highlights from their mentorship journey. The mentee gains invaluable insight, and the mentor gets joy from helping another person succeed.” Source: Today’s Veterinary Business, June 2021. Link. INSIGHTS: Note … [Read more...]
Managing your energy
The science of stamina has advanced to the point where individuals, teams and whole organizations can, with some straightforward interventions, significantly increase their capacity to get things done. Source: Harvard Business Review, October 2007. Link. Improve your physical energy. Manage your emotions. Focus. Create meaning and purpose.” INSIGHTS: Stop multitasking. You … [Read more...]
Study reveals ag-related injuries more numerous than previously known
Fatality reporting has traditionally ranked farming as the eighth or ninth most dangerous job. New research looking at people treated in emergency departments for nonfatal, agricultural-related injuries suggests that the agriculture industry is even more dangerous than previously believed. Nearly a third of those injured were youths and vehicles were the primary source of … [Read more...]
How to measure the success of your veterinary marketing programs
Marketing efforts can be placed into three buckets: a) retaining current clients, b) gaining new clients and c) increasing average client spend. Each bucket has a different key performance indicator that can measure the effectiveness of your efforts. Tracking and measurement are keys to success. Source: MWI Animal Health, June 14, 2021. Link. A holistic look at your … [Read more...]
U.S. pet supplies spending update: mid-year 2020
Pet supplies and pet food spending has been on a roller-coaster ride, writes John Gibbons. However, the driving forces of each are different. Pet food is “need” spending and has been powered by a succession of “must-have” trends. Pet supplies spending is largely discretionary and has been affected by two primary factors, 1) spending in other major segments and 2) … [Read more...]