The number of consumer touch points is growing exponentially. Mike Herrick believes that for brands to keep up, they should rethink their marketing technology stacks. He cautions assumptions that mobile is a template for the post-mobile age. It’s not. Source: Martech Today, November 29, 2017. The truth, says Herrick, is that post-mobile computing will be an infinitely … [Read more...]
What the duck?!
Erika Eigenbrod, DVM, shares an emergency experience with Twizzler, a Pekin duck. As more chickens and ducks move into suburban areas, veterinarians will likely receive more calls like this one. Thanks for sharing your egg-perience Dr. Eigenbrod. Source: Vetted, November 23, 2017. Being a doctor of veterinary medicine, your career, patients and situations will never happen … [Read more...]
Top urinary tract and prostate antibiotics
Articles like this one make great staff training and discussion tools. Seasoned veterinarians can help newer colleagues by sharing experiences while younger, less experienced DVMs bring new perspectives from their education or discussions with classmates. Encourage a trusted sales representative to help facilitate the discussions at a scheduled meeting. Source: Clinician’s … [Read more...]
Pick the right dog collar for safety and specialty
“Punishment gets compliance; reinforcement gets cooperation.” Animal health pros are frequently asked about dog collars. Each situation is different. Pat Miller offers collar advice from her force-free perspective. She says, “There are some types of collars we wholeheartedly endorse, some we support with caution and some that we regard as unnecessary and risky.” Source: … [Read more...]
Managing the skinny, older horse
Impending winter weather and loss of good pasture should make all owners of thin senior horses anxious. An underweight horse is a concern regardless of age, but seniors have additional considerations. Eleanor Kellon, VMD, shares perspectives on dentistry and nutrition. Source: Horse Network, November 23, 2017. Problems such as heart failure, kidney failure, liver disease or … [Read more...]
Feed bees so they survive the winter
The implementation of the VFD has increased animal health pros’ apiary concerns. Angi Schneider writes about feeding bees in winter to help them survive. Unlike other insects, bees do not hibernate during the winter or lay eggs that overwinter and emerge in spring. They stay active all winter long. Source: Countryside Daily, November 24, 2017. Once temperatures reach about … [Read more...]
Producers learning to live with VFD
Those in the swine business discovered in the last year that the VFD process is more than just having a veterinarian’s signature on a piece of paper. Because there is no allowance for using feed-grade medications in an off-label manner, veterinarians completing the VFDs have had to pay extreme attention to every detail on the label, including the dose, duration of feeding, … [Read more...]
How to disagree with a client
We’ve all been in this scenario—you try to talk to a customer about using a certain management system or therapy and they insist on doing something different. The challenge here is to guide the customer to understand your recommendation without further offending them. Working through this requires taking three steps: Active listening Explanation while getting feedback … [Read more...]
A conversation with Jim Cleary, AmeriSourceBergen (MWI Veterinary)
Pharmaceutical Commerce sat down with Jim Cleary to find out what’s happening at AmerisourceBergen. Cleary was President of MWI when AmerisourceBergen acquired it in 2014. He is now the head of the Global Commercialization Services & Animal Health unit. This is a must-read for all animal health pros. The marriage of human and animal care approaches is evident. … [Read more...]
Sit Ubu, sit – good dog! (includes video)
At the end of every episode of Family Ties and other UBU productions, Gary Goldberg’s black lab was flashed along with the famous phrase, “Sit Ubu, Sit!.” Pet owners want their dogs to be like Ubu. Mikkel Becker shares a mat training method to help get the sit behavior going. Her video includes comments from Gary Landsberg, DVM. Source: Firstline, November 14, 2017. What we … [Read more...]
Make winter calf care a priority
Don’t let calf care take a back seat, writes Karen Anderson. Her article addresses feeding and housing concerns for those who raise pre-wean calves during winter. Just because animal health pros have been through these considerations many times is no excuse for avoiding the topic during farm visits. A key point Anderson makes is to consider each calf individually. Her tips … [Read more...]
Reduce holiday threats to pets
Safety risks for pets abound during the holiday season. As animal health pros, we must proactively communicate them to animal owners. Despite ongoing warnings, pet owners need frequent reminders to help keep their pets safe. Samantha Johnson reminds us that it is important to maintain good routines for pets. Adding travel or large gatherings to a pet’s day requires planning … [Read more...]
Help your clients value preventive healthcare with these free videos
Research shows that pet owners are willing to embrace preventive healthcare, but do not completely understand its importance. Partners for Healthy Pets is focused on preventive care. They offer a free, downloadable series of videos to help your team to make your communication with clients more effective and make sure everyone is involved in the conversation. Source: AAHA … [Read more...]
375 kittens help identify obesity risks
A prospective study attempted to identify early life risk factors for cats to become overweight or obese. Results largely agreed with previously reported investigations of obesity risk factors. At two years of age, 25.3 percent of the study population was overweight or obese according to owners. The proportion was 36.8 percent when body condition score was measured by a … [Read more...]
November is Pet Diabetes Month
Pet Diabetes Month is observed in November and is a fitting opportunity to work with pet owners to achieve and manage a healthy weight for their pets. The AVMA offers good resources to guide those discussions. Direct clients to view information on Your Pet’s Healthy Weight page Keep healthy weight brochures on-hand in your clinic for easy distribution Discuss … [Read more...]
OUCH! Removing porcupine quills correctly.
The lumbering porcupine can easily disrupt the comfort of livestock or pets with a swat of his tail. This author discusses porcupine habits and myths and challenges of quill removal. Source: Countryside Daily, October 14, 2017. The best way to remove quills is to immobilize the animal (put a cow in a chute, have someone hold the unfortunate horse or dog and distract it) … [Read more...]
Marketing is about your customers’ values, not yours
Marketing is about how customer values translate into aspirations, insecurities, fears and motivations. They only want to know what a company stands for as it relates to them. Sound familiar? Kris Gage sounds a bit cynical in her article that will likely hit home with marketers as they make decisions for 2018. Source: The Startup, November 11, 2017. Marketing is about … [Read more...]
The reality of owning horses
Alyssa Knee offers a horse owner’s perspective of the ups, downs and real work of horse ownership. Her article provides good perspective for animal health pros who have never owned or worked with horses. Source: Horse Network, November 16, 2017. It’s a roller coaster of emotions, explains Knee. The kind that you get on willingly, but then realize you can never get off. It’s … [Read more...]
Get a dog. Live longer.
Dog owners live longer than those who don’t own dogs, according to a new study of more than 3.4 million people. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden reviewed national registry records of men and women, ages 40 to 80. They then followed their health records for 12 years. The found dog owners had a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease than non-dog owners, as … [Read more...]
Behind the scenes of socializing neglected, abused dogs
Severely neglected or mistreated dogs may have suffered any number of abuses: constant physical restraint or confinement, lack of appropriate nourishment, endless environmental stressors, even outright physical punishment. Marybeth Bittel shares some of the challenges of preparing these animals for their new lives. Source: Dogster, November 9, 2017. Potential adopters may … [Read more...]
Dogs can smell human fear and mirror our moods
A new study, "Interspecies transmission of emotional information via chemosignals: from humans to dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)," in the journal Animal Cognition, confirms what many have known. Dogs do smell human fear using chemosignals and they, too get scared. A dog's nose is an organ that's evolved to be an incredibly sensitive to odors. Source: The Bark, November 15, … [Read more...]
Embed customer-centricity into your DNA
Customer-centered focus becomes part of the DNA of a business or practice when its customers are at the center of every decision. This article is the 11th in a series of 12 on this subject. Animal health pros closest to customers’ needs often find themselves in conflict with leadership. But focused, customer-centric behavior is a primary context to the most successful … [Read more...]
Content marketing set to change
Just as content marketing seems to come of age, John Ellett challenges marketers to quit developing content marketing strategies and start developing plans that address how content supports marketing strategies. Studies indicate two of marketers’ biggest challenges in addressing changing buyer behaviors are: lack of buyer insights developing content that satisfies … [Read more...]
Understanding the decision makers
Pat Malone writes about the decision makers in this thoughtful article. It is a must-read for animal health pros. He writes: When your customer goes into decision-making mode, he/she is being influenced by two considerations: What do I know? This is the logical side of our brain calling up all the data and facts that we have that pertain to the decision at hand. How … [Read more...]
Beef Quality Assurance launches new transportation program
“The BQA Transportation (BQAT) training and certification program has been a long time coming,” said Chase DeCoite, director of BQA for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. “By educating cattle haulers and producers on the best practices in cattle transportation, BQA is helping make improvements in cattle care and beef quality.” Source: Beef, November 16, 2017. Online … [Read more...]
Cuddling Fido in bed can cause problems
The discussion of sleeping with pets continues. An estimated 79 percent of pet owners share their beds with their pets. As reported by WebMD, a survey from the American Pet Products Association determined that 62 percent of small dogs, 41 percent of medium-sized dogs, and 32 percent of large dogs sleep in their human’s beds. Source: Cesar’s Way, November 15, 2017. In … [Read more...]
USDA delays organic livestock, poultry rules effective date
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is again delaying the effective date of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) final rule published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2017. Source: USDA, November 9, 2017. In addition to a question about the scope of the statutory authority, a material error in the record was discovered. USDA is delaying the rule so … [Read more...]
Wild pigs march across the U.S.
The wild pig population explosion shows no signs of slowing. It has expanded from 19 states in 1985 to 39 states in 2016. Recent testing of using sodium nitrate in the form of a new oral toxicant is showing promise to help curb wild pig populations. Dale Nolte, national coordinator for the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, said, “Recent research results suggest … [Read more...]
Lab animal DVMs share tips about caring for pocket-sized pets
The small mammal market is rapidly growing and new items are available frequently. Veterinarians seeing these pets must be up-to-date about what is available, what is suitable for the pet and the owners’ lifestyle and how to evaluate the items that accompany these pets on trips to your office. Source: Veterinary Medicine, November 7, 2017. Because small mammals spend most … [Read more...]
Don’t forget the salt
The growing trends toward the small farm or urban livestock production comes with great educational needs. Many urban or suburban schools have abandoned ag-related classes and FFA or 4-H options are limited. Parents, grandparents and family members may remember raising poultry, rabbits or small ruminants but those memories may not reflect today’s realities. Rhonda Crank … [Read more...]