If you experienced some of the meat issues during the first months of Covid-19, the backlog of pig slaughter is catching up. At least the slaughter weights have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Source: Swineweb.com, August 4, 2020. Link. The author references USDA weekly metrics and discusses the situation and production changes that contribute to normalization. INSIGHTS: … [Read more...]
Clean rabbit scent glands properly
The popularity of pet rabbits continues to grow. In addition to maintaining tooth and nail lengths, and weekly brushing, rabbits need their scent glands cleaned regularly. We’re sharing video resources that can help veterinary teams and rabbit owners with nails and glands. Source: How to clean a rabbit’s scent glands, House Rabbit Society. Link. Typically the scent glands … [Read more...]
5 FAQs about pets and vaccines
August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Carley Lintz provides a brief guide to share with pet parents about animals and vaccinations. Rudimentary? Yes! But consider using this to contact local media, as the basis for an interview on local radio or for developing a script for a YouTube video for your website. The K.I.S.S. principle probably applies here and yes, … [Read more...]
Favorite 5 articles from Clinician’s Brief
We’re sharing this group of articles from Clinicians Brief in the event you hit delete before taking a good look at this group of peer reviewed tips. Source: 5 tips for treating otitis externa, Clinician’s Brief, June 2019. Link. Source: Top 5 complications of gonadectomy, Clinician’s Brief, February 2020. Link. Relevant information in light of this recent post: Neutering … [Read more...]
CAPC tracking hookworms
Parasitic diseases are dynamic and can expand beyond areas that are typically thought of as hot spots for specific diseases. The tracking efforts central to CAPC’s top 10 cities demonstrates the importance of reporting by veterinarians. Their daily experiences rolled up statistically help animal health pros and animal owners understand the importance of testing and year-round … [Read more...]
FAMILY: help your kids be fearless
Kids! School decisions. To sport or not. To interact with peers. Alone at home. Whew, what a time to have kids. Fears are normal in children, until they prevent them from experiencing life, writes Rachel Buchholz. It is rare to not hear something about kids and choices in industry conversations these days. We’ve included Buchholz’s recent National Geographic newsletter … [Read more...]
What is your cleaning, sanitizing and disinfection IQ?
The pandemic has forever opened people’s eyes to the impact infective pathogens have on our lives. This author reviews the challenges we all have managing a less infection prone environment. As animal health pros, we are primary sources of information and education for our clients and those in our networks. The information here is rudimentary and worth sharing internally and … [Read more...]
Elanco welcomes Bayer Animal Health (video)
Complimentary commercial content Jeffrey Simmons, president and CEO at Elanco, welcomes Bayer to the Elanco business. His message is one of commitment and excellence, hallmarks of brands from both entities. This is a significant event in animal health. It is important to really listen to the breadth and scope in the narrative. Source: YouTube, August 3, 2020. … [Read more...]
More than 2000 registered for VVCA live event
The Veterinary Virtual Care Association (VVCA) is hosting it’s first online summit August 18th. It offers 5.5 hours of free education to veterinarians, technicians, and others interested in elevating the level of care they provide to animals. The notice lists the speakers presenting the continuing education. Source: VVCA media release, August 5, 2020. Link. We are thrilled … [Read more...]
Best cleaners to sanitize your phones
Jimmy E. Sharp shares a list of cleansers to use on your phones. You don’t have to be paranoid or a hygiene freak to realize how close your hands, mouth and eyes are to your phones’ surfaces. . . . whatever you use to sanitize your phone . . . USE SOMETHING!” Source: Habits and Routines, July 17, 2020. Link. … [Read more...]
Looking ahead with The Bridge Club
Now three years old, The Bridge Club continues to gain momentum, popularity and fill gaps in our social and professional networks. Animal health pros rely on each other’s experiences and perspectives. The Bridge Club virtual events have evolved to emulate discussions often had over lunch or at the watering hole during on-site industry conventions. Source: The Bridge Club. … [Read more...]
Rev up replacement heifers
Patsy Houghton, president and general manager of Heartland Cattle Co., McCook, Nebraska, gave advice for developing heifers in fall 2020, spring 2021 and beyond in a recent Angus University webinar. She offered seven challenges to help commercial cattlemen improve their replacement heifers: Place selection pressure on fertility Enhance your calf crop value Improve … [Read more...]
Preg-check beef cows early
Identifying reproductive issues, managing input costs, more efficient culling along various preg-checking methods are presented in this article. Producers have a variety of options for managing nonpregnant cows and heifers.” Source: Bovine Veterinarian, July 10, 2020. Link. Current cattle markets, weather outlooks and feed availability are all factors that should be … [Read more...]
Preconditioning, premiums and the real value of vaccines
Cow doc Jake Geis, DVM, discusses preconditioning calves, getting a better return on your vaccine and parasite control investment in the entire herd, not just calves. Cattle buyers place the most preference in a preconditioning program for the number of days weaned. . . because they know it means the cow-calf producer took on the risk of doing the actual job of weaning and … [Read more...]
Cats can make you sick or even kill you
Just as our industry is getting more clients to bring cats to clinics, become better educated on prevention and improve the human-animal bonds cats empower, we get these warnings. Cat lover Richard O’Brien, MD, uses a scary title to outline slight risks and big risks when sharing space with cats. . . . don’t test a cat’s limits of composure. Protect your pet, yourself and your … [Read more...]
Leptospirosis Cliff notes: Screen, test and treat leptospirosis better (webcast)
Complimentary commercial content from VETgirl and Merck Animal Health Natalie Marks, DVM, reviews common and uncommon presentations of leptospirosis in general practice, lab abnormalities not to miss and keys to successful therapy. The review includes clinical signs of leptospirosis in dogs, signalment, what treatment is, and how to diagnose it. Also included is a brief … [Read more...]
Parvovirus cases spike
BluePearl, which operates 90 specialty and emergency pet hospitals in 21 states, has experienced a 70 percent increase in parvovirus cases. They relate the spike to the pandemic. AAHA’s Tony McReynolds dug into the situation and offers ways for practices to prepare. Source: AAHA NEWStat, July 23, 2020. Link. … [Read more...]
Getting to the bottom of goosebumps
Scientists have found the same cell types that cause goosebumps are also important for regulating stem cells that regenerate the hair follicle and hair. In this study, we identified an interesting dual-component niche that not only regulates the stem cells under steady state, but also modulates stem cell behaviors according to temperature changes outside.” - Ya-Chieh … [Read more...]
10 fun facts about mosquitoes
Fun? Well maybe for an entomologist. ;-) Animal health pros are the perfect sources to CONFIDENTLY help animal owners decrease the risk from mosquito-borne diseases. But, products on the shelf or not discussed never repel or kill one of the pests. Talk about them. Mid-summer is the peak time for mosquitoes!” Source: The Outdoor Wear, July 16, 2020. Link. People with Type O … [Read more...]
Dictation platform built for veterinarians now available on Mac
Mac users are celebrating as Talkatoo announces it has finished production of its revolutionary dictation software in a version for macOS. Up until now, it was only possible to do so on Windows. Talkatoo’s voice dictation solution offers tremendous flexibility and convenience for vets everywhere, even on their personal laptops. . . Windows or Mac.” Source: Talkatoo. Link. … [Read more...]
The best advice? Ask more questions.
As a leadership mentor, I am often asked for advice about a wide range of business issues. The temptation is to immediately try to answer the questions. I have learned the best mentors slow down and ask a few of their own questions before trying to answer the questions they were asked. Source: Inc, July 19, 2020. Link. The Advice Giver is usually an established, busy person. … [Read more...]
Every horse on a farm is at risk
There are risk avoidance opportunities in health care for humans and animals. Even top-of-the-line biosecurity cannot prevent core disease sources from getting on a property and infecting horses. These diseases can lead to death, but vaccinations help avoid morbidity and mortality. Equine veterinarians discuss the five core diseases: Rabies West Nile virus (WNV), … [Read more...]
Toilet training cows?
What? YHTBKM, right? We had to share this one along with some tongue-in-cheek. Behavioral scientists’ research results concluded that cattle have the intelligence and neurophysiological foundations that make toilet training possible. The learning method of so-called operant conditioning, which is based on a reward for the desired behavior, has proven itself. Practical … [Read more...]
Have you herd? Ruminants in a sustainable food system (AABP podcast).
Animal health pros are an important part of the front line to manage perceptions and truth about animals, animal stewardship and the impact of animals on our environment. Sara Place, PhD, discusses greenhouse gas emissions, how cattle are a solution to providing a sustainable food source for humans, and why the Food and Agriculture Organization’s report on GHG production … [Read more...]
True or false? Hormones and steroids are added to chickens.
Commentary During recent calls with a dozen animal health pros, I asked about hormones and chickens referring to marketing on packaging in supermarkets. Only four of the 12 knew a definite answer. Let’s get this right once and for all! Fact: federal regulations prohibit the use of added hormones and steroids in all poultry. The chicken that is labeled “Raised without … [Read more...]
Help cat owners recognize an emergency
Cats don’t come with warning labels, and a person who doesn’t know the symptoms can’t be expected to recognize them” – Eric Barchas, DVM Barchas begins with a tip about what healthy gums look like and then shares a list of more common and serious cat emergencies that includes: Difficulty breathing Sudden paralysis of the hind end Known (or likely) ingestion of … [Read more...]
Right way to perform CPR on a pet
Veterinary teams need CPR training for animals just like we need training on how to perform CPR on a human. RECOVER, which stands for the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation, was developed by a group of emergency and critical care specialists from multiple veterinary schools across the globe based on evidence from scientific literature. Published in the Journal of … [Read more...]
Pet pain points and tools for assessment
Pain! It’s one of the biggest challenges and important topics in veterinary medicine. Pets naturally avoid showing pain. Clients do not recognize pain and taking a pet to a practice likely masks pain even more with an adrenal response. Fortunately, there are now tools to identify and differentiate pain. Source: JAVMA, April 1, 2020. Link. Katie Burns shares these tools for … [Read more...]
Telemedicine content missing new VVCA references
Commentary More content appears nearly every week on telemedicine. In animal health there is an organization, albeit relatively new, that has been organized to help define virtual care in animal health and frequently not referenced in published content. That organization is the Veterinary Virtual Care Association < link > whose mission is to elevate the standard of … [Read more...]
Even B2B buyers want emotion in their content
Feelings? Yes, feelings! Jodi Harris says we should demonstrate deeper awareness and understanding of the positive outcomes and experiences our audience wants. Still, focusing on transactional behaviors we want to drive remains important to today’s marketing. It is true for B2B and B2C. Marketers need to adjust their content priorities so they can answer the new questions and … [Read more...]