The Consortium on Workplace-Based Education and Learning launches to provide an effective veterinary clinical educational experience at locations around the world that are not on a campus, also known as distributed learning. Distributed learning in veterinary educational terminology is a term used to describe a method of clinical year instructional delivery at locations that … [Read more...]
VVCA updating memberships, launching interactive VVCA Community
Member support and engagement are basic tenets of the Veterinary Virtual Care Association. A new, interactive VVCA Community will provide member-only engagement, peer-to-peer conversations, increased learning, exclusive interviews and networking groups. Updating current membership information and registering is required. The VVCA upgrades will further support telehealth and … [Read more...]
CAPC urges clinics to reach out assertively
The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends proactive veterinary client outreach in 2021. Starting now will help adjust for pandemic scheduling delays created last spring and will ensure all pets are tested and protected. Our concern is that the delayed veterinary visits in 2020 may cause difficulties in pets getting access to healthcare in 2021.” – Chris Carpenter, … [Read more...]
Vilsack parallels Covid-19 and animal disease vigilance
USDA Secretary of Agriculture nominee Tom Vilsack said there are three lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic that can help the country better prepare for future human and animal infectious disease outbreaks: the sooner you can detect a problem, the better incredible coordination is required the country must be able to create, distribute and manufacture … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – January 28, 2021
101 million rotisserie chickens later, Costco has a record year. Source: WinSight Grocery Business, January 22, 2021. Link It’s more than chickens. Find out how the warehouse giant keeps growing. Chewy CEO: Pet owners will keep shopping online … [Read more...]
Livestock market: The road ahead
Opinion Comprehending producer situations is helpful to distributors, manufacturers and veterinary professionals alike. While the outlook for 2021 is filled with uncertainty, Jennifer Ryan’s look at the farm economy’s precarious position resonates across all animal species. Note the reliance on off-farm income in many households. Let’s be honest. It’s rare to see an … [Read more...]
3rd version of the Masters of Beef Advocacy NextGen launched
You don’t have to raise cattle to help answer tough questions about beef and raising cattle. MBA NextGen can arm you with the information you need to be a strong advocate for the beef community and communicate with interested consumers. Source: Beefitswhatsfordinner.com, January 13, 2021. Link. MBA NextGen consists of five self-guided online lessons, open to everyone, and at … [Read more...]
Know your NSAIDS for horses
EQUUS editors provide a crib sheet to show horse owners which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work best for specific types of discomfort in horses. Source: EQUUS, December 22, 2020. Link. The crib sheet is a rundown to which NSAIDs work best for different types of discomfort that your horse may experience. INSIGHTS: Concise, this article will fit well with social … [Read more...]
3 main causes of feline stress and solution for each
Stress may be the most common nonmedical reason cats choose to urinate where they shouldn’t. It tends to have one of three causes: difficulty with other cats who live in the house (social stress) separation anxiety boredom, inability to express natural instincts to hunt and forage for food Source: Tuft’s Catnip, July 30, 2020. Link. INSIGHTS: This is good … [Read more...]
Rover’s expensive. Pandemonium pup costs are real.
Nearly half of all dog owners spend about $3,400 a year on their dogs, but dog ownership doesn’t have to be this expensive. Source: Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2021. Link. Here are ways real pet owners save on these items. Food Pet insurance Health care and meds Grooming Boarding … [Read more...]
Young vet gives tips, gets 1.4 million TikTok followers
Hunter Finn, DVM, may not be the most senior staffer at Richter Animal Hospital in Arlington, Texas, but he has the most TikTok followers on the hospital team. His posting on the social media platform began as a way to unwind from work. However, his unique ways of sharing basic information about pets has garnered him more than a million followers. Source: WFAA, January 27, … [Read more...]
2020’s Leadership lessons
All those who made it through the past 12 months did so by learning, being conscious of their situations and being open to change. Here are five important lessons. Source: Executive Grapevine, January 13, 2021. Link. Interactions are essential. INSIGHT: My personal mantra for 2020 and beyond is “Assess, Adapt and Act.” … [Read more...]
Survey says, “barriers, not demographics,” affect willingness to seek veterinary care
Rachel Park’s curiosity gives new meaning to pet owners’ barriers when considering veterinary care. Her research group’s findings describe known and unknown factors. Here are a few of her study results. The overall likelihood of dog owners to seek care did not differ significantly across demographics, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status. There were … [Read more...]
Cat owners say felines are sometimes treated as 2nd class
Commentary Results from two consumer studies indicate a large percentage of cat owners perceive they are treated as the proverbial red-headed stepchild compared to dog owners. Scores of 40 percent or more for every category indicates our industry has less-than-desirable customer experience issues with cat owners and their pets. Source: Pet Product News, January 13, 2021. … [Read more...]
Injured AHD editor kept going with Talkatoo
Commentary Animal Health Digest appreciates the support sponsors offer, especially when it goes beyond expectations. I recently compressed a nerve in my right arm, which greatly limited my typing ability. As one who thinks with his fingers and types for a living, this was a challenge. The good folks from Talkatoo kindly provided me full privileges to its voice-to-text … [Read more...]
Gene editing technology could soon be common practice for beef cattle industry
Jack Ward, executive vice president of the American Hereford Association, spoke about gene editing as one of the advanced technologies to enhance beef cattle during an interview broadcast on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network < link >. He believes this technology will be good for animal agriculture and could soon be a common practice for the beef cattle seedstock … [Read more...]
Merck Animal Health launches intranasal BRD vaccine for calves at 1 week of age or older
Complimentary Commercial Content Merck Animal Health has announced that Bovilis® Nasalgen® 3-PMH is now available to veterinarians and cattle producers to protect cattle from five of the most common pneumonia causing viral and bacterial pathogens. Approved for use in dairy and beef cattle, this is the first intranasal vaccine effective in providing early, broad-spectrum … [Read more...]
Those lousy goats
A goat owner cradled her prize goat during a recent Nat Geo Wild episode. Full of worms, it was fading fast. The TV vet rubbed the goat’s hair, inspecting skin and some crusty patches. Admittedly, I shuddered a bit thinking about what all could be crawling into the owner’s lap even though I remembered goat lice are goat-specific. Goats are becoming more popular and are … [Read more...]
Make sure horses get enough water
We can’t assume horses will break through a thin layer of ice or be willing to drink water that contains chunks of ice. Some will not do either. The authors share three ways to reduce the risk of dehydration even in the coldest weather. Keep buckets and troughs ice-free Check all automated waterers daily Mix up some mashes Source: EQUUS, January 8, 2021. … [Read more...]
While late, horses still need a fall wellness exam
Winter is in full swing, but with all the confusion from Covid-19, not all horses received their normal exams. Christine Barakat, DVM, stresses the importance of comprehensive wellness exams to help prevent problems. She shares a partial list of the topics likely to be addressed in them and why. With mares foaling now, veterinarians receive calls to assist. Performing exams … [Read more...]
The dentistry gap
Dawn Singleton-Olson reinforces the importance of comprehensive oral healthcare assessment and treatment (COHAT) to address the nearly 70 percent of cats and 80 percent of dogs over the age of 3 have some form of periodontal disease. “Pet owners truly want what is best for their animals, but often don’t understand how critical dental care is to the overall health of their pet … [Read more...]
VVCA seeking study participants; please help
Take 20 minutes to support a study that will provide data and insights needed to drive innovations and access to care in the veterinary profession. Debbie Sigesmund, BSc DVM, asked the VVCA to support data collection from small and mixed animal practicing veterinarians. The research team from the Ontario Veterinary College is studying veterinarian and pet owners’ perceptions … [Read more...]
We bungled. Consolidate That! is from Veterinary Integration Solutions
Sometimes we learn as much from our errors as our successes. The importance of proofreading was reinforced for our AHD team in last week’s Bulletin. It is a stark reminder that errors can be easily made even with a structured process in place. Last week we announced Consolidate That!, the new podcast from Veterinary Integration Solutions < link >. However, we bungled … [Read more...]
The 2021 employee experience
To create a best-in-class workplace, leaders need to consistently deliver on the fundamental, unchanging elements of a great employee experience. At the same time, leaders must ask smart questions in response to pressing demands and strategically adapt their employee experience to accommodate those challenges. Source: Gallup.com, January 8, 2021. Link. Onboarding new … [Read more...]
To overcome vaccine hesitancy, we need a better patient experience
HBR’s summary led me to review this article first in the human context and again thinking about animal health vaccination experiences. By thinking of the vaccine as a consumer product, vaccination as a service, and a high NPS (net promoter score) as a goal, we can better design the end-to-end vaccination process and bring this pandemic to a close as quickly as … [Read more...]
Cut seasons short for more profits
Jordan Thomas tackles human nature’s influence on the cow-calf operation. He says the focus on calf numbers likely keeps cows in the herd that don’t belong. Extended calving and hay-feeding seasons are a symptom of this tendency. Long hay-feeding seasons and long calving seasons are really just manifestations of the same fundamental problem” - Source: BEEF, January 2020. … [Read more...]
Milk filters, teat dips really matter
In order to help prevent infection to dairy cows, dairy pros must address cleanliness practices in barns and parlors. Greg Strait, Penn State extension educator, addressed milk filters as an indicator then emphasized teat dipping, cow prep, cleanliness of free stalls, and cleanliness of bedded pack and more during a recent discussion. Source: Hoard’s Dairyman, January 11, … [Read more...]
Titers and other vaccine considerations for horses
David Ramey, DVM, wishes discussions about equine vaccines were easy. Instead of being a simple linear vaccine equation, it has a lot of +/- variables in it. This makes discussions about vaccines fraught with all sorts of nuance and complications, he says. The result is that many throw up their hands rather than talk about them. Not simple, the horse vaccine equation looks … [Read more...]
Rescue animals, TIME’s 2020 pet of the year
Pets will return to the White House when president-elect Joe Biden takes office. One of them is the rescue dog, Major. Rescues, rehomes and adoptions peaked during the pandemic and it’s a trend likely to continue. TIME shares stories, trends and metrics. Source: TIME, December 9, 2020. Link. … [Read more...]
Poultry owners seek qualified veterinary practices
Backyard poultry continues to increase in popularity. Poultry owners often find it difficult to secure veterinary services and guidance as most poultry DVMs are deployed in large operations. Companion animal practitioners can take poultry under their wing by incorporating into their practice medical care for these birds and by counseling clients on proper fowl husbandry.” - … [Read more...]