Jennifer R. Henderson provides us with simple, vivid reminders of the importance of hand sanitation in Never Touch These Parts of Your Body. In the few minutes it took to read this, I did three of the things she cautions against. Add a critter or four and the considerations expand exponentially. Too basic? Monitor yourself for five minutes! Source: Healthgradepro.com, March … [Read more...]
AVMA offers bee information to DVMs
Beekeepers have faced many challenges with disease pressure, habitat loss, and colony collapse. Veterinarians are needed to assist beekeepers with hive management, as well as disease identification, prevention, and treatment. The AVMA has provided information about the specifics < link > in the VFD and how it applies to veterinarians. The AVMA was involved in providing … [Read more...]
What’s in the (pet food) bag?
Kristi Reimer Fender’s shares challenges veterinary teams face when advising clients on pet food for their pets. Her article focuses on clearing up a storm of pet food myths, misconceptions, guiding clients and how food is integrated as part of the human-animal bond. Kudos to the DVM team for assembling this valuable collection of resources. Here’s what it comes down to: A … [Read more...]
Intellectually curious
If you want to develop your business acumen (link), your situational knowledge and your ability to create value for your clients and your dream clients, you need to become intellectually curious. Source: The Sales Blog, July 17, 2019. Link. At some point, I realized that creating greater value for my clients meant learning more about their business. I started to ask a … [Read more...]
Preconditioning STILL pays
Too many cow-calf producers still ignore the benefits of preconditioning. For as long as I can remember discussing cattle production health topics, pre-conditioning has been near the top of the list of economic factors. As animal health pros, we believe we’ve told the benefits to producers dozens of times. But, as with vaccination compliance, preconditioning is still not … [Read more...]
Assessing fat in colostrum
Kudos to the lab researchers who are digging into all the benefits of colostrum instead of just valuing colostrum by the level of colostral immunoglobulins. By studying herd data and a small test group they have concluded that fat, not protein, represents the primary energy source the cow packages into colostrum for the calf. The term fat broadly encompasses related compounds … [Read more...]
Beef-on-dairy production rapidly evolving
The advancements in genomics and sexed semen is making significant changes in how dairy producers manage cows. There is still a need for milk cows to have calves but not all calves need to be returned to the milking herd. By breeding the lower quality milk cows to beef bulls, dairy producers are building potential to impact the beef industry in a big way. <the author> … [Read more...]
Is an African swine fever vaccine getting closer to completion?
With African swine fever (ASF) virus moving across the globe, the race is on to be the first to develop a vaccine against the economically devastating disease. The Pig Site spoke to Dr. Linda Dixon, head of the African swine fever (ASF) group at The Pirbright Institute, about their current research and development efforts for an ASF vaccine. The Pirbright research focuses … [Read more...]
Acronym helps educate horse owners about colic
R.E.A.C.T. is the hallmark of a marketing effort to reduce the instance of critical colic cases in horses. Sarah Freeman, BVetMed, PhD, DECVS, FHEA, FRCVS, collaborated with the British Horse Society. She presented her work, the campaign and various educational materials at the West Indies Veterinary Conference. The acronym represents these indicators: R estless or … [Read more...]
When cats get fat
We’re highlighting one abstract from a recent JAVMA. Veterinary teams will find the information valuable in developing visit and retention activities for feline patients and their owners. Investigation of relationships between body weight and age among domestic cats stratified by breed and sex. Link A low frequency of repeated BW measurements suggested a low frequency … [Read more...]
Diagnosing skin lesions: an image gallery
Fans of the various veterinary TV programs recognize how frequently clients visit clinics with pet that has an unknown skin thingy. Alexander Werner Resnick, VMD, DACVD, gives animal health pros a resource of an image gallery of primary skin lesions to help understand basic lesions and their patterns of presentation. Primary lesions result directly from the disease process; … [Read more...]
Socializing dogs is an important responsibility
A recent trip to a big box pet retailer with our Morkie underscores Brianna Alex’s message about canine socialization. It is a critical component of training our pets. I’m not sure Alex’s five tips covers an excited, barking dog in the toy aisle, but she offers counsel every pet owner should receive. Her tips include: Take the dog for walks Expose the dog to different … [Read more...]
Opinion – Set the right expectations for puppy owners
In the last two decades, animal health pros have become increasingly aware of the number of puppies that get returned or surrendered. Most of these pets are returned because of normal behavior issues that new owners are not prepared to face. More than 1 million households give up their pets every year — and it’s not, by and large, because those animals aren’t loved or wanted.” … [Read more...]
New companion animal targeted GBS screening panels available from Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific launched three new AgriSeq targeted genotyping by sequencing (GBS) solutions that allow customers to genotype canines and felines while learning disease and parentage information about their pets. The ready-to-use panels achieve high call rates with reproducible genotyping results. Simple, high-throughput workflow on the Ion Torrent next-generation … [Read more...]
USDA scientists, researchers reveal 320 new inventions in 2018
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue recently discussed the latest Technology Transfer Report <Link >. He reported 320 new inventions from USDA laboratories in fiscal 2018, along with 471 licenses, 120 patent applications and 67 actual patents. Feedstuffs’ Jacqui Fatka shares the new developments and the potential economic impact. Source: Feedstuffs, July 3, 2019. Link. … [Read more...]
Don’t sweat the small talk
There are two kinds of people in this world, writes Dr. Pat Aitcheson. The first go by the Irish principle of strangers being friends they haven’t met yet. And the second live by Sartre’s principle that hell is other people. Unfortunately for the latter, they also have to socialise at least occasionally. Aitcheson offers tips for making conversation better: Assume … [Read more...]
Mess up . . . fess up. Avoid shifting blame.
In a recent SmartPulse poll, 32 percent of respondents admitted to blame shifting in the face of an error. The author offers advice about taking responsibility. None of us likes to make mistakes let alone claim responsibility for them. Source: SmartBrief, June 11, 2019. Link. Many mistakes have multiple parties contributing. No one wants to take the blame for someone else’s … [Read more...]
3 ways to deal with conflict more productively
“ . . . conflict is an inescapable part of life. You shouldn’t ask yourself, “Will I experience conflict,” but rather, “How will I manage conflict when it happens,” writes Roi Ben-Yehuda. “Few of us are naturally equipped with the tools to self-manage conflict,” he says. ‘So we end up telling ourselves problematic stories that make everything worse.” Source: Fast Company, … [Read more...]
Integrity is essential for leadership
Businessman, author and syndicated columnist Harvey McKay put it best when he said, “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” Source: Vet-Advantage Companion edition, June 2019. Link. Wikipedia suggests integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and … [Read more...]
AVMA’s latest veterinary census reveals important trends
An analysis of AVMA's electronic membership database of 113,394 veterinarians living in the United States in 2018 reveals important statistics that can help animal health pros better understand their customers. For example: women (61.7%) outnumbered men (38.2%), 9% of veterinarians were in private clinical practice the most prevalent generational group was … [Read more...]
Pet economy estimated to balloon to $75 billion in 2019
Denise Power highlights the surge in spending on pets. She outlines perspectives from Petco, Walmart, APPA, TD Ameritrade, Realtor.com, Bark and several specialty dog food companies. What we see happening is a transition from pets being ‘man’s best friend’ to ‘family’s favorite child.’” – Nick Konat, Petco Source: CO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, July 9, 2019. Link. Expect more … [Read more...]
Dogs’ sleeping positions may reflect their character
Marcelle Chastain says dogs’ sleeping positions hide several aspects of their personality, behavior and health. She shares what some postures indicate: Side-sleeper: generally comfortable living in their current surrounding environment Snugly fox: the most defensive position, they’re trying to feel warmth and safeguard their vital organs Superman: makes it easier for … [Read more...]
Your pet’s health likely tattles about yours
Physician Daphne Miller explores the growing evidence that the status of a pet’s health may very well reflect that of its owner. She also considers the One Health initiative, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effort in which physicians and veterinarians find commonalities in their work. Source: Washington Post, July 1, 2019. Link. “I see [pet-owner] connections … [Read more...]
The importance of a good apology
New research reveals a formula for communicating an apology that increases customer satisfaction and loyalty after a service failure. . . . the inevitable customer crisis can become one of your best opportunities to deepen customer commitment—if you handle the failure properly. Source: Sales and Marketing Management, May/June 2019. Link. Tim Riesterer shares research results … [Read more...]
8 tips to expand your reach with Instagram
With the rising use of Stories on Facebook and Instagram, these tips about how to create effective Instagram Stories and Stories ads may help hone your strategy for the greatest return. Facebook reports, “1 in 2 people surveyed say they have visited a website, and 31% have gone to a story to buy a product/service as a result of seeing it first in Stories. This is good reasoning … [Read more...]
10 tips for improving your remote conversations
John R. Stoker discusses the challenges of remote workers. What he shares also applies to remote discussions with customers. Because we are not working with these people in a face-to-face environment, we are forced to communicate by text, email, phone, internet or teleconference. The most challenging types of communication occur without being able to either see the person … [Read more...]
Opinion – Human infection control. Progress worth watching and applying.
The need for increased infection control in animal clinics is equally as important as it is in human hospitals. In addition to protecting patients, managing infection possibilities also protects staff and doctors. Animal health pros can learn from the discussion about the results of infection control management in human hospitals to identify areas that need improvement in … [Read more...]
Cat food: grain-free marketing outpaces evidence of actual grain-free benefits
In a study conducted by Tufts, grain-free diets were compared to diets with grain. While 73 percent of manufacturers producing dry cat food in the United States now have at least one grain-free product, there’s little evidence of differential benefits or a reduction in allergies. . . . food allergies are relatively rare in pets, particularly from grains. Rather, the source of … [Read more...]
More reasons not to feed Fido grain-free food
Spending $100 a month on food for a 12-pound dog gives The Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull some degree of credibility to address pet food fads and trends. With the help of Christopher Lea, a veterinary medicine professor and director of the Auburn University Veterinary Clinic, and Lisa Lippman, the lead New York veterinarian for Fuzzy Pet Health, she details how grain-free … [Read more...]
Many common household cleaning products are NOT SAFE for dogs
Please take time to review this information! The articles reference popular cleaners that contain toxic ingredients. Studies show the dangerous effects of some common cleaning products on dogs. These include data on pets which showed that Fido and Fluffy are not immune to chemicals and that many cleaning products are not pet safe. There are many, many cleaning products on … [Read more...]