According to an organizational press release, merkvetmanual.com has been redesigned with the user in mind, now offering improved search with no ads.

“Among the improvements to the landing page,” according to the release, “are a more prominent search box that includes a ‘letter spine’ to locate animal health topics, quick links to search for pet health information, case studies, clinical calculators and an ‘above the fold’ location for specially featured content, photos and animations, and curated infographics that often correspond with national observances.”

 was released in 2016, and its full contents can be found on the site. The latest version of the resource is “an extensive collaboration of [its] editorial board and nearly 400 veterinary experts from academia, industry, government, research organizations, and specialty practices, representing more than 20 countries worldwide,” according to the site.

Articles

The online version of this ubiquitous veterinary resource is now easier to use.

Merck Veterinary Manual website gets a makeover 

Over 1,000 veterinary students were able to attend this year’s Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) in Orlando, Fla, all thanks to Compassion-First Pet Hospitals's partnership with the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC).

, Compassion-First Pet Hospitals partnered with NAVC to cover registration costs for veterinary students, thus increasing VMX student attendance  by 35% this year.

“We are thrilled to support the educational growth of the next generation of veterinarians and technicians by learning from the profession’s very best at the largest conference in the U.S. We also hope to expose students to as many new career opportunities as possible when they graduate,” according to a Compassion-First 

Ryan Buck, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Compassion-First says many veterinary students carry significant debt (between $77,000 and $277,314), making conferences like VMX unaffordable. “By providing free registration to VMX, our goal is for every veterinary student to feel empowered to expand their learning into new and innovative areas, expand their knowledge of the profession as a whole and spend time with thought leaders in animal medicine,” Buck said in an organizational 

Compassion-First Pet Hospitals is a family of nearly 50 hospitals across 14 states, including the most recent addition of three

: Specialists in Companion Animal Neurology (SCAN) in Clearwater and Naples, First Coast Veterinary Specialists and Emergency of Jacksonville Beach.

Compassion-First Pet Hospitals cover VMX student registration costs.

Veterinary students attend VMX for free

Itchy and scratching veterinary patients, and those with frequent ear infections or poor coat quality, may be suffering from a food allergy. But definitively diagnosing a cutaneous adverse food reaction in dogs and cats remains a challenge, and the only way to an accurate diagnosis is to perform an elimination diet trial. 

Jennifer Schissler, DVM, MS, DACVD, who lectured on several dermatology topics this weekend at the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) in Orlando, Fla, says when it comes to  elimination diets, Royal Canin's Canine Ultamino Dry Dog Food, an ultra-hydrolyzed diet, is excellent.

"The hydrolysis is such that it's down to very small short-chain or single amino acids. When dogs are chicken allergic, they actually don't react when they eat Ultamino," she says, noting that this diet should work in a vast number of patients with food allergies.

Once you've decided which novel protein is appropriate for the test and you've prescribed the elimination diet, you'll then need to counsel the owner on what to avoid feeding, and that includes treats and protein-based supplements. 

Although there is no cure for food allergy, identifying—and eliminating—the culprit protein(s) or carbohydrate(s) will improve the pet's quality of life and reduce or prevent skin and ear problems in the future. Watch the video below for more of Dr. Shissler's diet trial product recommendations.

When you suspect food allergy in a patient, performing an elimination diet trial is easier said than done. A veterinary dermatologist offers insight into improving compliance so your patients can get some relief.

Food trial nuggets at VMX 2020

Obesity is one of the most important medical disease in pets worldwide, in part because of its potentially devastating effects on mobiity. Current strategies for weight management involve dietary energy restriction with a purpose-formulated diet. But it can be difficult to get clients to comply with your recommendations, and outcomes are often disappointing. 

According to Alex German, BVSc, PhD, DECVIM-CA, SHFEA, FRCVS, professor of small animal medicine at the University of Liverpool, to help patients lose weight and enjoy a better quality of life, practitioners must tailor weight management programs for individual pets. 

This weekend at the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX), Prof. German will share his insight on how to do that succesfully. He'll also share tips for educating pet owners about obesity in dogs and cats and how to improve client compliance with your recommendations. 

Obesity and decreased mobility go hand in hand. At VMX, pet obesity expert Prof. Alex German will guide lecture attendees on how to tailor an effective weight management program that works for pets and clients alike.

Exploring pet obesity and mobility at VMX 2020

In advance of its annual Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) this weekend, the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) today announced the launch of 

 an advocacy program that provides veterinary professionals and pet owners with a platform to advocate for animals everywhere. 

“embrace” members will receive emails with updates on proposed legislation, rules and regulations impacting animal health, like these:

 Introduced in the U.S. House of Representative last year, 

 designates the first Saturday in October as National Animal Rescue Day in support of the six million dogs and cats that are placed in shelters each year. Half of the animals in U.S. shelters never find a forever home and are ultimately euthanized. National Animal Rescue Day is intended to shine a light on adoption events, festivals and charitable giving.

. The Puppies Assisting Wounded Service Members (PAWS) Act (

) seeks to reduce veteran suicides and ensure the wellbeing of veterans who have already exhausted all other treatment options for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by connecting them with service dogs as a 

Strengthening Support for Veterans with Service Animals Act.

, also introduced last year, protects veterans’ access to airplanes with their service dogs.

Often these emails will include a call to action such as signing a petition, emailing policymakers, tweeting representatives and making phone calls. Members will also have exclusive access to advocacy webinars, training and in-person meetings with government officials.

“What makes ‘embrace’ ... so unique is we bring together 

 members of the pet-loving community—veterinary professionals and pet owners—to advocate on behalf of animals everywhere,” said NAVC interim CEO Eugene O’Neill in a 

 from the organization. “Through the NAVC’s global community of 500,000 veterinarians and other animal healthcare leaders, ‘embrace’ provides a powerful platform for us to work together to build a better future for animals.”

During VMX, attendees will have the opportunity to join “embrace” and support these bills by visiting its advocacy booth in the Orange County Convention Center South Conference across from Room S210. If you’re interested but won’t be at the conference, click 

The goal of the new animal community alliance is to unite veterinary professionals and pet lovers throughout the United States to support animals in a host of ways.

NAVC launches national pet advocacy program

A strong core team is critical to the succes of any veterinary hospital design project. Here are the three key players, what each must bring and some criteria for selecting them.

The lender in veterinary projects is a crucial team member for success. Many lenders, particularly local banks, aggressively pursue the veterinary expansion based on a current business banking relationship. These collateral-based lenders require appraisals with “comps” of recent similar projects to gain board approval. Unfortunately, these “comps”—recent, comparable-quality veterinary projects—are rarely available, so lower-quality general office buildings are substituted to compare. 

These lower-value buildings result in appraisal failure, requiring the veterinarian to inject additional (unavailable) cash to make up the deficit. The veterinarian must seek alternative financing, resulting at a minimum in lost months to find a replacement, and at worst added expense or abandonment of the project altogether.

What’s an alternative? Many of our clients have found success with veterinary-specific lenders, often found as exhibitors at veterinary conferences and trade shows. These lenders base their decisions on a cash flow model, evaluating your business ability and growth to pay the debt as opposed to selling your building when you fail as local lenders do. Their experience with veterinary businesses and buildings leads to successful appraisals. They also commit to financing approval much sooner in the process and can often distribute draws for land and soft costs early in the process that would be unavailable with asset-based lenders, preserving your cash assets for business needs.

Whatever architect you choose should understand the nuances of veterinary medicine. Knowledge of productivity metrics, staffing complexities and workflow protocols is just as important as veterinary design trends, materials and construction costs.

In addition to design, an architect can help select and coordinate a team of mechanical and electrical engineers to design veterinary-specific solutions critical to thermal comfort, patient and staff health, and acoustic and odor control as well as balanced lighting systems and efficient energy consumption. Any weaknesses in this team can result in poor performance in any of these areas.

An experienced architect can also balance design selections with budget concerns. Every project, regardless of size, has a tolerable budget limit, and it’s relatively easy to design an over-budget project. Only the best teams are able to maintain that performance/budget balance.

Many projects use competitive bidding when selecting contractors. Our preference—at least on renovations—has been to negotiate with a single contractor as early in the process as possible. Following an interview/vetting process, we work with the practice owner to identify the most comfortable and competent fit. We then bring in that contractor to weigh in on design issues and their effect on budget, schedule and performance. Our main concern is not on how much we can be “under budget,” but an assurance that our project will be “in budget.” A contractor should be fully vested in our success in schedule, quality and budget.

At each stage of the design process, from initial floor plans to complex permit drawings and engineering system designs, we want the contractor’s buy-in. Why? After the project is done, the contractor will be largely responsible for any adjustments that will inevitably be required for final satisfaction. All too often, as a project moves along, the architect and practice owner can develop an adversarial relationship with the contractor. If we can eliminate this, we have a much higher probability for success.

Get three design team members right, and you’ll have the best chance to wind up with a design project that meets the functional and economic goals of the practice, the established budget constraints and financing considerations.

Wayne Usiak, AIA, is a senior partner of animal facility design firm BDA Architecture based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

These three people will make or break a project to renovate, remodel or build a new veterinary hospital. Increase your chances for success by getting the right folks to work right together.