American Humane has announced that nominations are now open for its seventh annual Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Nurse Awards, presented by Zoetis. Pet owners and animal lovers are invited to visit 

 before April 2 to nominate veterinary professionals who are dedicated to improving the lives of animals and promoting the human-animal bond.

The winning veterinarian and veterinary nurse will travel to Los Angeles to be honored as part of the 10th annual 

 gala in September, which will air on the Hallmark Channel this fall.

Professionals from all fields of veterinary medicine are eligible for entry, including those who work in research, emergency services, shelters and large- and exotic-animal settings, along with companion animals. Five finalists will be selected in each category by a panel of judges consisting of veterinary professionals, celebrities, and animal care professionals. Beginning June 11, the public will be invited to vote online for their favorite veterinarian and veterinary nurse.

“Zoetis is honored to support America’s veterinary community, and the American Humane Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Nurse Awards are our way of thanking these tireless individuals,” says Tara Bidgood, DVM, PhD, DACVCP, executive director of Zoetis Petcare Veterinary Professional Services, in a release from American Humane. “Veterinarians and veterinary nurses are leading the effort to keep America’s animals happy and healthy, and they deserve recognition.”

Key dates for the 2020 American Humane Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Nurse Awards contest are:

To nominate a veterinarian or veterinary nurse between now and April 2, and for complete contest rules, visit 

Articles

The Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Nurse Award winners will be featured on the  Hallmark Channel in the fall.

American Humane calls for veterinary hero nominations

The winners of the fourth annual Vetty Awards—honoring the best advertising, design, digital, experiential and public relations campaigns in animal health—were revealed this week at the North American Veterinary Community’s Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX).

NAVC introduced the awards in 2017 to “recognize and reward the marketing excellence that helps fuel the rapidly growing industry,” according to a 

The competition is open to products and services available through veterinarians or that support the veterinary community, including pharmaceuticals, pet foods, diagnostic equipment, professional associations, pet advocate organizations and more.

 NexGard (afoxolaner) Lyme Awareness Campaign from Boehringer Ingelheim and Shepherd

VeggieDent Zen Tartar Control Chews for Dogs

 from Virbac Corporation and Archer Malmo

Animal Emergency & Specialty Center Cardiology Campaign

 from Animal Emergency & Specialty Center and Innovetive Petcare

At its VMX show this month, the North American Veterinary Community awarded the best advertising, design, digital, experiential and PR campaigns in animal health. See any favorites?

VMX 2020—NAVC awards best veterinary ads

One cat is gaining the hearts of many, not because of her cute looks, but rather her intimidating cold demeanor and her no-nonsense personality.

 posted an ad on Facebook introducing Perdita, who they referred to as the “world’s worst cat”.

According to the Facebook post, Perdita likes “staring into your soul until you feel as if you may never be cheerful again, the song Cat Scratch Fever, the movie Pet Cemetery (Church is her hero), jump scares (her specialty), lurking in dark corners, being queen of her domicile, fooling shelter staff into thinking she's sick (vet agrees...she's just a jerk)”

The shelter also shared Perdita dislikes which include, the color pink, kittens, dogs, children, the Dixie Chicks, Disney movies, Christmas and she’s not a hugger. So basically you can call her the feline grinch, but she still wants to be loved too.

“She's single and ready to be socially awkward with a socially awkward human who understands personal space,” the post says.

If you and one of clients is looking to adopt, you can find out more about Perdita 

Find out why this sassy black and white cat is gaining popularity

"World’s worst cat" is up for adoption

If you missed the annual Veterinary and Meeting Expo (VMX) in Orlando this week—or if you missed these topics, here are some of the event’s top highlights. 

Dr. Amelia White shared her insights on diagnosing and 

Banfield Pet Hospital unveiled its 2020 Veterinary Emerging Topics (VET) Report, which focuses on 

Digital Empathy’s CEO Robert Sanchez shared how to respond to a 

Dr. Marie Hopfensperger offered tips on how to help 

conquer canine anxiety during veterinary visits

Watch our conference news wrap-up below to find out more about these topics, and click 

Videos

You may have missed VMX this year, but don't worry, we've got you covered. Here are some of the hot topics from this year’s conference.

VMX wrap-up: Feline allergies, obesity, bad reviews, and canine anxiety 

Surgical gowns and packs from a medical device manufacturer distributed to veterinary practices may not be sterile, according to an email dvm360 received yesterday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Customers of Level 3 surgical gowns and Presource procedural packs that contain these gowns should immediately discontinue their use, according to alerts from medical device manufacturer Cardinal Health. These items are used primarily in human medical facilities, but the FDA has now found that the items are in some veterinary settings as well.

“The FDA is working closely with Cardinal Health to understand and address the quality issues with these products, including the potential risks to users and patients, which specific product lots are impacted, and the potential impact on the supply chain,” according to a 

. “At this time, we are concerned about possible contamination of the products and agree with the manufacturer’s recommendation about not using the affected lots.”

Customers with questions about whether their own inventory is affected should contact 

The voluntary recall of Level 3 surgical gowns and Presource procedural packs affecting human medical settings has widened to include possible distribution to veterinary hospitals, according to the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Cardinal Health surgical gowns, packs recalled

The itchy cat—fleas aside—is not a common sight. But when cutaneous manifestations of allergy do occur in cats, they can be quite complicated and require multimodal therapy, according to Amelia White, DVM, MS, DACVD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. White offered attendees her insight about managing several types of allergies in cats this week.

The excessive groomer looks allergic, and indeed may be. “But a cat that grooms excessively might be doing so for reasons other than being pruritic,” Dr. White explained. Cats can respond to uncomfortable conditions like urinary tract infections and anal sacculitis by pulling out their hair.

Overgrooming can also be psychogenic; in many cases, it kicks off because of a true dermatologic condition (e.g. parasite infestation) but morphs into habit even after the underlying problem has resolved. “Allergic can become psychogenic very quickly,” Dr. White said.

Most true allergies in cats fall under eosinophilic granuloma complex (EGC), which can manifest as different lesion types:

Miliary dermatitis: small, raised, crusty papules 

Eosinophilic plaque: elevated, flat thickening with a red-orange center and crusting

Rodent/indolent ulcer: eosinophilic infiltrate that occurs as bilateral, raised lesion(s) at the upper lip margins

Eosinophilic granuloma: linear plaques, often on one or both hind legs, and dome-like masses that may occur in the interdigital tissues.

EGC is treated with multimodal therapy that sometimes includes antibiotics. “Steroids have a very strong inhibitory effect on eosinophils,” Dr. White said.

Feline pruritus can be rooted in parasites. The most common pruritic skin disease in cats is flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), which may or may not be seasonal depending on geographic region. While flea bites themselves are itchy, most cats develop type I and type IV hypersensitivities to flea salivary antigens. The head, neck and caudal half of the body typically manifest bilateral, symmetric alopecia as well as miliary dermatitis.

While there are no age, gender or breed predilections for FAD, atopic cats—as well as cats with 

flea exposure—are most severely affected; cats that are exposed to fleas 

Diagnosis of FAD is generally made by the distribution of lesions and itchiness on the cat, as well as the presence of fleas and/or flea dirt. Trichograms may show broken-ended hairs. Serologic and intradermal skin testing may be diagnostic, although false-positives can occur.

The treatment mainstays for FAD are corticosteroids, but immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine (Atopica—Elanco) and oclacitinib (Apoquel—Zoetis) are effective as well. Atopica, which inhibits the inflammatory activator calcineurin, requires 30 to 90 days for onset of action. Twice-weekly dosing has been shown to be 63% effective in cats with EGC. Apoquel can be used off-label in cats at a dose of 1 to 2 mg/kg twice daily, but Dr. White added that it should not be the first choice for treating allergies in cats.

The affected cat, the home environment and all other pets in the household should be treated with flea control products. Prevention can be accomplished through the use of parasiticides effective against fleas as well as through flea exposure avoidance. 

Like flea bites, mosquito bites can also produce hypersensitivity (type I) in cats, with no predilections. Bloody, oozing, pruritic lesions typically develop on the rostrum, ears, face and paw pads. Corticosteroids and insect repellents are effective.

Food allergy is an uncommon cause of nonseasonal pruritus in cats. Raised, crusty, erythemic plaques typically appear on the head, neck, pinnae and abdomen. Signs are typically first seen when a cat is quite young or geriatric, but a food allergy could manifest at any age, Dr. White said.

Once parasites and primary skin infection are ruled out, diagnosis can be made by food elimination trial, conducted over 8 to 12 weeks. The smoking gun is generally 10- to 70-kD proteins found in beef, fish or dairy, although dietary carbohydrates, preservatives and artificial flavors are lesser-known triggers. Food allergy is managed with steroids, antibiotics and dietary change to novel/hydrolyzed protein diets.

Once fleas, food allergy and infectious dermatitis have been ruled out as the cause for nonseasonal pruritus, consider atopy, Dr. White said.

Atopy is cutaneous inflammation often associated with production of IgE against environmental allergens. Atopic cats may have a genetically predisposed abnormal cutaneous barrier to begin with; antigens easily penetrate the skin and are escorted to the lymph nodes by sentinel cells called Langerhans cells. Here, the lymphocytes produce antibodies that initiate the inflammatory cascade.

Atopy is the underlying state that “greases” the immune system: It makes every allergic condition worse, be it flea allergy or food hypersensitivity. It also intensifies allergic responses with subsequent exposures, and seasonal flares can turn into everyday issues. In fact, said Dr. White, 75% of atopic cats have year-around pruritus. “Even in cats that started out seasonal, over time they eventually become nonseasonal,” she said.

Atopic cats have widely distributed lesions, and diagnosis can be made by history, clincal signs and the process of diagnostic exclusion.

Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the gold standard of treatment for feline atopy, Dr. White said. Immunotherapy is developed from results obtained on an intradermal allergy test or serology (which generally shows high levels of IgE in circulation). Vials typically are limited to 10 to 12 antigens apiece, possibly because there is cross-reactivity between different antigens and to avoid diluting therapy to the point of making it ineffective.

Treatment is most effective with a multimodal protocol that includes allergen-specific immunotherapy, anti-inflammatories (corticosteroids, Atopica, Apoquel, antihistamines and essential fatty acids) and allergen avoidance. Because stress can exacerbate pruritic behaviors, Dr. White also recommended the use of behavior modulators like amitriptyline, fluoxetine and clomipramine in cats with intense pruritic behaviors.

When it comes to cutaneous manifestation of allergies, Dr. White advised, lesion 

Head and caudal part of body: Think fleas.

Head, neck and belly: Think food-induced.

Immune hypersensitivities can also encompass locations below the skin surface. Associated signs include upper respiratory abnormalities, nasal/ocular discharge, asthma and inflammatory bowel disease.

Developing a successful treatment plan for common allergies in cats first requires an accurate diagnosis. A veterinary dermatologist provides diagnostic and treatment details to help you put a stop to the scratching.
