In late August and early September, Sunshine Mills, Inc. announced voluntarily recalls of several lots of dog food due to potentially elevated aflatoxin levels and possible 

Aflatoxin, a naturally occurring mold by-product from the growth of 

, can be harmful when consumed in large quantities, according to the 

The company says a single 4-pound bag of 1 lot of the product showed elevated levels of aflatoxin during routine sampling by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Ingestion of affected product may cause sluggishness or lethargy combined with decreased appetite, vomiting, icterus, or diarrhea. To date, no adverse events have been reported in association with these products, which were distributed in retail stores throughout the country.

Below is a full description of the products affected by this recall.

A recall of dog foods potentially contaminated with

 in late August. The Georgia Department of Agriculture discovered the presence of 

 in a sample of a single 3-pound bag of Nature’s MenuSuper Premium Dog Food with a Blend of Real Chicken & Quail. The food has UPC codes of 7015514363 and 7015514365 with the following lot codes:

TE1 20/April /2020, TE1 21/April/2020, TE1 22/April/2020, TE2 20/April /2020, TE2 21/April/2020, TE2 22/April/2020, TE3 20/April/2020, TE3 21/April/2020, TE3 22/April/2020

 TB1 20/April /2020, TB1 21/April/2020, TB1 22/April/2020, TB2 20/April /2020, TB2 21/April/2020, TB2 22/April/2020, TB3 20/April/2020, TB3 21/April/2020, TB3 22/April/2020

-infected pet food poses a health risk both to pets and their owners. Clinical signs in pets and people are similar and may include lethargy, fever, vomiting, diarrhea (possibly bloody), decreased appetite, and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can infect other animals and humans. To date, there have been no reports or complaints of illness from eating these foods.

Pet owners are encouraged to contact their veterinarian immediately if their pet has eaten any of these contaminated foods or displayed any of the signs above.

Retailers who received the recalled lots have been contacted and asked to pull them from their inventory and shelves. Pet owners who have these products in their possession should discard them immediately. Anyone with questions is advised to call 800-705-2111 or email 

Articles

There have been no reports of illness related to any of the products recently recalled by Sunshine Mills, Inc.


Dog foods recalled due to elevated aflatoxin levels and Salmonella risk

The San Diego Zoo Global (SDZG) announced last month the birth of the world’s first cloned Przewalski’s horse at Timber Creek Veterinary Hospital in Texas. The foal, born to a surrogate mother, was cloned from a male Przewalski’s horse whose DNA was cryopreserved 40 years ago at the SDZG Frozen Zoo, according to an 

. SDZG and ViaGen Equine (a division of ViaGen Pets and Equine) collaborated on the effort with assistance from Revive & Restore, a wildlife conservation organization that promotes the use of biotechnology in conservation practices.

“This birth expands the opportunity for [the] genetic rescue of endangered wild species,” says Ryan Phelan, executive director of Revive & Restore, in the release. “Advanced reproductive technologies, including cloning, can save species by allowing us to restore genetic diversity that would have otherwise been lost in time.”

The foal, named Kurt in honor of Kurt Benirshke, MD, one of the founders of the SDZG Frozen Zoo and conservation research program, will eventually be transferred to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to be integrated into a breeding herd of his species, according to the release. “The cells of hundreds of Przewalski’s horses reside in the Frozen Zoo, and form the basis for new opportunities in applying scientific research to preserve species into the future,” says Oliver Ryder, PhD, director of genetics at SDZG.

Once extinct in the wild, Przewalski’s horses have survived the past 40 years almost entirely in zoos around the world. All of the surviving horses are related to 12 Przewalski’s horses born in the wild. Intensive breeding programs have helped to revive and re-introduce the species back into the native grasslands of China and Mongolia, but genetic diversity losses have occurred, says SDZG.

“This colt is expected to be one of the most genetically important individuals of his species,” said SDZG’s Chief Life Sciences Officer Bob Wiese, PhD, adding that he and his team are hopeful that the Przewalski’s foal will bring genetic variation for the future of this species.

Timber Creek Veterinary Hospital has worked with ViaGen Equine for more than 15 years, foaling hundreds of cloned horses for clients around the world, says SDZG. “This Przewalski’s foal was produced using our proven equine cloning techniques,” said Blake Russell, president of ViaGen Equine. “Thanks to the Timber Creek team, this special foal is off to a great start.”

The colt, born at a Texas veterinary hospital, sheds light on the importance of genetic rescue of endangered wildlife species. 

First cloned Przewalski’s horse brings hope for species revival

dvm360 is happy to announce that registration is now open for our second 

. This exciting event, which will be held November 12-14, 2020, will combine 3 of our 6 annual live events—Fetch Indianapolis, Fetch San Diego, and the Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference (ACVC).

This conference will again feature a robust mix of prerecorded, live, and interactive sessions on a wide array of topics relevant to the entire veterinary team, with a focus on technology and well-being.

joint presentations by veterinarians and technicians on several topics, controlled drug substance training, and

 a virtual daycare, with video and interactive activities to keep children occupied while their parents learn. 

“Our profession has been hit with multiple challenges during this pandemic and we are happy to showcase the technological advancements our profession has,” says dvm360 Chief Veterinary Officer Adam Christman, DVM, MBA. “And with four incredible keynotes, there is something for everyone.”

Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour our virtual exhibit hall and earn nearly 175 CE credits, with sessions available on demand for 2 weeks after the conference.

For additional details and to register with early bird pricing, click 

. Stay tuned on our social media channels for conference updates, announcements, and surprises.

Registration is now open for our November Fetch dvm360 virtual conference, which combines 3 of our exclusive annual live events: Fetch Indianapolis, Fetch San Diego, and the Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference.

Fetch dvm360 announces second virtual veterinary conference

After taking a graduate course in neuroscience during his undergraduate studies at Tuskegee University, Antonio Bowens, DVM, was hooked. Well, he was hooked on human neuroscience, anyway, with a plan to go to medical school to become a neurosurgeon. Fortunately for dogs and cats, he was waitlisted at both medical schools he applied to but was accepted to Tuskegee’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Bowens decided to commit to Tuskegee with the plan to go to medical school after veterinary school—until he learned that he could specialize in veterinary neuroscience.

For the past decade, Dr. Bowens has been practicing veterinary neurology and neurosurgery, first in a solo practice and then as a co-owner. When the partnership did not work out, Dr. Bowens decided to become a locum veterinary neurologist and neurosurgeon. He is now owner and head of neurology and neurosurgery at Veterinary Referral & Emergency Hospital in Arlington, Texas.

“Basically, he tells Dr. Christman, “the way things work now I usually provide services on a mobile basis to general practitioners in the area. I also travel out of state to provide services for referral/specialty hospitals that are trying to establish a neurology/neurosurgery service or just filling in for a colleague [who] needs to take some time off.”

Dr. Bowens also shares his clinical experience with disk disease and other neurologic conditions, as well as advanced and alternative therapies.

Listen below to learn more about Dr. Bowens’ journey, the mentors and colleagues who helped him along the way, what he has learned on the road, and how he manages work-life balance with his veterinarian wife (and 

Podcasts

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr. Christman is joined by veterinary neurosurgeon Dr. Antonio Bowens, who shares his journey to becoming a traveling neurologist.



Episode 13: The traveling veterinary neurologist 

Does deciding what wellness tests to run for your patients make your head spin? After all, there are so many panels to choose from, and it seems like the diagnostic labs are coming out with new tests, combinations, and specials every day. To maximize your diagnostic power during wellness visits, you need to organize your thinking on wellness testing. Here’s how.

Before you delve into the catalogs of available lab tests, bring some order to your thinking by categorizing patients according to age/life stage, lifestyle, and infectious disease risk. Start with age/development stage. Generally, this is broken into 4 or 5 categories: puppy/kitten, junior, adult, senior, and geriatric. (Some practices choose to combine puppy/kitten and junior, or senior and geriatric.) 

Once you have organized your patients by life stage, you can categorize their other needs based on lifestyle and infectious disease risk. For example, does the dog travel frequently or does it lead a walk-around-the-block type of lifestyle? Does the cat roam the great outdoors, or does it survey its domain from the comfort of a climate-controlled window perch?

After you define age, lifestyle, and infectious disease risk, it’s time to fill in the details. First, consider how much lab work you want to do in house versus sending out. In-house diagnostics have a distinct advantage regarding speed, but we rarely need speed when it comes to wellness testing. Sending the wellness lab work out saves technicians’ time and usually affords a greater profit margin. When you have decided where you will be performing your testing, start by finding a combination panel for basic bloodwork that you feel is life stage appropriate. Then, add on infectious disease testing such as tickborne disease, heartworm, feline leukemia virus/feline infectious peritonitis testing, fecal parasite screening, and others as necessary.

Putting life stage guidelines into practice

Fortunately for us, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has done much of the work of determining appropriate wellness screenings by publishing the canine and feline life stage guidelines.

 Easy to read and packed full of information about what to discuss with clients and what lab work to consider at each life stage, the guidelines can help you create customized wellness plans for your patients at every visit regardless of life stage.

Keep in mind that the AAHA guidelines were created to fit every practice in the United States. Of course, what is needed in one area of the country may be irrelevant and unnecessary in another. This is especially true for lab work, and most especially infectious disease testing. So, the key to using the guidelines is in customizing them for your practice.

I know many of you just let out a big sigh and immediately put this project on the bottom of your mental to-do list but, trust me, it’s not that hard. The AAHA guidelines already have it all laid out for you; all you need to do is go through the recommendations one by one and decide exactly what they mean for your practice and your patients. This is easily accomplishable over 1 or 2 lunch meetings. Gather the doctors and technicians in a room, order lunch, and knock it out. Maybe try 1 lunch for dogs and 1 for cats.

At the Small Animal Community Practice at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, that’s essentially what we did. We prepared for the meetings by having 1 person create an initial rough draft based on the guidelines, which we then went over as a group point by point for each of the life stages. But we didn’t stop there. It’s difficult to remember the many things that need to be accomplished during a wellness visit. To ensure that our hard work and good intentions didn’t end up sitting in a binder gathering dust, we turned our practice’s life stage guidelines into a set of laminated checklists that we can take into the exam room with us and go over box by box to make sure we don’t leave anything out.

The checklists are a hit with clients as they feel we are being more thorough with meeting their pets’ needs. They are also great for new graduate associates because they allow the associates to complete a thorough wellness visit more easily. We even proved the effectiveness of checklists for wellness visits with a study.

So, dive right into organizing your wellness visits and unleash the diagnostic power of screenings to maximize their value for your patients and clients. Don’t do it alone, though; AAHA has your back with their life stage guidelines. All you need to do is customize them to your practice and check those boxes to make sure they are being followed the same way every time.

 Hoyumpa Vogt A, Rodan I, Brown M, et al. 

. 2010;12(1):43-54. doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2009.12.006

Creevy KE, Grady J, Little SE, et al. 2019 AAHA Canine Life Stage Guidelines. 

. 2019;55(6):267-290. doi:10.5326/JAAHA-MS-6999

Nappier MT, Corrigan VK, Bartl-Wilson LE, et al. Evaluating checklist use in companion animal wellness visits in a veterinary teaching hospital: a preliminary study. 

Dr. Nappier is assistant professor of community practice in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The diagnostic power of veterinary wellness visit screenings is undeniable, but deciding what tests should be run for all your patients is daunting. Here’s a guide to doing it right.

Checking all the boxes in veterinary wellness visits

As the fall approaches, we will continue to keep you informed with the latest pandemic news and coverage of the veterinary industry.

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) have 

announced the release of the 2020 AAHA/AAFP Feline Vaccination Guidelines

Closing the AVMA virtual conference late last month, 

Dr. Anthony Fauci updated attendees about COVID-19

 and thanked them for the work they do to promote animal and human health.

 (A&H) recently announced that Pethealth Inc. will complete a reorganization transaction that will result in 

and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Crum & Forster Holdings Corp., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited.

To commemorate the 19th anniversary of 9/11, we have shared a few touching tales of some of the

 that saved lives and comforted many first responders.



Check out this week's top veterinary headlines.