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Meghan Solc, DVM, DACVD, shares common dos and don'ts when it comes to the itchy client in your clinic, plus how to communicate better with clients

Dermatology red flags and allergy mimickers

Florida Veterinary Advisors cofounders CJ Burnett, CExP, and Tom Seeko, CExP, talk finances on this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360

Financial wellness for veterinary professionals

Mentorship is how we thrive—not just survive—in this profession


Mentorship: Make it personal to keep it professional

How to navigate the fine line between smart credit use and financial pitfalls, plus discover practical tips for maintaining control without sacrificing the benefits 

How to best use credit cards

A PIP can be a constructive way to help address challenges for employees having trouble meeting expectations

Creating a successful performance improvement plan

Videos

Brittany Lancellotti, DVM, DACVD, talks about available treatment options for flea allergies, environmental allergies, and more 

Choosing the right treatment for allergic dermatitis

To close out day 3 of Fetch Long Beach, Kris Otteman, DVM, ABVP, CAWA, shared with attendee’s common unpopular opinions within shelter medicine 

Unveiling unpopular truths in shelter medicine

Valerie J. Parker, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Nutrition), talked all about body condition score, muscle condition score, and obesity prevention during a lecture at the Fetch Long Beach conference

Understanding body and muscle condition scoring 

dvm360 is the authority of veterinary medicine news, expert insights, animal health and pet care products, research, and regulations for veterinary professionals.


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Clinical

, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, sits down with Celine Leheurteux, DVM, CEO and founder of EUTHABAG, to discuss a crucial aspect of veterinary care that is often overlooked: responsible home burial and pentobarbital hazards. 

Within the episode, Leherteux breaks down her professional evolution that led her to creating EUTHABAG, the veterinarians role in comforting and supporting grieving pet owners, and how veterinary professionals can educate clients on a proper burial place for their pet that does not impact the well-being of wildlife, and other pets, while also legally protecting the owners and veterinary team. 

The clients are not provided with any instructions and they do their best... for home burial, we let the clients leave with basically what is a biohazard. And other pet full of [pentobarbital] that could poison another pet or wildlife animal? So it's just a nonsense here. So I finally was like, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna contribute to my professions education and well-being because what is worse than a professional complaint? I wouldn't blame a pet owner wanting to sue somebody if he was not provided with the information that could have been. This is pretty basic, we make them sign discharge for things that are way less dangerous than that.

I never really thought about [because] I didn't have this experience, [and] I still don't so far, but it's out there. You know, I've heard about it so, what happens? I'm curious now that you're mentioned is what happens with pentobarbital in the soil over time.

It's so surprising, and we don't know. We don't think about it, because we were not provided with such critical information. So because nobody told us about it, we're like, 'well, it must be fine.' 

Are you protecting your veterinarians’ liability?

Responsible home burial and pentobarbital hazard

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, celebrates all the great benefits of owning a senior pet with Lisa Lippman, DVM. Together, the pair discusses what it is like to own a senior pet, the meaning of time toxicity in veterinary medicine, resources available to veterinary professionals to learn more about treating and understanding their older patients, and more!

: I always [and] I just did a post on this the other day that old age is not a disease, right? And so whenever clients come to you and say, 'Oh, they're slowing, you know, that they're slowing down or they aren't jumping on the bed, it's just old age,' but it's not it's arthritis, right? Or maybe systemic, something like an endocrinopathy or something that we can oftentimes [treat] and that we can make so much better. But mobility is a big factor for you know, for seniors for quality of life for both owners and pets, right because... like [its] so difficult when you your pet when your senior pet can't mobilize.

I think veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation has come such a long way now, right with where we're at, you're learning about at-home exercises that you can do, physical therapy exercises, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, laser, shockwave, the list goes on, where animals are moving better and feeling more comfortable in conjunction to that multimodal approach

Dr Adam Christman and Dr Lisa Lippman sit down to discuss the ins and outs of caring for senior pets, and what makes them so special 

Caring for senior pets

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Mary Gardner, DVM, and Coleen Ellis share their thoughts on and approach to end-of-life care. The pair also discuss their book 

Forever Friend: A children's guide and activity book for saying goodbye to a special dog.

Below is a partial transcript. Listen to the full podcast for more.

: We live in this death avoidance society. We live in this society that believes death is a failure. We live in this society that believes euthanasia is a failure. And, you know, for Mary and I, to kind of stand really tall as educators in this space and as as pioneers in this space and to say, "Hey, listen, it is a when. It's not an if; it is a when." And so how do we begin to wrap an experience around it where when the day comes, because it will come, ...how can you look back and fully, truly with a full heart, say the end was perfect?

Mary Gardner, DVM, and Coleen Ellis discuss compassionate palliative care

End of life care is not a failure

Lynn Hendrix, DVM, CHPV, joins The Vet Blast Podcast to discuss palliative care with Adam Christman, DVM, MBA. Hendrix explains how veterinary professionals can do more to provide a "better death" for animals with appropriate end-of-life care.

:  I was thinking we're so good at curative medicine, we don't know when to stop intervening, and I realized as I was writing it, that we actually continue to intervene...We're just not intervening in in the same way... 

And that's kind of rolls me into the other part of that, and that's natural death. I think both of those things are myths that we've kind of hold held on to. And that natural death is the one that clients hang on to saying, "Well, I'll just go home and let him die," or "I've gotten scared because you just told me my animal has cancer, and you know, he's not in pain, because I don't recognize it, and so I'm just gonna go ahead and take him home against medical advice and just let him die." And so there's this gap of support that we have, because of those 2 concepts...from both aspects of veterinary medicine and client perspective. 

You know, natural death is not comfortable. We know that as veterinarians. It's very rare that you will get a very quick, natural, quote unquote, natural death...And so for client education, I take that term out and I call it a palliated death. You would much rather have your animal have a palliated death than an unpalliated death. And that makes veterinarians more comfortable going to a pet [and] helping an animal go to a palliated death, rather than send them to an unpalliated death where there's no intervention.

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Lynn Hendrix, DVM, CHPV, broaches the topic of end of life care

Palliative care: providing a better death for the animals you were trained to save

Veterinarians play an important role in helping to guide pet owners
through the decision-making process leading to behavioral euthanasia

Tips for managing behavioral euthanasia conversations

Jamie Rauscher, LVT, president of NAVTA, outlined 5 essential steps veterinary technicians should follow for an effective care plan for a cat in their end-of-life stage

The heartfelt role of veterinary technicians in feline hospice and palliative care

Wendy S. Meyers, CVJ, explains how managers can help their team express empathy when booking sensitive appointments

Compassionate conversations when scheduling euthanasia

Here is how veterinary teams can help clients honor the cherished memories of their beloved pets and find comfort after pets cross the Rainbow Bridge

Honoring beloved pets on Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

Ken Gorczyca, DVM, CHPV, CPEV, shared insight into the increase of death doulas in the veterinary field, at the 2024 AVMA Convention.

The companion animal end-of-life doula

Entering Veterinary Hospice

Getting a pet often brings comfort, companionship, and love for many years. Unfortunately, as they grow older, they may get sick, leading to either a long-term treatment or preparing for their last moments. The goal of hospice care is not to prolong a pet’s life. It should be used to help a pet enjoy the final phase of its life, however long that might be. Mary Gardner, DVM, discussed 5 key elements of hospice care.

 “I would love for pets to be put in hospice sooner rather than later so they can have better care and support. Typically, veterinarians see them within the last few weeks.”

This step involves talking a pet owner through every medication or treatment option without pushing them in any direction. However, there is more to this step than simply a clinical outline. “Love is the most important thing I prescribe,” said Gardner, as she explained to the audience that she will write love on a prescription pad as part of her patient care. “Wouldn’t we all want thirty more minutes with our pets after they pass?”

The key with any environment is making sure pets are safe and comfortable. Check that they can’t get stuck anywhere, slip on the floor, attempt to climb stairs, or fall into a pool, if the pet owner has one. Often, in this stage, pets will have mobility or sight issues. Certain products—ramps, mats, or harnesses—help with these obstacles.

If there are children in the home, it is important to teach them how to handle a pet who is in pain. This can prevent scenarios like a pet snapping or biting someone in the home.

3. Acknowledging caregiver burden and supporting the caretaker

Caring for a terminally ill pet takes up a lot of time and increases stress and anxiety for the caregiver. A pet’s care is no longer just a usual walk but rather preparing food, cleaning up, refilling medications, and so on. Knowing euthanasia is an option, which differs from hospice care for humans, makes the caregiver burden even bigger. Behind the pet care is a human being. They have their own life that is now segmented with a rather large emotional and physical toll. The caregiver needs support too. Gardner recommended petcaregiverburden.com as a resource for pet owners in a hospice situation.

For Gardner, this is a private and intimate 20-minute conversation that she has with every family. What is said will vary based on the disease and management of the pet. Keeping empathy and love at the forefront of the conversation is crucial.

Having a conversation about euthanasia helps prepare a family. Sometimes, they will not want to discuss euthanasia, or they worry about judgment for wanting to do it or deciding to do it later. “They may have a previous experience that wasn’t so good, and now they’re scared to go through it again,” Gardner reminded the audience.

Aside from euthanasia itself, it is important to let the family know about your schedule as a veterinarian, where they would like the procedure done, who they want to be present, and aftercare options.

Gardner ended her talk by emphasizing her love for her work and the hopes that this information helps bring hospice care to more veterinary clinics.

Gardner M. The 5 Key Ingredients to Veterinary Hospice. Presented at Veterinary Meeting & Expo; Orlando, Florida; January 13-17, 2024

Conference

Entering veterinary hospice

explained how laser therapy can be beneficial for reducing pain

How laser therapy can be effective in pain management

, Leslie Gallagher McMahon, CCMT, CCRT, CEO and founder of Two Hands Four Paws in Los Angeles, California, explained just how effective laser therapy can be for pain management. She also shared her tips for expressing the benefits of laser to clients and how it can be a real benefit to painful patients.

Gallagher McMahon will be delivering a joint lecture on laser therapy at our Fetch Long Beach conference tomorrow, December 2nd. Check out all our 

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

So we use laser on probably most of our clients. I think it's the rare dog—I mean just the dogs with cancer that we don't laser, but we mostly use it for pain relief. And in any of the post-op dogs, we use it for tissue healing. You can also use it for otitis media, you can use your ear infections, you can use it for skin infections. But that tends not to be our focus here. What our number one concern of our clients here is pain management. So rehab laser is always going to be addressing the pain that these dogs are either the geriatrics that have severe osteoarthritis or the dogs recovering from surgery that have an awful lot of pain of post-op pain. Laser has been just miraculous in healing for us to get these dogs better. It's really been a game-changer.

Fetch faculty member Leslie Gallagher McMahon, CCMT, CCRT, explained how laser therapy can be beneficial for reducing pain

Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, discusses LOY-001 and the FDA's Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness designation.

LOY-001

A drug in development that would extend the lifespan of large- and giant-breed dogs and maintain their quality of life as they age has received some support from the FDA. According to Loyal, the biotech company developing the drug, LOY-001, the agency has given its approval for the Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness section in application for conditional approval that was submitted to the FDA.

“We’re looking at rottweilers, Great Danes, Bernese Mountain dogs that, on the extreme, will live nearly half the lifespan that is expected of a chihuahua or a miniature poodle,” said Celine Halioua, CEO of Loyal, in an interview with 

. “The value in [the drug], if achieved, is inherent.”

The drug itself has not been approved by the FDA nor has it received conditional approval, but the support demonstrated by the agency is a milestone in the development process. The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at the FDA has reviewed Loyal’s data, results, and scientific arguments and determined they provide reasonable expectation of the drug’s effectiveness to extend canine lifespan and health span, ahead of today’s announcement.

The Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness approval is an important part of Loyal’s application for the drug’s conditional approval, an accelerated pathway for increasing the availability of novel animal drugs. If the FDA also approves Loyal’s manufacturing and safety data packages, the company can then market the drug for lifespan extension in the target canine population. Conditional approval lasts for up to 5 years, during which time Loyal will collect the remaining effectiveness data and apply for the drug’s full FDA approval.

According to Linda Rhodes, VMD, PhD, an animal health industry expert with experience developing animal drugs and working with the CVM, the Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness designation marks an impressive achievement for Loyal. “Developing a treatment that will increase longevity by reducing age-associated disease is a new indication. No drug has ever been approved with such a claim, and pioneering a new indication through regulatory agencies requires an enormous amount of rigor and persistence. Being the first to bring a treatment for such a challenging indication will be truly historic,” she said in an organizational release.

“At a high level, it works by targeting what we—meaning Loyal but also the broader scientific community—believe drives large dogs to a short lifespan,” said Halioua. Although she declined to name the active pharmaceutical ingredient in LOY-001 in the 

Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, discussed the potential of LOY-001, a developmental therapy, with dvm360. 

Geriatric & Palliative Medicine

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