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Let's talk about ophthalmology

Learn about the impact of Valley fever on pets, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment options, and emerging vaccine developments in veterinary care.

From soil to systemic disease: Understanding and managing Valley fever in veterinary patients

May is Arthritis Awareness Month, which is a good time to review our approach to this common diagnosis in small animals.

Raising the standard: Arthritis awareness in veterinary practice

Pet Poison Helpline's recent installment of Toxin Tails shared the story of the Winters family, who all—including their 2 dogs—were diagnosed with ciguatera poisoning.

Toxin for one, toxin for all

One of the biggest challenges is knowing when and where to refer a client

Guiding pet owners through the cancer journey: The general practitioner’s role

A variety of methods can help refresh the look and efficiency of a practice

Renovate to revitalize

Identifying the cause is important in determining a management plan

Decision-making for colic workup in the field

The Magnetom Flow.Ace also uses AI technology for faster scans and image reconstruction 

FDA clears new energy-efficient MRI scanner for human and veterinary use

The orthopedics page is a comprehensive resource for Veterinary news, animal health, and pet care insights on orthopedics. Read more at dvm360.

Orthopedics | Veterinary News & Animal Health | dvm360

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Clinical

 orthopedics page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on the latest in veterinary orthopedics. This page consists of videos, interviews, articles, podcasts, and research on the advancements and developments of therapies for orthopedics, and more.

Just because Pet Mobility Awareness Month is behind us, that does not mean that joint health is something that should not be talked about year round with clients. To get the conversation going outside of May, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR, to The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, to talk about joint health, MOVOFLEX® Advanced Soft chews, and what veterinary professionals can do to help support joint health for their patients. 

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity

What's one thing every veterinarian should do to support joint health proactively in all their canine patients?

Number 1 thing and I would just say this ad nauseum, [is] weight management. If your dog is overweight, the most effective strategy is going to be weight management. The number one risk factor for development [in] dogs is obesity. And even just being 10% overweight, though, these dogs will still have a waistline. Most vets actually call them ideal body weight. But if they're a body condition score 6 out of 9, that will absolutely impact their clinical symptoms of OA, so that's for me absolutely number 1 is always weight management. But beyond that it's really about education. It's really about the entire team in a clinical setting participating and owner education. You know the vet's going to be busy and appointments going in and out of appointments treating their patients. The support staff can play a really important role in educating owners about the symptoms of, okay, we know OA is a degenerative disease, which means that the initial symptoms are not evident to most owners until the dog is much older. So recognizing that when that dog tears their ACL, once they recover from their TPLO, they may not be limping.

But guess what? They have OA because any time there is an injury to the joint, that's the start of a way and that's the time that you want to intervene. Start your supplementation, make sure you do activity modification to avoid that high impact activity, but make sure they stay active and still moving and walking on a daily basis.

Make sure that they're an ideal body weight. And so that educational aspect, I think is really, really important for prevention of, and nothing's going to stop the progression of, OA, but there's a lot of things that we can do to delay progression of OA. So weight management I would say number 1. And number 2 is really education. So that owners recognize that, oh I didn't know my dog had arthritis. Like it's a Rottweiler [who is] one year old. They tore their ACL. Guess what they have...?

Yes and I think the education should certainly go beyond the exam room, especially for National Mobility Month. I mean, talk about great, social media content pieces that all of you out there can do for your team. You know, look at some gait analysis that you see of dogs walking into your clinic or, you know, just sharing best practices of what works, what doesn't work. And to start that conversation ahead of time before they come in and maybe keep that top of mind when they're looking. You want to chat about mobility, for even their wellness, you know. So I think it's good.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR, talk about all things joint health in this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, and sponsored by Virbac. 

Looking back at Pet Mobility Awareness Month

Canine osteoarthritis is a complex disease that impacts quality of life for many of our canine patients. Part 2 of this podcast series will highlight why effective management requires development of a baseline treatment plan that is customized to the individual patient and includes a plan for managing flare-ups. A systematic, evidence-based approach will be presented that can be implemented in general practice.



Recognize the importance of a customized treatment plan; that one-size does not fit all for canine osteoarthritis

Appreciate the ebb and flow of osteoarthritis with periods of calmness followed by periods of flare-ups

Appreciate the multimodal management of osteoarthritis 

David L. Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS joins Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to explain treatment for osteoarthritis and the need for individualized patient plans.




Podcast CE: A Surgeon’s Perspective on Current Trends for the Management of Osteoarthritis, Part 2

Canine osteoarthritis is a complex disease that impacts quality of life for many of our canine patients. Part 1 of this podcast series will focus on the epidemiology of this disease, the importance of a proactive approach to diagnosis, and will introduce a standardized staging tool to be utilized in general practice.



Recognize that osteoarthritis affects the entire joint

Appreciate that canine osteoarthritis impacts many younger dogs and is not an “old-dog” disease

Understand the importance of a proactive approach utilizing the Canine OsteoArthritis Staging Tool

David L. Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS joins Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to discuss a proactive approach to the diagnosis of osteoarthritis and the best tools for general practice.


Podcast CE: A Surgeon’s Perspective on Current Trends for the Management of Osteoarthritis, Part 1

According to New York City native Matt Brunke, DVM, DACVSMR, CCRP, CVPP, CVA, his time at a mixed animal practice in upstate New York set the foundation for his career as a canine rehabilitation specialist.

“Being at a country practice gave me the opportunity to expand upon my surgical techniques because my mentors were also my bosses. I was doing surgical procedures like extracapsular repairs, MPLs, FHOs, those types of things,” he tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, in this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast.

Although his patients were healing, Brunke noticed that they continued to walk oddly and were struggling to run and play with their owners. That’s when he decided to explore the physical therapy options available in veterinary medicine.

In his quest to learn more, Brunke attended a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner (CCRP) course at the University of Tennessee, thus sparking his passion for sports medicine and rehabilitation.

Brunke has helped treat a variety of cases ranging from canine arthritis, geriatric, oncology, hip dysplasia to working canine injuries. He’s even aided dogs in returning to working at the White House.

Brunke attributes much of his success to learning how to advocate for his patients. Now more than ever, he says clients are putting a demand on veterinary professionals to help their pets live longer and happier lives and the best way to do that is to get better at patient advocacy, he says.

Listen below for more on Brunke’s journey to rehabilitation and his thoughts on pet advocacy.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr Christman is joined by canine rehabilitation expert Dr Brunke, as they discuss the initial spark that led him to this niche in veterinary medicine, plus why patient advocacy is so important. 

Episode 45: How working at a country practice unlocked one veterinarian's passion for canine rehabilitation

For pet parents, canine arthritis may seem like a life sentence of suffering, but according to Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, CCRT, DACVS, DACVSMR, small animal surgeon and rehabilitation specialist, there’s hope.

“I have a 13-year-old French Bull Dog who has a tough time going up and down the stairs. Because I am living it day to day in my own life, it allows me to really help clients and say, ‘this is what worked for me. This is what I think can help you and your pet,’” says Kirkby Shaw.

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Kirkby Shaw explains why canine rehabilitation is on the rise among canine arthritis patients and offers an invaluable tool for successfully managing this painful and uncomfortable condition.

When it comes to canine osteoarthritis, more and more pet owners understand the importance of physical therapy and pain management, says Kirkby Shaw. Often times, they don’t want to go the surgery route and are looking for alternatives to help keep their pets as healthy and as comfortable as possible. These factors play a key role in the rise of canine rehabilitation, she tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA.

Kirkby Shaw also talks with Christman about 

Canine Arthritis Resources and Education (CARE)

, a resource she designed to help educate clients and veterinary professionals about this common condition.

“Our mission is to provide trusted, evidence-based and practical resources and tools for anyone caring for a dog with osteoarthritis.” The site also offers myth-busting articles, exercise videos, tips for supplements, and more.

Listen below to learn more about canine arthritis and this useful resource.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, is joined by small animal surgeon and rehabilitation specialist, Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, MS, PhD, CCRT, DACVS, DACVSMR, who discusses the rise in canine rehabilitation and her new resource for managing canine arthritis. 

Episode 26: Hope for canine osteoarthritis sufferers

Although his professional path wasn’t linear, David Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS, has paved a legacy for himself as a veterinary orthopedic surgeon. The certified canine rehabilitation practitioner and 

 tells Dr. Adam Christman that, unlike many people in the profession, he didn’t know he wanted to go to veterinary school until college.

Dycus says he always had an interest in orthopedics, mainly because of his personal experience with injuries and surgeries. During his first week of veterinary school, he made the bold move to tell his anatomy professor that he wanted to become a surgeon. “Well, let’s get through the first month of veterinary school first, then we’ll talk about it,” his professor replied.

He did more than just get through his first year. What began as an 8-week research project as part of his residency program turned into a 4-year large research project funded by Nutramax Laboratories. As his career progressed, he’s been able to teach others the complex theories and applications that he’s learned over the years.

Dycus also explains to Christman the importance of shifting the veterinary industry pendulum from retrospective management of osteoarthritis or starting treatment post diagnosis to early recognition and intervention—identifying patients before they present with clinical and radiographic signs.

“With so many dogs affected by osteoarthritis,” he says, “we can certainly make a huge impact on improving their quality of life.”

Listen below to learn more about Dycus’s professional journey, plus learn some exciting details about his soon-to-launch state-of-the-art multi-specialist facility.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr. Adam Christman is joined by orthopedic surgeon David Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS, who shares the unique evolution of his career in veterinary medicine.

Episode 14: A veterinary orthopedic surgeon’s unconventional journey

The authors guide clinicians through the care of dogs with the condition.

Canine craniodorsal hip luxation: Management and treatment

Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy surgery involves changing the anatomy of the knee

Cranial cruciate ligament tears and TPLO surgery

These articles focus on creating a plan for managing canine osteoarthritis, helpful tips for pet owners to implement at home, and a study that aims to better understand how IVDD affects a patient over the long term.

Three must reads for mobility awareness

A recent study examined long-term effects of the disease.

Understanding canine intervertebral disc disease

Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM (SAIM), discusses her on-demand lectures about polyarthritis and Cushing syndrome.

Endocrinology expert provides insights on 2 disorders

Kelly Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM (SAIM), discusses her on-demand lectures about polyarthritis and Cushing syndrome. 

Orthopedics

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