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The principles involved in designing a vaccination program for the animal shelter are the same general principles behind any disease prevention program. The difference is in the relative importance of various concepts as they pertain to the shelter population and environment.

Oasis Medical is offering Mon-Oasis synthetic absorbable monofilament surgical suture.

Feline Vaccine Information

Consent Form #1

The PetCot Company introduces a pet bed that contributes to the comfort, contentment and long-term health of dogs and cats, the company says.

Philadelphia-At presstime, two top veterinary associations planned to meet July 26 at the Philadelphia Airport Hotel to hash out key issues related to certifying the educational equivalency programs currently in place for foreign veterinary medical graduates.

ACell Vet, Inc. has released its newest product, the ACell Vet Corneal Disc, using extracellular matrix (ECM) technology.

Novartis Animal Vaccines, Inc. received United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approval for the new subcutaneous-only route of administration claim for several Vira Shield? products.

Med-Vet International releases SurgiClose Wound Closure System from Temedco.

Signalment: Canine, Greyhound, 2.5 years old, female spayed, 65 lbs. Clinical history: The dog has a persistent urinary tract problem ? hematuria for at least one year according to the owner. The dog improves with antibiotics, but once finished, hematuria starts again. Therapy has included Clavamox.

Synbiotics has released two new client information brochures. "Pre-Surgical Testing for Coagulation" is available free to owners of Synbiotics' SCA2000 veterinary coagulation analyzer

V.E.T. Pharmaceuticals offers Potassa-Chew?, a flavored, chewable tablet for dogs and cats that contains potassium gluconate, the drug most commonly prescribed for potassium deficient states, the company says.

In today's age of rapid information dissemination, anticipate various media outlets to publicly air the veterinary industry's debate over vaccine protocol ad libitum.

The recent publication of the new canine guidelines by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) is creating some debate throughout the veterinary profession and has hit a little closer to home for even more practitioners.

Bayer received Food and Drug Administration approval for Drontal? Plus (praziquantel/pyrantel pamoate/febantel) 136 mg tablets.

The Kernco Model DR-CLIN digital refractometer is battery operated and designed to read accurate measurements of urine-specific gravity, serum protein and refractive index for use in veterinary labs.

Jorgensen Laboratories, Inc. introduces the Buster cage racks.

Exclusively Equine introduces a new reference manual: The Equid Ethogram: A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior.

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) just released new boar stud guidelines to help provide some standardization to a rapidly growing industry.

Securos Veterinary Orthopedic adds internal fixation instruments to their range of orthopedic products.

External Fixation in Small Animal Practice by Drs. Karl H. Kraus, James P. Toombs and Malcolm Ness, offers a highly practical and radiograph-intensive look at the practice of external fixation, according to the publisher.

There is a great deal of literature including many books on the science behind risk/benefit analysis. I reviewed some of them prior to writing this article, but try as I might, I could not incorporate much into the task at hand, namely doing a risk/benefit analysis of vaccination in pets.

Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) has been widely accepted in human medicine for non-pharmaceutical pain control therapy.

Jorgensen Laboratories, Inc. introduces the Nimrod Snare. This device is useful in capturing elusive animals.

Novartis Animal Vaccines Inc. recently produced a new brochure featuring nine experts commenting on lameness through a roundtable discussion.

Vaccination Planner

In the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), an Executive Summary of the 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines was published. A full text of the guidelines, recommendations, and supporting literature is available to AAHA members on the organization's Web site (www.aahanet.org).

Dr. Clive Phillips' second edition of Cattle Behavior and Welfare was just released by Iowa State Press.

Vaccination Reminder

Developing vaccination protocols for cats and dogs used to seem like an exercise in futility. But now that the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) have each published vaccination guidelines for these species the exercise has become more rewarding because practitioners can now use this information as a benchmark to tailor a specific program for each patient.