December 2016

When pet owners visit veterinary practice, their first and last interactions are typically with the front office team. Consequently, client service representatives need to be well trained to create positive first and last impressions.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the use of oxygen under pressure delivered in a specialized chamber built to withstand high internal pressure.

The importance of early environmental exposure for puppies has been recognized since the early 1960s. However, not all exposure is the same and proper implementation takes thoughtful preparation and planning.

Ed Turner was staying in patient housing provided by Cancer Treatment Centers of America, feeling weak, tired and anxious about what he was facing. After years of remission from kidney cancer, the disease had returned, this time in his liver. The Elkton, Virginia, resident’s white blood cell count soared; he had an infection and felt too sick to even talk to family. When Cynthia Ingram, a registered nurse and animal therapy coordinator at CTCA, brought therapy dog Tori to visit Turner and his wife, Michelle, at their guest quarters, Turner was touched.

We end this year faced with the uncertainties of a future with new government and what this will mean for the veterinary profession.

Most people want to know only one thing about fleas: how to kill them. Flea control is much easier than it once was, though preventing fleas is still simpler than treating an established infestation.

Along with butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers, veterinarians are representatives of the 28 million small businesses in the United States. However, as any of the approximately 78,000 working veterinarians in this country will attest, practicing veterinary medicine is very different from just about any other occupation.

In a study recently published in Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, cats with a previous diagnosis of unilateral cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injury displayed gait patterns and owner-assessed behavioral changes that differed from those of sound cats.

After years of writing articles and chapters as well giving many lectures on extraction techniques, there are common questions I receive over and over again about diagnostics, equipment and surgical closure.

Obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia have long been associated with reproductive difficulties in women. According to an article published in the December 2016 issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice, similar associations likely occur in pregnant mares.

If you’ve had the privilege of working for a growing practice, you know how challenging it can be.

Over the course of 4 days and with more than 500 hours of sessions, the CVC San Diego conference December 8-11, 2016, provided a robust opportunity for veterinary professionals to improve their knowledge and skills. The continuing education sessions included clinical information, practice management, and technician education.

At the 2016 American Veterinary Medical Association conference in San Antonio, August 5-9, 2016, American Veterinarian sat down with Tasha McNerney, CVT, CVPP, anesthesia technician at the Center for Animal Referral and Emergency Services and self-proclaimed "Original Anesthesia Nerd," to discuss anesthesia and pain management resources for veterinary technicians.

At the 2016 Wild West Veterinary Conference in Reno, October 12-16, American Veterinarian sat down with M. Scott Echols DVM, ABVP, owner of Echols Veterinary Services, Avian Studios, director of the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project, and past president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, to discuss the ethical and legal considerations of owning wild animals, such as birds, the illegal trading of African grey parrots, and key enrichment strategies veterinarians should encourage for birds.