Wrap up: dvm360 heads to the AVMA Convention, and other news

Happy Friday dvm360 readers! Are you heading to the AVMA Convention this weekend? If so, so are we! dvm360 will be covering the convention with session coverage, interview with speakers at the conference, and more. Be sure to check in on our dedicated AVMA Convention page for our coverage all weekend long.

Along with our coverage, dvm360’s assistant editor Abi Bautista-Alejandre recently completed an analysis of the convention in comparison to 2025. As all of the veterinary professionals descend on Anaheim, this analysis of the 2026 AVMA Convention program reveals where the profession's attention is shifting: sessions on cost, access, and spectrum of care more than doubled from 2025, earning their own dedicated symposium. New World screwworm, disaster preparedness, and practice ownership are also on the rise. And more!

You can also check out dvm360.com for the trending topics of this week, including:

• Mars Petcare US recently announced a recall for 2 lots of Pedigree Can High Protein Chopped Chicken & Duck Flavor wet dog food, stating that the product may contain plastic and metal fragments. However, the company also disclosed that the third party vendor they used to destroy the impacted lots may not have destroyed them after all.
• Almost every, if not all, veterinary clinics have to deal with upset or difficult clients. However, what happens when that upset client needs to be de-escalated? In this article recapping a lecture in Fetch Nashville, on ways veterinary professionals can help manage these upset clients in a way that is safe for everyone in the clinic.
• There was a new episode of both Vet Watch and The Resilient Vet this week! On Vet Watch, host Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, DACVM (Parasitology), welcomed Kathryn E. Reif, PhD, MSPH, to talk all things New World screwworm. Then, on The Resilient Vet, cohosts Jennifer Edwards, DVM, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, and Aaron Shaw, OTR/L, CHT, CSCS, use Edwards’s CORE Element framework to take a deep dive into what reclaimed agency looks like in practice.
• On June 30^th, the FDA released its 3-year strategic plan, MUMS Blueprint for Success: 2026-2028, that is designed to grow and modernize the FDA’s Minor Use and Minor Specie Program.
• Could a dog's stride length become an early warning sign for cognitive decline? Borrowing a concept well established in human dementia research, North Carolina State University scientists tracked 88 senior dogs and found that a shortening front-limb stride flagged cognitive impairment independent of age and pain, a low-tech marker clinicians could fold into routine geriatric monitoring.
• And more!