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December 2023
Notebook, December 2023
News briefs from across the industry and beyond. This month’s articles include: Hemodialysis Helps Dog Defy Odds of 10% Survival Rate after Antifreeze Poisoning; CareVet, Blendvet, and Hill’s Launch DEIB Initiative; Immunotherapy Drugs Bring Years of Life to Dog; FDA Conditionally Approves Canine Seizure Medication Fidoquel-CA1; and more!
Nationwide’s 15th Annual Hambone Award Winner
Giles was trapped in a sofa bed in a New York City apartment
Giles, a New York City cat who was inadvertently smooshed under a sofa bed, has captured the 15th annual Hambone Award for the most unusual pet insurance claim of the year. Nationwide presents the award to bring awareness to the unique and surprising things that can happen to pets—and how pet insurance plays a role in helping them.
Giles, adopted from a cat rescue, lives happily in a New York City apartment with owners Reid and Kaitlyn, who reported he has a newfound aversion to hinged objects.
The runners-up were Jax, a pug from Las Vegas who got heat stroke while cozied up in a comforter following surgery, and Sunny, a determined Labrador retriever from Anaheim who shimmied his crate five feet across the room to ingest three phone charger cords. The families of Jax and Sunny each receive a gift card and the opportunity for a charity donation to be made in each pet’s honor.
All nominated pets have recovered and received reimbursements for eligible veterinary expenses from Nationwide pet insurance.
Giles, a New York City cat who was inadvertently smooshed under a sofa bed, has captured the 15th annual Hambone Award for the most unusual pet insurance claim of the year. Nationwide presents the award to bring awareness to the unique and surprising things that can happen to pets—and how pet insurance plays a role in helping them.
Giles, adopted from a cat rescue, lives happily in a New York City apartment with owners Reid and Kaitlyn, who reported he has a newfound aversion to hinged objects.
The runners-up were Jax, a pug from Las Vegas who got heat stroke while cozied up in a comforter following surgery, and Sunny, a determined Labrador retriever from Anaheim who shimmied his crate five feet across the room to ingest three phone charger cords. The families of Jax and Sunny each receive a gift card and the opportunity for a charity donation to be made in each pet’s honor.
All nominated pets have recovered and received reimbursements for eligible veterinary expenses from Nationwide pet insurance.
Photo courtesy of Nationwide
Hemodialysis Helps Dog Defy Odds of 10% Survival Rate After Antifreeze Poisoning
The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine News recently reported the successful treatment of a dog who had consumed antifreeze. In the fall of 2022, Mija, a rescued two-year-old Australian cattle dog mix, explored the garage of Ana Alexander, her rescuer, and chewed into a bottle of antifreeze. Alexander rushed the vomiting Mija to a local veterinary emergency room, where the prognosis was bleak—Mija had only about a 10% chance of survival. Her kidneys were failing due to antifreeze (ethylene glycol) poisoning.
When Mija arrived at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, the only facility in Northern California able to treat her extensive organ injuries, doctors concluded that Mija needed hemodialysis. But even with many rounds of dialysis, the chances of Mija’s recovery were low.
Alexander agreed to dialysis. She learned how to tube feed Mija and to provide extensive home care. Over the next four weeks, Mija received eight dialysis treatments. She progressed to eating on her own and to weekly and then monthly appointments.
A year later, Mija’s condition is no longer life-threatening. Alexander reports she is full of energy and is doing exceptionally well.
Photo credit: Dr_Microbe/iStock via Getty Images Plus
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“I am driven by two main philosophies: Know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
—Neil deGrasse Tyson
Researchers Exploring Data and AI Tools for Animal Health Diagnosis and Treatment
Stefan Keller, DVM, PhD, DECVP, an assistant professor and pathologist in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis, is exploring ways to use AI in three projects with colleagues from the university’s Artificial Intelligence in Veterinary Medicine Interest Group. The projects are:
- Identifying Patterns with AI Tools
Keller and team are developing a machine learning algorithm (called a “classifier”) that uses historical patient data to reduce errors in the interpretation of blood tests and to avoid inaccurate diagnoses. The project is funded by the UC Davis Venture Catalyst Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIRTM) grant program.“We have thousands of . . . blood test data from over the past decades; if we take all that and run it through our algorithm, we can predict what disease the pets might have and what the prognosis might be,” Keller said. While the initial application is for dogs, the team sees an opportunity to adapt the tool for cats and horses.
- Standardizing the Assessment of Inflammation
In Keller’s second project, the team is investigating the assessment of inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease in aged cats. Keller sees an opportunity to standardize the assessment of inflammation and share it with clinicians by digitizing the data and running AI algorithms on it. - Automating Patient Diagnosis in Real Time
Currently, scientists manually pull the data from a patient database onto a computer, run the classifier on that data locally, and then provide the information back to the clinician. Keller’s team is working on shortening the process by hosting the classifiers on a shared platform and feeding the patient data directly into it so the patterns can be detected in real time.
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FDA Conditionally Approves Canine Seizure Medication Fidoquel-CA1
The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Genus Lifesciences Inc. conditional approval of Fidoquel-CA1 (phenobarbital tablets) for the control of seizures associated with idiopathic epilepsy in dogs. Idiopathic epilepsy is a type of seizure disorder without a known cause and is a serious or life-threatening condition that affects approximately 5% of dogs.
Unapproved phenobarbital tablets from the human drug marketplace have historically been used in veterinary medicine to help control seizures in dogs. Fidoquel-CA1 are the only phenobarbital tablets that have received the agency’s conditional approval for safety, quality manufacturing, and reasonable expectation of effectiveness.
Initial conditional approval is valid for one year with the potential for four annual renewals. During this time, the animal drug sponsor must demonstrate that it is actively working toward collecting the remaining effectiveness data needed to achieve full approval.
CareVet, Blendvet, and Hill’s Launch DEIB Initiative
CareVet, a leading network of veterinary hospitals, has announced a strategic partnership with Blendvet and Hill’s Pet Nutrition to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) content into its companywide CareVet Learning Institute. Hill’s Pet Nutrition sponsored this integration as part of its ongoing commitment to creating a significant and lasting impact on the veterinary medical community.
The partnership fosters inclusivity and belonging in workplace environments for veterinary teams, clientele, and the community. On-demand modules developed by Blendvet and hosted on CareVet Learning Institute are available to veterinary professionals within CareVet’s network.
The modules introduce veterinary professionals to critical DEIB issues prevalent in the industry; promote creative thinking; and ignite positive change within the workplace. The Blendvet modules, the nation’s first and only veterinary-curated DEIB training curriculum, empower veterinary hospitals to cultivate a more inclusive workplace by offering both individual certification and hospital certification.
Immunotherapy Drugs Bring Years of Life to Dog
The life expectancy of most dogs who develop metastatic osteosarcoma is only 8 to 10 weeks. Jelly Bean, a Labrador retriever mix, has survived for nearly three years thanks to a clinical trial at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Her progress may hold clues for treating osteosarcoma in dogs and, one day, people.
“The ability of the novel oral immunotherapy combination to induce a complete remission of Jelly Bean’s cancer laid the groundwork for a prospective study of this therapy in dogs with osteosarcoma, given prior to the development of resistance,” said Cheryl London, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, associate dean of research and graduate education and director of the Clinical Research Shared Resource. “We found that the immunotherapy regimen was equivalent to standard chemotherapy. Ultimately, our goal is to combine the immunotherapy regimen with chemotherapy to further improve outcomes in both dogs and people.”
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AVMA Champions Efforts to Address Rural Veterinary Shortages
The Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, formerly known as the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) Enhancement Act, has been reintroduced in both the House and Senate after months of collaborative work by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), other stakeholder organizations, and congressional offices.
Championed by the AVMA, the bipartisan legislation would expand the reach of the VMLRP—a program that helps increase access to food animal veterinary services in rural areas by assisting with the significant obstacle of educational debt. The Rural Veterinary Workforce Act would end the federal taxation on VMLRP awards, which would enable more veterinarians to participate in a program that offers up to $75,000 over three years for student loan repayment in exchange for service in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)–designated shortage areas. This would make the tax treatment of the awards the same as for the analogous program for physicians.
In 2023, the USDA declared 237 rural veterinary shortage areas in 47 states, which is more than any year to date. Since 2010, USDA awarded 795 VMLRP awards to veterinarians; meanwhile, 2,061 applications have been received to participate in the program since its inception.
“Increasing veterinary services in high-priority rural areas through the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act would help keep the nation’s livestock healthy and our food supply safe and secure, and protect public health,” said Rena Carlson, DVM, AVMA president.
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Destination Pet Removes Noncompete Clauses in Employment Contracts for Veterinary Professionals
Destination Pet LLC, a premier provider of veterinary care and pet services, has eliminated the noncompete clause from employment contracts for veterinarians. All currently employed Destination Pet veterinarians have been released from any noncompetition agreements they had with Destination Pet or its subsidiaries.
Destination Pet belongs to a growing number of employers who have chosen to eliminate noncompete clauses in their employment agreements with veterinary professionals.
While Destination Pet is waiving the enforcement of noncompetition provisions, nonsolicitation provisions will remain in effect. Noncompete provisions will still apply as part of the sale of a business for prior practice owners.
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Texas A&M Veterinarians Developing Frailty Instrument to Improve Canine Geriatric Care
Measuring frailty is a vital aspect of human geriatric care. Frailty considers physical, mental, and emotional changes associated with aging and is a better indicator of the body’s condition and overall health than age. Now, the Dog Aging Project, a collaborative program led by the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and the University of Washington School of Medicine, is creating a frailty instrument that can be used to make health decisions and personalize geriatric veterinary care for dogs.
The plan for developing this instrument, using a variety of simple tests and questionnaires that can be performed by dog owners and veterinarians, was recently published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Once the Project team members have narrowed down the questions that most effectively determine a dog’s frailty, they will develop a numerical frailty scale that general veterinary practitioners can use. After that, they plan to expand the scale into a full Frailty Instrument for Dogs to increase its usefulness in real-life situations.
Especially in an emergency room setting, knowing a dog’s frailty score will help manage owner expectations and ensure that the medical decisions being made accurately consider the dog’s prognosis and quality of life.
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FDA Releases Plan for Supporting Antimicrobial Stewardship
Antimicrobials are crucial for treating infections, but nonjudicious use of these therapeutics can lead to the evolution of resistant bacteria. The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has long been committed to antimicrobial stewardship in animals to help preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs and slow the development of antimicrobial resistance.
The CVM recently released “Supporting Antimicrobial Stewardship in Veterinary Settings, Goals for Fiscal Years 2024–2028,” a five-year plan building on the plan for FY 2019–2023.
The five-year plans are intended to provide stakeholders with a transparent roadmap of the actions that correspond to FDA’s three main veterinary stewardship goals:
- Align antimicrobial drug product use with the principles of antimicrobial stewardship.
- Foster stewardship of antimicrobials in veterinary settings.
- Enhance monitoring of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial drug use in animals.
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Read the 2022 AAFP/AAHA Antimicrobial Stewardship Guidelines, available at aaha.org/antimicrobials |
For continuity, the new five-year plan begins in Phase 3 and is organized under the same overarching goals and objectives.
Stakeholders and the public can see what FDA has accomplished thus far and follow progress on the FDA website.
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