hosted by Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer of dvm360, and edited by 

’sCaitlin McCafferty, featured a wide variety of veterinary topics and guests throughout the past year. As 2024 comes to a close, 

 is looking back and celebrating the Top 5 podcasts, as measured by audience interest and engagement. Through, New Year’s Eve, 

is counting down the Top 5 podcasts by sharing 1 of these episodes per day.

The following podcast is #3 on the list and features guest Alex Sigmund, dVM, DACVO, founder of Insight Veterinary Eye Care in Atlanta, Georgia. They discuss all things glaucoma such as tips and tricks on diagnosing the diseases, effective management, and which breeds of dogs have a predisposition to glaucoma.

What are some of the recommendations that we're doing when we're trying to rule out glaucoma? So, I know you mentioned the pen. Do you have a recommendation of even like tetracaine? Is there a particular numbing solution you like? Walk us through some of the diagnostics that we should do.

Any red eye, in my opinion, should not only have a tonometry check, but also should have a stain, like a fluorescein stain, looking for ulcers as well as a Schirmer tear test because there are so many cases that get referred to me that could have been caught months earlier if one of those had been done, it just hadn't been done. 

The biggest pushback I get from that type of stuff is, you know, owners don't want to pay for all of that, and so my biggest advice for veterinarians is just to make an ophthalmology fee, like an ophthalmology exam fee, that encompasses all those diagnostics [so] that you can just go ahead and do them. 

Podcasts

A Top 5 episode of dvm360's The Vet Blast Podcast is revealed in our 2024 countdown. 

Top 2024 dvm360 podcasts: #3

 editorial team is counting down our Top 20 news stories and articles of the year, from January 1, 2024, to November 15, 2024. Rank was determined by measurable audience interest and engagement.

A spotlight is shining on 1 article each day through New Year’s Eve, when the No. 1 

 story of the year will be shared. The following article is No. 3 on this list:

A clinical trial is launched for a novel drug that could extend healthy lifespan in senior dogs

The first patient—an 11-year-old Whippet named Boo—has been dosed in a clinical trial for a developmental drug that aims to extend the healthy lifespan of senior dogs of most sizes. The LOY-002 product is being studied for use with the exception of the smallest senior canines by the startup biotech company Loyal.

Boo, the first patient in the STAY clinical trial to receive a dose of LOY-002. 

“We are working to develop multiple dog longevity products,” said Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, in an interview with 

 Notably, the company is also working to bring to market LOY-001, a longevity drug for large and giant breed dogs. LOY-001 

received support from the FDA in November 2023

, when the agency approved the Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness section in Loyal’s application for conditional drug approval, following a review of clinical data, study results and scientific argument provided by the company.

Loyal developed LOY-001 by first looking at the underlying mechanisms of aging. The drug works by reducing insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a key biomarker hormone that drives cell growth and is believed to reduce the lifespan of large dogs.

 LOY-002 is being developed to extend healthy lifespan by improving dogs’ metabolic health to delay the onset and reduce the impact of age-associated diseases.

The new STAY study for LOY-002 is expected to last 4 years and include 1000 enrolled dogs, working in partnership with more than 50 independent veterinary clinics from across the country.

 “It will be one of the largest veterinary clinical studies that, as far as we know, has ever been run,” said Halioua.

For more on the LOY-002 clinical trial, view the full article here:  

https://www.dvm360.com/view/a-clinical-trial-is-launched-for-a-novel-drug-that-could-extend-healthy-lifespan-in-senior-dogs

Articles

dvm360 is counting down the Top 20 news stories and articles from 2024 with this series of spotlights

2024 veterinary news in review: #3

 is counting down our Top 5 videos of 2024. The ranking is based on measurable interest and engagement from our digital viewers. These 5 videos feature thought leaders from throughout the veterinary care industry, who discuss a variety of topics.

 features Alex Sigmund, DVM, DACVO, founder of Insight Veterinary Care in Atlanta, Georgia. In an interview with 

, Sigmund discusses how topical steroids and dorzolamide can lead to certain health issues, including altered metabolism in the cornea, kidney problems, and dysregulation in patients with diabetes.

So topical steroids, when we're using them really, really frequently, can predispose [a patient] to infected ulcers. They can cause altered metabolism in the cornea that can result in fat deposits and even calcium deposits in the cornea that can lead to other issues. In [patients with diabetes], topical steroids have been shown to sometimes contribute to dysregulation. So, especially those that are getting cataract surgery, it's something that we think about when they're going to be potentially on topical steroids after surgery. And there's some research about steroids causing nasolacrimal punctal stenosis, where it narrows if you're using it all the time. So there's a few things that tropical steroids can cause, which is why I try to get patients off of tropical steroids, kind of as quickly as we can, as safely as we can, if there's an alternative.

The second one is dorzolamide, which is an antiglaucoma medication. And dorzolamide, more recently, has been shown to have some effects on the kidney, especially in cats, where it will start to actually decrease their potassium levels in their blood, which can cause some clinical signs. We've also seen that dorzolamide can cause an inflammatory response in some dogs, in their corneas and in their conjunctiva that doesn't respond to anything else except stopping the medication, and that can be a challenge for our glaucoma patients when we really only have a few medications that are even options.

Videos

The Top 5 countdown for 2024 dvm360 videos highlights the most viewed interviews of the past year

Top 2024 dvm360 podcasts: #4

 story of the year will be shared. The following article is No. 4 on this list:

Golden retriever ingesting diaper cream leads to another deadly discovery

Retrievers are known to put almost anything in their mouth, and unfortunately have a high chance of swallowing something they shouldn’t. This was the case with 6-year-old Sawyer, a golden retriever from Fort Mill, South Carolina. Owner, Kim Manzo, discovered that Sawyer had gotten into her child’s diaper cream.

From a Pet Poison Helpline’s toxin tail story, Manzo explained, “Sawyer woke us up in the middle of the night on a Thursday vomiting white stuff, which we soon figured out was ointment from a tube of diaper cream containing zinc oxide. He hadn’t pierced the tube, but had squeezed out and consumed all the cream. He had never gotten into it before, but we figured he would throw it up and be fine. The next morning, Friday, he was still really sick, so we called the veterinarian. They suggested we call Pet Poison Helpline before bringing Sawyer to the clinic, so the toxicologists could develop a treatment plan.”

After evaluating Sawyer, both the local veterinary office and the team at Pet Poison Helpline believed that the ingestion should no longer be of concern and recommended monitoring Sawyer at home since most dogs feel better the following day. However, they advised to bring him back to the hospital if he did not improve throughout the day.

Unfortunately, on Sunday Sawyer was still not feeling well and was reported as lethargic, so Manzo took him to an emergency veterinary hospital which did an x-ray, but the veterinarian originally thought an image he saw was food in his stomach. The next day, the veterinarian called Manzo back and explained there might be an object lodged in Sawyer’s stomach. He recommended another visit to the hospital, so this time Manzo drove him about 30 minutes to the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) in Charlotte, where they took more x-rays and did an ultrasound.

For more on this story, including the outcome of Sawyer's case, view the full article here: 

https://www.dvm360.com/view/golden-retriever-ingesting-diaper-cream-leads-to-another-deadly-discovery

2024 veterinary news in review: #4

 features Mara Tugel, DVM, veterinary technical marketing-companion animal therapeutics for Elanco. In an interview with 

, Tugel gives viewers an overview of the product and how it can help improve the lives of canines suffering from these dermatology diseases, and the benefits it has for clients.

Zenrelia, or the drug name illunocitinib, is a Janus kinase or JAK inhibitor that was recently approved by the FDA to control pruritus in dogs with allergic dermatitis and control atopic dermatitis in dogs that are over 12 months of age. So it can be used for both short term acute cases of allergies like flea hypersensitivity or contact allergies or even flare ups in a longer term case, and it could also be used for long term treatment, as in chronic cases of atopy. What's really great about Zenrelia is that the dose has been optimized to allow for once daily dosing from the start, and this has some really clear advantages for both veterinarians and pet owners.

First of all, it's just simpler. So communicating once daily dosing from the beginning to a pet parent is easier than talking about having to do a dosing change partway through treatment.