Officials with the FDA have approved the first generic propofol injectable emulsion for dogs (PropofolVet Multidose; Parnell Technologies Pty, Ltd.). The new product is indicated for use as an injectable anesthetic in dogs, according to the FDA.

PropofolVet Multidose contains the same active ingredient as the FDA-approved brand name propofol injectable emulsion, PropoFlo 28 (Zoetis), which was first approved on February 4, 2011. Additionally, the FDA determined that Parnell’s newly approved generic equivalent contains no inactive ingredients that may significantly affect the bioavailability of the active ingredient.

Based in New South Wales, Australia, Parnell Technologies submitted data to the FDA in support of approval of its’ generic propofol injectable emulsion. According to the agency, no serious adverse effects were reported in an 

blood-level study of 22 dogs that was conducted to show bioequivalence to the 10 mg/ml Zoetis PropoFlo 28.

PropofolVet Multidose is dispensed by prescription. The product is supplied in a 10 mg/mL concentration in 20mL multidose vials.

According to the FDA, the drug is used for induction of anesthesia, maintenance of general anesthesia by intermittent bolus injections for short procedures, and induction of general anesthesia where maintenance is provided by inhalant anesthetics. It is not intended for food-producing animals and should be used in humans.

FDA approves first generic propofol injectable emulsion for dogs. FDA. November 18, 2024. Accessed November f19, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-approves-first-generic-propofol-injectable-emulsion-dogs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Freedom of Information Summary. FDA. November 18, 2024. Accessed November 19, 2024. 

https://animaldrugsatfda.fda.gov/adafda/app/search/public/document/downloadFoi/16265

Articles

PropofolVet Multidose contains the same active ingredient as the brand name propofol injectable emulsion, PropoFlo 28 by Zoetis, which received FDA approval in 2011

First generic propofol injectable emulsion for dogs receives FDA approval

Andrea Pace, CVT, VTS (ECC), details symptoms of GDV in dogs, and explains why this condition is considered a surgical emergency

Common signs of gastric dilatation volvulus 

Gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) is a serious condition that happens when a dog’s stomach becomes distended with gas or fluid, and twists on itself. The condition can also occur in cats, but is most common in dogs. At 

's Fetch Coastal conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Andrea Pace, CVT, VTS (ECC), training mentor for the emergency department at Mount Laurel Animal Hospital in New Jersey, sat down with dvm360 to talk about her session on emergency surgery for GDV.

In the interview, Pace discussed common signs of GDV in dogs, like rolling and nonproductive vomiting. She also explained what makes this condition a surgical emergency, explaining that GDV, if left untreated, can kill a dog in approximately 12 hours. During her lecture at Fetch Coastal, Pace detailed the 

 for GDV, offering guidance and advice for those conducting bloodwork, surgery, anesthetics, and more.

GDV is commonly known as bloat in a lot of circles. A lot of people who have large breed animals know about it—breeders often tell them about it. But what happens is a dog's stomach will, and sometimes cats, but it's very, very rare and very rarely in humans as well; so what happens is their stomach usually fills with air, either through swallowing a lot of air, or sometimes fermentation in their stomach of their food product, and it swells up and it twists on itself. So, when it twists, it closes off the entrance and the exit, and it can continue expanding, especially if there is a fermentation component. When it does that, it pushes on the diaphragm, and it pushes on the vena cava.

Littrell A. Emergency surgery for gastric dilatation volvulus. 

. October 17, 2024. Accessed November 19, 2024. 

https://www.dvm360.com/view/emergency-surgery-for-gastric-dilatation-volvulus

Videos

Whitebridge Pet Brands North America, a cat and dog nutrition company will be acquired by General Mills, Inc from NXMH. The transaction is valued at $1.45 billion, according to a recent company announcement.

The definitive acquisition agreement includes the Tiki Pets and Cloud Star brands and targets the growing cat feeding and pet treat sectors. Together, both sectors represent $24 billion in retail sales within the broader $52 billion US pet food market.

 In the last year, North American Whitebridge Pet Brands generated an estimated $325 million in US Nielsen-measured retail sales, specifically in the pet specialty and E-commerce channels.

“Acquiring the Tiki Pets and Cloud Star portfolio strengthens our commitment in the Pet space,” Jon Nudi, group president, North America Pet, International, and North America Foodservice, General Mills, said in the announcement.

“These brands complement our Blue Buffalo portfolio and will help us incrementally grow in cat feeding and teats. We’re excited to welcome the North American Whitebridge team to General Mills and to provide pet parents with an expanding portfolio of brands to feed and treat their pets like family.”

According to General Mills, the move to acquire Whitebridge Pet Brands aligns with the company’s “Accelerate strategy,” which focuses on its core markets, global platforms, and local brands to achieve sustainable, profitable growth and deliver “top tier” returns to shareholders over the long term.

The transaction is General Mills’ fifth announced or completed acquisition in the pet category. The company’s 4 other acquisitions include Blue Buffalo, acquired in 2018; Nudges, Top Chews, and True Chews, acquired in 2021; Fera Pets, acquired in 2023; and Edgard & Cooper, acquired in 2024. Whitebridge Pet Brands’ acquisition in anticipated to be complete in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. The acquisition will be funded with cash on hand and new debt, according to General Mills.

As part of the agreement, General Mills will assume control of 2 manufacturing facilities in Joplin, Missouri. NXMH will keep ownership of Whitebridge Pet Brands’ European business and its associated brands.

General Mills’ brand portfolio includes brands like Cheerios, Nature Valley, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Totino’s, Annie’s, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki, and more. Whitebridge Pet Brands includes Schesir, Stuzzy, Petite Cuisine, Dogswell, Pet Botanics, and more.

General Mills advances Accelerate strategy with acquisition of Whitebridge Pet Brands’ North American premium cat feeding and pet treating business. News release. General Mills, Inc. November 14, 2024. Accessed November 29, 2024. 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241114075527/en/General-Mills-Advances-Accelerate-Strategy-with-Acquisition-of-Whitebridge-Pet-Brands’-North-American-Premium-Cat-Feeding-and-Pet-Treating-Business

Our brands. Whitebridge Pet Brands. Accessed November 19, 2024. 

https://whitebridgepetbrands.com/#ourbrands

General Mills, Inc., has entered into a definitive acquisition agreement with North American Whitebridge Pet Brands, producer of Tiki Pets and Cloud Star

Multinational branded processed consumer foods manufacturer to acquire pet food company for $1.45 billion

Since May of 2017, Kane, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, served alongside Grand Prairie Police Department police officer John Killian to protect and serve their community. Kane was hardworking and focusing on his job, which is helping to protect his fellow officers as they search for illegal substances.

“He’s trained to alert to 5 different odors of illegal narcotics,” Killian said.

 “Primarily, we use him on traffic stops if we have a reason to believe there may be narcotics in the vehicle. We’ll have him walk around the exterior of the car and if he alerts, we’re allowed to search the car for illegal items.”

Kane is also trained to help the department by tracking and apprehending people who committed violent crimes, like his most memorable moment in 2018 when him and Killian, alongside their current assistant chief of police Tim Sliva, chased a man on a motorcycle who crashed the bike and then ran on foot. Kane ended up catching him and they discovered the man had a loaded pistol and ‘a bunch of methamphetamines’ in the bag he was wearing. Kane received an award for saving the lives of the officers he was with during this pursuit.

Kane, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, was treated at Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital for skin necrosis (Images courtesy of Karis Olsen

Kane regularly would develop benign, fatty cysts throughout his life that would be removed by his local veterinarian. However, in June of this year, a cyst on Kane’s shoulder became a much bigger problem.

“The cyst was removed on a Monday, and by Friday the incision site had started to turn black,” Killian said. “We started an additional antibiotic, but by Sunday morning it had gotten to the point where it was bleeding and oozing, so we took him to the emergency veterinarian. That’s when they shaved the rest of his abdomen and discovered the black had spread all the way down to his back end. It was way more than anyone expected to see.”

The incision site had become exposed to bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis, a rare bacterial infection that causes the death of soft tissue underneath the skin.

 Due to the seriousness of the infection and the rate at which it was spreading, Kane was referred to the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH). There, Vanna Dickerson, DVM, MS, DACVS (SA), noted that essentially, all of the skin on Kane’s chest leading down from where the mass was on his shoulder, and all the way from his neck to scrotum had died.

Kilian left Kane with the team at SATH, but stayed in a hotel for about half of the 2 months that Kane was a patient at SATH because he struggled to leave him alone at the hospital. After going home halfway through Kane’s stay, he would make the 3 hour drive serval times a week to provide support to his partner and best friend.

“There was no other option,” Killian said. “He’s more than just a dog to me; he’s someone I love and truly care for, so I wanted to be there for him when he was going through this really difficult time.”

Within his first week at SAT, Kane’s veterinary team focused on stopping the infection from spreading and removing the dead skin. Because he had extremely large wounds, Kane ended up getting more infection that was resistant to a lot of SATH’s antibiotic options.

“He was just very sick and had a lot of complications related to the fact that he was losing so much fluid through this wound,” she said. “We couldn’t really do any big procedures other than just taking care of his wound until we got him a little bit more stable.”

As soon as Kane finally started stabilizing, the team started to reconstruction the skin around his chest and penis using a special technique involving the creation of a “flap” of skin still connect to its blood supply. The team then flipped it over to cover the areas where the skin died. However, after the successful surgeries, he developed an infection on his heart valve, leading to a blood clot in his brain, causing him to develop temporary issues with his sense of balance.

“Once we got him as stable as we could from the blood clot, he had his last big procedure, which was a really big skin graft,” Dickerson explained. “We took some of the skin from underneath his neck and put it on his chest, as well as a couple of other smaller grafts to fill in the skin on his belly.”

After Kane recovered for 10 days from his final procedure, Kane was determined to be healthy enough to finish his recover at home. Dickerson and the team said he was in really good spirits during his almost 2 months of intensive care, and believe Killian visiting him so often kept his spirits up.

For the duration of his stay at SATH, Kane was cared for by more than 50 hospital clinicians, staff, 4th year veterinary students, all of whom went to say goodbye to him the day he was discharged. As he returns home with Killian, he will have to keep an eye on Kane’s heart and chest for the rest of his life, but Kane had recovered amazingly from the severe infection according to his doctors.

Faculty, staff, and 4th year veterinary students saying goodbye to Killian and Kane the day he was discharged from SATH 

“Anytime you have a wound on the skin, it never heals to 100% strength. His entire belly may be a little bit more sensitive to injury, but it’s completely healed,” Dickerson said. “We only see a few cases of necrotizing fasciitis a year and when it happens, it’s usually pretty scary. Kane is very lucky to be alive.”

Kane will return to work for a few months, but then will be able to retire. Killian said he plans to bring him on trips and potentially the beach. Kane will also be able to serve and protect his family while he is on duty and hopefully enjoy some down time.

“What the doctors did for Kane was nothing short of a miracle,” Killian said. “It was a huge team effort to get him to even leave the hospital, and the fact that things are still going well and he’s going to have a retirement means the world to us. We didn’t think we would get this opportunity and the fact that we do just makes us forever grateful to A&M.”

Bennett M. Texas A&M Veterinary Team Saves Grand Prairie K-9 From Life-Threatening Infection. VMBS News. Published November 11, 2024. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/press-releases/vets-save-grand-prairie-k-9/

Kane, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, developed an antibiotic resistant and severe skin infection 

Police K-9 survives life-threatening infection 

Richard Gerhold, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology), shared approaches to management of mites

Best Practices for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mites

When a patient potentially affected by mites comes into the clinic, is the veterinary team prepared to handle the case effectively? Earlier this fall, Richard Gerhold, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology), associate professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, sat down with 

 at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey to talk about his lecture on ectoparasites. During the interview, Gerhold shared the best methods for treating, diagnosing, and preventing mites, while also cautioning against the use of non EPA tested chemicals, such as essential oils, as treatment.

Richard Gerhold, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology): 

So, the best way for treating mites or diagnosing mites is doing a really good physical exam: a thorough physical exam that includes looking from, as I say, the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, and making sure not to leave out looking in areas of the inguinal area, axial area.

…If you're looking for something like sarcoptic mange, you want to make sure you're doing a deep skin scrape so you're seeing a little bit of blood in your scrape using mineral oil and doing a good exam on a microscope... In some cases, people may try biopsies as well, but that's something that you try to keep to a last resort. 

As far as treatment, there are a lot of approved treatments out there. I don't want to specifically state one chemical versus another, but having your veterinarian give approved treatments [because] there are the increased interest of people using potentially non EPA tested chemicals, whether they're essential oils or something, just recognize the efficacy of those has not been determined, and it's best to use appropriate [treatments] and also it's good to be on yearlong preventatives for that.

Strategies for diagnosing, treating, and preventing mites

Housed in a bus, the new veterinary clinic offers services to patients and clients with barriers to care and to shelters.

Rowan University launches mobile veterinary clinic

The Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine at Rowan University in New Jersey aims to welcome its' first class of students in fall of 2025. In the meantime, faculty and staff have launched a shelter medicine and community outreach program on a bus. The new mobile veterinary clinic recently stopped by the Atlantic City Convention Center in New Jersey, during dvm360's 

First veterinary school in New Jersey is now accepting applications 

Kirsten White, DVM, a clinical assistant professor of shelter medicine and community engagement, discussed the mobile program's purposes, in an interview with 

. This video and the transcript below is part of the interview:

: The reasoning behind having a mobile unit is accessibility. There are many barriers to care, and some of that is proximity or access to transportation. Many people are not as mobile as others, and it makes it hard for people and their pets to get to care. That's a problem in human medicine, and it's also a problem in veterinary medicine. So, part of the reason to be a mobile clinic is that we can bring clinics to more places versus people trying to get to clinics. 

The other thing is the gap between being able to access care and then not being able to keep your pet. So, the other big reason to have a mobile clinic and to try to bridge that gap between full, public, for-profit primary care and veterinary medicine is that that is not an accessible service to everybody as well. If we can help people stay with their animals—because there's a documented benefit to being with the family that loves you,—regardless if your family has all the money in the world or all the transportation or all the education, or whatever your barrier may be, that doesn't mean you're not a good pet owner. So, if we can help those communities and those populations of people that are great pet families but need help with the health care, that'll keep more pets out of shelters and with their families. Because the shelter should be a place where you have to take your pet if there's no other option. That's part of our job, to help the shelters and help people stay with their pets.

Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine celebrates 50% completion

The new mobile clinic is a program of the university's Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine, which is scheduled to open in fall 2025.