Daniel J. Burba, DVM, DACVS, explained the basics of equine skin grafting in a session during the 2024 Southwest Veterinary Symposium, and in an interview with dvm360

Equine skin grafting best practices

Daniel J. Burba, DVM, DACVS, a professor of equine surgery at Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine delivered a presentation on equine skin grafting during the 2024 Southwest Veterinary Symposium in Fort Worth, Texas. In an interview with 

, Burba expressed the importance of skin grafting as a method for wound management. 

Equine wounds, particularly those on limbs, can take significant time to heal on their own, often several weeks to months. Skin grafts are used to accelerate and enhance the healing process. In the interview, Burba explained what might go into the decision between full and split thickness skin grafts, how to properly choose a donor site, and things to keep in mind post-operation.

 You know... really it comes down to 2 things. One is the equipment needed... for doing a split thickness graph. There is special equipment, referred to as a dermatome, that's required to be able to harvest those split thickness graphs, and then [the second factor would be the] experience and skill to do that. So, you know, if your clinic or hospital is not set up to be able to do those 2, then it's difficult to be able to do a split thickness graph, because it does require a fair bit of training, you know. [It requires] some practice, I guess [is] best way to put it, in order to do 1, and [actually] having a dermatome to be able to split the skin.

Videos

The first 2 methods to start with, plus the mechanics of activated charcoal as a decontaminant

Methods for gastrointestinal decontamination

Missed out on Fetch Kansas City 2024? No worries—we’ve got you covered! For just $199, 

gives you access to the best sessions, speakers, and over 30 CE credits. Learn when, where, and how it fits into your busy life. Whether you’re catching up between appointments, learning from the comfort of home, or squeezing in a quick session over coffee, Fetch On-Demand gives you the flexibility you need to earn CE credits on your terms.

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Decontamination Methods of the Dog and Ca

t from the Fetch Kansas City conference in Missouri earlier this year, Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT, shares what the 2 most common methods for gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination are. In this interview, Schmid also explains how activated charcoal functions as a decontaminant.

To watch the first part of this interview where Schmid talks about GI decontamination misconceptions, click 

So activated charcoal is really cool. It's something that [patients] take…orally and then when you have a toxin, a specific substance that's in the stomach… [that] activated charcoal is able to bind to that particular substance.

There [are] certainly things that it doesn't bind to, so it doesn't work for everything, but it works as kind of like a magnet, so to speak, where these different toxins will actually bind and adhere to that to that particular activated charcoal molecule.

The one thing that is important to always know is that it's a reversible process. And so if there's GI stasis or ileus—something that with time, if that activated charcoal is sitting in the gut not moving, with time that particular toxin can actually break off of that activated charcoal and then get absorbed that way.

Rachel Allbaugh, DVM, MS, DACVO, shares her approach to a common reason for consultation calls: non-healing corneal ulcers

Dr. Allbaugh Fetch on Demand Non-healing corneal ulcers interview

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 at the Fetch Kansas City Conference, Rachel Allbaugh, DVM, MS, DACVO, talked about the consultation calls that she receives the most often. At the top of the list: Non-healing corneal ulcers. Allbaugh outlined her typical approach for classification and treatment, as well as some things practitioners should avoid. 

 Yeah, so we get a lot of consultation calls or requests to fit patients in urgently [for] dogs who are middle aged or older with non-healing corneal ulcers, and many times they are indolent ulcers. But it's important for veterinarians to rule out other causes of a non-healing ulcer, such as a conformational abnormality, a hair disorder, [or] infection. 

Definitely, boxers and corgis are overrepresented in these indolent ulcers, and we will generally start with the cotton tipped applicator debridement. I definitely encourage vets who are comfortable to go ahead and do that, because you can get 30 to 40% of these dogs to heal with that alone. Many times we do need to do a more aggressive procedure, like a keratotomy, whether it be a grid keratotomy or a diamond burr that helps polish that wound bed and that can stimulate the healing, so that we get [roughly] 90% of these patients to heal.

Rachel Allbaugh, DVM, MS, DACVO, shares her approach to diagnosing and treating non-healing corneal ulcers, a common reason for consultation calls

Non-healing corneal ulcers 

This map created by Pet Poison Helpline identifies which areas have the highest number of ADHD/ADD medication-related calls. (Image courtesy of Pet Poison Helpline) 

Pet Poison Helpline (PPH) announced that is has seen a jump in calls for accidental exposures to antidepressants and antianxiety medications. PPH shared that between 2019 and 2022, these types of calls rose 84.9% before falling just 3.2% in 2023. Along with the rise in the calls for accidental exposure to antidepressants, the team at PPH shared that there was also an 82.2% rise in calls involving ADD/ADHD mediations within the same time frame, with a 1% drop in 2023.

"The use of and public discussion around these types of medications has increased over the years, which has helped many people improve their quality of life," explained Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT, a senior veterinary toxicologist and director of Veterinary Medicine at Pet Poison Helpline, in an organizational release.

"In addition, according to a recent study, the rate of antidepressants dispensed to young people increased dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic. We believe that as a result of these and other factors, over the past 5 years Pet Poison Helpline has seen more than an 80% increase in calls involving antidepressant, antianxiety, ADD and ADHD medications," Schmid continued.

When a pet ingests these medications, the clinical signs will depend on the amount ingested, category of antidepressant, weight of the dog, and a multitude of other facts such as how quickly treatment can be provided and other medications the pet is on. An early sign of antidepressant toxicity is gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting, diarrhea, or hypersalivation. Signs can also escalate to cardiac and neurologic signs such as involuntary muscle activity, change in mental status, and cardiac arrhythmias.

According to the release, PPH used their Toxin Trends tool to analyze the call data involving accidental exposures to these medications in recognition of ADHD Awareness Month.

 Through the Toxin Trends tool, the team was also able to determine that the highest number of exposures calls for these medications came from Texas, followed by California and Florida.

PPH currently has plans to continue to release future iterations of its Toxin Trends dashboard to provide insights the company obtains through its database of emergency calls. By sharing its data, PPH hopes to educate the public on concerns common within their area to create a safer world for pets, and potentially save their lives.

"The increase in calls involving antidepressants illustrates the danger of pets having access to their human companion's medication," Schmid concluded.

 "Although we're focusing on pets who have had an accidental exposure, children and other vulnerable people could be harmed if they had an accidental or overexposure to these medications. Keeping track of all medications and storing them out of reach of pets and unintended people will help to keep the entire household safe."

Pet Poisoning Calls Involving Antidepressants Increase Over 80%. News release. Pet Poison Helpline. October 1, 2024. Accessed October 1, 2024. 

https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pet-poisoning-calls-involving-antidepressants-increase-over-80-302262888.html

Myers A. Antidepressant Toxicity in Dogs. 

. September 29, 2022. Accessed October 1, 2024. https://www.petmd.com/dog/poisoning/antidepressant-toxicity-dogs

Articles

Antidepressant as well as ADD/ADHD medications have caused a large increase in accidental exposure calls within the last few years

Antidepressant-related pet poisoning calls surge over 80%

With antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continuing to grow as a global threat,

 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced it is granting cooperative agreement funds for 3 projects focused on the collection, analysis, and data reporting of antimicrobial use (AMU) in animals.

 According to the agency, this grant program backs long term initiatives under development aimed at collecting AMU data in the country, which includes a draft of public-private partnership frameworks to improve tracking of AMU in food-producing animals.

Through these agreements, each recipient will receive $200,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Funding may extend for up to 4 additional years, depending on annual appropriations, availability of funding, and the recipient's performance.

“The FDA looks forward to working with the animal health community and relevant stakeholders to gain a better understanding of how and when antimicrobials are being used in animals in the US This AMU data collection program will support the continued advancement of FDA’s initiatives to promote antimicrobial stewardship in veterinary settings,” the FDA shared in an announcement.

For FY 2024, FDA funding will focus on proposals aimed at gathering AMU data from domestic livestock or poultry. Looking ahead to FY 2025, the FDA plans to provide funding for 2 more AMU data collection proposals for companion animals or “minor species,” according to the organization.

The FDA will open the submission period for FY 2025 proposals in March 2025.

The following 3 projects will receive FDA funding as part of the cooperative agreement

Antimicrobial Use Data Collection in the U.S. Poultry Production System

: Aims to expand an ongoing, nationally representative and sustainable system for collecting on-farm quantitative AMU data from the turkey, broiler chicken, and table egg industries of the US. The project, proposed by Mindwalk Consulting Group, LLC, aims to fill important data gaps and builds on previous initiatives funded by the FDA.

A System Approach to Animal-Level Antimicrobial Use Monitoring in Dairy Cattle

: Cornell University aims to implement a system for AMU monitoring in dairy cattle by collecting multiple years of detailed AMU data from dairy farms, developing a system approach to animal-level AMU monitoring, and assessing the views of farmers and veterinarians on AMU monitoring. The monitoring system would employ techniques to incentivize dairy farmer participation and would offer insights into farmers' perceptions and needs related to AMU monitoring.

Bridging Critical Data Gaps in Veterinary Medicine Via Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Large Language Models to Procure Real-Time Antibiotic Use Data in Livestock, Poultry and Companion Animals

: Kansas State University proposed to utilize multiple existing databases for AMU data in US livestock and poultry and employ advanced computational and analytical tools to create a dashboard that shows AMU data trends.

Summary report. Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA. August 2023. Accessed September 30, 2024. 

https://reaganudall.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/072823_Summary%20Report_Final.pdf

FDA awards funds for three projects to collect, analyze and report data on antimicrobial use in animals. News release. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. September 25, 2024. Accessed September 30, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-awards-funds-three-projects-collect-analyze-and-report-data-antimicrobial-use-animals?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

The FDA is awarding grants for 3 projects that will collect, analyze, and report data on antimicrobial use in livestock and poultry

FDA allocates funds for data collection and reporting on antimicrobial use in animals 

Dr Gianluca Bini explains the benefits of using locoregional analgesia on patients compared to using systemic analgesia

Video interview with Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA

discussing his previous lecture at the Fetch Kansas City Conference in Missouri, Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, explains the benefits of using locoregional analgesia when it comes to preventing chronic pain in patients compared to using systemic analgesics such as opioids. 

The primary benefits, you know, the pain pathway, it's made of different steps, right? So you have your transduction, which is basically when the painful stimuli gets changed into an electrical signal. Your peripheral nerves will transmit that signal from the area it's impacted to the spinal and in the spinal cord, there is another piece of the pathway that's called modulation, and that's where potentially chronic pain may develop, right? And so even if we do use systemic energetics like your opioids or alpha-2 agonists or your ketamine, for example, all those analgesics may still unfortunately trigger chronic pain in that patient, because the stimulus did reach the spinal cord. When you perform a local anesthesia...you perform your nerve blocks, what you do is you actually cut the transmission, like blowing up a bridge right?

Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, discusses the primary benefits of locoregional analgesia when compared to using systemic analgesia 