The Purina Institute—a research organization that is part of Nestle Purina Petcare—recently announced its Purina Institute Global Summit 2025. The event, which will take place April 30 to May 1, 2025, will include talks from 20 global experts on the future of pet nutrition and veterinary care.

The summit, called "Technologically Empowered Veterinary Care," will explore the combination of nutrition science and pet health care to help veterinary professionals use and integrate technology in a way that will work to give patients more personalized care.

 The event will be free, “product-agnostic,” and will be live streamed on Purina Institute’s virtual platform. 

Among the topics being presented at the summit are

The application of informatics, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to better pet nutrition and health

The application of omics and biomarkers as powerful tools for health monitoring

The effect of connected tools and services on the future of pet care and veterinary clinical practice

Litter box monitoring devices for feline patients’ urinary health and disease

Smart devices that can improve weight loss programs for patients

"The rapid expansion of technology provides great opportunities to improve pet nutrition, pet care and veterinary medicine, while bringing its own challenges," Natalia Wagemans, PhD, MD, global head of the Purina Institute, said in an organizational release.

 "Our goal at the Purina Institute is to foster collaboration and innovation that will drive the future of pet health and nutrition. The Purina Institute Global Summit 2025 brings together some of the brightest minds in the field, offering invaluable foresight for veterinary professionals to be at the cutting edge of pet health innovation."

, chief scientific officer for Microsoft Health & Life Sciences and adjunct professor at Stanford University in California. In prior roles, Lungren was a clinical interventional radiologist leading the Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging. He has more than 200 published works in the areas of AI applications in medical imaging, natural language processing, and public health. Additionally, his work has appeared in 

, senior scientist and scientific advisor in the Jean Mayer USDA Human and Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Promislow has 3 decades of research on aging, during which he has published more than 175 scientific papers on fruit flies, mice, marmosets, dogs, yeast, and humans. A co-founder of the Dog Aging Project, Promislow has received various awards, including the Ellison Senior Scholar Award, the Glenn Breakthroughs in Gerontology Award, and the Bennett J. Cohen Award in aging research.

, professor and vice chair of research and the Ohio State University. Quimby is a renowned expert on chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats. Her areas of research include the study of renal aging, telomere length and cellular senescence, novel treatment strategies, and evidence-based supportive care strategies. Additionally, she holds an interest in clinical trials and feline clinical pharmacology aimed at improving supportive care and quality of life in cats with CKD. A recipient of the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) Award and the AVMF/Winn Feline Foundation Research Award, Quimby was chosen to serve on the IRIS board in 2021.

Registration for the 2025 summit is now open. Veterinary professionals who join the livestream will be eligible to earn continuing education credits in areas that accept RACE.

Purina Institute announces the Purina Institute Global Summit 2025. News release. Nestle Purina Petcare. March 28, 2025. Accessed March 31, 2025. 

https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purina-institute-announces-the-purina-institute-global-summit-2025-302413819.html

Explore the future of pet nutrition and health care empowered by advanced technologies. Purina Institute. Accessed March 31, 2025. 

https://globalsummit2025.purinainstitute.com/?utm_campaign=pin-events2025&utm_medium=offline&utm_source=press_release&utm_content=cr-purina_institute_global_summit_2025_invitation_pt-na&utm_term=

Articles

The Purina Institute Summit 2025 will highlight the intersection of technology, pet nutrition, and veterinary care

Upcoming global summit to explore the future of pet health and nutrition

Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA, and Jonathan Wainberg, MBA, shares their top 2 tips on how to confidently talk to client about paying for their pets treatment

Video interview with Dr Courtney Campbell and Jonathan Wainberg

During the 2025 WVC Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jonathan Wainberg, MBA, senior vice president and general manager, Pet, Synchrony and Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA, sat down with 

 to discuss different strategies veterinary teams can utilize in their clinic when talking to clients about the cost of their pets care. Throughout the interview, the duo discusses how to bring up the topic with sensitivity, offer alternatives if available, and more to make teams more confident in these important conversations. 

: Yeah, I think strategies going forward to approach that cost conversation first, I believe you have to approach it with sensitivity. There's a there's a complexity to providing care, and those resources for pet care that a lot of pet parents have to navigate on a daily basis, whenever they're that's good at the veterinary hospital, and navigating that can be difficult, it can be scary, and it can be anxiety ridden, and so approaching that with a certain empathy, I think that's the first step. 

The second step is to provide... alternatives. I feel like pet parents genuinely feel valued when they're provided opportunities and options, and the reality is, at least my reality, that I see on an everyday basis is navigating those options. It's like a maze. It can be complex, and so that's why I'm happy we're chatting about Pets Best, because I think it streamlines that maze and takes the complexity out of it.

Yeah, I think there's 2 things that come to mind. We've done a lot of research, and in one of the studies that we conducted, a vast majority of pet parents said that they want to know about financial options. It's one tool amongst the other. So while there might be some hesitation or some reluctance by the staff at the animal hospital or the clinic to do it, you need to understand your customers asking for it. So...don't be afraid. ...They're looking for solutions, right? 

The second thing I would say is that credit is becoming a more and more important part of our market and our industry, right? We see where the cost of animal care is going, and it's something that is a great tool to help people get that great standard of care and the best compliance of care possible. So give them those tools.

Videos

Jonathan Wainberg, MBA, and Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA, discuss how to have productive conversations about the cost of care with clients

Conversations about cost with clients

Victor, a 12-year-old rare leucistic alligator, began to concern caretakers at the Audubon Zoo when they noticed he was not able to see his dinner when it was dangled before him. Robert Maclean, DVM, and his colleague Hilary Householder, DVM, called Renee Carter, DVM, DACVO, at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU Vet Med) to see if she would examine Victor’s eyes. 

Carte confirmed after the examination that Victor had an advanced cataract in his left eye with evidence of inflammation. Victor is now also the first alligator known to have cataract surgery which, and based on Carters research for preparation, was never performed in the United States.

Victor, the 12-year-old white alligator (Image courtesy of LSU Vet Med)

White alligators are extremely rare, and it is hard to determine how many there are because of the color of their skin, they cannot camouflage like others, making them easy for predators to see and attack.

Beginning in February, the LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital Services, such as the Zoological, ophthalmology, and anesthesia teams, collaborated to help create a plan to treat Victor. After discussions, Victor was sedated and transported by Audubon Zoo clinicians to LSU Vet Med where Javier Nevarez, DVM, PhD, Patricia Queiroz-Williams, DVM, MS, and Householder who were then faced with the issue of how to safely transfer him from his carrier cage for anesthesia. Victor remained sedated until he was fully anesthetized, which gave Carter and the LSU Vet Med team the time to perform the procedure. 

To start, the team needed to determine if he was even a good candidate for the surgery. The team performed multiple tests and determined that the retina was functional and still attached, which gave the team the confidence they needed to move forward with the procedure.

 For alligators, because their eyes are on the top part of their skulls, it made it tricky for the team to get him into a good position for surgery.

“While cataract surgery is typically straightforward in dogs, Victor’s case required us to adapt to the differences in his anatomy and response to medications. There were significant challenges we had to overcome,” Hannah Gafen, DVM, LSU ophthalmology resident, said in the release.

Victor's eye prepped and ready for surgery

To perform the surgery, the cataract needed to be removed through phacoemulsification. He also able to remain stable and safely under anesthesia during the operation, which took almost 2 hours to complete. The surgery was a success, and the team was able to also place a temporary fluid port to administer post-operation eye drops to Victor. He had a 2-week recovery in the zoo’s animal hospital before returning to his enclosure with restored vision. Now that he has returned home, his caretakers reported he is returning to his normal behaviors, once again snapping up at his food.

The clinical team at LSU plans to publish their findings in the future

Victor's Vision: Rare white alligator's vision restored in groundbreaking surgery at LSU Vet Med. News release. Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. March 26, 2025. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/blog/2025/victor_vision.php

Audubon Zoo: White Alligator. Audubon Nature Institute. Audubonnatureinstitute.org. https://audubonnatureinstitute.org/white-alligator

The veterinary team at LSU performed the first alligator cataract surgery on this leucistic alligator

LSU restores vision in rare white alligator

The result of a collaboration between 2 veterinarians residing in vastly different parts of the globe, The Veterinary General Practice Casebook is a unique new veterinary textbook which celebrates the role of general practice veterinarians working amidst the busy caseloads of companion animal practice. The chapters in the book are set out not by clinical topics or individual body systems, but rather as days of the week – with each day filled with consultation examples, problems and quizzes.

Anne Quain, BA(Hons), BScVet(Hons), BVSc(Hons), MVetStud, GradCertEdStud(HigherEd), MANZCVS (Animal Welfare), Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL), PhD, from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney, leapt at the invitation from Scottish professor Andrew Gardiner , VMS, Cert SAS, MSc, PhD, Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL), MRCVS, from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, to work together on producing the book.

“[Gardiner] invited me to join him on this project, and together, we decided that the book would be more engaging if it reflected the reality of veterinary general practice. So, the book is laid out in chapters, one for each weekday. Each weekday is filled with consultations, and each consultation provides a bit of context, at least one problem, and some questions,” explained Quain exclusively to 

“Readers can work through the answers themselves and then check these against those detailed answer sections, or they can skip straight to the answers if they want to – the good thing is no one will judge!”

For Gardiner, the idea for the book’s novel layout came from a self-assessment book he’d used many years earlier.

Andrew Gardiner , VMS, Cert SAS, MSc, PhD, Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL), MRCVS and Anne Quain, BA(Hons), BScVet(Hons), BVSc(Hons), MVetStud, GradCertEdStud(HigherEd), MANZCVS (Animal Welfare), Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL), PhD,  - the editors of The Veterinary General Practice Casebook - (Image courtesy of Gardiner) 

“Many years ago, I bought a small book of self-assessment color review tests on companion animal practice and found it useful. For some reason, publishers stopped covering general practice in this way and instead brought out books focused on individual clinical disciplines. But general practice is not like that - you see an orthopedic case one moment, an ophthalmology one the next, an oncology after that, all jumbled together in your working day,” said Gardiner.

“With this book, we’ve compiled over 100 cases and over 200 full color illustrations. We’ve sought to present a selection of cases representing common problems seen in general practice. Aside from clinical cases, each chapter also contains questions regarding safety and well-being.”

The Veterinary General Practice Casebook will appeal to a wide audience – from undergraduate veterinary students to new graduate veterinarians, and those veterinarians who may have been working for years, or be returning to clinical work, and wanting to brush up on their knowledge.

“Our answers are particularly comprehensive since two of our core readerships are students and new graduates, although we think the book will appeal to all and the feedback, we have had so far confirms this. All cases are illustrated with photographs as well as diagrams and tables where relevant,” explained Gardiner.

“With so few textbooks written about veterinary general practice or primary care, the feedback we’ve had so far is that people find it a ‘friendly’ book useful not just for veterinary students, but also for those returning to work, plus experienced vets too. We talk about things like animal welfare, error disclosure and decision making, particularly in the context of financial constraints.”

The book includes cases from over 30 contributors around the world, including from the United States, to ensure that it reflects a variety of geographical contexts.

“The process of putting it together was wonderful. It was truly a celebration of all of those so-called ‘little’ things we do each day to improve the lives of animals, clients and colleagues - and the nice thing when working on a project like this is that it adds an extra dimension to every case you see. Suddenly its not ‘just’ a wart, but a chance to review the literature on these complex and fascinating lesions,” shared Quain.

“We’ve sought to provide thought provoking questions, and we’ve provided references and further reading for those who want to take a deeper dive. And of course, our appointment schedules should also contain breaks – so we’ve included some recipes to cover those too! If you want the fully immersive experience, you can read the book and work through the questions, but also work through the recipes. We are waiting for readers to send proof that they’ve attempted contributor [Jude Bradbury, BVSc] phenomenal ‘cheesecake challenge’!”

The Veterinary General Practice Casebook is published by Routledge and available via its website.

Improving the client experience after they’ve left the veterinary hospital is the goal of Pawl, a new veterinary digital platform aiming to improve patient outcomes by reducing complications and recurrence of disease, whilst also helping to boost customer loyalty and vet clinic revenue.

“Pawl is a platform that delivers post-intervention plans - think post-op and post-diagnosis. Essentially, we cover the time from when the client leaves the veterinary clinic to when their pet’s condition has either resolved or sufficiently stabilized. We provide daily check-ins, dynamic and personalized information and accessible resources such as rehabilitation videos tailored to the patient,” explained Bronwyn Orr, BVSc, PhD, MSc, MANZCVS, GAICD,CF, chief executive officer of Pawl, to dvm360.

Bronwyn Orr, BVSc, PhD, MSc, MANZCVS, GAICD,CF, chief executive officer of Pawl (Image courtesy of Orr)

“Pawl plans are revenue-positive for clinics - instead of a monthly fee, we instead charge clinics nothing to offer Pawl plans and share in the revenue only when plans are sold, so there is no added cost and burden to clinics.”

Veterinary hospitals which use Pawl will have access to a dashboard that allows veterinary practice staff to see which clients are on active plans and how patients are tracking, as well as receiving alerts when a significant ‘red flag’ health event is reported to Pawl, such as if the patient is showing signs of a post-operative wound infection.

“Even just by offering our prototype, we expect partner veterinary clinics to generate several thousand a year in additional profit, all while delivering better customer service. We expect to have our first prototype available – designed for cruciate surgery post-operative recovery, in the coming weeks,” said Orr.

“We are in active conversations with several veterinary clinics, both large and small to trial our prototype and we've had some exciting conversations with Practice Management System providers regarding integration to make selling Pawl plans even easier. We welcome any interested parties to get in contact, as we are growing rapidly and will have a suite of post-intervention plans available by the end of this year.”

With the veterinary technology field rapidly expanding and new entrants entering the market every week, Orr said that Pawl is one of the only platforms offering a revenue-positive solution at no cost to veterinary clinics.

“I recently completed a Churchill Fellowship which involved travelling around the globe meeting with veterinary organizations and leaders to explore the workforce challenges facing the veterinary profession – and during my travels I had the idea for Pawl, as I saw how digitized and connected other aspects of the economy were, particularly the consumer economy, and how little we had of that in veterinary medicine,” shared Orr.

“I wanted to improve patient outcomes by empowering pet owners, all while keeping them connected to the 'lighthouse' of animal care - the veterinarian. We are trying to make something that will benefit everyone - patients, clients and veterinarians. I was also keen to avoid adding to the costs of a veterinary clinic's technology stack - the various apps and services we pay for currently, particularly during a time of reduced revenue for a lot of clinics. By developing Pawl plans as a product, it means clinics can improve patient and client outcomes as well as increasing revenue for their business,” she concluded.

More information about Pawl is available on the company’s website.

Updates on the release of a new textbook focused on veterinary general practice; and meet Pawl – a new veterinary platform designed to deliver post-intervention plans.

Veterinary scene down under: A new veterinary textbook for general practitioners, plus a new digital platform working to improve patient outcomes

As the weather warms across the US and flowers begin to bloom, patients are getting more exposure to spring toxins, ticks and other seasonal dangers to their health. In interviews with 

, Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT; Susan E. Little, DVM, PhD, DACVM; and Lindsay Starkey, DVM, PhD, DACVM ( Parasitology), provide expert insights into a common household toxin, the increase in tick populations, and tick-associated Cytauxzoonosis in cats. The following 3 videos provide refreshes of information relevant to the season:

Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT, senior veterinary toxicologist and director, veterinary medicine at Pet Poison Helpline, Schmid discusses the danger of lilies to cats. Easter lilies [or 

], in particular, are a religious symbol of the Easter holiday and are traditionally popular in the spring. Pet owners should immediately call a veterinarian if a cat has, or may have, eaten an Easter lily leaf.

https://www.dvm360.com/view/the-danger-of-household-lilies

Susan E. Little, DVM, PhD, DACVM, Krull-Ewing professor of parasitology at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, talks about her lecture 

, presented at the 2025 Veterinary Meeting & Expo in Orlando, Florida. Little discusses the boom in tick populations over the last decades, as well its driving factors and the risk of tick-borne diseases in pets.

https://www.dvm360.com/view/exploring-the-rise-in-tick-populations

Treating and managing Cytauxzoonosis in feline patients

Lindsay Starkey, DVM, PhD, DACVM ( Parasitology), explained the importance of veterinarians being aware of Cytauxzoonosis. A tick-borne disease in cats, this disease is shifting in geographic range, and professionals should be aware of early clinical signs, diagnostic changes, and more.

https://www.dvm360.com/view/treating-and-managing-cytauxzoonosis-in-feline-patients

. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Horticulture-Extension. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/easter-lily-lilium-longiflorum/

In interviews with dvm360, 3 veterinarians provide expert insights into a common household toxin, the increase in tick populations, and tick-associated Cytauxzoonosis in cats. 

3 must-see videos for spring

Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, discusses highly pathogenic avian influenza and the importance of enhancing biosecurity in this interview with dvm360

Video interview with Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM

: Yeah, I mean, the impact can be so dramatic, as we've seen when we look at soaring egg prices. A lot of that is due to limited availability and the fact that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is running through the flock. When it does, you're looking at depopulation or euthanasia of thousands—sometimes even millions—of birds, depending on the virus. All of a sudden, it’s going to take quite a while to regain that population and get eggs back into circulation. So, when we consider that, much of the current epidemiologic focus—and the efforts to solve this issue—are really about limiting the spread within commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about wild birds. They are the reservoir. Many congregate in the Arctic or similar areas, where commingling or even antigenic mixing of the virus occurs. When they return in the fall, you end up with a whole new set of influenza strains.

That’s when the challenge becomes clear. With this virus, you get both antigenic drift and shift. Drift is when the virus replicates, accumulating small genetic variations—less tightly controlled than in the human body. Shift, on the other hand, happens when two different viruses combine their genetic material; think of the two “S”s: shift and sharing. On the human side, when you add in pigs—with their similar respiratory receptors—they become a mixing vessel for dangerous strains. So while birds are the reservoir, in poultry the focus is on limiting spread.

As we discussed, one of my friends at the USDA helped coach me on some of this, since I’m not directly involved in protein production. Thank you to that USDA friend. When examining the main risk factor, much of it centers on surface water around poultry areas because it attracts waterfowl—the natural reservoir. Wild birds come to these water sources next to where other poultry is kept. Even in enclosed situations, people can act as fomites, carrying the virus on their clothing or equipment. Ultimately, it’s all about biosecurity: maximizing proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), using dedicated boots and foot baths, controlling equipment movement between areas, and even limiting visitors. It’s damage control—minimizing spread rather than magically curing it, which isn’t likely in the near future.

I also think one of the big challenges lies with backyard producers. When you have a large flock and are trying to maximize production, it often comes down to money and numbers. Backyard producers want to partner up for help, as anything that minimizes costs now and prevents future outbreaks is beneficial. Backyard flocks can be particularly challenging; we’ve seen issues with Newcastle disease and HPAI. In backyard settings, chickens often have names—like Susie or Jill—so the term “depopulation” sounds very harsh when applied to them. A high-path HPAI outbreak might start with a few dead chickens and then progress rapidly. Chickens can go from mild symptoms to death very quickly—sometimes within a day or 36 hours. Before lab results (which may take a couple of days) come back, the flock may already have been depopulated. When we confirm it’s HPAI, it only confirms what we suspected.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic bullet. Every company keeps its R&D under tight lock and key, so while there might be something groundbreaking in the future, it doesn’t appear to be imminent. There has been some thought about natural immunity through selective breeding, which might offer benefits. However, selecting for one desirable trait can sometimes introduce an undesirable one. We’ve seen this in modern swine production, where pigs have been bred for rapid growth and heavier muscle at the expense of natural immunity. This might be an opportunity for the poultry industry, but it will take time. Much of the current focus is on upgrading biosecurity in poultry—an area where many operations could benefit from improvements similar to those in the swine industry.

Finally, regarding vaccines for poultry: to my knowledge, the only large-scale vaccination program currently in use is for ducks in France. A major reason is that unless everyone agrees it’s safe, vaccination could limit export ability. Even if vaccination became widely acceptable, influenza remains a moving target—constantly shifting, drifting, and undergoing antigenic mixing. That means new vaccines would need to be developed on a very rapid basis. There’s no easy answer.

Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, explains why early detection and enhanced biosecurity are essential for mitigating the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza