Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, explains common heart diseases in feline and canine patients

Interivew with Dr Bini

Missed out on Fetch Kansas City 2024? No worries—we’ve got you covered! Fetch On-Demand brings the best sessions, speakers, and CE opportunities straight to you, so you can 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 your way.

Ready to jump in? Start exploring the best of

When it comes to general anesthetics, most can affect the cardiovascular system. During his lecture at the 2024 Fetch Kansas City conference in Kansas City, Missouri, Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, provided tips and tricks to veterinary professionals to help them make anesthesia for their cardiac patients go as smooth as possible. 

, Bini explains to viewers the most commonly heard diseases for dogs and cats, plus how they typically manifest themselves within the patients. 

So the classic heart diseases in cats and dogs are: in cats, you find your hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. What happens there is there is a thickening, mainly of the left ventricle of the heart. Unfortunately, that leads to the space within the ventricle to be smaller, and so the heart can pump less blood each beat because there isn't enough space to get all that blood in. 

On the mitral valve disease side, which is the most common in dogs, actually the most common in smaller dogs, what happens is that...the valve that's between the left ventricle and the left atria—the mitral valve—it's kind of leaking. And so instead of...completely shutting and preventing that blood from going backwards, [it] actually lets some of the blood through.

Videos

Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, explains what the most common heart diseases are for canine and feline patients

Common heart diseases in cats and dogs

While at Fetch Kansas City, did you miss a session that you really wanted to go to, or were unable to attend the conference at all this year? If so, you are in luck! dvm360 has announced the launch of a new addition to its Fetch On-Demand program, Fetch Kansas City 2024.

“This is an excellently opportunity to take advantage of those excellent courses one may not have had the ability to attend in person,” Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer for dvm360®, said.

The program is accessible at a cost of $199 through dvm360 Flex, and will provide users with 32 Continuing Education (CE) credits, which is about $6 per CE credit. However, anyone that was able to attend Fetch Kansas City this year will receive this access to additional sessions for free! Once enrolled in the program, Flex users will have access to the selected courses for a year and they can be completed in any order the user chooses. Once users complete a course, they will receive a certification on their account dashboard underneath the “Certificates” tab.

The latest addition will include recorded videos from multiple lectures that were presented during the conference, including lectures from Peter Weinstein, DVM, MBA; Kelley Detweiler, Gianluca, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA; Natalie Marks, DVM, CVJ, CCFP, Elite FFCP-V; and more! The topics learners will be given access to also include toxicology, pain management, feline medicine, anesthesiology, controlled drug substance training, practice management, and more.

"We're thrilled to launch Fetch Kansas City sessions through our Fetch On-Demand program on dvm360’s Flex platform," John Hydrusko, vice president, sales, for MJH Life Sciences, the parent company of dvm360, said. "Our goal is to empower veterinary professionals with the latest tools and knowledge to provide exceptional care to their patients. Fetch On-Demand gives them the space to do that at their own pace and at a time that's convenient to them."

Anyone interested in learning more about Fetch Kansas City On-Demand can visit the 

 to learn more, see the available courses, and enroll today.

Articles

The latest addition to dvm360’s Fetch On-Demand programming will feature lectures from the 2024 Fetch Kansas City conference 

dvm360 launches Fetch Kansas City On-Demand

The FDA is advising pet owners to discontinue use of 6 of Darwin’s Natural Selections raw cat and dog food products, manufactured by Arrow Reliance, Inc. The announcement came after 5 FDA samples of these products tested positive for 

Arrow Reliance was advised by the FDA to recall the 6 affected product lots, according to the announcement.

 However, the company has not recalled these products and may still be distributing them.

According to Darwin's Natural Pet Products, they contacted their clients on the same day of the FDA's announcement to offer detailed information about the situation. "As the Darwin’s community knows, transparency in communication is important to us. It is second only to our top priority: the health and wellbeing of the pets we serve," Gary Tashjian, founder and CEO of Darwin's Natural Pet Products, told 

“As part of our outreach, we specifically communicated with customers who had already received product lots that were included in the FDA’s notice – about 3% of our customers nationwide," continued Tashjian. According to the company, only a small amount of product left their facilities, and they had stopped shipping any potentially affected products earlier this month as soon as the FDA informed them about the testing.

The impacted products include specific lots of Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats and Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs. They are sold in frozen 2-pound white and clear plastic packages with 4 separate units. The Darwin’s Natural Selections products for dogs comes in blue packaging. The cat food has a combination of blue and green packaging.

The following are the impacted varieties and lot codes

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10832 MFG. Date: July 25, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10856 MFG. Date: August 4, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Cats: Lot number 10890 MFG. Date: August 13, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10828 MFG. Date: July 24, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10844 MFG. Date: July 30, 2024.

Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs: Lot number 10887 MFG. Date: August 12, 2024.

Lot codes for these products can be found printed on the lower left corner of the front of the package. The FDA is also recommending that consumers regularly check the lot numbers of Darwin’s Natural Selection Antibiotic & Grain-Free products before feeding them to their pets.

In its announcement, the FDA urged any individual that has any of these 6 products to stop feeding it to their pets and dispose of it in a secure container that is inaccessible to other animals, including wildlife. The FDA also warned against the donation of these products. Moreover, the organization advises that consumers throw the products away if lot codes are illegible or if packaging has been discarded.

Should consumers be in possession of the affected pet food products, they should clean and disinfect all pet supplies and surfaces that came into contact with the food or pet, including refrigerators and freezers.

Veterinarians interested in testing pets for 

 can utilize the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN Network) if the pet comes from a household where someone is infected with either of these pathogens.

Darwin's Natural Pet Products maintains that their meals are safe. According to Tashjian, the company hired an independent 3rd party to conduct testing using conventional methods, and found that all lots tested negative for listeria. However, the testing did reveal small trace amounts of salmonella, which is inherent to poultry, Tashjian told 

“The products were flagged under the FDA’s zero-tolerance policy, which is largely designed for human safety, not pets. In fact, under the FDA protocol, the products tested positive for pathogens only following an incubation period," said Tashjian in an email to 

“At Darwin’s, the health and wellbeing of the pets we serve is our absolute top priority, which is why we have rigorous standards for quality and safety in manufacturing and sourcing. These protocols help ensure the safety of our products while maintaining the good bacteria that are crucial to pets’ gut health and immune systems,” he continued.

According to the FDA, animal companions may not always show symptoms when infected with Salmonella, but they could exhibit signs such as vomiting, diarrhea—including bloody diarrhea—fever, loss of appetite, and/or reduced activity levels. However, some animals may be asymptomatic and still shed the bacteria in their feces, contaminating the environment when they have a bowel movement.

 are rare in pets, but they can occur, according to the FDA.

 Symptoms may range from mild to severe diarrhea, anorexia, and fever, in addition to nervous, muscular, and respiratory issues. This infection can also lead to pregnancy loss, depression, shock, and death. Pets can transmit 

to humans even if they do not show symptoms. As with 

, infected pets can shed bacteria in their feces and saliva without appearing ill, potentially infecting their human counterparts.

In its announcement, the FDA expressed concern over about 

in pet food because these bacteria are especially concerning for public health, as they can impact both humans and animals, according to the FDA.

 "Pets can get sick from Salmonella and may also be carriers of the bacteria and pass it on to their human companions without appearing to be ill," wrote the FDA, in its announcement.

FDA advisory: Do not feed certain lots of Darwin’s Natural Selections pet food due to Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. News release. US Food and Drug Administration. September 20, 2024. Accessed September 23, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-advisory-do-not-feed-certain-lots-darwins-natural-selections-pet-food-due-salmonella-and?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Five FDA samples of Darwin’s Natural Selections raw cat and dog food products tested positive for Salmonella, with a 6th showing Listeria monocytogenes

FDA announces pet food products contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria

Researchers from Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and Uppsala University in Sweden have discovered a gene that determines how horses change colors as they age.

 The discovery explains why some horses turn completely white as they grow older, while others remain a “dappled” gray color.

 The difference between fast- and slow-graying horses is the number of copies of the 4.6 kb intronic sequence within the gene 

 Slow-graying horses have a gene variant with 2 copies of the duplication (

), while fast-graying horses have a gene variant with 3 (

), along with a predisposition to melanoma.

“There are horses that are born white because they carry a gene variant that is causing white coat color, but the great majority of white horses don’t have this gene variant,” Leif Andersson, PhD, a professor in the VMBS’ Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, and at Uppsala University, said in a news release.

 “Instead, gray horses are born with normal coat pigment – like black or brown – that gradually lightens as they age and eventually becomes gray or white.”

ons, the study proved the presence of 2 variant alleles at the 

 allele is more common and carries with it 3 copies of the 4.6 kb sequence.

allele is associated with fast graying, eventually resulting in a white colored coat. Horses with the 

 allele carry 2 copies of the 4.6 kb sequence, gray slowly, and never become pure white.

“Some horses, the ones that will eventually become white, begin to grow gray eyelashes and hairs at the base of the tail within the first week after birth,” Andersson explained.

 “A horse that is ‘slow graying’ will typically not show signs of gray until 5 to 7 years old.”

The significance of these findings goes beyond coat color. Horses with the 

 allele have a predisposition to melanoma, whereas horses with the 

 allele have a significantly lower incidence of melanoma, possibly as low as horses with neither variant.

 Andersson originally established the connection between duplicated STX17 and fast graying horses in 2008 study.

 At that time, they established that the duplicated sequence within STX17 played a key role in the development of melanocytes—cells that create pigmentation for skin, and host melanoma development.

“Horses that are ‘fast graying’ are more likely to develop melanomas, whereas we don’t see an elevated risk in horses that are ‘slow graying,’” Andersson said.

 Researchers hope that this new understanding of coat colors and equine genetics will lead the way for future research on the prevention, and treatment, of melanomas in graying horses.

Texas A&M Researchers Discover Gene Variants That Determine Speed of Graying in Horses. News release. Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. September 19, 2024. Accessed September 20, 2024. 

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/press-releases/genes-behind-horse-graying/

 determines speed of greying and melanoma incidence in Grey horses. 

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51898-2

Good Karma: Aggie Veterinarians Save Horse From Life-Threatening Melanoma. News release. Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. January 10, 2024. Accessed September 23, 2024. 

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/press-releases/karma/

New research has uncovered gene responsible for graying speeds in horses, and a predisposition to melanoma

Researchers discover "graying gene" in horses

alleviating cat stress with nutrition and supplements

Pachel Fetch Nutrition:Stress

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC, sat down with 

 to discuss the role of nutrition and supplements in reducing stress in felines ahead of his lecture 

Top Tips for Stress-Associated Conditions in Cats

, to be presented at Fetch Coastal in Atlantic City. In this interview, Pachel highlighted the importance of reducing stress in cats through targeted dietary strategies and palatable supplements that these felines will actually take.

I love thinking about both nutrition and supplements, especially for cats because, you know, yes, we can look at the environment, we can look at enrichment, we can look at training, we can do all of those things, and when we're seeing that level of stress for those cats, anything that we can do to help their body shake off some of that stress and actually relax and be more comfortable while they're learning through those other strategies is super helpful.

And when it comes to providing some of that support, we're only going to...well it's only going to make a difference for those cats if we can get it into them, right? And so sometimes the process of trying to give them medication, even if we go down the pathway of compounding—and yes, we'll talk about that in the lecture as well—but if it's something that is palatable enough that they're willing to take it as a treat, or there are ingredients within their food, for example, that we're already pre-supplementing with ingredients like alpha casozepine or L theanine or tryptophan, some of those stress-reducing ingredients, we can get it into the cat in a way that's really meaningful. And by all means, we may also need to use some sort of medications or other supplements but making it as palatable and easy to administer as possible, for me, is one of the real attributes for some of our supplement and nutritional based approaches.

Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC, talks about the importance of nutrition and supplements in helping stressed cats relax

Alleviating feline stress with nutrition and supplements

The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) announced Smiths Medical’s recall of the PneuPAC paraPAC Plus P300 and PneuPAC paraPAC Plus P310 ventilator models (all models affected) due to the possibility that the patient outlet connector may loosen or come detached, which would impact active ventilation.

 Ventilation therapy could be interrupted, delayed, or even prevented by the loosening or detachment of the patient outlet connector. The FDA identified the recall as Class I, the most serious classification, with the potential to cause injury or death with continued use.

 The recall follows 1 reported injury, and 1 reported death associated with the device.

The FDA listed the official reason for the recall of both models as: “a potential for inadvertent tidally volume knob movement from the original setting when set at high (1000-1500 mL) and low (70-150 mL) settings.”

Veterinary practices affected by the recall are encouraged to inspect the patient outlet connector on all paraPAC plus ventilators, removing units from use if the outlet connector is loose or moves. The recall involves the removal of all devices from where they are used or sold.

 Smiths Medical and the FDA warn that continued use of the product may cause serious health consequences, including:

Smiths Medical PneuPAC paraPAC Plus P300 and PneuPAC paraPAC Plus P310 ventilators are gas-powered emergency ventilators designed with portability in mind, initially for use in vehicles like airplanes and helicopters. The ventilators are typically used during transportation between hospitals or within facilities. The paraPAC Plus devices provide free flow oxygen therapy and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for spontaneously breathing patients, and can also be used in emergency situations as ventilatory support for CPR resuscitation.

On May 31, 2024, Smiths Medical sent Urgent Device Correction letters to all affected customers, urging them to perform visual and physical inspections, removing affected units from use and reporting them to Global Complaint Management for Smiths Medical repairs, while continuing to use devices that passed inspections. The letters also reminded users about warnings and cautions mentioned in the user manual. The manual recommended pre-checks prior to each use, constant patient monitoring, monitoring blood oxygenation and end tidal carbon dioxide levels independently with pulse oximetry and capnography, and ensuring alternate means of ventilation, in case of ventilator failure or malfunction. They also shared the potential for the low pressure/disconnect and pressure monitor alarms to be triggered by the issue.

Recall of Certain Ventilators Potentially Used in Veterinary Settings. US Food and Drug Administration. September 23, 2024. Accessed September 23, 2024.

Ventilator Recall: Smiths Medical Removes ParaPAC Plus Ventilators due to Loosened or Detached Patient Outlet Connector. US Food and Drug Administration. Accessed September 23, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-device-recalls/ventilator-recall-smiths-medical-removes-parapac-plus-ventilators-due-loosened-or-detached-patient?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

What is a Medical Device Recall? US Food and Drug Administration. Accessed September 23, 2024. 

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-device-recalls/what-medical-device-recall

The recall removes multiple ventilators from where they are sold and used, potentially veterinary settings