Canine osteoarthritis is a complex disease that impacts quality of life for many of our canine patients. Part 1 of this podcast series will focus on the epidemiology of this disease, the importance of a proactive approach to diagnosis, and will introduce a standardized staging tool to be utilized in general practice.



Recognize that osteoarthritis affects the entire joint

Appreciate that canine osteoarthritis impacts many younger dogs and is not an “old-dog” disease

Understand the importance of a proactive approach utilizing the Canine OsteoArthritis Staging Tool

Podcasts

David L. Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS joins Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to discuss a proactive approach to the diagnosis of osteoarthritis and the best tools for general practice.


Podcast CE: A Surgeon’s Perspective on Current Trends for the Management of Osteoarthritis, Part 1

Tips for diagnosing chronic kidney disease in cats

Interview with Natalie Marks

In a preview of her upcoming lecture at Fetch Nashville, Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V, shares how veterinary teams can diagnose chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats, what diagnostic tests you can utilize along the way, and the importance of everyone, including specialists, being on the same page when it comes to the language surrounding CKD. 

The following is a partial transcript of the video:

: Some of our [cats with] chronic kidney disease will have acute on chronic [condition] so they're sort of coasting along at their baseline and all of a sudden something spikes and we need to know if there's been an acute kidney injury on top of their underlying chronic disease. The other 2 pieces I want to point out there would be, if you can, we want to do a low colony urine culture, because that really does look for any low grade infection that might be a source like pyelonephritis. Every ill cat should [also] have a feline leukemia and FIP current test for status so we know their viral status. It's really nice if you can have a FT4 by Equilibrium Dialysis to really make sure we don't have some brewing hyperthyroidism because we know kidneys and thyroid hate each other and that can be a delicate balance. And then finally, blood pressure. You definitely want to have a current blood pressure, ideally the average of 3 so that we can really see if hype if hypertension is part of this too.

Videos

Natalie Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V, emphasizes how standardizing the diagnostic workup for chronic kidney disease  can help better diagnose and assess this illness in feline patients

Diagnosing chronic kidney disease in feline patients

 readers, and happy Friday! For those of our readers who are attending our very first Fetch dvm360 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, we are excited to have you here and experience this with us! For those unable to attend, you can check out our coverage of the conference on the dedicated 

 section of dvm360.com and follow along on our social media channels!

As we hit the ground running in The Music City, here is what was popular this week on dvm360.com:

Veterinarians at the Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital 

 intensive care, special techniques, and surgery to save Vicky, a newborn German warmblood foal after arrived at the hospital extremely weak, not nursing well, and showing an abnormally lethargic demeanor.

The US Center of Disease Control and Prevention 

 earlier this week that it has updated dog and cat importation regulations to help keep the US free from canine rabies.

, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and listeners learned how veterinary teams can learn from honeybees on effective communication and teamwork within their clinics.

 by the FDA on the first torsemide drug for dogs (UpCard-CA1; Vetoquinol) to be used alongside concurrent medications to manage pulmonary edema in dogs with congestive heart failure caused by myxomatous mitral valve disease.

The North American Veterinary Community Institute will take place 

 in Orlando, Florida, and will give attendees a week of learning about ophthalmology from world-renowned professionals.

Articles

Wrap up: University veterinary team saves German warmblood foal, and other veterinary news

Gary Peters, MS, founder of PupPilot shares his advice for navigating useful AI tools

Tips for beginners on artificial intelligence

 interview with Gary Peters, MS, founder of PupPilot, he explains tips for veterinary professionals new to artificial intelligence (AI) technology and how to shift through which tools are effective vs which are not.

Peters is speaking today about AI at our Fetch dvm360 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Below is a partial transcript of the video.

 I think the biggest advice that I would have for veterinarians that are starting to look at AI, is that AI is a very large field. And it's been around since the 1960s. What has happened recently, and why we're hearing so much of it in the news is that one very small aspect of AI has seen a major improvement. So I think that understanding what that improvement is—which is in the realm of transformers, which I will get my talk on—when you can turn on intuitively understand what that is, you will understand where this technology can be applied, and what is just kind of marketing hype. And I think being able to differentiate those will allow the vet to understand where can I actually apply this new technology in my practice, versus what is someone just trying to sell me on that is really not going to be able to provide an impactful change, or worst case could be damaging to my practice. And so I would hope that my talk would help establish that line of what would be safe, and what has seen a lot of innovation.

PetSmart Charities of Canada announced that it will provide the Northern Engagement Community Outreach (NECO) program at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) in Saskatoon with $860,000 CAD over the next 4 years. The funding will be used to support the program's efforts addressing access to veterinary care in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Canada’s northern territories.

“We’re very proud of NECO’s partnership with PetSmart Charities of Canada in addressing urgent access-to-care issues in northern communities throughout our college’s partner regions,” expressed Gillian Muir, DVM, PhD, dean of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at USask, in an organizational release.

 “This funding grant allows the NECO team to work with community stakeholders in gathering fundamental knowledge that will lead to improvements in practices and policies.”

According to the release, the grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada will support the leadership role of Jordan Woodsworth, DVM, PhD, director of the NECO program at WCVM.

 Woodsworth’s responsibilities will include development of vital data reports to provide organizations in the college’s partner region, such as British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Canada’s territories, with information to improve access to veterinary care practice and policies.

Woodworth and her team will also work with stakeholders to define the current state of veterinary care access within each partner region and identify improvement opportunities from both policy and practice standpoints.

Along with the data reports, the program is working to get a better understanding of what graduates of veterinary and veterinary technician training programs are learning about the spectrum of care, skills in community-engaged work, and practices that are culturally safe.

“While we know there is a pressing need to build accessible veterinary care in Canada’s remote regions, there is much more to uncover. We’re proud to support this critical research in regions excluded from the veterinary care system altogether,” Robyn Jaynes, DVM, director of veterinary affairs at PetSmart Charities of Canada, said in the release.

“The NECO program at WCVM expects the learnings to result in more equitable access to veterinary care, while also inspiring veterinary learners to do their part to enact change,” said Jaynes. “Sharing the findings nation-wide promises to inform other pet and human serving organizations to evolve the veterinary care landscape in Canada for the better over the next decade.”

NECO was created in 2014 with the help of Woodsworth and community partners, beginning with a small spay-neuter clinic in the tri-community area of La Ronge, Air Ronge, and Lac La Ronge Indian Band. Today, NECO organizes 2 remote clinics each year. Then in 2023, the program received a $405,00 grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada to launch a 3-year pilot program for increased outreach expansion.

 The grant is used to help support the work of registered veterinary technologists who use their time to focus on NECO-related programs as well as help make connections with new communities.

“The work that we’re doing is really outside of the box. PetSmart Charities of Canada has been so flexible and enthusiastic about our partnership through frequent dialogue and embracing our creativity. They’ve asked us to share our experiences with organizations across Canada and US. It’s really exciting to get this type of support,” Woodsworth concluded.

PetSmart Charities of Canada invests in USask program addressing access to veterinary care. News release. University of Saskatchewan. May 16, 2024. Accessed May 16, 2024. 

https://news.usask.ca/articles/community/2024/petsmart-charities-of-canada-invests-in-usask-program-addressing-access-to-veterinary-care.php

PetSmart Charities of Canada will provide a program at the University of Saskatchewan with over $800,000

Charity invests in program addressing access to veterinary care 

Dr Natalie Marks explains what attendees can expect from her upcoming keynote address at Fetch Nashville

Interview with Dr Natalie Marks

Life is never as it seems, and that means the good times and bad times can both create a new and exciting path for someone's career or life, including veterinary professionals. In her upcoming keynote, "'Man, I Feel Like a Woman!' How Country Songs Made Me a Better Veterinarian," to be delivered at the 

 in Nashville, Tennessee—March 17-18, 2024—Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V, hopes attendees see that there is beauty in the good, but also in the bad times that come your way. 

Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V: 

I think it's opening up and getting people to see that it's not always beautiful. But I think it's how your mindset is of what you do with those moments. Like, there has been some really hard moments I've had personally and professionally. You either let them define you, or you take what you can learn from them and make things better in the future for yourself or for others. And that's really part of it, too, is [that] sometimes we go through these moments that we don't think we'll ever get through. Being able to be vulnerable and share those moments often help others that don't realize that other people are going through it or even just to realize in that moment [that] they aren't alone. 

So, I hope that maybe something that comes out of this keynote is a lot of people will say to me, 'you seem like you have it all together. You have 3 kids, you have businesses, you have your practice, you speak.' Everybody's a mess under the covers, right? I'm going to be very vulnerable and honest, and just show people that you're going to have ups and downs and twists and turns, and it's totally okay to talk about them. Because nobody's life is perfect. And no journey is perfect.

Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V, gives a preview of her upcoming keynote address at Fetch Nashville 