Petzey is an on-demand mobile pet telehealth and wellness app designed to make access to quality veterinary care more convenient for pet owners in the United States. The mobile app offers on-demand pet health and wellness guidance through affordable virtual vet consultations. Petzey has now added Purina to its resources for expert veterinary content and tools. Through this partnership, members of the MyPurina program are now able to redeem their Purina Perks points for discounts on Petzey telehealth consults. Additionally, access to exclusive offers from Petzey are available in the MyPurina app.

"Purina is trusted by veterinarians and pet owners alike as a company of pet experts who truly understand pets and pet wellness, and we're excited to team up with others in the industry, like Petzey, who share our mission to help pets live longer, healthier lives," said Nathan Marafioti, vice president of New Business Models at Purina, in a news release.

 "The MyPurina app brings the knowledge of hundreds of Purina pet experts and our trusted partners to the fingertips of pet parents."

Petzey is aiming to make veterinary care more affordable and accessible for owners who are currently facing challenges to access of care. To do this, Petzey has combined innovative technology with traditional clinical care. The company’s on-demand telehealth is facilitated by certified veterinary professionals nationwide, according to the company release.

 Virtual consultations on Petzey cost $20, which includes immediate answers to any questions or concerns about their pet's health.

"Petzey is designed for the new generation of pet parents who are looking for services that are not only tech-forward but also deeply rooted in genuine care and accessibility," said Ameetess Dira, chief marketing officer of Petzey. "Broadening access to affordable pet care helps pave the way for continued innovation and, most importantly, healthier pets across the country."

To emphasize the benefits of telehealth, veterinary speaker, Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA, stated during 

 at the Fetch dvm360 conference in Kansas City, Missouri that, “For people who [have an] inability to travel, or people who have mobility issues, or individuals who have difficulty getting into the hospital, telemedicine provides that alternative for them. Particularly on rechecks. That's really important. You could even have credentialed veterinary technicians doing telemedicine consultations [online].”

Purina teams up with Petzey to make on-demand pet telehealth more accessible. News release. Purina. March 20, 2024. Accessed April 1, 2024. 

https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/purina-teams-up-with-petzey-to-make-on-demand-pet-telehealth-more-accessible-302094931.html

Yankowicz S. The persistent effort of improving access to care. 

. September 2, 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024. 

https://www.dvm360.com/view/the-persistent-effort-of-improving-access-to-care

Articles

Petzey teams up with Purina to offer additional pet expert-created content and tools for owners

Mobile pet telehealth app expands offerings

Good morning and happy Friday dvm360 readers! In case you missed the news, we expanded the nomination period for our 4th annual Veterinary Heroes Awards. The Veterinary Heroes Awards is a peer nominated program that honors veterinary leaders in a plethora of fields including client service representative, dentistry, internal medicine, practice manager, emergency medicine, and more! Learn more and nominate your veterinary hero 

Here is what was published this week on dvm360.com:

The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM), Chewy Health, and MentorVet 

 a partnership that created MentorVet Lead, a program for newly board-certified ACVIM diplomate to provide them with scholarships, peer support, coaching and mentorship.

 of the Veterinary Scene Down Under, Phil Tucak, BSc, BVMS, gives updates on what is going on in the veterinary scene in Australia, including an Australian animal biotechnology company winning the 2024 Pet Care Innovation Prize and how one veterinarian is raising awareness of the illegal wildlife trade.

, host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Céline Leheurteux, DVM, CEO and founder of EUTHABAG, sit down 

 the importance of educating clients on where and how to bury their pets that won’t hurt the environment or other animals.

A group of researchers from the University of Minnesota began testing a 

 for early cancer detection for dogs at risk of developing diffuse large B-cell that is funded by Morris Animal Foundation and the Golden Retriever Foundation.

dvm360 student ambassadors Katrina Billote and Mariana Martinez 

 more about what a Problem Based Learning Curriculum is and what students at Western University of Health Sciences like about this kind of learning.

Two recent studies performed at the University of Guelph that were 

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

 investigated what important factors clients consider when a veterinarian is recommending weight lose management for their pet.

Wrap up: researchers begin testing a new approach for early canine cancer detection, and other veterinary news

DNA testing results

 I want to expand on how we effectively communicate that to the pet owner because sometimes all they might think of is hip dysplasia like you just mentioned. But it's prognostic, not diagnostic, so share with us some examples that you can say in the exam room with clients when talking over the genetic results. 

Jenna Dockweiler, MS DVM, DACT, CCRT, CVAT:

 So if we have the penetrance information— which is how likely it is for a dog that is at risk for the condition—to go on to develop the condition, that will be listed in the report. For example, there's a certain type of progressive retinal atrophy, the progressive rod cone degeneration (PRCD) type that has a 98% penetrance. That means that 98% of dogs that are at risk for that condition will go on to develop some degree of vision loss, which is a very high penetrance example. For something like that, we can go in and say "Hey, it's likely that your dog is going to develop vision loss over the next several years. Here's what that looks like. They're going to lose night vision before they lose day vision. You might notice that they don't want to go outside when it's dark. You might have to turn a porch light on for them, that sort of thing.” 

With conditions where the penetrance either isn't known or is not quite as high as that condition, we can say, "Hey, there's no guarantee that your pet will develop this disease, but here's all of the steps that you can take to ensure that if this disease does develop, that we catch it early and we have the best chance to respond to treatment." 

I love that. I think having that proactive approach to care versus a reactive approach is so nice. And for pet owners to absolutely be walked through what to expect—it may not happen—but just to know, like, “oh yeah, I remember she talked about that in the exam room four years ago” so this is where we're going down that path. And when you have these results too, does it alter the treatment plan or diagnostic approach? What does that look like?

We've talked about urinary disorders. I think the other one for me is risk for heart disease. There’s, in a general practice, a lot of times, pretty minimal diagnostics that we do in terms of looking at the heart's function beyond physical exam and auscultation, right? So in the past, our first sign of heart disease would be either clinical symptoms or the presence of a murmur most of the time. And if we know that a pet may be at increased risk for heart disease, we may be able to be a little bit more proactive about diagnostics for heart monitoring and potentially treating early too. So, being preventative with a heart-healthy diet, as an example. 

I know the way that we use some of those heart medications is changing too, and rather than initiating that when we have symptoms, we may be able to get that started when we know there is a risk a lot earlier on progression of the disease. So for anyone who's managed a congestive heart failure case, quality of life for those guys is huge. So I think if you can extend that for a pet, that's awesome. 

Okay, so we just talked about surgery. I'm sure you all heard of “white feet, don't treat”. So what does that mean now that we have genetic testing in play? 

I started my career in large animal medicine, right? So the “white feet, don't treat,” was really thinking about ivermectin and inadvertent use of, you know, large animals dosages on dogs, and that was the thing that we worried about. What I've learned in learning more about genetics is that MDR1 affects the metabolism of so many different medications that we commonly use. So within normal dosages and limits for ivermectin, and those similar classes of drugs is really pretty safe, but other things that we need to think about are chemotherapy agents and also anesthetic agents, stuff that we use all the time where those dosages should be adjusted for those dogs. 

 Do you hear that a lot in your neck of the woods? 

Jenna Dockweiler, MS DVM, DACT, CCRT, CVAT: 

Absolutely, and we see it in far more than just herding breeds these days now that we know what the mutation is and we can test for it. It's not just “white feet, don't treat” anymore. 

 Right, yeah. So tell me more about that conversation because this is very popular in vet med. In fact, I think a lot of pet owners hear this more than veterinarians sometimes. What do we do with that moving forward when they say, "Well, what do I do for, you know, parasiticide therapy? Like, what does that look like?" 

 All of our preventives that are FDA approved for use in the U.S. are safe for dogs with that MDR1 mutation. So, from that perspective, it's not necessary a concern. However, if you want to use acepromazine or butorphanol as pre-medications or for pain medications, then it potentially could be a concern. This is really more of a personalized medicine type of test because these dogs are otherwise perfectly healthy, there's nothing wrong with them, they just metabolize their drugs a little bit differently.

Videos

Jenna Dockweiler, MS DVM, DACT, CCRT, CVAT, and Lindsey Kock, DVM, share ways to be proactive about conditions that may occur in dogs from DNA testing results. 

Inheritance Patterns

So when we're talking about interpretation, because we get a lot of data that comes in, how important is it for the veterinarian to be the one that discusses that or interprets that information with the client? 

 Genetics is complex, right? There's no denying it. And regardless of how much you try to simplify it, it's biology. As veterinarians, it can sometimes be a little bit intimidating to go through those results. And I love that about what Embark has done is they've really broken down those results to understand, number one, what's the inheritance pattern, right? Because depending on whether that dog is spayed or neutered changes the whole conversation. But it's really important for veterinarians to talk about that because to interpret the inheritance pattern, to interpret what it means for that breed, there's a lot of considerations and there's a lot of great information on Embark's report that just takes kind of distilling that down for the pet owner so that it's not scary. I think genetic results don't have to be scary and we're there to be able to enable that for them and really make them bite-sized and easy to understand and actionable. 



Love what we were just talking about but I know that veterinarians could be inundated when they get the paper and be like “oh my gosh” there's so much DNA testing on here. How do we break it down? I know Embark does a very nice job with breaking that down so tell them a little bit more about that. 

So the first thing to remember is we consider this a prognostic test rather than a diagnostic test. Just because a pet is at risk for a disease does not mean they will go on to develop the disease. That depends on a whole host of other factors which are going to be laid out for you in that Embark report. So it has a ton of information on there, including age onset, expected symptoms, recommended next steps. I'm not going to tell you how to practice medicine, but we're going to try to help you as best we can. We've got all the reference papers also hyperlinked in that report. So if you want to go read the primary literature yourself, you're more than welcome to do so. And then you can also call and consult with yours truly at any time you need to. I'm always here to help you interpret those results and make a plan for your patient. 

 This could be for any dog, by the way, too. It doesn't have to necessarily be just for puppies, right? 

Right. DNA testing is appropriate for every dog at every age. 

 Nice, so do you wanna share an example of what that looks like for you. 

 I was just thinking you had mentioned earlier hyperuricosuria, or risk for urate stones, or any type of stones, really. But I think in practice, what does that mean for the care of the animal, right? For me, that means you should probably be doing a urine analysis on that dog once, maybe even twice a year—doing a sediment check, checking for crystals, thinking about the diet. How can you increase water consumption in that dog's diet? How can you feed good supplementation and pick a good dog food that cuts down on the risk? One thing that I think we tend not to think about is depending on that dog's lifestyle, especially if they're a male dog, how often are you actually seeing that dog go out and go to the bathroom, right? So, I think people who walk their dogs may have really good insight to a potential blockage and be able to get on top of that right away. But I know my pets have access to a backyard, so I kick 'em out early in the morning. I'm like, "Go do your business." If they would happen to have an issue with urinary stones, I may not realize it till later. And those symptoms can be pretty nondescript. So I think that's a piece of information that if you know that and you can tell the pet owner, "Hey, we should be doing a urine sediment twice a year. You should be looking at changes for the diet and make sure that every once in a while, you're monitoring that dog going outside. To make sure that you're keeping tabs on things.” 

Thinking more about general lethargy, you know, just being off might be a lot more significant in those pets than it would be in another animal. So I think that's a great example where, like you said, it doesn't necessarily mean the animal is going to have it. It means it's at risk, but there are some great things that you can do to really be on the lookout and promptly treat those conditions.

Jenna Dockweiler, MS DVM, DACT, CCRT, CVAT, and Lindsey Kock, DVM, elaborate on inheritance patterns found within a DNA report and what they mean for veterinarians and pet owners. 

Inheritance patterns

A study conducted by the Program for Individualized Medicine at Washington State University (WSU) discovered cats with the MDR1 genetic mutation could be at risk of developing severe adverse effects to eprinomectin.

This active ingredient is found in some parasite preventives for felines. Although these parasite prevention products can be completely safe for a majority of cats, animals with the MDR1 genetic mutation could experience a serious, even fatal neurological reaction to the medication.

Investigators at WSU found that the mutation causes an absence of protective mechanisms that would typically protect against drug ingredients, such as eprinomectin, from accessing the brain and inducing severe neurological toxicity.

“Almost every week we receive reports about someone’s pet cat having serious reactions to eprinomectin. This is not an issue with the drug itself — the problem lies in the genes of 1% of cats. That is a sizable number considering there are over 60 million pet cats in the US, and we’re trying to increase general awareness of these risks,” Katrina Mealey, DVM, PhD, a WSU veterinarian and pharmacologist who led the research, said in a news release.

This research should not cause owners to avoid using parasite preventions in general, but instead prompt veterinary professionals and owners to test cats for this mutation. Another study conducted in 2022 tested cats for MDR1 and found the gene mutation to be present in 126/11,036 (1.1%) cats of this study's participants.

 This study had cats of the following breeds: 

Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics

, examined 33 cats that reported adverse effects after receiving treatment with products containing eprinomectin. Researchers wanted to rule out any other potential cause of neurological toxicity and found that 14 cats had no other reasonable cause besides the MDRI mutation. Out of those 14 cats, 8 were homozygous — having 2 copies of the same gene — for the MDR1 mutation, which occurs in less than 1% of the general feline population.

 Unfortunately, several cats were hospitalized for toxicosis and 3 of those homozygous cats died from neurological toxicity.

 Most of the cats were young, at less than 10 years of age.

Adverse reactions to eprinomectin were reported as several different symptoms including the following:

Additionally, some cats in the study were unable to retract or use their tongue completely for days to weeks after eprinomectin application. Mealey and the other investigators observed that clinical symptoms typically manifested several hours after the application of these products, as they are topically administered with delayed systemic absorption. Hence, it is advisable to monitor cats for up to 12 hours following the application of the product.

“While this appears like a small number of cases, we consistently receive new reports. If this were happening in human patients, federal agencies would be issuing regulatory actions immediately,” Mealey said in the release. “The results indicate cats with the MDR1 mutation are at high risk for experiencing serious adverse effects from products containing eprinomectin, and they should not be treated with these products.”

According to the release, Mealey is hoping this study can prompt the FDA to reevaluate products containing eprinomectin and consider warning labels for future use.

To know whether or not a cat possesses the MDR1 mutation, genetic testing is the only method. Mealey is the pioneer behind the discovery of the MDR1 mutation and the creator of the first test to detect it. According to Mealey, MDR1 genotyping could have pinpointed cats at risk and prevented these severe and fatal incidents from occurring in more than 50% of the cases examined.

, officials with Boehringer Ingelheim shared the following statement:

"At Boehringer Ingelheim, we advance the health and well-being of animals through safe and effective products that treat and protect animals from a range of parasites and their health impact, including the transmission of potentially life-threatening diseases. We are confident in the safety of our feline eprinomectin-based products based on 10 years of global pharmacovigilance data. Our eprinomectin-based products for cats have been approved by regulatory authorities for use in more than 45 countries since the launch in 2014. Supported by 

 and with more than 100 million doses of feline eprinomectin-containing products sold, these products have maintained a positive and stable safety profile.

“FDA and its Center for Veterinary Medicine apply rigorous scientific review before approval and continue to monitor for quality, safety and effectiveness once the product is commercially available. Boehringer Ingelheim complies with the FDA’s drug safety surveillance and pharmacovigilance evaluations and reports all adverse events for its products to the FDA."

Mealey KL, Burke NS, Villarino, NF, Court MH, Heusser JP. Application of eprinomectin-containing parasiticides at label doses causes neurological toxicosis in cats homozygous for ABCB11930_1931del TC. 

Roktya D. Cats with MDR1 mutation at risk of severe reactions to popular medication. Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. March 28, 2024. Accessed March 29, 2024. 

https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2024/03/28/cats-with-mdr1-mutation-at-risk-of-severe-reactions-to-popular-medication/

Anderson H, Davison S, Lytle KM, Honkanen L, Freyer J, Mathlin J, et al. Genetic epidemiology of blood type, disease and trait variants, and genome-wide genetic diversity in over 11,000 domestic cats. 

2022;18(6): e1009804. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009804 

This serious, even fatal neurological reaction could impact more than half a million cats in the United States

Genetic mutation could cause severe reactions from feline parasite preventives

Changing the dental regimen

Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Adam Christman, Chief Veterinary Officer here at 

® and I'm here to show you some great products to recommend to pet owners interested in improving or starting their pet's dental regimen. 

As you know, dental care is incredibly important for a pet's health and brushing is not always the easiest task to accomplish. Sometimes, more help and options are needed. According to the American Veterinary Dental Society (AVDC), more than 80% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of oral disease by the age of three. Plaque and tartar, especially below the gum line, can lead to infection and damage to the jaw bone, as well as other oral issues. Oral bacteria entering the bloodstream can cause kidney, liver, and heart diseases. A proactive approach to dental care is crucial for our healthy patients. 

Stratford just launched a new effective dental line that helps prevent the buildup of plaque and tartar, and that also helps tackle bad breath: ProDen Dental Care. Before we dive into the product specifically, it's important to talk about the active ingredient 

, A .N. Proden. With Stratford being a member of SwedenCare, they've taken the A .N. ProDen ingredient from their flagship products known as PlaqueOff. 

 is a kelp species that, when ingested, works with the pet saliva to prevent oral bacteria from forming chains and binding together, thus preventing buildup of plaque and tartar. It is an all natural organic kelp located in the North Atlantic waters of the Scandinavian coast. A.N. ProDen has been added to a variety of functional treats, a powder food topper, crunchy kibble bites, and soft chews for both dogs and cats. There's also a dental solution that goes in with pet's water to help with bad breath. This allows for variety and preference when recommending one of these products to a pet owner. 

Okay, so let's dive into the product, shall we? So here is the ProDen Dental Care Powder, which helps with canine and feline oral hygiene. The powder dissolves, exists in tartar, and prevents new buildup of dental plaque and tartar. It's easy to use and you sprinkle it over the pets food. How many scoops required is dependent on the weight of the animal. So it has this cute little fun spoon right here. And by the way, it smells pretty amazing. I can see why cats are going to go nuts over this, has that fishy smell too. So one for cats, there's one over there for dogs. It is not recommended for animals undergoing treatment of hyperthyroidism. 

Next up are the soft chews. These soft chews are designed to tackle plaque and tartar buildup freshen breath and promote healthier teeth and gums. The chews are in a fun format of being both flavorful and soft, which makes a great treat for dogs. So take a look at that. My dogs will love these. So different sizes. And then there's one also for our kitties, and then also one for the dogs. And they look like this. How cool is that? So the recommended number of soft chews to give a pet will vary, of course, by the weight. 

Next up are the ProDen dental care bites. So a versatile delivery as they can be used as a treat or food topper for both dogs and cats. So take a look at that. They contain no added sugar, artificial preservatives, or coloring, making this a tasty and healthy option for preventing bad breath, plaque, and tartar. The number of bites to give to a pet varies by weight. Results for the powder bites and soft chews are seen within three to eight weeks of use. We also have one here for our cats, and then of course we have our dental bites that you see right here. 

Now, we also have the ProDen Dental Care Water Additive, and this focuses on improving bad breath, hence the use of rosemary extract. The recommended dose is 10mL to 8oz of water twice a day. It's incredibly easy and fast to pour in a pet's water dish. And what's cool is see how this, my friends, it already has to tell you the line of how much you can pour into using the cap that's already on top of the bottle here. It's a natural formulation free of sulfates and parabens. 

The great thing about ProDen are the results from their clinical studies. ProDen Dental Care Powder containing A.N. ProDen efficiently and significantly decreased plaque and calculus accumulation, as well as gingival bleeding. The studies were carried out in two groups of 30 dogs, male and female, of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Miniature Schnauzer, Japanese Spaniel, Corgi, Chihuahua, Yorkshire, and mixed breeds. The animals were randomly subdivided into two groups receiving ProDen Dental Care powder with A.N. ProDen algae or placebo, which was microcrystalline cellulose granules without the algae. After 30 days of clinical evaluation of the plaque index, calculus index and gingival bleeding index were carried out, taking into account the weight, general appearance, and blood test results of the patients. 

For cats using the powder, 60 client owned cats of different breeds, both male and female, were used in the study. The animals were randomly subdivided into two groups receiving the ProDen Dental Care powder with a prudent algae or placebo, which was cellulose powder. Following indices on day 30 were measured: plaque index by multiplication of separately measured plaque coverage and plaque thickness calculus score and gingival bleeding index. 

After 30 days of oral administration, ProDen Dental Care powder for dogs significantly reduced the accumulation of plaque and calculus as well as reduced the gingival bleeding index. The mean reduction was 32% for the plaque index, 35% for the calculus index, and 67% for the gingival bleeding index. 

Now, for cats, after 30 days of oral administration, the ProDen Dental Care powder significantly reduced the accumulation of plaque and calculus, as well as reduced the gingival bleeding index. The mean reduction was 37% for a plaque index, 67% for calculus index, and get this, 61% for the gingival bleeding index. 

Due to the results of these studies, ProDen Dental Care powder and bites were awarded VOHC approval. As you can see from this display, Stratford has an amazing array of products to open a discussion with our clients about the importance of dental hygiene and what they can do on their end. Stratford has developed even more products for the line and that's the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth. I had to everybody, I had to. 

Brushing is still the best method for dental care. I as a veterinarian know how difficult that can be. The ProDen Dental Care line that you see in front of me here creates a better compliance, makes it less stressful for pets and their owners, and is a rewarding way to further prevent dental disease. 

Thank you for watching everybody. I'm Dr. Adam Christman from 

From chews, to bites, to water additives—explore the latest dental care line from Stratford with Adam Christman, DVM, MBA.