man discussing feline diabetes medication

Learn more about how to administer Senveelgo

Pet owners whose cat has been diagnosed with diabetes are on a strict schedule with medications. Because of this, it can create challenges for pet owners being able to administer medications when needed and at the correct times every day. This can lead to frustration on the pet owner's side as well as fear over what missing medications can do to the health of their pets. 

, Whit Cothern, DVM, executive director, Veterinary Professional Services, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, explained how this new velagliflozin oral solution (Senvelgo; Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health) is helping pet owners and feline patients with diabetes get the medication they need in an easier to manage way.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

: It not necessarily has to be done at a certain time or in the morning or [that] you have to make sure they've eaten. That's another thing with a diabetic cat; when you're using insulin, you have to make sure the cat eats right before you give the insulin. Because if you give the insulin [without having had food] you could cause their blood glucose to go down too low. And that's not something that we see with Senvelgo. With this class of drugs, we don't see clinically hypoglycemia, low blood sugar.

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Dr Whit Cothern explains how velagliflozin oral solution can help pet owners achieve medication adherence with their cats  

Improving medication compliance for felines with diabetes

Feline patients can often give veterinary professionals a tougher time getting through regularly scheduled appointments because of their behavioral habits. Despite continued advances in feline health care, behavior problems are still the most common cause of euthanasia in pet cats.

However, to avoid any unwanted behaviors, preventive measures can be taken when cats are at a young age. Particularly with clinic appointments, veterinary professionals can create a safe and stress-free space for cats to feel more comfortable when visiting. This stress-free environment is especially important because, according to the American Association of Feline Practitioners, fear is the primary cause of misbehavior.

 conference in Long Beach, California, behaviorist Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC, owner of Animal Behavior Clinic, Portland, Oregon, shared his best practices for handling routine feline examinations, specifically focusing on reducing fear in kittens.

During the session, Pachel prompted attendees to ask themselves whether their current protocols are “procedure centered,” with success defined by completion of the task and potentially without factoring in the pet’s emotional needs, or whether protocols are “patient centered,” with success focused on the patient’s emotional experience during appointments that are conducted with alternative protocols when fear, anxiety, and stress are present.

 “I worry that we’re missing the opportunity to really understand the animal’s emotional well-being, knowing that those kittens that we’re seeing at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks, are forming their impressions of what veterinary care looks like.… These are the exams where a lot of those formative impressions are created,” he said.

To back up his points, Pachel shared a survey taken from more than 1000 cat guardians based on their pets’ behavior. The 28-item questionnaire found the following statistics

51.5% of guardians saw signs of stress prior to leaving home.

73% of cats were scared, annoyed, and/or aggressive in the waiting area of a veterinary clinic.

85% of cats showed signs of stress, escape behavior, and/or aggression during the examination.

58% of cats showed signs of stress after they returned home.

Michael Jaffe, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS, associate professor and service chief of small animal surgery at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, also shared his thoughts on feline exams during an interview at the Fetch conference. “I always say that when we’re doing an exam on dogs, we pretty much are in control of when the exam is over,” he said. “But when we’re doing our exam on cats, it’s really the cat who is in charge of this situation, and they determine when the exam is over. So, we really need to be very efficient with what we’re doing, but also not do anything to scare or hurt the cat. Because once they’ve decided that your time is up doing your exam, your time is up. We can make use of sedatives to complete our exam or other methods, but we really try to do things as Fear Free as we possibly can to give us more of a chance to do a complete exam on these cats.”

Constant awareness of the patient’s well-being

Pachel stated that recognition of the patient’s comfort level starts with staying aware of body language throughout interactions and procedures. “Are we looking at the pupils? Are we looking at that widened eye? Where are the ears? Are they pointed forward more neutrally? Are they starting to rotate more caudally?” Pachel asked. Jokingly, he added, “There are several reasons why those ears may rotate backwards. From a veterinary perspective, they’re all bad,” causing attendees to laugh in agreement.

Back to a more serious note, Pachel continued, “Are we seeing cats who are hiding? If we give them the ability to move throughout the room, do they tuck underneath the chair and never come back out again? That’s an emotional barometer, a way to read where that cat is at in that moment. When we see them moving, are they walking comfortably and upright with that tail up in the air, strutting their way through with that nice little wiggle in the waist and that tail bouncing?” These are all signs Pachel recommended to look out for when the kitten is in the exam room.

Besides reading body language, Pachel also recommended having positive reinforcements handy in the room. These can include toys like feathers, laser pointers, and plush toys, and treats with multiple flavor and texture options. “We’ve got to have a lot of options there for them to be able to pick and choose. And maybe the more [options] we have available, the more efficient it is to see which ones naturally elicit that response from the kitten,” Pachel stated. These reinforcements can also be used as a distraction if needed to complete a task like collecting a blood sample.

When handling the kitten, Pachel recommended avoiding firm restraint if possible. Instead, he suggested using slow movements and moving with the kitten in the direction they are already going in while freely exploring the countertops or tables. Using soft hands and less tension on the body can also help. “It’s more of a guidance rather than a restricted movement. And we’re allowing the animal a degree of control,” Pachel said.

If a firm restraint is necessary, try not to hold that position for more than a few seconds. However, in general, Pachel emphasized the need to avoid scruffing except during emergency situations. Instead, team members should learn to provide adequate restraint through gentle body manipulation or proactive use of towels.

Overall, Pachel stressed the importance of creating and maintaining these behavior protocols with kitten exams in order to improve future appointments with the patient. “Ideally as we deliver care over the next 20-plus years, hopefully, for this kitten, we’re going to do this many, many times. And if each experience further sensitizes to the animal that this is a negative experience, it’s full of stress, then that creates a cumulative learning process that requires, again, more and more [anxiety-reducing drugs like] gabapentin as we go forward,” Pachel reminded attendees.

If the patient is comfortable visiting the clinic at a young age with emotionally positive experiences, they are more likely to maintain a level of comfort moving forward. He also mentioned that these strategies can evolve and mold to fit certain patients and practices once you find what works best.

New JC Jr, Salman MD, King M, Scarlett JM, Kass PH, Hutchinson JM. Characteristics of shelter-relinquished animals and their owners compared with animals and their owners in U.S. pet-owning households. 

 2000;3(3):179-201. doi:10.1207/S15327604JAWS0303_1

Feline behavior guidelines. American Association of Feline Practitioners. December 2004. Accessed December 21, 2023. 

https://catvets.com/public/PDFs/PracticeGuidelines/FelineBehaviorGLS.pdf

Pachel C. Incorporating behavior into your kitten exams. Presented at: Fetch 

 conference; December 1-3, 2023; Long Beach, CA.

Mariti C, Bowen JE, Campa S, Grebe G, Sighieri C, Gazzano A. Guardians’ perceptions of cats’ welfare and behavior regarding visiting veterinary clinics. 

 2016;19(4):375-384. doi:10.1080/10888705.2016.1173548

Articles

Creating a comfortable, stress-free environment in the veterinary clinic can help reduce fear-induced misbehavior

Prioritizing a kitten’s emotional well-being during physical exams

discusses perianal diseases and some odd cases she has seen while working in veterinary dermatology

Common perianal diseases and dermatology oddities

While at the Fetch conference in Long Beach, California, Julia Miller, DVM, DACVD, sat down with 

 in an interview and discussed some of the most common perianal diseases in dogs. She also shared a few odd cases she has seen since working as a dermatologist.

 So probably the most common perianal disease we see is anal cellulitis or inflamed and infected anal sacs or anal glands in dogs. That usually presents with scooting, licking, sort of discomfort in the back end, and sometimes they actually have full blowout abscesses.

In dermatology, it's cool because we get to see a lot of weird stuff, right? Weird fungal diseases, weird bacterial diseases.

Julia Miller, DVM, DACVD, discusses perianal diseases and some odd cases she has seen while working in veterinary dermatology

Finally, our top podcast of 2023 is with Wendy Myers, CVJ. With the increase of patients and appointments across the country, it can be frustrating to teams when clients are no shows. On this episode, Myers offers 4 suggestions veterinary teams can implement at their practice to help get clients in the door.

Podcasts

We have compiled a countdown of our top Vet Blast Podcast Episodes in 2023, here is number 1

Top Vet Blast Podcast episodes of 2023: #1

1. CDC issues warning over cat-transmitted sporotrichosis

Our top article of 2023 is an announcement from the CDC about cat-transmitted sporotrichosis emerging in Brazil as a zoonotic epidemic and major public health threat.

We have compiled a countdown of our top 15 content in 2023, here is number 1

Top dvm360 articles of 2023: #1

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recently celebrated the achievements of industry leaders with special awards. The recognitions were presented earlier this month, during the President’s Luncheon at the 69th annual AAEP convention in San Diego, California.

Ryland Edwards, DVM, PhD, DACVS, DACVSMR, a partner and hospital director at Fairfield Equine Associates in Newtown, Connecticut, received the Distinguished Educator-Mentor Award. This award honors an individual who by her or his actions and commitment has demonstrated a significant impact on the development and training of equine practitioners through mentoring, according to AAEP.

Edwards received his veterinary degree from the University of Georgia in 1990, followed by a large animal medicine and surgery internship and a large animal surgery residency at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He spent 8 years in academia at the University of Wisconsin prior to joining Fairfield Equine in 2005.

Throughout his career, Edwards has trained and mentored 54 interns and residents, instilling an infectious enthusiasm for equine medicine along with critical thinking and high-level, hands-on skills to provide new practitioners with a strong foundation for future success, according to AAEP. He embraces the opportunity to encourage and support their career growth and trajectory during their time together and throughout each mentee’s professional journey. Beyond formal relationships, Edwards advocates for any student or young equine veterinarian who comes through his practice, whether they’re applying to veterinary school or seeking to advance their career.

“Dr Edwards has always had a sincere and genuine interest in the career development of pre-vet students, veterinary student externs, veterinary interns who visit or work at his practice, as well as young referring veterinarians,” said nominators Tom Divers, DVM, DACVIM, DACVECC; and Susan Fubini, DVM, DACVS, in an AAEP news release.1 “He has always been willing to help every aspiring or young equine veterinarian that comes his way. From day one, he treats them all as colleagues and somehow always seems to remember their names and their career pathways, even many years later.”

Julia “Julie” Wilson, DVM, DACVIM, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine and partner in Turner Wilson Equine Consulting in Stillwater, Minnesota, received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award. This honor recognizes exemplary service to the AAEP or a similar organization.

As cofounder and past president of the Equitarian Initiative, Wilson has provided leadership and structure to the program that has grown since 2012 to serve the needs of working equids and their caretakers in 9 developing countries around the world and a Native American reservation in the US, according to an AAEP news release. Many of these projects partner with host country veterinary school faculty and students to increase sustainability of program outcomes. Wilson has led the Equitarian project in Honduras since 2012 and participates in at least one other project each year with the program. Her advocacy for working animals and the families who depend on them extends to service on the boards of directors for Brooke USA Foundation and World Equine Veterinary Association.

Wilson and Merriam also established the annual Equitarian Workshop in Mexico for veterinarians and students. The workshop has served as a catalyst for many current leaders of international working equid programs, according to the AAEP.

“No one has worked more tirelessly and effectively for working equids,” said nominator Susan White, DVM, MS, DACVIM, in the release. “Julie has done this by bringing together the widest group of organizations and individuals and fostering cooperation and inclusion. She has an exemplary global reputation as an equid welfare ambassador.”

Wilson received her veterinary degree from Cornell University. During her 35 years of membership in the AAEP, Wilson has served on the board of directors; as chair of the International Committee; and as a member of the Foundation Advisory Council, Welfare and Public Policy Advisory Council as well as the Abstract Review, Membership, Nominating, Pediatrics, Scholarship, and Student Relations committees.

Michelle Barton, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-LA, assistant dean of clinical academic affairs at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in Athens, Georgia, received the AAEP’s Distinguished Educator–Academic Award for her substantial contributions to the body of knowledge on equine endotoxemia and impactful training of veterinary students, graduate students and residents. The award recognizes an individual who by her or his actions and commitment has demonstrated a significant impact on the development and training of equine practitioners.

Barton received her veterinary degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana. Following a large animal medicine and surgery internship at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, she completed a 4-year combined large animal internal medicine residency and PhD in physiology at the University of Georgia. A faculty member, she holds the Fuller E. Callaway Endowed Chair and is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor. While overseeing the third- and fourth year DVM program and students, Barton continues to teach and provide service in the Large Animal Teaching Hospital.

During her career, she has mentored and trained 27 large animal internal medicine residents and has supervised 32 veterinary and graduate students in research projects. Renowned for her research into equine endotoxemia and her clinical expertise in equine liver disorders, Barton has shared her considerable knowledge as author or coauthor of 41 textbook chapters, 91 refereed journal articles and 72 research abstracts. She has presented at 82 national and international scientific meetings, including four keynote addresses.

Barton has served as specialty president for large animal internal medicine within the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, with a subsequent appointment as its first ombudsman to improve and support the training of the next generation of ACVIM-LA diplomates.

“In the classroom and clinic, I have watched Dr. Barton time and again guide students through a difficult concept or a tough case in a unique and unparalleled way that simultaneously builds both their knowledge and confidence in themselves,” said nominator Kelsey Hart, DVM, PhD, in an AAEP news release. “She is always available for advice and direction, if needed, but is also very conscientious to not micromanage and stifle the individual and unique intellectual development of the veterinary students, graduate students and residents she works with.”

The American Association of Equine Practitioner presented its 2023 Distinguished Life Member Award to Kenton Morgan, DVM, who earlier this year retired as managing veterinarian, equine technical services with Zoetis. The honor was bestowed in recognition of his legacy of volunteer leadership and assistance to the AAEP during his nearly 40 years of membership.

Since joining the AAEP in 1984, Morgan has served on the board of directors; chaired the Professional Conduct and Ethics Committee and the Biological and Therapeutic Agents Committee; and served on the Member Engagement, Nominating and Pediatrics committees. He currently serves on the Equine Disease Communication Center Advisory Committee and has provided leadership and expertise as a member of the External Parasite and Vector Control Guidelines Task Force; and the Stem Cell Task Force; and as a presenter at the AAEP Annual Convention.

Morgan received the AAEP President’s Award in 2015 for his ongoing support of the association and his fellow practitioners through his many volunteer hours on behalf of the AAEP without any expectation of reward or personal benefit. “When Kenton has been called, he shows up—frequently as the chair,” said nominator Jim Morehead, DVM, in a news release. “Much of his time on committees and task forces has been dealing with contentious issues. He can gather the troops around an issue and get a consensus before most can organize a meeting.”

After receiving his veterinary degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Morgan practiced privately in Missouri and Kansas for 11 years, and as a resident veterinarian in Idaho. He transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry with Bayer Animal Health and retired in 2023 after 17 years with Zoetis.

The 2023 recognitions were presented at the organization's 69th annual convention in San Diego, California.