Carrier training and at-home prep tips to share with clients, from Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline)

Helping clients reduce feline stress during vet visits

, Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline), explains how client behaviors around carriers and transport can impact feline stress during veterinary visits. She also offers recommendations on carrier training and at-home preparation that veterinary teams can share with clients to make visits smoother.

Below is a partial transcript, lightly edited for improved clarity.

So pet owners can actually be contributing to their pet’s own stress. And I really feel like sometimes it starts with that phone call that [the] cat, for some reason, uses their sixth sense and says, ‘oh gosh, they’re making a call to the veterinarian about me, and this is going to go really poorly.’

However, we also know that at home, what happens is [clients] usually will stalk their cat and look for them because they go in, they get that cat carrier out that may not be left out all the time for that cat to use as a safe space, and it only comes out when you’re going to the vet or going in the car for some other trip and now that cat associates that specific cat carrier with a stressor. So now the cat is like, ‘Hang on a second. I don’t like this.’ And they start running around the house and going to hide. And then, of course, what does our client do? Runs around the house behind the cat. They might have to get on their hands and knees underneath the bed, drag their cat out, shove it in a cat carrier. Now that cat is really stressed, and now [the pet owner is] going to go throw [the cat] in a car, and it might be a hot car at that point in time. So now the cat is even stressed further.

Now the client is worried that they’re going to miss their appointment and they’re running late because they didn’t start earlier to actually get their cat acclimated to a cat carrier or the idea that 

. And then, you know, they [arrive to the clinic]. [The cat is] in a place that might be loud, especially if you’re in a mixed practice and you’re sharing an exam room or....a lobby that doesn’t have sound barriers, but only just a partition for visual. So, sight, sound, odor all contributes to all of this.

And then they’re going to go in a room and they’re going to get handled in a room by strange people, and then poked and prodded...

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Carrier training and at-home prep tips to share with clients, from Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline).

The Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) Initiative announced earlier this week that it has released its Newborn Resuscitation Guidelines. These guidelines aim to help veterinary teams support kittens and puppies immediately following their birth and are the first of its kind.

“These Guidelines are the product of years of exhaustive literature search, analysis, synthesis, and consensus, made possible through the collaboration of more than 60 veterinary professionals and subject matter experts,” explained Manuel Boller, DrMedVet, MTR, DACVECC, research co-chair of RECOVER, in the organizational release.

Александр Лебедько/stock.adobe.com

According to the RECOVER Initiative, there have been no evidence-based guidelines or a clear consensus on what the best practice is to support newborn puppies and kittens as they make the transition from intra-to-extra uterine life.

Through these guidelines, that gap is being addressed through a structured, scientifically-informed recommendations for that first hour following birth, which is the period when neonatal patients are the most vulnerable.

Training new leaders with CPR instructor certification course

“There is evidence that more than 10% of puppies born after difficult labor, or simply even born by Cesarean section, do not survive the first 24 hours after birth,” Jamie Burkitt, DVM, DACVECC, guidelines co-Chair of RECOVER, said.

 “With these Guidelines, we aim to provide veterinary teams with evidence- and consensus-based practices with the goal of optimally supporting newborn puppies or kittens during this fragile period.”

The guidelines focus on a range of supportive measures that emphasize immediate and gentle intervention, such as airway clearing, assisted ventilation, and tactile stimulation to help these newborns establish effective breathing patterns.

 If a patient is a more severe case, such as those who are not breathing or have no detectable heartbeat, these guidelines will offer a clear set of directions on more advanced measures that can be taken, such as starting chest compressions as well as administering life-saving drugs alongside artificial respiration.

The new guidelines will also provide a newborn resuscitation algorithm as well as a drug dosing chat to serve as cognitive aids for rescues trying to navigate in real-time clinical decisions during neonatal emergencies in their clinic.

“Resuscitation of newborn puppies and kittens varies in many aspects from CPR in adult dogs or cats,” Boller concluded.

 “During normal birth, mothers provide vital care such as stimulating breathing and clearing airways. But in cases where this doesn’t occur—or during Cesarean births—the responsibility falls to veterinary professionals. Our Guidelines are designed to help those teams step in quickly and effectively.”

The RECOVER Newborn Resuscitation Guidelines are available in an open-access issue of Wiley’s 

Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care 

The RECOVER Initiative Releases Newborn Resuscitation Guidelines for Puppies and Kittens. News release. The Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation Initiative. August 25, 2025. Accessed August 29, 2025. 

https://recoverinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Newborn-Resuscitation-Guidelines-Press-Release.pdf

Articles

The guidelines will help veterinary teams support puppies and kittens immediately after birth. 

RECOVER releases newborn resuscitation guidelines 

Happy Friday dvm360 readers! We hope each of you had a fantastic week and, if it applies to you, have a safe long holiday weekend. Now that we have wrapped up the 2025 Fetch Kansas City Conference, we are over the moon to be heading to Fetch National Harbor in just a few weeks! Join us for our very first Fetch National Harbor and follow along with our coverage on dvm360.com.

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

This week dvm360 honored the 8 veterinary practices that received merit awards for dvm360’s 2025 Hospital Design Competition. You can check out the hospitals and learn more about each 

 is now available. dvm360’s Australian correspondent Phil Tucak, BSc, BVMS, shared more on how biosecurity project in remote Indigenous communities exceeded expectations, a free mediation opportunity for veterinary professionals, and more.

 of Vet Watch, Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, welcomed back Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD, to the show to talk about itchy pets and skin allergy testing, plus why it is crucial to properly interpret a client's history

 that was conducted with 600 pet owners in the US showed pet owners are more concerned about their pet's emotional wellbeing than physical health, aggression, or disobedience. Conducted between July 3, 2025 and July 9, 2025, the survey also showed pet separation anxiety was the top concern among 61% of participating pet owners. 

 this week that it has approved a generic gamithromycin injectable solution (Gamrozyne; Bimedia Animal Health) to treat bovine respiratory diseases associated with

Wrap up: dvm360 honors 2025 Hospital Design360 competition merit winners, and other news 

On this episode of Vet Watch with Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, welcomes back Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD, have an allergy test showdown, and what to do after the testing is do with veterinary dermatologist, Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD

The allergy test showdown: Skin vs blood testing

, we dive into the essentials of veterinary dermatology with our host Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, and special guest Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD. Throughout the episode, Jeromin shares her insights into the effectiveness of serum and skin testing for allergies pets through what the research and data says, and discussing how the opinions on it can differ between veterinary dermatologists, plus she puts an emphasis on the importance of proper interpretation of the pets history and if seasonal factors could be at play, and more.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity 

 Now, am I oversimplifying things? But it seems to me that there's kind of 2 ways of thought for a lot of general practitioners. Those that say I like doing the blood tests if they want to go to a dermatologist, great, but maybe that is not an access for many of their clients, so they're doing in house. And then you have another group that say, my dermatologist does not like the serum testing. We don't believe in it, so the only way to do is skin testing. Is that kind of the two groups of thoughts that you see.

 I do, except there's a subset of the dermatologists that say, "gold standard" for intradermal skin testing. And well, let's, let's broach that first. After having a long career in pharmacy, I saw so many drugs that were the gold standard come and go, and I think you'd agree, in veterinary medicine, you know, 15-20 years ago, there were drugs that, oh, they're outstanding, and that's our standard. And now the not so much. So I like to refer to it as the current standard of care and having said that, you can ask 10 veterinary dermatologists and get 10 different opinions. My personal opinion is I like to skin test and serum test because I figure that gives me all the information I can get that I need to make up that allergy solution. It's not for me to make that diagnosis of atopy. That's for sure. We're going to talk about that and and again, the reason the gold standard is not skin testing or serum testing is you can have non allergic pets skin test or serum test positive, and vice versa. You know.

Now that's, that's one of the things I hear often, is that if non allergic. Dogs or people. So if you do not have atophy, you could run a serum test and just pop up positive for a lot of things. And many times I hear that is the reason as to why they do not believe in that testing.

: I gotcha. And that's also true for skin testing, of course. Why would I be skin testing a clinically negative patient for atophy right? But in tests that have been done in the past for people publishing papers, you can have clinically normal let's we're going to, let's say dogs, and you skin test them and you get positives. There are reasons for that, but certainly it's kind of like Cushing's disease. If there's no symptoms for it, why am I going to treat it? You see what I'm saying. 

The other thing I wanted to tell you about IgE driven. You know, it's interesting, because in people, when they're trying to diagnose at being people, this was a long time ago, they would do total IgE levels. And they would find that in children, those total IgE levels, if they were elevated, usually meant that kid's going to become a topic as it gets older. Well, they did that same test for dogs, didn't pan out at all. They did IgE, total IgE levels in puppies followed them out for 3 years. Made no difference. Some of the atopic dogs had the same levels as the non atopic. So IgE, even though we've isolated it in dogs and we have ways to go in cats, we still have a long way to go. Long ways to go. That's why we can't use the serum or skin test to say your pet, your dog, is atopic. 

You know, I'll get a client in that says this. Well, this is worst case scenario for all of us. I want to know what my dog's allergic to. Okay, got the dog on the table. I'm combing it. There's a couple of fleas there. Oh my gosh, Mrs Jones, look, did you know your dog has a couple flea? Yeah, I know he's got some fleas. I want to know what he's allergic to that. You know, that's a good hour right there, because you've gotta convince that owner, okay, we've gotta resolve this flea problem, flea allergy first, and then there may be additional allergies. And yes, most atopic dogs are flea allergic, I'll give you that, but it it's difficult for owners to understand that a couple of fleas could be causing all that same problem as, say, a ragweed allergy. I think because they compare it to us, they see how miserable atopy is in us and we don't have fleas. So that must be, what's wrong with the dog must be atopic.

Explore the latest insights on allergy testing in pets, comparing skin and blood tests, and learn effective management strategies for the itchy pets in your clinic

FDA officials have approved a generic gamithromycin injectable solution for the treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) associated with 

 in beef and nonlactating dairy cattle. The newly approved product (Gamrozyne; Bimeda Animal Health) is the first generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim’s pioneer product, Zactran, and is bioequivalent.

Gamrozyne is also indicated for the control of respiratory disease in beef and nonlactating dairy cattle at high risk of developing BRD associated with 

, according to the FDA. The generic therapy is available only by prescription from a licensed veterinarian.

BRD is a complex condition, according to the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It is a leading cause of death in cattle and can affect any breed and age of these ungulates.

An early sign of BRD in cattle is lagging behind their group or self-isolation. Additional clinical signs may include fever greater than 104 

F, eye and nose discharge, coughing, and a tilted head or ear position. Signs of depression, such as decreased appetite, slow body movement, and an unwillingness to stand, can also be clinical signs of BRD, according to Texas A&M.

The risk of BRD can be lowered by reducing stress, according to Texas A&M. Proper ventilation, minimal pen movements, use of low-stress handling techniques, clean bedding, and proper access to food and water are among the actions that can help reduce stress.

In treating BRD, Gamrozyne is administered to beef and nonlactating dairy cattle through a subcutaneous injection in the neck at a rate of 6 mg/kg (2 mL/110 lb) body weight. If the total dose exceeds 10 mL, divide the dose so no more than 10 mL is administered at each injection site.

FDA approves first generic gamithromycin injectable for treatment and control of bovine respiratory disease in beef and non-lactating dairy cattle. News release. FDA. August 28, 2025. Accessed August 28, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-approves-first-generic-gamithromycin-injectable-treatment-and-control-bovine-respiratory-disease 

The cattle battle: bovine respiratory disease. Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. June 30, 2022. Accessed August 28, 2025. 

http://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/bovine-respiratory-disease/

Gamrozyne is the first generic version of Zactran, a pioneer product. 

FDA approves generic therapy for bovine respiratory disease

Ally Sisco, from north of Spokane, is an experienced horse owner who currently cares for eight horses. One morning, she noticed something unusual about Calliope, her 11-year-old Gypsy-Clydesdale: The mare had no interest in her breakfast.

“That was weird for her because she’s definitely into her food,” Sisco recalled. “She was also lying down a lot more than normal. She likes to lay down frequently, but she was lying out flat, which I thought was strange because she only does that when it’s really sunny, and it wasn’t that sunny.

Calliope, an 11-year-old gypsy-Clydesdale, was treated for sand colic at Washington State University (Image courtesy of Washington State University) 

Wanting to help Calliope, Sisco administered Banamine, a drug commonly used to treat mild cases of colic and then walked her to help pass whatever was causing her discomfort. After this did not work, Sisco put Calliope in her trailer and took her for a ride, which is a common thing horse owner to do try and ‘get things moving.’

Calliope showed no signs of improvement, so Sisco asked a local veterinarian for advice, and they told her to take her to Washington State University (WSU) immediately. Once they were at WSU, Calliope was diagnosed with a painful and potentially serious condition in horses, sand colic. This condition is caused by the accumulation of sand or gravel in the intestine, which causes irritation, inflammation, or blockage of the digestive tract.

 According to WSU, their staff sees about 10 to 15 cases of sand colic annually and treat these cases with fluids and supportive care. In severe cases, surgery is required.

For Calliope, her clinicians hoped that supportive care would be enough for her, but after a week of being at the hospital, she was rushed into surgery after she took a turn for the worse. Calliope then developed ventricular tachycardia after being placed under anesthesia. The surgical team stabilized her and then removed around 80% of the gravel and sand before ending the produce to reduce the risk of her being under anesthesia.

“I don’t think anybody really knew just the extent of how much she had in there,” Sisco said. “When they told me it was around 100 pounds, I was so surprised. I’ve been looking all over my property trying to find where she might have gotten into it...I can’t find it anywhere.”

Calliope was able to head home 11 days after her surgery and is now months into her recovery. WSU reported that she is doing well, but will need some follow up imaging done to make sure the other 20% of materials passed.

“This was the first time I have ever taken a horse to WSU. They took great care of her,” Sisco said. “When I visited, she looked clean and shiny, and they even braided her mane. It looked like they were really enjoying her, which was nice.”

Erin Pinnell, DVM, MS, DACVIM (LAIM), warns horse owners to not feed horses directly on the ground to help prevent sand colic, and if a horse is presenting with signs of colic, seek veterinary care early. However, ground feeding is not always the problem, such as in Calliope’s case where she was never fed on the ground, but it can contribute to the problem.

“We want owners to know this is something we see in this region,” concluded Pinell. “If you live in an area with sandy or gravelly soil, talk to your vet about preventative measures, because early intervention really can save a horse’s life.”

To this day, how Calliope was able to ingest this much gravel remains unknown to Sisco and her team at WSU.

Rokyta D. WSU veterinarians remove nearly 100 pounds of sand and gravel from horse’s belly. WSU Insider. Published August 22, 2025. Accessed August 28, 2025. https://news.wsu.edu/news/2025/08/22/wsu-veterinarians-remove-nearly-100-pounds-of-sand-and-gravel-from-horses-belly/

An 11-year-old gypsy-Clydesdale cross was brought to Washing State University after she was not acting like herself or eating dinner 