Weekly companion animal news: March 2, 2020

VCA stops elective declaw surgeries nationwide

VCA Animal Hospitals has banned elective declaw surgery at all 875 of its U.S. locations, Today’s Veterinary Business (also published by NAVC) reports. The policy change went into effect in February and follows similar moves at 1,050 Banfield Pet Hospitals and 80 BluePearl practices. All three companies are owned by Mars. “At Mars Veterinary Health, we believe every pet deserves a safe, loving and supportive home that enables appropriate expression of natural behaviors,” said Jennifer Welser, a veterinarian and the chief medical and quality officer at Mars. “After careful consideration, medical leadership aligned on a new declaw position, and elective declaw surgery is no longer offered at U.S. Mars Veterinary Health practices—including VCA, Banfield and BluePearl—unless determined to be medically necessary.” The American Veterinary Medical Association revised its feline declaw policy in January, discouraging the procedure as an elective and instead supporting nonsurgical alternatives.

Trupanion pays $1B in claims

Trupanion has officially disbursed $1 billion in insurance claims over its 20-year history. The pet insurance company reached the milestone with a nearly $4,000 payout for a golden retriever’s surgery, Today’s Veterinary Business reports. The largest single claims payout in the company’s history for a member’s pet was $81,000 for the treatment of aspiration pneumonia, said Darryl Rawlings, Trupanion’s CEO and founder. “Pet owners don’t always have insight into how extensive care can be for their pet. I’m proud that with Trupanion, we can remove the decision about care and help pet owners to give their dog or cat what they need when they need it.” More than 1.3 million Trupanion-insured pets have received veterinary care during the Seattle-based company’s existence.

Vet students in Britain report rise in part-time work to make ends meet

Part-time work for veterinary students is rising as almost half (46%) say they have less money than they need to live on, according to new survey data from the British Veterinary Association. Fifty percent of veterinary students now use part-time work to supplement their total income, the data shows. This is a significant increase from the 38% who recorded part-time work in 2016, and 25% in 2012. Students in mid and later years of study are more likely to have a part-time job to supplement their income than those in their earlier years of study. Veterinary students in Britain report an average deficit of £2,000 per year (about $2,600 at current exchange rates).

Suicide continues to be a top concern among vets, Merck study shows

Almost 90% of veterinarians believe the profession’s suicide rate is a leading concern, according to the second Merck Animal Health Veterinarian Wellbeing Study. That percentage increased from 80% in 2017 to 89% in 2019, the study showed. Merck conducted the research with the American Veterinary Medical Association. Brakke Consulting sent an online survey in the fall to a nationally representative sample of 20,000 veterinarians and received 2,871 usable responses. Data was weighted on the basis of age, gender and region. Along with the suicide rate, leading concerns among veterinarians were stress levels and educational debt, according to the JAVMA.

Wearable device will monitor osteoarthritis pain

A new wearable product will use sensors to measure the impact of osteoarthritis pain in companion animals. The device will be made by AniV8, a sensor technology developer created by Stonehaven Incubate, Sports Performance Tracking and veterinary pain specialist Dr. Duncan Lascelles. The company launched at the recent Kisaco Research Animal Health Investment Europe conference. “We have taken a novel approach to measuring the impact of musculoskeletal pain that is agnostic to species, size, shape, age and lifestyle characteristics,” said Lascelles, a professor of small animal surgery and pain management at North Carolina State University. “Importantly, we believe our device will be a more reliable and accurate endpoint for clinical trials, diagnosis and treatment efficacy than subjective questionnaires completed by caregivers, and the technology can be deployed in clinical practice to assess the effectiveness of ongoing therapies.”

Independent veterinary laboratories face extinction

Several regional, independent reference laboratories that serve U.S. veterinarians have sold in recent months to national corporations. The reference lab industry, currently worth $2.6 billion, is expected to see double-digit growth over the next six years, making it appealing for companies like Zoetis, Idexx and Antech. Few laboratories exist that aren’t owned by one of those three companies, Jennifer Fiala writes for the VIN News Service. Collectively, Fiala says, Antech and Idexx have 90% of the U.S. market, and Zoetis is trying to get its own foothold. “I fear we are seeing the end of the profession as we know it,” said Dr. Margie Scherk, a feline practitioner with family ties to True North Veterinary Diagnostics, an independent reference lab in British Columbia, Canada, that Antech and Idexx are vying for. “I’m seeing the end of relationships in this profession: relationships with your pathologist, relationships with the client through unfortunately expected and hasty referral, resulting in, at times, the end of personalized/individualized tailored client- and patient-based care. This is an era of corporate medicine.”

New canine UTI therapy could reduce risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Researchers are evaluating a new therapy to treat dogs with clinical urinary tract infections, part of an effort to stop antimicrobial resistance. They’re conducting a trial comparing a biotherapeutic treatment with conventional antimicrobial therapy. If successful, the new therapy may help decrease overall use of antimicrobials to treat UTIs in dogs, according to the announcement from Morris Animal Foundation. The foundation funded the research, which is being conducted by scientists at the University of California, Davis, and the Israel-based Koret School of Veterinary Medicine. The new therapy uses a biotherapeutic—a strain of asymptomatic bacteria that doesn’t cause the disease—called E. coli ASB 212. It’s mixed with a small amount of saline and instilled into the bladder using a urinary catheter. The procedure can be performed under sedation if necessary and takes about 10-15 minutes to instill, according to Morris Animal Foundation.

Cats show cardiovascular changes following California wildfires

Cats who suffered burns and smoke inhalation in recent California wildfires also had a high incidence of heart problems, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis. Researchers studied 51 cats referred for treatment after the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa and the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise. Echocardiograms found the cats had significant cardiovascular effects, including a much higher incidence of heart muscle thickening and blood clot formation. “What was most surprising to us was the vast number of cats that were affected and the severity of their condition,” said lead author Catherine Gunther-Harrington, an assistant professor at UC Davis. Further research may help scientists understand if this issue is specific to cats or if it’s similar to humans. The research demonstrates that vets should screen for cardiovascular changes in cats as part of their treatment after wildfires, according to UC Davis.