Weekly companion animal news: April 6, 2020

Tales from the COVID-19 front lines: Vets recount experiences during COVID-19

In the third installment of its COVID-19 series, Today’s Veterinary Business (also published by NAVC) hears from more practice administrators about how the pandemic is affecting their work. Waiting on test results for two employees who showed symptoms of COVID-19 “forced us to the next level of sanitation standards and served as a revelation for those employees who had not yet taken the situation seriously enough,” said Abby Suiter, a South Carolina practice manager. While local restrictions allow veterinary services to continue, “we felt compelled to encourage our clients to postpone elective and non-time-sensitive services until the ordinance is lifted,” Suiter said. “The toughest of the issues and potential threats to veterinary care appear to be behind us,” said Mark Cushing, a founding partner of Animal Policy Group. States have allowed veterinary services to continue during the outbreak with few restrictions, Cushing said, which “confirms that policymakers understand that pets matter, that their health care cannot be postponed for weeks or months, and, yes, that wellness care is not a luxury or non-essential.”

Telemedicine emerges as a care option for veterinary patients

Several states, as well as the FDA, have taken steps to make it easier for veterinarians to use telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic. What remains to be seen is whether the increased use of telemedicine holds after social distance guidelines are lifted. In this article, Today’s Veterinary Practice (also published by NAVC) offers a telemedicine overview—everything from the common term definitions (like telehealth versus telemedicine), to an explanation of the rules on veterinary-client-patient relationships, and best practices for clinics to improve their telemedicine procedures. Questions remain about the topic, and discussion will likely continue long after this public health crisis ends. Therapy dog visits have also moved online.

Report predicts drop for U.S. pet market because of COVID-19

The U.S. pet market, like many sectors, will be negatively affected this year by the coronavirus pandemic, according to market research firm Packaged Facts. The company in a new report predicts revenue from veterinary services will drop 30%. The report also forecasts a 20% rebound in veterinary services next year, increasing to $25.3 billion, which would match what the profession achieved in 2016. The industry ended last year with veterinary services revenue of $30.07 billion, according to Today’s Veterinary Business.

Labs have developed COVID-19 pet tests, but roadblocks remain for broad rollout

Several labs have developed pet-specific tests for the novel coronavirus, amid continued uncertainty about whether pets can catch COVID-19 and whether they can transmit it. (Public health authorities continue to say there’s no evidence dogs and cats are infectious.) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has advised against these new tests, and many experts are concerned about spreading unwarranted fear, Science Magazine reports. “Even though we have no evidence that pets can transmit the virus, we desperately need [more] evidence one way or the other,” said Timothy Baszler, executive director of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, which announced in recent weeks that it’s developed a diagnostic test. The test is similar to the human one. Idexx has also launched a test. Even so, there are obstacles to a broad rollout, largely because these infections haven’t ramped up in pets.

Veterinarians donate ventilators to hospitals

A Washington veterinarian played an important role in helping the nation’s hospitals get ventilators crucial to care for COVID-19 patients. “As you read the news of people dying because there’s not a ventilator available, it makes you want to help as much as you can,” said Dr. Beth Davidow, president-elect of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. Davidow, along with the organization’s leadership, created a Google Form to identify and list any available ventilators from the emergency and critical care veterinary community. They shared the list of available ventilators with several human medical associations, and requests for the equipment flooded in. Davidow admits it’s a complicated situation, since the veterinary hospitals now no longer have those ventilators, but, she wrote in a blog post, “Our network does give them the chance to say, ‘Hey, we’ve given up our ventilator, but there’s something here that’s available.’ It will help somewhat, but this crisis has ripple effects that touch both people and their pets in terms of who’s vulnerable and who’s left without care.” The story is in Today’s Veterinary Practice.

Neogen acquires Chilean food and animal diagnostics company

Neogen announced that it acquired the assets of Chile-based Magiar Chilena, a distributor of food, animal and plant diagnostics, including Neogen products, BioSpace reports. Neogen will incorporate the company’s assets into its wholly owned subsidiary, Neogen Chile SpA, for continued operations in Chile, according to the announcement. This comes after Neogen earlier this year acquired similar businesses in Argentina and Uruguay. “The addition of operations in Chile gives us a direct presence in nearly all of the major agricultural and food industry markets in South America,” said John Adent, Neogen’s president and CEO.

Petriarge telehealth service partners with Washington State Veterinary Medical Association

The Washington State Veterinary Medical Association will offer Petriarge’s client-facing veterinary telehealth services as a new benefit for its veterinarians and veterinary students. WSVMA is the second state veterinary medical association, after New York, to formalize a partnership with a telehealth platform like Petriarge, according to the announcement. “The fact that Petriarge facilitates remote client interactions and pet health monitoring is an added benefit during this time of rising COVID-19 concerns, which are impacting many vets’ practices and diminishing their client interactions,” said Petriarge CEO Allon Freiman.

Animals’ ability to ‘count’ helps them survive in the wild, study shows

Many animals appear to be able to process numbers, a new study shows. This means animals, arguably, can count, Virginia Morell writes in National Geographic. Furthermore, this ability appears to help them survive in the wild. Neurobiologist Andreas Nieder, at the University of Tuebingen, studied nearly 150 scientific articles, concluding that “numerical competence is present on almost every branch on the animal tree of life.”