Weekly companion animal news: February 14, 2022

Digital pet care is transforming the veterinary sector, and veterinarians had better get onboard: Packaged Facts

Veterinary service providers will have to get onboard with digital care or risk losing serious revenue in the coming years, according to a new report from Packaged Facts. As the pet health sector goes digital, veterinary service providers will have to adapt “because this digitalization has the capacity to both cannibalize current revenue sources and keep the veterinary sector on a healthy growth track,” according to the announcement. “Telemedicine and other digital technologies that connect veterinarians and clients will be as transformational in vet services as e-commerce has been in pet product retailing,” said Packaged Facts research director David Sprinkle. According to the report, veterinary sector sales increased 9% last year to $35 billion, including all services and products. As human health concerns rose in the face of COVID-19, pet owners’ concern for their pets’ health also rose. Younger pet owners will also be crucial in shaping the path of the industry, according to Packaged Facts.

Who are North America’s biggest veterinary consolidators?

Consolidation in the veterinary profession has ramped up in the last three decades, and it’s hard to estimate how many company-owned practices there actually are in North America. In 2017, Brakke estimated more than 10% of veterinary practices were company-owned (about 3,500 of 32,000), and the real numbers change every month. Veterinary Integration Solutions has compiled a list of what the organization believes are the most prominent consolidators in the market and how they approach buying practices. Some companies—such as VCA and PetIQ-owned VIP Pet Care—have more than 1,000 locations. Other companies own less than 10 practices. Veterinary Integration Solutions has the full list.

MWI Animal Health: AmerisourceBergen appoints Steve Shell president of animal health business

AmerisourceBergen has named Steve Shell president of its animal health business, leading MWI Animal Health. In addition to MWI’s U.S. business, he’ll be responsible for its United Kingdom business and several other animal health segments, including AllyDVM, Micro Technologies and Securos Surgical. Shell previously served as senior vice president of commercial operations at MWI. Before he joined AmerisourceBergen in May 2020, he served as executive vice president of insurance operations and partnerships at Fetch Inc., a U.S. and Canadian provider of pet health insurance.

Seven ways to alleviate the veterinarian shortage

Only a few years ago, veterinary industry members were saying there was a surplus of practitioners in the profession. But the situation has changed drastically since then. Mark Cushing in fellow NAVC publication Today’s Veterinary Business offers seven measures that he believes could help mitigate the shortage of available veterinary care: 1) Convince accreditors that veterinary school class sizes should be expanded. 2) Open new veterinary schools. 3) Bring midlevel practitioners into the industry, as human health care has done. 4) Expand the scope of practice of credentialed veterinary technicians and assistants. 5) Educate veterinarians about the efficient use of telemedicine. 6) Expand new technology like artificial intelligence on a wider scale. 7) Amend state regulations to make it easier for veterinarians to practice in a new state.

New graduates could get $100,000 in proposed program to attract veterinarians to Arizona

New legislation in Arizona aims to mitigate the state’s veterinarian shortage by helping new practitioners pay down their student debt. Graduates in 2023 or after who commit to working four years in the state—including at least two years at a nonprofit, municipal shelter or in an agricultural setting—would receive the amount of money they paid in tuition or $100,000, whichever is less. The bill, which is up for a vote by the state senate before moving to the house, allots $5 million to the program for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, enough for 50 veterinarians. “The financial burden of student loans coming out of vet school is really huge. Especially when you serve in underserved communities, rural areas, the paycheck isn’t really high,” said Nicole Scherrer, part of the 2023 graduating class. KVOA reports.

NIH awards $4.5 million for Valley fever research

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded more than $4.5 million to support Valley fever research at three universities. The money will be split over a year between the Universities of California-San Francisco, California-Los Angeles and Texas-San Antonio. Valley fever, or Coccidioidomycosis, is a fungal disease that affects humans and dogs and is endemic in parts of the Americas, including the southwest United States. But few scientists conduct research on it. With the new funding, research centers will be established with multidisciplinary teams studying potential diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, Homeland Preparedness News reports.

Litter of hairless French bulldogs worries U.K. veterinary officials

The British Veterinary Association says a litter of hairless French bulldogs is a worrying example of “extreme breeding,” and officials believe some pet owners may be prioritizing novelty over the health of their pet, The Guardian reports. The dogs are believed to have been bred in Scotland and to be the result of crosses between French bulldogs, Pugs and Chinese crested dogs. They’re thought to be the first litter of hairless French bulldogs in the United Kingdom. The BVA warned that while the puppies may be healthy, they could end up with health problems such as susceptibility to sunburn, heat stress and breathing difficulties. “I’m just really disappointed when I see things like this, and I wish that we can get potential owners to understand how much some of this extreme breeding really does affect the day-to-day welfare of these dogs,” said BVA President Justine Shotton.

Study finds low COVID infection rate, no symptoms in pet rabbits

Pet rabbits appear to be susceptible to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but infection and symptoms are extremely rare, according to a new study in the journal Veterinary Sciences. Researchers in France analyzed blood samples from 144 pet rabbits and found antigens in two, indicating they had the virus. Veterinarians didn’t see symptoms in the rabbits. The researchers say this is the first study demonstrating natural infection of the virus in rabbits, which most likely got it from their COVID-positive owners. “Overall, the study demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infections are rare in rabbits, and they are unlikely to act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 or aid the epidemic spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans,” News Medical reports.