Weekly companion animal news: December 5, 2022

Nationwide and Adopt a Pet partner on education initiative for new pet owners

Nationwide and the pet adoption website Adopt a Pet are partnering to educate new pet owners and potential adopters about the role pet health insurance can play in managing the lifetime costs associated with pet ownership. “Our goal is to educate adopters on healthy pet ownership and show how insurance can make it possible for families to always say yes to needed yet often expensive and unexpected medical care,” said Nationwide pet insurance President and Chief Pet Officer Heidi Sirota. According to the announcement, Nationwide’s veterinary analytics team will also use its trove of policy and claims data to deliver personalized pet health insights to shelters and adopters based on breed, age and other factors.

Webinar explains new FDA guidance on compounding veterinary drugs

A webinar from the AVMA provides an overview of the FDA’s new Guidance for Industry #256 on compounding veterinary medications from bulk substances. In the webinar, FDA veterinarian Amber McCoig explains the policies in the guidance and what they mean for veterinary teams. She also discusses how the agency’s final guidance tries to balance the risks of compounding animal drugs from bulk substances when there is no FDA-approved drug available. The agency plans to begin enforcing the guidance in April 2023.

Ontario wants to clarify the scope of practice for veterinary professionals

Ontario’s government is considering an update to its law on veterinary practice, aiming to clarify who can provide what care in the province’s veterinary sector. The provincial agriculture ministry is seeking public feedback as it tries to better define the scope of practice of veterinary professionals. This includes the procedures and services a licensed veterinarian or other veterinary professional, like a technician, is permitted to perform in Ontario. Additionally, the ministry wants to clarify in the law the care activities, like massage therapy or animal rehabilitation, that can be provided to animals by individuals other than veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

Midmark appoints new chief operations officer

Midmark announced the appointment of Rob Sackett as the company’s chief operations officer, effective December 6. Sackett will be in charge of day-to-day operations and execute the company’s long-term goals, according to the announcement. He comes to Midmark from Edwards Lifesciences, where he was senior vice president of worldwide engineering for Edwards Lifesciences Global Supply Chain. Before that, he spent 20 years at Johnson & Johnson in various roles. He succeeds current COO Mike Walker, who’s retiring after more than 30 years with the company.

CAETA launches Euthanasia Review Department

The Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy, an education company providing training in advanced euthanasia skills and techniques for veterinary professionals, has launched the Euthanasia Review Department. The department aims “to help pet owners and veterinary service providers understand pet patient response to the euthanasia procedure,” according to the announcement. “CAETA’s objective is to provide expert assessment of companion animal euthanasia performed or authorized by veterinarians, for pet owners and veterinary professionals seeking to understand the manner of a pet’s death,” said Kathleen Cooney, CEO of CAETA.

Paper aims to explain the grief caused by losing a pet

A new paper aims to demonstrate the level of grief people experience when they lose a pet. “I would love for the human-animal bond and the love that people feel for their animals to become more accepted by society as a whole,” said Colleen Rolland, a pet loss grief specialist and co-author on the paper with Michelle Crossley, a mental health counselor. One of the reasons they wrote the paper was that they felt not all mental health specialists understand the depth of the human-animal bond and aren’t able to provide what feels like an emotionally safe environment for someone experiencing that grief, Rolland said. HealthDay reports.

Bionote USA adds new test to cardiac menu

Bionote USA has added in-clinic Troponin I (TnI) in-vitro diagnostic test kits to its Vcheck line of biomarker tests and immunoassay analyzers. Troponin I is a marker of cardiac damage in dogs and cats. The test allows veterinarians to detect rising severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease and early phases of dilated cardiomyopathy. The product addition widens Vcheck’s cardiac menu, which also includes the NT-proBNP tests for dogs and cats. According to the announcement, the addition makes Bionote the only manufacturer in the veterinary marketplace to offer fully quantitative Troponin I for both species.

Study on flea-borne bacteria has implications for cats and people

A new paper examining disease-causing bacteria carried by fleas on free-roaming cats demonstrates the importance of flea prevention for cat owners and has implications for people too, the authors say. “My big takeaway is that fleas can carry pathogens and are not just a nuisance or something to overlook,” said Erin Lashnits, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and an author on the paper. The researchers found the bacteria Bartonella and Rickettsia—both of which can cause disease in people and cats—as well as Wolbachia in the fleas on free-roaming cats brought in for spaying and neutering through community programs. Lashnits said the team now wants to find out what the risk factors are for people becoming infected from fleas when they come into contact with cats.