Weekly companion animal news: May 25, 2020

SoundByte: Oculenis

Visit the Vet Advantage website to learn more about Oculenis, a gel that helps dogs and cats heal from eye injuries. Manufactured by Sentrix Animal Care, Oculenis uses a formulation proven to help pet eye injuries, according to the company. It contains no preservatives or synthetic additives and has been developed based on naturally occurring ingredients in the body.

KC Corridor summer events go virtual

Global Animal Health Week, an annual Kansas City meeting of industry and veterinary professionals, has been rebranded the Animal Health Summit this year. It’s also been moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The largest traditional event, the Homecoming Dinner, won’t happen, but the scheduled keynote speaker, David Hughes, an expert on food industry issues, will deliver an address for virtual viewing anytime from August 31 to September 23. The Investment Forum, featuring 12 up-and-coming companies pitching ideas or products to potential investors and a panel of judges, instead will consist of presentations available for on-demand viewing. Fellow NAVC publication Today’s Veterinary Business has more information.

NAVC offers support for vet professionals and students during pandemic

NAVC, publisher of Vet Advantage, announced it’s expanding its free services for veterinarians during the pandemic, including certification training, job postings to fill urgently needed relief positions, and online courses to support mental health and well-being. The organization is working with the Human Animal Bond Research Institute to offer the Human-Animal Bond Certification program free of charge to all third and fourth year veterinary students and to 500 veterinary professionals on a first-come, first-serve basis. NAVC is offering free job listings for relief positions on its NAVC Retriever app through May 31. And VetFolio, a joint venture of NAVC and LifeLearn Animal Health, has opened free access to its online learning curriculum. NAVC is also holding a virtual job fair on its VMX Virtual platform, on June 24.

AVMF looks for more donations to vet tech relief fund after overwhelming demand

The American Veterinary Medical Foundation is asking for more donations after a new relief fund created by the organization saw overwhelming demand. The COVID-19 Disaster Relief Grant was originally funded by Zoetis, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, offering $500 grants to veterinary support staff members who have been financially affected by the pandemic. But within a day of the May 14 launch, the AVMF website received more applications than the initial $200,000 funding pool could support, the AVMA reports. “Fundraising to support additional grants is ongoing,” according to the foundation. “If sufficient funds are raised to fulfill applications to date, the site will reopen.”

COVID-19 from humans to animals highly unlikely, early study shows

Transmission of COVID-19 from humans to animals appears highly unlikely, according to the early phase of a study at the Tufts University veterinary school. As of now, 150 animals have been enrolled in the study through hospital-based visits, while 379 animals from 215 households are involved in a home-study component. “I’m very happy to report that we’ve had all negatives so far,” said researcher Kaitlin Sawatzki, who added the caveat that “we’re at the very beginning” of the study. Some animals tested belonged to patients with COVID-19 and showed no signs of the disease, she said. telegram.com has the story.

Researchers work to develop heartworm vaccine

Researchers in the United Kingdom are trying to identify key proteins to develop a canine heartworm vaccine. If successful, the vaccine could provide protection against heartworm and help mitigate increasing drug resistance to preventive heartworm medications, according to Morris Animal Foundation, which is funding the research. “Currently, there are very few options for the sustainable prevention of heartworm disease in the likely event that drug resistance continues to spread,” said Dr. Ben Makepeace, a principal investigator on the study. “If we don’t find an alternative, then treating established adult worms will be very difficult in dogs.”

VetWatch adds parasiticide category

VetWatch, an online resource with industry data gathered from practices across the country, has added parasiticides to the information it tracks. The new category shows weekly purchasing trends reported for practices and shelters of canine and feline flea, tick and heartworm preventives. VetWatch is an initiative led by NAVC, Animalytix and several other groups. In addition to the parasiticide category, it has information on practice metrics, vaccine and supplies purchasing, and hospital client and patient trends. Practice managers and staff can fill out the VetWach survey here.

Fear Free announces avian certification program

Fear Free announced a new certification program to help veterinarians reduce anxiety in their avian patients. The nine-module course covers how to use Fear Free concepts to ensure avian veterinary visits go smoothly. Video clips and slides demonstrate how to recognize stress in avian patients, how to use simple tools to provide gentle control, and how to train cooperative behaviors, according to the organization. Upon completion, veterinarians receive eight RACE-approved continuing education hours. The course’s lead author is veterinarian Alicia McLaughlin, co-medical director of the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine.