Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
TODAY'S VETERINARY NEWS The Latest News in Veterinary Medicine ANNOUNCEMENTS
February is Pet Dental Health Month January 25, 2012—Pet Dental Health Month, celebrated every February, focuses on teaching pet owners that proper dental hygiene is just as important for their pets as it is for them. "Veterinarians report that periodontal disease is the most commonly diagnosed problem in
dogs and cats," says Dr. Larry Corry, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA; avma.org). "This can lead to painful infection of the mouth and, in severe cases, these infections can spread and become life-threatening conditions." Visit petdental.com for news and resources on dental care as well as to order your free 2012 Dental Kit, which includes client reminder postcards, oral health pet owner guides, and fun giveaways.
Follow Today's Veterinary Practice's column, Practical Dentistry, to read about the latest in dental disease and therapy. This month's article, Proper Therapy for Endodontic Disease, can be found on page 40.
Veterinary Education Hit Hard by Financial Cuts January 16, 2012—U.S. schools and colleges of veterinary medicine have been greatly affected by steep reductions in state appropriations to higher education, resulting in faculty cuts, tuition increases, and increased student debt. A joint economic summit, held by these institutions' deans and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC; aavmc.org), was recently held in Orlando. "I think we need to fight to sustain and garner public support, but we will also have
to start looking at alternative funding and educational models if we want to maintain quality," said Dr. Gerhardt Schurig, AAVMC president and dean of the Virginia–Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2011, the AAVMC released Roadmap for Veterinary Medical Education in the 21st Century: Responsive, Collaborative, Flexible, which provides comprehensive recommendations regarding veterinary medication education. The report, compiled by the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC; navmec.org), is available at aavmc.org/roadmap.
Meet Ceva the Leader Dog January 15, 2012—As part of its strategic mission to promote the human–animal bond, Ceva Animal Health (ceva.us) has partnered with Leaders Dogs for the Blind (leaderdog.org) to support a black female Labrador retriever puppy appropriately named "Ceva." This is the first time in Leaders Dogs for the Blind's 73-year history that the organization has connected with a companion animal pharmaceutical company to promote its life- changing programs. Ceva made her first public appear- ance at the NAVC Conference 2012 and as she proceeds
through her 2 years of intense "leader dog" training, she will be wearing the Ceva Animal Health, Inc, Adaptil collar, which helps puppies and adult dogs adapt to challenging situations by using canine appeasing pheromones that mother dogs emit, providing a sense of wellbeing and reassurance. Follow Ceva's progress at facebook.com/cevaleaderdog.
12 Today's Veterinary Practice January/February 2012 SURVEY & STUDY RESULTS
The Year of the Happy Cat January 2012—Recent data shows that the number of owned cats has far surpassed the number of owned dogs; however, feline visits still lag behind dogs visits, to the tune of about 50% less. However, two feline-focused organizations are working toward improving the approach of practices to this
underserved population in veterinary medicine. In 2011, CATalyst (catalystcouncil.
org) launched its Cat Friendly Practice Makeover in 20 practices and the success of this program has led to CATalyst's 2012 initiatives—to refine the program and reach a broader scope of practices as well as reach out to local communities to facilitate increased cat adoptions, decreased euthanasia, and lifetime veterinary care. CATalyst is also reporting on the 2011 study results in order to show the positive changes in veterinary practices that have adopted a feline friendly focus. In addition, the American Association
of Feline Practitioners (AAFP; catvets. com) unveiled its new initiative, Cat Friendly Practice, at the NAVC Confer- ence 2012. This program will encour- age practices to become designated as a "Cat Friendly Practice" by following the strategies set forth by the AAFP to accommodate the distinct needs of cats. Practices interested in this program need to identify one member on staff that is an AAFP member and then they have access to the program components online. This is only a brief overview of
these recently launched feline friendly programs. Today's Veterinary Practice will continue to follow their success during this "year of the cat."