Sterilization Methods in Vet Med: Not One Size Fits All Different sterilization methods work best for different types of equipment and practice needs. Learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of each method and some of AAHA’s resources that can help guide hospital protocols.
A Guide to Capnography in Small Animal Anesthesia As veterinary practices continue to adopt higher monitoring standards, capnography remains a cornerstone of anesthesia safety and is a core recommendation in resuscitation guidelines.
Manual Blood Smear Preparation and Review Manual blood smear review is a quality assurance step in veterinary diagnostics, complementing automated hematology analyzers by providing insights into blood samples that machines might miss. Manual blood film review involves using a high-quality blood smear to validate automated results, assess cell morphology, and detect abnormalities such as parasites or unusual cell forms.
Performing Oral Regional Nerve Blocks for Veterinary Patients All oral surgical procedures should include a regional block. The materials are readily available in practice, and the local anesthetic will help provide more balanced anesthesia. Local anesthetics can be administered intraorally or extraorally and are categorized by region as infraorbital, caudal maxillary, middle mental, and caudal mandibular/inferior alveolar. Complications vary according to the drug used, patient species, and injection technique.
Pets with Noise Anxiety Pets with Noise Anxiety The sounds from fireworks, thunderstorms and other loud noises are common sources of fear and anxiety in many dogs. Several reasons exist for why a pet may develop this type of fear such as a negative experience around a specific noise, lack of early socialization, underlying illness, or worsening anxieties as the pet ages due to changing brain chemistry.
New World Screwworm New World screwworm (NWS) is species of a parasitic fly that feeds on the flesh of warm-blooded animals and people. NWS flies lay eggs in wounds and body openings. The eggs hatch into maggots (larvae) that eat live tissue, causing a worsening, often painful and foul-smelling wound.
Why Some Dogs Keep Seizing: Understanding and Managing Refractory Epilepsy The severe impact of drug-resistant epilepsy highlights the importance of aiming for complete seizure control in all dogs experiencing seizures. This could be an opportune time to update and educate clients on vaccine safety, diseases they may be unaware of, and when to get titers.
Vaccine Updates to Discuss with Clients Vaccination is a veterinary practice mainstay and the foundation of good healthcare for pets. Update and educate clients on vaccine safety, diseases about which they may be unaware, and when to get titers
IVDD in High-Risk Breeds: Early Recognition, Client Education, and Emerging Preventive Strategies Intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) remains one of the most common neurologic emergencies encountered in canine practice and a leading cause of pain, paresis, and paralysis in chondrodystrophic breeds. Increased attention has shifted toward earlier recognition of at-risk patients and strategies aimed at reducing the likelihood of future neurologic injury.
Lyme Disease in Dogs Lyme disease is an illness caused by a type of bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi) that is transmitted through certain ticks. Animals and people can become infected with these bacteria.
Anesthesia-Related Complications: To be a safe anesthetist, minimizing anesthesia-related complications and risks by first assessing and addressing a multitude of patient-and procedure-specific parameters is paramount.
Cats, Cannabinoids, and Regulatory Confusion Many veterinarians across North America fear professional or legal repercussions if they recommend or even discuss cannabis with their clients. View safety and regulation information.
How Veterinary Practices Can Prepare for an Aging Pet Population In the past, veterinary practices did not have many geriatric patients since pets since pets did not live as long as they now do. Feline leukemia, FIV, parvovirus, and heartworm disease ended far too many lives early.
What They Might Not Teach You About Canine Osteoarthritis in Veterinary School In vet school, OA is often presented within the musculoskeletal disease section as a cartilage disease. The problem with this focus is that cartilage does not have nerve endings, which brings up the topic of why, then, is OA painful.
Some Ticks Can Survive Longer in Your Home Than Previously Believed A new study provides the first quantitative evidence that ticks transported indoors on pets or clothing can survive for up to 3 weeks on common household flooring surfaces—a finding with direct implications for how veterinarians counsel clients on tick prevention and home risk mitigation.
An Algorithmic Approach to Treating Anaphylaxis in Dogs and Cats Despite the lack of a consensual definition, anaphylaxis can be described as the acute onset of either an immune-mediated (immunoglobulin E [IgE]-related) or a non-immune-mediated hypersensitivity reaction after allergen reexposure. Multiple items are reported to induce anaphylaxis.
Of Eggs and Proglottids: How to Identify Common Cestodes of Dogs and Cats Cestodes are parasites of dogs and cats that are commonly known as tapeworms. Accurately identifying tapeworm species is important to provide effective treatment, prevent further infections, and provide zoonotic information to pet owners.
Hallucinogenic Mushroom Intoxications Are Getting “Higher” Ingestions of hallucinogenic mushroom products can cause neurologic signs in dogs and cats. Treatment is symptomatic, but sedatives should be avoided in patients with isoxazole intoxications. Prognosis in most cases is good.
How to Win Over Gen Z Pet Owners Have you considered what your future client base will look like? As part of any strategic planning process, it’s essential to evaluate your target market and how client needs are evolving. One group that deserves focused attention is Gen Z.
Should Veterinary Practices Let Go of Pharmacy? Many practices assume pharmacy sales are a major profit center, but the financial reality can be more complex. At a time when efficiency, digital convenience, and affordability are prioritized, maintaining a large in-house pharmacy might not be a strong strategy.
Navigating Cost Conversations in Your Practice: Strategies for Confidence and Trust One of the most important and challenging aspects of veterinary practice is communicating about costs with clients. Strategies exist to navigate these discussions.
What Practice Owners are Getting Wrong—and Right—in Mentorship When mentorship is informal, inconsistent, or undefined, new graduates can feel unsupported during one of the most demanding transitions in their careers. Over time, that uncertainty erodes confidence, increases stress, and influences whether a veterinarian stays or leaves.
Setting Up Your Veterinary Clinic for AI Scribe Success AI scribes use ambient listening — essentially, a microphone capturing what goes on in your appointment — to generate structured medical records from conversation. When the audio is clean, the notes are clean. When it’s not, you have to edit or rewrite from scratch.
How to Keep the Veterinary Staff You Can’t Afford to Lose One of the greatest gifts of private practice ownership is that the owner can make the rules. Owners should look at their teams, their clients, and your own lives and ask, “What’s the problem here, and what can I do about it?” Then, action can be taken.
Ergonomics for Veterinary Practices The day-to-day work of veterinary medicine often involves repetitive motions, awkward postures, and handling animals of every size. All of those can increase the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) and other injuries. Ergonomic strategies can minimize issues.
Pet Owners Declining Dental Procedures DVMs were asked to identify the single most common reason a pet owner declines a recommended dental procedure in a senior patient. Responses were collected across both specialty referral and general practice settings.
How to Run a Successful Veterinary Practice Without the Drama Veterinary medicine has never been more complex. Practice leaders might rethink what is really causing stress and dysfunction inside veterinary practices — and what leaders can do about it.
5 Tips for Effective Veterinary Client Education Pet owners think they already know about their cat or dog’s health care. They also have areas that they want to learn more about from their veterinarian.
The Power of the Veterinary Team Huddle Many sports teams use huddles during games to strategize, communicate, and boost team morale. These huddles foster teamwork, enhance focus, and create a sense of unity, helping teams stay organized and motivated throughout the competition.
Stop Screwworm: Unified Government Response to Protect the United States New World screwworm (NWS) is a serious pest of livestock and wildlife. USDA is leading a coordinated One Health response to combat NWS.
Pet Travel From the United States to Mexico All dogs, including U.S. origin dogs returning to the U.S. after traveling to Mexico, must meet APHIS requirements for screwworm freedom certification upon entry into the United States.
High-Risk Countries for Dog Rabies Specific countries and political units are considered high risk for importing dog rabies into the United States. Dogs that have been in any of these countries within the past 6 months are required to be vaccinated against rabies in order to enter the U.S. They must also meet additional requirements.
AVMA Praises Veterinary Provisions in House-Passed Farm Bill The U.S. House of Representatives advanced a new Farm Bill that would reauthorize many federal programs and policies essential to veterinary medicine.
USDA-Accredited Veterinarians: Certifying Animals for International Travel (Export) This article is for USDA-accredited veterinarians to learn about certifying animals for international travel (export), completing and submitting health certificates for USDA endorsement, and using the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS).
Illinois Employment Law Updates Illinois continues to blaze quite a trail for employee rights and benefits, through expanded paid leave, mandatory AI disclosures, and additional workplace protections.
Major Student Loan Changes Taking Effect Soon On May 1, the U.S. Education Department (ED) published final regulations, detailing how it will implement provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the Trump administration is rebranding as the “Working Families Tax Cuts Act.”
Managing Backyard Chickens During Periods of Extreme Summer Temperatures Backyard hens need protection from extreme heat. Without the ability to sweat, hens can quickly overheat and succumb to high temperatures. Shade, water, and ventilation are the three most basic needs to keep chickens comfortable during the summer.
External Parasites of Poultry Several external parasites attack poultry by either sucking blood or feeding on the skin or feathers. In small flocks, preventing contact with wild birds and rodents that may carry parasites infest infesting poultry is important. Early detection of external parasites can prevent a flock outbreak.
Six Tips On Breaking Your Egg Eater Egg eating is a habit sometimes found in young pullets and even older hens. Although many believe that egg eating is impossible to break, and to just cull the hen, in many cases this is not true. Egg eating often starts when an egg is accidentally broken in the nest box, and the hen pecks at it. Finding that this weird yellow substance is tasty, they will devour it causing them to look for more when they next lay eggs.
Can Dog Companionship Influence Cancer Survival in Humans? The benefits of animal-assisted therapy to human cancer patients have been widely observed anecdotally, but it’s been harder to demonstrate whether those interactions translate into measurable clinical outcomes. Now, a new study may be confirming that link.
Disease Precautions for Outdoor Enthusiasts and Their Companion Animals This reference guide is intended to be a general guide about diseases that outdoor enthusiasts (such as campers, canoers/kayakers, backpackers and hikers) and their companion animals may encounter.
Traveling With Pets: Tips for a Pet-Friendly Vacation Are you thinking of traveling with pets? Whatever way you travel, you’ll need to plan ahead for a successful pet-friendly vacation. The following are some tips for driving and flying with dogs and cats — plus a pet first-aid kit to pack for your trip.
Dog Travel Safety Taking dogs on the family vacation can make for a great trip with careful planning. Answering some questions can help clients plan carefully and will build a professional/client relationship.
Hot Weather Safety Tips We all love spending the long, sunny days of summer outdoors with our furry companions, but it’s important to remember that like any season, summer comes with its hazards. To make sure you’re prepared for whatever comes your way this summer, check out this list of summer safety tips from experts at ASPCA Poison Control.