February 2024

In the veterinary world, we often note February as Dental Health Month. But in the larger scope, February is also Black History Month, and so we wanted to celebrate that by bringing you inspiration from our friends at blendVET™, who are creating pathways into the profession for students who may not otherwise see those opportunities.

AAHA Vice President Parva Bezrutczyk, DVM, shows how improvisational comedy techniques can be applied to the world of veterinary medicine. The AAHA Community answers the question: “How do you schedule and charge for sedated exams?” This month’s Scoop news articles include: Disease Discovered in Orphaned Kittens; NAVTA, NAVC Join Forces to Educate Pet Owners About Vet Techs; FDA Approves Oral Solution to Treat Cats’ Anxiety and Fear; Pet’s Quality of Life Drives Owner Decision-Making in Emergency Situations; and more!

Steven Hansen, DVM, MBA, DACAW, DACVT, is boarded in animal welfare and veterinary toxicology. Hansen is also president and CEO of the Arizona Humane Society.

This month’s prize winner is Kerri Kenher, Client Service Representative at Hampstead Animal Hospital, in Hamstead, New Hampshire!

Ependymal cysts are rare in humans and even rarer in dogs—only three veterinary cases have ever been reported. These cysts are benign neuroepithelial cysts that develop in the central nervous system. In humans they are mostly small and cause no symptoms unless they become enlarged, in which case they are surgically removed.

As an underrepresented minority in veterinary medicine, Niccole Bruno, DVM, founder of blendVET, knows how important it is for kids with the dream of being a veterinarian to have support. Her organization creates programming that intentionally provides exposure and representation for students in underserved communities.

More than 33 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, “reasonable accommodations” has become a byword in most sectors. But awareness, empathy, and support are still needed to overcome many challenges, including in the veterinary profession.

Sometimes cancer is easy to diagnose and sometimes it takes months to arrive at an answer. To tackle an opponent as widespread and insidious as cancer, we need all the tools that modern science has to offer – and now, we have one more – liquid biopsy.

In Part 1 of this 2-part article, we’ll explore strategies for calming down annoyed clients whose stress levels are mild to moderate, and we’ll also discuss what can set people off in these situations. In Part 2, we will go over the more extreme cases of client anger, when stress levels are escalated and through the roof.

Maintaining dental instruments is critical to performing proper dental procedures. Sharp scalers and curettes are much more effective at cleaning teeth than dull instruments. Brook A. Niemiec, DVM, DAVCD, DEVDC, talks about taking the best care of your dental hand instruments.

Mike Pownall, DVM, MBA, practice owner, consultant, and fellow podcaster, joined Central Line to talk about what veterinary professionals in any corner of the field can take away from Synchrony’s 2023 Equine Lifetime of Care study.

It’s dental health month, so it’s a good time to brush up on your dental cleaning skills. This month’s In Practice shows the proper sequence for a dental cleaning using an ultrasonic scaler.