Because respiratory disease in dogs is often mild and resolves without treatment, and because it can be caused by viruses, there can be a reluctance to treat it with antibiotics. That’s a mistake, says this expert.
The use of antibody titer testing to determine immune status for pets has grown enormously in recent years, but shelter veterinary staff, private practice veterinarians, and pet owners still have questions.
Canine parvovirus (CPV) outbreaks in an animal shelter can cause widespread death and suffering, and can erode community good will which the shelter depends on when seeking volunteers, adopters and donors. How can shelters prevent outbreaks of CPV? Can they really save the lives of dogs who may contract the disease or who are exposed… Learn More
Can't get enough up-to-the-minute shelter medicine news? The Maddies® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University has just launched Gimme Shelter, a blog focused on trending topics written by their shelter medicine veterinarians, interns, and students. Their motto? "Saving homeless animals through science and service." Read it here, and subscribe here.
Want to learn more about protozoal infections such as coccidiosis, giardiasis and toxoplasmosis? Want to share training information with your volunteers or staff?
Few things are as crucial in the care of neonatal kittens as keeping them warm. Normally, their mothers take care of that task, but how can shelters and foster homes safely regulate the temperatures of orphaned kittens?
A mama cat living in a computer supply warehouse must have thought she’d found a nice, safe spot to stash her kittens. Unfortunately, they promptly got packed up and shipped from Los Angeles to San Diego, where a Cox Communication employee discovered their computer parts had come with some fragile little stowaways.
Shelters and rescue groups frequently have special adoption requirements for cats who test positive for FIV. Some won’t adopt them out to homes with FIV-negative cats, or at all. But a recent study suggests the risks of transmission to other household cats are negligible. In a study published in The Veterinary Journal, researchers looked at… Learn More
Shelter medicine has become a recognized veterinary speciality.
How a tiny staff, a giant volunteer pool and a relentless will to save cats can end the use of euthanasia for population management, even in the most challenging communities.