North America
Pets Influence On Youth Development To Be Explored
A new study to be produced by Tufts University aims to explore how pet ownership can affect the trajectories of youth development. Over the next 10 years, principal investigator Dr Megan Kiely Mueller and her team will determine differences between families who own pets and those who don’t, following a baseline cohort of almost 12,000 youths aged 9-10 and their families. This study can be expected to show a better understanding of the broad socio-demographic patterns on pet ownership and its relationship with the trajectories of youth development.
https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/pets-influence-on-youth-development-to-be-explored/
Veterinarians Resist Pressure To Advocate For Pet Insurance
Veterinarians across the United States are pushing back after the American Veterinary Medical Association added a policy encouraging veterinary healthcare teams to educate their clients about pet insurance. This has angered certain veterinarians because they may consider promoting pet insurance outside their purview.
However, the AVMA released a statement to VIN News saying: “The AVMA is not encouraging veterinarians to market pet health insurance to their clients. Instead, the intent of the policy revision is to recommend that the availability of pet health insurance to be included as part of the thoughtful discussions with clients about options for paying for veterinary services.”
This policy was backed up by research performed by Mississippi State University in collaboration with the AVMA, which revealed that pet insurance is good for clients to be able to afford the medical bills for their pets and a lack of owner awareness of pet insurance as an option is a barrier to access to care.
https://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=54865
Mars Expands Global Veterinary Practice Footprint
Mars Inc’s pet-care segment, the biggest U.S veterinary company has entered veterinary clinic markets in both Japan and Brazil. They have also acquired another practice group in the United Kingdom, increasing their UK practice count to 148 amid a shortage of veterinarians in the country due to Brexit and other factors.
https://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=54869
Europe
Vet group’s initiative to tackle mental health (UK)
The Linnaeus Group has begun training almost 100 mental health first aiders to increase support to its staff. This new initiative is to help with the mental health problems that veterinary professionals deal with daily. These mental health first aiders are all volunteers from the Linnaeus Group from both office and clinical roles. They will be trained to; identify the signs of mental illness, break down stigmas and barriers, listen to their colleagues and help direct those who are suffering to support
https://www.vettimes.co.uk/news/vet-groups-initiative-to-tackle-mental-health/
Vets Asked To Share Kitten Checklist With Clients
The BVA is urging all veterinary practices to share a Kitten Checklist with their clients and breeders. The checklist was created by The Cat Group, made up of twenty organisations dedicated to the welfare of cats. This checklist is said to help new owners find a healthy new kitten for their home.
The checklist asks the new owner to find out things such as; where did the kitten spend the first nine weeks of its life, has the kitten responded positively to common household sounds/smells, what food the kitten is currently eating and identifying if the kitten is healthy. The checklist also provides information on why these questions are important.
The Kitten Checklist can be downloaded via this link: http://www.thecatgroup.org.uk/pdfs/The-Kitten-Checklist.pdf
Asia-Pacific
An Important reminder to keep rabies at bay
With world rabies day on the 28th of September, Vets Beyond Borders is using the opportunity to spread awareness of rabies by showing the importance of vaccinating dogs against the virus. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture has warned that although the virus is not currently in Australia, it could reach the country at any time due to its spread across Asia. Rabies kills nearly 60,000 people each year and once contracted, is almost always fatal however it is easily vaccinated against. The theme of this year’s World Rabies Day is Rabies: Vaccinate to Eliminate, highlighting the importance of vaccinating dogs, helping people in need and aiming to reach the 2030 goal of eliminating rabies by death.
Read the full story at:
https://vetpracticemag.com.au/important-reminder-to-keep-rabies-at-bay/
