JAVMA News
Gifts of agricultural animals have helped people in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand recover from the tsunami that struck six years ago. And the AVMA is calling on members to celebrate the quarter millennium of their profession.
See page 1224
What Is Your Diagnosis?
See pages 1241, 1245
Diagnostic Imaging in Veterinary Dental Practice
See page 1251
Pathology in Practice
See page 1257
Managing urethral obstruction in male cats without urethral catheterization
See page 1261
A commercially available relaxin test for detection of pregnancy in cats
See page 1267
Use of the measure of patient-centered communication to analyze euthanasia discussions in companion animal practice
In an effort to characterize veterinarian-client communication during discussions regarding euthanasia of a pet, clinic visits with 32 companion animal veterinarians were recorded. Two cases designed to stimulate discussion regarding euthanasia of a pet were presented by undisclosed standardized clients, and audiotapes were analyzed by use of the measure of patient-centered communication. For both cases, veterinarians scored highest on communication components related to finding common ground and lowest on components related to exploring the disease and the illness experience. Lack of exploration of client feelings, ideas, and expectations and the effect of illness on the animal's function resulted in low scores among veterinarians.
See page 1275
Leishmaniasis in a dog native to Colorado
A 1-year-old sexually intact male dog was examined because of dermatologic lesions, weight loss, and diarrhea of 2.5 month's duration. Dermatologic lesions consisted of alopecia, thickening, erythema, and follicular casting. A diagnosis of leishmaniasis was confirmed by means of ELISA detection of antibodies against Leishmania spp, a high serum indirect fluorescent antibody titer against Leishmania infantum, amplification of Leishmania DNA on PCR assay of a whole blood sample and a lymph node aspirate, and histologic identification of suspected Leishmania amastigotes in skin specimens. Although vertical disease transmission was suspected, findings also suggested that it is possible that L infantum is now endemic in Colorado, and that leishmaniasis should be considered in dogs with scaly dermatoses.
See page 1288
Producer attitudes and practices related to antimicrobial use in beef cattle in Tennessee
To evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and management practices involving antimicrobial use among Tennessee beef producers, a questionnaire was mailed to a population-based, stratified random sample of 3,000 beef producers across the state. Overall, a significantly higher proportion of producers with multiple operation types reported giving antimicrobials than did producers with cow-calf operations. In multivariable analyses, herd size > 50 cattle, participation in Beef Quality Assurance or master beef producer certification programs, quarantining of newly purchased animals, use of written instructions for treating disease, and observation of withdrawal times were associated with a higher likelihood of antimicrobial use.
See page 1292
Effect of ammonium chloride supplementation on urine pH and urinary fractional excretion of electrolytes in goats
See page 1299
