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Although companion animal management practices used by caregivers can influence the welfare of the companion animals, there is little existing information about the ways in which people attempt to meet their companion animals' needs. A representative sample of rabbit guardians (n = 93, representing 63,000 people) and bird guardians (n = 203, representing 157,000 people) in Victoria, Australia, completed an online survey. Items were related to the environmental, diet/exercise, behavioral, social, and health management practices used by guardians. Guardians sometimes meet their companion animals' welfare needs, but they do not always engage in best practices. Most (79%) bird guardians reported that they interacted with their birds daily, but only 68% of rabbit guardians did the same. Likewise, 32% of rabbit guardians and 55% of bird guardians never had their companion animals vaccinated. These results may be used for educational campaigns for improving companion animal welfare.

Saskatchewan cow-calf producers (n = 2000) were surveyed to determine what factors were associated with their uptake of veterinary services; how and where they access nutritional information and animal health advice; and whether they were comfortable with having non-veterinarians perform veterinary procedures. The survey response rate was 18.1%. Veterinarians were seen as a primary source of nutritional information and animal health advice. Over the past decade producers have shifted their veterinary service usage from individual animal events to herd-level procedures. Producers who pregnancy check were more likely to be large producers (OR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.2 to 3.1; P = 0.007), to semen test their bulls (OR = 3.4; 95% CI = 2.0 to 5.8: P < 0.001), analyze their forages (OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.7 to 4.0; P = 0.006), and to farm in the brown versus the gray or dark brown soil zones (P = 0.004). Most (94.0%) respondents had adequate veterinary services within an hour's drive of the farm and 90.4% were satisfied with their veterinary service provider. Approximately 25% of respondents would be comfortable with having a non-veterinarian pregnancy check and attend to prolapses.

Poor livestock health services remain one of the main constraints to livestock production in many developing countries, including Ethiopia. A study was carried out in 11 districts of North Gondar, from December 2011 to September 2012, with the objective of identifying the existing status and constraints of animal health service delivery, and thus recommending possible alternatives for its sustainable improvement. Data were collected by using pre-tested questionnaires and focus group discussion. Findings revealed that 46.34% of the responding farmers had taken their animals to government veterinary clinics after initially trying treatments with local medication. More than 90.00% of the clinical cases were diagnosed solely on clinical signs or even history alone. The antibacterial drugs found in veterinary clinics were procaine penicillin (with or without streptomycin), oxytetracycline and sulphonamides, whilst albendazole, tetramisole and ivermectin were the only anthelmintics. A thermometer was the only clinical aid available in all clinics, whilst only nine (45.00%) clinics had a refrigerator. In the private sector, almost 95.00% were retail veterinary pharmacies and only 41.20% fulfilled the requirement criteria set. Professionals working in the government indicated the following problems: lack of incentives (70.00%), poor management and lack of awareness (60.00%) and inadequate budget (40.00%). For farmers, the most frequent problems were failure of private practitioners to adhere to ethical procedures (74.00%) and lack of knowledge of animal diseases and physical distance from the service centre (50.00%). Of all responding farmers, 58.54% preferred the government service, 21.14% liked both services equally and 20.33% preferred the private service. Farmers' indiscriminate use of drugs from the black market (23.00%) was also mentioned as a problem by private practitioners. Sustainable improvement of animal health service delivery needs increased awareness for all stakeholders and a well-regulated private service in order to mitigate the constraints apparent in the government service.

The proportion of multidrug resistant bacteria causing infections in animals has continuously been increasing. While the relevance of ESBL (extended spectrum beta-lactamase)-producing Enterobacteriaceae spp. and MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is unquestionable, knowledge about multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in veterinary medicine is scarce. This is a worrisome situation, as A. baumannii are isolated from veterinary clinical specimens with rising frequency. The remarkable ability of A. baumannii to develop multidrug resistance and the high risk of transmission are known in human medicine for years. Despite this, data regarding A. baumannii isolates of animal origin are missing. Due to the changing role of companion animals with closer contact between animal and owner, veterinary intensive care medicine is steadily developing. It can be assumed that the number of "high risk" patients with an enhanced risk for hospital acquired infections will be rising simultaneously. Thus, development and spread of multidrug resistant pathogens is envisioned to rise. It is possible, that A. baumannii will evolve into a veterinary nosocomial pathogen similar to ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae and MRSA. The lack of attention paid to A. baumannii in veterinary medicine is even more worrying, as first reports indicate a transmission between humans and animals. Essential questions regarding the role of livestock, especially as a potential source of multidrug resistant isolates, remain unanswered. This review summarizes the current knowledge on A. baumannii in veterinary medicine for the first time. It underlines the utmost significance of further investigations of A. baumannii animal isolates, particularly concerning epidemiology and resistance mechanisms.

A survey of veterinary radiation therapy facilities in the United States, Canada, and Europe was done in 2010, using an online survey tool, to determine the type of equipment available, radiation protocols used, caseload, tumor types irradiated, as well as other details of the practice of veterinary radiation oncology. The results of this survey were compared to a similar survey performed in 2001. A total of 76 facilities were identified including 24 (32%) academic institutions and 52 (68%) private practice external beam radiation therapy facilities. The overall response rate was 51% (39/76 responded). Based on this survey, there is substantial variation among facilities in all aspects ranging from equipment and personnel to radiation protocols and caseloads. American College of Veterinary Radiology boarded radiation oncologists direct 90% of the radiation facilities, which was increased slightly compared to 2001. All facilities surveyed in 2010 had a linear accelerator. More facilities reported having electron capability (79%) compared to the 2001 survey. Eight facilities had a radiation oncology resident, and academic facilities were more likely to have residents. Patient caseload information was available from 28 sites (37% of radiation facilities), and based on the responses 1376 dogs and 352 cats were irradiated in 2010. The most frequently irradiated tumors were soft tissue sarcomas in dogs, and oral squamous cell carcinoma in cats., (© 2014 American College of Veterinary Radiology.)

This analysis is based on papers published in periodicals, in the period 1975-2013 with title words referring to diagnosis or therapy. The literature of both topics is growing dynamically and in an ever accelerating pace. At the same time, the two topics appear to get more and more separated, except for a part of the German-language literature. The share of therapy-oriented literature is increasing and its citation rate is higher, although 9 of the 10 most cited papers are from the topic of diagnostics. The Hungarian literature (papers having at least one Hungarian author) appeared to be proportional and balanced.

For the implementation of risk management measures against the development and spread of antimicrobial resistances it is important to gain a quantitative insight into the use of veterinary antimicrobial agents. Since 2011, all pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers in Germany are required to report their sales data of veterinary antimicrobial products (VAPs). In 2011, 1706 t of antimicrobially active substances were sold to veterinarians registered in Germany, in 2012 the amount decreased to 1619 t. Tetracyclines and penicillins had the largest shares in both years, followed by sulfonamides, macrolides and polypeptides. Amoxicillin alone accounted for more than a quarter of the total amounts of all sold antimicrobials. In regard to AMR it is most important to limit the use of critically important antimicrobials, namely fluoroquinolones and 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins. While in both years these groups accounted for less than 1% of the amount of sold antimicrobials, this does not reflect adequately their use, since they are used in much lower doses. Furthermore, it is worrying that the sales of fluoroquinolones and 3rd generation cephalosporins increased by 26% and 14%, respectively, between 2011 and 2012, while the sales of 4th generation cephalosporins decreased only by 2%. More than 95% of the active substances were contained in VAPs intended for oral application; only fluoroquinolones, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins as well as fenicols were primarily or even exclusively applied by injection.

This study investigated the prevalence of nasal carriage of staphylococci in dogs and determined the characteristics of the isolates. A total of 724 dogs from 87 veterinary practices across the mainland UK were screened for carriage of Staphylococcus spp. All isolates were examined for meticillin resistance (MR) and the presence of the mecA gene investigated in those isolates showing resistance. All coagulase-positive staphylococci and MR coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCoNS) were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Spa typing and DNA microarray analysis of resistance and virulence genes was carried out on all MR S. aureus (MRSA) and a subset of meticillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). Staphylococci were isolated from 399 (55.1%) of the dogs; only seven (1%) carried MRSA, all of which were identified as the dominant UK healthcare-associated strain (EMRSA-15, ST22). MSSA was identified in 47 (6.5%) dogs, the sequence types of which have been suggested as precursors to successful MRSA clones. Forty (5.5%) dogs carried MRCoNS, while no dogs carried MR S. pseudintermedius, although this is increasingly reported in mainland Europe. Resistance to antimicrobials among the isolates varied between species, with multidrug resistance (MDR) in 87.5% of MRCoNS and 21.8% of coagulase positive staphylococci. Microarray analysis of MRSA and a subset of MSSA isolates identified numerous virulence genes associated with pathogenesis, which are commonly identified in isolates of human origin. However, no isolates carried Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes. This study suggests that MRSA carriage is low in the vet visiting dog population, but there is a diverse range of virulence and resistance determinants in canine S. aureus and MRCoNS isolates., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Spatial references are required when geographical information systems (GIS) are used for the collection, storage and management of data. In the veterinary domain, the spatial component of a holding (of animals) is usually defined by coordinates, and no other relevant information needs to be interpreted or used for manipulation of the data in the GIS environment provided. Users trying to integrate or reuse spatial data organised in such a way, frequently face the problem of data incompatibility and inconsistency. The root of the problem lies in differences with respect to syntax as well as variations in the semantic, spatial and temporal representations of the geographic features. To overcome these problems and to facilitate the inter-operability of different GIS, spatial data must be defined according to a \"schema\" that includes the definition, acquisition, analysis, access, presentation and transfer of such data between different users and systems. We propose an application \"schema\" of holdings for GIS applications in the veterinary domain according to the European directive framework (directive 2007/2/EC--INSPIRE). The conceptual model put forward has been developed at two specific levels to produce the essential and the abstract model, respectively. The former establishes the conceptual linkage of the system design to the real world, while the latter describes how the system or software works. The result is an application \"schema\" that formalises and unifies the information-theoretic foundations of how to spatially represent a holding in order to ensure straightforward information-sharing within the veterinary community.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of canine diabetes mellitus (DM) in primary-care clinics in England, to identify risk factors associated with DM and to describe the survival of affected dogs. Cases of DM were identified within the electronic patient records of 89 small-animal practices. A nested case-control study identified risk factors for the diagnosis of DM using logistic regression models. Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyse variables associated with survival. Four-hundred and thirty-nine canine DM cases were identified, giving an apparent prevalence of 0.34% (95% CI 0.31% to 0.37%). Neutered males were at an increased risk of diabetes compared with entire males, whereas neutering was not associated with DM in females. When compared with crossbred dogs, Yorkshire terriers had increased odds, whereas German shepherd dogs and golden retrievers had lower odds of DM. Being classified as overweight and having a diagnosis of pancreatitis, hyperadrenocorticism or a urinary tract infection were positively associated with DM. Older dogs and those diagnosed with pancreatitis had a higher hazard of death, whereas insured and neutered dogs had a lower hazard. This study provides an objective assessment of canine DM using primary-care veterinary practice data and is a valuable benchmark against which future epidemiological trends in DM can be assessed and improvements in the management of DM in primary-care practice can be judged.

Objective: To describe veterinarians' treatment recommendations and decision-making factors for dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCLD)., Methods: An online survey of American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS)-Diplomates (surgeon group) and primary care veterinarians (practitioner group) was performed. The survey included questions on treatment recommendations for common case scenarios (small or large breed dog with complete or partial CCLD), treatment decision factors, non-surgical treatment options, and actual treatment, if any, provided for a client-owned dog as well as one owned by their family or close friend., Results: The response rate was 42% for the surgeon group (n = 305/723) and four percent for the practitioner group (n = 1145/ 27,771). Extracapsular stabilization (ES) was the most common treatment recommendation for CCLD in small (9.1 kg) breed dogs amongst surgeons and practitioners. Tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) was the most common treatment recommendation for CCLD in large (27.2 kg) breed dogs amongst both groups. The two most important treatment decision factors were dog size (78% of practitioners, 69% of surgeons) and activity level (63% of practitioners, 52% of surgeons). The most common treatment provided for a dog of their own or close relation in the surgeon group was TPLO (64%) followed by ES (15%), whereas in the practitioner group it was ES (38%) followed by TPLO (30%)., Clinical Significance: Extracapsular stabilization and TPLO are the most commonly employed surgical procedures in the surveyed population; dog size and activity level (but not age) are the major factors influencing treatment decisions.

The objective of this study was to estimate and forecastthe supply and demand of veterinary manpower in India. Intake numbers of veterinary students and numbers of graduates and postgraduates were collected for the period 1997 to 2007. Based on the annual growth rate, the demand and supply for the years 2015 and 2020 were predicted. Between 1997 and 2002 the average annual number of veterinary graduates was 1,675. This increased to 1,707 between 2002 and 2007, with a marginal growth rate of 1.87%. With a growth rate of 1.87% in graduates, and 4.5% growth rate in the Indian livestock sector, the number of additional graduates required to fill the gap between supply and demand for the years 2015 and 2020 would be 1,710 and 2,364, respectively. The annual postgraduate requirement for education and research and development is 310. However, between 2002 and 2007 the average annual number of veterinary postgraduates was 995, with a growth rate of 5.3% when compared with the period between 1997 and 2002, indicating a more than three-fold surplus. With a 5.3% growth rate in postgraduates and 4.5% growth rate in the livestock sector, the surplus postgraduates available by 2015 and 2020 will be 1,027 and 1,316, respectively. The study revealed that India is training fewer veterinary graduates and more postgraduates than the system requires. Therefore, it is recommended that attention and resources be directed to the expansion of professional undergraduate veterinary education, while postgraduate veterinary education should be contained and consolidated.

Background: The objective of this work was to retrospectively assess records received through the Ontario Swine Veterinary-based Surveillance program July 2007 - July 2009 to describe and assess relationships between reported treatment failure, antimicrobial use, diagnosis and body system affected., Results: Antimicrobial use occurred in 676 records, 80.4% of all records recording treatment (840). The most commonly used antimicrobials were penicillin (34.9%), tetracyclines (10.7%) and ceftiofur (7.8%), and the use of multiple antimicrobials occurred in 141/676 records (20.9%). A multi-level logistic regression model was built to describe the probability of reported treatment failure. The odds of reported treatment failure were significantly reduced if the record indicated that the gastro-intestinal (GI) system was affected, as compared to all other body systems (p < 0.05). In contrast, the odds of reported treatment failure increased by 1.98 times if two antimicrobials were used as compared to one antimicrobial (p = 0.009) and by 6.52 times if three or more antimicrobials were used as compared to one antimicrobial (p = 0.005). No significant increase in reported treatment failure was seen between the use of two antimicrobials and three or more antimicrobials. No other antimicrobials were significantly associated with reported treatment failure after controlling for body system and the number of antimicrobials used., Conclusions: Failure of antimicrobial treatment is more likely to occur in non-GI conditions, as compared to GI conditions and the use of multiple antimicrobial products is also associated with an increased probability of antimicrobial treatment failure. The authors suggest that a more preventative approach to herd health should be taken in order to reduce antimicrobial inputs on-farm, including improved immunity via vaccination, management and biosecurity strategies. Furthermore, improved immunity may be viewed as a form of antimicrobial stewardship to the industry by reducing required antimicrobial inputs and consequently, reduced selection pressure for AMR.

Objectives: To analyse the structure of small animal consultations in order to increase understanding of the consultation processes, locate decision-making in the wider practice context and stimulate further research., Methods: Analysis of 48 video-recorded consultations from first opinion small animal practices. These consultations were time and thematically coded in order to enable analysis., Results: The mean length of the recorded consultations was 11 minutes and 45 seconds with a range of 4-28 minutes. Analysis indicates that both the clinical tasks and communication taking place in the consultation are often performed in an iterative and interactive fashion in contrast to the sequential methods frequently being taught., Clinical Significance: This study shows that the consultation is a complex process that is often performed in an iterative and interactive fashion and that may be difficult to complete within the 10 minutes frequently allocated. This warrants further research., (© 2013 British Small Animal Veterinary Association.)

Background: Bibliographic data can be used to map the research quality and productivity of a discipline. We hypothesized that bibliographic data would identify geographic differences in research capacity, species specialization, and interdisciplinary relationships within the veterinary profession that corresponded with demographic and economic indices., Results: Using the SCImago portal, we retrieved veterinary journal, article, and citation data in the Scopus database by year (1996-2011), region, country, and publication in species-specific journals (food animal, small animal, equine, miscellaneous), as designated by Scopus. In 2011, Scopus indexed 165 journals in the veterinary subject area, an increase from 111 in 1996. As a percentage of veterinary research output between 1996 and 2010, Western Europe and North America (US and Canada) together accounted for 60.9% of articles and 73.0% of citations. The number of veterinary articles increased from 8815 in 1996 to 19,077 in 2010 (net increase 66.6%). During this time, publications increased by 21.0% in Asia, 17.2% in Western Europe, and 17.0% in Latin America, led by Brazil, China, India, and Turkey. The United States had the highest number of articles in species-specific journals. As a percentage of regional output, the proportion of articles in small animal and equine journals was highest in North America and the proportion of articles in food animal journals was highest in Africa. Based on principal component analysis, total articles were highly correlated with gross domestic product (based on World Bank data). The proportion of articles in small animal and equine journals was associated with gross national income, research and development, and % urban population, as opposed to the proportion of food animal articles, agricultural output, and % rural population. Co-citations linked veterinary medicine with medicine in the United States, with basic sciences in Eastern Europe and the Far East, and with agriculture in most other regions and countries., Conclusions: Bibliographic data reflect the demographic changes affecting veterinary medicine worldwide and provide insight into current and changing global research capacity, specialization, and interdisciplinary affiliations. A more detailed analysis of species-specific trends is warranted and could contribute to a better understanding of educational and workforce needs in veterinary medicine.

Cow-calf producers in western Canada were surveyed in June 2010 regarding calf-hood diseases and veterinary service usage; 310 producers responded. Use of veterinary services, particularly herd-health related services, increased with herd size as did neonatal diarrhea and clostridial vaccine usage. Administration of clostridial vaccines to pregnant dams before calving was associated with a reduction in neonatal diarrhea treatments; however, there was no association between neonatal diarrhea vaccine usage and a reduction in diarrhea treatments. Producers with > 220 breeding females were more likely than those with < 85 breeding females to seek veterinary advice regarding treating sick calves, have a veterinarian necropsy dead calves, have a veterinarian pregnancy check their bred females, and evaluate their herd bulls for breeding soundness.

This short addition to our series on clinical statistics concerns relationships, and answering questions such as "are blood pressure and weight related?" In a later article, we will answer the more interesting question about how they might be related. This article follows on logically from the previous one dealing with categorical data, the major difference being here that we will consider two continuous variables, which naturally leads to the use of a Pearson correlation or occasionally to a Spearman rank correlation coefficient., (© 2013 British Small Animal Veterinary Association.)

This, the fifth of our series of articles on statistics in veterinary medicine, moves onto modelling categorical data, in particular assessing associations between variables. Some of the questions we shall consider are widely discussed in many clinical research publications, and we will use the ideas of hypothesis tests and confidence intervals to answer those questions., (© 2012 British Small Animal Veterinary Association.)

Objective: Veterinarians should conduct diagnostic and therapeutic procedures according to the most recent and scientifically proven methods. Therefore, a rapid and effective transfer of scientific information is crucial. An important link between science and practice are findings published in scientific journals. The productivity of scientists is often measured referring to the number of papers published in reputable journals. Because many of these journals publish in the English language, it is possible that results from German research may never reach German veterinarians or only after a delay., Material and Methods: Using an online questionnaire, faculty members (professors and scientific assistants) from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were asked how they had published their results during the previous 5 years. Furthermore, they were asked to identify the factors influencing their choice of journal for publication., Results: A total of 118 respondents completed the questionnaire. Nearly two thirds had published ten or more papers during the previous 5 years. More than half of these were published in the English language. Most participants consider the peer review process suitable for enhancing the quality of publications. The impact factor is seen as a fair indicator for the quality of a paper while considered an important factor for the choice of a journal for publication of the respondents own results., Conclusion and Clinical Relevance: According to the data, respondents prefer to publish their results in the English language and in journals with a high impact factor. Therefore, veterinarians may never receive this information via German journals or only after a delay. One possible solution could be a regularly published practice-oriented compilation of relevant scientific findings.