American Board of Veterinary Practitioners

01/21/2025

New research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin has revealed the significant benefits of regular dog walking for older adults. The study is published in the Journals of Gerontology.

Up to now, little research has looked at the suggestion that dog walking may protect against falls and mobility problems later in life. This study assessed if regular dog walking was associated with reduced likelihood of falls, fear of falling and mobility problems in a large cohort of community-dwelling older people.

Falls are the most frequent reason older people are admitted to hospital and the most common cause of accidental death in later life. Falls are strongly associated with fractures, including hip fractures, subsequent loss of independence, increased health care use, admission to nursing homes and earlier mortality.
https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gerona/glaf010/7951863?login=false

01/21/2025

Congratulations Dr Carrie Muller, a new canine and feline practice Diplomate!

A native of the Eastern Shore, Dr. Muller received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland. She went on to serve as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy before pursuing her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Western University of Health Sciences.

She completed internships in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, as well as Clinical Research at North Carolina State University. She then joined Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, NJ in 2017 as an Emergency Staff Doctor and later became the Medical Director. In June 2021, she joined Dogs and Cats Emergency and Specialty as the Medical Director and Emergency Staff Doctor. In June of 2023, Dr. Muller was welcomed as Medical Director and Associate Veterinarian at Hoffman Animal Hospital, Annapolis, MD.

01/21/2025

Congratulations Dr Mary Lembert, a new exotic companion mammal practice Diplomate!

Even though veterinary medicine is a second career for Mariann (Mary) Lempert, she has been a passionate advocate for rabbit welfare since 2008. In 2016, Lempert received her DVM from Purdue University and then spent the first seven years of her veterinary career in Austin, TX at a practice that specialized in exotic companion mammals. There, she honed her skills in exotic pet medicine and soft tissue surgery, supported four exotic rescues, and published several case reports in the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine. In 2023, Dr Lempert moved back home to Indiana, where she has been practicing since. She spent the past 18 months working toward ABVP board certification and is thrilled to have succeeded and have time again for clinical research, spending time with her husband, Josh, and three-year-old son, Charlie, and cooking/baking/walking/relaxing!

01/20/2025

Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chernobyl City and the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study in PLOS ONE from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study has implications for understanding the effects of environmental contamination on populations over time.

"We have been working with two dog populations that, while separated by just 16 kilometers, or about 10 miles, are genetically distinct," says Matthew Breen, Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology Genetics at NC State.

"We are trying to determine if low-level exposure over many years to environmental toxins such as radiation, lead, etcetera, could explain some of those differences." Breen is the corresponding author of the study.

Previously, the team had analyzed genetic variants distributed across the genome and identified 391 outlier regions in the dogs that differed between the two populations. Some of these regions contained genes associated specifically with repair of DNA damage. In this new study, the researchers conducted a deeper dive into the genomes of the dogs to detect evidence of mutations that may have accumulated over time. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315244

01/19/2025

Doug Mader, DVM, MSc, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice, Reptile and Amphibian Practice), DECZM (Herpetology will present “Global Warming and Wildlife” on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center on the Key West campus. https://keysweekly.com/42/renowned-veterinarian-doug-mader-discusses-global-warming-effects-on-sea-turtles/

01/19/2025

A commercial flock of broiler chickens on the Eastern Shore has tested positive for H5N1, or bird flu.

According to an announcement from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the entire operation in Accomack County had been quarantined with a 10-kilometer (6 mile) perimeter. The positive flock was depopulated Thursday, the department said, and birds in the flock will not enter the food system.

A commercial flock of broiler chickens on the Eastern Shore has tested positive for H5N1, or bird flu.

01/18/2025

Julie Levy, DVM,DABVP shelter medicine shares strategies for monitoring for H5N1 in cats entering shelters : The Shelter Medicine Academic Collaborative has developed interim recommendations for reducing risk of H5N1 for cats in animal shelters and access-to-care/TNR clinics. Check back frequently because this is an evolving situation with many unknowns about the impact of H5N1 on cats and other species https://lnkd.in/gzCFDf-3

01/17/2025

Half of adult ticks in the Northeast carry Lyme disease bacteria, study reveals
Across most of the Northeast, getting bitten by a blacklegged tick—also called a deer tick—is a risk during spring, summer, and fall. A new Dartmouth study, published in Parasites and Vectors, finds that 50% of adult blacklegged ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease while up to 25% of the younger (nymph) blacklegged ticks carry the bacteria. https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-024-06518-9

01/17/2025

🐢💉 Sedate, Examine, Diagnose: Master Tortoise & Turtle Care in Our Live Hands-On Workshop! 🔬🩺

Dive deep into chelonian clinical diagnostics where you'll:
• Sedate, evaluate, and reverse sedation on Redfoot & other common pet tortoises.
• Collect vital samples from the vascular, respiratory, urogenital, gastrointestinal, and dermal systems.
• Use advanced techniques with the refractometer, microscope, ultrasound, and analyte meters to assess health and disease.

Instructor: J. Jill Heatley, DVM, MS, DABVP (Avian Practice), DACZM

Register Now: https://abvp.com/symposium/
• $375 for DVMs
• $350 for Technicians

🔹 Spots are limited—ensure your place in this hands-on session! 🔹

01/16/2025

01/15/2025

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has released a request for information (RFI) soliciting comments from the public, particularly veterinarians, related to the use of cannabis-derived products (CDP) in animals. The focus of this RFI is on cannabidiol (CBD) products and other products derived from h**p. The FDA is interested in general trends associated with these products, such as information about usage trends (e.g., product selection, indications, etc.), quality standards, benefits of use, potential drug interactions, adverse events and safety problems, and toxicological concerns. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-solicits-public-comments-use-cannabis-derived-products-veterinary-medicine

01/15/2025

The FDA is testing samples of raw pet foods after multiple cats were infected with H5N1 avian influenza. The USDA recently confirmed H5N1 infections in 11 domesticated cats sampled in December in California, Colorado, Minnesota and South Dakota

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) yesterday reported three more H5 avian flu infections in pet cats after exposure to raw food or raw milk.

01/14/2025

Symposium Hands On Wetlabs are finalized!

01/14/2025

Congratulations Dr Jessica Magnotti, a new Avian Diplomate!

Dr. Jessica Magnotti earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a concentration in microbiology from George Mason University. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and then completed an internship and residency in avian and exotic medicine and surgery at Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services in Virginia. Her special interests include surgery and pathology. Dr. Magnotti has a passion for learning and has published research on various exotic animal species. Since her childhood, she has had a special appreciation for the more unusual creatures, growing up with an assortment of birds, reptiles, small mammals, and even some invertebrates. In her free time, Dr. Magnotti enjoys playing guitar and piano, exploring nature, playing video games, and birdwatching. She loves spending time with her partner, Chris, and their menagerie of animals, which includes parrots, rabbits, snakes, frogs, and lizards.

01/14/2025

Congratulations Dr Teresa Susan Joy Bousquet, a new Exotic Companion Mammal Practice Diplomate!

Dr Bousquet grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and always wanted to be a veterinarian from about kindergarten on. After adopting her rabbit, Hazel, in high school, Dr Bousquet realized that she specifically wanted to be an exotic animal veterinarian.
She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2007 and moved to Edmonton, Alberta, seeking mentorship in exotic animal medicine.
It was when the late great Dr. Kevin Wright spoke about ABVP at the (then called) NAVC conference that Dr Bousquet decided she wanted to pursue a specialty with ABVP. After many years of study and hard work, she finally achieved her dream.

01/13/2025

Truffle-sniffing dogs, like golden retriever Rye, are helping to uncover a wide range of truffles in the Pacific Northwest using their keen sense of smell to track down rare and potentially endangered species. The work highlights the critical ecological role of truffles and the potential of dogs in gathering data. https://www.science.org/content/article/good-boy-truffle-sniffing-dogs-are-helping-uncover-hidden-underground-ecosystems

01/12/2025

The incredible devastation unfolding in Southern California can't be understated and, like so many across the country, we are witnessing these raging wildfires and looking for ways to help those who have lost so much. That is why we've joined our friends with Wings of Rescue and Paws For Life K9 Rescue to pull pets from shelters in the Los Angeles area and bring them here on a much-needed rescue flight. This will free up shelters to intake the many pets displaced by these wildfires and hopefully reunite them with their families. This Wings of Rescue flight will be landing in Boeing Field on Sunday, and we hope to begin the long process of checking in more than 60 pets on Monday in time for many of them to be available for adoption when we open on Tuesday. Now is a great time to adopt and help us reduce our current shelter population. Please also keep an eye out for the special icon that will be affixed to the profile photos of the pets pulled from Southern California. We hope to be able to offer more assistance to our embattled shelter partners in the future!

01/11/2025

AVMA Disaster Relief Grant
https://www.avmf.org/grants-and.../disaster-relief/
The CVMF:
https://cvmf.net/
https://cvmf.net/programs/
Reimburses veterinarians for expenses incurred for medical supplies during a disaster response
Red Rover lists a variety of pet friendly lodging options, places caring for injured animals, emergency animal sheltering
https://redrover.org/2018/11/09/cafires

RedRover Responders stand at the ready to provide animal emergency sheltering assistance for animals displaced by the wildfires in Northern and Southern California. Here is a […]