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Shortage Of Veterinarians Apparent During Pandemic

Vet care is one of the only industries to see a significant increase in business during the pandemic. As people were stuck at home and spending more time with their animals, they became more aware of abnormalities and minor symptoms—some of which would require medical intervention. This increase in necessary care has made many animal clinics across the country in need of employees.

Veterinarians and veterinary clinics were considered essential business during the pandemic, but were prevented from doing elective procedures. Now that elective surgeries and preventative care have been added back into the roster of services, vet's schedules are becoming more packed.

Additionally, more households than ever have pets and many have more than one pet, compounding the need for skilled vet clinic staff. More people are also willing to do preventative care for their pets than ever before, as well. Pets, like people, are living longer, with more care needed as they age.

Veterinary jobs are expected to grow by 15,600 between 2018 and 2028, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, the American Veterinary Medical Association expects nearly 20 percent of veterinarians to retire in the next 10 years, intensifying the need for more vets.

Virtual Learning For Vets: Webinar Series On Common Equine Ailments

Britain's Royal Veterinary College will offer hour-long live webinars to give equine practitioners the most up-to-date information on an assortment of equine ailments. The webinars will be presented by Drs. Andy Fiske-Jackson and Justin Perkins, senior lecturers in surgery at the Royal Veterinary College. The series will provide information and use examples to teach viewers.

The webinars include:

Sept. 9: The Abnormal Larynx: Options when a horse makes a noise
Sept. 16: Sarcoids: Effective treatment options for the various types of sarcoids, including budget and physical location considerations.
Sept. 21: Headshaking: Arriving at a diagnosis, differentiating between true headshaking and behavioral issues and treatment options.
Sept. 30: Wound management: The latest advances in wound healing, as well as beneficial topical therapies.
Oct. 7: Lameness: Which leg hurts, which block to use, management and outcome

The webinars can be bought individually or as a package; recorded webinars will be available after the completion of the last in the series.

New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Laws Strengthened; Horses Offered Additional Protection

New Zealand has passed new regulations in an effort to strengthen the country's animal welfare system. These regulations cover a variety of animals and procedures, as well as denote who can perform surgical procedures and under what circumstances.

Equine castrations may only be done by a veterinarian or a veterinary student under direct supervision of a vet, and the horse must be given pain medication. Failure to comply can result in fines up to $5,000.

Striking a horse on its head is a new offense that carries a fine of up to $1,500. Failure to provide a horse that is tied with food, water, shade and shelter from extreme weather conditions can carry a fine of up to $900. Any equipment that injures the horse, or prevents it from eating or drinking, is now also a punishable offense.

These regulations become law in August, but will not be enforced until May 9, 2021. Some offenses carry fines and possible convictions. In instances where the horses are severely impacted, prosecution would fall under the Animal Welfare Act, which carries more substantial penalties.

Study: How To Cool Out A Horse Quickly

Five methods commonly used to cool out horses in hot and humid environment were evaluated to determine which cooled the horses the quickest. The study team used rectal temperature and pulmonary artery blood temperature, which is an indicator of core body temperature, for their findings.

Drs. Yuji Takahashi, Hajime Ohmura, Kazutaka Mukai, Tomoki Shiose and Toshiyuki Takahashi exercised five Thoroughbreds on a treadmill in WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) of nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit. WBGT is a measure of heat stress in direct sunlight; it considers temperature, humidity, sun angle, wind speed and cloud cover. This is different than the heat index, which only takes into consideration humidity and temperature in shady areas.

Each horse was worked at a canter five separate times until their arterial blood temperature reached nearly 108 degrees F. They were then given a different cooling treatment each time. These included:

Walking on a treadmill with slow fan blowing on the horse
Walking on a treadmill with two large fans blowing on the horse
Intermittent cold-water hosing and scraping while walking on a treadmill. Every three minutes the horse was taken off the treadmill and hosed all over his body, but not his head and neck, with 4 gallons of 50 degree water, scraped and returned to the treadmill.
Intermittent cold-water hosing and no scraping used the same parameters as above, but did not remove the water from the horse
Continually using cool water on a horse that is not on a treadmill. The horse was hosed all over with water that was nearly 80 degrees F.

The team determined that the fastest method of cooling out a horse was continually hosing the horse with cool water. This lowered the horse's temperature five times faster than intermittent hosing with cold water. Scraping off the water did not affect the rate of cooling.