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Report: Calif. Workers’ Comp Insurance Market Still Needs Improvement

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:00:56 +0000

California workers' compensation claims and disability costs have dropped significantly since the state's workers' compensation system was overhauled in 2003 and 2004. Yet "many of the same …

Read the rest of this great post here

Report: Calif. Workers’ Comp Insurance Market Still Needs Improvement

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:00:04 +0000

California workers' compensation claims and disability costs have dropped significantly since the state's workers' compensation system was overhauled in 2003 and 2004. Yet "many of the same …

Read the rest of this great post here

Veterinary Technician Specialists

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:02:52 +0000

You've probably heard about Veterinary Technicians. Heck, if you've been to a Veterinary Clinic lately, you've undoubtedly run into a Technician. In many good practices they perform most of the patient care and spend more time with clients and pets than many Veterinarians. My practice would have collapsed around me if it had not been for my Tech. In fact, I was able to get by as a solo practitioner for several years in large part because I had good technical assistance.

I learned something new about Technicians at this year's Western Veterinary Conference. I met Andrea Ball, the Executive Director of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians or NAVTA. I knew that Tech's did a lot these days but I didn't know that they had Specialties.

In fact they've had specialties for a while.

The Committee on Veterinary Technician Specialties was formed in 1994 and they set about establishing guidelines for the skills and training required to qualify as a specialist. Each Specialty area is represented by an Academy and the Academy sets out the course for any Technician that wishes to pursue a specialty. The Academy also confers the recognition of Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) after the candidate has completed the course of study.

There are currently eight different Academies approved by NAVTA. Technicians can specialize in Dentistry after which they function pretty much like a Dental Hygienist for you dog or cat. They can specialize in Anesthesiology where they provide critical patient preparation and monitoring during surgical procedures.

The Academy for Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technician includes sub specialties in Dermatology, Oncology, Cardiology, Neurology and both Small and Large Animal Medicine. Other specialties include Surgery, Emergency and Critical Care, Behavior, Zoo Animal Medicine and Equine Medicine.

My guess is that most VTS's work in Specialty Practices or Emergency and Critical Care facilities. Their advanced skills would fit in quite well with a like minded Veterinary Specialist.

For my money this is just one more reason for an animal lover to pursue a career as a Vet Tech. They are critical members of the Veterinary Medical Team and now they can delve even deeper into particular areas of interest. If you know anyone that fits the bill have them check out the NAVTA web site.

Puppy fights sleep – and loses! Adorable!

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:02:41 +0000

TGIF – don't we all feel this way on Friday's?

From the Purina PetCharts site (video from YouTube)

New Help For Broken Bones

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:02:32 +0000

I know something about breaking bones and how they heal. As a former mountain bike racer I've had two crashes, one that resulted in a broken hip and another that led to a series of problems with a broken wrist. In the latter case, I developed what is called a non-union fracture. That means that the two ends of the broken bone did not heal and grow back together.

There was too much motion at the fracture site despite the fact that I was in a cast for six weeks. Frankly, I was a bad patient and a lot of the motion was created by me in an attempt to keep my arm from withering away.

The non union resulted in the need for surgery, a bone plate and several screws, a new cast and a bone graft. The latter is the subject for today.

My bone graft came from a tissue bank where human bone is kept for use in fracture repair. The "replacement" bone is packed into the site to aid in healing and to bridge gaps where the patients bone is gone or compromised.

The other way to get a graft is to "harvest" the patient's own bone; usually from the hip bone, at the same time the fracture is being repaired. The only problem with this type of "auto" graft (meaning it comes from your body) is that you have to be under the knife for a longer period of time and that has risks. Plus it is surgery and 25% of autograft patients report pain at the donor site for a couple of years after surgery.

Sometimes it's impossible to harvest enough bone needed for the surgery from the patient.

With "allo" grafts (meaning the bone comes from someone else) you don't have these risks and potential complications.

Now, thanks to a company called Veterinary Transplant Services (VTS) the benefits of osteo (bone) allografts are available to our pets. They provide a bone tissue bank for Veterinarians that perform orthopedic surgery. The bone tissue comes from dogs and cats that have died and their owners have generously donated their remains to VTS.

That's exactly how human tissue banks work, by the way.

Osteoallografts have a couple of benefits besides those described above. In addition to providing a bone "scaffold" that can bridge gaps and serve as a surface for new bone to grow on, allografts from VTS provide "osteoinductive" properties. This means that there are substances in this material that stimulate the growth of new bone. These substances are called "bone morphogenic proteins" and they can stimulate the bone forming cells in the patients body to form new bone which speeds up the healing process. That's pretty cool. It's not just a chunk of bone tissue, it's biologically active.

In Veterinary Medicine surgeons use osteoallografts in serious fracture repair, non union treatment, and in other procedures like TPLO surgery on the knees of big dogs. We've talked about TPLO surgery before as one of the ways to handle cruciate ligament injuries in large and giant breed dogs.

Veterinary Dental specialists use similar materials to treat the effects of serious periodontal disease in dogs where bone damage and tooth loss can occur. In many cases these allografts can save teeth that would normally be lost to periodontal disease.

Having these treatment modalities available to our dogs and cats is a great advance in Veterinary Medicine. In the unfortunate event that your dog or cat suffers from a serious orthopedic problem or serious dental issue where bone is involved, you may see the benefits of osteoallografts first hand.

Here's hoping that you never get that up close experience with your pet. Even if you don't, you'll know how they work and why they help and that's good for cocktail party conversation at the very least.

Veterinary Technician Specialists

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:02:19 +0000

In fact they've had specialties for a while.

My guess is that most VTS's work in Specialty Practices or Emergency and Critical Care facilities. Their advanced skills would fit in quite well with a like minded Veterinary Specialist.

Teeth Cleaning

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:02:19 +0000

The resident feline, Wabby Wibby, is due for a teeth cleaning this Friday. I'm guilty of knowing she needed her teeth cleaned for awhile, now, and not following up as I should have.

It's hard to admit that but I bring it up to caution those of you who are ignoring your cat's teeth. The Wabby is okay, mind you. She is eating well and settling in nicely to our new home in CO. But, she has major tartar build up on her teeth (I should have been brushing them all these years, and I didn't ), and because of this, she will probably (a) be under anesthesia longer since it will take longer to clean her teeth, and she will probably (b) lose some teeth.

Losing teeth isn't the end of the world. But, if I'd been more attentive to her dental needs, she wouldn't need to lose any teeth. I don't think.

The vet was very positive when we were there a couple of weeks ago – he complimented us on her great condition, considering she's 17 years old. And, he doesn't think the teeth cleaning will be difficult – especially since she's not experiencing any problems, thank goodness. And her blood and urine tests came back okay.

However, she is far beyond the time for a real, good teeth cleaning. On Friday I will spend the day worrying, until the vet calls and says she is okay. I hope she doesn't have to stay overnight. I hope she comes home and wakes up fine and is back to her usual cuddly, fun and lazy self. (notice that the word fun when applied to the Wabby is relative – she's not a kitten!)

Let this be a lesson. Check your cat's teeth. Get a veterinary toothpaste and toothbrush and get your cat used to a gentle tooth brushing right at home. And make sure your vet checks your cat's teeth regularly.

We are very lucky Wabby's teeth have held up this long without causing abscesses or infection. Whew! Let's now hope she makes it home Friday, safe and sound.