While they may not feature guitars or violins, VINcasts will be music to your ears.

And if the voice sounds familiar, it's our own Nate Lissant. He scripts, records and edits the VINcasts. Let Nate know what you think.

Nutrition Course CE Survey
In a few weeks, a new FREE VIN CE course, Current Issues in Small Animal Nutrition, will begin.

In preparation for the class the instructors want to collect up-to-date information about where and how you and all VINners gain knowledge about nutrition. The results will be shared with all VINners.

Please help us help you and all VINners by responding to this short survey. The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.

Don't Miss Early Bird Registration for IVECCS!
Party on down to New Orleans for the 13th International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposium September 26-30, 2007. Make sure to register by August 17 to receive your early bird discount. Pre-registration closes September 7.

Things to remember:

• The hotel is nearly sold out: the IVECCS special rate is available until August 20 or until rooms sell out.
• Childcare is available: pre-register as space is limited
• Special incentives for moderators and student volunteers

Never been to IVECCS? Check out the 2006 proceedings to get a peek at the type of up-to-date information presented at IVECCS each year.

Head East for CE This Fall
The Tufts' Canine and Feline Breeding and Genetics Conference takes place in Sturbridge, MA on Thursday, September 13 and Friday, September 14. Preview the schedule and register by August 17 to receive the early bird discount.

Check out the proceedings from the 2005 meeting to see what you can expect.

More CE on the East Coast
The 19th Annual Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference is October 9-11 in Atlantic City, NJ. Register early to receive access to proceedings online before the conference. Review the 2006 ACVC proceedings to see what attendees learned last year, then check the 2007 program to see what to expect this year.

New in VeterinaryPartner:

• Anemia: Inadequate Red Blood Cells
• Calcium Phosphorus Balance
• Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Oral SCC)
• Kitten Smitten

Texas Farm Radio:

• Newborn Calf Survival Tips 3/30/07

Ocular manifestations of natural canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia canis): a retrospective study of 90 cases
In the majority of dogs, ocular abnormalities were noticed in conjunction with other canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME) induced clinical signs. In 30/90 dogs, ophthalmic signs were the sole presenting complaint. Bilateral uveitis was significantly more common than unilateral uveitis, and anterior significantly more common than posterior uveitis or panuveitis.

Diagnosis of Amanita toxicosis in a dog with acute hepatic necrosis
The objective of this case report is to illustrate the essential components to a successful diagnostic work-up of a suspect case of hepatotoxic mushroom poisoning.

Evaluation of the clinical efficacy of subconjunctival injection of clindamycin in the treatment of naturally occurring infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis
Compared with the control group and prior to treatment, all active lesions such as blepharospasm, epiphora, photophobia, chemosis, corneal edema, and corneal ulceration were generally resolved by day 15 after subconjunctival injection of clindamycin.

Fire and smoke inhalation injury in horses
Although not common in horses, fire and smoke inhalation trauma may require veterinary assistance at several levels. Most commonly, the equine clinician is called on to provide care of potentially complex and emotionally charged cases. This article reviews some of the important features of this type of trauma.

Tips for recent graduate moving from internship to private practice
You may need as much mentoring as a new grad. Spay/neuter, lumpectomy, anal glands, itchy dogs, sneezy cats. Seems very trivial, *but* this is what we see every day. And these are the problems our clients present to us and expect us to efficiently manage.

Awful euthanasia: ways to make euthanasias go more smoothly
I am just figuring out a way to "tread lightly" with sad people. Rather than give them a lot of choices, I give them just one or two major ones. Do you want to stay for the whole euthanasia, or do you want to leave after your pet is anesthetized? Do you want to take the body home or do you want us to take care of it for you? Then I *tell* them what will happen next. Couple the action with the reason why. That way there's not really any room for the client to question you, and the fears of our mysterious methods of killing a loved pet are allayed.

Employee discount dispute: employee temporarily adopted pet to use discount, then gave back to original owner
We have a employee pet discount policy that clearly states the discount applies to employee pets only and not to employee's family members or friends. One of our employees "adopted" her friend's parvo puppy for about one week and then gave it back to her fully recovered and is claiming that because the puppy was hers for one week she is only willing to pay $300 of a $1300 bill. How are others handling things like this?

Heartworm disease treatment protocols for dogs with discordant antigen test results
In a case like this, the next step is to make sure that the antigen test is positive and the microfilaria are Dirofilaria immitis.

EBM Journal Club
Tuesday, August 14, 10 pm ET (August 15, 02:00 am GMT)
Join your colleagues for the next meeting of the Evidence Based Medicine Journal Club.
Review the introductory transcript.
Attend the EBM Journal Club

How To Use VIN- Part 3
Wednesday, August 15, 9:30 pm EDT (August 16, 01:30 am GMT)
Learn how to use VIN. Email Nate@VIN.com for more information about this free, three-session course.
Attend the How To Session

Sunday Rounds
Sunday, August 19, 10 pm EDT (August 20, 02:00 am GMT)
Join Kathy Tater, DVM, DACVD, for What's New In Dermatology: Updates From The 2007 North American Veterinary Dermatology Forum.
Use the Rounds link to join the discussion.
This Week's Rounds Schedule

Recent Rounds

Member Benefit:
Got Staff?
The Veterinary Support Personnel Network was created specifically for your technicians, practice managers and other staff members to have access to their own message boards, chats, and CE. Have your staff go to www.vspn.org to register! It's free!

What's Your Diagnosis?
* Ophthalmology Case 26
* Dermatology Fun 1
* Case Archives

Associate - Updated and New:
* What congenital malformation of the sternum causes a depression of the sternum into the chest cavity? Pectus excavatum!
*Explore the rest of the Associate!

Website Of The Week:
Heartsite (Human) and more...

Book Review of the Week:
Veterinary Forensics: Animal Cruelty Investigations
You can purchase this book in the VIN store.

Get More From VIN!
* Steps To A More Effective Search
* Read The "How To Use VIN" Tutorial
* How Can I ... Learn Associate?
* How Can I ... Become A Super-Duper VIN User?

eVetsites Tip of the Week:
Forms Converted to PDF

Upcoming Conferences
Looking to attend -- or contribute a paper to -- a veterinary conference? Check out the On The Road With VIN folder, or the Press Releases folder, to see what conferences are coming up and to visit their web sites! Links to information about upcoming conferences include: SWVS, ECVIM and CVC Central.

From the Boards:
*Cutaneous Histiocytosis
*Favorite VIN Quotes
*Correct The Calcium Based On The Albumin Level?
*Things I've Learned About Farm Euthanasias

Current Issues in Small Animal Nutrition
With the recent pet food recall crisis, it is more important than ever that veterinarians have an understanding of the pet food industry and that they have all the necessary tools to assess diets appropriate for their patients.

We may soon see a tremendous political and financial impact globally as the consumer, particularly in developed countries, will start to demand more transparency in where food is coming from and how food safety is assured.

Instructors:
Marion Smart, DVM, Ph.D
Claudia Kirk, DVM, Ph.D
Sarah Abood, DVM, Ph.D
Melissa Nixon, DVM

Dates:
August 26 - September 2, 2007

Real-time session: Sunday, August 26; 9:30 - 11:00 pm ET (Monday, 01:30 - 03:00 am GMT)

Practice sessions: Monday, August 20 and Thursday, August 23, 9:30 - 11:30 PM ET (Tuesday, 01:30 - 03:00 am GMT)

CE Hours: 1.5

Required Textbook: None

Recommended Textbooks: None

Dr. Smart's paper, "Pet Food & Nutrition: A Necessary Review for Veterinarians" is available now in the VIN library:
This article will be one of the resources for this course. It is accessible to current VIN members.

Tuition: FREE
Attendance at the real-time session is open to ALL veterinarians and veterinary students and does not require registration. You simply need to go to www.vin.com/CE on Sunday, August 26 at 9:30 pm ET (USA) and click on the banner for the Current Issues in Small Animal Nutrition course. All who attend the real-time session will receive a transcript by email.

**Registration is needed ONLY if you are interested in obtaining CE credits and will be participating in the real-time session and the course message boards (Vet students - please do not register).**

Please remember that all VIN members will have access to the transcript and course library materials, so it is not necessary to register if you are a VIN member, unless you are interested in CE credit.

Registration WILL CLOSE on Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 8pm ET (USA) OR as soon as the course capacity is reached. Free courses fill up quickly, so enroll now!

*If you are not a VIN member, you can register for one of our Free CE courses every six months. If you would like to take multiple free courses, there will be a minimum $55 charge to cover your access to VIN during the additional courses.

*Current VINners can review transcripts of past VIN CE free courses.

To find out more about this course visit the Current Issues in Small Animal Nutrition page.

To register, scroll to the bottom of the course information page and choose the Enroll Now link.