As we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the States, it is a time to celebrate and give thanks to all VINners who make up our Family who contribute and participate everyday in learning and supporting each other. During this time of family gatherings, it is also a time when we remember those who are no longer with us because their presence is so noticeably missed.

Most noticeably missing this year is Roger Gfeller. We want to give support to his family and special thanks and remembrance for Roger, who left a huge void this time last year when he died in an automobile accident. We are continuously thankful for all of he gave to the community, as we are still learning from his many contributions as well as from those whom he mentored. In honor of his contributions and to introduce new VINners to one of our family members who was there from VIN’s early days and taught us so much, we have dedicated the Emergency Medicine folder to him and featured him in the next OFFLINE brochure. Read over 175 tributes to our beloved Roger -- and feel free to add your own. Roger's family (both his VIN Family and his biological family) enjoy reading every story and tribute to our Roger.

• VIN Rounds: Why Veterinarians Need To Understand HIV / AIDS
• US Federal Government information portal
• World Health Organization information portal

Dangerous Foods: When Treats Attack
This time of year, owners want to include their pets in the fun by giving them extra special treats. Many of these treats may be very dangerous or toxic to pets. The Medical FAQ on Dangerous Foods will help you educate your staff and clients about potential problems associated with feeding pets certain foods and what to do when it happens.

Use these resources to brush up on your knowledge and help educate your clients on the dangers of chocolate and other candies:

• Chocolate Toxicity
• Chocolate Toxicity Spreadsheet
• Feline Predispostion to Chocolate Toxicity
• Dangerous Foods
• Calculating Chocolate Toxicity
• Xylitol Toxicity

NEWS THAT'S FIT TO CLICK...
and discuss
News reported for YOU...
Now, share the news with nonVINners -- The VIN News Service (without access to the community discussions) is now publicly available at news.vin.com. Check it out and share it.

New in VeterinaryPartner:

• Holiday Harmony: Cleaning for Company
• Calcium oxalate bladder stones for dogs
• Baytril
• Clomipramine (Clomicalm, Anafranil) revised

Texas Farm Radio

• Eye Contact in Horse Behavior

Canine and feline demodicosis
You know demodectic mange frequently occurs in dogs. Now it appears to be more common in cats than previously thought, and new species have been discovered.

Efficacies of osaterone and delmadinone in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia in dogs
The two drugs were similarly effective in reducing the clinical signs and inducing complete clinical remission, and both induced a similar level of minor, mostly transitory adverse effects. Osaterone reduced the volume of the prostate glands of the dogs significantly more quickly than delmadinone.

Overview of the use of antimicrobials for the treatment of bacterial infections in horses
Long-term low-dietary protein intake increased hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, glucosuria, and hepatic steatosis in heavy milk-fed calves, likely associated with increased insulin resistance.

Factors associated with outcome in foals with neonatal isoerythrolysis (72 Cases, 1988-2003)
Development of liver failure, kernicterus, and complications related to bacterial sepsis are the most common causes of death in foals with neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI). Foals administered a large volume of blood products are at greater risk for developing liver failure.

Spinal hyperaesthesia in cats - food related?
Unexplained chronic illness and death among Sydney cats has been linked to a gourmet imported pet food withdrawn from stores over the past three weeks. A cat neurologist, Georgina Child, has put down five cats over the past week and treated or consulted with other vets about more than a dozen others suffering from paralysis.

Raw diet disasters and legal implications of recommending raw diets; black tea for conjuctivitis in dogs
There are now 2-3 published papers that actually state that when veterinarians recommend a raw diet they are liable if any harm occurs to a pet eating the raw diet. Now that it's in writing, I think we have to be very, very careful in our litigation-happy society.

To extract or not to extract
I would say there is insufficient radiographic evidence to justify extraction or endodontic treatment of this tooth, but a tooth undergoing an active pulpitis will look perfectly normal radiographically. We cannot radiograph pain. Endodontic diagnosis in human patients is tough enough - in dogs who cannot give subjective feed back it can be even tougher.

Sick 3-week-old orphan pup
When he presented yesterday, he was bright and alert, distended belly, lice-infested, furry coat(born outside, I'm sure!). He went home with a vet assistant overnight after treating with Revolution, vaccination with Dist/Parvo vacc and starting him on puppy milk replacer. He could lap it out of a bowl, and was urinating and defecating on his own. He stopped eating on his own and started vomiting this morning, approx 12 hours ago.

Virtual Coffeehouse
Tuesday, December 2, 9:30 p.m. ET
(Wednesday, December 3, 2:30 a.m. GMT)
Did you celebrate Thanksgiving? Stop by and share your holiday memories!

How To Use VIN: Part 1
Wednesday, December 3, 9:30 p.m. EDT
(Thursday, December 4, 2:30 a.m. GMT)
Learn how to be a Super VINner!
Email Nate@VIN.com for more information about this free, three-session course.

This Week's Rounds Schedule
Use the Rounds link to join these discussions.

Want to See What You've Been Missing?
Click the Rounds button on VIN's main navigation bar and read the transcripts of the last few Rounds, click the complete list of Rounds to get to the list of the last 300 Rounds transcripts or click on Rounds and Discussions in the VIN Library.

Rounds are also searchable via the Search button. Just remember to choose Rounds (under the Clinical Resources tab) as the "Source" in your search parameters.

For All You Multi-Taskers:
Download VINCasts to your MP3 player and listen to previous Rounds sessions while you run errands, exercise or steal a few minutes of me-time.

Recent Rounds
@ = VINCast available for this session

• Guided Tour: VIN Message Boards 2.0
• NCVEI & VBMA Discussion @
• Neonatal Resuscitation @
• Feline Ophthalmology ~ AAFP
• Office Space And Equipment Leases @

Member Benefit:
Educate Your Clients
Help your clients to be better informed pet owners with the Client Education Resources listed in the VIN Library. Find even more no-cost, advertising-free, independent online information that you can trust at VeterinaryPartner.com.

The Client Brochure was created as an easy way to explain to clients how being a VIN member impacts the quality of veterinary care that you provide. It also highlights the VIN client handout website, VeterinaryPartner.com, where your clients can go to learn more about a health issue concerning their pets. VIN members can order a pack of 25 brochures for FREE in the VIN Bookstore.

Get More From VIN!
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!

Funny Bones:
Is your cat plotting to kill you?
"Anyone read the study about how long it would take your pet to start eating you (if you were dead) and they were hungry (ie. trapped in an apartment, you died, and the cat or dog had no food)? It was days for dogs and hours for cats. I now shut the bedroom door at night. Just in case I don't move enough."

What's Your Diagnosis?
* Archives of the Challenging and Fun Cases
* Ophthalmology Fun 70

Associate - Updated and New:
* Hypertension in dogs and cats
* Explore the rest of Associate!

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: NAVC, WVC and EAAV.

These courses are now open for enrollment. Click on the links below to see the details, register and find more upcoming CE.
Veterinary Acupuncture - Fundamental Principles
February 24 - March 31, 2009

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) can be difficult to understand. This course is designed to provide veterinarians with detailed information on a simple and logical way to grasp the fundamental principles of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and veterinary acupuncture. This course will consist of five (5), 2-hour real-time sessions, detailed presentations with basic theories and clinical case examples on all topics.

For information on other CE courses, check out the Course Catalog on the CE Main Page.

Please visit How-To's Of Online CE for details about how to register and participate in online CE courses.

If you're looking for more information on CE opportunities for veterinary technicians, receptionists or practice managers, please visit the VSPN CE page. VSPN offers courses specifically tailored to veterinary support personnel, and certain VIN courses also are open to VPSN members.