Multimodal Pain Management for Canine Osteoarthritis

Today's Vet Pract. Sep-Oct 2021;11(5):42-51. 47 Refs

Darryl Millis¹

¹ The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.

Author Abstract

Veterinarians should understand the process for developing a multimodal osteoarthritis treatment plan that aims to delay disease progression, decrease inflammation, and ultimately improve the patient’s quality of life.

Article Tools:

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Use of Dog Serologic Data for Improved Understanding of Coccidioidomycosis: A One Health Approach.
The overall seropositivity rate among tested dogs was 37.6%. Average test positivity rates in states with =0.5 tests per annum per 10,000 households were 35.4% (Texas) to 74.1% (Montana). For these states, average annual incidence per 10,000 households was as follows: Arizona (86.8), New Mexico (0.89), Nevada (0.78), California (0.75), Montana (0.63), Colorado (0.41), Oregon (0.41), Texas (0.38), Idaho (0.37), Wyoming (0.34), Utah (0.32), and Washington (0.26). Human incidence in California and Arizona between 2012 and 2022 was significantly correlated with dog incidence.

Investigating the Reasons behind Companion Animal Relinquishment: A Systematic Content Analysis of Shelter Records for Cats and Dogs, 2018-2023.
The most frequent reasons cited were Behavior Issues (28%), Housing/Moving (18%), Unable to Care (16%), Too Many Pets (10%), Financial (6%), and Owner Allergies (5%). The most common behavioral reasons reported were Aggression (32% of behavioral surrenders), Social Conflict (28%), and Soiling (13%).

Choose Your Own Adventure: Using Twine for Gamified Interactive Learning in Veterinary Anaesthesia.
Five interactive clinical cases were developed using Twine, simulating realistic anaesthesia scenarios with decision points and gamified elements, such as scoring systems and resource management. Feedback was highly positive; 90.8% found it effective for training, and 97.0% agreed it improved knowledge. User-friendliness was rated as "easy" or "very easy" by 94.6%. Regarding overall satisfaction, 96.7% of students described the workshop as "good" or "excellent".

Litter box size and litter type preference and their associated behavioral changes in cats.
Our findings indicated that cats preferred litter boxes measuring ≥50 cm as well as clumping clay litter. Moreover, a comfortable litter environment combining these two elements promoted normal urination behavior while improving house-soiling (both urination and defecation).

Investigating the relationship between canine training classes and post-adoption return rates in North American shelters
Of all the returned dogs, those who attended training were more likely to be returned for owner-related reasons (58.8?%), whereas dogs who did not attend training were more likely to be returned for animal-related reasons (78.9?%). While attending training classes at animal shelters may help to reduce behavioral returns, as shown by the shift in return reasons, they do not appear to reduce return rates significantly for the general shelter population.