Tuesday, February 21, 2012What do you want to know TODAY?  
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Hormones Running Amok?
Do you have a diabetic patient that's difficult to regulate? Are you frustrated with trying to interpret adrenal function tests? The Endocrinology Specialty Center has lots of great tools for managing your endocrine cases:

  • Glucose Curve Calculator
  • Trilostane Dosing Tool
  • Sections on adrenal, thyroid, pituitary and parathyroid diseases
  • Numerous client handouts
  • Links to related journals, proceedings, websites and rounds

Reach the Endocrinology Specialty Center through the About Page for the Endocrinology and Reproduction message folders and the Specialty Centers section of the VIN Library. Don’t dally! Go discover all the helpful resources in this center!

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

The VIN 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.



Use the VIN Calculators with your mobile device on Beta.vin.com!
The VIN Wizards have been testing many of the VIN calculators extensively on iPad and iPhone and they're now available for mobile device users to try.

These mobile versions allow you to use calculator functions on mobile devices that don’t support Adobe Flash. The VIN geeks will continue tweaking them to make them more user friendly and we'd love your feedback.

Access the calculators and other mobile friendly VIN tools at https://www.vin.com/mobile.

Keep an eye on this section of VIN This Week to find out what new toys you can help us perfect on Beta.vin.com.

If you want the latest and greatest and want to be on the "bleeding edge" of where VIN is going, make Beta.vin.com your VIN Homepage.



NEWS THAT'S FIT TO CLICK and discuss;
News reported for YOU...

Evolving stories
*
Antech sues clinics, alleging breach of contract
* Lawmakers press FDA to act on chicken-jerky problem
* Student-loan consolidation application miscue

Be a VIN newshound:

VNS is here to give YOU a voice and report news that is important to YOU. Got an idea for a story? Have a story that needs covering? Post it on the boards or email News@vin.com.

The VIN News Service (without access to the community discussions) is available to the general public. Share news.vin.com with nonVINners.

You can follow VNS on Twitter! Send a Twitter request to receive VNS Tweets.

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New and Revised
Share these with your clients!

Texas Farm Radio

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Post-mortem findings in 54 cases of anesthetic - associated death in cats from two spay-neuter programs in New York State
Significant gross and/or microscopic pre-existing disease, including pulmonary, cardiac, and systemic disease, was detected in 33% of cases. Pulmonary disease was most frequently diagnosed (24% of cases), and included cases of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus infection (9% of cases). Heart disease, including two cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, was less frequent (11% of cases). Four percent died from surgical complications.

Clinical use of cyclosporine as an adjunctive therapy in the management of feline idiopathic pure red cell aplasia
All 10 cats were treated with combinations of glucocorticoids and cyclosporine. Of the 10 cats, the eight for which follow-up data was available achieved and maintained remission for a median of 31 and 406 days, respectively. Therapy was reduced or discontinued in 7/8 cats; 2/7 maintained remission off therapy and 5/7 cats relapsed. Remission was reinduced in four cats, with 3/4 cats maintained long-term on low dose therapy.

Use of the loop diuretic torsemide in 3 dogs with advanced heart failure
The loop diuretic torsemide has several characteristics that make it suitable for treatment of advanced heart failure including longer half-life, increased potency of diuretic action, and anti-aldosterone effects. This case report details the administration of torsemide in 3 dogs with advanced heart failure and apparent furosemide resistance.




Recommendations for class IV lasers in laser therapy: potential injuries and preferred settings
I am currently evaluating the companion therapy laser versus the cutting edge therapy class IV lasers. I have read previous posts on the boards which are helpful. Any new thoughts since these postings from several months ago?

Anorexic, vomiting cat: do radiographs show gastrointestinal obstruction, and should we do exploratory?
Update: Booked surgery for noon today finally after 6 days of lethargy and inappetance and vomiting. Finally got the owners on board... then at 9 a.m. the cat suddenly looks brighter... much brighter. Starts purring and rubbing against the cage door, sniffing at his food bowl and meowing as we walk by. So, we took another x-ray; 24 hours after the barium and cancelled his surgery for today, gave the guy an enema later in the day, and he passed the hairball.

Client was angry because I had to take time off for family emergency
I told her that the nature of emergencies led to them being unpredictable and that my actions would depend on the circumstances; If I was in surgery and my child was sick at school I would probably finish surgery while using staff to relay messages to arrange for his care. If instead I had a deranged gunman shooting people in the lobby then yes it might lead to an interruption of the surgery.


 

Virtual Coffeehouse
Tuesday, February 21, 9:30 p.m. ET
(Wednesday, February 22, 2:30 a.m. GMT/UTC)
Come on in and say hey!

Sunday Rounds
Sunday, February 26, 9 p.m. ET
(Monday, February 27, 2 a.m. GMT/UTC)

Join Steven J. Bailey, DVM, DABVP (Feline) for Feline Negative Contrast Gastrography.

Full Rounds Schedule and Countdown Clock
Use the Rounds link to join these discussions




Want to See What You've Been Missing?

Download VINCasts
Too busy to read past Rounds sessions? Download VINCasts to your MP3 player and listen on the go. Rounds available as VINCasts are marked with an @.

If you've reserved time for some quiet reading, click the Rounds button on the VIN Main Navigation bar and read the transcripts of the last few Rounds. You can also browse the complete list of the last 300 Rounds transcripts or you can 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.



If you've ever wondered what is the difference between using the Reply and Reply to All buttons when responding to a post on the message boards, check out this help video and find out!

Find more videos that walk you through other message boards functions like posting images, searching and cross posting in the Show Me How Video Library.

Find more How-to Movies in the Help Video Library:

Need Help?
Have questions about your membership? Can't find that reference you need for a tough case? Help is a click, email or phone call away! (Hint: you can find this page anytime by clicking HELP on the main VIN Navigation Bar, and then clicking on "Member Support Team" in the left hand side column.)



In addition to the Website of the Week (WOW) you'll find a plethora of links to VINners' favorite resources outside of VIN.

Browse the category list on the left side of the page and find helpful information on everything from Alternative/Holistic Medicine to Computers to Toxicology.

There's even a category just for fun stuff for those days when you could use a laugh after one of those appointments that make you want to cry.

Share your favorite website with your fellow VINners! Please be sure to include the complete site address (URL) and tell us why you like the site.


Book Review of the Week
Medical Terminology For Health Professionals: 6th Ed.
Catch up on previous Book Reviews!

Website of the Week
The International Classification of Diseases

eVetSites Tip of the Week
Improved Accuracy for Statistics

What's your Diagnosis?
Archives of the Challenging and Fun Cases
Pathology Case 89 - Opened 2/7
Ophthalmology Case 142 - Opened 2/3
Zoonosis Case 114 - Opened 2/13

Associate - Updated and New:
Cerebellar degeneration (feline)
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 websites! Links to information about upcoming conferences include: SAVMA, and Voorjaarsdagen.



You dirty dog
When I was on senior rotations in vet school, when a patient was ready to be discharged the receptionists would page the student in charge of the patient over the intercom. So everyone in the hospital hallways would hear... "Student in charge of Spot Smith, Spot Smith is ready to go home." Well, there was one frequent client with the last name "Ho" who named his dog "Dirty." The receptionists took great pleasure in paging, "Dirty Ho is ready to go home. I repeat, DIRTY HO is ready to go home!"



NOW OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!
Click on the links below to see the details, register, and find more upcoming CE.

Common Toxicants
March 6 - April 4, 2012

Participants will learn about a variety of common toxicologic hazards that are frequently encountered by pets during the spring and summer months of the year, including the toxicology of hazardous indoor and outdoor plants, seasonal household items that are of toxicologic significance and outdoor hazards that pets may encounter during the spring and summer months.

Quality Management for the Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Part I
March 18 - July 4, 2012

This course is designed to provide an introduction to and practical application of quality management in the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory. It is given in two parts (Part I and Part II). Part I is a prerequisite for Part II.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Canine Hyperadrenocorticism
March 25 - April 18, 2012

This course will detail the diagnosis and medical management of canine hyperadrenocorticism. The instructors will have an overview of available options for medical management of hyperadrenocorticism, with a more detailed discussion on the use of trilostane.

For more information on CE opportunities for veterinary technicians, receptionists or practice managers, visit the VSPN Course Catalog. VSPN offers courses tailored to veterinary support personnel, and certain VIN courses also are open to VSPN members.

Follow VIN CE and VSPN on Twitter! Click the "Send request" button to prompt the (VIN / VSPN) crews to accept you as a follower.

Visit the CE Main Page and check out the Course Catalog to see what's on the schedule.


VIN This Week Archives
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