This is the first of several updates to come. Several issues and great suggestions have already been submitted by VINners. Let us know what you think!

NOTE: These new features are currently available on Beta.vin.com only. Beta.vin.com helps speed the testing and release of new features which are destined for 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.

• Winter Holiday Hazards For Pets
• Seasonal Safety
• Common Household Hazards
• Dangerous Foods - FAQ
• Holiday Foods and Gifts Pose Hazards for Family Pets - Rounds Handout
• Feline Holiday Hazards - Rounds
• Chocolate Toxicity Calculator
• Are Poinsettias And Mistletoe Toxic To Pets? - Discussion

Not clear on just how toxic your favorite holiday foliage might be? Find out which plants are unsafe to have around your furry friends with the Household Poisonous Plant Book -- compiled by your friends at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center!

Ask the VIN Membership Services Team
Question: My associate is out of the office today and I need to access our VIN account. How can I find the username/password?

Answer: VIN memberships are assigned to individual veterinarians - not to computers, hospitals, email addresses or other locations. Each veterinarian accessing VIN should always do so with his/her own personal log in details.

Sharing your access allows others to view and change your personal and private information and impacts the integrity of the VIN community

VIN offers group memberships rates to colleagues working in the same practice. As with regular VIN memberships, each member of the group will have an individual VIN account with their own secure information to access VIN from anywhere they choose.

For more detailed help with this issue see the FAQ about login issues. If all else fails, please don't hesitate to contact technical support.

The VIN Membership Services staff is also here to help you. Contact them Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Pacific time at 1-800-700-4636 or 01452226154 (from the UK) or email your question any time, night or day, to VINgram@vin.com.

Book Recommendation
I'm a first-year vet student who has been lurking on VIN for a few months now. I hope to be a practice owner in the future. Are there any good books on practice management/ownership that the veterinarians on VIN could recommend? I found some by searching through old threads, but I know practice management is always changing and new resources become available.

NEWS THAT'S FIT TO CLICK, reported for YOU...

• Sale of pet-supply company sign of changing times
  Public | VIN | Discussion
• Government orders COE to mend rift with veterinarians
  Public | VIN | Discussion
• Web address extension .vet among hundreds rolling out
  Public | VIN | Discussion
• Fending off a riot
  Public | VIN | Discussion

Evolving Stories
- Tractor Supply Co. moves deeper into pet realm
- Nonprofits and private practice: Easing the tension

The VIN News Service (VNS) is here to give you a voice and to report news that is important to you. Have an idea for a story? Have a story that needs covering? Email News@vin.com.

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

Follow VNS on Twitter! Send a Twitter request to receive VNS Tweets.

New and Revised Articles to Share With Your Clients!

Veterinary Partner

• I Want to be a Veterinarian

Texas Farm Radio

• Equine Influenza Vaccination (revised)

VetzInsight

• To Dress or not to Dress

Use of an inverse dynamics method to compare the three-dimensional motion of the pelvic limb among clinically normal dogs and dogs with cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifle joints following tibial plateau leveling osteotomy or lateral fabellar-tibial suture stabilization
Gait characteristics of the pelvic limb did not differ between dogs that underwent TPLO and dogs that underwent an LFS procedure for CCL repair and were similar to those of clinically normal dogs. Both TPLO and LFS successfully provided long-term stabilization of CCL-deficient stifle joints of dogs with minimal alterations in gait.

Congenital urethral stenosis in a male miniature piglet
*FREE full-text available
A 2-month-old male miniature pig showed progressive abdominal pain, pollakiuria, and stranguria that progressed to complete urinary obstruction.

Animal Hoarding: A Mental Disorder with Implications for Public Health
Comorbid mental disorders (particularly depressive, obsessive-compulsive, and personality disorders) are frequent. Currently, no evidence-based therapies exist. Social therapy and cognitive-behavioural psychotherapeutic interventions as well as sufficient treatment of comorbid mental disorders are recommended.

Anesthetic And Surgical Tips For Skunk Spay
The surgery is almost exactly like spaying a cat. The only difference is the amount of abdominal fluid that is present. I'm glad I read about the fluid before-hand. There was so much fluid that I would have been worried I cut the bladder.

Administration Of Activated Charcoal For Chocolate Toxicosis; Monitoring For Hypernatremia When Activated Charcoal Is Used
For vomiting patients or patients not able to drink, warm water enemas provide free water and help evacuate the rectum, encouraging movement of toxicant and charcoal through the GI tract.

Resuscitation In Veterinary Patients: Airway First Or Cardiac Compressions First?
While performing chest compressions is important for our patients, respiratory arrest is the most common reason to perform CPR. Therefore, obtaining a patent airway will always be paramount in veterinary CPR.

Companion Vs. Cutting Edge Therapeutic Cold Lasers
The two most important parameters that dictate any laser's potential use are Power and Wavelength. You should not pay the same price for a laser that can only deliver up to 1.1 Watts of power versus one that can deliver up to 12 or 15 Watts of power, if all else is equal.

Wondering how long it is until the next Rounds session? Take a look at the Rounds Countdown Clock!

Venting Over a Venti
Will return Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Use the Add to Calendar button on the main Rounds page to add this session to your calendar!

How to Use VIN
Will return Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Email HowTo@VIN.com for more information about this free, three-session course.
Use the Add to Calendar button on the main Rounds page to add this session to your calendar!

VIN Rounds
Sunday, December 28 - No Rounds
Winter holiday greetings from your VIN family!

Need help remembering when Rounds sessions are happening? Check out the list of ways to be reminded about VIN Rounds sessions.

Want to See What You've Been Missing?
(@ = VINcast available; R = Replay available)

Download VINCasts (@)
Download VINCasts with your mobile device
Browse Rounds Transcripts

Rounds are also searchable! In Search 3, use the filters on the left of your search results page.

Funny Things Clients Say
A client gave me the following history for her cat: "Thomas has been very nostalgic lately." Hmmm... sometimes you just miss the good old days. BTW, he was lethargic, too!

Check Your FAQ's
The fastest route to an answer to your question is a VIN Database Search. But, because some topics have been discussed many times on the message boards, the number of results can be overwhelming.

To help you, the VIN consultants (and other experts) continue to create up-to-date summaries (FAQs) of topics commonly discussed on the message boards.

Get answers faster -- check out the Medical FAQs.

Book Review of the Week
BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Radiography and Radiology
Catch up on previous Book Reviews!

Recent Quick Polls (look for the newest ones on the lower left side of the VIN Front Page)

*Find more on the Archived Quick Poll page.

Websites of the Week
Christmas History
The Twelve Ways To Health Song
Christmas At Rainbow Bridge
Boxing Day
Kwanzaa
Winter Solstice
Christmas Holiday Safety For Pets
Getting A Pet For Christmas?
Kwanzaa History

Associate - New, Updated & Revised
Nasal Planum Neoplasia: Canine & 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: WVC, and SAVMA.

Need Help?
If you ever feel lost trying to find your way around on VIN or overwhelmed by all there is to see and do, help is a click, email or phone call away!

Click Help on the VIN Main Navigation bar on almost every page to begin exploring the VIN Help Center.

Meet the membership services team, find links to How-to videos, learn about Top Issues and Solutions, see What’s New on VIN, and much more.

NOW OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!
Visit the CE Main Page and check out the Course Catalog to see what other courses are starting soon.

Common Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Injuries
January 6 - March 27, 2015

This course will go through diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of common musculoskeletal injuries seen in our canine (some feline cases will be presented by the focus is on dogs) patients. The focus of this course is practically relevant information that is applicable to everyday practice.

Seizure Management: Depolarization, Repolarization, and What we can do About it
January 7 - February 14, 2015

This course will include a discussion of seizure pathophysiology, general principles of seizure management, drug monitoring and a discussion of the most commonly used anticonvulsants in the canine and feline species. Case examples will be provided to illustrate the principles of seizure management.

Get detailed help on How to Enroll in a VIN CE Course.

To get the most from your CE course, plan to attend a practice session before your course begins. Practice sessions are scheduled for the same days and times each week for your convenience:

• Tues. afternoons 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. ET
• Weds. evenings 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. ET
• Thurs. evenings 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET

Check the World Clock Time Zone Converter to confirm the time for your area.

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