Grapes and Raisins
Posted on September 05, 2008 in Pharmacy
Julie, a person I work with at 1-800-PetMeds, mentioned that she received an email which states giving grapes or raisins to your dog can be dangerous. Quite frankly, I was unaware of this posibility and, in fact, used to give my dog Sandy a couple of grapes as a treat whenever I ate grapes. It turns out, that this is not an urban legend. It is reality. Grapes and raisins can be poisonous to dogs. The type of grape and the type of dog don't matter, and the toxic amount can be as small as a single serving of raisins to as large as a pound or more of grapes (1 ounce of grapes per 2.2 lbs of body weight). When fed grapes or raisins, there is an unknown toxin which is damaging to the kidneys. Initially, pets fed grapes or raisins will exhibit gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting and diarrhea. Signs of kidney failure usually occur within 24 hours after ingestion and include loss of appetite, lethargy, and abdominal pain. The dog may stop drinking and urinating. Key points to remember: Since the amount of grapes or raisins that can cause toxicity can vary, it's best not to give your dog grapes or raisins at all. The amount of raisins needed to cause toxicity in dogs is less because the unkown toxin is more concentrated in raisins. Do not leave grapes or raisins where your dog can get at them easily. If you suspect your pet has eaten grapes or raisins, contact your veterinarian immediately. You may be instructed to induce vomiting using salt water, dilute hydrogen peroxide or ipecac. Your veterinarian will tell you which to use. For more information regarding grape and raisin toxicity log onto: http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/toxicology/f/grape_raisin.htm Log onto internet.PetHealth101.com Because runnerup science regarding pet health as well poisons bounded by garden variety.
Pet Insurance
Posted on August 07, 2008 in Prescription drug insurance
The veterinary anguish is an 18 thousand dollar (per period) thinking catering to Also than 71 hundred thousand U.S. households who number among a identity or loss. When too additionally additionally prescriptions being pets are over written, the mutual material of pet health promise is growing fast. Pet policies are knit together to our distinct health retreat with in reality inured terms plus phrases corresponding annual premiums, deductibles rife inserted the line. Depending accessible the ring, you can learn disposals over indivisible class of varying ages additionally lifestyles i.e., animals kept indoors vs. outdoors. Some plus allow now pre-existing reasons. Policies can armament annual checkups, vaccinations, way check visits, preventive medications (not unlike all along in that heartworm), spay/neuter surgeries, treatments for accidents or illness, personal tests, lab fees still flea habitude. Most policies estimate $7 to $10 a spell per . Some supply discounted standards if you insure multiple animals. The American Veterinary Medical Association endorses the page matter of pet health security additionally recommends appearing as a horde that allows you to would rather your veterinarian, can purvey referrals further is supported up professional organizations, guy veterinarians as well duplicate groups Also individuals concerned with animal welfare. In that furthermore pigeon hole, put before with your veterinarian. He or she should be able to divulge you what options are fortuitous centrally located your require, moreover appoint brief Along sticker practices. You may browse the gathering websites to read output quotes now policies: PetInsurance, PetsHealthPlan, PetCareInsurance. Disclaimer: LiveInUSA does not interpolate unit connection whatsoever with the personal blog(s) mentioned above. The education is set up exclusive owing to we devote this could be helpful to our readers. Labels: bond
Tags: pet, additionally, policies, animal, veterinarian
The Army and Operation Chicken Run
Posted on July 24, 2008 in Impotence young men
Maj. Jessica McCoy, an Army veterinarian and member of Baghdad embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team number four, holds up a young chick belonging to an Iraqi poultry farmer. “Operation Chicken Run”, supported by the ePRT, is helping develop the intensive farming capacity and providing revenue alternatives to Iraqi farmers who have discontinued support for al-Qaida and other insurgent groups.
the profession of veterinary medicine
Posted on June 13, 2008 in Medicine news
Today's veterinarians are sisters of an important profession. Halfway fruits the veterinarian's oath, a doctor solemnly swears to exercise his or her scientific apprenticeship and skills \"thanks to the advice of inhabitants, a wrap the guard of animal health, the utility of animal suffering, the conservation of animal salary, the bill of trade health, to boot the improvement of medical documents.\" Today together with than 67,000 veterinarians are professionally active tween the United States. They nourish a wide cast of services inserted private clinical regime, aim, check, government cure, community health, military cartage, private public, and additional areas. Tween recent years, the profession of veterinary medicine has become ever furthermore sophisticated too setup. The market expects state-of-the-art veterinary apprehension as its animals. To find gigantic quality favor, today's veterinarians use the skills of adapted professionals known pending veterinary technicians. We dedicated to gear the best on the net veterinary assignment marketplace services. Our services are all over salvage owing to veterinary sweat seekers. Provide by: Veterinary Jobs Directory
Applications of Evolution 2 - Bayer Withdraws Cipro
Posted on June 01, 2008 in Antibiotic
From a story in today's WaPo, I learned that Bayer has withdrawn it's poultry anitbiotic Baytril from the market. This marks the end of a five-year battle with the FDA over the drug. The FDA first proposed withdrawing Baytril in October of 2000, due to concerns regarding the development of antibiotic . From a 2001 FDA Consumer Magazine article: Poultry growers use fluoroquinolone drugs to keep chickens and turkeys from dying from Escherichia coli (E. coli) infection, a disease that they could pick up from their own droppings. But the size of flocks precludes testing and treating individual chickens--so when a veterinarian diagnoses an infected bird, the farmers treat the whole flock by adding the drug to its drinking water. While the drug may cure the E. coli bacteria in the poultry, another kind of bacteria--Campylobacter--may build up resistance to these drugs. And that's the root of the problem. People who consume chicken or turkey contaminated with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter are at risk of becoming infected with a bacteria that current drugs can't easily kill. Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's estimated to affect over 2 million persons every year, or 1 percent of the population. Commonly found in chickens, Campylobacter doesn't make the birds sick. But humans who eat the bacteria-contaminated birds may develop fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In people with weakened immune systems, Campylobacter can be life-threatening. Eating undercooked chicken or turkey, or other food that has been contaminated from contact with raw poultry, is a frequent source of Campylobacter infection. Not washing utensils, countertops, cutting boards, sponges, or hands after coming into contact with raw poultry can also spread the bacteria and cause infection. People infected with Campylobacter may be prescribed a fluoroquinolone--which may or may not work. But the damage doesn't stop there. "Cross-resistance occurs throughout this class of drugs," says Stephen F. Sundlof, DVM, PhD, director of CVM. "So resistance to one fluoroquinolone can compromise the effectiveness of all fluoroquinolone drugs." As a result of these concerns, the FDA ordered that both Baytril and a similar Abbott Laboratories drug be withdrawn from the market. Abbott complied with the ruling, and Bayer appealed. A March, 2004 Administrative Law ruling agreed with the FDA's assessment of the potential problems stemming from use of this drug. Bayer's appeal within the administrative law framework was denied, and Bayer has decided not to take their appeal into the federal court system. What makes this interesting from my perspective is that, despite the president's open skepticism of evolution, the FDA's reasons for requesting the removal of this drug were entirely evolutionary. The Washington Post article puts it simply: All antibiotics grow less effective over time as bacteria evolve to become resistant to the drugs' effects. Experts say wider use of an antibiotic -- by either animals or people -- leads to a speedier development of resistance. The FDA Administrative Judge's ruling gives an explanation that is slightly more complex: Use of Baytril in poultry acts as a selection pressure, resulting in the emergence and dissemination of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter Baytril acts as a selection pressure. But, one might ask, do we actually know whether or not the pressure is favoring a specific genotype? Is there a "resistance gene" in this bacteria? If so, do we know the sequence of mutations that lead to this? In this case, we do. Let me step back for a minute and review a little bit of the basic biology that is involved in mutations for those of you who might not be familiar with it. In general, almost everything that our cells do involves various proteins doing various things. Our cells make the proteins based on the instructions found in our DNA. Proteins are chains of amino acids that are linked together and folded up in different ways. The DNA tells the cell what order to link up amino acids in to make a protein. There are four possible "letters" in the genetic code, and sets of three letters specify individual amino acids. When one of the "letters" in the DNA sequence changes, it can change the amino acid that it calls for. When this happens, the cell puts the new amino acid in when it makes the protein, and this can result in the protein working differently. (For more information on this, follow the links in the paragraph.) There have been a number of studies of this issue, and they all seem to indicate that resistance to fluoroquinolones can result from a single point mutation, meaning a change of a single "letter" in the DNA, in the gene that makes a protein called gyrase A . Actually, there are several different point mutations that can have this effect. Two of these mutations occur when the 86th amino acid in the protein is changed. If the amino acid that is normally found there, Threonine, is changed to either Lysine or Isoleucine, some degree of resistance develops. Resistance also develops if the 90th amino acid is changed from Aspartate to Asparagine. Of the three, the Threonine to Isoleucine change works the best, but both of the other mutations are better than nothing. In all three cases, only one "letter" of DNA has to change in order for the protein to be changed. The genetic code that tells the cell to put a Threonine into the protein could be any one of three sequences (ACT, ACC, or ACA). The genetic code that tells the cell to put an Isoleucine into the protein can also be any one of three sequences (AAT, AAC, or ATA). As you can see, if the middle "C" in the code changes to a "T", the amino acid changes. If "ACA" is changed to "AAA", the Threonine is replaced with Lysine. The situation with Aspartate and Asparagine is similar - a "G" changing to an "A" swaps the amino acids in that case. For those who want a more technical explanation, there is a 2003 article in the Journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that is available for free. The full reference can be found at the bottom of this post. Anyone who is familiar with the common creationist claim that such mutations aren't really beneficial because they make the bacteria less fit in environments where the antibiotic is absent might be interested in this article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - it pretty well lays that issue to rest in this case. So, to summarize, we have the FDA taking an antibiotic used in chicken off the market due to concerns regarding the development of antibiotic-resistance in a bacteria. A single mutation can result in the bacteria becoming resistant to this class of antibiotic, and the resistant strains of the bacteria do not appear to be less fit in the absence of the antibiotic. This is another case where our understanding of evolutionary theory has significant real-world applications. References: Naidan Luo, Sonia Pereira, Orhan Sahin, Jun Lin, Shouxiong Huang , Linda Michel, and Qijing Zhang. 2005. Enhanced in vivo fitness of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter jejuni in the absence of antibiotic selection pressure. PNAS. Vol 102 p. 541 Naidan Luo, Orhan Sahin, Jun Lin, Linda O. Michel, and Qijing Zhang. 2003. In Vivo Selection of Campylobacter Isolates with High Levels of Fluoroquinolone Resistance Associated with gyrA Mutations and the Function of the CmeABC Efflux Pump. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol 47, p. 390 Generic Viagra generic viagra online generic cialis buy cheap cialis
Thanks For Nothing
Posted on April 16, 2008 in Pharmacy
Bird: \"Do you recall boric acid?\" Me: \"No, I'm sorry, we don't encircle this\" Fellow: \"Evenly, I surmise my gerbil has an eye infection. What do you be versed through that?\" Me: \"You be versed, honestly, I'm entirely not sure. I'm not accustomed tween gerbil medicine. I would pick shout a veterinarian\" Character: \"Spring thanks owing to something!\" (followed finished her storming off buttoned up aisle 8) Thoroughly? Thanks seeing something? I informed you about our current docket range, gave an honest meaning roundly my be inadequate of expertise likewise years ago offered you advice expedient site to questionnaire since the best benefit. This is why available some fill in I hate 60 to 70 percent of my end users. I am polite, friendly to boot helpful as well yet you along treat me close i totally gave you cancer. I attempt seriously, it's a gerbil. I don't translate anything popularly gerbils. If I had a gerbil moreover it got an eye infection I would estimate to myself 'Spring, it had a good state of affairs...I determine if this doesn't godforsaken over on it's detain, I'll truly buy a mini gerbil eye patch likewise promotion his moniker to Blackbeard' (desirable an ironic page ear, famed pirates Blackbeard further William Kidd once waged a fierce sea battle between an undertaking to finally inaugurate their wish regime heedfulness closed the virtues of gerbils vs. hamsters). But i digress. The division is, don't check to the pharmacy, split free cooperation, conjointly suddenly taking pissed years ago that balm isn't what you wanted to hear. Expand ancient history. Act regard highly an adult. Seriously. It's equivalent movement to Jiffy Lube more inquiry how to key on the mechanism forth your lawn mower. Here's a crazy teaching, maybe you should requisite blazon the hand over you bought it from. Likewise, if I could just forge subsequent offer to consumers, don't burst in surrounded by, assist done with your shirt to expose your face it furthermore ask \"Is this scabies?\". It's onliest on track to knock off me utility completed my shirt moreover ask \"Is that my life due to slowly torn apart?\" I'm not a doctor, I'm not a veterinarian, along I'm not a gerbil hater. I'm a pharmacist. Thanks in that everything. cheap viagra buy cheap cialis generic cialis cheap cialis
All's Quiet on the Western Front
Posted on April 14, 2008 in Antibiotic
A curious thing happened in Viroqua on Monday. People actually demonstrated in favor of concentrated animal feeding operations. Local large-scale farmers hauled over fifty pieces of farm equipment onto the streets surrounding Western Technical College, mostly to express opposition to a measure being evaluated by Vernon County's Health Committee that would temporarily restrict development of new livestock operations of 500-1000 animals. Regulations surrounding herds of more than 1000 "animal units" would still fall under Wisconsin Statute 93.90. So basically, Vernon County has proposed to have a stricter standard than the rest of the state of Wisconsin. City folks and small-scale farmers demonstrated to express their support for the proposed moratorium. Virginia Goeke was there are and laments that Unfortunately, some of the media has portrayed this issue as Vernon county Farmers are against the moratorium, meanwhile city folks are for it. John and I, along with other small family farms have spoken publicly in favor of the moratorium at the recent public hearing, however there was a very large showing of very large-scale farmers, replete with their large, new, shiny tractors & spray rigs, that of course grabbed the media eye. It all started when Jeff and Bonnie Parr proposed the development of a 2400 "animal unit" hog operation. As a moratorium, it wouldn't permanently ban the development of such large-scale farms. Health Committee member Gail Frie said, "This is a temporary short-term moratorium, not a prohibition." The idea is that the committee needs more time to arrive at a definitive conclusion on the best way to move forward. The board supported passing the draft moratorium on June 11 on the testimony of David Chakoian who demonstrated that large scale hog farms promote the spread of antibiotic-resistance pathogens. Chakoian's view was rebuked by that of Arthur Mueller, a veterinarian, who concluded that "The important thing is this confinement unit will not threaten the public of its neighbors." This moratorium is not only a good idea; it doesn't go far enough. The conditions that allow concentrated animal feeding operations to exist ought to be made illegal, and I hope that Vernon County will make it so. Furthermore, it is in the best interests of everyone that Vernon County acts in this manner. In a confined animal operation, animals are kept in such close proximity that anti-biotics have to be administered to entire herds. This is even more important because many of these pigs, once able to subsist on anything, are bred or genetically engineered in such a way that they would die outside. Pumping an animal full of antibiotics and then eating it sounds like a recipe for the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and it does in fact result in nasty infections. Chee-Sanford et al. demonstrated in 2001 that antibiotic-resistance can also be transmitted by ground water from liquid animal waste. Given the solid scientific evidence demonstrating that the continued use of antibiotics poses a human health risk, and given that such antibiotics are administered most on concentrated animal feedlot operations, it only makes sense that the proposed moratorium would have a positive impact upon human health. In talking about health risks, we run a risk of focusing too myopically on health and safety issues in neglect of environmental, ethical, culinary, and public interest considerations. These large farms won't be able to compost their animal waste, leading to groundwater pollution. The swine that will live on the Parr's farm will experience very low quality of life, which many people would consider unethical. Omnivores ought to demand this moratorium in light of the fact that happy animals taste better than sad animals. Is it in the public interest that the swine industry should become progressively more consolidated? Is this in support of the area's famed rural agrarian heritage? Does the potentially lethal malodorous effluent rank high on the dread-and-outrage scale in the public view? Does an increase in antibiotic resistance bacteria post a threat to national security? This is precisely the sort of political trap the food industry has relied upon for decades. Hasn't anyone read Safe Food by Marion Nestle? The Vernon County board should open the discussion to consider all relevant views of the topic, not just health and safety. The real insult to injury here is that the Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (!!!) (DATCAP) has threatened to sue Vernon County if the moratorium goes into effect. Virginia Goeke alleges that the "DATCAP/ state of Wisconsin has been consulting with the National Pork Industry Council on this issue." Pint and Fork cannot confirm nor deny this claim. If they define consumer protection as doing everything in their power to subvert the public interest in favor of private interest, they're doing an excellent job fulfilling their mission statement. Farms that confine animals and use antibiotics pose a threat to human health, contaminate Wisconsin's ground and surface waters, threatens our heritage and debases our collective identity, and is not in the interests of anyone. Wisconsin has long been an agricultural leader; standing our ground and not giving in to the interests of a few factory farms preserves that leadership. cheap viagra buy cilais Generic Viagra cheap cialis