The companion animal Ontario Animal Health Network has produced a series of mini-podcasts on COVID-19 precautions in veterinary clinics, featuring none other than Dr. Scott Weese. Each mini-podcast features a quick 3-5 minute “lighting round” on common questions and topics – bite-sized bits for busy practitioners and clinic staff who may only have a
COVID-19 is a Wake-Up Call to How We Live Our Lives
Words from Dr. Mike Ryan, of the World Health Organization. He’s been a star communicator throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to listen to voices like his and messages like this.
How to Stay Healthy Around Pets – CDC
I’m always on the lookout for good-looking, easy-access resources to help communicate (and to help others communicate) messages around safe and responsible pet ownership, which is how this blog got its start! I also don’t like re-inventing the wheel when I don’t have to, and I appreciate that many organizations have people with vastly better
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 4: Lyme disease
Lyme disease vaccine is a non-core vaccine, meaning it’s not needed for all dogs in all areas. It’s an effective vaccine, and I’d consider it a reasonable vaccine to give to dogs in (or visiting) higher risk areas, especially when there might be owner compliance issues with tick preventive medication. Available tick preventatives are very
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 3: Leptospirosis
This is probably the vaccine about which I get the most questions when it comes to delays. Leptospirosis (aka lepto) is a regionally important and potentially life-threatening infection of dogs (and people) caused by serovars of the Leptospira bacterium. It’s generally considered a non-core vaccine, meaning it’s not needed for all dogs in all areas.
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 2: Rabies
In some ways, the approach to rabies vaccine is easy. In other ways, it’s complicated. To some degree, the medicine is easy, but other considerations (like regulatory requirements) cloud the picture.
The medicine:
Rabies vaccines are highly effective. A single initial dose provides at least 1 year of protection. The first dose is supposed
COVID-19 and Overdue Dog/Cat Vaccines, Part 1: Core Vaccines
I’ve been dealing with questions (and some threats) about this issue for many months:
How to handle overdue vaccines because of COVID-19 delays
It’s a complex issue that’s hard to navigate because of limited data. We know how most vaccines work when used according to the label instructions. We don’t know much about what happens
News From the North: Rabies in Tuktoyaktuk
While the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated controversies continue to dominate our collective attention, much older, more familiar diseases are still out there too, causing their old familiar – and deadly – problems. Rabies has once again reared its snarling head, this time in the small Arctic coastal community of Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. Rabies is
SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Animals
There are lots of SARS-CoV-2 variants out there. The virus changes a bit all the time. However, there’s a lot of, well, concern about a few particular “variants of concern” (VOCs).
VOCs are “OC” because they have mutations that could increase their infectivity (i.e. ability to infect people), their virulence (i.e. severity of disease they
Update: Ontario Veterinary Clinic COVID-19 Guidance Document (January 2021)
Here’s the latest version of our pandemic guidance document for Ontario veterinary clinics, produced in collaboration with the OVMA. Previously entitled “A guide to reopening veterinary medicine in Ontario” it has been retitled “A guide to mitigating the risk of infection in veterinary practices during the COVID-19 pandemic (04-Jan-2021)“.
Previous versions of the