Happy Friday dvm360 readers! We hope each of you had a fantastic week and, if it applies to you, have a safe long holiday weekend. Now that we have wrapped up the 2025 Fetch Kansas City Conference, we are over the moon to be heading to Fetch National Harbor in just a few weeks! Join us for our very first Fetch National Harbor and follow along with our coverage on dvm360.com.

Here is what was popular this week on dvm360.com:

This week dvm360 honored the 8 veterinary practices that received merit awards for dvm360’s 2025 Hospital Design Competition. You can check out the hospitals and learn more about each 

 is now available. dvm360’s Australian correspondent Phil Tucak, BSc, BVMS, shared more on how biosecurity project in remote Indigenous communities exceeded expectations, a free mediation opportunity for veterinary professionals, and more.

 of Vet Watch, Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, welcomed back Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD, to the show to talk about itchy pets and skin allergy testing, plus why it is crucial to properly interpret a client's history

 that was conducted with 600 pet owners in the US showed pet owners are more concerned about their pet's emotional wellbeing than physical health, aggression, or disobedience. Conducted between July 3, 2025 and July 9, 2025, the survey also showed pet separation anxiety was the top concern among 61% of participating pet owners. 

 this week that it has approved a generic gamithromycin injectable solution (Gamrozyne; Bimedia Animal Health) to treat bovine respiratory diseases associated with

Articles

Wrap up: dvm360 honors 2025 Hospital Design360 competition merit winners, and other news 

On this episode of Vet Watch with Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, welcomes back Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD, have an allergy test showdown, and what to do after the testing is do with veterinary dermatologist, Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD

The allergy test showdown: Skin vs blood testing

, we dive into the essentials of veterinary dermatology with our host Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, and special guest Alice Jeromin, DVM, RPh, DACVD. Throughout the episode, Jeromin shares her insights into the effectiveness of serum and skin testing for allergies pets through what the research and data says, and discussing how the opinions on it can differ between veterinary dermatologists, plus she puts an emphasis on the importance of proper interpretation of the pets history and if seasonal factors could be at play, and more.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity 

 Now, am I oversimplifying things? But it seems to me that there's kind of 2 ways of thought for a lot of general practitioners. Those that say I like doing the blood tests if they want to go to a dermatologist, great, but maybe that is not an access for many of their clients, so they're doing in house. And then you have another group that say, my dermatologist does not like the serum testing. We don't believe in it, so the only way to do is skin testing. Is that kind of the two groups of thoughts that you see.

 I do, except there's a subset of the dermatologists that say, "gold standard" for intradermal skin testing. And well, let's, let's broach that first. After having a long career in pharmacy, I saw so many drugs that were the gold standard come and go, and I think you'd agree, in veterinary medicine, you know, 15-20 years ago, there were drugs that, oh, they're outstanding, and that's our standard. And now the not so much. So I like to refer to it as the current standard of care and having said that, you can ask 10 veterinary dermatologists and get 10 different opinions. My personal opinion is I like to skin test and serum test because I figure that gives me all the information I can get that I need to make up that allergy solution. It's not for me to make that diagnosis of atopy. That's for sure. We're going to talk about that and and again, the reason the gold standard is not skin testing or serum testing is you can have non allergic pets skin test or serum test positive, and vice versa. You know.

Now that's, that's one of the things I hear often, is that if non allergic. Dogs or people. So if you do not have atophy, you could run a serum test and just pop up positive for a lot of things. And many times I hear that is the reason as to why they do not believe in that testing.

: I gotcha. And that's also true for skin testing, of course. Why would I be skin testing a clinically negative patient for atophy right? But in tests that have been done in the past for people publishing papers, you can have clinically normal let's we're going to, let's say dogs, and you skin test them and you get positives. There are reasons for that, but certainly it's kind of like Cushing's disease. If there's no symptoms for it, why am I going to treat it? You see what I'm saying. 

The other thing I wanted to tell you about IgE driven. You know, it's interesting, because in people, when they're trying to diagnose at being people, this was a long time ago, they would do total IgE levels. And they would find that in children, those total IgE levels, if they were elevated, usually meant that kid's going to become a topic as it gets older. Well, they did that same test for dogs, didn't pan out at all. They did IgE, total IgE levels in puppies followed them out for 3 years. Made no difference. Some of the atopic dogs had the same levels as the non atopic. So IgE, even though we've isolated it in dogs and we have ways to go in cats, we still have a long way to go. Long ways to go. That's why we can't use the serum or skin test to say your pet, your dog, is atopic. 

You know, I'll get a client in that says this. Well, this is worst case scenario for all of us. I want to know what my dog's allergic to. Okay, got the dog on the table. I'm combing it. There's a couple of fleas there. Oh my gosh, Mrs Jones, look, did you know your dog has a couple flea? Yeah, I know he's got some fleas. I want to know what he's allergic to that. You know, that's a good hour right there, because you've gotta convince that owner, okay, we've gotta resolve this flea problem, flea allergy first, and then there may be additional allergies. And yes, most atopic dogs are flea allergic, I'll give you that, but it it's difficult for owners to understand that a couple of fleas could be causing all that same problem as, say, a ragweed allergy. I think because they compare it to us, they see how miserable atopy is in us and we don't have fleas. So that must be, what's wrong with the dog must be atopic.

Videos

Explore the latest insights on allergy testing in pets, comparing skin and blood tests, and learn effective management strategies for the itchy pets in your clinic

FDA officials have approved a generic gamithromycin injectable solution for the treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) associated with 

 in beef and nonlactating dairy cattle. The newly approved product (Gamrozyne; Bimeda Animal Health) is the first generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim’s pioneer product, Zactran, and is bioequivalent.

Gamrozyne is also indicated for the control of respiratory disease in beef and nonlactating dairy cattle at high risk of developing BRD associated with 

, according to the FDA. The generic therapy is available only by prescription from a licensed veterinarian.

BRD is a complex condition, according to the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It is a leading cause of death in cattle and can affect any breed and age of these ungulates.

An early sign of BRD in cattle is lagging behind their group or self-isolation. Additional clinical signs may include fever greater than 104 

F, eye and nose discharge, coughing, and a tilted head or ear position. Signs of depression, such as decreased appetite, slow body movement, and an unwillingness to stand, can also be clinical signs of BRD, according to Texas A&M.

The risk of BRD can be lowered by reducing stress, according to Texas A&M. Proper ventilation, minimal pen movements, use of low-stress handling techniques, clean bedding, and proper access to food and water are among the actions that can help reduce stress.

In treating BRD, Gamrozyne is administered to beef and nonlactating dairy cattle through a subcutaneous injection in the neck at a rate of 6 mg/kg (2 mL/110 lb) body weight. If the total dose exceeds 10 mL, divide the dose so no more than 10 mL is administered at each injection site.

FDA approves first generic gamithromycin injectable for treatment and control of bovine respiratory disease in beef and non-lactating dairy cattle. News release. FDA. August 28, 2025. Accessed August 28, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/cvm-updates/fda-approves-first-generic-gamithromycin-injectable-treatment-and-control-bovine-respiratory-disease 

The cattle battle: bovine respiratory disease. Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. June 30, 2022. Accessed August 28, 2025. 

http://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/bovine-respiratory-disease/

Gamrozyne is the first generic version of Zactran, a pioneer product. 

FDA approves generic therapy for bovine respiratory disease

Ally Sisco, from north of Spokane, is an experienced horse owner who currently cares for eight horses. One morning, she noticed something unusual about Calliope, her 11-year-old Gypsy-Clydesdale: The mare had no interest in her breakfast.

“That was weird for her because she’s definitely into her food,” Sisco recalled. “She was also lying down a lot more than normal. She likes to lay down frequently, but she was lying out flat, which I thought was strange because she only does that when it’s really sunny, and it wasn’t that sunny.

Calliope, an 11-year-old gypsy-Clydesdale, was treated for sand colic at Washington State University (Image courtesy of Washington State University) 

Wanting to help Calliope, Sisco administered Banamine, a drug commonly used to treat mild cases of colic and then walked her to help pass whatever was causing her discomfort. After this did not work, Sisco put Calliope in her trailer and took her for a ride, which is a common thing horse owner to do try and ‘get things moving.’

Calliope showed no signs of improvement, so Sisco asked a local veterinarian for advice, and they told her to take her to Washington State University (WSU) immediately. Once they were at WSU, Calliope was diagnosed with a painful and potentially serious condition in horses, sand colic. This condition is caused by the accumulation of sand or gravel in the intestine, which causes irritation, inflammation, or blockage of the digestive tract.

 According to WSU, their staff sees about 10 to 15 cases of sand colic annually and treat these cases with fluids and supportive care. In severe cases, surgery is required.

For Calliope, her clinicians hoped that supportive care would be enough for her, but after a week of being at the hospital, she was rushed into surgery after she took a turn for the worse. Calliope then developed ventricular tachycardia after being placed under anesthesia. The surgical team stabilized her and then removed around 80% of the gravel and sand before ending the produce to reduce the risk of her being under anesthesia.

“I don’t think anybody really knew just the extent of how much she had in there,” Sisco said. “When they told me it was around 100 pounds, I was so surprised. I’ve been looking all over my property trying to find where she might have gotten into it...I can’t find it anywhere.”

Calliope was able to head home 11 days after her surgery and is now months into her recovery. WSU reported that she is doing well, but will need some follow up imaging done to make sure the other 20% of materials passed.

“This was the first time I have ever taken a horse to WSU. They took great care of her,” Sisco said. “When I visited, she looked clean and shiny, and they even braided her mane. It looked like they were really enjoying her, which was nice.”

Erin Pinnell, DVM, MS, DACVIM (LAIM), warns horse owners to not feed horses directly on the ground to help prevent sand colic, and if a horse is presenting with signs of colic, seek veterinary care early. However, ground feeding is not always the problem, such as in Calliope’s case where she was never fed on the ground, but it can contribute to the problem.

“We want owners to know this is something we see in this region,” concluded Pinell. “If you live in an area with sandy or gravelly soil, talk to your vet about preventative measures, because early intervention really can save a horse’s life.”

To this day, how Calliope was able to ingest this much gravel remains unknown to Sisco and her team at WSU.

Rokyta D. WSU veterinarians remove nearly 100 pounds of sand and gravel from horse’s belly. WSU Insider. Published August 22, 2025. Accessed August 28, 2025. https://news.wsu.edu/news/2025/08/22/wsu-veterinarians-remove-nearly-100-pounds-of-sand-and-gravel-from-horses-belly/

An 11-year-old gypsy-Clydesdale cross was brought to Washing State University after she was not acting like herself or eating dinner 

Mare ingests almost 100 pounds of sand and gravel

Meditation opportunity for veterinary professionals

The VetYogi Collective, an online on-demand yoga and meditation subscription service for individuals, practices, and associated businesses, announced it is offering a free opportunity for veterinary professionals to try meditation, in recognition of the unique stressors that veterinary professionals are exposed to, such as long work hours, emotional fatigue, and the mental health impact of involvement in life-and-death decisions.

The VetYogi Collective’s founder, Chloé Hannigan, BVetMed, MRCVS, explained to 

® that individual coping strategies like meditation can offer immediate relief and boost long-term resilience to stress.

"Meditation can offer immediate relief to an overwhelmed mind and boost long-term resilience to stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Meditation is not just a wellness trend; it’s a scientifically supported practice that can enhance mental well-being, focus, and resolve,” Hannigan said. “The VetYogi Collective 10-Day Meditation Challenge offers a free opportunity to journey through a variety of meditation and breath work techniques in just 10-minute bursts, providing practical tools that can be applied by busy veterinary professionals in some of our unique day-to-day stressful scenarios.”

Meditation encompasses various practices aimed at training attention and awareness, fostering mental clarity, and promoting emotional calmness. The 10-day challenge has been designed to help participants feel calmer, clearer, and more grounded in just 10 minutes a day.

During each day, the event will feature a 10-minute guided meditation focused on a different theme for each session, with each meditation audio delivered directly into the participant's email inbox. Anyone interested can learn more and register on the VetYogi Collective website.

Biosecurity program exceeds expectations in remote Indigenous communities

AMRRIC Biosecurity Pilot Project  (image courtesy of The Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities)

A 3-year biosecurity pilot project that set out to improve companion animal health surveillance in 25 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Northern Australia has been a resounding success and achieved all its anticipated project outcomes, exceeding expectations in key areas, according to a recently released evaluation report.

The Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) Biosecurity Pilot Project strengthened collaboration between Indigenous organizations, local governments, and health agencies while also enhancing community animal health and biosecurity surveillance capacity.

“It's clear that this pilot project not only strengthened biosecurity surveillance but also delivered real improvements in animal health and Indigenous employment opportunities,” Bonny Cumming, BVSc (Hon I), MVS (Cons Med), AMRRIC’s head of innovation and strategy, told 

. “It’s particularly pleasing to see our vision reflected back by our partners, who told us the combination of on-the-ground training, biosecurity surveillance. and animal health services—all founded on trusted relationships—is what made the model so effective.”

Building on more than 20 years of experience delivering culturally appropriate animal health services, AMRRIC’s project was centered on a "no survey without service" model, which combined door-to-door companion animal census surveys with on-the-job training in biosecurity surveillance and animal health.

Working alongside AMRRIC staff, community organization trainees collected data using AMRRIC’s custom app while the AMRRIC’s veterinary staff provided preventive treatments and first aid to companion animals in the remote communities.

“This integrated approach not only delivered tangible animal health benefits and strengthened local biosecurity capacity but also strengthened the trusted relationships that are central to AMRRIC’s work in remote Indigenous communities,” Cumming said.

AMRRIC Biosecurity Pilot Project on the Tiwi Islands

Extraordinary philanthropic gift to benefit veterinary school

The Murdoch University School of Veterinary Medicine in Perth will undergo a complete redevelopment, thanks to an unprecedented AUD $100 million philanthropic gift from Ted Powell, a long-term supporter of the university.

The philanthropic gift will upgrade and expand the aging veterinary school to support next-generation, world-class teaching and research at Western Australia’s only veterinary school and animal teaching hospital.​

According to a statement on the Murdoch University website, Andrew Deeks, vice chancellor at Murdoch University, said Powell’s extraordinary act of generosity would help ensure Western Australia continued its role as a leading hub for animal research, teaching, and training.

“On behalf of Murdoch University, I cannot thank Ted Powell enough for his generosity, support, and foresight. He will leave a legacy for the Western Australian veterinary profession, animal research, and for animals great and small, which will resonate for generations to come,” Deeks said.

In the redevelopment, the existing veterinary school will be replaced by a 9600 square-meter state-of-the-art facility, large enough to support a 50% increase in the number of veterinary students who can be trained in Western Australia.

Updates on a meditation opportunity for veterinary professionals, outcomes of a biosecurity project in remote Indigenous communities exceeds expectations, and more.

Veterinary scene down under: Australian veterinary school receives massive philanthropic donation, and other news

Explore the fascinating world of ear mites as a veterinarian reveals the differences between male and female Otodectes cynotis and their impact on pets.

A microscopic look at live ear mites

As Itchy Pet Month comes to a close, Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, takes viewers into a live, microscopic look at the ear mite, 

, differentiating male from female and highlighting features that distinguish this species from other mites.

, which can be found on cats, dogs, and ferrets, is a common culprit of ear disease and infection, and pruritus.

 Clinical signs may vary, but can include

Ear irritation that leads to scratching at the ears

Discharge from the ear that is dark, waxy, or crusty

Alopecia caused by excessive scratching or grooming

Crusting dermatitis in and around the ear.

Aural hematoma, caused by scratching at the ears—a blood-filled swelling of the ear pinna resulting from the rupture of small vessels between the skin and cartilage

: How often do you find these beautiful creatures hiding out in a cat's ear? How sure are you with what species they are? And what makes a boy mite and a girl mite different? Let's take a look.

Look at these little guys go. They're so cute and so beautiful sitting in that oil. Meet Miss 

, the glamorous gal of the ear canal. She's single and ready to mingle. Better catch her quick, as she only lives 2 to 3 weeks and wants to lay up to 20 eggs inside of your cat's ear.

We can see here the tick's head. And if we look close at these arms, we can see suckers. We zoom in a little bit, we'll see these suckers, also called caruncles, situated on a very short stalk. By having a short stalk, we know that this is not 

Now, if we look at the posterior end, we will see these legs that extend beyond the body outline. That tells us that this is likely a non-burrowing mite, rather than a burrowing mite, such as 

, which would be another mite that we may see in cats.

We take a look at this, we also will recognize that this is a female, partly because we have on these long setae on the third set of legs, and we have a vestigial set of fourth legs. We can compare that to a male.

Here we will see the male. Here is the head with 4 forearms, and we will have 4 legs with suckers. Yes, these guys are arachnids. They are closer to ticks and spiders than they are fleas or flies.

So here we can see a very active, wiggling male in the oil, next to a more sedentary female at 5 o'clock. And that, my friends, is 

Barnes C, Weir M, Ward, E. Ear mites in cats and dogs. VCA Animal Hospitals. Accessed August 27, 2025. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ear-mites-otodectes-in-cats-and-dogs

A crash course video on Otodectes cynotis with Christopher Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM. 