People may choose to eat foods past their expiration date, as long as the food looks and smells good, but that doesn’t mean this practice is safe for pet food. Ensuring pet food is suitable to eat is the first step to preventing your dog or cat from becoming ill.
Dr. Katie Tolbert, a clinical associate professor in small animal and comparative gastroenterology at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says dog and cat food with prolonged exposure to air, heat, humidity, and moisture can increase the risk of spoilage.
Spoilage may not be discernible upon first glance, Tolbert said, but it can be more easily determined if the food is past its shelf life.
“Shelf life is dependent on the type of food and its composition,” she said. “For example, canned food has a longer shelf life, while foods with more fat, especially polyunsaturated fat, will have a shorter shelf life. Most quality dry dog and cat food is designed to have a reasonable shelf life, assuming the food is kept indoors and away from heat or humidity.”
At the end of shelf life, food begins to deteriorate and becomes unsuitable to eat. Yet spoiled food may not always lead to food poisoning unless organisms that release harmful toxins were present.
“The side effects of spoiled food are related to the production of toxins caused by bacteria or mold and are dependent on the specific toxin that is encountered and the amount a pet was exposed to,” Tolbert explained. “An animal that has vomiting or diarrhea that develops acutely (painfully sudden) with a potential exposure to spoiled food — such as garbage ingestion, eating unknown items on a walk, or access to a wide area of land — would increase a veterinarian’s suspicion for possible food poisoning.”
While vomiting or diarrhea can indicate a mild case of food poisoning, Tolbert pointed out that the illness can lead to more extreme, life-threatening signs, such as kidney or liver failure. No matter the severity of the symptoms, owners should visit their veterinarian so that they can provide their pet care.
“Unfortunately, there is not a specific anti-toxin that can be given for the majority of food-borne illnesses, so these cases are treated by veterinarians with supportive care, including anti-nausea drugs; intravenous or subcutaneous fluids (fluids injected into veins or under the skin) to address dehydration from diarrhea and vomiting; and a slow introduction of a highly digestible, gastrointestinal diet,” Tolbert said.
Since food poisoning can lead to severe complications and there is no one way to resolve the illness, it is important for owners to check that food is not spoiled before feeding it to pets.
“The color and smell test are the most available tools for a pet parent to check for rancidity, or a form of spoilage that causes unpleasant smells and flavors due to a chemical change in the food,” Tolbert said. “If the color of the food looks different than previous batches or the smell is different, owners should not feed their pet the food and should contact the company immediately in case it is a widespread occurrence that needs to be addressed.”
In the event of such a problem, Tolbert suggests that owners record the lot number of the food, typically found by the expiration date, so that a pet food company can locate and address the problem quickly.
Tolbert also encourages owners to pay close attention to the expiration date, which alerts owners when food is no longer considered fresh, and the storage recommendations that provide the best method for storing food without spoiling quickly.
“Open canned food can generally be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours; otherwise, canned and dry cat and dog food should be stored in its original container or in an airtight container, such as a large plastic container, away from light, heat, and moisture,” Tolbert said. “If dry food is stored in a plastic container, the container should be cleaned regularly to prevent contamination from dust mites and other parasites, especially before pouring more food into the container once it is empty.”
Pets will eat almost anything, but just because they can, doesn’t mean they should. With the help of your veterinarian and by following Tolbert’s advice, our pets can safely enjoy their food.
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to vmbs-editor@tamu.edu.
Dr. Gerald Parker, Texas A&M University’s associate dean for Global One Health at the School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and director of the Pandemic & Biosecurity Policy Program, recently testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on the importance of being prepared for emerging threats and disasters.
The subcommittee, which includes Reps. Michael Burgess and Dan Crenshaw of Texas, discussed the reauthorization for the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) along with a number of public health-related bills. PAHPA was first signed into law in 2006 to provide the federal government with the authority to prepare and quickly respond to emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina, the emergence of H5NI (avian influenza A), and other public health emergencies, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural.
PAHPA has been reauthorized twice since 2006, with the current authorization set to expire in September. As a result, Congress is working to find consensus on a new bill.
Parker also served as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ first principal deputy assistance secretary for preparedness and response, a position that was established after the 2006 legislation went into effect.
“The threats we face range from terrorism, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, cyber, natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, and more that we do not yet grasp,” Parker said during his opening remarks. “These are hard problems, and we must have the right tools to confront an ever-expanding list of potentially catastrophic threats.”
As the current PAHPA was drafted before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the hearing provided an opportunity to discuss lessons learned and address areas for improvement.
Parker emphasized the importance of close working relationships between the federal government and state and local partners who are on the front lines, as well as the need for a deputy assistant to the President for biodefense, global health security, and pandemic preparedness in the White House.
Parker also encouraged the committee to finish its work.
“You have an opportunity to meet this moment. Don’t waste it,” he told the committee. “The risks we face certainly won’t wait for us to be prepared.”
Of equal importance, Parker emphasized, is the need to ensure that PAHPA be useful in addressing hazards caused by new dual-use technologies, infectious diseases, and other emerging threats.
“There is one thing we can be assured of in the future — we will be surprised,” Parker said. “We must avoid fighting the last war, and we must avoid complacency.”
Texas A&M University experts across various programs and schools have provided pandemic and biosecurity guidance to decision makers at every level of government.
Global One Health, housed within the VMBS, helps to advance in policy, research, education, and service by understanding the synergy of animal, human, and environmental sciences.
The Pandemic & Biosecurity Policy Program, part of the Texas A&M Bush School of Government & Public Service, is an educational, research, and policy program targeting current challenges in pandemic preparedness, biosecurity, and biosafety.
Additionally, the Texas A&M Health Science Center plays an important role in educating the health care workforce of the future, delivering health services in Texas communities, and advancing knowledge and leadership in public health.
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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu,979-862-4216
Although asthma symptoms generally worsen in the winter for horses because of the cold, dry air, summer weather can also “stirrup” trouble for horses with a specific form of asthma — summer pasture associated asthma.
“Equine asthma — also known as inflammatory airway disease (IAD), recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), or ‘heaves’ — is a common condition of the horse,” said Dr. Amanda Trimble, a clinical assistant professor of equine internal medicine at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. “Yet another form, known as summer pasture associated asthma, is commonly found in the southern United States, including Texas, and is particularly seen in horses who are out in the pasture during the hot, summer months.”
In general, equine asthma is a hypersensitivity to inhaled antigens, such as dust, mold, and endotoxins, which are bacterial toxins that can be found in hay and straw. Those with the summer variety are less likely to experience this hypersensitivity during the winter or indoors, according to Trimble.
All forms of asthma, however, share clinical signs despite presenting itself during different seasons.
“Common clinical signs include increased effort to breathe and are shown by flared nostrils, a rate greater than 40 breaths per minute, wheezing, coughing, or the flanks and abdomen ‘pushing’ extra hard with each breath,” Trimble explained. “In more mild cases, you may notice decreased performance, a cough when starting to exercise, or a cough in a dusty environment such as a stall or in an arena.
A definitive diagnosis for any form of asthma requires a veterinarian to perform a bronchoalveolar lavage, a procedure that collects a lung sample for cytology testing, which looks closely at the cells and body fluids.
The procedure and cytology testing can specifically determine the severity of asthma present, which Trimble said can help veterinarians make more appropriate recommendations for managing asthma symptoms. Once a horse has been diagnosed, veterinarians may prescribe medications, which can be given by mouth or through an equine inhaler that enlarges the airways and decreases inflammation.
Whether or not asthma is controlled by medication, unexpected flare-ups of symptoms can occur at any time, making it essential to have an established relationship with a veterinarian.
“Recognizing when your horse is in respiratory distress is important, but you should have a good working relationship with your veterinarian, not just for diagnosis and medications, but in case of a crisis or an acute flare-up (a sudden increase in pain) that requires immediate medical attention and the administration of emergency drugs,” Trimble said.
To successfully control or resolve symptoms associated with equine asthma, as well as to minimize the risk of flare ups, environmental management is critical and can be more beneficial than medications, according to Trimble.
“Avoiding your horse’s triggers can help manage asthma, but that isn’t always easy, since we can’t always determine every trigger and because placing a horse in a dust free environment for life is nearly impossible,” she said. “Yet, if the environment is not at least managed properly, the horse will continue to have clinical signs of asthma, even with medications.”
One effective way to manage a horse’s environment is to reduce the amount of dust and mold exposure as much as possible, generally by cleaning out a horse’s barn regularly.
“Regardless of the type of asthma, horses should not stay inside a barn while it is being cleaned, and leaf blowers should not be used to clean the aisles,” Trimble explained. “In the case of IAD or RAO, turning the horse out — or taking horses from their stall to a pasture or field — as much as possible can be helpful, particularly when cleaning a barn. However, for those with the pasture-associated form, the opposite is true.”
Trimble also recommends that owners avoid providing bedding that is high in dust, such as straw; limit the horse’s exposure to high winds, burning pastures, or extreme weather that is greater than 90 or less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit; and avoid feeding from a round bale of hay, as horses tend to stick their heads in it and can inhale dust and mold.
Additional tips for feeding a horse with asthma include wetting down or steaming hay to reduce dust prior to feeding or supplying them with a complete feed that is formulated to meet a horse’s nutritional requirements. Trimble suggests owners provide horses with an omega-3 fatty acid supplement as well to alleviate airway inflammation.
With proper management, treatment, and veterinary connections, horses can continue to breathe easy despite whichever form of equine asthma afflicts them.
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to vmbs-editor@tamu.edu.
The Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) arrived in Perryton early Tuesday in response to the devastating tornadoes that ripped through the Texas Panhandle community on June 15.
The team’s mission for this deployment is providing veterinary medical support for animals injured in the tornadoes.
“We’re here to provide medical care to animals, but we’re also here to help reunite animals with their families,” said Dr. Wesley Bissett, VET director. “Whenever you have a family that may have lost their home or whose business was damaged, reconnecting them with their pet can be an important first step of recovery.”
The VET is the largest and most sophisticated team of its kind in the country and comprises faculty, staff, and students from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS). The team deploys throughout the state of Texas and across the country at the request of local, state, and federal officials in response to human-made and natural disasters.
The 10 VET members and five Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Disaster Assessment and Recovery (DAR) agents who traveled to Perryton were met in the Texas Panhandle by two additional VET members and by faculty, staff, and students from the VMBS’ Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) program located in Canyon.
Together, the team is providing hope to residents affected by the disaster along with local veterinarians Drs. Randy Skaggs and Emily Terry.
“These people have lost their homes; some have lost members of their family,” said Beth Bernardo, VET logistics coordinator. “Everything that they have known in their life is completely gone or completely changed. The little bit of hope we can give them by supporting their animals and their pets, who are essentially their family members as well, is incredible to witness and be a part of.”
Bissett said the team is also eager to provide some help to the local veterinarians in Perryton and the surrounding communities who’ve been shouldering a majority of the veterinary medical needs since the tornadoes swept through the area on Thursday.
“The pets in need have been hitting the local vet clinic, which is at a point now where it’s overwhelming,” Bissett said. “Their county, Ochiltree County, requested that we come in to provide some relief. So, we’ll provide triage and stabilization of animals that have been injured.”
The VET’s deployment to Perryton is made possible with the help of donor support.
“We get the majority of our funding from donors,” Bernardo said. “We heavily rely on the donors who see and love what we do and want to help support our mission as a result. VET donors are just as important as every single person we have out in the field because we couldn’t do it without them.”
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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu,979-862-4216
The best place to be when the sweltering summer weather arrives is inside with air conditioning, yet livestock outside of air-conditioned barns often need other ways to beat the heat.
Dr. Isabelle Louge, a clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says that while all livestock can cool down using shade, water, and fans, cooling strategies for livestock vary depending on the species and breed.
For example, shade is a common way to provide animals relief from the sun, but some benefit from the shade more than others.
“Access to shade particularly helps light-skinned animals from getting sunburned in areas with very little hair, such as the nose and around the eyes; white pigs, especially, should be kept under shade during the day since they are prone to sunburns,” Louge said. “Trees, run-in shelters, and open-sided canopies and roofs can serve as great sources of shade, or owners can consider only letting animals out to graze at night.”
While drinking water can significantly cool down animals as well, owners should be aware of how animals use water differently.
“Cows sit in watering holes to help them cool off, yet this method of cooling off can increase the moisture in a cow’s hooves, which make them soft and can lead to lameness from foot diseases like foot rot and abscesses,” Louge said. “It is better to discourage this behavior and provide other means to cool down animals with water.”
One effective way to cool down animals is to wet them periodically with cool – not cold – water, because, as Louge points out, cold water shocks the system and causes blood vessels near the skin’s surface to contract, reducing an animal’s ability to release heat.
“Most livestock species – with the exception of horses and donkeys – do not sweat to cool down, and because they can’t take advantage of this evaporative cooling naturally, physically wetting down animals and using a strong fan can create a breeze that encourages evaporation, mimicking sweating and cooling the animal,” Louge said.
Fans, in general, are a good addition to cooling strategies because the increased airflow helps animals lose heat through their skin, but Louge advises owners to take care when considering the presence of fans around their animals.
“It is important to make sure the animals do not get access to the fan blades or electrical cords, as these can be hazardous,” Louge said. “Owners should also make sure the fans are designed for high outdoor temperatures, as the motor can overheat and catch fire if they are not made for such temperatures.”
Other methods of cooling can be tailored more specifically to animals as well.
Animals with fiber or long hair – including wooly sheep, llamas, alpacas, angora goats, cashmere goats, and highland cattle – can keep cool easier once their hair is removed.
“The more hair or fleece a large animal has, the more likely it is to get heat stressed,” Louge said. “So for animals with very thick wool or hair, it is a good idea for owners to shear them multiple times in the summer to make sure they do not get too shaggy.”
Because of this, if possible, Louge suggests owners who live in warm areas not purchase animals that naturally have a lot of hair or wool; instead, owners should select a breed that is well-adapted to the local climate.
Finally, animals that rely on fermentation to digest their food – including cattle, goats, llamas, alpacas, horses, and donkeys – should not eat during the hottest part of the day, as this can overheat the animal.
“When these species eat a meal, the bacteria in their gut break down the food and produce heat as a byproduct,” Louge explained. “Because of this, it is best to feed animals early in the morning and in the evening when the sun is going down.”
No matter the animal, however, owners should bring their animals into the shade and provide water and a fan if they notice signs of overheating, such as fast breathing, panting, decreased activity level, slobbering, stumbling, and incoordination. Heat stress can worsen quickly, so Louge also strongly recommends calling a veterinarian to assess the animal and ensure they do not require more extensive supportive care to resolve the overheating issue.
Extreme heat can cause stress for livestock, and it is an owner’s responsibility to maintain their animal’s health. By personalizing cooling strategies to an animal’s species and breed, owners can ensure their livestock are able to withstand the stifling heat and remain comfortable throughout the summer.
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to vmbs-editor@tamu.edu.
When Hurricane Florence hit the North Carolina coast in the fall of 2018, more than 30 inches of rain fell in some areas of the state. The resulting flooding was dangerous enough, but it unleashed a whole new threat when it caused dams to burst, letting water from storage ponds filled with coal ash enter nearby rivers.
Coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, all of which can cause significant short-term and long-term effects on exposed populations.
In situations like this, being able to detect the presence of those contaminants is an important first step in mitigating their effects on people, as well as the environment.
After Florence, a number of Superfund trainees spent several days conducting water, air, and soil sampling in North Carolina and then returned several times over a period of one year to conduct more sampling.
Closer to home, Superfund researchers have done similar work after Hurricane Harvey and the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) Deer Park Fire in Houston.
These researchers come from multiple schools and colleges at Texas A&M, as well as other universities. Their projects span many disciplines — from toxicology and engineering to medicine and public health — but have the common goal of protecting people from hazardous chemicals released during and after natural and human-made disasters.
“We’re trying to fill a critical gap in understanding what types of hazardous chemicals get released after disasters,” said Dr. Weihsueh Chiu, a professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and deputy director of the Superfund Center. “We’re also working to develop new tools and approaches that will hopefully eventually be adopted as part of a disaster response toolkit.”
As the center begins its second five-year, nearly $10-million funding period, its leaders are setting big goals in their work to develop practical tools to keep Texas’ and the United States’ communities safe.
“By establishing our research capacity and group of investigators, we’re putting Texas A&M on the map for national efforts in disaster research response,” said Dr. Ivan Rusyn, Superfund Center director and a University Professor of toxicology.
“Our big goal as a center for this next five-year cycle is to convert the data we collected into actionable knowledge that our communities and county, state, and federal agencies can use; a lot of our plans for the near future are focused on what the next challenge is and how we can take things from research to practice,” he said.
Reaching People, Changing Lives
The Superfund Center, housed within the VMBS, is one of 25 university-based, multi-project centers across the U.S. funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Superfund Research Program, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
While many of these centers focus on a specific class of chemicals, the Texas A&M center is unique in that it chooses to take a broader approach to disaster response.
“We’re one of the few, or maybe the only one, that’s covering a wide range of different chemicals and focusing on the effects of the mixture as a whole, rather than just determining its individual components,” Chiu said.
Dr. Courtney Sakolish conducts experiments using tissue chips.
Following its launch in 2017, the Texas A&M Superfund Center used five major projects and several support cores to study various aspects of chemical contamination after disaster events.
Chiu said the center proved the feasibility and practicality of looking at the overall effects and toxicity of a sample in its first five years, which has the potential to help communities and researchers alike make quick decisions and to assist in prioritizing clean up after a disastrous event.
Communicating with the public also is a key part of disaster response; for the Superfund researchers, this includes helping people know about potential dangers from chemicals released during disasters.
While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many research institutions, the Superfund Center used the pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen its Community Engagement Core, one of six support cores within the center.
To help build stronger relationships with the communities it serves, the center hosted outreach events on emergency preparedness; developed new reporting tools for environmental and health data; trained staff and students in outbreak response; and played a role in increasing local COVID-19 vaccination rates.
“We leveraged our partnerships to hold several vaccination drives and community meetings explaining vaccinations,” Rusyn said. “We wanted to show that we’re partners to the community in more than just coming and taking samples or administering questionnaires.”
Developing New Methods & Tools
During its next five-year cycle, the center will take a broader approach to disaster response and focus on providing fast, tangible results to first responders and community members.
“We are expanding our ability to detect different types of substances,” Chiu said. “We’re also taking advantage of some newly available technologies to address questions that are very difficult to answer in a rapid context. After a disaster, you can’t wait five or 10 years for results; we want to provide tools that are timelier than that.”
To accomplish these goals, the Superfund Center has launched three new projects, in addition to two that have carried over from the first funding cycle.
The first of these projects uses non-targeted analysis to provide rapid answers to what dangerous chemicals could be present in environmental samples.
“There are 80,000 different chemicals being used in commerce and the scientific community has only tested maybe 1,000 of them. We have this gigantic range of chemicals and there’s no way we can do it the old-fashioned way because it would take us centuries to finish testing them all,” Chiu said. “In a disaster, we want to have a rapid answer, even if it’s not definitive. You don’t want to necessarily wait for the definitive answer in that situation.”
In the center’s first cycle, the environmental samples typically consisted of sediment gathered from Galveston Bay. In the center’s second cycle, a new project will help expand the types of samples collected by using the Mobile Responding to Air Pollution in Disasters (mRAPiD) air quality testing van to monitor air pollution in real time.
This project will also study the relationship between air pollutants released by disasters and the risk of childhood asthma and other respiratory conditions.
“The van enables us to respond to a non-disaster scenario in which a community is concerned about air pollution but also have the capability to go do some real-time sampling after a disaster,” Chiu said.
Finally, the third new project will study a unique subset of the population impacted by disasters — pregnant women and their unborn children — in partnership with the Texas A&M College of Engineering. Using tissue chips to replicate cells in the placenta, researchers can get more rapid results by studying the effects of chemicals without having to wait until a disaster occurs.
In addition to these projects, the center is launching two new cores to support disaster response and to enhance mapping capabilities that help determine how specific disasters will impact regions and industrial facilities.
Training The Next Generation Of Researchers
Toriq Mustapha, Mariana Saitas, Dr. Natalie Johnson in the mRAPiD van
One of the unique aspects of the Superfund Center is its ability to provide trainees with practical, real-world experience, in addition to lab work.
“One of the big advantages of the Superfund program is that instead of requiring our students to work solely in a lab setting, they have some impact on communities,” Chiu said. “They’re actually going out and taking real samples from real people’s yards, talking with real people who are living in places that are polluted or were affected by disasters, and seeing that connection between their research and the ultimate goal of improving people’s lives.”
Superfund trainees have gone on to diverse careers in multiple fields, working at government institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other universities across the country, and private companies that conduct post-disaster sampling.
“The center’s collaborative opportunities and interdisciplinary science create valuable opportunities for students,” Rusyn said. “We’ve really been able to leverage our partnerships to help them get their degrees, get publications, and, most importantly, get jobs.
“The center is a science-to-practice type of project, while 90% of NIH-funded projects are just fundamental research. That’s what allows us to draw a lot of students, because they are more interested in the type of work where they can actually see the value and application,” he said. “We are very proud that there’s not only a large number of trainees but also that we have a very diverse group of individuals — diverse in terms of their affiliation, race, ethnicity, income level, and other metrics.”
Providing Tangible Results
Across all of the center’s projects and support cores, one thing remains consistent — researchers are developing practical solutions to real-life problems; their projects directly and immediately benefit people.
“We’re trying to push the research, but we also want to be useful in the here and now,” Chiu said. “In most of academia, the metric is how many papers you publish, but here, because there’s a strong community engagement component, we understand how research can be translated into something that can actually make meaningful impacts for vulnerable people today.”
For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
Thieman performs a minimally invasive surgery at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital.
The introduction of endoscopy, a surgical procedure that uses cameras and instruments in a small incision rather than the large incisions required for open surgery, is one of the greatest successes in medical history. Before the introduction of endoscopy, large problems required large incisions.
Today, a few tiny openings paired with small cameras and rigid surgical tools are all that’s typically required for a surgeon to successfully perform most surgeries in human beings and many surgeries in animals.
While endoscopy is widely recognized as the top practice for many surgical procedures, medical and technological advancements aim to further improve endoscopic surgeries.
Dr. Kelley Thieman, the Nancy & Michael Shaw ‘68 Chair in the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) Small Animal Clinical Sciences (VSCS) department, is among eight veterinarians who traveled to Nancy, France, in the summer of 2022 to train with the da Vinci Surgical System, robotic-assisted equipment that is on the cusp of endoscopic surgical advancements.
“Robotic-assisted surgery is very futuristic,” Thieman explained. “Veterinarians have seen more and more desire for minimally invasive procedures because it’s what we get as humans. Looking at ways to bring this tool into veterinary medicine is keeping up with the peak of what’s being offered to humans for surgery.
“Working with the da Vinci system was really cool. It’s a novelty in veterinary medicine, but it’s starting to become more common for human procedures,” Thieman said. “We were the first group of veterinarians to train with this equipment, and it was really neat to be a part of that group.
“I think we should work to offer surgical options in veterinary medicine that are offered in human medicine,” she said. “This training was a first step in doing that with robotic-assisted surgeries.”
Thieman, who practices soft tissue and minimally invasive surgery at the VMBS’ Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH), routinely performs laparoscopic surgeries, an endoscopic surgery performed in the abdomen.
Thieman trains at the da Vinci console with her hands velcroed into place.
While endoscopy ushered in a new era of minimally invasive surgery, requiring only a few small cuts to complete major surgeries, it also brought new limitations to a surgeon’s movement in the affected body cavity because traditional endoscopic equipment is limited to rigid movements.
Robotic-assisted endoscopic surgeries add the benefit of circular, wrist-like movements.
“Laparoscopically, stitching things is really difficult because you don’t have any wrist motion and that’s how we suture,” Thieman shared. “But with the robot, it is a lot easier because all of a sudden, you have the wrist motion. So it’s almost like tiny hands in there instead of the rigid instruments because the robot can move like a wrist would move.”
Minimally invasive procedures also have a smaller chance of surgical site infection than open procedures, Thieman pointed out.
In addition to the improved range of motion, the da Vinci system offers cameras with increased visibility, and the equipment filters out hand tremors to help the surgeon move each instrument with smoother precision.
“Your fingers get velcroed into place on two different hand controls. Then you begin and you’re in control of the instruments. What you see, of course, is the instrument in the patient, not your hands on the controls,” Thieman said. “It can pick up all of your little motions. There’s also a foot pedal that allows you to change between instruments and move your camera around.”
Robotic surgical systems like the da Vinci also improve visibility into the body cavity with high-resolution, 3D displays.
“The visualization is really good because you’re really close — it’s magnified and illuminated,” Thieman shared. “Visually, it’s almost like you’re standing inside the cavity.”
Thieman’s experience training with the da Vinci system concluded in just five days, but the experience working with the robotic-assisted surgical technology excited her about the future of veterinary medicine and the role the VMBS plays in developing that future.
In robotic-assisted surgery, the patient is a few feet away from the surgeon.
She explained that while robotic-assisted surgical technology is more developed for humans, it’s still a novelty in the field of veterinary medicine.
The new, next-generation small animal teaching and research hospital currently being planned at the VMBS provides an opportunity to purchase robotic-assisted surgical equipment. Doing so would place Texas A&M faculty, researchers, clinicians, and students on the cusp of defining robotic-assisted surgical approaches in veterinary medicine.
It would also introduce new potential for collaboration with Texas A&M Health and other professional and academic units on campus.
“In human medicine, there’s a binder on the front of the machine that shows how to set up the equipment for human surgery,” Thieman said. “Veterinarians don’t have that. Our patients are a different shape than human patients. So finding those locations would be step one in introducing robotic-assisted surgeries to veterinary medicine.”
Writing the book on how to use systems like the da Vinci begins with access to the technology. The initial purchase of a da Vinci surgical system costs $2 million, while a training version of the system starts at about $200,000, Thieman said.
Opportunities to fund cutting-edge veterinary equipment like the da Vinci surgical system abound in the next-generation small animal teaching and research hospital fundraising campaign. Those interested in contributing to the cusp of veterinary surgical advancement can learn more about giving opportunities at tx.ag/NextGenVetHospital.
“I have an interest in minimally invasive surgery, and robotic-assisted surgery really pairs well with that because it enhances laparoscopic- or thoracoscopic (surgery in the chest)-type surgery where you’re doing surgery through keyhole incisions,” Thieman said. “To be able to offer our clients and our patients what is being offered to human patients is important, and robotic-assisted surgery is the next step in that.”
For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
If a dog’s eyesight declines, they may not make noticeable visual mistakes or show signs of discomfort since they primarily rely on smell to navigate the world. Because of this, pet owners need to keep a watchful eye out for common canine ocular diseases, such as dry eye.
An extremely uncomfortable disease, canine dry eye refers to the inflammation of the cornea – or the transparent outer layer of the eye – and the surrounding area caused by an inability to produce a proper amount of tears.
In order to fully understand what causes dry eye, Dr. Lucien Vallone, a clinical associate professor of ophthalmology at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says that pet owners should first be aware of the role that the tear film plays in the development of dry eye, especially for short-faced dogs who are more susceptible, such as Boston terriers, pugs, and shih tzus.
Made of oil, water, and mucus layers, the tear film covers the eye’s surface, protects it from the environment, prevents natural tears from evaporating, and maintains clear eyesight by focusing light properly.
According to Vallone, inflammation and progressive damage to the tear film is considered to be the leading cause of dry eye.
“Common inflammatory culprits like tear film evaporation, trauma, and hair that surrounds the eye rubbing on the eye’s surface can influence tear-producing glands in a negative way, lessening the quantity and quality of the tear film,” Vallone said.
Damage to the tear film also influences dry eye symptoms.
For example, if the water-like quality of the tear film deteriorates and does not produce an adequate amount of tears to keep the eye moist, the eye will make up for it by producing more mucus than normal. Vallone suggests that owners, especially those with more susceptible breeds, be vigilant in watching out for signs of mucus discharge, including crusting around the eye and matting of eyelashes and eyebrows.
“Dogs with dry eye also display signs of inflammation, including pain and redness,” Vallone said. “Pain is apparent when squinting or rubbing is observed, and a distinctive red-eye appearance is caused by reddened conjunctiva (normally the white part of the eye) and new blood vessel formation in the cornea.”
It is crucial for owners to be aware of dry eye symptoms so that they can seek veterinary care for treatment; otherwise, they may risk their dog’s eye health declining further.
“Treatment is most successful when started very early in the disease course, when symptoms begin,” Vallone said. “Otherwise, untreated dry eye can have devastating effects on vision and eye comfort.”
The combination of untreated dry eyes and poor eye health can cause corneal ulcerations, or open sores on the cornea, to spontaneously occur. These corneal ulcers typically require significant medical intervention.
“Corneal ulcers are at an increased risk of infection due to the poor health of the eye’s surface, and this combination of factors brings many dry eye patients into the emergency room for corneal ulcers that often need to be repaired surgically,” Vallone said. “Sadly, some eyes are removed due to severe complications of dry eye.”
However, if owners visit their veterinarian as soon as they notice dry eye symptoms, the veterinarian can confirm the condition and provide treatment for their dog.
“The diagnosis can be confirmed quickly during the course of a physical examination with a veterinarian, who completes a Schirmer Tear Test to assess the tear film,” Vallone said.
The Schirmer Tear Test uses a dry strip of paper that is placed against the eye for a specified amount of time; afterwards, the veterinarian will determine how much moisture is on the paper in order to provide a diagnosis.
If a dog is diagnosed with dry eye, the most common treatment is to apply tear stimulant medications to the eyes twice a day for the remainder of a dog’s life, since there is no cure for canine dry eye, according to Vallone. But these tear stimulants, which are prescribed by veterinarians for dogs, are meant to reduce inflammation and stimulate tear production, easing the symptoms of dry eye and preventing major health complications associated with the condition.
By being mindful of dry eye symptoms, owners can ensure that their furry friend can receive treatment before the disease progresses to a more detrimental stage. Identifying symptoms and taking your dog to their veterinarian early will help bring a happy and healthy lifestyle for your pet into focus.
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to vmbs-editor@tamu.edu.
Dr. Cambridge Coy ’22 has known since her second year as a student at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) that she wanted to become a veterinary radiologist.
In the years since then, her classes, part-time jobs, and time as a rotating intern at the VMBS’ Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH) have only strengthened her goal.
One of her most influential experiences, however, was a research project she hadn’t originally planned on doing.
During Coy’s final year of veterinary school, Dr. Jay Griffin, a VMBS associate professor of veterinary radiology, invited her to join him in studying CT scans of dogs with American canine hepatozoonosis (ACH), a rare infectious disease.
Dogs acquire ACH after eating an adult Gulf Coast tick infected with a protozoan known as Hepatozoon. The condition is known to cause fever, weight loss, nonspecific pain, and lethargy and can sometimes be fatal. Unfortunately, the disease also can be difficult to definitively diagnose because of imprecise and costly testing methods.
Coy and Griffin were investigating an additional finding of ACH that may also hold a clue to an earlier diagnosis—strange bone growth visible in CT scans.
“Very few clinicians image the spine of dogs with this condition because no one ever thought there was a reason to,” Coy said. “However, we found four cases where the clinicians ordered CT scans of the spine, looking for causes of spinal pain, and the dogs were later diagnosed with this rare infectious disease. All four of those dogs had the same weird changes to their spine.”
The dogs in their study had proliferative lesions on their spinal vertebrae, specifically coming from the periosteum, a complex fibrous membrane of blood vessels and nerves that wraps around bones. These lesions seemed to appear without any other identifiable cause besides ACH and were not cancerous or otherwise destructive.
Although no one knows why, it is well documented that this proliferation can often be seen on long bones of the legs, such as the femur, humerus, and tibia.
Because CT scans are becoming more common in veterinary medicine, spinal scans like those used in this study may become an effective tool for creating an earlier suspicion of ACH.
On a more personal level, the project gave Coy a new outlook on the impact radiology can have in veterinary medicine, and she was listed as the first author on the published case report, an impressive feat for any student.
A Unique Path
Coy
Like many others who go on to pursue a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, Coy wanted to become a veterinarian for as long as she can remember, which some friends and family considered odd, since she wasn’t allowed to have pets growing up.
Coy was raised by her grandparents in the small town of Kaufman, Texas, and her grandmother was terrified of anything with four furry legs. So, when she was accepted into veterinary school, everyone was shocked.
“My grandmother asked, ‘Are you really going to go?’ and I replied, ‘Yeah, I’ve only been talking about it for 20 years!’” Coy said.
Coy attended Rogers State University in Oklahoma for her undergraduate degree in medical molecular biology, which provided a distinct, One Health perspective for entering veterinary school.
“We had normal classes like anatomy and physiology, but there was also a strong emphasis on botany and zoology because Rogers State has a strong focus on the environmental science,” she said. “There’s even a nature reserve on campus.
“The animal classes available to me were very different from the animal science program here at Texas A&M because I didn’t have nutrition or any husbandry classes. It was more like wildlife, taxonomy, and native Oklahoma ecology,” she said. “I was actually the only student in my class interested in veterinary medicine.”
These classes gave her a unique perspective that also upheld an interest in wildlife medicine and exotic animals, an area she continued to pursue throughout veterinary school. She even took the time to become a certified postmortem sample collector for Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal disease that affects members of the deer family.
During that time, she also took advantage of any opportunities that helped her become more comfortable working with large animals.
“No pets growing up also meant no large animal experience,” she said. “I wouldn’t have made it through my equine skills labs without Dr. Glennon Mays taking the time to teach me how to relax around horses.”
It wasn’t until her second year at the VMBS that she would narrow her fascinations and cultivate a true passion.
Visualizing Her Career
When Coy began her Introduction to Diagnostic Imaging class in the spring of her second year, she was surprised to find a hidden talent for reading radiographs, a skill many veterinary students struggle with at first.
“Diagnostic imaging is really hard, but I actually enjoyed the challenges,” she said.
She decided to pursue this subject further by starting a part-time job in the SATH’s Diagnostic Imaging Service.
“I took all of the radiographs after hours for the Emergency and ICU Services, so I saw a lot of chests, abdomens, and broken bones,” Coy said. “It was a really great job and the supervisors were awesome and really accommodating. I got to meet a lot of the faculty I needed to know moving into fourth year, so that was cool, too. It just further solidified that I wanted to be a radiologist.”
Before being able to apply for a radiology residency, Coy needed to complete a rotating internship like the one offered at Texas A&M, which allows new veterinarians to rotate through the SATH’s many services while continuing to get mentorship and guidance from VMBS faculty members.
Bell and Coy
“It’s very important to me that I am a good clinician before pursuing my specialty,” she said. “I’ve learned the impact a radiologist has on patient care and treatment plans. While I am excited for the future, I’ll cherish this time working with other specialties and hope to work somewhere that lets me interact with other specialties often.”
To no one’s surprise, Coy’s favorite service to rotate through was diagnostic imaging, and from her experiences with radiology, she can pinpoint a couple types of cases as her favorites to image.
“Cancer can do really crazy things and always makes very interesting scans,” she said. “Checking for cancer metastasis on advanced imaging can be unpredictable and it is amazing what these horrible little cells can do. From an imaging perspective, you’re constantly kept on your toes. I hope one day I can use this fascination with cancer in diagnostic imaging to further the collective efforts of oncologists to diagnose and treat cancer earlier and more effectively.”
Coy’s next adventure will involve completing a Diagnostic Imaging residency at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. After that, she is considering staying within academia or using teleradiology to reach a larger clientele.
“I love the discussions that academia provides, and you get a lot more follow up with your cases compared to teleradiology. That’s really important to me and I think it helps with accuracy and learning,” Coy said. “Teleradiology is also very important for helping people and their pets who don’t have access to a full team of specialists. You get to help people from all over the place—even different countries—and that’s what all of this is really about.”
For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216
Texas A&M veterinarians recently treated a dog with the largest salivary gland tumor ever seen at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH). The dog, named “Jake from State Farm,” was brought in by a rescue organization but has since been adopted into a loving home.
Although Jake had a happy ending, his story had a rougher beginning. The Labrador Retriever was found roaming rural areas around Waco in the summer of 2022 and was clearly in need of medical care.
Most noticeably, he had a mass larger than his head hanging from his neck.
The local rescue group Long Way Home Adoptables brought Jake into their care and found a foster family willing to take in the 9-year-old dog and see him through his medical treatment.
“Our specialty is helping animals that are considered the most vulnerable and those that are most at risk in shelters. That’s typically medical cases, pregnant dogs, and seniors,” said April Plemons, the founder and executive director of Long Way Home Adoptables. “We’ve seen some crazy medical cases from neglect and abuse, but we’ve never had a dog with a mass that big.”
Jake’s fosters took him to a primary care veterinarian who strongly suspected that the mass was a tumor. Due to the mass’ large size and tricky location, Jake was referred to the experts at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS).
Providing Relief
At Texas A&M, a CT scan and fine needle aspirate of the mass led to its diagnosis as an adenocarcinoma, or a tumor of the salivary gland. The cancerous tumor had spread from the gland all the way up to Jake’s ear, while the bulk of the mass was a pocket of skin filled with saliva.
“Salivary gland disease is pretty common, but cancer of the salivary glands is not,” said Dr. Vanna Dickerson, a VMBS assistant professor. “In Jake’s case, saliva built up because he had this big tumor obstructing his salivary ducts. And it’s certainly quite uncommon to have it get as advanced as it was in him.”
The SATH’s Soft Tissue Surgery and Oncology services collaborated on Jake’s surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible.
“With any type of tumor, ideally you would go in and remove it with a margin of normal tissue around it to make sure you’re not leaving any cancer cells behind,” Dickerson said. “But because Jake’s tumor was so big and next to a lot of really important structures, like the trachea and esophagus, we knew going into it that the surgery was more of a palliative procedure.”
Palliative procedures are those that address symptoms of a condition more than its original cause. In Jake’s case, the shape and size of his tumor made it unlikely he could ever be completely cancer free, but by removing the bulk of the heavy mass, Jake’s veterinarians helped ensure that he could have several more years and a good quality of life.
“It was very instantly gratifying in that he came off the OR table looking so much better,” Dickerson said.
To reduce the chance of Jake’s tumor returning soon, his veterinarians followed the surgery with a round of chemotherapy to kill more of the cancerous cells.
“We knew that this tumor was so massive that there’s no way you could get clean borders, but that’s OK — we just wanted to give him a better quality of life for however long his life may be,” Plemons said.
Finally Home
Josie Brown and Jake
Once the bulk of Jake’s medical treatment was complete — thanks in part to generous donors — Long Way Home Adoptables began searching for his forever home.
“When we have a case that is visually shocking, it tends to make the rounds on social media, so Jake was spread far and wide,” Plemons said. “The real Jake from State Farm even got in touch with us and sent a care package with a State Farm bandana, collar, and leash.”
The rescue was soon contacted by Josie Brown, a veterinary practice manager living in Spring who had fallen in love with Jake. She turned out to be the perfect fit, having the expertise and resources necessary to provide any future medical attention he may need.
Although the mass began to grow again over time, Jake’s new owner found that draining it of fluid once a week allowed her to easily manage its size.
“Jake is the absolute best boy and really is living his best life,” Brown said. “He never seems to be in pain and he enjoys being with his people. It didn’t take him any time at all to adjust to life with us; it was like he was meant to be here this whole time. We are very thankful for Long Way Home Adoptables and Texas A&M for everything they did for Jake.”
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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu,979-862-4216
