Vet Gazette

The topic of Brian Toncray’s presentation last week was a bit unusual for a senior paper: Smartphone Apps for Veterinarians. Toncray began by taking a survey of the audience in the Magruder auditorium to see if anyone was still using a Blackberry. Not a single hand was raised. “Good,” he said, “Because the apps I reviewed are only available for I-phones and Androids.”

In researching this paper, Toncray plowed through hundreds of apps listed under ‘veterinary’ in the I-Tunes store and on Google Play. Most he says are ‘not worth the money’. But he did find some good, inexpensive or free apps that may be of practical use to veterinarians. The first one he recommends is Vet Calculator Plus which can calculate everything from blood transfusion amounts to fluid drip rates. And it’s a bargain at only two dollars.

Also recommended by Toncray is a free, easy reference app called Wickliffe which enables the user to enter drug names and get specific information about dosage, indications, and more. A similar app, the Compendium of Vet Products, allows the user to search a drug database by categories like disease and ingredients.

Another free app is Target, an anti-microbial reference guide with information available in easy-to-read charts and graphs.

For on-the-go veterinarians, Toncray found Infinity Lab Retriever, a companion module for ImproMed’s practice management software, that can be used to download lab results to your phone. A similar app, Infinity Pulse, can be used to pull statistics like total revenue and accounts receivable. Toncray thinks both these apps are ‘great for practice owners.’

The Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital has it’s first certified acupuncturist. After six long months of online and on-site training, and two very tough exams, Dr. Aurora Villarroel, Assistant Professor in the Rural Veterinary Practice (RVP), was recently awarded her certification in veterinary acupuncture by the Chi Institute.

“We are already using it on patients we see through RVP,” says Villarroel. “Any animal with chronic pain is a good candidate for acupuncture treatment. The frequency depends on the length of time the animal has been affected, the specific disease and the constitution of the animal (how well it reacts to acupuncture).” Viilarroel is also using it to ease pain in two vultures at the Chintimini Wildlife Rehabiliation Center. See related story.

Hospital employee Jackie Beatty and her new dog Emma.

A bouncing beagle with big brown eyes went home with VTH employee Jackie Beatty as an early Christmas present last week.

The dog, Emma, was one of six participating in two non-invasive studies by veterinary cardiologist Dr. Kate Scollan. One study validated the use of 3-D echocardiographs to measure left ventricular volume in canine hearts and the other assessed blood levels of two common antiarrhythmics when given in combination.

After months of walking, bathing, and playing with Emma, Beatty was emotionally attached to her and wanted to adopt. “How can you not fall in love with that little beagle face,” she says. But until recently, adopting Emma would not have been easy to do.

Most universities own animals and have a set of policies and legal procedures that govern their transfer to new owners. Typically, at OSU, these transfers have been handled by the Surplus Property Office.

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Sarah Smith, certified veterinary techinician, and Dr. Wendy Baltzer, Assistant Professor and Small Animal Surgeon, both received certification in Canine Rehabilitation.

Congratulation to CVT Sarah Smith and Dr. Wendy Baltzer on passing their exams for certification as Canine Rehabilitation Practitioners. They took an 11- day course at the University of Tennessee and completed an externship in Portland, Oregon prior to taking the 2-day exam. In addition to the written exam, Baltzer and Smith had to present a case study and a complete a hands-on exam of a dog. “It’s been a long six months of studying and hard work<” says Smith. “I’m relieved it’s over but am super excited for all the doors this opens for me and the hospital.”