2013 AAFP Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel Report.

RATIONALE: This Report was developed by the Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) to provide practical recommendations to help clinicians select appropriate vaccination schedules for their feline patients based on risk assessment. The recommendations rely on published data as much as possible, as well as consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of experts in immunology, infectious disease, internal medicine and clinical practice.

Creating metal-spiked bed sediments: a case study from Orewa estuary, New Zealand.

Spiking sediments to achieve target concentrations of heavy metal pollutants is a key step in sediment toxicity tests. It is difficult, however, to ensure that metals in an artificially spiked sediment will behave naturally. A method has been developed in the present study to create Cu-, Pb-, and Zn-spiked sediments in which naturally occurring adsorption onto sediment surfaces is the dominant process binding the metals and in which precipitation of readily redissolved minerals and other metal-bearing phases (artifacts of the spiking procedure) are avoided. Uncontaminated bed sediment from an intertidal mudflat in the Orewa estuary, New Zealand, was characterized in terms of existing metal content, optimal adsorption pH, and adsorption capacity. Competitive adsorption between Cu and Pb as well as complexation by seawater anions only slightly affected metal adsorption from seawater. Surface complexation modeling indicated that iron oxide surfaces in the sediment likely were dominating metal adsorption processes. Spiking experiments were designed using these established adsorption characteristics but with significantly higher (>100-fold) concentrations of sediments and dissolved metals and a liquid to solid (L:S) ratio of approximately 5.5. An equilibration time of at least 36 h was required to achieve a reproducible target metal concentration, which could be reliably predicted from the L:S ratio and the initial metal concentration in the spiking solution. Adsorption equilibrium remained the process governing metal binding to the sediment, and no indication was observed that the adsorption capacity of the sediment had been exceeded or that additional metal-bearing phases had been formed.

The 2006 American Association of Feline Practitioners Feline Vaccine Advisory Panel report.

Vaccination is a medical procedure, and the decision to vaccinate should be based on a risk-based assessment for each cat and each vaccine.

Seroprevalences of antibodies against Bartonella henselae and Toxoplasma gondii and fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium spp, Giardia spp, and Toxocara cati in feral and pet domestic cats.

OBJECTIVE: To compare seroprevalences of antibodies against Bartonella henselae and Toxoplasma gondii and fecal shedding of Cryptosporidium spp, Giardia spp, and Toxocara cati in feral and pet domestic cats. DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional serologic and coprologic survey. ANIMALS: 100 feral cats and 76 pet domestic cats from Randolph County, NC. PROCEDURE: Blood and fecal samples were collected and tested. RESULTS: Percentages of feral cats seropositive for antibodies against B. henselae and T. gondii (93% and 63%, respectively) were significantly higher than percentages of pet cats (75% and 34%). Percentages of feral and pet cats with Cryptosporidium spp (7% of feral cats; 6% of pet cats), Giardia spp (6% of feral cats; 5% of pet cats), and T. cati ova (21% of feral cats; 18% of pet cats) in their feces were not significantly different between populations. Results of CBCs and serum biochemical analyses were not significantly different between feral and pet cats, except that feral cats had a significantly lower median PCV and significantly higher median neutrophil count. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggested that feral and pet cats had similar baseline health status, as reflected by results of hematologic and serum biochemical testing and similar prevalences of infection with Cryptosporidium spp, Giardia spp, and T. cati. Feral cats did have higher seroprevalences of antibodies against B. henselae and T. gondii than did pet cats, but this likely was related to greater exposure to vectors of these organisms.

The Clinician Investigator program in companion animal internal medicine at north Carolina State University.

A retrospective study was conducted to describe the development and evolution of the combined internal medicine/PhD program, the Clinician Investigator (CI) Program, at North Carolina State University. Separate survey instruments were developed for individuals who had committed to completing both the residency and PhD components and for graduate advisors of individuals who were granted the PhD degree. Results are summarized here. Most CIs reported believing that each component of the program (clinical training and research training) provided mutual benefits and that their teaching skills were enhanced, particularly as a result of instructing students in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Opinions among both the CIs and the graduate advisors were divided about the benefits of a combined program compared with a sequential program; however, all but one of 11 CIs who completed the survey would enroll in the combined program again. The graduate advisors were overwhelming positive about the CIs they had advised and indicated that they would welcome a CI as a PhD student in their laboratory again. Suggested areas for improvement included guaranteed salary/stipend support for the average time to completion (six years) instead of for five years, as well as more emphasis on and guidance in identifying a graduate advisor earlier in the CI program so as to smooth the transition between the clinical and research training components of the program. It is hoped that other training programs will benefit from the summary of our experience with this program.