Articles

Hello to all readers, I’m Mariana, a Portuguese aquatic animal veterinarian, currently working on the sunny Caribbean island of Curaçao. I graduated back in 2014 at UTAD, Vila Real Portugal. I knew since I was a kid that I would work with marine mammals so I dedicated my vet school years to learning as much […]

Today, the global zoo and aquarium community is focused on conservation, education and research, in addition to entertainment. The community’s resources, mainly originating from visitor attendance revenue, make it the third largest in situ contributor to conservation. This study used a global dataset of over 450 zoos in order to investigate how visitor attendance and […]

How can pesticides affect honeybees? Pesticides are used worldwide in agriculture because of their effectiveness in controlling pests.  However, they can also affect honeybees by direct topical contact or through secondary exposure via the consumption of contaminated pollen, nectar, or water.  Exposure to pesticides, together with disease and habitat loss, are the most commonly cited […]

Since the first description of Brucellosis in marine mammals in 1994, reported cases in cetaceans and pinnipeds have been increasing. While the disease has been seen in various cetaceans, pathological findings are unusual and cases of damage to the nervous system have been largely confined to striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). This is the first reported […]

My name is Chris Papantonio and I am Australian. I graduated from the University of Sydney in 2005 and began working in a mixed practice immediately after graduation. In 2008, I purchased a veterinary hospital with a business partner. Our goal was to build it into a competitive practice, offering high quality diagnostics and some […]

Psittacids, like humans, do not select food because it’s good for them but because they like it. Most owners know little about their nutritional requirements, which can cause serious health problems. Previous studies have shown that many birds receive inadequate levels of vitamins A and D3 and calcium when fed with seeds or human food. […]

Owners’ concerns about the health of their companion animals are increasing with nutrition often seen as an important tool in managing their health and well-being.  Studies have shown that owners prefer to spend money on pet nutrition they perceive to be of a higher quality than on pet accessories.  Many of them search for information […]

Aging leads to changes that can negatively affect cognition in pets (and humans) and, in fact, a dog’s brain has a high metabolic rate, which is reported to be severely reduced by the time the animal is six years old. It is also known that a deficiency of certain nutrients can lead to the acceleration […]

Tumours induced by radiation have occasionally been reported in humans and dogs, but no such cases have previously been described in cats so this may be the first known case. It started with the referral of a three-year-old castrated male domestic shorthair cat to the Ontario Veterinary College Health Sciences Center for the evaluation of […]

Infections caused by adenoviruses are generally subclinical and species-specific but this report describes a case that did not follow the rule. It involves hedgehogs which died following infection with a skunk adenovirus 1 (SkAdV-1). Eleven adult African pygmy hedgehogs were added to a group of 35 animals and, within ten days, eight of the 35 […]

The efficacy of antihypertensives in lowering resting blood pressure is unquestionable but these drugs have little effect on blood pressure responses to physical or mental stressors. Previous studies show that social support provided by people is beneficial to human health and there are already studies underway investigating the positive effects of pet ownership in elderly […]

Studies have confirmed a link between the veterinary profession and various forms of stress and mental illness.  In a recent study to measure the prevalence of severe mental distress and determine the level of wellbeing within the profession, the authors sent out a survey created by experts in Psychological Distress via email.  They then reviewed […]

Dogs and humans have lived closely together for at least 15,000 years and various studies have been undertaken to explore their unique bond. These studies have shown that short-term stress appears to be contagious between the species but, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first time that long-term stress interspecific synchronization hypothesis is explored. […]

Vision is crucial to all species to help avoid threats and to navigate. As vision varies between species, this must be taken into account when creating sporting, training and housing environments – an issue that is particularly important when considering sport horses as the safety of both the horses and their riders is crucial. The […]

Beta coronaviruses (BCoV) are often associated with gastrointestinal diseases in young horses but there have also been reports of outbreaks in adult horses in racing and boarding stables. To the author’s knowledge, this is the largest BCoV outbreak reported in a single, closed herd situation. The index cases were two three-year old mares with fever, […]

Hi I am Charalampos from Cyprus, I am a Veterinary Clinical Pathologist currently based at Malawi, and lucky enough to have worked/studied in 6 different countries. I studied veterinary medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and during my undergraduate studies I did a Wellcome Trust internship at Cambridge University UK where I caught […]