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Veterinary Vertex is a weekly podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the clinical and research discoveries published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) and the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR). Tune in to learn about cutting-edge veterinary research and gain in-depth insights you won’t find anywhere else. Come away with knowledge you can put to use in your own practice – along with a healthy dose of inspiration to remind you what you love about veterinary medicine.
181 Episodes
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Send us a text What if one of the most common vaccine rituals in small animal practice doesn’t help patients at all? We sit down with researchers Jane Sagaser and Dr. Rachael Kreisler to unpack a randomized clinical trial that tested whether replacing the needle after drawing up a canine subcutaneous vaccine improves comfort or outcomes. The result is a clear, practice-changing insight: no clinical benefit for dogs, and no reliable advantage detected by blinded injectors. Together we explore...
Send us a text A working dog powers through a hot training session, then stops. The clock is ticking, because core temperature can keep climbing even after the effort ends. We sit down with JAVMA student award winner Sarah Parnes to unpack a simple, field-ready strategy that changes outcomes: cool first, transport second. Using the gear most of us carry—a water bottle, a towel, a small cooler—Sara's team tested multiple methods outdoors to mirror real-world conditions. One approach stood out:...
Send us a text A single ion is changing how we read the story of canine heart failure. We sit down with cardiologist Dr. Darcy Adin and internist–nephrology researcher Dr. Autumn Harris to unpack why hypochloremia—once dismissed as collateral damage from diuretics—now stands out as a powerful predictor of survival in dogs with stable congestive heart failure. The conversation moves from physiology to practice, showing how chloride levels map to renin–angiotensin activation, diuretic resistanc...
Send us a text A spike in feline H5N1 cases has many of us asking the same question: how did bird flu end up in our living rooms? We sit down with author and clinician Dr. Jane Sykes to map the path from migratory birds to household pets, spotlighting the two biggest drivers of risk for cats—predation on infected wildlife and contaminated raw diets. The conversation is candid, practical, and rooted in current data, with clear guidance for veterinarians and pet owners who want to reduce danger...
Send us a text A small structural “bump” on a molecule might be the big breakthrough EPM care has been waiting for. We sit down with researcher and clinician Izabela de Assis Rocha to unpack how bumped kinase inhibitors exploit a tiny difference between parasite and mammalian kinases to hit Sarcocystis neurona where it hurts—motility, invasion, and replication—while sparing the horse. It’s a molecular strategy with practical promise, and the conversation bridges the stall, the lab, and the fu...
Send us a text A calmer patient isn’t just a kinder visit—it’s a safer workplace. We sit down with researchers Drs. Gene Pavlovsky and Ellen Everett to unpack new data showing that veterinary teams see decreases in bites and scratches when every staff member completes low-stress handling certification. Partial participation helped culture in pockets, but it didn’t move the needle on injuries. The lesson is clear: safety is a system, not a solo skill. We trace where stress truly starts, from ...
Send us a text What if the “gold standard” isn’t the only standard that delivers real results? We sit down with guest editor Dr. Emma Read to explore Spectrum of Care, the evidence-based approach that empowers veterinarians to present a range of medically sound options tailored to each client’s budget, lifestyle, and ability to follow through. Instead of treating alternatives as compromises, we show how tiered choices reduce moral distress, expand access to care, and still protect outcomes fo...
Send us a text Think draft horses “do worse” with colic? We put that belief on trial and let the data speak. With equine practitioner and researcher Dr. Jennifer Burns as our guest, we unpack why survival isn’t about breed status—it’s about when the horse arrives and how quickly we act. Drafts are famously stoic, which can mask early pain and delay referral. By the time they reach the hospital, heart rate, lactate, and abdominal protein often paint a sicker picture. The takeaway is both pract...
Send us a text We sit down with award-winning equine researcher Dr. Charlie Barton to unpack a controlled randomized trial from Colorado State University that challenges the tradition of fasting horses before general anesthesia—and the results are hard to ignore. Horses allowed hay before anesthesia passed manure much sooner post-op, often within three hours, while fasted horses took up to eight. Even better, careful intraoperative monitoring showed no difference in oxygenation or other key a...
Send us a text Horses and anesthesia make for a high stakes mix, and the numbers prove it. We open the barn door on a new study of oral trazodone in healthy adult horses that boosted sedation but, at a low dose, unexpectedly increased xylazine requirements at induction. Our award-winning guest, Dr. Emmett Swanton, walks us through the why behind the work, what the data actually say, and how to turn mixed results into smarter, safer protocols. We dig into the global context first: equine peri...
Send us a text Ever have a client drop a “by the way” just as their hand hits the doorknob? We tackle the fix: agenda setting that captures every concern upfront, keeps appointments on track, and strengthens trust without adding time. With guests Drs. Jane Shaw, Kat Sutherland, and Natasha Janke, we map the science and the steps behind a small change that delivers big wins for veterinary teams and clients alike. We walk through the practical anatomy of a better visit: start with a solid intr...
Send us a text Ever wondered what’s actually inside a “homemade” dog diet—and whether it truly keeps dogs healthy? We sat down with researchers Drs. Janice O'Brien and Audrey Ruple from the Dog Aging Project to pull back the curtain on what owners are really feeding, what the data reveals, and how to make home-prepared meals complete and balanced without guesswork. The conversation starts with a major survey upgrade: moving from simple checkboxes to detailed free-text responses that capture r...
Send us a text We sit down with Drs. Paul Freeman and Nick Jeffery to discuss a treatment for down dogs that’s changing outcomes and conversations: percutaneous intradiscal chondroitinase injections that act like chemical fenestration, reduce extruded disc material, and help non-ambulatory dogs recover without opening the spine. We walk through the origin of the idea, the ethical hurdles, and the growing dataset behind safety and effectiveness. You’ll hear why deep pain–positive dogs with ac...
Send us a text Ever notice how the smallest habits in surgery are the hardest to justify with data? We dig into one of those everyday choices—taper vs. reverse cutting needles for intradermal closure after TPLO—and unpack what the evidence actually says about early incisional healing, complication rates, and the subtle differences that might matter at the 18–24 hour mark. With surgeon-researcher Josh Becker, we trace the path from hunches and mentor preferences to a pragmatic study design tha...
Send us a text A fractured canine tooth tests more than a dog’s bite—it tests our choices as clinicians. We sat down with researchers Ethan Elazegui and Dr. Elias Wolfs to reexamine vital pulp therapy with new data, honest surprises, and practical guidance you can use on your next dentistry day. The conversation starts with what holds true: an ~80% success rate keeps vital pulp therapy squarely in the toolkit as a tooth-sparing option when pulp exposure is recent and the tissue is viable. The...
Send us a text Hyperkalemia in a blocked cat can feel like a five-alarm fire—until you remember what actually fixes the problem. We sit down with Drs. Stephanie Maciorowski and Elizabeth Rozanski to unpack fresh evidence showing that the simplest path is also the strongest: start IV fluids, give calcium gluconate to stabilize the myocardium, and prioritize rapid unobstruction. The headline finding is liberating for busy ERs and general practices alike—insulin with dextrose, terbutaline, or so...
Send us a text Ever wondered what we might be missing with traditional imaging techniques? Dr. Francesca Solari's groundbreaking research reveals a game-changing approach to diagnosing liver disease in dogs. Laparoscopic ultrasonography is transforming how veterinarians evaluate canine liver disease, detecting lesions that traditional methods miss. Dr. Solari takes us through a fascinating AJVR study showing how this minimally invasive technique identifies more liver nodules than conventiona...
Send us a text Surgical options for our feline patients often lack the robust documentation available for canine procedures. Dr. Kristen Gabriel tackles this gap with her groundbreaking research on parasternal thoracotomy via sternocostal disarticulation in cats—a technique that offers promising results for thoracic exploration when traditional approaches fall short. The conversation delves into the origins of this technique, which began with documentation in canine patients before Dr. Gabri...
Send us a text Ever wondered how to master complex veterinary procedures without someone physically guiding you? Technical Tutorial Videos (TTVs) are revolutionizing veterinary education by providing visual demonstrations that text alone simply cannot convey. In this illuminating conversation, three-time TTV author Dr. Rebecca Bishop shares her journey creating peer-reviewed video manuscripts for the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. She reveals how these innovative pub...
Send us a text Thermal glass bead disinfection could revolutionize how veterinary clinics manage instrument hygiene between patients. On this episode of Veterinary Vertex, we dive deep with researchers Steven Frederick and Dr. KP Spivey into their groundbreaking study showing how this technology effectively eliminates bacteria from suture scissors in just 60 seconds. The conversation reveals surprising findings about bacterial contamination in veterinary settings. Roughly a third of pre-disi...
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