Canine Hero receives free stem cell therapy

He was one of the 100 search & rescue dogs who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11. He's one of only eleven still alive today.
Hoke, a 13-year-old lab from Indianapolis, retired last year with debilitating arthritis.
But now, this canine hero is in South Bend getting some help of his own for free.
"It's awful. It's just heart wrenching. It's just awful." Julie Noyes is talking about watching her dog Hoke suffer from crippling arthritis. For the last year, the 13-year-old lab has been having a tough time with his back legs.
"He can't chase his ball. You see the will. The body can't. But the mind really wants to."
Julie says, in his mind, Hoke is still 2-years old searching for victims at the World Trade Center, searching through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. So the lack of ability and pain is particularly hard on him. Some of his service work may have even caused this.
So Dr. Chris Persing of the Western Veterinary Clinic prepares Hoke for a stem cell treatment. Persing and MediVet, the creator of the therapy, are donating their help.
"What we hope to achieve is we extract stem cells form his own body. We extract them. We process them. We get them excited and get them ready to go do an action and then we inject them back into his own body."
It all starts with a surgery Thursday morning where they harvest fat tissue from Hoke's stomach. Put simply: then they process it, add enzymes and solutions to it and filter the stem cells out.
"Then we inject them back into his joints. Some of it will go into an IV so it can go to other areas of the body we may not have targeted that will help him as well."
It's all done in one day and often owners see results in as little as 24 hours.
Julie says, "I just thought, you know, probably in the next 6 months, I'm gonna have to put him to sleep, but now, maybe not."
Julie says even a little more time of having Hoke be able to walk normally, chase a ball again and seeing him regain a little of his dignity would be perfect.
Julie says, "Oh, it's incredible. It makes me want to cry."
Dr. Persing says, "He's served our country so I feel privileged I can try to benefit his future."
MediVet, the therapy creator has offered all of the remaining 9-11 service dogs this treatment free of charge.
If you were to take your family pet for this treatment, it would run about $2200 dollars.
Hoke will go home tomorrow

Eurasia Veterinary Conference 2012

La V Eurasia Veterinary Conference tendrá su sede en Negombo Beach (Sri Lanka).

Volverán a tener lugar las sesiones “hot topic”, de dos horas de duración cada una, en las cuales se expondrán los últimos avances en diversos temas de interés.

Estas sesiones está previsto que versen sobre:

• Enfermedades infecciosas.
• Gastroenterología.
• Emergencias y cuidados críticos.
• Neurología.
• Cardiología.
• Nutrición.
• Dermatología.
• Patología clínica.

La conferencia se estructura con conferencias por la mañana, que tienen como objetivo proporcionar a los asistentes los conocimientos en medicina interna necesarios para resolver la mayoría de los problemas que pueden encontrarse en la práctica diaria, y talleres opcionales por la tarde, que se reservan por separado, y que tratarán de los siguientes temas:

• Cardiología.
• Medicina interna.
• Reptiles.
• Neurología.
• Dermatología.

Lugar : Jetwing Blue Hotel

Ciudad : Negombo Beach

País : Sri Lanka

Enlace : http://www.eurasia-vc.com/en/index.html

Contacto : LMU Universität München ( info@eurasia-vc.com )

Hora : 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM

Nature.com publica una investigación de la ULPGC sobre la muerte de cetáceos

La prestigiosa revista científica Nature, en su versión en abierto Nature.com, ha publicado un trabajo de investigación realizado en la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) y referido a la metodología para la investigación en cetáceos muertos durante maniobras militares.
En un comunicado, la Institución universitaria explicó que no es la primera vez que Nature publica investigaciones de este grupo de la ULPGC. En el año 2003, investigadores del Instituto Universitario de Sanidad Animal (IUSA) de la universidad publicaron en la revista Nature, 'Por qué mueren las ballenas de pico (zifios - Cetáceos que pueden descender a grandes profundidades) cuando se utilizan sonares antisubmarinos durante las maniobras militares'.
El artículo explicaba por vez primera cómo estas ballenas entran en una situación de pánico y modifican drásticamente su comportamiento de buceo, lo que les produce una enfermedad aguda, similar al síndrome de descompresión que padecen los buceadores cuando no realizan un proceso de descompresión adecuado al ascender.
Esta enfermedad caracterizada por un embolismo (presencia de burbujas gaseosas) en el sistema cardiovascular y en el sistema nervioso, provoca una muerte rápida, bien en el mar o en las playas.
Por su parte, para determinar el tipo de gases que provocan estos embolismos, se hizo necesario el establecimiento de una metodología analítica forense aplicable a cetáceos (ballenas, delfines y marsopas).
Ésta ha sido desarrollada durante el trabajo de tesis doctoral desarrollada por la Dra. Yara Bernaldo (quien ha sido contratada, una vez finalizada la tesis por Wood Hole Oceanographic Institute, Boston).
La metodología ha sido desarrollada en el IUSA (ULPGC) dirigida por el patólogo veterinario, Dr. Antonio Fernández y por los especialistas en química, Dr. Oscar González, y Estadística, Dr. Pedro Saavedra. Para la validación de este procedimiento, se ha contado con la colaboración internacional de investigadores del Reino Unido e Italia. LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA, 18 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS)

Toronto Zoo tiger mauled to death by mate

The tigers had grown promisingly fond of each other in the past few weeks, nuzzling and chuffing as potential mates should.
But the Toronto Zoo courtship ended in tragedy Thursday when Brytne, a much-loved 13-year-old Sumatran, was mauled to death by her breeding partner.
“The keepers put them together this morning and they had a spat. It can just happen so quickly, the power of these animals,” said Maria Franke, curator of mammals at the Toronto Zoo. Zookeepers broke up the early-morning altercation between Brytne and 3-year-old Harimau Kayu seconds after it started, but they were too late to save her. Veterinarians have confirmed the death was the result of a crushed larynx.
“There was nothing that was not done properly here . . . this is just really bad luck. It’s (part of) dealing with wild animals,” Franke said. This was the first mating attempt for Harimau Kayu, a young adult Sumatran tiger donated by the San Diego Wild Animal Park in June.
Translated, his name means Tiger Woods, but Toronto Zoo keepers have nicknamed him Harry. He came with a Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation and no history of violence.
He will eventually be paired with another female, said Franke, who stressed that fights between tigers in the wild or in captivity are rare.
Sumatran tigers are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered. It is estimated that only about 300 to 500 exist in the wild, while 71 are captive in North America.
The zoo has been working for six months to successfully introduce Harry and Brytne into the same habitat so they could mate.
“Everything was lining up. They were getting along well,” Franke said.
The contact started with “howdy door-ing,” allowing the pair to meet and view each other in adjacent spaces through a fence.
When that went well, the tigers were introduced in a controlled space, where they nuzzled, head-butted and made chuffing noises — all good signs. Their contact was always supervised and for a limited time, up to a couple of hours per day before the incident, Franke said.
Staff members are devastated over the death of Brytne, who had lived at the zoo since 1999.
“The keepers who were with them on a daily basis, they’re pretty shaken up,” Franke said. “It’s never easy . . . you get very close with the animals in your care. It’s sad.”
They are comforted by the fact that Brytne has left her genes behind, having produced two litters of cubs with another male.
The average life expectancy of a Sumatran tiger is 10 to 15 years in a zoo, less in the wild, according to Toronto Zoo staff.
The zoo’s mammal curator said there have been about 10 incidents in North America where captive tigers have been killed by their breeding partners.
Toronto Zoo animal deaths
October 2011: 10-year-old polar bear Aurora gave birth to three cubs and "rejected" them. Two died.
Oct. 21, 2011: Rowdy, the zoo's oldest male African lion, was euthanized, just two months after his mate, Nokanda, died of cancer. The lions had been companions since Nokanda moved to the zoo from Philadelphia in 1997. Rowdy had started to lose mobility and was suffering from dementia.
July 2011: 15-year-old Nokanda, a white lioness, was euthanized after vets discovered she had cancer.
February 2010: Tongua, a Siberian tiger, died after surgery. The 17-year-old animal did not recover from sedation.
August 2010: Samantha, a 37-year-old Western Lowland gorilla was euthanized after a stroke causes her to lose control of her limbs and experience seizures.
June 2010: 32-year-old orangutan Molek was euthanized after blood tests revealed his kidneys had stopped working.

Feds curtailing chimps' role in medical research

The federal government announced Thursday it will impose strict new guidelines limiting the use of chimpanzees in medical research it funds, and will phase out current studies that don't comply.
The changes will have a major impact on the Texas Biomedical Research Institute — one of only four large, active chimpanzee research programs in the United States. A second, the Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, run by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is in Bastrop, about 90 miles northeast of San Antonio.
The new guidelines were recommended by the Institute of Medicine in a new report, which described most current research involving chimpanzees as unnecessary.
“Effective immediately, NIH will not issue any new awards for research involving chimpanzees until processes for implementing the recommendations are in place,” said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
If current studies comply with the guidelines, they will be allowed to continue. The rest — perhaps as many as half — would be phased out gradually, he added.
Collins, describing chimps as “our closest relatives in the animal kingdom,” said they've played a big role in advancing human health in the past. The NIH owns about two-thirds of the nearly 1,000 research chimps in the United States and pays for the upkeep on most of the rest.
Work on the IOM report began with an attempt last year by the NIH to move 186 “inactive” chimpanzees it owns from an Alamogordo, N.M., facility back into active research in San Antonio.
After a firestorm of criticism from advocates, celebrities and politicians, NIH halted the move and asked the IOM for guidance, as did some members of Congress.
Collins said the review also would determine the fate of those animals.
Texas Biomed houses about 150 chimps, including some that already had been moved from Alamogordo. Currently, it has four studies involving chimps under way or about to begin, said Dr. John VandeBerg, scientific director of the facility.
“By endorsing the continuation of vital research that requires chimpanzees, Dr. Collins encourages us to continue creative efforts to design critical studies aimed at developing vaccines for hepatitis C and other diseases that affect millions of people worldwide,” VandeBerg said in a statement. “Hepatitis B research also remains a concern because this disease affects some 380 million people worldwide, despite the major reduction in new infections as a consequence of the vaccine that was developed from intensive research with chimpanzees.”
Collins said a working group of experts would review existing chimp studies paid for by NIH and would look at how many research chimps might be needed in the future.
That could lead to the retirement of many to animal sanctuaries, although the government's cost to support the animals is the same in both settings — more than $600,000 over the lifetime of each animal, the report estimates.
Animal advocates praised the decision.
“When one takes into account the scientific findings of the IOM, along with the obvious financial and moral costs of using chimps in invasive experiments, then there's only one reasonable conclusion: It's time to end the use of chimps in harmful, invasive research,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.
The guidelines say any study involving chimps should be governed by three principles — that the work is necessary to advance public health; that no other research alternatives exist and the studies can't be ethically performed on people; and that the animals must be kept in settings and social groups similar to their natural habitats.
In a review of current chimp studies, the committee found only two narrow areas where their use might be justified — the hunt to find a vaccine to protect against hepatitis C infection, and to allow ongoing research into treatments called monoclonal antibodies to finish.
Made from human antibodies, they're designed to attach and deliver medicine to highly specific targets in the body.
The decision falls short of an outright ban, and the committee emphasized it couldn't predict if some new disease might surface in the future that might require the need for chimps.
However, a bill being considered in Congress would ban chimps in research completely. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which lists captive chimps as threatened with extinction, is considering elevating that designation to endangered, which also would halt chimpanzee research.