UF Health Podcasts

In many rural areas, there’s no access to emergency veterinary care. That’s why it falls to first responders to provide first aid.

Recently, a veterinarian in the remote area of Sitka, Alaska, was invited to teach a pet first aid workshop at the Alaska Fire Conference. Firefighters were shown how to recognize respiratory distress in dogs and cats, and then how to perform CPR and administer oxygen.

Firefighters are already proficient in providing emergency care — they just need to know how to modify the techniques for animals. Participants were also given oxygen masks and breathing tubes to take back to their communities.

The timing of the training was spot on. One week later, when a typhoon hit Western Alaska, many pets were separated from their families and required care.

The expense of veterinary care, pet food and supplies is a key reason why pets are being surrendered to shelters, but pet care resources can be tapped before it comes to that.

Some veterinarians may be willing to set up payment plans for their fees. Third-party payment services, like Care Credit or ScratchPay, which allow clients to pay over time, may also be available. Alternatively, low-cost or shelter clinics may be able to provide services for clients with limited income.

One resource for affordable pet food and supplies is Pet Finder Helper. Once on the website, pet parents can select “Food Pantry and Supplies,” enter their city, state and zip code and then select “Search” to find nearby outlets.

These resources and more may help ease financial pain and help keep pets in their homes.

Data from two case series involving infections in animals and humans  suggest that multidrug-resistant bacteria can spread from pets to people.

Two separate investigations were initially undertaken. The first involved a cluster of carbaPENemase-producing E. coli, or CPE, infections in dogs and cats at a veterinary teaching hospital. The second analyzed several human infections from the same county months later.

When data from both investigations were entered into a national database, scientists noted the bacteria were highly related. What’s more, the people with CPE infections had pets that were treated at the veterinary hospital months earlier.

CPE are multidrug-resistant bacteria that primarily cause very serious infections in hospitalized patients. Sharing veterinary and human data might help slow their spread.

Waters around the San Juan Islands, lying between Washington and Vancouver, are home to critically endangered southern orca whales. Now numbering only 74 animals, efforts to monitor their health are more crucial than ever.

Previous methods — like shooting barbed biopsy darts into the whale’s large dorsal fin — sometimes resulted in nonhealing wounds and infections. Less invasive methods relied on nearby boats that were stressful to the whales.

More recent protocols have focused on efficiency without the stress. Scent-detection dogs find whale droppings that contain a wealth of biologic information. In addition, drones have been developed to hover over the whales’ blowholes and collect breath samples. Fortunately, the whales don’t mind the drones, which are key to collecting data, too.

Otherwise healthy cats with a genetic MDR1 mutation can develop severe neurologic effects after treatment with certain prescribed drugs. The mutation disrupts the function of P-glycoprotein, which normally clears harmful substances from the body, including some drug byproducts. These cats cannot safely process drugs that are manageable for other cats.

Tests are available to identify cats with an MDR1 mutation. But now, a second test has been developed to identify which drugs rely on P-glycoprotein for processing. That way, veterinarians can avoid prescribing these drugs to cats with the mutation.

Even genetically normal cats could benefit, since P-glycoprotein deficiency can result when two or more drugs using P-glycoprotein processing compete for clearance if given at the same time.

Two out of a thousand racehorses die due to fractures sustained during training or racing. There are few warning signs, but researchers are working to change that.

In a recent study, Fitbit-like devices were embedded in saddle pads of racehorses to record movement, physical shock, vibration and gait imbalance. Between 2021 and 2024, these data were collected from nearly 12,000 thoroughbreds racing over 28,000 times across 10 U.S. racetracks. Among the 74 horses that died from catastrophic racing fractures, an AI model found crucial changes in movement patterns that were linked to a 45 times higher risk of fracture. Insufficient bone remodeling is also visible on new mobile advanced-imaging scanners.

Using advanced technology, horses at risk can be kept out of training to allow their bones to heal.

Rabies in the United States most often involves wildlife species, especially bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes. But among domestic animals, cats are most commonly affected.

Of course, pet parents should always have their cats vaccinated, but rabies infection can spread among feral cats, too. In April 2024, this was brought to the attention of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, when an aggressive feral cat came in contact with numerous people before it tested positive for rabies. Those folks had to get post-exposure injections, which are expensive and require several clinic visits.

The CDC recommends that any cats surrendered to shelters, or treated in trap-neuter-and release programs, be vaccinated against rabies. Both feral and homed cats deserve protection—and so do we.

Spaying and neutering aren’t done just to fight pet overpopulation — they’re also key to preventing certain cancers and infections. But some pet parents still have concerns.

For example, spaying or neutering won’t change a pet’s personality — except for making them less anxious and aggressive. Likewise, spayed or neutered pets won’t get fat and lazy on their own — only if they eat too many calories and don’t get enough exercise.

Fear of your pet not surviving the surgery or being painful shouldn’t stop you either. Spaying and neutering are the most commonly performed veterinary surgeries, and the surgery team is well-versed in pain relief.

If it’s the expense, ask your veterinarian about low-cost options. Just remember, the one-time cost of spaying or neutering can save you veterinary expenses down the road.

Among drugs of abuse, cocaine and methamphetamine are in the top five illicit substances to which dogs and cats are exposed. Both are the most common illegal stimulants in the United States.

In a study using data from calls to the Pet Poison Helpline from 2019 to 2023, cocaine exposure involving both dogs and cats increased significantly over that five-year period. No significant trends were noted regarding methamphetamine exposure in either group of animals.

Any exposure to either of these stimulants can be extremely dangerous — even deadly — to animals. Signs of exposure can include tremors or seizures, vomiting, diarrhea and panting.

If you see any of these signs or suspect that your pet has been exposed, seek veterinary care immediately.

Every cat is at risk of a complex medical condition called triaditis [try-uh-DYE-dus]. But what is it, and can it be treated?

Triaditis is inflammation of three organs at the same time — the pancreas, liver and intestinal tract. It’s unclear how the inflammation starts, but feline anatomy likely impacts how it goes on to involve multiple organs. The cat’s common bile duct and pancreatic duct join before they drain into the intestinal tract. That means an infection in one organ can easily spread to another.

The risk factors for triaditis aren’t known either, so there’s no way to prevent it. The key is promptly noting the clinical signs, like lethargy, loss of appetite, diarrhea, abdominal pain and dehydration. That way, supportive care and specific therapies can be administered as soon as possible.