https://phys.org/biology-news/veterinary-medicine en-us Veterinary medicine news stories about diseases, disorders and injuries in non-human animals A new study has highlighted how more research is needed in order to demonstrate the effect of neutering timing on dog health. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-impact-dog-health-neutering-unclear.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 28 Oct 2024 12:34:35 EDT news649337673 Researchers have shown that owners who believe in their horses' emotions and treat them with care, have animals that are significantly healthier and better looked after. In many low and middle-income countries (LMICs), working horses are essential to daily life, supporting industries such as agriculture, transport, and construction. The welfare of these horses is closely tied to the livelihoods of the communities they work with, making their health crucial for both human and animal welfare. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-owners-belief-horse-emotion-linked.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:36:25 EDT news648729369 It might sound far-fetched, but recent research suggests that dogs' and humans' brains synchronize when they look at each other. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-dog-brains.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Fri, 11 Oct 2024 08:43:16 EDT news647854988 An elephant never forgets, as the saying goes. In fact, there is evidence that proboscideans still remember the waterholes they once visited decades later. They also often recognize fellow elephants that they have not encountered for a long time. But does their excellent long-term social memory also extend to members of other species? https://phys.org/news/2024-10-elephants-zookeepers-years.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:16:30 EDT news647612170 Bats are widely known around the world for their role in the spread of a number of zoonotic diseases—illnesses that can spread between humans and animals. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-mexican-free-tailed-chagas-disease.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:12:04 EDT news647086321 The voice people use to address their dogs isn't just because of their big puppy eyes. Humans slow their own speech when talking to their dogs, and this slower tempo matches their pets' receptive abilities, allowing the dogs to better understand their commands, according to a study published October 1 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Eloïse Déaux of the University of Geneva in Switzerland and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-good-boy-humans-dog-specific.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:00:01 EDT news646990912 Scientists in South Africa say they have identified an outbreak of rabies in seals that is believed to be the first time the virus has spread in sea mammals. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-scientists-south-africa-outbreak-rabies.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Fri, 20 Sep 2024 06:11:13 EDT news646031468 A new study from College of Veterinary Medicine researchers finds the first genetic evidence of feline coronavirus (FCoV) transmission between a captive wild and a domestic cat. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-feline-coronavirus-domestic-wild-cats.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Tue, 10 Sep 2024 16:39:04 EDT news645205142 Although it is more common in dogs, 4 in 10 pet cats also choose to play fetch with their owners, report Mikel Delgado from Purdue University, US, and colleagues in PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-cats-common-previously-thought.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Wed, 04 Sep 2024 14:52:35 EDT news644680351 Graying with age is a common coat color variant in horses, characterized by progressive hair graying and susceptibility to skin melanoma. In a new study published in Nature Communications, an international consortium led by scientists from Uppsala University (Sweden) now reports that the speed of graying and susceptibility to melanoma are determined by the copy number of a small duplicated DNA sequence in the gene Syntaxin 17. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-genetic-variant-hair-graying-susceptibility.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:33:14 EDT news644675589 A trio of ethologists at Eötvös Loránd University, in Hungary, has found, via experimentation, that some dogs are able to remember toy names for up to two years. In their study, published in the journal Biology Letters, Shany Dror, Ádám Miklósi and Claudia Fugazza taught toy names to several dogs and then hid the toys away for two years to learn more about the dogs' long-term memory. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-dogs-toy-years.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:18:49 EDT news644667525 A team of virologists with the U.K.'s Animal and Plant Health Agency, working with colleagues from the British Antarctic Survey, the KEMH Pathology and Food, Water & Environmental Laboratory, and the Department of Agriculture, both in the Falkland Islands, has found that the global spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus has made its way to multiple bird species in Antarctica. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-h5n1-avian-influenza-virus-multiple.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Wed, 04 Sep 2024 10:00:02 EDT news644662668 Amid advances in medicine to improve people's quality of life, an Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has, for the first time in the world, generated high-quality feline induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which have the potential to help companion animals and humans alike. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-feeder-free-pluripotent-stem-cells.html Biotechnology Veterinary medicine Wed, 04 Sep 2024 09:45:03 EDT news644661901 Labradoodles, puggles, dorgis, cavoodles, cavapoos: Whatever you call them, there's no escaping the explosion of designer crossbreeds parading along our streets and through our dog parks these days. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-myth-crossbred-dogs-healthier-pedigrees.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Thu, 29 Aug 2024 10:47:04 EDT news644147221 If you've seen those viral social media videos of dogs using soundboard buttons to "talk," you're not alone. These buttons have taken the pet world by storm, leading to impressive and sometimes seemingly miraculous feats shared across platforms like TikTok and Instagram. But are these dogs truly communicating, or are they just responding to cues from their owners? https://phys.org/news/2024-08-dogs-words-soundboard-buttons-reveals.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:00:02 EDT news644052361 A study on dogs found that chromatin's spatial structure has a significant role in the evolution of social behavior. Chromatin, the compact form of DNA, not only packages genetic material but also plays a crucial role in gene regulation. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-chromatin-play-key-role-canine.html Evolution Veterinary medicine Wed, 14 Aug 2024 11:40:03 EDT news642854401 The largest and longest-ever survey of wild koalas has confirmed a chlamydia vaccine, developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast, can protect the animals from developing and dying from the disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-ten-years-chlamydia-vaccine-wild.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Thu, 08 Aug 2024 09:37:43 EDT news642328658 A study of horses—which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies—revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-horse-miscarriages-clues-early-human.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 05 Aug 2024 15:00:01 EDT news642063056 Researchers from Kyushu University have discovered that blowflies, a family of flies strongly attracted to decaying flesh and feces, are carrying the bird flu virus in southern Japan. Their findings, published in Scientific Reports, introduce a potential new route of transmission for bird flu and highlight the need to develop new countermeasures to prevent and control the disease in poultry farms. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-blowflies-bird-flu-virus.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:10:01 EDT news641729224 A research team led by University of Liège scientists has published a groundbreaking study on malignant catarrhal fever (MCF). This disease is caused by the alcelaphine gammaherpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1), which infects its natural host, the wildebeest. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-vaccine-capable-cattle-malignant-catarrhal.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Mon, 29 Jul 2024 15:00:01 EDT news641449819 A new study provides evidence that a spillover of avian influenza from birds to dairy cattle across several U.S. states has now led to mammal-to-mammal transmission—between cows and from cows to cats and a raccoon. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-mammal-avian-flu.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Thu, 25 Jul 2024 11:00:01 EDT news641056856 New research from the University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham has highlighted that blue light has the ability to kill antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria isolated from ear infections in dogs. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-blue-bacteria-linked-dog-ear.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:38:18 EDT news641036296 Dogs experience emotional contagion from the smell of human stress, leading them to make more 'pessimistic' choices, new research finds. The University of Bristol-led study, published in Scientific Reports on 22 July, is the first to test how human stress odors affect dogs' learning and emotional state. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-human-stress-affect-dogs-emotions.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:00:01 EDT news640598968 Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is a group of inherited diseases that causes progressive degeneration of the light sensitive cells at the back of the eye. Dogs with PRA have normal sight at birth, but by the age of four or five they will be totally blind. There is no treatment. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-genetic-inherited-dogs.html Molecular & Computational biology Veterinary medicine Sun, 21 Jul 2024 19:00:01 EDT news640598941 Researchers studying antimicrobial-resistant E. coli—the leading cause of human death due to antimicrobial resistance worldwide—have identified a mechanism in dogs that may render multiple antibiotic classes ineffective. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-coli-variant-antimicrobial-resistance-dogs.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Tue, 16 Jul 2024 09:00:02 EDT news640337222 The ELTE Eötvös Loránd University is home to the skulls of more than 150 dog breeds and other animals. To make this unique collection accessible to all, researchers digitized the skulls of 431 dogs, cats and wild relatives. The database can be used for educational and research purposes. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-animal-digital-dog-cat-skull.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Tue, 16 Jul 2024 05:00:01 EDT news640278781 Researchers from the Complexity Science Hub and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have dissected the complex interactions involved in zoonoses, which annually affect over two billion people worldwide. They introduce the concept of a "zoonotic web," a detailed network representation of the relationships between zoonotic agents, their hosts, vectors, food sources, and the environment. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-unveils-complexity-zoonotic-transmission-chains.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Mon, 15 Jul 2024 05:00:02 EDT news639992941 As highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread in dairy herds across the U.S., the virus is being detected in raw milk. A new study by a broad team of researchers at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine helps explain why. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-receptors-dairy-cows-prime-influenza.html Cell & Microbiology Veterinary medicine Tue, 09 Jul 2024 16:41:03 EDT news639762061 Researchers at the ELTE Department of Ethology in Budapest investigated whether an infant-mother analog attachment bond arises in intensively human-socialized companion pigs towards their owners similar to companion dogs. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-pigs-social-dogs-companion-animal.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Tue, 09 Jul 2024 11:24:23 EDT news639743053 A series of experiments with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) viruses circulating in infected U.S. dairy cattle found that viruses derived from lactating dairy cattle induced severe disease in mice and ferrets when administered via intranasal inoculation. The virus from the H5N1-infected cows bound to both avian (bird) and human-type cellular receptors, but, importantly, did not transmit efficiently among ferrets exposed via respiratory droplets. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-features-h5n1-influenza-viruses-dairy.html Ecology Veterinary medicine Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:16:02 EDT news639659759