Reading Time: < 1 minute Researchers at the faculty of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine are evaluating tissues from cats to help understand two common conditions: feline obesity and diabetes. The loss of a pet is an extremely difficult time for pet owners. Tissue and organ donation is a commonly accepted […] Read more
Help needed for vet feline research
Up-and-comers paired with leaders and innovators in the cattle industry
Reading Time: 4 minutes Albertans make up half of the mentees and 10 of the mentors in the 2017-18 edition of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program. The program, which started in 2010, pairs young producers between the ages of 18 and 35 with industry leaders for a year-long mentorship geared to their individual interests. Participants also have a $2,000 […] Read more
Veterinary association lambastes province over ‘intrusion’ on fees
The organization is upset with consumer protection bill that would allow vets to advertise their fees
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the second time in two months, the association representing Alberta’s veterinarians is crying foul and accusing the NDP government of taking short-sighted actions with no consultation. Proposed changes “constitute alarming overreach and intrusion into the veterinary profession’s ability to self-regulate and were made without consultation,” the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association said in a press […] Read more
How’s your relationship with your vet?
Antimicrobials will soon require a prescription, but a vet can’t write one if he or she hasn’t worked closely with a producer
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to antimicrobials, one shoe has dropped and the other soon will. And that means livestock producers who don’t have a working relationship with a vet better start developing one. As of last month, producers can no longer import antimicrobials for use on their ranches and farms, and growth promotion claims have been […] Read more
Calling Alberta deer hunters
Reading Time: < 1 minute The University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine is looking for help from deer hunters. Researchers at the faculty are conducting a study on gastrointestinal parasite diversity in deer. For that, they need fresh feces samples. Hunters who see deer defecate are asked to collect samples and send by courier to the department. Samples can […] Read more
A taxing situation — study says there’s no easy fix to county’s cattle tax
The levy on feedlot cattle has some justification, a lot of drawbacks, and no trouble-free alternatives, says new study
Reading Time: 4 minutes Lethbridge County’s head tax is unfair for cattle feeders — but there’s no easy alternative. Those are the key takeaways from a new study that looked at both the impact of a per-cow tax, and how the county could raise badly needed funds for maintaining and repairing its roads. Read more: Lethbridge County ‘head tax’ ruled […] Read more
Veterinarian school funding decision creates controversy
School’s dean says it makes sense to consolidate in Calgary but association says it’s capping training in the midst of a vet shortage
Reading Time: 3 minutes The dean of the province’s vet school is defending the NDP government’s decision to consolidate veterinarian education in Alberta — but the association representing the profession says it’s short sighted. The province announced last month it will be pulling its $8 million in funding from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon to expand […] Read more
Vets decry province’s plan to redirect school funding to Calgary
Province will pull funding from Saskatoon’s veterinary college to expand its Calgary counterpart
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Alberta Veterinary Medical Association says the province is making a mistake by pulling its $8 million in annual funding from the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine to expand the vet school at the University of Calgary. The association said it supports the expansion of U of C’s veterinary medicine program to […] Read more
Alberta to reallocate veterinary school funding
Alberta is set to gradually pull its $8 million in annual funding from the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and instead expand the vet school at the University of Calgary. The province announced Thursday it will expand enrolment for the University of Calgary’s Veterinary Medicine program (UCVM) from 130 students currently […] Read more
Greig: Animal welfare research focusing more on emotional states
Animal welfare research is moving beyond identifying what keeps an animal healthy, to focus more on their state of being and their happiness. For years, farmers have justified the way they manage and house animals based on objective measures of their health: disease prevalence, growth rates and feed consumption. Consumer research, however, shows that’s not […] Read more
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