Veterinary Voices

Uneasy pet owners in remote corner of US get good news

Overnight on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday in June, Dr. Amanda Mason saw 17 patients at a veterinary hospital in Sequim, a small city on the remote Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.

That may not seem like a big deal, but the mere fact that the veterinary clinic was accepting patients long after most residents were tucked in bed was groundbreaking.

This story was published on June 11, 2025.

Inside cutbacks at FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine

Like many departments in the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Veterinary Medicine has faced layoffs, hiring freezes and funding cutbacks under the new administration.

The CVM’s mandate is to protect human and animal health, which includes ensuring that animal drugs are safe and effective and monitoring the safety of animal food.

To understand the scale of the changes and their potential impact on veterinary medicine, the VIN News Service talked to a past CVM director and the recently departed chief of staff, as well as four current or former employees.

This story was published on June 5, 2025.

Amid economic turbulence, veterinarians brace for downturn

Visits to veterinarians began moderating around three years ago as a pandemic pet boom faded and runaway inflation weighed on household income. Now, even as inflation appears to have come off the boil, the outlook is getting gloomier.

This story was published on June 3, 2025.

RVC 'on track' to retain US accreditation, its officials report

The Royal Veterinary College is telling students that it appears to be on track, albeit narrowly, to retain its accreditation in North America, potentially averting a crisis that would make it harder for graduates from the United States and Canada to practice in their home countries.

This story was published on June 2, 2025.

Federal incentive for food animal veterinarians paused

A 15-year-old federal program intended to draw veterinarians to rural regions in the United States deemed short on care is not accepting new candidates while it undergoes a review by the Trump administration.

The application period for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program typically closes in April each year. This year, as of the last week in May, it has yet to open.

This story was published on May 28, 2025.

Acupuncture, embryo transfer practitioners seek recognition

A group of acupuncture veterinarians is making a third bid for specialty recognition in the United States, guided by the view that acceptance of acupuncture in human and veterinary medicine has advanced enough since their last effort a decade ago to make the attempt successful.

Some veterinarians who perform embryo transfer, a reproduction technique, also are seeking specialty recognition, in their case for the first time.

This story was published on May 23, 2025.

Phages, as alternatives to antibiotics, edge into veterinary realm

Jeroen De Buck's years-long effort to find a treatment for a fatal affliction in cattle called Johne's disease recently took a twist. The veterinary microbiologist and his team spent months, partly through the harsh Canadian winter, collecting dung, soil, wastewater, milk and bedding from calf pens at a dozen dairy farms in Alberta.

The organisms he sought are bacteriophages — or phages for short —  a subset of viruses that infect and kill bacteria.

This story was published on May 15, 2025.

Veterinarian aims to bring hemophilia treatment to pet dogs

Dr. Monica Revel has neutered countless dogs, with few hitches, in her more than two decades as a small animal veterinarian. So she was flummoxed in 2023 when the incision she made in a cockapoo puppy named Roland started oozing and bleeding during recovery.

The oozing stopped before Revel discharged Roland with strict instructions for the owner to head to an emergency hospital if it resumed. Then, she anxiously awaited word on the blood sample she'd sent to a diagnostic laboratory.

This story was published on May 20, 2025.

RVC head to stay at UK school amid US accreditation woes

The principal of the Royal Veterinary College will not lead the main veterinary education association in the United States as planned amid a deepening accreditation crisis at the prestigious British school that has compelled him to stay there for an extra three years.

The RVC is on the brink of losing its accreditation in the United States and Canada because its students who elect to take a key exam required to practice in those North American countries keep falling short of a minimum pass rate.

This story was published on May 12, 2025.

State animal chiropractic bills net mixed results

Chiropractors in Tennessee may treat animal patients without having to coordinate care with a veterinarian under a law signed this month. New Hampshire is poised to take a similar approach.

Legislation seeking similar arrangements failed in Mississippi, while bills in California and Maine are on pause following vigorous campaigns against them by veterinary organizations. 

This story was published on May 7, 2025.