We know that not everyone spends as much time online as we do, but we also know you still want to be up to date on the latest veterinary and animal news. You just need to do it fast. Enter: Too Long Didn’t Read, which is a brief summary of some of the more interesting articles to cross our desks recently. In today’s bites, we’ve got seriously bizarre bacterium, a happy tale about punctured Poodle, a holdup in the vet school world and more! Now you’ll be able to spend your coffee break talking surprising surgeries and telling your colleagues how horse breath might help your own breathing instead of debating the appropriate age to spay and neuter yet again … unless you really want to hit that topic one more time, of course.
Believe it or not, they gave it a name. Researchers have finally named a tick-born bacterium they’ve been studying for the past 50 years. Considered a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” bacterium, it’s a very unusual bug, “and the tick that carries it is equally bizarre,” said veterinary immunologist Jeffrey Stott, who has led the effort to develop a preventive vaccine for the malady that western ranchers know all too well as “foothill abortion disease.” The bacteria’s official genetically characterized name, “Pajaroellobacter abortibovis,” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so smoothly. —Get more at Science Daily
Penn preserves pierced Poodle. A Standard Poodle named Belle landed in the right hands at Penn Vet Emergency Service. The pup was impaled by a large metal screw rod while playing fetch, and radiographs revealed that the rod had entered her chest cavity. The rod had not penetrated her diaphragm, however, and once doctors treated Belle’s respiratory distress caused by mild pneumothorax, her surgeons were able to assess the internal damage and successfully treat her by performing a lung lobectomy and removing the rod, after which Belle made a quick recovery. —Get more at PennVet
And it’s not just fluffy puppy lives that are being saved. A 114 lb python in Thailand underwent a 7-hour operation to remove a 2 lb tumor near his heart. Veterinarians at the Klongluang Animal Hospital had to leave a small portion of the tumor behind, as it was too close to arteries to be removed, but the doctors say that if the tumor turns out to be cancerous, the 10-year-old snake can undergo chemotherapy. —Get more at BBC News
Want some news that might help you breath a little easier? Researchers at the University of Guelph are hoping that focusing on horses that have heaves — an equine disease that’s comparable to asthma in people — they will be able to use genetics for early diagnosis. And that, in turn, could mean major advances in asthma research. Phew! —Get more at CTV News Kitchener
But it’s a dry heat — does that make a difference? The University of Arizona planned to be home to the country’s 31st veterinary school, but those plans have been put on hold after the AVMA Council on Education said, “Not so fast,” by refusing to issue a letter of reasonable assurance of accreditation due to concerns about finances, clinical resources, students, faculty and research. Potential students shouldn’t take that sunscreen back for a refund just yet, though — the University of Arizona plans to appeal the decision. It’s been a long process for the school, which officially began the process of opening a veterinary school back in 1971. —Get more at The Daily Wildcat
You know that feeling when you’re the first like on your favorite Instagram account? University of Saskatchewan veterinary researchers are feeling the same thing right now after nailing a world first — producing bison calves using in vitro fertilization. It’s not just a nice win for them, either — with only about 7000 wood bison left in the wild, it’s an important step toward the preservation of the species. —Get more at University of Saskatchewan News
