Here is a talk I gave at AVMA last week. Lot of folks attended, and lots of good followup questions ..read more

Last year, I participated in a research project evaluating risk factors for the diagnosis of osteoarthritis in dogs, using the large dataset in the Banfield medical records system. The research was published in November, 2023- Graves JL, McKenzie BA, Koch Z, Naka A, Spofford N and Morrison J (2023) Body weight, gonadectomy, and other risk factors for diagnosis of osteoarthritis in companion dogs. Front Vet Sci 10:1275964. This week, Dr. JoAnn Morrison from Banfield and I had the opportunity to present our research at the annual American Veterinary Medical Association convention. While this sor ..read more

Obviously, the whole purpose of the SkeptVet is to combat misinformation and to promote evidence-based pet health. I first used the term Age of Endarkenment in a post for the much more influential Science-Based Medicine blog. Then, I was focused on the relatively narrow issue of the AVMA being unwilling to acknowledge the clearly evidence fact that homeopathy is useless pseudoscience and that vets shouldn’t offer it to clients (you can refresh yourself on the whole sorry saga in these posts). When I was honored with the VIN Veritas Award, I was invited to give a rounds presentation on the Vet ..read more

I recently reported on the results of a clinical trial conducted at North Carolin State University on the purported “anti-aging” Leap Years. The study provided no convincing evidence of a beneficial effect, and despite a single statistically significant finding at one time point, the data looked about as clearly negative as a study measuring multiple outcomes like this can. Despite this, the company and its most prominent figure, Dr. David Sinclair, promoted it heavily as a major advance in canine geroscience. The pushback for these excessive and unsupported claims was surprisingly strong, an ..read more

One of my most popular, and controversial, topics to talk about at continuing education meetings is the evidence for abandoning practices that are deeply entrenched in routine veterinary practice. Vets are pretty good at adopting new things when evidence shows these might be worthwhile, often even when the evidence isn’t very good. But giving up things we are used to doing is much harder, even when the evidence is strong. Here are a few things vets might want to think about changing, and you might want to question if they are offered to you. CHOOSING WISELY: THINGS TO STOP DOING IN YOUR PRACTI ..read more

I am preparing a number of conference presentations for this year, and one of the new ones is on the topic of Spectrum of Care. This is a concept I have been involved this for a while, since participating in a working group organized by a classmate of mine that culminated in a publication kicking off a discussion about balancing the needs of patients and the rising costs of veterinary care. Below are some thoughts on the subject. If you want more, I will be talking about this (and lots of other topics) at the Pacific Veterinary Conference in San Francisco July 11-12, 2024. WHAT IS SPECTRUM OF ..read more

In the endless debates about the health effects of various approach to feeding our canine and feline companions, the subject of “processed foods” or “ultra-processed foods” comes up often. Generally, the argument is made that traditional commercial pet foods, including canned but most especially extruded dry foods (aka kibble), are “ultra-processed” and are functionally equivalent to potato chips and sliced lunch meat. Since the evidence is pretty consistent that convenience foods, packaged snack foods, and most “fast-foods” are associated with increased health risks in humans, the conclusion ..read more

Over the years, I have reviewed the general evidence and some specific studies concerning vegetarian and vegan diets for dogs and cats. Despite the aggressive claims of some advocates for such diets (including some egregiously unscrupulous individuals), the actual evidence has not been extensive or definitive. My conclusions in previous posts have been that there is no clear evidence vegetarian or vegan diets have benefits for dogs and cats, and there is some real potential for harm, especially in cats: Vegetarian Diets for Dogs & Cats, 2019 There is no evidence that vegetarian ..read more

Here are some low-quality recordings of a couple lectures I gave this year at the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas ..read more

Back in 2011, I first wrote about the issue of concerning whether dogs with cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) ruptures did better with surgery or with non-surgical management. My conclusion at that time was: For most dogs under 15kg, conservative management (primarily restricted activity for 3-6 weeks, achieving and maintaining and appropriate body weight, and possibly physical therapy and pain medication) can achieve acceptable comfort and function. In larger dogs, significant arthritis is inevitable and dysfunction is extremely likely without surgical treatment.  In 2013, I write an upd ..read more