October 2001

New Sales Reps hired/1st K9 Case of WNV 10-01

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Just like my neighbor's wife, we've decided to extend our birthday celebration indefinitely. Please read on about our once in a lifetime sale (as described below).

Please go to the Newsletter archive at the web site to view previous newsletters including MICs for DUMMIES. Also, please look at http://www.dermapet.com to see our many updates, Protocols including Malassezia Dermatitis, the popular TrizEDTA Bacterial Otitis Protocol, the Pruritic Clinical Trial, and articles. THE NEW BROCHURE IS ON LINE. The post of the month comes from Promed via the TVMA listserv reporting the first presumptive clinical case of West Nile Virus in a dog.

Please go to http://www.dermapet.com or call 800-755-4738 for DIRECT sales. We also sell via select distributors such as Burns , Columbus Serum, NLS, MWI, Penn Vet, PVP, Merritt, Premier, R & S Pharma, R. Weinstein (Hawaii), TW Vet Supply, Vet Med Supply and Vetpo. In the last month we have added Henry Schein and Midwest Vet Supply. We can now provide you a dominant distributor anywhere you may be in the USA (including Alaska and Hawaii). We are also available in Canada via CENTRAL SALES (central@ica.net), Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Central America and soon in Europe.

EUROPEAN VETS (and others worldwide): We are shipping TrizEDTA for $11.99 (per 4 ounce/cases of 12) INCLUDING SHIPPING BY FEDEX.

We will be at the ATLANTIC CITY meeting (Booth #421), TUFTS (Booth # 1507) and the WILD WEST Show in Reno (Booth #G907) ALL on the SAME dates, October 10-13! We then go to the Dental Meetings in SAN ANTONIO on October 25-28 then the GEORGE MULLER DERMATOLOGY MEETINGS in MAUI November 1 to 8. We will also be at the NORTH CAROLINA meeting in RALEIGH from November 1-3.

SALES REPS HIRED

DermaPet is proud to announce the hiring of CHRISTINE SAYED as a sales rep in the Northeast, MEREDITH MILLER in the Southeast and SUSAN ACKERSON on the West Coast. In future issues, we will tell you a little about them. JACK WHITE is still serving Texas and GARY BOUGE has now completed his move to Tucson. PLEASE warmly welcome them in your practices as you would me. Remember, they (we) are here to serve your needs.

MedRx is offering CE doing their EAR Seminars on the road next in ASHEVILLE on October 6, SAN ANTONIO on October 28, SALT LAKE CITY on November 10 and MEMPHIS on November 17. Be there to hear LOU GOTTHELF teach you the latest, state of the art otology. Ears represent the #1 complaint of pet owners to vets (VPI insurance claims, 2000). Call 888-392-1234 to register or find out when one is coming near you.

GEMISH Information

Many people have said they cannot get Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate (DSP) and want to know what to substitute. As long as the corticosteroid is of a similar strength and water soluble, it should be OK. However, one should not need to shake it, as is often the case with many injectable corticosteroids. Although I have a supply of DSP, one substitute others are using is Azium (Schering). The antibiotic selection may vary, as well.

YADA, YADA, YADA

Generations all have defining moments. My parents had Pearl Harbor. I recall the very moment that JFK was shot while in the closest high school in the United States to the White House. That my father then I were the veterinarians for many police agencies who were just beginning to train dogs for bomb and narcotics work put me even closer to the action. These dogs and their handlers are truly heroes who deserve our heartfelt gratitude. They may just be our best and last defense to an evil terrorist that looks like the good guys. Like so many of us looking to do whatever we could, DermaPet was proud to have donated free derm consults and our MalAcetic Wet Wipes (and other products). The Wet Wipes, placed in patrol cars, are used to keep the feet and toes clean and free of diseases borne from the extreme heat, ash and debris at the Pentagon crash site (and now from the stress of everyday work) which was only 10 miles from our office.

We have all seen, heard and read vignettes of sad and heroic stories about survivors, rescue workers, victims and volunteers. I would like those of you who know stories about pets, vets or rescue animals to share them with me. And, I will share them with others on this list.

One such touching story of a sight impaired man who described for Larry King on CNN how his seeing-eye dog safely guided him down what I recall to be over 70 floors in the WTC. Several times this man was offered help but refused. Was he as confident that his dog would show him the way, as he was sure that his Labrador retriever needed him as much as he needed his companion? Martha Lee of the Southeast Veterinary Conference at Myrtle Beach meeting is searching for the identity of this person to invite them to their show next June. Understandably, they may want to find alternative transportation (to air).

Exhibitor News

Scott Robbin's wife Nadine of Suburban Surgical is having Quadruplets, 2 fraternal and identical twins. Please send money:). Always one to schedule his priorities, the babies are due in April, after trade show season.

COAL TAR CARCINOGENIC. Denorex drops COAL TAR and settles lawsuit (Washington Post). American Home Products has agreed to remove coal tar, a carcinogen, from it's Denorex medicated shampoo, as a result of an out-of-court settlement in a civil suit.

California officials and the non-profit Occupational Knowledge International are suing more than 20 manufacturers of coal-tar products under the state's Proposition 65. Several other companies are named although it is not known if any are from the veterinary market (Nusal-T, Allerseb-T). DermaPet has long contended that we would not place any tar in any product because it is a known carcinogen and does not have a primary useful function other than degreasing which several other ingredients can do. Tar is helpful in some human patients suffering from psoriasis, a syndrome that has yet to be identified in domestic animals.

FACTOIDS

Japanese toy maker Takara Company Ltd is developing a handheld electronic devise that communicates a dog's mood to people by interpreting its bark. The "Bow-lingual" records the dog's bark and sends a signal to the owner's "emotion pager," which displays the dog's feelings. The translator registers six basic emotions. The product is expected to reach
the market in Japan in early 2002. (Veterinary Economics)

First Case Of WNV In Dogs Found In Georgia (as reported on the TVMA Listserv)

The focus to date on West Nile Virus has been on birds, horses and humans, but now dogs are added to the list. A veterinarian, Dr. David Bryan of Bryan and Hight Veterinary Clinic, received results that a blood sample of a dog he treated earlier in the month had come back positive for the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus. The virus is spread by migrating birds, which are in turn bitten by mosquitoes, and those in turn transmit the virus to horses, humans, and [other animals such as] dogs.

A seminar on WNV by the Serology Department at the UGA diagnostic lab at Tifton presented a list of 8 clinical signs of WNV in horses. The dog he treated showed 6 of the 8. Dr. Bryan said the dog was an otherwise-healthy two and one-half-year-old male Labrador. At presentation, the dog was drooling, "morbid", had partial anorexia, facial tics in the muzzle-area
muscles, and his left ear was drawn up toward the top of his head. His vision appeared to be impaired and he had a slight temperature. Overall, Bryan said, he showed signs of a central nervous system problem.

In-house lab work was reasonably unremarkable, so blood samples were sent to Tifton for screening, including Eastern and Western equine encephalitis and West Nile virus. The encephalitis screenings were negative, but the WNV was positive. Dr. Bryan said veterinarians had thought that dogs would not be affected by WNV.

Bryan had begun treating the dog with chloramphenicol, (since it)..... will cross the blood-brain barrier and might have some anti-viral properties as well. The human version, chloromycetin, had been off the market for some time. The dog was well enough to go home in 3 or 4 days and reached full recovery about 5 days after that. While there are WNV vaccines for horses, there are none yet for dogs.

Pet owners should not panic. As ProMED posted in 1999: Pets: No [clinical] cases of encephalitis linked to WNV have been documented in pets in this [1999] outbreak, nor does it appear from other WNV outbreaks overseas that this will be likely. However, CDChas found 3 positive sera from healthy dogs in a preliminary screen of 84 dog serum samples from New York City. Pets will probably be similar to most species of mammals and birds in that they are susceptible to a transient WNV infection if bitten by an infected mosquito, but are unlikely to become clinically ill. Ref: West Nile-like virus - USA (New York): UPDATE 19991023.1908. There were no reports of clinically WNV-positive dogs in 2000. - Mod.JW]

For Malassezia and Bacterial Otitis PROTOCOLS and the Malassezia Derm Protocol please go to the web site and read Seven Steps to Treating Ears, visit the many articles at our website or look at archived Newsletters.

SPECIALS

We are still celebrating our "10th Anniversary" with "BACK to BASICS SHAMPOO THERAPY 101" specials...as you can see, we are offering fantastic savings on our superior quality shampoos and conditioners:

"BACK to BASICS SHAMPOO THERAPY 101"

A. Purchase 3 assorted cases of DermaPet's - Hypoallergenic Conditioning Shampoo, Allay Oatmeal Shampoo, Allay Oatmeal Conditioner, Seborrheic Shampoo, or Benzoyl Peroxide Shampoo and receive 3 cases of your choice FREE!

B. Purchase 1 case of either size DermaPet's - O.F.A. Caps and receive 1 case FREE!

C. Promotional period will run from August 1 to October 31.

DermaPet IS the largest veterinary dermatologic company in "virtual reality"-cyberspace, for those who might otherwise misunderstand the phrase- and the fastest growing. Our Newsletter list, NOW APPROACHING 13,000 is the largest in the industry with another 8,000 posted indirectly and countless more that read it reposted in newsgroups or lists. Those who receive this newsletter and wish to pass it along to colleagues, please do.

Steve Melman VMD
http://www.dermapet.com
dermapet@aol.com
800-555-4738 US order line
301-983-8387 outside US
301-365-0191 fax

And from our good friends at VIN
"Don't forget to look for DermaPet as a Featured Company on VIN's Industry Partners Site, an electronic exhibit hall providing 6,000 plus VIN members and all online veterinarians, access to current information from over 900 companies, manufacturers and distributors of the products and services they use daily."

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