Veterinary Vertex

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A dog with chronic diarrhea or vomiting might also be telling you something else. That’s the core thread we pull on as we explore the gut-brain axis in dogs and why chronic enteropathy (CE) can’t be fully understood through GI signs alone.

We’re joined by Drs. Ulrika Ludvigsson and Sarah Heath to unpack how chronic enteropathy is defined (GI signs lasting more than three weeks) and why emotional health has historically been sidelined in veterinary care. Then we get concrete about measurement. Sarah explains how a validated canine PANAS tool can capture emotional bias. We also dig into displacement behaviors like yawning, lip smacking, and shaking off in odd moments, using the Heath model “sink” analogy to show how high arousal can overflow into visible behavior.

The conversation turns to what their findings suggest: dogs with CE show higher protective bias and more frequent high-arousal signals than healthy dogs, even when GI disease activity seems well controlled. We talk about what that means for clinical decision-making, when to consider referral to a veterinary behavioral medicine specialist, and how co-management can support welfare. You’ll also hear practical owner steps that connect canine gut health and emotional stability, from fiber-forward diets and microbiome-friendly habits to sleep quality (yes, many adult dogs need 14 to 18 hours daily), environmental adjustments, nutraceuticals, pheromones, and medication when appropriate.

If you care about chronic GI disease, canine emotional health, and better outcomes through whole-dog treatment, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this episode with a veterinarian or dog-loving friend, and leave us a rating and review wherever you listen.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.09.0623
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Metronidazole has been the reflex prescription for canine acute diarrhea for years and that habit is hard to break. We sit down with Dr. Erin Fry to unpack what the data actually says about outcomes in mild to moderate acute diarrhea, including cases with bloody stool, and why supportive care often matches antibiotics for speed of recovery. Along the way, we get honest about the real reasons “we know better” doesn’t always translate into “we do it” when a worried client is sitting in front of us. 

We walk through what uncomplicated acute diarrhea looks like in practice and what supportive care really means: hydration plans, a highly digestible diet, smart fiber use, and when probiotics may fit. Erin also explains why the gut microbiome is now central to the conversation, and how antibiotic-associated dysbiosis can linger for weeks to months, with special concern for puppies and kittens. If you’ve ever prescribed “just in case” because you feared missing something, this conversation gives you a clearer risk-benefit frame grounded in randomized controlled trials and day-to-day clinical reality. 

Then we zoom out to the culture of prescribing. Peer expectations inside a hospital, mixed standards between clinics, client demand for instant gratification, and the challenges faced by newer grads or relief doctors all shape decisions. Erin shares practical tools for behavior change, including practice-wide talking points, team alignment from front desk to exam room, and a concrete starting point using the AVMA antimicrobial stewardship checklist. 

If you want a clearer, evidence-based approach to treating canine acute diarrhea without unnecessary antibiotics, listen now, share this with a colleague, and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.10.0686
AVMA veterinary checklist for antimicrobial stewardship: Veterinary-Checklist-Antimicrobial-Stewardship.pdf
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Guinea pigs don’t read the dog-and-cat neurology textbook and that’s exactly where clinicians get into trouble. We sit down with Dr. Vishal Murthy to unpack what a truly species-specific neurologic examination looks like for guinea pigs, why so many “standard” tests can be misleading, and how prey-species stress can flatten reflexes and hide both normal function and real disease. If you’ve ever felt unsure interpreting postural reactions or reflex testing in small mammals, this conversation gives you a clearer baseline for what normal actually is. 

We dig into the practical realities that make exotic pet neurology hard in the exam room: freezing, shutdown behaviors, and the ways restraint and stress can change responses. Vishal shares the most surprising findings from their work, including why a gag reflex attempt can quickly become a chewing response, and what that means for brain and spinal cord lesion localization. We also talk about differences between client-owned and research guinea pigs, and why handling style may explain pelvic limb tactile placing changes. 

To make this useful at 2 a.m. in ER as well as in specialty practice, we walk through a guinea pig specific checklist designed to emphasize feasible, more reliable exam elements and reduce unnecessary handling. The goal is better diagnostic accuracy, faster decision-making, and improved welfare for a prey species that experiences exams differently than cats and dogs. Subscribe for more veterinary neurology conversations, share this with your zoological companion animal colleagues, and leave a rating and review wherever you listen.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.12.0823
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can feel like an abstract, far-away crisis until you realize how easily it travels through connected systems and how quietly it can persist when we only watch the “end product.” We talk with Dr. Pankaj Gaonkar about antimicrobial resistance in the U.S. poultry industry, starting with a clear definition of AMR and why it is a pressing global health and economic threat. From there, we dig into the uncomfortable reality that resistance can still be detected even as antimicrobial use declines, and why that “disconnect” matters for veterinarians, producers, and anyone who cares about food systems.

A big theme is scale and structure. Modern poultry production is often vertically integrated, moving birds through a coordinated chain from breeder farms and hatcheries to broiler grow-out and processing. That efficiency has a downside: if antimicrobial resistant bacteria emerge at one point, they can move through the system. We also unpack how disease pressure in high-density environments can influence therapeutic decisions, and how older antimicrobial exposure can leave behind residues and resistant organisms that continue to shape selection pressure over time.

The heart of our conversation is environmental surveillance and the One Health approach. Monitoring litter, soil, water, and air around poultry houses helps reveal where resistance is maintained and how it moves between “inside” and “outside” the farm. Pankaj explains key tools like metagenomics, qPCR, and culture-based methods, along with the real challenges around cost, standardization, and interpreting results in complex microbial communities. We close with practical roles for veterinarians and producers, and what smarter policy could look like to strengthen AMR monitoring without creating unnecessary burden.

If you found this valuable, subscribe for more Veterinary Vertex conversations, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.07.0488
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A citation can be polished, specific, and completely fake and that’s the scary part. We sit down with Morna Conway, PhD, Scholarly Journal Consultant and JAVMA and AJVR Copy Editor Vic Schultz to unpack how generative AI tools like ChatGPT can hallucinate references, remixing real author names, familiar journal titles, and plausible article wording into sources that simply do not exist. If you write, review, edit, or read scientific articles in veterinary medicine, this conversation is a practical guide to protecting research integrity in the age of AI-assisted writing.

We walk through how these fabricated citations get discovered, from peer reviewers who know the field well enough to spot a suspicious claim to copy editors who notice missing DOIs, dead Crossref links, absent PMIDs, or volume and page details that don’t add up. Dr. Lisa Fortier shares how editorial workflows shape when problems are caught and why JAVMA and AJVR take a hard line: if hallucinated references are found, the editorial team can reject the manuscript even after acceptance because accuracy is non-negotiable for credible scientific publishing.

We also get specific about responsible AI use in scientific writing: disclose how you used AI, describe the workflow, and personally verify every output before submission. The best advice sounds old-school because it works: proofread, slow down, and click every DOI. If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a rating and review to help more researchers find it.
JAVMA editorial: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.264.4.382
Scientific Reports article: Fabrication and errors in the bibliographic citations generated by ChatGPT | Scientific Reports
INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO JAVMA ®  OR AJVR ® ?
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