July 4, 2012

Volume X, No. 1

Voluntary Recall of LabDiet® and Mazuri® Feed Products

PMI Nutrition International has recalled four varieties of the LabDiet® and Mazuri® feed products for animals including guinea pigs, small birds, and primates due to the potential for an elevated vitamin D level in these products. Elevated vitamin D levels can be harmful to animals if fed for extended periods. Read the FDA Press Release...

Mars Petcare US Announces Voluntary Recall of Limited Range of Pedigree® Brand Wet Dog Food

Pedigree voluntarily recalls a few lots of wet dog food due to choking risk. Read the FDA Press Release...

Keeping Track of All Animal/Pet Related Recalls

Have you lost track of all the confusing pet food/treat recalls in recent months? The FDA has a Web page where you can see a summary of the recalls.

ISVMA Monthly Legislative Report

Governor Quinn used his amendatory veto powers to strike the funding for the Centralia Animal Disease Laboratory from the State' FY2013 budget. Current plans are for the lab to shut down on August 31, 2012 and they will no longer take samples after August 15, 2012. ISVMA lobbyists will be talking with members of the General Assembly about the possibility of a legislative override of the Governor's veto. If there are further developments on this issue, we will notify membership through email.

In an effort to keep ISVMA members more aware of Illinois politics and legislative and regulatory actions that impact their practices, ISVMA publishes a monthly legislative report. Please read the June Legislative Report.

ISVMA Membership Renewals Past Due - Please Pay Immediately to Avoid Interruption of Member Services

Please help ISVMA staff track down past due membership renewals.

ISVMA staff will soon have to start calling all of the members that have not renewed their dues. It is a very time-consuming and difficult task that can be made much easier if you will either pay your dues online or by fax (217) 546-5633 or contact ISVMA to let us know if you do not intend to renew. We hope that you will renew because ISVMA depends upon the support of its members to provide the quality services, programs and advocacy that are so important to the profession in Illinios. You can contact ISVMA by emailing peter@isvma.org or calling (217) 546-8381. If you need another copy of your invoice, we can fax or email one to you if you call the office to request it.

ISVMA members can now pay their dues online with a VISA or MasterCard. This added convenience is available through the ISVMA Member Center. When you click on the link, you will be asked to login to go to your account. If you have forgotten your username and/or password, click on the reminder link and the information will immediately be delivered to your email address.

Once you have logged in, you will see a link called "Member Renewal" in the floating orange box on the right hand side of your screen. Click on that link to pay your dues.

ISVMA member dues invoices will be mailed on Monday and are due on June 30, 2011. Please pay your dues before the deadline to avoid any interruption in your membership status. When you pay your dues this year, please notice that the invoice form allows you to make additional contributions to the Veterinary Medicine Political Action Committee (VMPAC) and the Illinois Veterinary Medical Foundation (IVMF). I hope that you take advantage of the opportunity to contribute whatever you can afford to these two other organizations that support the activities of ISVMA:

1. VMPAC helps improve both our visibility and the relationships local veterinarians have with their elected officials. These relationships pay off tremendously when we are lobbying for support of our legislative positions. VMPAC contributes to the campaigns of legislators who are friendly to ISVMA and our issues. Typically, we purchase fundraiser tickets and invite veterinarians from the legislator’s district to attend as representatives of ISVMA.

2. Donations to the IVMF, a 501(c)3 charity, are used to provide scholarships and to develop and support charitable programs related to the veterinary profession. 100% of every dollar contributed to IVMF is spent on the scholarships and programs established by the organization’s mission. All administration for the IVMF is donated generously by the volunteer board members and ISVMA staff.

Your support and participation are greatly appreciated. If you know a colleague or associate that is not a member of ISVMA, please encourage them to join now! Some of the benefits of membership are listed on the ISVMA website.

Check and Confirm the Accuracy of Your Practice Listing Using the ISVMA "Find a Veterinarian" Search Tool

Nearly 20,000 people visit the ISVMA website every day. Many of them use the " Find a Veterinarian" search tool to locate a nearby veterinarian.

There are two ways to use the "Find a Veterinarian" search tool:

1. The public can use the "Find a Veterinarian" link located just below the "Home" button on the vertical link bar at the left side of the ISVMA website. This search tool will only list ISVMA member veterinarians. Non-member veterinarians will not show up using the public search tool. Those members that have not paid their dues by July 30, 2011 (after the 30-day grace period) will no longer show up on this public search tool.

To get a listing of ISVMA member veterinarians associated with your practice, type in your practice name in the "Organization" search field.

2. If any ISVMA member logs into the Member Center, you can get a complete listing of veterinarians and technicians listed for your practice in our database and their membership status using the Member Directory Link on the horizontal (orange) link bar at the top of the ISVMA website.

To get a complete listing of all veterinarians and technicians associated with your practice in our database (and their membership status), type in your practice name in the "Organization" search field.

IMPORTANT: Please take a few minutes to have an ISVMA member from your practice log in to check the listing for your practice. Review the veterinarians and technicians listed for your practice and contact ISVMA if there are any changes. If you have a veterinarian or technician that has left your practice, please let us know where they have relocated. If you have a veterinarian or technician that is in your practice, but not listed, please let us know so that we can update our database. If there are any changes to your practice staffing list, please email peter@isvma.org with the requested information.

Accreditation Body Questions Pharmacies on Veterinary Drug Suppliers

A barrage of complaints and questions about where Internet pharmacies obtain veterinary drugs has prompted an investigation by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Read more...

Central Illinois VMA Summer Meeting Pre-Registration Deadline is July 9, 2012

The CIVMA 2012 Summer Meeting will be held on July 18, 2012 at the ISVMA Headquarters, 1121 Chatham Road, Springfield, IL 62704. The speaker is William J. Tranquili, DVM, MS, DACVA. He will be discussing Chronic Pain: New Concepts. A copy of the program brochure can be downloaded from this website. Online registration is also available.

About the Photo

The extreme heat wave that ushered in the Summer of 2012 brings to mind the Western North American deserts were you are likely to find the Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens). The Phainopepla is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptilogonatidae, the silky flycatchers.

The Phainopepla is a striking bird, 16–20 cm long with a noticeable crest and a long tail; it is slender, and has an upright posture when it perches. Its bill is short and slender. The male is glossy black, and has a white wing patch that is visible when it flies; the female is plain gray and has a lighter gray wing patch. Both sexes have red eyes, but these are more noticeable in the female than the male.

The Phainopepla ranges as far north as central California with the San Joaquin Valley and southern Utah, and south to central Mexico, the interior Mexican Plateau region; the southern edge of the plateau, the transverse mountains is its non-breeding home. It is found in hot areas, including desert oases, and is readily seen in the deserts of Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern California; also the Baja Peninsula, both Baja California-(north), and Baja California Sur where they are only breeding resident birds.

Berries, any small insects, fruits, vegetables. Phainopepla have a specialized mechanism in their gizzard that shucks berry skins off the fruit and packs the skins separately from the rest of the fruit into the intestines for more efficient digestion. So far this is the only known bird able to do this.

Phainopeplas have been found to imitate the calls of twelve other species, such as the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus).

I photographed this male Phainopepla in the Arizona Sonoran desert in 2006.

Contact Us

Please feel free to forward this issue of the E-SOURCE to veterinarians that are not receiving ISVMA’s electronic newsletter. Any ISVMA member may subscribe to the E-SOURCE for free.

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