Short Takes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Revolution Plus (selamectin and sarolaner topical solution), a new combination topical product that provides protection against fleas, ticks, ear mites, roundworms, hookworms, and heartworms for cats and kittens as young as eight weeks of age and weighing 2.8 pounds or greater. Revolution Plus combines the proven broad-spectrum protection of selamectin (found in Revolution) with the advanced flea- and tick-killing power of sarolaner.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has a downloadable PDF called Owning a Pet: A Job for the Whole Family.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, two companies-Wilbur-Ellis Company, San Francisco, Calif., and Diversified Ingredients, Inc., Ballwin, Mo.- were found guilty in federal court of adulterating and misbranding pet food ingredients. Both companies pleaded guilty of the misdemeanors.

Dolasetron (brand name Anzemet) has been used in people to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea. It inhibits vomiting and nausea via pathways in both the gastrointestnal tract and the central nervous system. This dual action made it sound helpful to cats, thought researchers in California. Their study was reported in the August 2018 Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

Ever wonder how your cat knows youre late coming home from work? A recent study found evidence that mice can judge time. By examining mouse brains medial entorhinal cortex, researchers discovered neurons that turn on like a clock when they wait.

According to a recent note in SmartBrief, a New York Times report found that Pets are increasingly thought of as family members and their owners are increasingly willing to spend more on veterinary care.....

The first study to document interactions between feral cats and a wild rat colony finds that, contrary to popular opinion, cats are not good predators of rats.

News 5 in Cleveland, Ohio, reports that police received multiple calls about multiple cats in a mans home.

A cat in Great Britain brought home a bag of illegal drugs, which the owner turned in to the police.

Effective January 1, in a divorce, the judge has specific criteria to use when deciding who gets the cat (or dog).

In an effort to identify the tick species in pets across the United States, the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology (NCVP) at Oklahoma State University is offering a free tick identification service.

Compounded drugs are medications where bulk ingredients are mixed together by a pharmacist, as opposed to a commercial drug that is approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and manufactured under the FDAs monitoring. When an FDA-approved drug becomes available, the FDA forbids the same medication to be compounded. This is the case with Mirataz (mirtazapine transdermal ointment), which is applied to the inner surface of a cats ear to manage undesired weight loss.