Vital Signs — Saturday, October 10, 2026

New technology

• WSAVA publishes updated global dental guidelines — The new 2026 guidelines update diagnosis and treatment of oral and dental disease, adding sections on dental trauma, juvenile pathology, and radiographic interpretation for practices with different resource levels.
• Invicta launches handheld shock wave device for musculoskeletal conditions — The UK launch of the battery-powered CS-Pro Vet brings focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy for tendon, ligament, and osteoarthritis cases into companion and equine practices.

New discoveries and research

• Avian influenza confirmed in dairy cattle in Washington for the first time — Two Yakima County herds tested positive, marking the state's first livestock cases; federal officials confirmed HPAI on October 8.
• Three decades of trapping mice: how Montana Tech is tracking the next zoonotic threat — Nearly 30 years of deer-mouse surveillance is paying off with new Bartonella detections and models that predict future hantavirus spikes.
• University of Liverpool is recruiting for feline nutrition study — The new randomized controlled trial will test whether nutritional intervention can improve the aging process and extend healthspan in cats.
• Odacova Health to present top-line findings of nine-year study of animal longevity — The company steps out of stealth at the Animal Longevity Summit with a nine-year longitudinal canine efficacy and safety study.

New treatments, drugs, and therapies

• Venom immunotherapy shows promise for insect sting allergies in animals — Clinicians at the University of Glasgow's Small Animal Hospital are adapting human hymenoptera venom immunotherapy for dogs with severe insect sting allergies.

Legal and regulatory

• Trump administration lawsuit against California egg rules can proceed — A federal judge rejected California's motion to dismiss the revised complaint over hen housing standards, finding the government sufficiently pleaded injury to USDA's regulatory scheme.

Clinic management and profitability

• Combating corporate crawl — With 1 in 4 primary care practices now corporate, dvm360 lays out what independent hospitals lose when chains move in and which strengths they can still play.
• New veterinary graduates face widening real-income gap, record debt — Preliminary AVMA data show average student debt hit a record high for the class of 2026 while inflation-adjusted starting pay fell, widening the income gap with the wider profession from 19% to 28%.
• Many UK independent practices are ill-prepared to meet new rules on pricing transparency — A survey found 35% of UK practices lack adequate software for the Competition and Markets Authority's Order 2026, with independents feeling far less ready than corporates.

Feel-good stories

• Hook deep in bird's stomach shows RI rescue's need for X-ray machine — After a cormorant with a swallowed fishing hook had to be euthanized, a Rhode Island wildlife rescue is fundraising for its own X-ray unit to save future patients.