Vital Signs — Sunday, October 11, 2026

New technology

• PetPace launches its AI-powered health collar at Chewy — The wearable continuously tracks pulse, respiration, temperature, heart rate variability, and behavior in dogs and cats, turning the data into AI health scores that pet owners can share with their veterinarian.

New discoveries and research

• Microplastics found in the blood of every dog and cat tested — An Italian team detected microplastic particles in the bloodstream of all 20 ordinary pets examined (14 dogs, 6 cats) — the first such finding in living companion animals under real-world conditions.
• Milk makes Staph aureus tougher — French researchers found S. aureus grown in milk builds an envelope about three times thicker and produces more protective pigment, explaining why mastitis isolates that test susceptible in the lab so often fail treatment in the udder.
• Dog dementia brains mirror Alzheimer's, study finds — Brains from 24 dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction showed extensive protein plaques strikingly similar to human Alzheimer's, suggesting dogs could be a more useful model than mice for studying the disease's early stages.
• One-time gene therapy rebuilt retinas in adult dogs — A 2026 Michigan State study found a single CaBP4 gene therapy dose restored retinal structure and visual function in adult dogs with an inherited retinal disorder, with structural recovery maintained for about three years.
• Fecal transplants show promise against canine cognitive decline — In a small JAVMA study, 90 days of oral fecal microbiota capsules improved owner-reported cognitive scores in 4 of 6 aging dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction, with increased gut microbiome diversity.

New treatments, drugs, and therapies

• Simparica Trio outperformed NexGard Plus against resistant heartworm — In a Zoetis-funded head-to-head study against the ML-resistant ZoeLA heartworm isolate, 25% of Simparica Trio dogs developed adult worms vs 75% on NexGard Plus, with none of the former showing circulating microfilariae.
• FDA posts recent animal drug approvals — September approvals include a zinc/copper/manganese injectable mineral supplement for cattle and a florfenicol-plus-flunixin combination for bovine respiratory disease in beef and non-lactating dairy cattle.

Clinical alerts

• Acrylamide toxicosis in 45 dogs from hydrogel migraine caps — Dogs that chewed polyacrylamide-based hydrogel migraine caps, eye masks, or wraps developed seizures, ataxia, and tremors; lab testing found acrylamide monomer at levels far above expected residuals, with about two-thirds of dogs with known outcomes dying or euthanized.