Vital Signs — Thursday, October 22, 2026

"How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

(Attention is the day's scarcest drug — spend it on your own patients, not other people's fires.)

Editor's Pick

• Wedgewood Pharmacy Issues Recall of Certain Compounded Veterinary Medications Within Expiry Due to Potential Potency Issues — Wedgewood is recalling compounded meds shipped Feb 18–Oct 6, 2026 after its own testing found unreliable analytical data, risking subpotent or superpotent products; why it matters: these products are in thousands of practices, 98 complaints (7 serious) have come in so far, so check your shelves against the lot list at wedgewood.com/recall-lookup/ today.

By the Numbers

• 29,000 — doses of heartworm prevention Virbac donated to KC Pet Project, enough to cover every dog through its doors; takeaway: the shelter also hands adopters of heartworm-positive dogs a full year of meds — a reminder that prevention partnerships are cheap at scale and worth asking your own reps about.

In the Journals

• A pill to help dogs live longer moves closer to FDA approval — Loyal's LOY-002, a daily pill aimed at extending healthy lifespan in dogs 10+ years and 14+ lbs, has cleared the FDA's safety review and "reasonable expectation of effectiveness" bar on the path to conditional approval — manufacturing review and a longevity trial still stand between it and your pharmacy.
• Review proposes response-guided precision nutrition for dogs and cats — A new review in Frontiers in Veterinary Science argues companion-animal nutrition should move from one-size formulas to response-guided feeding, with monitoring measures like weight, condition score, and urinary chemistry being the practical starting points today.
• Comparative Veterinary Psychopharmacology in Dogs and Cats — A 26-page review maps how behavioral drugs differ between dogs and cats by neurotransmitter target and metabolism — evidence runs stronger for dogs, and the authors warn against borrowing human-psychiatry dosing logic for either species.

The Business End

• Truss Vet - Veterinary Urgent Care is Bringing Compassionate, High-Quality Same-Day Pet Care to Knoxville — Urgent-care chain Truss Vet opened its first clinic outside the Carolinas on Oct. 15, pitching same-day walk-in care at up to 50% less than a typical ER visit — the urgent-care category keeps expanding into primary care's overflow.
• Clemson dedicates Harvey S. Peeler Jr. College of Veterinary Medicine — Clemson officially dedicated its new vet college on Oct. 16, with an inaugural 80-student DVM class (60 of them South Carolinians) already in seats — one more pipeline school aimed at a state shortage.
• CatsOnly™ Earns Cat Friendly Practice® Gold Designation — The feline-only hospital group earned the highest Cat Friendly Practice tier for its flagship clinic, built around direct-to-exam-room arrivals and cat-only handling — a case study in designing the experience around the species, not the schedule.
• NAVTA and Boehringer Ingelheim Announce 2026 Tuition for Vet Techs Scholarship Recipients — Twenty tech students and new graduates each got $2,500 in tuition assistance for National Veterinary Technician Week — worth forwarding to any tech on your team with school debt, since visible career investment is a retention lever.
• AVMA faces backlash over Veterinary Technician Week post: "We do more than just hold animals" — An AVMA Tech Week photo of a tech merely holding a patient drew criticism that it reinforces a reductive view of the role — a reminder that the language and imagery you use around your own credentialed techs lands harder than you think.

The Fine Print

• Wedgewood Pharmacy Issues Recall of Certain Compounded Veterinary Medications Within Expiry Due to Potential Potency Issues — The recall covers powders, pastes, suspensions, injectables, ophthalmics, ear and topical products for companion, equine, exotic, zoo, wildlife, and aquatic animals (not food-producing animals); affected customers get refund or replacement through Sedgwick, and owners should stop use and call 866-562-5931.
• Bill to improve consumer protection and animal health and safety in equine sales passed unanimously by the Senate, heads to governor's desk — Pennsylvania HB 2555 would require dealers to document negative EIA tests, ID markers, and interstate health certificates for horses they sell — watch it if you write certificates for equine clients, since dealer paperwork standards are tightening.

The Feel-Good Finish

• Virbac Donation Brings Heartworm Prevention to Every Dog at KC Pet Project — Virbac's 29,000-dose donation of Iverhart Max chews keeps heartworm prevention universal at Kansas City's municipal shelter, which cares for 16,000+ pets a year in a heartworm hot spot.
• Champ Wins 2026 World's Cutest Rescue Dog Contest — Champ, a three-legged Yorkie mix found as a stray in Texas, won PEOPLE's 2026 World's Cutest Rescue Dog contest — he's now a certified therapy dog visiting schools, airports, and assisted-living facilities.
• Dog arrives at shelter covered in sores: his transformation is unbelievable — Shiloh, a 9-year-old Husky seized from dangerous living conditions with nearly all her fur gone, has a full coat and a new trust in people three months after a foster stepped in — she's now waiting for a forever family.

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