Vital Signs — Wednesday, November 11, 2026

Editor's Pick

• State ag directors press USDA for bird flu vaccine for cattle · ~2 min read — State agriculture departments and state veterinarians have asked USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to let willing states pilot vaccinating dairy cattle against bird flu, warning that without a vaccine the virus risks becoming endemic in US dairy cattle after infecting 1,230 herds in 22 states since March 2024 — and after a Yakima County dairy worker became the first US dairy worker to die of avian influenza. Why it matters: dairy clients will ask whether a vaccine is coming, and a pilot program would change herd-health conversations for every mixed and large-animal practice in an affected state.

"For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book IV.3 (George Long translation)

A quiet mind at the start of the day is worth more than a quiet waiting room — sort the thoughts first, then the cases.

By the Numbers

• ~$1.6 million — average US veterinary gross revenue per practice in 2025, up just 0.3% after inflation, per the 2026 AVMA Practice Owners Survey (via Vetsource's Oct 27 industry tracker). Takeaway: revenue is holding on price, not volume — patient visits were down 3.2% year over year — so efficiency and client retention are doing the work that new-client growth used to do.

In the Journals

• New Animal Health and Food Safety Lab Opens in California's Central Valley · ~2 min read — A new $108 million, 44,000-square-foot California Animal Health and Food Safety lab in Turlock replaces a 5,000-square-foot poultry-only facility and now handles necropsy and diagnostic testing — including expanded molecular testing — for cattle, horses, pigs and goats, with staff nearly doubling. Why it matters: faster turnaround on reportable-disease testing for Central Valley livestock, and a model for what state diagnostic capacity looks like when it's actually funded.

AI Watch

• New HABRI and Chewy Health Study Finds AI Use Growing Among Pet Parents, Strengthening Engagement with Veterinary Care · ~3 min read — A survey of 2,008 US dog and cat owners found 36% have used AI for pet care, and among AI users with a veterinarian, 69% say it improved their relationship with their vet and 67% felt more informed before visits. Why it matters: clients are already arriving with AI-shaped questions, so the exam-room conversation is shifting from "don't Google it" to guiding what they found. (Industry study — HABRI/Chewy press release.)

The Business End

• Vets Must Negotiate Harder Just to Keep Up With Inflation. · ~6 min read — AVMA's 2026 economic report finds practice owners were 21.3% of private-practice veterinarians in 2025, down from 26.0% in 2023, while owners earned $184,151 on average versus $147,736 for associates and reported 84.5% job satisfaction versus 68.9% for associates. Why it matters: ownership keeps consolidating, but the owners who remain are the best paid and most satisfied in the profession — worth knowing when an associate asks about buying in. (Law-firm summary of the AVMA report.)
• Dechra buys pet stem-cell developer Gallant as FDA decision nears · ~2 min read — Dechra agreed to acquire Gallant, whose lead product sonruvetcel — an off-the-shelf stem-cell therapy for cats with refractory chronic gingivostomatitis — has FDA effectiveness and 365-day safety sections signed off, with over 75% of treated cats showing a clinically relevant quality-of-life gain by day 90 in its pivotal study. Why it matters: if conditionally approved, it would be the first FDA-labelled off-the-shelf stem-cell therapy in veterinary medicine, and a major manufacturer buying in signals regenerative medicine is moving from niche to mainstream.

The Fine Print

• Update on New World Screwworm and protection for pets · ~4 min read — Update: USDA surveillance counted 126 confirmed US screwworm infestations as of Nov 9 — up from 116 on Nov 5 — across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, while sterile-fly production (about 150 million a week) runs at under a third of the roughly 500 million needed for containment, and horse imports from Mexico reopened Oct 26 through Santa Teresa with inspection, treatment and a seven-day quarantine. Why it matters: the count keeps climbing while the containment tool is under-supplied, so wound checks on animals from affected areas stay essential, and travelling horses face new paperwork.

The Feel-Good Finish

• Rescue Dog Found Exhausted in Driveway Gets Beautiful New Beginning · ~2 min read — Athena, a year-old dog found exhausted and emaciated in a Tampa driveway with severe demodicosis, spent about a month at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay on medicated baths and steady care — then was adopted by Jessica, who fell in love with her intake photo and renamed her Willow. Why it matters: the intake photo that showed how bad things were is exactly what won her a home — a small reminder that documenting the hard cases matters.

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