AABP Board Approves New Mission Statement

At the recent AABP Board of Directors meeting in Milwaukee, Wis., the board approved a new mission and vision statement. These statements were presented by a working group of board members, past presidents and emerging leaders. The mission statement reflects the three silos of activity that AABP provides for its members which includes continuing education, advocacy for cattle veterinarians, and support of the AABP Foundation initiatives. The new statements can be found on the AABP homepage.

The mission of the AABP is to provide support, continuing education and advocacy for current and future veterinary professionals and the cattle they serve. The vision of AABP is to serve society as leaders in cattle health, welfare and productivity.

AABP Board Approves New Position Statements

The AABP Board of Directors also had discussions about recent legislative activity and proposals from groups to address workforce shortages. AABP collaborates with the AVMA on a variety of advocacy issues. Several states are proposing legislation to revise veterinary practice acts to allow for the remote establishment of a Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR). It is the position of the board that a VCPR can only be established through an in-person visit so that the veterinarian can become familiar with the operation, caretakers, facilities and animal health needs, and provide the necessary oversight of drug use and treatment protocols on the farm. The board also believes that allowing the establishment of a VCPR through electronic means could have the unintended consequence of further creating economic pressures on the local rural veterinarian who is providing the necessary services through companies that remotely establish VCPR’s. There are also risks to the veterinarian because there is no allowance for establishing a VCPR remotely in federal law for authorizing a VFD or extra-label drug use. Find the VCPR position statement at this link.

The board also addressed recent proposals to establish a mid-level practitioner to alleviate workforce shortage issues. The board is supportive of utilizing the already established credentialed veterinary technicians in bovine practice and is not supportive of the creation of a mid-level practitioner. A mid-level practitioner program is not defined, the time frame to incorporate such a para-professional is unknown, educational program and training is undefined, and it is unknown what tasks a mid-level practitioner would perform that could unfairly compete with rural veterinarians. Find this position statement at this link.

Call for Volunteers – Utilization of Credentialed Veterinary Technicians in Bovine Practice Task Force

Most state practice acts that address what credentialed veterinary technicians (CVT) can perform working under the direct or indirect supervision of a veterinarian are written for companion animal practices and not ambulatory bovine practice. To address this issue, the AABP Board of Directors has created a Utilization of Credentialed Veterinary Technicians in Bovine Practice Taks Force. This task force will develop a list of procedures that CVTs can perform in bovine practice and which procedures should be performed only by a veterinarian, review CVT program curricula as it pertains to bovine practice, define the veterinary supervision level under which each procedure is performed, define direct and indirect supervision as it relates to bovine practice, and ensure that these procedures are aligned with current AABP Guidelines and Position Statements. To find a description of the task force, visit https://aabp.org/resources/2023/CVT_TF.pdf.

The task force will consist of 8-12 current AABP members and must include at least two CVT AABP members. Liaisons from allied groups and the AABP Board of Directors will also serve on the task force. Interested AABP member veterinarians and veterinary technicians can apply to serve on the task force by sending a CV/resume and letter of interest to fred@aabp.org by October 31. The board will then select the members to serve on the task force. The task force will meet via email and virtually to develop a draft guideline for approval by the board no later than March 1.

Abstract Highlight

Milk Residues Following Multiple Doses of Meloxicam and Gabapentin in Lactating Dairy Cattle

Danielle A. Mzyk, Claire B. Giles, Ronald E. Baynes, Geof W. Smith

JAVMA August 2023
https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.23.06.0329

OBJECTIVE

To determine the influence of stage of lactation on the pharmacokinetics in milk when multiple doses of meloxicam were administered alone or in combination with gabapentin to postpartum (PP) and mid-lactation (ML) cows.

ANIMALS

8 postpartum and 8 mid-lactation dairy cows.

METHODS

Cows were randomly divided into 2 groups (n = 8) which included 4 PP cows and 4 ML cows. Group I received only 6 oral daily doses of meloxicam (1.0 mg/kg for 6 doses). Group II received 6 oral daily doses of co-administered meloxicam (1.0 mg/kg) and gabapentin (20 mg/kg) for 6 doses. Meloxicam and gabapentin were quantified in plasma and milk samples by ultra–high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and the pharmacokinetic analysis of milk and plasma was performed using a non-compartmental approach.

RESULTS

Regardless of lactation status, dairy cattle administered multiple doses of meloxicam and/or gabapentin showed low drug residue concentrations and little accumulation in milk. The terminal plasma half-life of meloxicam was significantly increased (P < .02) in PP cows (12.9 hr) compared to ML cows (9.4 hr). The apparent terminal half-life in milk for meloxicam and gabapentin was not affected by stage of lactation. Co-administration of gabapentin did not alter plasma or milk concentrations of meloxicam.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Abstract Highlight

Comparison of Lidocaine alone or in Combination with a Local Nerve Block of Ethanol, Bupivacaine Liposome Suspension, or Oral Meloxicam to Extend Analgesia After Scoop Dehorning in Holstein Calves

Miriam S. Martin, Michael D. Kleinhenz, Abbie V. Viscardi, Shawnee R. Montgomery, Charley A. Cull, Jon E. Seagren, Kelly F. Lechtenberg, Johann F. Coetzee

JDS Comm March 2022
https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2021-0178

The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends the use of practices that reduce or eliminate pain and discomfort associated with dehorning. Identification of an effective, long-acting local anesthetic that is practical for producers to implement and reduces pain from dehorning would benefit animal welfare. Thirty-two Holstein bulls and heifers were enrolled. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and duration of activity of bupivacaine liposome suspension (BUP; n = 8), ethanol (ETH; n = 8), or meloxicam (LID + MEL; n = 8) co-administered with lidocaine compared with lidocaine only (LID; n = 8), and to quantify their effect on pain biomarkers and behaviors after scoop dehorning with cauterization in approximately 20-wk-old calves. Outcome variables collected included infrared thermography (IRT), mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT), visual analog scale (VAS) scoring, and blood sampling for serum cortisol and prostaglandin E2 metabolites (PGEM). There was evidence of a sex effect for MNT, with bulls demonstrating a higher threshold (13.74 kgf) compared with heifers (12.12 kgf). There was a treatment by time interaction for cortisol concentrations (ng/mL). At 2 h, the BUP group had higher cortisol values (17.32 ng/mL) than the LID + MEL group (3.10 ng/mL). Heifers also had higher mean cortisol values (13.88 ng/mL) compared with bulls (6.96 ng/mL). There was a treatment by time interaction for PGEM concentration. Calves in the LID + MEL group had lower PGEM values at 4 and 8 h (10.23 and 9.12 pg/mL) than at −24, 0, and 0.5 h (20.38, 27.27, and 22.59 pg/mL, respectively). At 4 h, the LID + MEL group had lower PGEM concentrations (10.23 pg/mL) than the ETH group (27.08 pg/mL). At 8 h, the LID + MEL group had lower PGEM concentrations (9.12 pg/mL) than both the ETH and BUP groups (24.80 and 20.52 pg/mL). Thus, LID + MEL reduced cortisol and prostaglandin metabolite concentrations more effectively than ETH + LID or BUP + LID administered as a local infiltration and cornual block, respectively, before scoop dehorning followed by cauterization. The treatments administered in the present study did not seem to extend the duration of analgesia beyond the currently recommended multimodal approach, including local anesthesia and systemic analgesia such as lidocaine and meloxicam. Evidence from the current study suggests that sex influences pain biomarkers such as nociceptive threshold and cortisol concentration, with males having a higher nociceptive threshold and lower cortisol responses.

Submitted by the AABP Animal Welfare Committee

This project was funded through a Cattle Welfare Research Grant by the AABP Foundation. To donate to the AABP Foundation to support clinically relevant bovine research, click this link.

Abstract Highlight

Saturated Fat, the Estimated Absolute Risk and Certainty of Risk for Mortality and Major Cancer and Cardiometabolic Outcomes: an Overview of Systematic Reviews

JhalokRonjan Talukdar, Jeremy P. Steen, Joshua Z. Goldenberg, Qian Zhang, Robin W. M. Vernooij, Long Ge, Dena Zeraatkar, Małgorzata M. Bała, Geoff D. C. Ball, Lehana Thabane & Bradley C. Johnston

Syst Rev 2023
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02312-3

Objective
To assess the impact of reducing saturated fat or fatty foods, or replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, carbohydrate or protein, on the risk of mortality and major cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes in adults.

Methods
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and references of included studies for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies in adults published in the past 10 years. Eligible reviews investigated reducing saturated fat or fatty foods or replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, carbohydrate or protein, on the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes and assessed the certainty of evidence for each outcome using, for example, the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) approach. We assessed the quality of SRMAs using a modified version of AMSTAR-2. Results were summarized as absolute estimates of effect together with the certainty of effects using a narrative synthesis approach.

Results
We included 17 SRMAs (13 reviews of observational studies with follow-up 1 to 34 years; 4 reviews of RCTs with follow-up 1 to 17 years). The quality of two-thirds of the SRMAs was critically low to moderate; the main limitations included deficient reporting of study selection, absolute effect estimates, sources of funding, and a priori subgroups to explore heterogeneity. Our included reviews reported > 100 estimates of effect across 11 critically important cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes. High quality SRMAs consistently and predominantly reported low to very low certainty evidence that reducing or replacing saturated fat was associated with a very small risk reduction in cancer and cardiometabolic endpoints. The risk reductions where approximately divided, some being statistically significant and some being not statistically significant. However, based on 2 moderate to high quality reviews, we found moderate certainty evidence for a small but important effect that was statistically significant for two outcomes (total mortality events [20 fewer events per 1000 followed] and combined cardiovascular events [16 fewer per 1000 followed]). Conversely, 4 moderate to high quality reviews showed very small effects on total mortality, with 3 of these reviews showing non-statistically significant mortality effects.

Conclusion
Systematic reviews investigating the impact of SFA on mortality and major cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes almost universally suggest very small absolute changes in risk, and the data is based primarily on low and very low certainty evidence.