Identifying Feral Cats in Shelters

Slater MR, Miller KA, Weiss E et al: A survey of the methods used in shelter and rescue programs to identify feral and frightened pet cats, J Feline Med Surg 12:592, 2010.

At least 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters nationwide on an annual basis and at least half are free-roaming cats. Free-roaming cats are defined as any cat living part of the time outdoors. Animal welfare organizations must make disposition decisions on intake of millions of cats each year and it can be difficult to differentiate between feral cats and frightened socialized cats.  This study’s objectives were to learn about methods used to evaluate and categorize incoming cats, amount of time cats are held before assessment, and the level of cooperation between welfare agencies to minimize euthanasia of feral cats. The authors find no widely-accepted criteria or information-gathering guidelines among the responses collected. Only 15% of the 555 respondents had written guidelines. Many respondents indicated that time was the most important element of deciding if a cat was feral or not.  Minimal holding times were highly varied, with 1-3 days cited as the most common holding time among all organizations, especially animal control programs. Approximately half the groups transferred feral cats to trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs at least occasionally. The results of the survey highlight the need for more research to develop focused standardized guidelines for determining feral status early in the shelter intake process. [VT]

Related articles:
Wallace JL, Levy JK: Population characteristics of feral cats admitted to seven trap-neuter-return programs in the United States, J Feline Med Surg 8:279, 2006.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation Library
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Slater MR, Miller KA, Weiss E et al: A survey of the methods used in shelter and rescue programs to identify feral and frightened pet cats, J Feline Med Surg 12:592, 2010.

At least 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters nationwide on an annual basis and at least half are free-roaming cats. Free-roaming cats are defined as any cat living part of the time outdoors. Animal welfare organizations must make disposition decisions on intake of millions of cats each year and it can be difficult to differentiate between feral cats and frightened socialized cats.  This study’s objectives were to learn about methods used to evaluate and categorize incoming cats, amount of time cats are held before assessment, and the level of cooperation between welfare agencies to minimize euthanasia of feral cats. The authors find no widely-accepted criteria or information-gathering guidelines among the responses collected. Only 15% of the 555 respondents had written guidelines. Many respondents indicated that time was the most important element of deciding if a cat was feral or not.  Minimal holding times were highly varied, with 1-3 days cited as the most common holding time among all organizations, especially animal control programs. Approximately half the groups transferred feral cats to trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs at least occasionally. The results of the survey highlight the need for more research to develop focused standardized guidelines for determining feral status early in the shelter intake process. [VT]

Related articles:
Wallace JL, Levy JK: Population characteristics of feral cats admitted to seven trap-neuter-return programs in the United States, J Feline Med Surg 8:279, 2006.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation Library
Join us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

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Connect With Winn!

Winn's goal is to help "Every Cat, Every Day" and we can only do this with your assistance. Stay in touch with our activities and learn how you can become involved in the future of feline health.

Join over 3,000 other cat lovers on our Facebook page.

Follow us on Twitter and help spread the word!

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Virtual Memorials for special cats loved by special owners

Winn's goal is to help "Every Cat, Every Day" and we can only do this with your assistance. Stay in touch with our activities and learn how you can become involved in the future of feline health.

Join over 3,000 other cat lovers on our Facebook page.

Follow us on Twitter and help spread the word!

Subscribe to our email newsletter - we promise, no spam :-)
  

Virtual Memorials for special cats loved by special owners

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Exercise 'can prevent a cold', a study shows

People who exercise regularly are less likely to get a cold, researchers say.


A study of 1,000 people found that staying active nearly halved the odds of catching cold viruses and, failing that, made the infection less severe.

Experts told the British Journal of Sports Medicine that this could be because exercise helps bolster the immune system to fight off bugs.

But you may not have to actually do much exercise - those who merely think they are fit enjoy the same lower risk.

Adults can expect to suffer two to five colds per year. This latest research suggests there are lifestyle choices you can make to improve your odds of either avoiding them, or suffering too badly from them.

For their study, US researchers asked the healthy volunteers to keep a record of any coughs and sniffles they experienced over a three-month period during the autumn and winter.

The volunteers were also asked to say how frequently in any given week they would do exercise lasting at least 20 minutes and intensive enough to break a sweat.

And they were questioned about lifestyle, diet and recent stressful events, as these can all affect a person's immune system.

Being older, male and married seemed to reduce the frequency of colds, as did eating plenty of fruit.
But the most significant factors that cut colds was how much exercise a person did and how fit they perceived themselves to be.

Feeling fit and being active cut the risk of having a cold by nearly 50%.

People who were physically active on five or more days of the week were unwell with a cold for about five days of the three-month period, compared to nine days for those who did little or no exercise.

And even when they were ill, they suffered less with their symptoms.

The severity of symptoms fell by 41% among those who felt the fittest and by 31% among those who were the most active.

Lead researcher Dr David Nieman and his team, from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, say bouts of exercise spark a temporary rise in immune system cells circulating around the body that can attack foreign invaders.

Although these levels fall back within a few hours, each session is likely to provide an immune boost to fight off infections like the common cold.

Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "This is yet more evidence for doing exercise. It reflects what we have believed for some time.

"Exercise makes us feel better and now here's more evidence that it is good for us."

People who exercise regularly are less likely to get a cold, researchers say.


A study of 1,000 people found that staying active nearly halved the odds of catching cold viruses and, failing that, made the infection less severe.

Experts told the British Journal of Sports Medicine that this could be because exercise helps bolster the immune system to fight off bugs.

But you may not have to actually do much exercise - those who merely think they are fit enjoy the same lower risk.

Adults can expect to suffer two to five colds per year. This latest research suggests there are lifestyle choices you can make to improve your odds of either avoiding them, or suffering too badly from them.

For their study, US researchers asked the healthy volunteers to keep a record of any coughs and sniffles they experienced over a three-month period during the autumn and winter.

The volunteers were also asked to say how frequently in any given week they would do exercise lasting at least 20 minutes and intensive enough to break a sweat.

And they were questioned about lifestyle, diet and recent stressful events, as these can all affect a person's immune system.

Being older, male and married seemed to reduce the frequency of colds, as did eating plenty of fruit.
But the most significant factors that cut colds was how much exercise a person did and how fit they perceived themselves to be.

Feeling fit and being active cut the risk of having a cold by nearly 50%.

People who were physically active on five or more days of the week were unwell with a cold for about five days of the three-month period, compared to nine days for those who did little or no exercise.

And even when they were ill, they suffered less with their symptoms.

The severity of symptoms fell by 41% among those who felt the fittest and by 31% among those who were the most active.

Lead researcher Dr David Nieman and his team, from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, say bouts of exercise spark a temporary rise in immune system cells circulating around the body that can attack foreign invaders.

Although these levels fall back within a few hours, each session is likely to provide an immune boost to fight off infections like the common cold.

Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "This is yet more evidence for doing exercise. It reflects what we have believed for some time.

"Exercise makes us feel better and now here's more evidence that it is good for us."

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How should value be defined in spine surgery?

Introduction
In a health care economy with limited resources, providers and consumers of health care services need to be accountable for the end result and the cost of care. The value proposition in health care is an analysis of the benefits of care relative to the direct cost and risk of providing the care. Measurement of benefits and costs is challenging, and a consensus on the measures that encompass the relevant components of the value equation has not been reached. Traditional outcome measures in orthopedics including survival, radiographic outcomes, and disease-specific outcome tools do not adequately reflect the patient’s health care experience, or the impact of an intervention on health-related quality of life. Similarly, measuring cost of care is complex, and may encompass both direct costs of treatment and alternative treatments, and indirect costs including time from work or family role, loss of productivity, and cost of caretakers.

The value equation may vary depending on the perspective of the stakeholder in the health care economy. Hospitals and facilities providing care may measure outcome and costs by factors that affect their short-term, single admission interaction, including length of stay, implant utilization, and complications. Third-party payors may focus on a timeframe that is longer that a single admission, and may include factors in the value equation such as readmission within 90 days, or cost of outpatient care. Hospital- and payor-based quality measures may be misinterpreted as measures of outcome or value. Length of stay, surgical times, compliance with antibiotic or thromboembolic prophylaxis, and perioperative complications are process measures that may be useful to compare hospital and provider performance when appropriately matched and stratified. However, they are not useful in measuring a patient’s health care experience, or the impact of an intervention on long-term health-related quality of life. In fact, a focus on quality and process measures alone may be misleading in the pursuit of value in health care, and may provide incentive for counterproductive care strategies that serve the measurement system rather than the patient.

The health care provider and the patient measure outcome by the impact of an orthopedic intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The timeframe for the patient and provider is a lifetime, rather than a single admission. As Porter and Teisberg wrote in 2006, the right goal for health care delivery is superior patient value, which is measured at the level of specific medical conditions. Measurement of outcomes of care needs to reflect the patient’s long-term health care experience, and the impact of one intervention compared with alternatives on the patients self-assessment of HRQoL.

Introduction
In a health care economy with limited resources, providers and consumers of health care services need to be accountable for the end result and the cost of care. The value proposition in health care is an analysis of the benefits of care relative to the direct cost and risk of providing the care. Measurement of benefits and costs is challenging, and a consensus on the measures that encompass the relevant components of the value equation has not been reached. Traditional outcome measures in orthopedics including survival, radiographic outcomes, and disease-specific outcome tools do not adequately reflect the patient’s health care experience, or the impact of an intervention on health-related quality of life. Similarly, measuring cost of care is complex, and may encompass both direct costs of treatment and alternative treatments, and indirect costs including time from work or family role, loss of productivity, and cost of caretakers.

The value equation may vary depending on the perspective of the stakeholder in the health care economy. Hospitals and facilities providing care may measure outcome and costs by factors that affect their short-term, single admission interaction, including length of stay, implant utilization, and complications. Third-party payors may focus on a timeframe that is longer that a single admission, and may include factors in the value equation such as readmission within 90 days, or cost of outpatient care. Hospital- and payor-based quality measures may be misinterpreted as measures of outcome or value. Length of stay, surgical times, compliance with antibiotic or thromboembolic prophylaxis, and perioperative complications are process measures that may be useful to compare hospital and provider performance when appropriately matched and stratified. However, they are not useful in measuring a patient’s health care experience, or the impact of an intervention on long-term health-related quality of life. In fact, a focus on quality and process measures alone may be misleading in the pursuit of value in health care, and may provide incentive for counterproductive care strategies that serve the measurement system rather than the patient.

The health care provider and the patient measure outcome by the impact of an orthopedic intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The timeframe for the patient and provider is a lifetime, rather than a single admission. As Porter and Teisberg wrote in 2006, the right goal for health care delivery is superior patient value, which is measured at the level of specific medical conditions. Measurement of outcomes of care needs to reflect the patient’s long-term health care experience, and the impact of one intervention compared with alternatives on the patients self-assessment of HRQoL.

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Study: Growing Rods for Childhood Scoliosis Treatment Likely to Cause Autofusion

While the use of growing rods has produced efficacy in the control of deformity within the growing spine, the surgery also has high rates of unintended autofusion, which can lead to a difficult and moderate correction, according to an article published in Spine.

Researchers conducted a retrospective review of the medical records and radiographs of young patients who received treatment for scoliosis using growing rods. The researchers collected data on complications, pre- and postoperative Cobb angles, total spine length, correction since initiation of treatment, total number of surgeries and the number of patients found to have autofusion at the time of device removal.

The rate of autofusion in the patients treated with growing rods was 89 percent. The average percent of the Cobb angle was 44 percent, and an average of seven osteotomies per patient were required at the time of definitive fusion due to autofusion.

While the use of growing rods has produced efficacy in the control of deformity within the growing spine, the surgery also has high rates of unintended autofusion, which can lead to a difficult and moderate correction, according to an article published in Spine.

Researchers conducted a retrospective review of the medical records and radiographs of young patients who received treatment for scoliosis using growing rods. The researchers collected data on complications, pre- and postoperative Cobb angles, total spine length, correction since initiation of treatment, total number of surgeries and the number of patients found to have autofusion at the time of device removal.

The rate of autofusion in the patients treated with growing rods was 89 percent. The average percent of the Cobb angle was 44 percent, and an average of seven osteotomies per patient were required at the time of definitive fusion due to autofusion.

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Health In Your Hands – Scoliosis Exercises for Prevention and Correction DVD

Sneak Peek of DVD Cover Art

Sneak Peek of DVD Cover Art

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