In a recent blog, we discussed animals from around the world who tested positive for COVID-19. To summarize, the number of positive cases were few and all shared one commonality: they were in close contact with a human caregiver/owner who was infected with COVID-19. Of the small number of cases, even fewer showed clinical signs. While one 17-year-old dog passed away, it was presumed that he died from ongoing health issues and other age-related concerns. The rest of the animals recovered, or were expected to recover, without incident. According to the CDC, “Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low.”

Lion at the Bronx Zoo

In the weeks since that blog was published, a small number of new cases have been reported. As reported in the previous blog, the first case that was confirmed and reported in the United States was a tiger at the Bronx Zoo. The tiger, along with several other large cats, developed a dry cough and reduced appetite. One of the affected large cats, a lion, was tested a few weeks after the tiger and tested positive for COVID-19. It is believed that the animals were infected by a human caregiver who did not have symptoms but was actively shedding the virus. The affected cats are reported to be recovering well and no other animals at the zoo have shown symptoms.

Two Cats in New York

In addition, two domestic cats in New York have now tested positive for COVID-19. The cats were from different households and cities and both showed symptoms of respiratory disease. One cat lives in a household with an owner who has COVID-19 and a second cat that has had no clinical signs of illness.

The second cat to test positive for COVID-19 in New York is an indoor/outdoor cat. The cat does not live with an owner who has a confirmed case of COVID-19. It is suspected that this cat contracted COVID-19 from an owner who was asymptomatic or from contact with the virus outside of the home.

Pug in North Carolina

Making headlines recently was a pug in North Carolina who showed symptoms of respiratory disease and tested positive for COVID-19. The pug’s human family all have COVID-19 however another dog and a cat in the same house were negative. His owners stated, “(The dog) licks all of our dinner plates and sleeps in my mom’s bed, and we’re the ones who put our faces into his face. So, it makes sense that he got (coronavirus).” Confirmatory testing is still being conducted at USDA’s National Veterinary Service Laboratory. If those tests are confirmed, the case will be reported to the OIE – the World Organization for Animal Health. Winston, the pug, is already doing better.

The number of animals who have tested positive for COVID-19 remains low, thus the CDC does not currently recommend routine testing. If your pet is exhibiting symptoms of infection, call your veterinary provider. If you or a family member is sick, the CDC recommends you avoid contact and practice cleanliness when interacting with your pets. The CDC also recommends keeping cats indoors and dogs on leashes, avoiding interaction between your pets and other pets/humans, and avoiding places like dog parks and other areas where people and dogs gather.

As you may know, VetStem has worked with several wild animal organizations over the years.  One example is Francis, a Sun Bear at the San Diego Zoo who received VetStem Cell Therapy.  Like dogs, cats, and horses, exotic animals are near and dear to us.  We previously posted a blog about caring for your dogs and cats during the COVID-19 pandemic but what about the zoo animals?

Due to the current stipulations in place regarding social distancing, zoos and aquariums across the United States have closed to the public.  While non-essential employees may be working from home, the animals still need care.  The animal care staff continues to provide routine care to the best of their ability.  Non-emergency procedures have been postponed, such as preventative care and routine vaccinations, in cases where the procedures require more than one person to work closely together.  But otherwise, the care continues.

Due to interruptions in supply chains, some food sources might become scarce or temporarily unavailable.  While this might sound scary, zoos and aquariums have safeguards in place to help prevent this from becoming a problem.  For instance, the platypuses, which are currently on display at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, are very picky eaters and prefer live crayfish.  Zookeepers are working with the animals to introduce various options into their diets, should live crayfish become unavailable.

While we continue to live in unprecedented and uncertain times, rest assured knowing the animals we love so much are being well cared for.  Zoos have said the animal caretakers are providing extra enrichment opportunities and exercises to help make up for the lack of interaction from visitors.  In fact, several zoos and aquariums have set up live broadcasts and videos showing various animals.  In one exceptionally cute video from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL, the resident penguins take a trip to meet the beluga whales.  We encourage you to check your local zoo’s website or Facebook page for fun and interactive videos.  Or you can view some of the larger zoos’ videos such as the San Diego Zoo’s Live Cams or the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Webcams.

Coronavirus has impacted the world, including veterinary clinics and pet owners.  With the current situation surrounding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), there have been questions regarding the possible transmission of the virus from humans to pets (including horses) and vice versa.

I am not an expert on COVID-19, but I am a veterinarian, an epidemiologist, and I have been studying disease spread and animal health for over 35 years.  Our VetStem team has been gathering information from trusted sources.  The following are my opinions and also referenced opinions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).  Use these resources to assist in guiding your actions relative to COVID-19 and your pets.

Though this continues to be a rapidly developing situation, the CDC is currently reporting that they have not received any reports of pets sick with COVID-19.  They also stated, “In the United States, there is no evidence to suggest that any animals, including pets, livestock, or wildlife, might be a source of COVID-19 infection at this time.”  The CDC recommends if you are not ill with COVID-19, you can interact with your pet as you normally would however do practice good hygiene during your interactions (wash hands before and after interacting).

CDC recommendations if you are sick with COVID-19:

• “If you are sick with COVID-19 (either suspected or confirmed), you should restrict contact with pets and other animals, just like you would around other people. Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. This can help ensure both you and your animals stay healthy.”
• “When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick. Avoid contact with your pet including, petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with them.”

Stem Cell Treatment Availability

• We want to assure veterinarians and pet owners that VetStem’s laboratory operations are up and running and we are processing samples and shipping out cell doses to veterinarians as per our normal operations. 
• Veterinarians are critical to maintaining the health of our animals and VetStem is following the CDC guidelines to keep our dedicated staff healthy and working.  As you may know, our laboratories are maintained at a very high FDA-recommended level of sterility and our staff working in these laboratories are working in one of the cleanest and safest environments on the planet.  We have been working at this level for more than a decade.

We will be monitoring the CDC and the AVMA alerts and keep all of you up to date with any new or changed information regarding COVID-19 and veterinary medicine.

Reputable sources for information:

• CDC information on animals and COVID-19 click here
• CDC info on people with COVID-19 in home care with pets click here
• AVMA resources on pets and COVID-19 click here

Be safe.

Bob Harman, DVM, MPVM

World Veterinary Day is an annual holiday created by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) to “…promote the veterinary profession and work on improving animal and human welfare, the environment, food safety, animal transport, and quarantine.” It is celebrated on the last Saturday of every April and this year is the 20^th anniversary of its first celebration. Each year there is a theme and this year’s theme is, “Veterinarian Response to the COVID-19 Crisis.”

The year 2020 brought some serious challenges, and many people stepped up in exceptional ways to meet those challenges. Veterinary professionals were among those people. Animals did not stop needing care, and in fact, so many dogs and cats were adopted from shelters in 2020 that some shelters were completely emptied out at times! In addition, pet owners brought their existing pets to the vet more often in 2020 than they had in the past. Pet owners reported that quarantine and social distancing from other humans changed their relationship with their pets by fostering the human-animal bond and thus, they were more attune to their pet’s health needs. This meant that veterinary visits increased during a time when staff were being furloughed and social distancing was mandated. Veterinarians responded as they always do, with grace and fortitude. They navigated these uncharted waters by developing curbside service, telemedicine platforms, and fought for the right to be considered essential workers so they could keep the doors open for animals in need. Veterinary professionals forged ahead with the difficult task of maintaining a high level of pet care while trying to keep themselves, their staff and pet owners safe and healthy during a time of ever-changing rules and regulations.

Veterinarians also demonstrated the breadth of their caregiving spirit during this past year. They donated supplies to the human medical community, including PPE and respiratory ventilators early in the pandemic when resources were scarce, critical illness rates were high, and the disease was spreading rapidly. Then in April 2020, Great Britain called for assistance from their veterinarians to act as respiratory assistants. New York City asked veterinarians to care for the bodies of those who passed, ensuring they were treated with dignity and respect. And more recently, veterinarians in the United States have been authorized to administer COVID vaccines to their fellow humans in need, prompting the USDA to swiftly deploy their vets to aid in this monumentally important endeavor.

Equally as important as all the brave souls in the typical clinical practice setting, were the veterinarians that the public might not think of when they think of a “vet.” Agricultural veterinarians continued to make sure our food sources were safe and remained in steady supply. Veterinary pathologists, virologists, and epidemiologists diagnosed, studied, and reported on COVID-19 infections in animals, helping to assure the public that pets were considered a low risk for spreading the disease to humans. Veterinary medical school professors, like other teachers, found new ways to train their students when they could not be together in the classroom or the hospital. Government and private sector-employed laboratory veterinarians were among those in the medical and pharmaceutical fields working tirelessly to create COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. Veterinarians in the biotechnology field, such as veterinarian led VetStem, promoted the “One Health” sometimes termed, “One Medicine” concept by collaborating with the human medical community and sharing their wealth of knowledge about coronaviruses across different animal species. You can learn more about One Health here. To that end, VetStem Biopharma and sister company, Personalized Stem Cells, jumped into action in 2020, gaining FDA approval to begin a clinical trial treating human COVID-19 patients with stem cells. By March 2021 we celebrated the successful treatment of nine people who had been significantly afflicted with the disease. These patients had all been in a hospital ICU, and after receiving intravenous (IV) treatments with stem cells, they all made it back home to their families. This is a relatively small number of patients, but the results are certainly promising.

Despite the chaos, uncertainty, and heartbreak that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to this world, veterinarians have been steadfast in their dedication to promote the health and safety of all beings on this Earth, and I can honestly say that I have never been more proud to be a member of this special group of people.

As 2020 comes to an end, we would like to focus our last blog of the year on the history and successes of VetStem Biopharma.

VetStem was born in 2002 with a dream to deliver regenerative medicine services and products to improve the lives of horses. It expanded shortly thereafter to provide regenerative medicine to small animals. By 2007 we had launched a full dog and cat program. In 2012 we started to respond to requests from zoos and aquatic animal parks to provide for their wild and exotic animal needs.

In the past 18 years, VetStem’s dedicated staff have provided veterinary regenerative medicine services for nearly 14,000 patients. We have focused on providing high quality cell therapy treatments and products such as the V-PET and Genesis platelet therapy systems. In our quest to spread regenerative medicine knowledge to veterinarians and pet owner, we have attended hundreds of conferences, produced 15 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and have spoken at conferences and clinics hundreds of times. Our first-of-its-kind regenerative medicine online training course has provided formal continuing education for over 5,000 veterinarians in the U.S. and abroad. 

In 2018 we decided the time was right to launch our own human stem cell company, and Personalized Stem Cells (PSC) was born. The mission was to use the years of VetStem animal safety and efficacy data to add human stem cell medicine to our portfolio. We are completing our first FDA approved study of knee arthritis this month and have developed an entire FDA program for treating COVID-19 patients, which we have licensed to Sorrento Therapeutics. Our plan is to move into traumatic brain injury in 2021.

This year, we also announced the launch of our contract manufacturing business, commonly called a CMO or CDMO, and we have christened this division Performance Cell Manufacturing (PCM). This was an opportunistic move to use our beautiful FDA GMP manufacturing plant and cell manufacturing experience to make important cell therapy products for other companies for use in clinical trials. 

PSC and PCM have brought revenue to VetStem and allowed us to grow, hire, and weather the COVID-19 storm, however, the human division would not exist without the years of animal cell therapy work and dedication of our employees through some tough economic times. Our animal health services are the foundation of everything that we have built, and we try to convey the importance of our veterinary business with the images in our front lobby (see below).

I believe in One Medicine, where the learning in the veterinary world supports animals and provides crucial information for human medicine. But I am, and always will be, a veterinarian first. We sincerely thank all of our dedicated customers, veterinarians and pet owners alike, and wish everyone the happiest of holidays. May 2021 bring health and happiness to all.   

June 18^th is a special day for those of us in the veterinary field. In 2015, Trupanion created Veterinary Appreciation Day™ to recognize and honor veterinary professionals. From the veterinary receptionists and front desk teams to the animal care team, technicians and doctors, veterinary professionals are a dedicated and hardworking bunch of individuals.

While human doctors and nurses often specialize in one field of medicine, veterinary doctors and technicians practice several areas of medicine. Veterinarians, with support from their team, examine and diagnose patients with many different conditions, perform radiography, provide hematologic (blood) analysis, prescribe medication, and perform an array of surgeries and dental prophylaxis. Also, veterinarians are trained to treat more than just one species and none of their patients can tell them what is wrong! Your veterinary hospital is likely a one-stop-shop for all of your pet’s basic needs.

However, some veterinarians pursue advanced training to specialize in fields such as surgery, neurology, ophthalmology, or internal medicine. Veterinary specialists tend to have a wider breadth of knowledge and experience in their specific field of expertise and can often provide diagnoses and services that general practitioners may not be able to. For instance, your regular veterinarian may not have an MRI machine, or they may not be experienced in some of the more advanced orthopedic surgeries.

One thing remains consistent however: veterinarians and their teams are compassionate and dedicated to the health and wellbeing of their patients. For this reason, compassion fatigue is a real and serious concern that may affect veterinary professionals. Working in a veterinary hospital is not all puppy kisses and kitten cuddles. Often, veterinary staff are faced with tough situations which can be emotionally exhausting. Long hours and strenuous physical work can add to the stress that veterinary professionals face.

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, veterinary professionals are under more stress than ever. As essential workers, many veterinary teams have continued to care for our pets amid various shelter-in-place orders. Many veterinary hospitals modified their services, providing only medically necessary procedures. Veterinary team members have donned masks, protective gowns, and/or gloves, and likely visited with their clients and their furry family members in the parking lot, as opposed to the clinic lobby.

Though veterinary work comes with challenges, most veterinarians and their staff continue to love what they do. Helping animals and their owners is very gratifying and can give one the sense of making a difference, something many of us strive to do. Thus, if you have a moment today, take the time to thank your veterinarian and their team. A simple note of thanks can make a huge difference in one’s day!

With the current COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures being enacted, many of us find ourselves working from home and spending most, if not all, of our time indoors.  According to the most recent report from the AVMA, nearly 57% of all US households own a pet.  So, while some may be worried about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, what about our furry friends? 

Maintaining physical exercise is not only important for ourselves but for our pets as well.  In a previous blog, we discussed the potential benefits of regular walks for your dog.  Follow local ordinances regarding social distancing and use your best judgement when it comes to exercising your dog outside during the current pandemic.  If you find that you cannot continue your usual routine, consider additional ways to keep your pet active.

Playing games such as fetch and tug-of-war may be good ways to keep your dog both physically and mentally stimulated.  Toys that require your dog to chew or uncover treats can also help with mental stimulation.  Similarly, cats may also enjoy playing with toys as a form of physical and mental stimulation.  Additionally, there are many videos online that show how to teach your dog or cat new tricks.

It may also be a wise decision to consider an emergency kit for your pets.  Your kit can include food, treats, medications, toys, blanket or bed, and anything that you might need for your pet.  Many veterinary hospitals remain open however several have modified services and/or hours.  Check with your veterinarian to determine if they are still open and what their current operating protocol is so that you can plan accordingly.    

The good news is the CDC is currently reporting that there is no evidence that companion animals can spread, or are a source of, COVID-19.  See our recent blog for more information on COVID-19 and pets.  And as a reminder to our clients and potential clients, as a critical medicines provider, VetStem remains open to process all stem cell requests.  Click here to locate a VetStem provider in your area.