Don’t forget that February is Dental Care Month and that dental care is one of the most neglected of pet health needs. Our pets need care for their teeth just as we do. Bad breath, drooling and pain while eating are some of the signs of periodontal disease. Regular dental check-ups and proper home care are important for good pet dental health.

Do your pets sleep in your bed?

                                Happy Birthday wishes to Lindsey Tozer this weekend!

Team Member of the Month

First Regional’s Team Member of the month is Alfredo Nevarez aka Fredo. Fredo has been with FIRST Regional’s Emergency Department for almost 3 years. Overall he has over 7 years of experience in both General Practice and Emergency. Having been born in Chihuahua, Mexico he is also fully bilingual. We’ve even been known to call him at home when we really need assistance in translating. Sorry Fredo! In his spare time he enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction, working out and spending time with this family. And the rumor is that he is a really, really good dancer!

Before & After Dentals-Cat

Before & After Dentals-Dog

                                                                                                                      

 

Dental Pictures

Dog Trained to Smell Cancer

With powers of smell far superior to those of humans, dogs can sniff out buried earthquake victims. They can unearth hidden bombs or drugs. They can also apparently detect colorectal cancer, Japanese researchers suggest.

Researchers from Kyushu University and colleagues report that a specially trained 8-year-old female Labrador retriever named Marine is able to detect colorectal cancer among patients with up to 98 percent accuracy.

A graduate of the St. Sugar Cancer-Sniffing Dog Training Center in Chiba, Japan, the dog was initially trained for water rescue and could already detect 12 types of cancer in patients' breath samples before she joined the colorectal cancer study, the researchers said.

The goal of the study was to find out whether odor can become an effective tool in colorectal cancer screening, according to lead researcher Dr. Hideto Sonoda, from the department of surgery at the Postgraduate School of Medicine at Kyushu University in Fukuoka.

The report is published in the Jan. 31 online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Gut.
For the study, Sonoda's group collected samples of stool and exhaled breath from 40 patients with colorectal cancer and also from 320 healthy people. "The tests were conducted from November to June, because the dog's concentration tends to decrease during the hot summer season," Sonoda noted.

The dog was able to distinguish cancerous samples from noncancerous samples in 33 of 36 breath tests and in 37 of 38 stool tests, the researchers found. "Moreover, canine scent judgment even appeared to be highly accurate for early-stage colorectal cancer," Sonoda said.

In contrast, fecal occult blood screening -- a simple, non-invasive test for colon cancer -- picks up early-stage disease in only one out of 10 cases, the study noted.

Based on their findings, the researchers say the canine's evaluation of breath samples was accurate 95 percent of the time and her stool sample evaluation was accurate 98 percent of the time, compared with colonoscopy, which is the "gold standard" for identifying colon cancer.

In fact, the dog was able to identify cancers even when smokers and people with other stomach problems were included in the test, the researchers noted.

The tests were repeated three times, Sonoda said. "The results of all tests were correct, thereby suggesting that a specific cancer scent indeed exists," he said.

The researchers also took breath and stool samples from patients with breast, stomach and prostate cancer. "Canine scent judgment yielded correct answers for these cancers as well, suggesting that common scents may exist among various cancer types," Sonoda said.

While dogs seem to be able to pick-up the "smell" of cancer, using dogs as a screening tool is not the ultimate goal, he said.

Scent ability and concentration vary between different dogs and also with the same dog on different days, Sonoda pointed out. "Moreover, each dog can only conduct tests for a maximum of 10 years. So it is difficult to introduce canine scent judgment into clinical practice," he said.

For these reasons, it is necessary to identify the cancer-specific organic compounds detected by dogs and to develop an early cancer detection sensor that can be substituted for a dog's judgment, Sonoda said.

"We hope that the results of the present study will provide encouragement for the development of cancer detection and solving the biological character of cancer using odor material," he said.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Ted Gansler, director of medical content at the American Cancer Society, said that "this study adds to a small number of other published articles showing similar results regarding bladder, lung and breast cancers," and to a recent conference presentation regarding prostate cancer.

"In addition to these studies, there have been several anecdotal reports of patients whose pet dogs seemed attracted to or upset by skin cancers," he added.

Although the idea of dogs recognizing cancer might initially seem difficult for some people to believe, it also seems biologically plausible, Gansler said.

"We know that trained dogs can distinguish the scent of one person from another person. Dogs can also be trained to recognize very low concentrations of explosives or illegal drugs in the air. Scientists have already identified some of the chemical differences between normal and malignant tissues, so it is not surprising that some dogs can also recognize these differences," he said.

Some might wonder whether it is time to use dogs in the clinic for cancer screening, Gansler said. "However, much more research will be needed before we can seriously think about dogs assuming roles in cancer screening similar to their current ones in law enforcement," he said.

One limitation is that the dog in this study did not reliably recognize any abnormal scent from precancerous polyps, although it was not specifically trained to do so, Gansler said. "In contrast, some colon cancer tests such as colonoscopy can accurately recognize these polyps so they can be removed by the doctor in order to prevent colon cancer before it is fully developed."

The next step is to discover the specific chemicals associated with colon cancer, or with other types of cancers, Gansler said. "Once that is done, scientists will try to develop laboratory tests that detect these chemicals as potential methods for cancer screening."

Another expert, Dr. Floriano Marchetti, an assistant professor of clinical surgery and director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that "the direction should be to stimulate research in finding the organic compound that the dog reacts to."

If one could develop a simple screening test, it could be useful in getting more people screened for colon cancer, he said. "In this country, any type of screening for colorectal cancer is in the order of 40 to 45 percent. Something like this, if it were simple, would be beneficial."

Proper Way to Brush Your Dog's Teeth

Valentine's Day Tip

Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it and we want to remind you that candy, especially chocolate, is dangerous for both cats and dogs along with the plastic and foil wrappers. Ask us about treats your pet can enjoy, that are also nutritious; so your pet can join the festivities.

ALL STAFF PARTY 2011

Congratulations to Our Team Members of the Year 2010!

Last Saturday was the 3^rd annual All Staff Fun Day and Picnic! The location this time was Camino Del Vista Park in Scottsdale. Beautiful, balmy 75 degree Arizona ‘winter’ day was only one factor in making this a great day.

Despite of some team members having to stay behind to take care of the animals, after all we are open 24/7, we had a very nice turnout. The younger folks enjoyed the bouncy house and the balloon blaster. Some folks even tried their luck in fishing.

There was a lot of good food. And even a friendly between-the-hospitals volley ball ‘tournament’. First Regional’s Team got to a great start taking an early lead, but North Valley rallied back and took the close first set in the end. The second set one was much closer from the go –First Regional managed to hold on to a narrow lead in the end. Overall it was a tie J Maybe we can challenge1^st EPC into taking on the winner next time?

Then it was finally time for the Team member of the Year Announcements.  The process for selecting the Team Member of the Year for each hospital starts around October every year. Initially all team members get to nominate their three top candidates (full year of service by the end of the year is the only eligibility requirement). For each hospital the people who get most votes (top 10 for FRAH and top 7 for NVRAH and EPC) will then go through several rounds of ‘ratings’ by peers and supervisors in areas such as dependability, punctuality, customer service, team work etc., etc. Each week the person with the lowest overall score is eliminated. Once we get down to the top three we eagerly await for the awards ceremony.

And the winners are:

FRAH – Meghan StJohn

            Meghan has been at FRAH since 2004. She started as part time Receptionist and last year took over the Client Service Manager position. She has done a great job uniting her CSR Team and promoting communication between departments.

NVRAH – Malea Mangone

            Malea has been part of the NVRAH Emergency Technician Team since early 2008. She is always ready to help others and is well liked by all her piers not to mention that she is a great technician!

1^st EPC –David Nelson

            David is one of the hardest workers around. He is a great technician and great Team Player. Despite holding two full time jobs David is always cheerful and gives more than 100%!

Additionally each year we recognize many more outstanding team members for their contributions. This year’s other award recipients were:

FRAH -

1. Veterinarian of the Year:  Dr. Alisa Reniker  (small trophy)
2. Technician of the Year: Kristina Leonard (small trophy)
3. Client Service Representative of the Year: Renae Friesen (small trophy)
4. 2010 Most Valuable Player: Robert Hammerman (certificate)

                                                             i.      Excellence in Patient Care

1.      Shari Awalt

2.      Dori Lamb

3.      Erin Lawrence

4.      Matt Smith

5.      Trinity Taylor

                                                            ii.      Excellence in Client Service

1.      Debbie Defazio

1.      Cristi Edwards

2.      Eric Goettl

3.      Mary Howerton

4.      Alison Pfeiff

                                                          iii.      Excellence in Teamwork

1.      Sarah Amrhein

2.      Dr. Carly Blom

3.      Elana Gulla

4.      Kristi Landy 

5.  Alfredo Nevarez

NVRAH -

1. Veterinarian of the Year: Dr. Megan Begay (small trophy)
2. Technician of the Year Darci Hoefer (small trophy)
3. Client Service Representative of the Year – Kayla Rothwell (small trophy)
4. 2010 Most Valuable Player: Kim Cankar (certificate)

                                                              i.      Excellence in Patient Care

1.      Jennifer Metzler

2.      Jamie Pizzitola

3.      Tammie Watt

                                                            ii.      Excellence in Client Service

1.      Lynze Bates

2.      Melinda Jean

3.      Jennifer Ripley

                                                          iii.      Excellence in Teamwork

1.      Melinda Jean

2.      Dr. Ryan Lunt

3.      Lynda Novak

1^st EPC -

1. Veterinarian of the Year: Dr. Mike Grguric (small trophy)
2. Technician of the Year: Cara Bromley (small trophy)
3. Client Service Representative of the Year: Karen Mitchell (small trophy)
4. 2010 Most Valuable Player: Lisa Kernaghan (certificate)

                                                              i.      Excellence in Patient Care

1.      Angie Cordell

2.      Lisa Kernaghan

3.      Angel Torres

                                                            ii.      Excellence in Client Service

1.      Tatijuana McMahon

2.      Dr. Mark Mosbacher

3.      Viviane Williams

                                                          iii.      Excellence in Teamwork

1.      Dr. Nicole Demetre-Moss

2.      Trina Sipple

3.      Angel Torres

Finally- we want to extend a big Thank You to ALL of our Team Members! Each one of you is an essential part of our success. We truly appreciate you hard work and dedication every day of the year!