The new Animal Wellness Center at Turtle Back Zoo in New Jersey includes a public viewing area and video monitors. More zoos are adding public viewing areas to their veterinary clinics as components of their public education missions, says zoo veterinarian Kailey Anderson. Prior to the trend, few people knew that there was such a thing as a zoo vet, Dr. Anderson says.

Our therapeutic nutrition targets underlying stress in cats with GI or urinary issues — helping provide relief to pets and their humans.

The New World screwworm, the larvae of a parasitic fly that lays eggs in wounds, has been moving north from Central America and poses a threat to livestock, deer and other animals in Texas because the state's 2.6 million feral hogs could accelerate the parasite's spread, says wildlife specialist Marcus Blum. The screwworm was eradicated from the US decades ago, but cases have appeared recently as far north as Hidalgo, Mexico, near the US border.

A cat found on the Rivanna Trail in Charlottesville, Va., last week had rabies, and veterinarian Garret Wood is urging pet owners to ensure their animals' rabies vaccinations are up to date. Virginia reported 398 animals with rabies in 2023, the highest in the US, according to the National Rabies Surveillance System. Most cases are in wild animals, but feral cats are also at high risk.

An experimental vaccine against Rift Valley fever was safe and effective in a small Phase 1 trial in a Uganda, where RFV is endemic, researchers reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. RFV is a mosquito-borne disease that affects animals and people and is considered a major threat to public health.

The Dogosophy Button, developed at the Open University's Animal-Computer Interaction Laboratory, allows dogs to control household appliances, such as a fan. Initially designed for service dogs to help their owners, the device is now available to the public. The button is blue, which dogs can see well, and it has a textured surface for easy use with a paw or snout.

Urban raccoons are showing early signs of domestication, including less fear of people and shorter snouts than rural raccoons, according to a study in Frontiers in Zoology. The research, based on 20,000 photographs of raccoons, aligns with the concept of domestication syndrome, which includes traits such as shorter faces and smaller heads in animals that are less fearful of humans.

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A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a bill that would offer student loan repayment grants of up to $100,000 to new veterinarians who work in rural areas. The bill aims to address a shortage of veterinarians serving Wisconsin farms.