In today's dairy environment, the producer is often forced to consider expansion in order to stay in business. In the rush of expansion details concerning facilities, financing, and animal purchases, the farmer may overlook some of the basic fundamentals of biosecurity and disease control. In this aspect, the dairy farmer may be behind the learning curve that has already been experienced by the swine industry.

Geriatric medicine is becoming increasingly important in small animal practice. Although this area of practice is a relatively new focus, the benefits of such programs are becoming apparent to the veterinarian and clients. Pets are living longer and geriatric pets occupy a significant portion of small animal practice. Over 40% of dogs and 30% of cats in U.S. households are over the age of six years. The increasingly aged pet population necessitates more geriatric care. Clients understand their older pet may have many of the same problems as older humans and are often willing to pay for extra geriatric care because of the strong bond with their older pet. A geriatric program can be rewarding to the veterinarian professionally and financially. Patients also benefit because they receive better care that can detect and may help to prevent treatable diseases earlier.

Venomous snakes occur throughout a very wide geographic area within the United States. In certain areas of the country, snakebites in dogs are diagnosed on a regular basis during the warm months of the year when snakes are most active and people and their pets are most likely to be spending time in areas that snakes inhabit. The best treatment for snakebite is a controversial subject among veterinarians and there is no single treatment protocol. Therefore, it is necessary for a clinician to understand the pathophysiology behind envenomation in order to make educated decisions as to the treatment of each individual patient.

The Iowa State university College of Veterinary Medicine has been making improvements and getting a facelift as we plunge into the year 2000. The first of the major changes is the addition of a new café. The café opened for the spring semester. It serves muffins, bagels, coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate in the mornings. The lunch menu includes a soup of the day, deli style sandwiches, potato chips, soda, and cookies. You can build your own sandwich - choosing from different breads, meats, cheeses, and toppings - or pick one of their specials. My personal favorite is the turkey and provolone on pesto bread.

As we all go through our first three years here at ISU CVM, rarely does anyone speak about "the senior year". Sure, we all hear the myths and rumors about how awful this clinician is to work with and oh, never, never take that rotation or you will never see the light of day and become a vampire. The gossip runs wild and somehow makes its way upstairs to the underclass students. But what is fact and what is fiction? I decided to investigate this matter and was lucky to find several eager senior students to straighten out this whole mystic experience called "senior year".