Veterinarian James Thompson recounts his recent African adventure I am not sure what was more distressing on arrival in Zimbabwe – the broken reversing alarm on the luxury bus squawking every 3 seconds the entire way from Victoria Falls to Hwange, or the two hours of Christian soft rock. Still, the prayer for […]
Continue ReadingOn the recommendation of my vegan brother I read John Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals, which as you may know or have just now guessed, prosecutes an argument against meat eating. Safran Foer is a popular American novelist, and his novels have been turned into movies. He also has a major in philosophy. Early in […]
Continue ReadingA UK study has identified the specific effect Chiari malformation has on the shape of a dog’s skull and brain, laying the groundwork for early screening. The prevalence of Chiari malformation (CM) has increased due to selective breeding of brachycephalic toy breeds including Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Griffon Bruxellois, Affenpinschers and Chihuahuas. According to the […]
Continue ReadingThe sarcomeric α-actinins, encoded by the genes ACTN2 and ACTN3, are major structural components of the Z-line and have high sequence similarity. α-Actinin-2 is present in all skeletal muscle fibres, while α-actinin-3 has developed specialized expression in only type 2 (fast, glycolytic) fibres. A common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the human ACTN3 gene (R577X) […]
Continue ReadingThough soft tissue disorders have been recognized and described to some detail in several types of domestic animals and small mammals for some years, not much progress has been made in our understanding of the biochemical basis and pathogenesis of these diseases in animals. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome described in dogs already in 1943 and later in […]
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