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  • 1.  Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-14-2026 12:33 PM

    Updated 4/20/26 at 4:17 pm - Recording now available to watch on-demand!

    Enter here for a chance to win the April Community Conversations giveaway after watching live or on-demand.

    Please note: All views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie’s Fund. 

    We hope to see you on the next Maddie's Community Conversation on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 11am PT / 2pm ET  for "Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research," a conversation with Drs. @Chumkee Aziz, DVM,  @Emily McCobb, DVM,  and @Petra Cerna, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM), Dipl. ECVIM-CA, DABVP (Feline), MANZCVS (Medicine of Cats). 

    Behind the scenes, more and more scientific research is being done to advance the understanding of our industry's complex issues. This evidence-based information can offer important contributions when it comes to updating industry practices and policies, but often it's hard to find time to sort through or access new research. Today's meeting serves to bring some of these new findings directly to shelter and rescue leaders and staff. Join 3 veterinary and shelter medicine researchers, who will share out tidbits regarding shelter medicine research, focusing on practical updates that can be incorporated in shelter operations and programming.


    This session is ideal for adoptions and foster staff & volunteers, veterinary professionals (vets, techs, support staff), and operations & programs directors - but all are welcome. 

    🔑 Key Takeaways:

    • How we manage and treat FIP cases affects length of stay, spay/neuter timing, and flow; practical protocols and foster‑based care can keep cases manageable.
    • Spectrum of care is evidence‑based medicine that matches plans to real shelter resources, helping teams save more animals and support equitable access to care.

    Don't forget! Maddie's Fund will be giving away up to $10,000 in grants each month! You can enter for a chance to win each time you attend a call or watch it on demand during the month by completing the monthly giveaway drawing entry form. 

    Register for Community Conversations hosted via Zoom. 

    🧠 Got Topic or Speaker Suggestions?
    We want to hear your ideas! If there's a topic you're curious about or a speaker you'd love to hear from, please share your suggestions with us on our Community Conversations Suggestions thread. 

    Looking forward to being in community with you! 


    #AccesstoCare
    #EducationandTraining
    #Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
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  • 2.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-20-2026 12:07 PM

    Thanks to our speakers, Drs. @Chumkee Aziz, @Petra Cerna, and @Emily McCobb - and everyone who joined us today! 

    We would love to hear from you in response to today's reflection question: What is one specific way you could shift your shelter's medical decision‑making toward a more intentional spectrum of care, so that the care you provide aligns with your mission and resources?



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    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
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  • 3.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-20-2026 03:21 PM

    Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure to be with you all- 



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    New McCobb
    Professor and PetSmart Charities Endowed Chair
    UC Davis Accessible Veterinary Care
    CA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-22-2026 08:24 PM

    One specific way we could shift our shelter's medical decision-making toward a more intentional spectrum of care is by developing a clear, tiered care protocol that guides when animals need immediate veterinary attention versus when they can be safely supported in-house with staff-led care and monitoring.

    As a small shelter, we strongly believe that every animal deserves medical care and a chance at a happy, healthy life. Currently, we tend to send every animal to a veterinarian, even though we do not have one on staff. We are fortunate to work with a highly recommended veterinary partner and to receive support from Best Friends Animal Society, which helps us with medical resources, transport, and solutions for harder-to-place animals. However, always defaulting to a vet visit can sometimes strain our limited resources and delay care for more urgent cases.

    By creating a simple spectrum of care protocol-such as defining basic, moderate, and urgent care levels-we can ensure that each animal receives appropriate and timely care based on their condition, while also being mindful of our capacity. For example, minor issues could be managed in-house with approved protocols and monitoring, while more serious or urgent conditions would still be escalated to our veterinary partner right away.

    This approach would allow us to stay true to our mission while using our resources more effectively, strengthening our partnership with our veterinarian, and ultimately helping more animals receive the care they need.



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    Alycia Saldana
    ACO
    LYMAN ANIMAL CONTROL
    WY
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-20-2026 05:13 PM

    Thanks to the 114+ people and paws who joined us on today's Community Conversations call! The recording is now available to watch on-demand. Below you'll find a recap of today's call and the resources shared. 

    Call Recap

    Welcome from hosts


    Question of the Day:      In the spirit of Coachella (a huge California music festival), what is your go to song that instantly gives you energy?


    National Updates

    • Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection this Thursday, April 23: Join us for "The Cypress Protocol: A Comprehensive Take on Reactivity" with Lindsay Echito, Orphans of the Storm's Dog Behavior and Foster Manager. Sign up here.
    • From Human Animal Support Services:  HASS Connect is this Thursday at 1 p.m. Central Time. We will be discussing AI - so bring your ideas and questions to the group. We hope to discuss do's / don'ts and innovative ideas, etc.
    • Maddie's Community Conversations Giveaway: Now you can enter for a chance to win up to  $10,000!  Enter here for a chance to win.  Open to all who are watching live or on-demand! Be sure to enter each week you attend! You must be registered in Maddie's Pet Forum to enter. 
    • Maddie's Pet Forum Monthly Giveaway: Maddie's Fund® is giving away a $3,000 grant each month to one lucky Maddie's® Pet Forum member. You'll automatically be entered to win each month when you start a new discussion, reply to a new post. Learn more here. 
    • We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for Maddie's Community Conversations? Interested in hosting? Have a topic or speaker you would like to hear from? Let us know on Maddie's Pet Forum via the Community Conversations Suggestions discussion thread. Or, you can contact us directly by emailing CommunityConversations@maddiesfund.org.


    Presentation:     Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research


    Highlights from the Chat

    • "Our local vet still believes that most FIP cats should just be euthanized.  She made the statement recently to an owner that FIP treatment is only a band-aid and the cat would probably relapse. At the rescue, we treat for FIP all the time, and even in the expensive black-market days we had much success." - Doris Kempton
    • "What most veterinarians didn't really appreciate is that most of our literature that we all studied came from tertiary facilities - i.e. the university.  So pets included in this data were only those that were referred - we compared how they did prior to referral and then the treatment after referral.  The data never included those pets that got better and didn't need referral......so thanks Dr. McCobb for championing outcome data to give us all real options.  BTW, I'm a boarded surgeon, so I put some of that literature out there without realizing that it had significant bias." - Julie Smith
    • "Not about lowering quality of care, it's about prioritizing the care for the particular pet and not a general blanket estimate." - Julie Smith
    • "Imagine that: hoping the diagnosis is FIP! How things have changed in just a few years!" - Peter Wolf
    • "Agree...but a lot of vets hands are tied by their practice managers or bosses not letting them do that. They are pretty much forced into the practice algorithm on things. I know people say, "well...then find a job somewhere else", but it is not that easy. Im not trying to be a Debbie Downer...but the reality out there a lot is focused on return on investment of corporates and investment firms...and not on patient care." - Bryan Langlois
    • "I love, love, love to hear someone say, "give them a chance even when they are sick!" Too many choose immediate euthanasia even when the cat isn't displaying symptoms." - Heather Livingston
    • "I really love the "spectrum of care" concept-seems like a long-overdue recognition of reality." - Peter Wolf



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    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
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  • 6.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-21-2026 06:11 AM

    Very informative and interesting talk.  I really enjoyed it.  As I kind of mentioned in the comments, when it comes to Access to Care and Spectrum of Care, the thing I worry about is some of the (and I know not all are bad) corporate owned and investment/equity firm owned not really changing their pricing structure even if they are shown the research and data saying having various levels of care options does work (just unblocking and not hospitalizing cats, sending pyo's home same day, etc.).  For those that have talked to them or interacted with them more than I have, do you really feel that when presented the data they will adjust their diagnostic and/or treatment options levels to match a clients budget?  I know there are vets out there who work in these realms that have wanted to try and do this, but are barred from doing so by the rules of the practice or they fear they will fall into negative accrual category if they do not meet certain production measures (something that I know should be hashed out in contract negotiations initially).  

    It is an issue that may just take more time to really work out, but my other concern is some of these hospitals adopting the spectrum of care approach, and perhaps offering some of these options, but in a way that does not really save the client any more money.  I know I may seem incredibly pessimistic about it, but, to me, as soon as the primary responsibility of a practice becomes what the return on investment is from investors and shareholders, one just can't make doing what is right for the animal and the owner the number 1 priority.  

    Curious of others thoughts on this as I can only really speak of personal experience, and that experience is having some clients travel from 3-5 hours away to get to me to have a procedure done in order to be able to afford it. 

    Bryan



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    Bryan Langlois
    Medical Director
    Spay/Neuter Save Network
    PA
    "Greatness is a title never to be self imposed"
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  • 7.  RE: Community Conversations - 04/20/2026 - Uncovering Insights on the Latest in Shelter Medicine Research

    Posted 04-21-2026 05:17 PM

    Hi Dr Langlois - sorry we didn't get this comment when you posted it during the convo yesterday. Agree - would love to hear from others who work and/or have interacted with corporate medicine to hear their thoughts on your comment. 

    I wanted to share Dr McCobb's comment on this topic in the interim: "Saving the clients money is not really the mission of those clinics.  So we need different models.  So there needs to be a clinic model for every type of price point. I don't think we necessarily can expect the corporates to change but we do need to increase the number of options available in most communities and we need to be ok with there being different levels of care." EM

    I wanted to add as well: I also worry that corp med, esp corp and private equity groups with additional revenue streams (Chewy is one example), likely feel less pressure to offer true spectrum of care options bc they're not as worried about losing clients. That said, the PetSmart Charities/Gallup poll survey done in 2025 that looked at barriers to vet care showed that, when pet owners were surveyed,  66% of pet owners in the highest income bracket (making 90K+ annually)  declined care and /or didn't take their pet to the vet for the past year due to financial barriers and within that 44% of those owners who declined care say it was "not worth the cost" while 33% say they "could not afford the cost." So, I think, even corp med should be worried since even the highest-earing clients are skeptical over the cost and value of vet care. That's concerning on so many levels! Here's a link to the write up about that survey: https://petsmartcharities.org/our-stories/community-impact/52-of-u-s-pet-owners-have-skipped-or-declined-recommended-veterinary-care 



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    Chumkee Aziz, DVM, DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice)
    Outreach Veterinarian
    UC Davis
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    Original Message


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