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It’s me. Hi. 👋
Welcome back to Weekend Rounds! As always, we’ve gathered some stories from around the animal kingdom in today’s newsletter, but nothing will be bigger than Taylor Swift announcing she is coming to Canada. Instead of trying to compete, we’ll just try and pack as many T.Swift references as we can in.
Welcome to Weekend Rounds (Taylor’s Version). Are you ready for it?
💼 Veterinary Business
🐶 Why do dogs tilt their head?
🦕 Prehistoric tidbits
🚀 Quick hits
💼 Vet biz roundup
Consolidators suffer French setback
A French court has ruled that veterinary practices operating in France must be controlled by veterinarians. Interesting.
The ruling, which came in favor of the country's veterinary regulator, the Order of Veterinarians is a setback for corporate consolidators, including Mars Inc. and IVC Evidensia, which own hundreds of practices in France combined.
But don’t expect the big players to just leave with their head hung. It’s not uncommon for consolidators to change their ownership structures to meet country-specific rules.
On another matter, the court ruled in favor of big business, by rejecting an assertion that Mars and Nestlé’s pet-food empires presented a conflict of interest, and they therefore should be banned from owning shares in practices.
PLUS:
Petfolk raised $35 million in Series B funding round.
The Charlotte based start up is still owned by the veterinarians who started it, and they are expanding rapidly. Petfolk currently operates 7 locations, with another 9 set to open soon. We’d also be remised if we didn’t share that their blog is called Petfolklore (sorry, but that one just wrote itself).
HelloFresh gets into the game
The meal-kit delivery services HelloFresh is expanding from human meals to pet meals with a new product line called The Pets Table. It’s billed as a "premium dog food brand” that brings “human-grade fresh and air-dried recipes customized for the exact caloric needs of each dog.” Umm… okay. I guess now your dog can also experience the shame of signing up for a free trial and then forgetting to cancel.
🐶 Poll: Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Head?
We all know how cute it is when a dog tilts their head to the side when you’re talking to them. This is nothing new, but for some reason it was a topic of conversation this week on a few sites, including Scientific American. There is no definitive answer at this time, but here are the leading theories:
They are reacting to familiar sounds. In a 2021 study, researchers found that dogs who knew their toys names tilted their head 43 percent of the time when they heard the name of one of their toys, compared with just 2 percent of the time for the typical dogs.
It helps with visual cues. Put simply, it’s the easiest way to get their snout out of the way. By changing the location of their eyes, they can see better.
It’s a form of echolocation. Picture a dog who hears a squeak but they aren’t sure where it came from. They might turn their head so when they hear the sound again, they can determine where it’s coming from.
Positive reinforcement. Head-tilting often goes hand in hand with questions like, “do you want a treat?” or “ready for for a walk?” As far as they are concerned, the more they tilt their head when spoken to, the better the response.
Well what do you think?
Why do dogs tilt their head? |
🦕 Prehistoric Tidbits
Welcome to Jurassic Park. Severe draught has revealed 113 million year-old dinosaur tracks usually covered by a river that flows through Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas. The tracks are believed to be from the Acrocanthosaurus - a mid-size dino that grew to be about 15 feet tall and weigh close to seven tons. While it may be kind of neat to get up close and personal with the tracks, it’s pretty terrible for just about every other reason you can think of.
Related, and presented without further comment:
Grinning dinosaurs posing with the comet.
— tern (@1goodtern)
6:58 AM • Jul 18, 2023
Speaking of Jurassic Park… scientists have revived nematodes found in the permafrost of Siberia’s northern Kolyma River. Radiocarbon analysis revealed that the nematodes were frozen for 46,000 years - back in the good old days when Neanderthals and dire wolves still roamed the planet. The tiny animals belong to a functionally extinct species called Panagrolaimus kolymaensis that was previously unknown to science.
A new monster on the hill has emerged. Newly discovered fossilized bones of an ancient creature, are believed to be from a new species of whale and could be the heaviest animal to have ever existed on earth. Fossil hunters discovered the 40 million year old remnants of the enormous whale in a rock formation in the Ica desert of southern Peru. A full grown adult could have weighed up to 350 tonnes.
🚀 Quick hits
RediVet mobile practice grows leadership team with new CMO [Yahoo! Finance]
Grassly joins inaugural veterinary medicine caucus [Sen. Grassley]
Veterinarians continue to investigate illness killing young dogs [FOX]
AVMA seeking participants to understand the current roles of veterinary technicians [AVMA]
How did we do today?Tell us what you thought of this edition of Weekend Rounds so we can keep improving! |