Hello 👋
Welcome back to another edition of Weekend Rounds!
For many, schools are done and summer is now in full swing.
Good luck to all the parents out there. We hope you find some time to relax between backyard chaos, sporting events, and BBQs.
Speaking of which… here’s a bit of regional diction fun: In Canada, a barbecue is an event — you're hosting one, going to one, firing up the grill for one. It's a verb as much as a noun.
South of the 49th, that same gathering is often called a cookout. Down there, barbecue is food — specifically, low-and-slow smoked meat that takes a serious pitmaster and a serious amount of time. Neither side is wrong. They're just talking about completely different things using the same word, which means a Canadian visiting Georgia in July might show up expecting burgers and leave having enjoyed the greatest pulled pork they’ll ever have.
Words are funny. Food is better.
Here’s what we’re covering:
🐈 New FIP guidelines
🪰 The screwworm fight moves to Washington
🏅 AVMA names its 2026 honorees
🚀 Quick hits
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New FIP guidelines
For a long time FIP was a death sentence. But more recently we have updated protocols and the beautifully named GS-441524 is giving cats new hope. Initially the medication was administered through an extended course, and 84 day protocol. However, this week AVMA News covered a recent publication in the journal Viruses from the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD) which points to mounting evidence that a a 42-day course of oral GS-441524 can be as effective as the standard 84-day protocol for many cats.
We aren’t great with doing math off the top of our heads, but we are pretty sure that is a good thing. A shorter course cuts cost, eases compliance, reduces treatment-associated stress, and lowers the risk of adverse events. Oral GS-441524 remains the preferred first-line therapy, with molnupiravir positioned as a second-line option (watch for GI upset, neutropenia, and the curious cartilage-related "folded ear" side effect), and protease inhibitors reserved for refractory cases. Therapies vary in availability across different regions.
Now that FIP is largely curable, clinicians are seeing comorbidities and sequelae including myocarditis, immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, and even large-cell lymphoma reported within two years of treatment.
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AVMA names its 2026 honorees
With the 2026 AVMA Convention on the horizon (July 10–14 in Anaheim), the association announced its major award winners this week. The awards include Dr. Dilip Bhandari of Heifer International received the 2026 AVMA Global Veterinary Service Award for more than 25 years building community-based animal-health systems across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Dr. Kathleen Brasky of the Southwest National Primate Research Center was named the 2026 AVMA Lifetime Excellence in Research Award winner. AVMA President Dr. Michael Q. Bailey also presented President's Awards to Drs. Jody Lulich, Beth Sabin, and Pamela Tuomi, and former AVMA President Dr. John de Jong was honored with the 2026 AVMA Award.
You can read a full list on the AVMA site. Congratulations to all the honorees!
A couple of weeks ago I talked about the roll back of Antrhopic’s latest model, Mythos. While initially released to great fanfare, the US government forced Anthropic to pull the model due to security risks.
Today we have more on that and related news.
The Claude Mythos model was built for high-end cybersecurity work through Project Glasswing, a partnership focused on defending critical software and infrastructure. Anthropic recently expanded Glasswing to roughly 150 organizations, but access remains gated and dependent on security requirements.
Reuters reports that the U.S. government has allowed Anthropic to release Mythos to more than 100 “trusted” U.S. companies and institutions. This means selective access for organizations considered appropriate users of a very capable model.
In a similar fashion OpenAI has previewed GPT-5.6 Sol, its new flagship model, along with smaller models called Terra and Luna. Sol is being described as OpenAI’s strongest model yet, with major gains in coding, science, biology, and cybersecurity. It also introduces deeper reasoning modes, including a “max” reasoning effort and an “ultra” mode that can use subagents to tackle more complex tasks.
Similar to Claude Mythos, the US government weighed in on this new model. OpenAI says GPT-5.6 is being released first as a limited preview, partly at the request of the U.S. government.
As models grow in capability they are facing increasing scrutiny. Probably a good thing.
-RBA
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Quick Hits
Here are some of the other stories that caught our eye and we're following this week from around the veterinary world and animal kingdom:
Cornell links skull shape and body weight to syringomyelia risk. New research connects cranial conformation and body weight to syringomyelia, adding to the conversation around brachycephalic breeding. dvm360
NWS keeps its northern march. Protective measures within the US are insufficient as only 1/5th the needed sterile flies are being produced each week. USDA
Lone star ticks keep spreading — and so does alpha-gal. The expanding range of the lone star tick is driving more cases of red-meat (alpha-gal) allergy, a One Health item worth flagging for clients in newly affected regions. dvm360 Weekly Vet Report
Education pipeline watch: Midwestern University has paused its proposed Chicago College of Veterinary Medicine in Downers Grove — the fourth proposed U.S. program to stall since 2023. VIN News
On the business side: Elanco is rolling out its $25M Elanco Ventures animal-health VC platform, and The Farmer's Dog has partnered with the University of Georgia to advance veterinary nutrition training.
