Funded Projects

Relaxing by the pool has not been in the cards for the hard working Maddie's® Shelter Medicine team at Cornell University this summer.

Dr. Brian DiGangi started his residency in mid-July. He's learning all he can about shelter medicine through visits to regional shelters, shelter medicine rounds, and faculty mentoring. He hopes to identify a research project in the near future.

Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Director, Dr. Jan Scarlett, and Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Clinician, Dr. Brenda Griffin have been busy writing chapters for a new shelter medicine textbook, Management of Infectious Diseases in Animal Shelters. Dr. Griffin's topics include wellness, URI and canine parvovirus. Dr. Scarlett is writing about the control and prevention of URI in shelters.

Drs. Scarlett and Griffin have also been participating in monthly National Shelter Medicine Rounds. These informal sessions include shelter medicine residents and faculty from Cornell, UC Davis and Colorado State. "It's great to know what each of us is thinking and saying on any given topic," says Scarlett. "It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other and discuss why we might be doing things differently. It's also a great way for residents to share information and learn from each other."

Much of Dr. Scarlett's attention this summer has focused on developing data collection guidelines for high volume spay/neuter programs and animal shelters. The guidelines are intended to help shelters determine the impact of spay/neuter on euthanasia. As part of the project, Dr. Scarlett is analyzing data from two spay/neuter programs for future presentation in scientific literature.

Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Resident, Dr. Stephanie Janeczko, has been making final preparations to begin her research on Giardia (a protozoal parasite) in shelter cats. This study came about after 25% of the fecal samples at the Peace Plantation Animal Sanctuary (a Maddie's® Shelter Medicine core shelter) tested positive for Giardia. Dr. Janeczko's study will evaluate a treatment protocol to eliminate Giardia.