hi i'm shannon gregoire and this is vet candy
this program is brought to you by trudel animal health
members of the felidae family more commonly referred to as cats
come in a variety of sizes in a range of varying fur colors and patterns
tigers with black stripes on an orange or white background roam the grasslands
of southeast asia and india spotted cheetahs chase antelope through the shrub land in africa
jaguars with their rosette pattern coats stock prey throughout south and latin america
and domesticated cats of many coat colors and patterns bask in the sunlight of living
rooms across the world scientists agree that hair follicle cells are the source of the black brown
yellow and red pigments that color hair or fur however when and where the process of establishing
the color pattern takes place has been less clear until recently a team of scientists at the hudson
alpha institute for biotechnology have identified molecules that regulate the establishment of
coat color patterns in cats prior studies have shown that in tabby cats stripes are evident in
the fetal cat as soon as pigment is produced by melanocytes within the hair follicle after birth
newborn cats have the same coat pattern and color that they will have for their entire
life for example cheetahs are born with the same number of spots as they will have in adulthood
the spots just grow in size as hair falls out new hair of the same color replaces it
the origin of coat color is well known but the mechanisms that initiate coat color patterns
are less understood complex arrangements of alternating patches of light and dark hair
as seen in the cheetah the jaguar or the ocelot are called periodic color patterns
such patterns are difficult to study because they have no real counterpart in model organisms
researchers developed partnerships with several feral cat trap and neuter release
programs collecting fetal tissue that would have otherwise been discarded during spay procedures
they studied the fetal cat skin tissue and found stripe-like alterations in epidermal
or skin thickness early in fetal development the patterns of epidermal thickness resembled tabby
fur patterns in adult animals building on this new finding they use single cell gene expression
analysis on fetal cat skin cells just prior to the time at which the thick and thin patches
become apparent through this analysis the team determined that epidermal expression of a gene
called dkk4 marks areas of fetal skin that give rise to hair follicles that later produce the
dark pigment further experiments also showed that dkk4 is linked to other color patterns in cats
in the absentian cat the apparent absence of dark tabby markings a trait referred to as ticked
accentuates the alternating color bands present on individual hairs the team discovered that all
ticked cats carry loss of function mutations in dkk4 taken together the results presented
in this study confirm a direct role for dkk 4 in cat color pattern establishment
coat color and pattern variation is an important platform for studying gene action and interaction
previous work has shown that coat colored genes are involved in many other important biological
pathways with some even having relevance to human health and now for some expert tips hi i'm dr
anthony gonzalez a board certified criticalist in stanford connecticut and here are three things you
need to know about the use of inhalers when treating inflammatory respiratory diseases
first inhalers are the standard of care for inflammatory respiratory disease treatment next
inhalants offer patients a better quality of life because inhaled medications especially prednisone
have much less side effects than parentally used medications last unlike pilling a pet training a
pet to use an inhaler just takes a few days once you get them trained it is much easier to use and
it can actually become a positive experience for the pet if you want to learn more about
respiratory diseases check out my master course in respiratory disease management at myvetcandy.com
caitlin palmer is not your average receptionist she's also a tick-tock star and comedian
bringing much-needed comedic relief to veterinary medicine while also working hard to help animals
her hilarious videos will make anyone in the pet industry laugh and nod and may just
make a few customers think about how they treat people on the other end of the line
one of the best pieces of advice caitlyn has received during her career is that there is always
a person at the other end of the leash when there is a flood of customers a busy day or someone who
takes their frustrations out on staff that can be difficult to remember although caitlyn has
been in the industry for many years her career has come with its share of difficult choices
one of her hardest decisions involved moving from her first clinic to a new one the first clinic
she had worked for was like a second family but as time went on she knew it was time for her to leave
to relax after a difficult day at work caitlyn likes to opt between one of two choices sometimes
she'll hit the gym to work of a good sweat and release endorphins and sometimes she'll curl up
under a blanket with a good murder mystery one of the deepest and most moving parts of her life
was swimming with whale sharks in georgia whale sharks are such large vast animals that getting to
spend time with them and appreciating their unique personalities and gentleness is a life-changing
experience if you work in the veterinary field and you want a good laugh you can follow caitlyn
at desk wench on tick tock for great laughs you'll understand because you've probably
experienced that exact same scenario you can also satisfy your hunger for comedy by subscribing
to caitlin's new podcast desk wench confessions check it out on a podcast platform of your choice
you