Dr. Kate Alucard, DVM, MPH

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Dr. Kate Alucard, DVM, MPH

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🦇 The Vampire Veterinarian
🌎 Public Health Baddie
🌈 Nonbinary bisexual
🏥 Veterinary Medicine & DEIA 🇵🇸

10/22/2026

🚨 MASSIVE RECALL - PLEASE SHARE🚨

On 21 October 2026, the FDA announced a recall alert for Wedgewood Pharmacy. Wedgewood has issued a recall of many products issued between February 18, 2026 and October 6, 2026 due to possible problems with the accuracy of the laboratory testing.

This recall is huge with over 3,000 SKUs affected. Additionally, 7 of 98 complaints have been considered serious. Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA at 1888-FDA-VETS or online at http://www.FDA.gov/reportanimalae.

You can find more information on the FDA website: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wedgewood-pharmacy-issues-recall-certain-compounded-veterinary-medications-within-expiry-due

Wedgewood Recall list:
www.wedgewood.com/recall-lookup/

10/17/2026

World Food Day 2026 🌱

In honor of all the work that goes into keeping our food safe, I wanted to celebrate the role veterinary medicine has in protecting more than animal health.

From preventing disease and safeguarding various food systems, to promoting responsible antimicrobial use and strengthening disease surveillance, veterinary professionals help protect the health of people, animals and the environment.

Food safety and public health begins long before food reaches you. We have a shared responsibility to promote a healthier future for all of us!

10/06/2026

🚨ICE HAS TAKEN A VETERINARIAN🚨

On September 25th, 2026, veterinarian Dr. Melina Orozco Aislant was detained by ICE.

Dr. Orozco is a small animal veterinarian from Venezuela. She’s been licensed and practicing in Jacksonville, Florida since 2023. ICE detained Dr. Orozco while she was on vacation in Arizona and is holding her thousands of miles from home. She had a valid work permit and a pending asylum claim when detained. Dr. Orozco is a committee chair with the Jacksonville Veterinary Medical Society.

A GFM has been set up to help cover Dr. Orozco’s legal fees: https://gofund.me/b79b7adee

What can you do to help?
1️⃣ Spread the word. Let people in our community know
2️⃣ Donate to the GoFundMe
3️⃣ Contact your elected representatives, especially in Florida and Arizona

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

4️⃣ Contact veterinary organizations to ask how they are supporting Dr. Orozco, like:
• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), AVMA Governmental Relations Division, and AVMA PAC
• Florida Veterinary Medical Association
• Arizona VMA (they have a page they won't let me tag)

This post was made in collaboration with the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association - MCVMA

You can find updates on the situation here: https://www.facebook.com/share/19jxdcXSm6/

10/06/2026

On September 25th, 2026, veterinarian Dr. Melina Orozco Aislant was detained by ICE

Dr. Orozco is a small animal veterinarian from Venezuela. She’s been licensed and practicing in Jacksonville, Florida since 2023. ICE detained Dr. Orozco while she was on vacation in Arizona and is holding her thousands of miles from home. She had a valid work permit and a pending asylum claim when detained. Dr. Orozco is a committee chair with the Jacksonville Veterinary Medical Society.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Dr. Orozco’s legal fees: https://gofund.me/b79b7adee

What can you do to help?
- Spread the word. Let people in our community know
- Donate to the GoFundMe
- Contact your elected representatives, especially in Florida and Arizona
-Contact veterinary organization to ask how they are supporting Dr. Orozco, like:
- AVMA, AVMA Governmental Relations Division, and AVMA PAC
-Florida VMA
-Arizona VMA

10/04/2026

🚨 RECALL ALERT 🚨

Another recall of tangential veterinary interest. Veterinary medicine commonly uses other formulations of dexmedetomidine (like dexmedetomidine hydrochloride Injection 0.5 mg/mL sold as "Dexdomitor" by Zoetis, or the Parnell brand, or Sileo, etcetera) but it's still good to be aware of these things, One Health and all that!

"These lots were distributed nationwide to wholesalers between May 13, 2025 and June 29, 2025.

Par Health is providing written notification to wholesale accounts that have received the affected lots and are arranging for return of all existing inventory of Lots 87558 and 88802 through Inmar, Inc. Wholesale distributors and hospital pharmacies that have the product being recalled should immediately discontinue use and stop distribution. If you have further distributed the recalled product, please notify your accounts or any additional locations which may have received the recalled product."

You can find more information on the FDA recall page:
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/par-health-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-two-lots-dexmedetomidine-hcl-09-sodium-chloride

10/03/2026

FDA Update: HYCOAT 🐴

On 29 September 2026, the U.S. FDA published an update on their investigation regarding the contaminated vials of HYCOAT Hyaluronate Sodium Sterile Solution. The product was found to have several fungal organisms within the sterile-marked vials. Over 20 horses have been euthanized, and nearly 100 individual horses were identified as being infected after off-label intraarticular injections.

This situation should be evaluated like we do in Morbidity and Mortality rounds. It can be examined through the lens of James Reason's Swiss Cheese Model, which allows us to understand breakdown or absence of safety barriers across four levels within a system. The four main categories of the model include Unsafe Acts, Preconditions for Unsafe Acts, Supervisory Factors, and Organizational Influences.

In this case several factors led to these significant adverse events that can fall under those categories:

1. The vials were contaminated by drug-resistant fungal species, so before they got to a patient, they carried an increased risk of complications.

2. The product was put into a container that made it look similar to an injectable product, therefore increasing the risk of the Wrong Route of administration.

3. This topical product was administered off-label in many patients; off-label is NOT inherently wrong, but directly injecting a contaminated product into a joint that normally goes topically may have increased the risk of serious events. Off-label administration may have been done intentionally by the veterinary teams, or accidentally (again, consider the vial design).

4. The company marketed HYCOAT as a medical device, and did not have to report adverse events to the FDA. The company obviously was informed of the events since they recalled the lots in January 2026, but the FDA started to investigate because veterinarians reported directly to them. This means there could have been a delay in or underrepresented reports of adverse events to the FDA associated with this product.

How to report adverse events to the FDA is also in this post.

We genuinely can all learn from this situation.

09/23/2026

This last week the Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced that a heifer tested positive for rabies in Brown County 🐮

Nine people were instructed to receive post-exposure prophylaxis treatment. Of note, five of them were veterinary personnel, including two veterinarians. This case is a good reminder to always wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), especially gloves (which the Minnesota Board of Animal Health stressed in their announcements multiple times).

Another aspect about this case are the two cats that were euthanized. Neither Minnesota nor Brown County requires rabies vaccination for cats, even though cats are the most common domestic species source of exposure of rabies in the US.

In Minnesota, an unvaccinated cat that has been exposed to a rabid animal must either be humanely euthanized or placed under strict quarantine for 180 days (6 months) under Minnesota law. The quarantine must take place in a secure facility approved by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (such as a veterinary clinic or an approved animal shelter), rather than at home, to strictly minimize contact with people and other animals. This is not a benign choice; extended isolation can cause severe psychological stress, anxiety, and behavioral deterioration in some animals.

Additionally all costs related to the veterinary housing, care, and required management during the quarantine are the responsibility of the owner. Had these cats been vaccinated, they may have been quarantined and confined for 45 days, and revaccinated for rabies within three days of exposure; these animals can often be quarantined at home.

The additional challenge of this situation is that these cats are barn cats, and may live exclusively outdoors, making the feasibility of quarantine even at home possibly difficult even if they were vaccinated (we don't know the logistics). Regardless, vaccination may have at least allowed the animal caregivers more options to quarantine them.

Long story short, use personal protective equipment, and keep your animals up to date on vaccines, especially rabies.

09/22/2026

For those of you looking for a more detailed article (rather than a post) about the WSAVA guidelines controversy, I have attached my Substack article here:

https://kalucard.substack.com/p/wsava-reproduction-guidelines-a-scientific

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