Minnesota Urolith Center milestone

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Dr. Jody Lulich, Minnesota Urolith Center, University of Minnesota, 612-625-7277 or support@urolithcenter.org

Minnesota Urolith Center celebrates 750,000 stones
  and renewed support from Hill's

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (November 26, 2012) - The Minnesota Urolith Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine recently celebrated the receipt of its 750,000th urolith, a struvite-calcium phosphate carbonate stone from a female Pomeranian dog living in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The stone was submitted by Dr. Lisa Jones and her team at the Animal Hospital at Southgate in Glen Burnie.

On November 21, Dr. Janet D. Donlin, chief veterinary officer at Hill's Pet Nutrition, presented College of Veterinary Medicine professors Jody Lulich and Carl Osborne with a $500,000 check to renew its longtime support of the center.

Founded in 1981, the Minnesota Urolith Center maintains the largest database of animal uroliths, analyzing nearly 80,000 samples annually. This diagnostic service, offered at no cost to veterinarians, is made possible largely by a philanthropic educational grant from Hill's Pet Nutrition. Last year alone, Hill's contributions are estimated to have saved the veterinary profession approximately $2.5 million in diagnostic fees. The long-standing financial commitment from Hill’s also supports the Minnesota Urolith Center's scientific and epidemiological research needed to understand trends, risk factors, and treatments for urinary tract disease.

“Since the beginning, we have proudly backed the Minnesota Urolith Center because their mission to help the profession and the pets we serve aligns with our own,” Donlin says. “Our sincerest congratulations go out to the Minnesota Urolith Center team (Michelle Buettner, Amy Cokley, Sarah Davidson, Dr. Vachira Hunprasit, Lori Koehler, Sandy Leach, Dr. Jody Lulich, Dr. Eugene Nwaokorie, Dr. Carl Osborne, Laurie Swanson, and Lisa Ulrich) on this wonderful achievement, and we look forward to many more years of success to come.”

Lulich and Osborne think that the synergistic partnership between Hill's Pet Nutrition and the Minnesota Urolith Center is an example of what can be done for veterinary health care teams who need assistance with their canine and feline urinary tract disease case management.

“In the beginning of the last decade, we were receiving approximately 25,000 samples per year,” says Osborne. “Last year, we saw nearly 80,000 from around the world. With the help of sponsors like Hill’s Pet Nutrition, we’re helping pets around the world have a better quality of life.”

In addition to quantitative urolith analysis using infrared spectroscopy and optical crystallography, the Minnesota Urolith Center holds a database of more than 750,000 veterinary samples and epidemiologic data identifying risk factors for urolithiasis and provides recommendations, consultation, clinical studies, and lectures around the world. Funding for the Minnesota Urolith Center’s scientific and epidemiological research comes largely from donors.

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The mission of the Minnesota Urolith Center at the University of Minnesota is to enhance the quality and quantity of life of companion animals. This mission encompasses compassionate utilization of contemporary science and selection of clinical teams to provide care that we would select for ourselves. Committed to the development of noninvasive methods that will consistently and safely prevent and cure diseases of the urinary system, the center is staffed with board-certified veterinarians and specially trained professionals qualified in the analysis and interpretation of biogenic minerals from veterinary patients. For more information about the Minnesota Urolith Center, visit the Minnesota Urolith Center website.