Funded Projects

The College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University has received a $50,050 second year grant from Maddie’s Fund® to continue Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program.

Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program includes the following elements:

Veterinary student education

• Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Course introduces freshmen veterinary students to different shelter models (adoption guarantee, traditional, animal control) and the medical/behavioral problems commonly found in each. Students also learn about feral cat issues, facility design, fostering, population control and veterinarians’ role in shelter medicine.
  
• Selected students will be given stipends to visit progressive shelters.
  
• Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine research stipends will be available for students interested in conducting research on causes of diarrhea in cats. Results will be presented to the college and published on the Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine website.
  

Engagement with the veterinary community and the public

• Continuing education programs will be developed for veterinarians on the local, state and regional level. Emphasis will be placed upon infectious diseases, behavior issues and population control of companion animals.
  
• Continuing education for veterinary technicians will be established Areas to be addressed include general health assessment, infectious disease recognition and prevention, behavior and methods of population control.
  

Discovery of new information

• Investigations into the epidemiology of infectious disease in urban and rural shelters will be conducted. Infectious agents that affect feline health will be targeted; information gathered will be used to detect and prevent illness in foster and no-kill shelter cats.
  
  
• Established in Ames, Iowa, in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State was the first state institution to found a veterinary school. Surrounded by rural communities and family farms, Iowa State is located in central Iowa, 30 miles north of Des Moines.