Chicago 2023 Program

We look at the common behavior questions clients ask; usually as they walk out the door. Common questions include introducing new cats, scratching unwanted items, trimming nails, teaching proper play, and the ever-present litter box questions. We will tackle these questions in a way to provide practical help to our clients. Addressing these questions in the clinic and preferably before they become a problem will help keep that pet in the home. This will decrease the number of cats taken to the shelter or tossed outside due to these common questions. Reassuring your clients that you have dealt with these problems before will ensure that the client comes to you for help in the future.

Cats body language is often hard to read but it can be done! To do so we must begin to understand what makes up the base layer of cats’ biology and domestication. Clarifying these will help us decipher feline body language. Learning to read specific stress responses will determine the best course of treatment for our patients while decreasing those stressors. During this lecture we will look at all these aspects to learn how to speak cat, and how that can help us in the hospital. All to ensure the best possible care for our feline companions.

A behavioral look at why cats are not being brought into the clinic. What we can do to make feline appointments more pleasurable for everyone. And how can we help owners be prepared for the clinic. We will dive into each one of these topics to see what and how we can be of assistance to our clients to ensure feline patients are being brought into the clinic in a timely manner. This will allow us to catch any disease process earlier and safeguard a long life for our feline patients.

During this session we will review the anatomy and normal function of the vestibular system, and apply this knowledge to a case based discussion of differential diagnosis, diagnostic testing and treatment options for canine vestibular disease.

What does good seizure control mean? Often, clients’ goals do not align with our goals for dogs with chronic seizures. With the increased availability of novel anti-seizure medications, choosing the appropriate medication can be overwhelming. This session will focus on appropriate goal setting by clients and veterinarians and novel and ‘standard’ anti-seizure drug treatment options. Additionally we will discuss when, and how to appropriately monitor therapeutic serum levels and trouble shooting for difficult cases. This session will be case based to allow easy translation to clinical practice.

Interpretation of the neurologic examination is critical to successful lesion localization and lesion localization is critical to developing a differential list, and diagnostic plan. You don’t need to be a neurologist to be successful! Learn tips on how perform the exam with dogs and cats and how to interpret these finding.

Veterinary rehabilitation is a rapidly growing and exciting field. The recognition of how rehabilitation benefits our patients is becoming more widespread. If we think of this specialty as the science of improving mobility, it can be argued that rehabilitation can help most every patient. Pet owners seek this benefit on their own, and learning the indications for rehabilitation is a win for the patient, the client, and the practitioner.

A classification scheme that incorporates the presence and absence of signs of heart disease or heart failure with structural heart changes provides a platform for discussion of both diagnosis and treatment of common heart disease. In veterinary medicine, we have adapted the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) classification system for humans into one for veterinary patients. This scheme describes four basic stages of heart disease, some of which are characterized by signs of heart failure. Patients will typically progress from one stage to the next, unless a treatment that delays or prevents this progression is instituted or another comorbidity abbreviates their lifespan. Staging in this way facilitates stage based recommendation for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up and can be an excellent communication tool in your practice.

Given the current fiscal environment, as veterinarians we are constantly faced with clients that have limited financial resources and thus we are placed in positions where we need use limited resources to achieve an acceptable clinical outcome. Thus we need to be able to provide individualized management plans that prioritize diagnostic testing and therapies. In order to achieve this goal we need to understand the value of each individual diagnostic test commonly used in dogs with known or suspected heart failure. Diagnostic tests are performed for a variety of indications including: establishment of a diagnosis, staging disease severity, identification of important comorbidities, evaluation of response to therapy, monitoring for potential or expected adverse effects, and prognosis.

Routine assessment of hospitalized patients is important to monitor key subjective and objective physical examination parameters to assess the patient’ response to treatment in the hospital as well as early detection of possible complications. Kirby’s rule of 20 was written by Rebecca Kirby, DVM, DACVIM, DACVECC and is a checklist of twenty important parameters to monitor in patients at least once per day. A checklist for monitoring patient’s is a helpful tool for general practitioners whom hospitalize day patients as well as aid veterinarian’s who work relief at emergency hospitals and veterinarians whom routinely work at emergency and speciality hospitals.

Routine assessment of hospitalized patients is important to monitor key subjective and objective physical examination parameters to assess the patient’ response to treatment in the hospital as well as early detection of possible complications. Kirby’s rule of 20 was written by Rebecca Kirby, DVM, DACVIM, DACVECC and is a checklist of twenty important parameters to monitor in patients at least once per day. A checklist for monitoring patient’s is a helpful tool for general practitioners whom hospitalize day patients as well as aid veterinarian’s who work relief at emergency hospitals and veterinarians whom routinely work at emergency and speciality hospitals.

Pain management is an integral component in the training of a rehabilitation practitioner. Addressing the needs of a painful patient, correctly diagnosing the source of the pain, and implementing a strategy to alleviate pain is part of the everyday work in rehabilitation practice.

Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of chronic pain in dogs, affecting up to 40% of adult canines. This progressive and degenerative condition primarily affects diarthrodial joints, and as the degenerative process continues, this can lead to joint failure. The consequences of this failure can limit activity, decrease performance, cause pain and discomfort and decrease the quality of life for the patient. Recognizing early signs of osteoarthritis combined with a multimodal treatment approach that includes a comprehensive rehabilitation plan can lead to improved outcomes for your patient.

Your clients own more than just dogs and cats so you should be at least prepared to care for other types of animals in emergency situations. Being prepared ahead of time will make these situations less stressful for both you and the patient. A list of supplies for each category of exotic pet and things to think about as well as patient vital parameters and resources to have on hand will be provided in this presentation.

Whose side are you on, mice or kibble? And what do hybrid ferrets in the wild have to do with our pet ferrets? Discover why ferret hybrids may hold the key to learning what an ideal diet is for our pet ferrets. Gain knowledge on what ferrets need, what diseases may develop if these needs aren’t met, and what to recommend to your clients to feed their pets.