Vetgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In today's VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we interview Dr. Brooke Fowler, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology) of Compassion First's Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists in Longmont, CO. What's new in veterinary oncology? What do I need to know before referring my cancer patient to an oncologist? And what is electrochemotherapy?

In this VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we review the risk of anesthesia-related complications in brachycephalic dogs - just how worried should we be when it comes to anesthetizing them?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we interview Dr. Heidi Lobprise, DVM, Diplomate AVDC on dental health month in veterinary medicine. How can be better communicate to pet owners the importance of dental health? Should we be sending home all dental prophys with antibiotics? What's the best pain medication post-dental procedure? Tune in to learn more.

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the safety and efficacy of leflunomide in dogs. It seems as if leflunomide is a medication that some clinicians use quite routinely, whereas others have limited or even no experience using. Regardless of which category you fall into, don't fret! Today we will review some basic information about this medication, as well as a recent retrospective study evaluating its use. Leflunomide is an immunosuppressive medication that is used to treat a variety of immune-mediated conditions in dogs, including but not limited to immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), immune-mediated polyarthritis (IMPA), immune-mediated conditions of the central nervous system (CNS), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It works by inhibiting the synthesis of pyrimidine and thereby inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation (Plumb). Past studies have evaluated this medication at starting doses of 3-4 mg/kg/day, which showed positive response rates at this dosing (Grego

In today's VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we discuss the veterinarian's attire in the emergency hospital and how our clients perceive what we wear. As we all know, first impressions are powerful. And in the emergency setting, one of our more challenging goals is to gain the trust of the client (as we've never seen them before!). How we stand in the room, the tone of our voice, our eye contact, and how we look to the client are all tools that can be just as powerful as the medical information in our heads when it comes to connecting with our client. So do you like to don a white coat and business casual clothes for your ER shift? Or perhaps, you're like me, and enjoy not having to think beyond putting on a pair of scrubs before each shift? So, McGiffon et al wanted to evaluate this in a study called "Clients' attitudes toward veterinarians' attire in the small animal emergency medicine setting."

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Melina Zimmerman, DVM, DAVCAA, a board-certified anesthesiologist at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital. If anesthesia isn't your think, you want to tune in. In this podcast, we review how to manage the canine or feline veterinary patient while under anesthesia, including what to do when that patient is having arrhythmias, hypotension or hypercapnia. We also review pain management and oral analgesics, oral sedation and sedation options for aggressive patients.

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review liver toxicity secondary to azathioprine administration in dogs. Azathioprine is an immunosuppressive medication that has been gaining popularity in the veterinary community. It is a purine analog that can take up to 6 weeks to take effect (Plumb), and it is often used as a treatment for immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP), immune-mediated polyarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and other immune-mediated conditions. Some practitioners express discomfort using azathioprine due to its potential for adverse effects, such as hepatotoxicity and bone marrow toxicity. But how worried should we be?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Deborah Silverstein, DACVECC, Professor in Critical Care at PennVet on the use of central venous jugular catheters in critically ill dogs and cats. How hard are they to put in, what do they cost, and are there complications associated with placement?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we discuss the effect of refrigeration on clinical canine urine samples and quantitative bacterial culture.

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Lisa Radosta, DACVB, Board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist at Florida Veterinary Behavior Service on the use of trazodone in cats. Most veterinary professionals advocate for sedation for stressed cats as a modality to help with "Fear Free;" however, what drugs should we be reaching for, and what the pros and cons are of some of these sedatives? Should we be reaching for gabapentin or trazodone?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as an exciting new treatment for diarrhea secondary to canine parvovirus (CPV). You may be wondering, what is an FMT? It is actually a fairly simple procedure that is being performed with increasing frequency in both human and animal medicine. The procedure involves transferring fecal material from a healthy donor dog to a recipient patient in order to restore a healthy microbial population (Chaitman). We know that there is a vast and complex array of microorganisms populating the gastrointestinal tract, and maintenance of this microbiota is critical for overall intestinal health (Khanna). A number of primary gastrointestinal diseases, medications (particularly antibiotics), and other systemic health issues can disrupt this complex population, contributing to clinical decline in our patients.

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the use of D-dimers in predicting the presence or absence of pulmonary emboli in dogs. Pulmonary embolism (PE) refers to an obstruction of a pulmonary vessel, which could be caused by a blood clot, tissue, infectious material, parasites, foreign bodies, or other material (Goggs). There are a variety of diseases known to increase risk for PE's in our canine patients, including immune-mediated diseases such as IMHA, protein-losing nephropathies, hyperadrenocorticism, neoplasia, sepsis, and cardiac disease, as well as the use of certain medications like steroids. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of PE can be challenging due to non-specific clinical and radiographic changes. Probably many of us have seen an IMHA patient become acutely dyspneic with minimal radiographic changes, a situation where you may highly suspect a PE! In human medicine, CT or pulmonary angiography are the gold standard for antemortem diagnosis (Torbicki), but there hav

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the diagnostic utility of cytologic examination of renal fine-needle aspirates from dogs and the use of ultrasonographic features to inform cytologic diagnosis. When we do renal aspirates while we're ultrasounding our veterinary patients, is it useful and helpful?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Andrew Hillier, BVSc, MANZCVS, DACVD, Medical Lead for Dermatology at Zoetis on the diagnostic approach for itchy dogs (particularly those with atopic dermatitis!). Tune in to learn how we should be communicating with our pet owners, what mistakes we want to avoid with the atopic dog, and the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to atopy.

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we review the incidence of hospital-acquired anemia in the hospitalized canine and feline patient. In the veterinary patient, the presence of anemia results in decreased oxygen carrying capacity, which directly affects all tissues by diminishing function and impairing tissue healing. It other words, it results in decreased oxygen deliver (DO2).

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, co-founders Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT and Dr. Garret Pachtinger, DACVECC discuss a few life hacks for new veterinary graduates. Just graduated from veterinary school and need some advice? Here, we share all, from living like a broke vet student, how to pay off your veterinary student debt faster, why it's important to make (some) money, how to work on work-life balance, and more!

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Valerie Parker, DACVIM, DACVN on what's new in veterinary nutrition. Is there a role for Vitamin D with chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients? Should we be supplementing calcitriol in our canine and feline patients with CKD? What's new?

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Sharon Grayzel, DVM, MPH, DACVPM about canine leptospirosis. What's new? Is it that "classic" icteric, azotemic farm dog that comes down with lepto now? Or is it the smaller, 15 pound terrier that gets it? How prevalent is it and what do we do about this zoonotic disease? What's the best way to test for it? Learn it in this VETgirl podcast!

In today's VETgirl online veterinary podcast, we review the use of steroids and whether or not steroids truly have detrimental effects on the heart. We've been taught since our early years in veterinary school to have a healthy respect for glucocorticoid use. Understandably, there are many unwanted side effects to steroids such as weight gain, immune system suppression, and polyuria, to name the most commonly encountered. But there are also many medical uses for steroids such as intentional immune suppression and to combat inflammatory processes. In cats, we have produced evidence that long-acting glucocorticoid use can precipitate development of congestive heart failure (CHF). To date, we do not have published supportive evidence for this in dogs. So, Masters et al out of Iowa State University wanted to evaluate this in a prospective study called "Effects of short-term anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid treatment on clinicopathologic, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic variables in systemically healthy dogs."

In today's VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Marc Seitz, DABVP on his recent publication about feline urethral obstruction called "Evaluation for association between indwelling urethral catheter placement and risk of recurrent urethral obstruction in cats." Does outpatient FUO therapy work (e.g., sedation, unblocking, etc.) and when do we see increased risk of recurrent FUO in cats?