Small Animal Sunday Schedule
A Shot at Survival: Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for Canine Parvovirus
Dr. Chris George, DVM, Practice Limited to Internal Medicine
This program provides an overview of canine parvovirus (CPV) and Elanco’s Canine Parvovirus monoclonal antibody (CPMA). This discussion includes a brief review of disease state for CPV, standard of care inpatient and outpatient treatment options, and a review of multiple treatment options discussed in recent literature. An updated review of recent studies involving CPMA will also be provided.
Meds That Make a Difference: Pharmacologic Support for Challenging Behavior Cases
Dr. Christine Calder, DVM, Board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist
Behavioral disorders rooted in fear, anxiety, and frustration represent some of the most common and consequential threats to animal welfare and the human-animal bond. Yet psychopharmacology remains underutilized in general practice, often due to uncertainty about when and how to intervene. This session offers a practical framework for integrating medication into comprehensive behavior treatment plans, emphasizing that while drugs are rarely curative, they play a critical role in reducing arousal and emotional reactivity to create a physiological state conducive to learning and behavior modification.
Attendees will gain a working understanding of the neurochemical basis of behavioral disorders and how to choose medications. Topics include the use of SSRIs and TCAs for chronic conditions such as separation-related behaviors and generalized fear, as well as event-based protocols using trazodone, gabapentin and benzodiazepines for predictable stressors like veterinary visits, car rides and thunderstorms. The session also addresses the role of a valid VCPR, ruling out medical differentials including pain, setting realistic client expectations and managing polypharmacy risks such as serotonin syndrome.
From “Do Not Approach” to Exam-Ready: Using Pre-Visit and In-Clinic Medications to Improve Veterinary Visit Outcomes
Dr. Christine Calder, DVM, Board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist
Routine veterinary visits can be a major source of fear, anxiety and frustration for patients, and that stress creates real barriers to animal welfare, team safety and diagnostic accuracy. This session gives general practitioners practical strategies to turn "do not approach" patients into candidates for safe and more comprehensive medical evaluation through the use of pre-visit medications and in-clinic chemical restraint.
Attendees will learn to build individualized oral pre-visit protocols using evidence-based anxiolytics and sedatives. We will also cover the value of test dosing to assess individual patient responses and catch paradoxical reactions before the visit.
For patients where oral medications are not enough, we will walk through early-intervention injectable sedation protocols, making the case for chemical restraint over physical struggle to prevent patient trauma. We will review multimodal combinations that provide reversible sedation for even the most challenging cases.
Modern Systemic Flea Control: Eradication of Infestations and Assistance in FAD Management
Dr. Michael Dryden, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM
This seminar will highlight several of the important advances in our understanding of flea biology that have had direct impacts on development of control programs, including the parasite-host relationship of C. felis, differences in male and female develop times, the critical concept of premises biomass and host acquisition. In addition, major changes in product development and implementation of flea control programs occurred following advances in our understanding of the residual speed of kill and reproductive break-points of insecticides. Data generated in in-home investigations have repeated demonstrated that the systemic isoxazolines can effectively eradicate flea infestations and provide rapid reduction in pruritus and improvement in clinical signs of Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD).
The Quagmire that is Giardiasis
Dr. Michael Dryden, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM
While giardiasis is common it certainly is not routine. Questions concerning what the best diagnostic test and the most effective treatment persist. Issues concerning zoonotic potential and public health implications are difficult to ascertain. This seminar will provide an update on the diagnosis, control and zoonotic potential of giardiasis in dogs and cats.
Injectable and Oral Options for Pre-euthanasia Sedation
Dr. Sunday Cozzi, DVM, CPEV
The idea of pre-euthanasia sedation was rarely discussed 25 years ago, but it has since become standard of care. It makes perfect sense when you compare it to the closest experience in human medicine. Euthanasia in general practice is nearly always achieved via an overdose of anesthesia (pentobarbital). Can you imagine how bizarre it would feel to go from completely conscious to fully unconscious in a matter of seconds? Your anesthesiologist would not do that to you, and we have the obligation not to do that to our patients as well. Our clients so frequently express the desire for their beloved pets to fall asleep and not wake up. While this is not necessarily common in unassisted (‘natural’) death, we as doctors have the ability, and dare I say the responsibility, to facilitate this–providing a better experience for our clients and their pets. Our patients vary widely as far as disease process and demeanor, so a ‘one size fits all’ approach to pre-euthanasia sedation may be overly limiting. It’s beneficial to have more than one injectable protocol for different situations and in the event of supply issues limiting access to certain medications. There are also certain patients and situations where it is helpful to administer sedation (ranging from mild to heavy) via oral route, so it is good to be familiar with several of these protocols. One of the most important things we can do is to promise, and then deliver a comfortable, deep sleep prior to euthanasia.