In this practical webinar, Chris will review how to perform a thorough pain assessment in dogs and cats. We will also help you understand some of the common analgesic protocol used in everyday practice and why different options may be picked.

Critical, high intensity patients can appear quite daunting to look after.  They need constant monitoring; you need to think in your feet and be able to adapt and change treatment plans at short notice.  The aim of this session is to delve into some of the disease processes that occur in these patients, look at treatment plans and goals including what medication arsenal is at the care team’s disposal. We will also talk about nursing care, what we can do to make the patient more comfortable and the importance of monitoring of trends in patient parameters.  By the end of this session, you should feel more confident to nurse these unstable patients while in hospital.

We have so many points of direct interaction with our patients in the clinic – each one an opportunity to shape their perception and emotional responses on future visits. There are a host of things we can do to make their experience as positive as possible.

The aging process is natural in all animals and we do perceive a lot of the physical changes our pets go through. They gradually “slow down”, spend more time in bed, seem to have “stiff joints” when getting up from a laying position and can present many other “geriatric” symptoms - not only musculoskeletal, but linked to other systems too.

Within a clinic, veterinary nurses are usually responsible for receiving inbound wildlife patients and their ability to provide immediate, efficient first aid and stress reduction so often makes all the difference between life and death for many of our orphaned and injured wildlife.