Continuing Education

A review on the current techniques to improve the diagnosis and surgical management of colic in horses. We will review several examples of colic work-up, discuss the key steps for decision making process as well compare the efficacy of different clinical techniques to reduce the rate of post-operative complications. In addition, it will offer discussion of prognostic indicators for survival based on new research.  

There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings surrounding the feeding of backyard chickens. This presentation explores the practicalities of feeding backyard poultry, with a view of obtaining maximum health results for one of the most popular pet birds in the world.

Acute gastroenteritis is common in dogs, yet its various causes and the evidence for different treatments are still uncertain. This presentation will discuss what we know so far and what is considered the optimal treatment.

Acute vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs are common presenting problems and the term “acute gastroenteritis” implies signs occur contemporaneously or sequentially, i.e. vomiting leads to profuse diarrhoea, which leads to mucoid diarrhoea. Although often described as ‘gastroenteritis’, not all cases involve inflammation. Once surgical conditions are ruled out, most cases are probably due to viruses or toxicities. Yet this is not an issue as often a definitive diagnosis is not required: mild cases are usually self-limiting and require no treatment or symptomatic treatment with anti-emetics, anti diarrhoeals and dietary modification. More severe cases are at risk of dehydration and fluid therapy is the most important, but non-specific treatment. Yet an incorrect assumption that bacterial enteritis is common leads to frequent, unjustified use of antibacterials. Paradoxically, parvovirus infection is probably the main indication for using antibacterials because, as well as mucosal damage allowing bacterial translocation, the patient is often immunosuppressed. 

Would oleander by any other name kill as quickly? You betcha! There are lots of plants out there that can cause morbidity and mortality in livestock. Some of these plants are known nasties, while others – such as summer or winter crops – are just good plants gone bad. We can sometimes be faced with sick and dying animals where a diagnosis is not immediately obvious. It is important to be able to quickly rule a plant poisoning out (or in). This PodcastPLUS will cover the clinical signs, treatment and prevention strategies for known crop and pasture poisonings as well as common agricultural and garden weeds. It will also discuss a logical way of investigating whether plants may be involved in an animal disease event and include resources and tips on how to identify unknown plants.