VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In veterinary medicine, coagulation testing is imperative in the critically ill patient. Hypocoagulability is often easily measured with prothrombin (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and platelet count, while hypercoagulability is more difficult to measure with point-of-care testing (typically requiring a thromboelastography (TEG) machine). In this veterinary podcast, we review a recent study out of UGA assessing the Sonoclot in comparison to the TEG. Before you rush out and buy one, check out this podcast first! Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

In today's VetGirl podcast, we interview Dr. Richard Goldstein, DACVIM (SAIM), DECVIM-CA, Chief Medical Officer at Animal Medical Center in New York City, NY on Lyme disease. If you're not sure if you should be vaccinating for Lyme disease, this podcast is a must! More importantly, learn specifically about how the Lyme vaccine works directly against OpsA. What about the Idexx SNAP 4DX Plus - just how do we interpret that blue dot? Check out this podcast to learn how to help prevent lyme nephritis! Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

In today's VetGirl podcast, we interview Dr. Richard Goldstein, DACVIM (SAIM), DECVIM-CA, Chief Medical Officer at Animal Medical Center in New York City, NY on Lyme disease. If you're not sure if you should be vaccinating for Lyme disease, this podcast is a must! More importantly, learn specifically about how the Lyme vaccine works directly against OpsA. What about the Idexx SNAP 4DX Plus - just how do we interpret that blue dot? Check out this podcast to learn how to help prevent lyme nephritis! Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

How many of you are using VHS in clinical practice? (No, not the video home system for your VCR.). The vertebral heart score (VHS) can be useful as a tool to help confirm cardiomegaly. If you're stuck with a cat in respiratory distress and you can safely take a lateral thoracic radiograph, will VHS different cardiac from respiratory disease? In this veterinary podcast, we discuss whether or not VHS is worth doing. Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

How many of you are using VHS in clinical practice? (No, not the video home system for your VCR.). The vertebral heart score (VHS) can be useful as a tool to help confirm cardiomegaly. If you're stuck with a cat in respiratory distress and you can safely take a lateral thoracic radiograph, will VHS different cardiac from respiratory disease? In this veterinary podcast, we discuss whether or not VHS is worth doing. Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

Septic peritonitis can be a challenging diagnosis to make. The prognosis for septic peritonitis is still poor (with an approximate 50% survival), despite the improvements in emergency and critical care. In this podcast, we review some coagulation tests including protein C, antithrombin, and fibrinogen and look to see if these tests are helpful for prognostication in the future. The lower these values are, is it worse for the patient? Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

Septic peritonitis can be a challenging diagnosis to make. The prognosis for septic peritonitis is still poor (with an approximate 50% survival), despite the improvements in emergency and critical care. In this podcast, we review some coagulation tests including protein C, antithrombin, and fibrinogen and look to see if these tests are helpful for prognostication in the future. The lower these values are, is it worse for the patient? Questions? You can always contact us via our Contact Us page.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in our veterinary patients, and can sometimes be tricky to diagnose and treat appropriately. An aerobic urine culture is the gold standard, allowing identification of the infectious agent and a sensitivity profile to direct treatment; however, this test takes several days to get back, and treatment (in other words, appropriate use of antibiotics!) is often required in the meantime. This veterinary podcast reviews the importance of Gram staining urine versus evaluating an unstained urine sediment exam for the detection of bacteriuria in dogs with suspected UTI. Stain your urine!

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in our veterinary patients, and can sometimes be tricky to diagnose and treat appropriately. An aerobic urine culture is the gold standard, allowing identification of the infectious agent and a sensitivity profile to direct treatment; however, this test takes several days to get back, and treatment (in other words, appropriate use of antibiotics!) is often required in the meantime. This veterinary podcast reviews the importance of Gram staining urine versus evaluating an unstained urine sediment exam for the detection of bacteriuria in dogs with suspected UTI. Stain your urine!

The use of colloids is more commonly utilized in veterinary medicine as a means of increasing colloid osmotic pressure (COP). Rarely, there are complications associated with the use of colloids, including volume overload and effects on coagulation (hypocoagulability). This veterinary podcast reviews the effects of the synthetic colloid hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 (Voluven) on coagulation and reiterates how clinical patients receiving synthetic colloids should be monitored for changes in their coagulation profiles and treated accordingly.

The use of colloids is more commonly utilized in veterinary medicine as a means of increasing colloid osmotic pressure (COP). Rarely, there are complications associated with the use of colloids, including volume overload and effects on coagulation (hypocoagulability). This veterinary podcast reviews the effects of the synthetic colloid hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 (Voluven) on coagulation and reiterates how clinical patients receiving synthetic colloids should be monitored for changes in their coagulation profiles and treated accordingly.

In this VetGirl podcast, Heidi Brenegan, Director of Marketing at Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota discusses different payment plan options available for pet owners and for your clinic. Need more than just Care Credit out there? Learn about a new payment system called PaymentBanc that allows draft payments from your pet owner's banking account without it affecting (or costing) your clinic anything!

In this VetGirl podcast, Heidi Brenegan, Director of Marketing at Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota discusses different payment plan options available for pet owners and for your clinic. Need more than just Care Credit out there? Learn about a new payment system called PaymentBanc that allows draft payments from your pet owner's banking account without it affecting (or costing) your clinic anything!

Feline cardiac disease and secondary congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common presenting complaint to the ER or ICU. Treatment often includes diuretics (e.g., furosemide), oxygen therapy, calcium channel blockers, and other cardiac medications. Recently, the use of pimobendan has been evaluated to treat cats with heart failure. Should we wait to get our echocardiogram results before starting pimobendan? Is HCM a contraindication for giving pimobendan? This veterinary podcast reviews whether the use of oral pimobedan is beneficial, and what contraindications exist.

Feline cardiac disease and secondary congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common presenting complaint to the ER or ICU. Treatment often includes diuretics (e.g., furosemide), oxygen therapy, calcium channel blockers, and other cardiac medications. Recently, the use of pimobendan has been evaluated to treat cats with heart failure. Should we wait to get our echocardiogram results before starting pimobendan? Is HCM a contraindication for giving pimobendan? This veterinary podcast reviews whether the use of oral pimobedan is beneficial, and what contraindications exist.