VPN Plus+ ExclusiveBig vet energy, fading fastApril 24, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAThe only photo I have on my desk at work is one a classmate snapped during my field service rotation 30 years ago last month. Dinosaur that I am, it was one of those pictures you print at the drugstore photo lab in doubles to give away to your new colleagues at graduation. In it, I'm cradling a Pygmy goat kid…and I'm beaming. It exudes "big vet energy" in the best way possible. Everyone has a picture like that—one that captures their veterinary essence in peak bloom. It represents the moment you first recognized yourself as a real veterinarian. It says, "This is what I am. This is what I do. I was made for this." If your version of this picture isn't already on your desk, it probably should be. It will keep you grounded and inspired, humbled yet exultant. When things go wrong, it'll soothe you to recall why you made the choices you did. When everything's just as you think it should be, it will boost your mood all the more. Ironically, though, it is this photo that made me realize I was ready to end my career as I knew it. Sitting at my desk, crunching …
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VPN Plus+ ExclusiveUnderstanding the relationship between veterinarians, animal abuse, and One HealthApril 16, 2025Identifying an abused animal may help prevent the abuse or neglect of a human family member, friend, or even a stranger. This is a genuine One Health concern. Environmental factors, in addition to human and animal risk factors, play a role in the development of cruelty/neglect, and our veterinary intervention may save lives.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveMay pet- and vet-related calendarApril 16, 2025Holidays spring up all through May. This month you can showcase vet techs and receptionists on National Nurses Day and National Receptionists Day. Pets have special days, too, focusing on specific types (cats, turtles, rescue dogs) to specialized conditions (service dogs, specially-abled dogs). Sample social media post and email templates are included for your convenience.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe ULTIMATE guide to movement disorders in dogs and catsApril 11, 2025Through 4K words, four charts and six videos, Dr Susan Arnold provides an incredibly comprehensive guide on movement disorders, including their proposed etiologies, affected species and breeds, phenotypes, diagnostic workup, and treatments. It also covers the features a clinician can use to distinguish a movement disorder from seizures, the most common alternative diagnosis for movement disorders.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe Touch of Triage: Hypoxia and ShockApril 4, 2025In this session: Karen Roach, RVT, VTS (ECC), covers how to quickly and accurately assess emergency patients and treat for the things that will kill them the quickest – hypoxia and shock. She then addresses how triage doesn’t just end in the waiting room, or ER, but even after a patient is hospitalized, you are essentially triaging them again and again every time you enter their cage.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveThe importance of One Health to the veterinary teamApril 2, 2025By Beckie Mossor, MPA, RVTNAVTA president on how vet team members contribute to One Health partnerships by developing early warning systems that help detect disease outbreaks in animals and humans, and the four ways they add to their own skillsets.
VPN Plus+ Exclusive10 lessons veterinary medicine can learn from human healthcare's biggest challengesMarch 27, 2025By Patty Khuly, VMD, MBAHuman healthcare has a lot to teach us, especially since its challenges tend to precede ours. The industry serves as a reliable sentinel for up-and-coming concerns we are likely to confront in the near future, which is what this post is all about. Although these scary prospects don’t yet keep us up all night, they are well worth contemplating as we head into the second half of the decade.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveToxicology: RodenticidesMarch 21, 2025In this session: Jeffery Backus, RVT, CVT, VTS (ECC), explores rodenticide toxicity in small animal veterinary medicine. Rodenticide exposure is a Top-3 call annually for the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, and a very common presentation to the veterinary hospital. He addresses the three major types that are available on the market, decontamination, toxic doses and LD50’s, treatment, and nursing care, and will also look at other “less toxic” rodenticides. He also discusses how to tell these rodenticides apart, as well as relay exposure—a pet eating a carcass that may have eaten rodenticide.
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveYour essential guide to xylitol poisoning in dogsMarch 19, 2025While some people see benefits in the use of xylitol, others may develop GI upset, or as we see in dogs, much more severe concerns may arise. Xylitol is toxic to all dogs, with the risk of profound hypoglycemia and hepatic necrosis of key considerations. (Let clients know, too, some manufacturers use the term “birch sugar,” for xylitol on their labels.)
VPN Plus+ ExclusiveUpdates on Common Toxicology TopicsMarch 13, 2025In this session: Jennifer Hopkins, DVM, DABT, provides guidance on current topics in toxicology, including a focus on advances in understanding grape and raisin toxicosis in dogs, the emergency of different mushroom types in “magic mushroom” products, decontamination considerations with activated charcoal and chocolate, and considerations with fluid diuresis recommendations and intravenous lipid therapies. Up-to-date information about these topics is addressed, and applications for treating toxin ingestions is covered.
