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Clinical

 exotic animal medicine page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on the latest in veterinary exotic animal medicine. This page consists of videos, interviews, articles, podcasts, and research on the advancements and developments of therapies for exotic animal medicine, and more.

In this week's episode, Madonna Livingston, BVMS, MRCVS, shares her top tips on handling exotic pets, plus more about her recently published book

The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360: 4 best practices on handling exotic pets

Madonna Livingston, BVMS, MRCVS, and our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, sat down to chat about all things exotic on this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by 

 to talk about ways veterinary professionals can better handle exotic pets in their clinic, her new textbook, and how she self taught herself to be an exotics veterinarian when resources were limited. 

When I went to vet school, there was virtually nothing on exotics. I think I got 2 hours in 5 years. When I first qualified from Glasgow vet school, there was no certificate, there was no pathway for specialization. So I'm self-taught. I bought all the species-specific textbooks. I sat in on a Friday night quite happily reading my Douglas Mader, medicine, surgery, Vet textbook, and did as much extra courses, extra studying that I could do.

Once I'd been qualified, a few years [later] a certificate became available, but it was in England, and I am a homebody. I, by that point, developed clients, a client base, because the clients would come to me and I would say, 'Look, I've maybe never seen this species before. This condition, you've got 2 options: I can try to refer you somewhere, or I can do research into it.' And where I worked wasn't initially, wasn't a particularly affluent area. So for a lot of owners, referral was out [of] the realms of their reach financially. So they would say to me, 'Madonna, could you try.' So I did, and then I built up the reputation doing that way and but I didn't. So I didn't want to move to England. I was settled in my homebody. I had my support network. I asked if I could sit [in] the exams. They told me no, because...understandably, they wanted the money from the tuition. I get it. Then, [by] the time a certificate became available in Scotland, I was already lecturing.

Do you think that in your years of experience, has the interest of exotics for the vet students, has it gone up? Stayed the same, decreased like, what does that look like in your area?

: It's definitely gone up. Definitely gone up.

: I think so too, why do you think that is?

On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Madonna Livingstone, BVMS, MRCVS, discuss how to handle exotic pets, plus how the human-animal bond is not species-specific

4 best practices on handling exotic pets

Merry Christmas dvm360 readers! As a present to you, we are dropping this Christmas episode to bring you into the world of exotic medicine. Our host, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomed Rachel Siu, DVM, to share what it is like to be an exotic veterinarian, debunking some myths about costs and care, and providing tips to help professionals be more comfortable when treating an exotic pet in their clinic. 

What would you say to those that are tuning in that say, like, Oh, I'm still a little leery about it. I don't know if they say, oh my gosh, are rabbits coming down? I don't know, you know. Like, what would you say to some of those listeners out there?

I would say your critical thinking and research skills are super important. If you know, you have a rabbit coming in, for instance, make an hour long appointment, or even hour and a half you're really uncomfortable with them. Make sure you have enough time to really do your exam very slowly if you nee, do your research on which drugs are safe to give, and I know have the resources available, whether that be, you know, exotic textbook or VIN, or, you know, there's like the favorite, the Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary is, you know, one of the exotic Bibles. So make sure you have those resources available to you and really research, you know, things through before you just go prescribing things willy nilly, because I have seen other veterinarians prescribe, you know, antibiotics to rabbits and Guinea pigs that have killed them because it wasn't a safe medication. 

So, you know, I want people to be comfortable and start seeing exotics, if that's what they're passionate in, but make sure you you research things either ahead of time or, take the time during your appointment to to really make sure you're comfortable with what you're doing. 

Enter the world of veterinary exotics with our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Rachel Siu, DVM

The wonderful world of exotics

Unlike most veterinarians who have a goal of becoming a veterinarian set by a young age, the opportunity fell on the lap of Carl Palazzolo, DVM, MBA. His original plan was to go to Michigan State University for architecture. However, Palazzolo shared that transcript and drawings ended up getting lost, and he was told he could apply for the program the following year but needed to pick up a different major in the meantime. This led him to ask others what their major was, and after multiple people said 'prevet,' Palazzolo decided to check it out and the rest is history. 

On his return episode to the Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, Palazzolo takes listeners and our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, on his journey through his career as a veterinarian and wildlife photographer. Palazzolo also dives into his teaching, emphasizing that love and patience is important for wildlife photography—maybe even more important than the equipment. 

So in Africa, we've been pretty much almost all throughout East Africa, some of the hot spots, of course, with the Serengeti, and the best time to go there is you go to a place called Lake

in Tanzania, sometime around February, that's when the wildebeest are born by the 100,000s, the calfs, and that brings out the big cats and the cheetahs. You get to watch them right there. Another good spot in East Africa is see[ing] the gorillas in Rwanda. You can get very, very close to them. The guys are outstanding guides, they talk to the male gorilla, silverback. They're not aggressive animals, they just look that way. But you have to time it right he's got his troop, [and] he's got his females and cubs. 

We actually saw 2 day old twin cubs right in front of us, right? It was literally 10 feet away. Now, the problem with this is several fold. One is it's expensive because the government there knows they got its thing, and they're really endangered, so they're trying to protect them very well, but you want to get close. In an occasion, a baby gorilla comes up next to you, you can spread a disease to them, and one of them did die—confirmed by UC Davis....So it's really, a really great trip, but it's hard to stay away because they're so curious and so cool... yeah, everyone should go there once in life.

Carl Palazzolo, DVM, MBA, shares more about what inspired his journey to become a wildlife veterinarian and photographer and the adventures he had along the way

Becoming a wildlife veterinarian and photographer

Although most clinics primarily have clientele of cats and dogs, there will be times when a client with a pet bird makes its way into your clinic. When this happens, are you and your team prepared to assess and treat this patient? If you could use a little refresher on avian medicine, or are curious about treating birds in general, this is the episode for you! 

On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Adam Christman, MBA, DVM, and Laila Proença, DVM, PhD, MV, MSc, DACZM, cofounder and CEO of VETAHEAD, review Proença's top 5 tips for performing an effective avian exam, plus a special guest Proença may be bringing to Long Beach. 

Below is a partial transcript. Listen to the full podcast for more.

Laila Proença, DVM, PhD, MV, MSc, DACZM: 

I will say the first one is you already know what you have to do. You are already a bird veterinarian, all of us are, or a technician or assistant, because you know, the medicine is the same, Adam. My tip number one is don't be afraid, because we already know what we need to know. Okay? It's just like when you are seeing a dog and then you're going to see a cat. The medicine is the same. There are a few unique traits like how you restrain that cat versus how you restrain a dog...So the first thing is don't be afraid. 

If you use proper technique, which is not difficult to accomplish, we're gonna go through them. It's going to be okay, you need to examine the bird. Just a visual exam is not going to take you anywhere you're not going to be able to practice your medicine [and] you're not going to be able to palpate or auscultate, so don't be afraid. And I will close this first by saying I don't practice exotic medicine. Okay, exotic medicine it's a lot of BS. It's a lot of nonsense rules [and] a lot of things that you must do and must have which makes absolutely no sense. And it's all there to make us afraid of doing it. It is zoomed, that's why I say zoomed because you already know it. 

Want to learn more from Proença? Well, you are in luck!  Proença is one of our incredible keynote speakers at dvm360's first-ever Fetch conference in Long Beach, California from December 1-3, 2023. Join Proença and all of our incredible speakers for a conference you do not want to miss, so 

VETAHEAD founder and CEO Dr Laila Proença shares her top 5 tips for completing an avian exam 

 5 tips for a successful avian exam

Unlike most veterinary professionals, Douglas Mader, MS, DVM, Diplomate, ABVP (Canine/Feline), Diplomate, ABVP (Reptile/Amphibian), Diplomate, ECZM (Herpetology), EBVS, did not decide to enter veterinary medicine until he was older. After developing a love of science and working closely with a veterinarian at local horse stables, Mader pursued a career in veterinary medicine to focus on treating and caring for equine patients. 

However, in an unfortunate accident, Mader was struck by an underaged drunk driver, leaving him unable to continue working with the horses, and changing his career path forever. Now, Mader is a triple-boarded veterinarian with an impressive list of awards and achievements.

Mader joins this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast to share with Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, his path to veterinary medicine, the inspiration behind his book, 

, and the true power of the human-animal bond.

Diplomate, ABVP (Canine/Feline), Diplomate, ABVP (Reptile/Amphibian), Diplomate, ECZM (Herpetology), EBVS:

  The human-animal bond knows no bounds, and the human-animal bond doesn't care what color you are, what race you are, what culture you're from, what language you speak, what your socio-economic class is, anything, that human-animal bond is real. And when I get up in the morning, when I started this 40 years ago, and today, when I get up in the morning, my goal is to promote the human-animal bond. And, I have blinders on to everything else other than focusing, laser focusing, on that patient and that client, and what can I do to keep that bond strong? That's my whole goal. 

To learn more about Mader's book, visit his 

Dr Doug Mader provides readers an inside look at the inspiration behind his book, plus how a tragic accident changed the trajectory of his career

The complicated reality of the human-animal bond

This episode of The Vet Blast Podcast is all about fish anesthesiology. Gianluca Bini, DVM, MRCVS, DACVAA, shares his insights and expertise in aquatic medicine.

: The fish anesthesia device, which is literally like a little tank where there is water underneath.... There is a little pump that pumps there. It has a little tube that pumps the water and it's recirculating that water and then there is sort of like a grate where we place a towel, which is wet. The fish lays on the towel and the tube coming from the palm goes in the fish mouth so that the water constantly recirculates from the tank to the fish mouth and then it comes out of their gills. And so it passes through their gills so that you know they have an uptake of the oxygenated water and the water with the anesthetic. And so that guarantees you that the fish constantly have supply of oxygenated water and an anesthetic. And that's usually done for more prolonged procedures.

An boarded anesthesiologist and aquatic medicine expert walks through his approach to fish anesthesiology

How do you even anesthetize a fish anyway?

GFI #256 and compounding medication is the topic of this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast. Marcy Bliss, CEO of Wedgewood Pharmacy, joins Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, to explain the ins and outs of this new FDA guidance.

: Over many years, FDA has been asserting that it should regulate compounding from bulk drug substances in animal health. So to facilitate that, they've recently released a final guidance to kind of frame up their current thinking, and this guidance is called the GFI #256....Now, this is not a law or regulation. It's not a statute, but the agency has announced its intention to enforce primarily to pharmacy enforcement...For me, I think the broad intent is to ensure that if a veterinarian can use commercial products that they do so, and that compounding is used for its intended purpose purpose, which is really to provide customized medication when the veterinarian determines that an FDA-approved product is not the best treatment for patients. So, either it's a compliance issue, like you said, or the drug isn't available in the marketplace, like potassium bromide, or the drug needs to be changed...Maybe it's available as a tablet and it needs to be an injectable or damaged drug.

So the FDA, I think, really just wants to ensure the appropriate use of compounded medication. Of course, we believe veterinarians are already using it appropriately, but the FDA wants to put this guidance in place, I think, to put some guardrails and a framework around that.

Marcy Bliss, CEO of Wedgewood Pharmacy, talks GFI #256 compliance and how drug compounding has changed over time

What you need to know about GFI #256 and the changing landscape of compounding medicine

Laila Proença, DVM, PhD, MV, MSc, DACZM, joins The Vet Blast Podcast to talk access to education and rabbit medicine. She and Adam Christman, DVM, MBA focus on GI syndrome in rabbits and share diagnostic and treatment tips.

: GI syndrome is not a name that everybody's familiar with because people refer to GI stasis as the syndrome, but GI stasis is just one part of the syndrome that may or may not happen, which is hypomotility...Things are not moving, but we don't have any dilatation; we don't have any gas; we don't have any obstructions...We call it syndrome because it's multifactorial. It's not just about diet. It's not just about using our current medications. It's not just about stress. It is way deeper than that.

Learn tips and tricks for dealing with rabbit gastrointestinal stasis syndrome and related GI issues

A deep dive into rabbit gastrointestinal stasis syndrome

In this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Jenifer Chatfield, DVM, DACZM, DACVPM discusses her experience with elephants, chimpanzees, and more. She tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA about her life as a zoo veterinarian and how she got into zoological medicine in the first place. 

chimpanzee is the only species that ever almost darted me back...I shot it. It was beautiful. It was a perfect hit right in the biceps. Amazing. And as I'm congratulating myself, fully injected, in it that half of a second, the chimp ripped it out, picked it up, cocked his arm back, and threw it back at me. I felt it go by my face. 

Jenifer Chatfield joins The Vet Blast Podcast with Adam Christman to share amazing stories from her experience in zoological medicine and beyond. 

Adventures in zoological medicine with Jenifer Chatfield

Disney World is considered one of the most magical places on earth, and rightfully so. For second-year veterinary student Christian Capobianco, this enchanted place ignited his passion for zoological medicine.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Capobianco shares more about his magical path to zoological and wildlife medicine and offers words of wisdom to pre-veterinary students.

“I remember distinctly the first time I knew I wanted to become a veterinarian, and it actually happened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” he tells Adam Christman, DVM, MBA.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Dr Christman is joined by second-year veterinary student Christian Capobianco who reflects on the life-changing experience that inspired him to become a wildlife veterinarian and offers useful advice to pre-veterinary students.

Avian & Exotic

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