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Expert Interviews

The Cat Friendly Practice program began with the recognition that cats and cat owners weren’t coming in to see veterinarians. Elizabeth Colleran, DVM, MS, DABVP (Feline), practice owner of the Cat Hospital of Portland, chair of the Cat Friendly Practice program, explains how the program started and what exactly it does for veterinary practices.

When you go to a dentist or other doctor for a painful procedure, paying for a local block is widely accepted and understood. Kristen Cooley, BA, CVT, VTS (Anes/Analgesia), instructional specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, explains how the same should go for veterinary medicine.

Susan Little, DVM, DABVP (Feline), owner of Bytown Cat Hospital in Ontario, Canada, explains what to do when dealing with a cat that isn’t obstructed yet but has clinical signs of lower urinary tract problems.

Older, usually male veterinarians can sometimes show a huge resistance to any change in their veterinarian practice. Kristen Cooley, BA, CVT, VTS (Anes/Analgesia), instructional specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, says to make this resistant veterinarian susceptible to change, you need to find their barriers and try to break them down.

People in the U.S. seem to spend more money on pets and pet health care than people in Isael. Ron Ofri, DVM, PhD, DECVO, professor of veterinary ophthalmology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, talks about the differences he sees between pet health care in the U.S. and pet health care in Israel.

Behavior: Stress in Cats

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When cats become stressed, they can show both behavioral and physical signs. Ellen Lindell, VMD, DACVB, owner of Veterinary Behavior Consultations in Bethel, Connecticut, explains the importance of addressing the clinical signs when cats get stressed, as well as affecting the stressors in their environment.

Everyone, not just those who work in health care, can benefit from practicing meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Brian DiGangi, DVM, MS, DABVP, immediate past president of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, talks about some of these popular techniques that people use to cope with compassion fatigue.

Lower the Dose is an initiative brought forth by IDEXX, a leader in diagnostics and IT solutions for animal health. Michael Bailey, DVM, DACVR, project manager for IDEXX, explains that this initiative is trying to emphasize the importance for those working in health care to have as low of an exposure to diagnostic radiation as possible.

Heather Wilson-Robles, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), associate professor in the veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences department at Texas A&M University, believes the number of feline clinical trials will change in the future dependent on the interest there is in certain feline cancers.

Kristen Cooley, BA, CVT, VTS (Anes/Analgesia), instructional specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, discusses what to do when a veterinary nurse wants to improve pain management in their practice but a veterinarian in the same practice is very resistant to this change.

Contrary to popular belief, the visual acuity and resolution in dogs is much higher than in cats. Ron Ofri, DVM, PhD, DECVO, professor of veterinary ophthalmology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, explains how cats have superior nighttime vision while dogs see better during the daytime.

Emily McCobb, DVM, MS, DACVAA, director of shelter medicine in the clinical sciences department at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, hopes and expects the nation will start looking like the northeast corner of the country in that all adoptable animals are getting adopted and euthanasia for healthy adoptable animals is coming to an end.

Amanda Landis-Hanna, DVM, veterinary industry liaison, speaker, and consultant, talks about how she provides veterinary relief services on a day-to-day basis to help practices when veterinarians on staff are out for long periods of time.

Susan Little, DVM, DABVP (Feline), owner of Bytown Cat Hospital in Ontario, Canada, says the key to dealing with chronic obstructed cats is to get an accurate diagnosis and to have the owner understand what that diagnosis means.

Kristen Cooley, BA, CVT, VTS (Anes/Analgesia), instructional specialist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, says the most predictive successor of failure factors when adding a pain management program to your veterinary hospital is keeping everyone on the same page.

A New Name for FIC

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Elizabeth Colleran, DVM, MS, DABVP (Feline), owner of the Cat Hospital of Portland and chair of the Cat Friendly Practice Program, talks about why feline interstitial cystitis is now often called Pandora syndrome.

Ellen Lindell, VMD, DACVB, owner of Veterinary Behavior Consultations in Bethel, Connecticut, says when treating behavior problems, you want to understand the target behavior.

Heather Wilson-Robles, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), associate professor in the veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences department at Texas A&M University, explains why there are so many more canine cancer clinical trials than there are for feline.

Many people believe that veterinarians who work in animal shelters or for animal welfare have a higher risk compassion fatigue. Amanda Landis-Hanna, DVM, veterinary industry liaison, speaker, and consultant, says this is a misconception that she has found to be quite the opposite.