Dr Kathleen Cooney brings the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy to Fetch Charlotte in 2022

We’re pleased to announce our new Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) continuing education (CE) lectures and hands-on labs will be available at the Fetch dvm360® conference in Charlotte, North Carolina being held April 22, 2022, to April 24, 2022. Register here.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF joined Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, live on social media to discuss what to expect when you register and attend CAETA’s CE, including 2 lectures: Euthanasia Reimagined, Pre Euthanasia Sedation and Anesthesia Protocols, plus a 3-hour, hands-on lab, Euthanasia Techniques.

View the video at the bottom for the entire discussion. The following is a partial transcript.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 0:11

Joining me today...she's advancing veterinary medicine for the better and the way we're dealing with end-of-life care, she's elevating and creating a wonderful experience from when [pets] cross over, is none other than Dr Kathleen Cooney. How are you, my friend?

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 0:29

I'm really well Adam and I cannot wait to go to Charlotte. It just feels like it's been too long. It's going to be a great event and I am going to be inspired.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 0:42

Yeah, I am too. I feel like we've been talking about your track for months. It's finally happening.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 0:49

Yes, we've worked together a bit last year at [the] Kansas City [Fetch conference] and thought it was so well received, people really want to talk about the good death revolution and talk about modern best practices with euthanasia. So, let's bump it up a notch, let's bring 5 hours of euthanasia content to Charlotte.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 1:10

[Dr Cooney is] going to peel back the curtain and tell us a little bit about what that track is. But let's take a step back for a second and tell the viewers a little bit about what CAETA is, what it stands for, and what its mission is.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 1:20

CAETA stands for the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy. Our mission is to provide outstanding education to improve the overall experience for the pet patient, the client or caregiver, and the veterinary team. We have a 10-hour master program where we dive into the history of euthanasia [and] we talk about how we support the caregiver and the pet with their preferences and what's important to them. We talk about pre-euthanasia sedation protocols, and the techniques themselves.

Around that master program, we have over 30 hours of additional content on communication and even recorded euthanasia from beginning to end, so we can really show our students and our attendees what a good death looks like. And then we [have] our Facebook group and our YouTube videos and everything we can do to get out there for the veterinarian, the technician, the assistants in the front staff, practice managers, social workers, you name it, we teach everyone who wants to learn.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 2:27

That's incredible…so, tell us a little bit about how this track is going to go down.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 2:41

The laboratory itself is going to come after 2 hours of talking and lecture…[The first hour will cover the topic] Euthanasia Reimagined, those modern best practices, so that we can help our attendees understand how do we keep clients and pets together through the entire euthanasia appointment? How can we feel safe in that? How can we elevate our communication?

The second hour is going to be on what we call ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ the Pre Euthanasia Sedation and Anesthesia Protocols that so many practitioners are starting to reach for now to provide sleep for patients before death. So we are going to take an entire hour on that.

Then, the laboratory will be in the afternoon. And that's what we kind of consider the 'concert,' listening to lectures is more like hearing an album and you get a taste of what all this good music is about. And then you go to a laboratory workshop…So, we're going to work with companion animal cadavers. I'm going to demo first, intravenous injections, intracardiac, intrarenal, intrahepatic, because it's very important…we have to have Plan A, B, and C always at the ready so that if something goes a little bit funky and awry, we can pivot and adjust to keep things smooth for the pet and for the client.

Then after that demo time and practicing, we also get to work with memorialization products. We're going to make paw prints. We're going to look at ink prints. We're going to look at how to collect a sample of fur, just right for what the client will then have as a keepsake forever. And we're going to talk about how to swaddle and wrap bodies so that we do so very respectively.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 4:57

I absolutely love this.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 5:32

Yeah, the laboratory is extremely special. That's why we just love the fact that Fetch has made it open for everyone, there's not an additional cost for it, which is very unique among conferences…And if you haven't gotten this from me already, we have fun. It doesn't have to feel [like] dark and difficult conversation. It's always layered with respect.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 6:08

I like that you said to have a plan A, B, C, and D. I can't begin to tell you, especially when I do house calls. That's probably my biggest fear is to make sure that I have everything, the techniques in my head of how I can go down, because you just don't know.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 6:31

That’s what keeps us sustainable in our work…By giving those technique options and training this way, we can be what we call ‘Masters of Zen,’ super relaxed during euthanasia, and achieve this idea of ‘You Harmony.’ We came up with that concept a couple of years ago to say, can we look at euthanasia as some of the most beautiful moments in our day, help us to relax, help us to reconnect with the human-animal bond, and see the beauty of veterinary medicine and being able to relieve suffering.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 7:15

Do you think where we are now with veterinary medicine [compared to] where we were, say 10 years ago, and how it has progressed, do you see it progressing for the better with what we're doing with CAETA?

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 7:28

Absolutely. So that's why CAETA was created, because I had many veterinarians reaching out to me, even 10 years ago…saying: How are you doing what you're doing? And how are you able to help 50 families a week and grow your number of doctors? What is this magic recipe?

I started to write books, research, and speak, and bring forth all of these protocols and the standard operating procedures and things that we know are making a big difference. So fortunately, with groups like CAETA and some others…out there, they're speaking to these modern best practices. It's [a] night and day [difference] Adam…hopefully in about 10 years, we will have home euthanasia as an option all over the country too and we're getting better with that.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 8:31

[Euthanasia is] the single most impressionable memory that ever exists upon the lifecycle of owning a pet. I've been out in the field for 20 years, and I still take your courses and learn because that is the most important component to me for the human-animal bond for when they cross over in a respectful way.

Kathleen Cooney, DVM, CHPV, CCF 13:17

Thanks, Adam. Thanks for bringing CAETA into the Fetch family. We couldn't be happier.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA 13:21

Our pleasure. We're so happy that we have this partnership and looking forward to future events in this year. Stay safe and we'll see you at Charlotte.