Passion, purpose, and parasitology will kick off Fetch Kansas City

The 2025 Fetch dvm360 conference series is heading back to Kansas City, Missouri, August 22 to 24, 2025. The agenda includes up to 160 hours of continuing education (CE) and allows each attendee to earn up to 17 total credits.

This Fetch Kansas City conference will start the first 2 days with inspiring keynote talks. Speakers leading these presentations will be Ken Yagi, MS, RVT, VTS (ECC) (SAIM), the chief veterinary nursing officer for Veterinary Emergency Group and program director for the RECOVER Initiative; and Michael W. Dryden, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVM, a university distinguished professor (emeritus) at Kansas State University.

Kenichiro Yagi, MS, RVT, VTS (ECC) (SAIM)

The first keynote will be presented by Yagi on Friday, August 22, at 9 AM. His keynote lecture, “From Passion to Purpose: Discovering What Truly Drives Me,” will focus on finding what makes you happy and turning it into a meaningful career or other purpose. Yagi plans to share his own career story, which includes defining moments and crossroads.

Yagi will also present several CE sessions in the afternoon and evening following his keynote address. These sessions will address nutritional intervention for managing canine parvovirus, emergency blood transfusions from dogs to cats, and common questions in veterinary resuscitation.

Michael W. Dryden, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVM

The conference’s second keynote will be presented by Dryden on Saturday, August 23, at 9 AM. His keynote session is “Heartworm Preventive Resistance: Where Do We Go From Here?” It will provide insights about the understanding of heartworm preventive resistance as well as new programs aimed at limiting the severity and spread of resistance.

Dryden’s day will continue with a pair of afternoon CE lectures focusing on other topics in parasitology. These sessions will address advancements in diagnostics for canine and feline intestinal parasites and how changes in tick range and density are contributing to the spread of tick-transmitted disease.