Congress 2025 - Friday

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• Participants will have a better understanding of the considerations for a range of diagnostic imaging modalities, to include radiographs, MRI, CT and ultrasound.
• To have a better understanding of how contrast media is used within imaging studies, and the considerations for their use.

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This session on autoimmune disease will provide an overview of canine and feline autoimmune disease. The focus of discussion will be on pemphigus foliaceus (in both cats and dogs) and will guide through clinical presentation, differential diagnoses, diagnostic work-up and therapy. Tips will be provided to help guide with obtaining a diagnosis to start therapy. Different therapeutic options will also be discussed. Canine lupus, in particular the facial form, will also be presented and discussed.

Unlock the tools and confidence to tackle challenging conversations with clarity, empathy, and professionalism. This interactive 90-minute session uses real-world examples, group collaboration, and expert insights to help you refine your approach to delivering bad news, addressing team conflicts, and navigating tough discussions about money or mistakes. With practical skills and a proven framework, you’ll leave empowered to handle even the most uncomfortable conversations effectively.

The key to getting a good outcome for cancer patients is to detect cancer at an early stage, but owing to the stoic nature of our canine and feline friends, disease has historically been picked up when quite advanced. Generations of vets have strived to manage owner’s expectations through phrases for example “there’s no blood test to tell you if your dog has a tumour.” Now paradigms are shifting, and that statement is simply untrue! A number of minimally invasive techniques to diagnose cancer at an early stage have made their way into the veterinary world. With an earlier diagnosis of cancer there will inevitably be more hope for a better long-term outcome, but that’s not all; new treatments are also becoming available. With the increasing availability of genomic profiling, targeted medical therapies, rather than chemotherapy, are becoming available, and more immunotherapies are being used, for example immune checkpoint inhibition. New techniques for example interventional therapies and advances in radiation therapy have also made many “untreatable” diseases highly treatable.

This session will highlight the best of old and new, placing emphasis on what can practically be achieved for the average case seen in practice. In session one we will review the tried and tested tools to diagnose cancer followed by reviewing the exciting new developments in the way of liquid biopsies and genomic profiling.

Wondering what Human Factors are and how we apply them to improve patient safety in practice?

In this interactive, workshop we will demystify the discipline of Human Factors. Examining several patient safety scenarios through a Human Factors lens and considering how we can make those scenarios safer for both the patient and the team. Participants will be encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas, leaving with a practical toolbox which will they can take back to practice.

This session is vital for anyone involved in small animal clinical practice. Canine atopic dermatitis is a common skin condition that requires life-long therapy. Following a diagnosis of atopic dermatitis, dogs require careful and regular monitoring. We will discuss how to identify and manage flare factors, what therapy can be used to help prevent flares in a proactive manner. The proactive approach to canine atopic dermatitis will be discussed to include therapy (systemic and topical), owner education and how the RVN can also play a vital role in these cases.

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• Insights into the work of Government including - animal & public health and, government guidance.
• Insights from the author of the BSAVA Scientific Information Document (SID).
• How Government & BSAVA collaborate to address concerns of practice staff and pet owners.

All material produced by civil servants, ministers, and government departments and agencies belong to the Crown and is Crown copyright.

How to be Salmonella Savvy

• The occurrence of salmonella and its relevance to small animal vets in practice, pet owners and pets.
• The legislation relating to salmonella and companion animals and, the obligations of vets in practice.
• The zoonotic potential of salmonella for vets and owners.

Parasiticides & the Environment

We all have cases of otitis externa every day in the clinic that can quickly establish as a chronic and frustrating problem for the patient, owner and vet. By using the PSPP system to help us understand the driving forces behind the OE, we can help prevent the establishment of chronic OE. There are many treatment options for OE which can be oberwhealming, but through providing you with the fundamental basis for selecting a product, this selection process can be made easier. We will discuss what topical products to use and how to select the optimal treatment plan. For cases of Pseudomonas, some additional investigation and potentially therapy needs to be considered, this will be highlighted to help you select the best plan or your next Pseudomonas case.

This session discusses the following:

• Do pain scores work (in all species) - Pain scores are increasingly popular and being used for more and more species, but how should be use the opinion they give us to drive optimal clinical standards and welfare.
• Do we give too many opioids - Opioids are the most potent analgesic drugs we have available to us, but do we overuse them, and do we always factor in the side effects these drugs come with and how they alter the presentation of patient, painful or dysphoric?
• Why are we not as good at chronic pain as we are at acute pain - We normalise chronic pain, its often accepted as being a normal part of aging, and therefore less important to manage then acute pain, how do we improve this issue and therefore animal welfare.

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Veterinary nursing requires more than simply checking off boxes on treatment sheets, it involves thinking through the reasons for and the expectations from each treatment performed. This expectation plus the need to think on your feet in an emergency situation gives veterinary nurses a great opportunity for utilization in the emergency room. Using real cases from the emergency floor, this lecture will cover the importance of learning to think critically with every patient interaction. We’ll talk through patient triage both in the lobby and throughout stabilization, disease processes including shock physiology and recognition, treatment strategies utilizing fluid therapy and pain management, continued patient monitoring, and the importance of team communication. The audience is encouraged to participate in the many “what would you do” scenarios throughout the lecture.

In this session we will consider the following:

• Introduce the concept of human factors
• Understand how to apply this to patient safety scenarios
• Consider ways to support patients and teams through application of human factors principles

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