Infectious diseases are common differentials for many of our clinical cases. While most are caused by obligate infectious agents, some can be caused by opportunistic infections. Different infectious agents means that different diagnostic tests may be appropriate to diagnose them (e.g. not all infectious agents are easily cultured); stage of infection, burden of infection and host factors may also influence choice of tests. More than one test my be required to confirm infection, and screening tests may require confirmatory tests or auxiliary tests to confirm infection. This creates a myriad of choices of tests that may be challenging to navigate, and to interpret when conflicting results are obtained from different diagnostic tests for the same patient. Optimal diagnostic outcome also depends on the quality of the submitted sample. In this overview webinar we will briefly discuss different laboratory tests available for diagnosis of infectious disease, general interpretation guidelines and sample requirements. This webinar is provided by BSAVA Education Partner IDEXX. A collection of IDEXX ‘topic of the month’ webinars is available here.

Pre-anesthetic testing is performed to assess the baseline systemic health of animals prior to sedation or anesthesia associated with a procedure. It is intended to screen for dysfunction and disease and determine that anesthesia is safe or if abnormalities help determine the significance and/or need for further investigation. Kidney are one of the major organ systems screened by pre-anesthetic testing. Over the past 5 years advances in biomarkers, specifically SDMA, has led to additional flagging on preanesthetic profiles. This brief talk will directly address choosing populations for preanesthetic screening, and how to address specific scenarios where SDMA is increased. There are several straightforward paths for action with mild increases in SDMA (15-19 μg/dL) and moderate and severe increases (>20 μg/dL). In pairing with clinical context, patient need, and client personality there are simple steps that can give the surgeon a clear medical direction for most patients’ anesthesia. This webinar is provided by BSAVA Education Partner IDEXX. A collection of IDEXX ‘topic of the month’ webinars is available here.

Disease free intervals (DFI) of 252 days are achieved with CHOP protocols and of 147 days with short COP type. Median survival times (MST) in DLBCL are independent of the induction protocol as long as rescue therapy including doxorubicin is used at relapse. Peripheral T-cell LSAs and lymphoblastic T-cell LSAs are often doxorubicin resistant; with alkylating agent-based protocols like MOPP, LOPP o VELCAP-TSC remission times (175-200 days) are longer than with CHOP. Indolent T-zone LSAs have a favourable prognosis with TSM ranging from 21.2 to 33.5 months without therapy or with chlorambucil and prednisolone.

In this webinar, Brigitte Wilkens takes us through the case of Alima a female, five-year-old, Rhodesian Ridgeback suffering from polyuria/polydipsia (PUPD). Over the course of this lecture, Dr Wilkens touches on how to confirm PUPD using a urine specific gravity test, the pathophysiology of PUPD, the role of ADH, performing a modified water deprivation test and potential courses of treatment. This case-based webinar is provided by BSAVA Education Partner IDEXX. A collection of IDEXX ‘topic of the month’ webinars is available here.

Urolithiasis is an all too common concern in companion animal practice, with identification of urolith type proving key to management recommendations that reduce recurrence in dogs and cats. IDEXX Internal Medicine Consultant, Michelle Evason, says that patients with urolithiasis frequently present with signs of lower urinary tract inflammation (e.g. haematuria, dysuria), due to urolith mucosal irritation and often concurrent infection, with the most common urolith types being struvite and calcium oxalate. Initiation of timely therapy plans based on diagnostics, urolith analysis, culture and susceptibility, and the latest research, aids immediate management and targets ongoing prevention. IDEXX offers cutting edge urolithiasis analysis, with expanded services in 2022 to include urolith culture and susceptibility testing. This case-based webinar is provided by BSAVA Education Partner IDEXX. A collection of IDEXX ‘topic of the month’ webinars is available here.

IDEXX Internal Medicine Consulting team has seen an increased call volume relating to cats in the UK with pancytopenia; this surge is currently being investigated by specialist vets at the Royal Veterinary College in London. IDEXX Internal Medicine Consultant Dr Yvonne McGrotty states “Affected cats may present with signs of inappetence, lethargy, pallor, pyrexia and spontaneous mucosal bleeding. The mortality rate associated with this condition is high and an effective treatment is currently unknown. Clinicopathological findings usually include severe leucopenia, thrombocytopenia and anaemia.” The cause of this spike in cases has not been fully elucidated to date, but a potential link to mycotoxins (naturally occurring toxins produced by some types of fungi) in certain foodstuffs is being investigated further, along with other possible toxins. Pancytopenia cases have so far been linked to a single food manufacturer and three brands of food have been recalled as a result. Full details of the recall are available on the Food Standards Agency website, however the FSA have recently stated that they have been unable to establish a causative link between the recalled foods and the pancytopenia outbreak. Sick cats, or cats that are known to have eaten any of the recalled foods, can be screened by performing a complete blood count, including film examination. Vets who believe that they have identified a potential case are being urged to complete a survey on the RVC website to help vets there to identify common factors, which might ultimately assist them in determining the underlying cause. BSAVA Education Partner IDEXX has provided this webinar by Yvonne McGrotty to explain more about anaemia in cats. A collection of IDEXX ‘topic of the month’ webinars is available here.

Cathy Woodlands discusses infection control measures including, cleaning, disinfection, hand hygiene the use of PPE and infection control in the environment. This one-hour webinar was first broadcast as part of BSAVA’s [email protected] series. [email protected] broadcasts are available to BSAVA members only and are free to attend - visit the education page of the BSAVA website for details of future [email protected] webinars. Recordings will be available for 3 years via the BSAVA Webinar Library.

In this webinar designed to help veterinary students with their preclinical EMS, Linda Ryan discusses animal behaviour and the reasons behind it, together with how dogs and cats communicate and how veterinarians can respond to this.

Hayley Walters explains how patient welfare is compromised in the practice and the practical steps that the veterinary nurse can improve patient welfare with very little additional effort. This one-hour webinar was first broadcast as part of BSAVA’s [email protected] series. [email protected] broadcasts are available to BSAVA members only and are free to attend - visit the education page of the BSAVA website for details of future [email protected] webinars. Recordings will be available for 3 years via the BSAVA Webinar Library.

Ann Stanford explains the importance of monitoring patients during anaesthesia and how to use multi-parameter monitors in practice. This one-hour webinar was first broadcast as part of BSAVA’s [email protected] series. [email protected] broadcasts are available to BSAVA members only and are free to attend - visit the education page of the BSAVA website for details of future [email protected] webinars. Recordings will be available for 3 years via the BSAVA Webinar Library.