LECTURE

Many people think that the cats are asocial and that they do not have friends. However, as cat lovers and vet nurses, we all know this simply is not true! Contrary to popular belief, cats are very social animals and, using body language and other tools, have their own way of communicating with other animals and humans as well. During this lecture, we will learn about the feline language and their social behaviours.

LECTURE

Picture this: your Veterinarian’s first consult of the day is a 16-year-old Maltese dog called Fluffy whose owners are complaining he is constantly walking aimlessly and howling for long periods of time in the early hours of the morning. The vet conducts a physical examination and this, along with history, don’t show any obvious signs of physical illness. The vet is thinking that Fluffy may have cognitive dysfunction – but what can we do to help? In this talk, we will discuss the pathophysiology of cognitive dysfunction and techniques we can apply to help to manage the condition.

LECTURE

Chronic diarrhoea and constipation are frustrating to pet parents and it severely impacts the pets' quality of life. This session will focus on common large bowel chronic enteropathy, understand the role and importance of gut microbiome where cannot not be overlook in managing large bowel chronic enteropathy, and how to activate the gut microbiome to improve stool quality and digestive health.

LECTURE

Being presented with an exotic companion animal emergency can be terrifying because they seem so different, but the same basic principles for cat and dog patients are also true for these species. Some modifications need to be made to account for their unique anatomical and physiological differences. Many of these pets are prey species and thus subject to higher levels of stress. Therefore, minimizing their handling and being able to triage the patient with a visual assessment is paramount.

Just like in dogs and cats, obtaining airway and vascular access is going to be important to resuscitate and/or stabilize the patient. Learning how to properly restrain an exotic patient and to be familiar with basic techniques such as intubation, intravenous/intraosseous catheter placement, intramuscular and subcutaneous injections is necessary to provide in hospital care or transfer to a specialist.

LECTURE

Dental disease affects 80% of pets over three years of age yet we don’t treat 80% of our patients for it. It is a hidden disease that causes our patients to suffer in silence in chronic pain and chronic infection. As veterinary nurses and veterinary assistants, we can play a pivotal role in the care of our dental patients from performing an oral assessment and dental prophylaxis, to educating our pet owners on maintaining their pet’s oral health. This lecture will help you to understand the Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment (COHAT) covering all the steps from admit to discharge, and beyond.

LECTURE

In this short presentation, learn some easy and surprising ideas for gentler dog handling.

WORKSHOP

In this workshop you will get ‘hands-on’ with the Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment (COHAT) – from completing dental charts, identifying oral anatomy, learning to use various dental instruments, caring for and maintaining dental equipment and more!

WORKSHOP

In this workshop you will learn valuable techniques on how vet nurses and assistants can apply physical therapy techniques. Learn what physical therapy is all about and practice some useful massage techniques.

Dr Mami is a veterinarian who has worked in Tokyo and USA. She received her PhD at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine where her research was about Canine Compulsive Disorder. She has taught behaviour medicine at Kitasato University and Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University as an assistant professor for 9 years. Currently, she is working at Hills Pet Nutrition Japan while speaking worldwide about behaviour medicine to veterinarians and veterinary students. She is also seeing behaviour cases at Synergy Animal General Hospital receiving referral cases. She loves to talk and share about animal behaviour to veterinarians, vet students and pet owners the importance of human animal bond and animal welfare.

Dr. Nicole graduated from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in the United States in 2003. In 2007 she became an avian specialist through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners and spent three years as a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine and later worked at Tai Wai Small Animal and Exotic Hospital. In 2015, she received her certification as an Exotic Companion Mammal specialist though the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners before coming back to Hong Kong to work at Zodiac Pet and Exotic Hospital. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on avian and exotic companion mammals. She is currently an associate editor for both the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery and the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine.

An experienced and highly skilled Registered Veterinary Nurse in the veterinary dentistry field. She holds a Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Dentistry) with 12 years’ experience in small animal general practice and became the first Veterinary Technician Specialist in Dentistry in Australia, through NAVTA's Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians. Maggie is passionate about increasing standards of care of our dentistry patients through education of the entire veterinary team.

Julie graduated at National Taiwan University in 2002 where she also completed her master degree of veterinary medicine. Her professional interests include small animal clinical nutrition, small animal dermatology and communication. She has lectured in different countries in the Asian region. Her goals are to spread knowledge, in easy language, to help more pets receive better care. Julie currently is Professional Veterinary Affairs Manager of Hill’s Pet Nutrition Asia. In this role, she is able to contribute the most in veterinary education and professional service which she always passionate about.

Shirley studied veterinary nursing at AIRC (Australia) and had training in Diploma of Animal Physiotherapy at TCAP (UK). Shirley has worked as a veterinary nurse since 2001 in both Australia and Hong Kong. She is also one of the co-founders at AWARE Foundation; a registered charitable organization which brings educational experience to veterinary nurses and provide support to local veterinary teams to help stray animals in rural Asia.

Nobu studied veterinary nursing in Japan then worked in Australia and Japan. He is currently senior lecturer in veterinary nursing at Kurashiki University Science and the Arts in Japan. He has lectured at conferences in Japan and recently completed his PhD on the topic of animal handling. He wrote and translated book chapter in a number of Japanese publications.