FASAVA Congress 2017

Emergency patients vary from completely stable (like a dog with a torn dew claw) to the almost dead (eg a dog with severe septic peritonitis). They may have conditions that are easy to diagnose like most cases of pyometra in an old, female, intact bitch with a purulent vaginal discharge. Or be very challenging, like a Cushingoid, diabetic with pancreatitis that presents for collapse. Because it is so challenging, it is vital to have a standardised approach so that you can rapidly determine the urgency of the problems. The approach needs to be automatic so that you instantly click into emergency assessment mode. Being able to rapidly determine how seriously affected an animal is goes a long way to countering the understandable stress that most of us feel when dealing with emergencies. And this lecture will show you how!