• Join Ellie Mardell VetMB, MA, CertSAM, DSAM(Feline), MRCVS, Feline Internal Medicine Specialist for three 2-hour online sessions
• Comprehensive notes to download
• Self-assessment quizzes to ‘release’ your 8 hours CPD certification (don’t worry, you can take them more than once if you don’t quite hit the mark first time)
• A whole year’s access to recorded sessions for reviewing key points
• Superb value for money – learn without travelling
• This mini-series provides practical approaches to common problems encountered in day-to-day feline practice, highlighting new developments in both diagnostics and treatment.

Programme

Old or Ill? Improving quality of life in geriatric cats

Elderly cats are likely to have been long-standing, much loved family members and our veterinary role is to support owners in optimising quality as well as length of life. For this we must find ways to facilitate understanding of how cats manifest signs of chronic or insidious disease processes. We will review the role of preventive medicine clinics for geriatric cats, discussing a range of diseases including the chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism and diabetes mellitus, as well as the spectrum of presentation of conditions that may be under-recognised such as hypertension, cognitive dysfunction syndrome and osteoarthritis.

What we’ll discuss:

• A variety of medical conditions that may occur in elderly cats
• Preventative medicine clinics for geriatric pets
• How to best tailor investigations to an unwell individual
• A considered approach to vaccination in older patients

Improving the odds: Management of co-morbid conditions in elderly cats

Through the use of case examples, we will evaluate how various geriatric diseases and their treatments may interact in a single patient, and how we can safely step outside of our comfort zone in selecting therapeutic options to effectively manage co-morbid conditions while preserving both quality and length of life. Featured cases will introduce patients with any combination of hyperthyroidism, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and osteoarthritis.

Topics covered include:

• How to best tailor treatment to the individual
• The ways in which disease conditions influence each other
• When to consider drug interactions and contra-indications
• How to alter doses of medication to allow for hepatic or renal dysfunction

Fading away: The enigma of weight loss in geriatric cats

In this final session we turn our focus to what can be a frustrating presentation in feline medicine; the patient with weight loss. We will take a step-wise approach to investigations, firstly, aiming to achieve a diagnosis in the less straight forward presentations of hyperthyroidism and chronic kidney disease, and then moving onto a wide variety of other causes including, pancreatic and intestinal disease, and neoplastic conditions. Supportive care of the anorexic patient will be discussed.

We will cover:

• A logical diagnostic approach to the feline patient presenting with weight loss
• Top tips for diagnosing the geriatric diseases in their early stages or when signs are subtle or atypical
• Diagnostic tips for subtle or frustrating presentations such as occult neoplasia, diffuse intestinal disease, central disease
• When and how to consider nutritional support in an inappetent patient

The price includes all 3 sessions, notes and quiz – 8 hours of CPD

*No traffic jams, accommodation hassles, pet or childcare, rota clashes, locum fees ……….. just great CPD and a valuable ongoing resource.