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The 2024 Southwest Veterinary Symposium (SWVS) kicked off on Thursday, September 26, in Fort Worth, Texas. With sessions running through the weekend, here are 6 more presentations that attendees won't want to miss.

Saturday, September 28

A New Look at Old Labs: Understanding Familiar Lab Values in a New Way as Indicators of Unhealthy Aging

8:00–8:50AM CST – Exhibit Hall E

Sponsored by loyal

Speaker: Brennan McKenzie, MA, MSc, VMD

During this session, McKenzie examines evidence that shows not all changes in clinical lab values can be dismissed as “normal aging,” including blood lipids, insulin, and ALP and ALT, among others.

Feline Pain is Purr-tinent, Too: Intervention For Feline Pain

9:00­–9:50AM CST – Room 202 AB

Speaker: Kelly Foltz, CVT, LVT, RVT, VTS (ECC)

This session serves as a companion to Foltz’s lecture Me-OUCH!: Feline Pain Assessment, and reviews the physiology of pain and ethology of feline pain behavior. Foltz explains current intervention strategies, including pharma and non-phrama alternatives.

Gastrointestinal Roulette: AHDS, GDV, GIFB, Parvo, or a Wild Card?

3:00–3:50PM CST – Room 202 AB

Speaker: Lucy Sumners, RVT, VTS (ECC)

Sumners discusses triaging a range of GI disturbances and emergencies, in addition to core questions to ask the pet owners, initial interventions, therapies, and monitoring.

Sunday, September 29

An Integrative Approach to Allergic Dermatitis: Curing the Seven Year Itch

8:00–8:50AM CST – Room 108

Speakers: Steve Marsden, DVM, ND, MSOM, and Kären Marsden, BA, DVM

Steve and Kären Marsden will cover 3 Chinese medical diagnoses, and their associated treatments, aiming to resolve allergic dermatitis with traditional holistic medicine, providing past case examples.

Help! I Have Fallen and I Can’t Get Up: Recumbent Patient Care

9:00–9:50AM CST – Room 202 AB

Speaker: Amber R. Hart, RVT, VTS (ECC)

In this session, Hart will discuss the effects that recumbency can have on various systems within a patient’s body, including urination and defecation, respiration, nutrition, body temperature, pain responses, and mobility, and explains methods of providing quality nursing care.

The Great Pretender— Addison’s Disease

10:00–10:50AM CST – Room 203 C

Speaker: Angela Rathmann, CVT, VTS (ECC), (SAIM)

Rathmann will walk session attendees through the process of recognizing red-flags of a potential Addisonian patient as soon as they enter the hospital, in addition to discussing various pathophysiologies, presentations, stabilization, and treatment methods.