WRVMA Webinar: Big Problems in Small Mammals and Birds - Working Up Common ER Complaints in Exotic Pets
Zoom Webinar: Your link to join will come direct from Zoom. Please verify that you receive the email shortly after you register. It will be sent again one day and one hour before the webinar.
Event Details
Presented by: Laurie Hess DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian Practice); Chaya Storch DVM, ABVP Resident (Exotic Companion Mammal); Gabriela Zoenshine DVM, MPH, ABVP Resident (Avian Practice)
This presentation will cover commonly seen emergencies in small mammals and birds. For small mammals, this lecture will review urogenital bleeding and head tilt/vestibular deficits in guinea pigs, rabbits, rats. While discussing urogenital bleeding, we will expand upon how to distinguish between urinary vs reproductive causes of bleeding and that pathophysiology of reproductive disease in female exotic companion mammals. We will then move on to discuss common differentials for vestibular disease in small mammals, including otitis media/interna, Encephalitizooan cuniculi infection, and pituitary gland tumors.
Avian patients frequently present on an emergency basis in respiratory distress. Their presentation may be truly primary respiratory disease or may be a pathology that is only secondarily affecting the airways. In this lecture, we will review a respiratory-focused examination and triage of avian patients, the most common differential diagnoses for primary respiratory disease (both upper and lower), and common diagnostic options available for respiratory disease. In conclusion, we will demonstrate air sac cannulation used to relieve upper respiratory distress.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the major causes of hematuria in rabbits and rodents.
- Become aware of the relative prevalence and presenting signs of reproductive pathology in various small mammal species.
- Learn about common diseases in exotic companion mammals that can manifest with vestibular signs.
- Understand how to appropriately perform a diagnostic workup and design a reasonable treatment plan for an exotic companion mammal with vestibular disease.
- Learn the unique basic avian respiratory anatomy.
- Acquire an understanding of avian respiratory physiology.
- Review common respiratory diseases in birds and their treatment.
- Exemplify air sac cannulation.
For More Information:
Laurie Hess, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian Practice)
After graduating from Yale University, Dr. Hess earned her veterinary degree at Tufts and completed a one-year internship and a two-year residency in avian/exotic pet medicine at the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City. After co-heading the Avian & Exotic Pet Service at the AMC for a decade, she opened the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics in Westchester County, NY, to provide specialized care to exotic pets, including birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, and other species. She is currently the medical director the Veterinary Center where she mentors residents training to specialize in bird, mammal, and reptile care. She is one of approximately 100 board-certified avian specialists worldwide and is also the Editor-in-Chief of the well-known Merck Veterinary Manual. Dr. Hess is the author of Unlikely Companions: The Adventures of an Exotic Animal Doctor – a memoir about life as an exotic animal veterinarian. She is an active member of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, the Association of Reptile & Amphibian Veterinarians, and the Association of Zoo Animal Veterinarians. She is also a frequent contributor to websites, radio broadcasts, and TV shows about exotic pets, as well as a lecturer on exotic pet care internationally.
Chaya Storch, DVM, ABVP Resident (Exotic Companion Mammal)
Dr. Chaya Storch is a 2021 graduate of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. She has completed two specialty internships in avian and exotic pet medicine, spending one year each at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston, Texas and another at the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine in Bothell, Washington. She is currently working in an ABVP residency program at the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics to become specialized in exotic companion mammal practice. Dr. Storch is passionate about increasing accessibility for quality care in exotic pets through owner education, as well as creating resources for veterinarians who are starting to incorporate exotic patients into their practices. She is an active member of the Association for Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) and serves on their education committee to create client education handouts. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and various arts and crafts.
Dr. Gabriela Zonenshine, DVM, MPH, ABVP Resident (Avian Practice)
Dr. Gabriela Zonenshine (“Sunshine”) graduated from Cornell University with a dual degree in Biology and Animal Science. She then achieved her DVM degree from Cornell University. She completed a rotating small animal internship at Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital in Akron, Ohio, and then received her Masters of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Minnesota. She then completed two small animal surgical internships - one in minimally invasive surgery and advanced orthopedics, and another in interventional radiology research. Dr. Zonenshine completed a OneHealth wildlife internship at the Wildlife Conservation Society and served as a veterinarian for the Turtleback Zoo in West Orange, NJ. She is the founder of her own nonprofit for endangered animals, The Gabby Wild Foundation, and has traveled the globe to protect an array of exotic species, from Jane Goodall’s chimpanzees in Uganda to elephants in Indonesia. Certified in veterinary acupuncture by the Chi Institute, Dr. Zonenshine balances her Western medicine practices with Traditional Chinese Medicine in an effort to blend both methodologies. As the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics’ current ABVP resident in avian practice, she plans to continue investigative studies in the field of avian medicine after her residency. When not at work, Dr. Zoneshine cares for her three human children and two furry babies (a horse named Bu and a chihuahua named Pixie Dust).