Vet Times The website for the veterinary profession https://www.vettimes.co.uk BOVINE, FELINE, ALPINE AND GLÜHWEIN Author : LORNA JORDAN-OWERS Categories : Vets Date : September 22, 2008 LORNA JORDAN-OWERS reports on SPVS' annual pilgrimage to the snow, where high-quality CPD blended with fun on the slopes, and in the bars, in the Austrian Alps FOR someone who hates being cold, I spend a large amount of time each year thinking about where I can head to next for some good snow. As the rain hammered down again during this great British summer, my thoughts drifted back to the bright sunshine in which I basked, hot chocolate in hand (mit rhum, of course), on a snowy mountain in Austria. Despite the low temperatures, I felt a warm glow inside, partly due to the rum, but also due to the fact I'd completed more than 15 hours of goodquality CPD while enjoying a fun-packed week exploring the pistes on my snowboard. Since my first skiing trip to St Anton in 2006 (organised by SPVS, offering CPD aimed specifically at recent graduates), I've switched to the dark side by swapping my skis for a snowboard. With a few more years under my belt as a veterinary surgeon, this year I attended Congress in the Snow (CITS) 2008. For those of you not familiar with the event, CITS is organised by Michael Clark, of the Minster Veterinary Practice, and takes place each January. The general format is that two specialist lecturers provide 15-anda- half hours of CPD during the week, and delegates spend the remaining time indulging in their favourite Alpine pastimes. This year, 56 vets headed to Zauchensee, in Austria's Salzburg province, for CITS 2008. Delegates flew into Salzburg from either Gatwick or Doncaster, and after a short transfer we 1/6
soon arrived at the Hotel Zauchenseehof, our base for the week. It was great to catch up with old friends, some of whom I hadn't seen since the previous year, and to meet people on the trip for the first time. The event's Saturday evening and Sunday morning were kept free of lectures to accommodate the fairly late and staggered arrival, giving delegates a chance to settle in. Black and white Aptly named Cats and cows: it's not all black and white, this year's CITS had a slightly unusual formula. Having covered predominantly small animal topics during the past few years, organisers felt it was time to acknowledge the existence of mixed vets and farm animal practitioners, resulting in a fairly eclectic combination. Having ditched my large animal notes a long time previously deciding that small animal work was the way forward for me it was, with some trepidation, that I signed up. However, any thoughts that six or seven hours might be of little interest to me and irrelevant to my career were soon dispelled following our first bovine lecture. But more of that later. Our lecturers for the week were Jon Huxley (associate professor of farm animal medicine at the University of Nottingham, an RCVS specialist in cattle health and production, and a BCVA council member) and Rachel Dean, who is currently completing a PhD on the epidemiology of feline injection site sarcomas in the UK at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket. She holds the RCVS diploma in feline medicine and is a recognised RCVS specialist in feline medicine. Kicking off the week, we started with a presentation by Jon on the new veterinary school at Nottingham. A whistle-stop tour through the facilities, curriculum and rudiments of student selection left the majority of the audience impressed and inspired with the forward thinking of Gary England, who leads the team at Nottingham. I think the general feeling was that Nottingham would churn out some excellent graduates in 2011, who would have been well selected and very well equipped with day one in practice knowledge and skills. Feeling ready to learn, we then commenced with some bovine material, again courtesy of Jon. I'm a great believer that as vets we should remain open minded and try to maintain an interest outside the sphere of veterinary medicine we work in. Lessons can always be learned and data extrapolated, but even I was dubious as to how much interest I could summon and had a sneaking suspicion that 100 per cent of the small animal delegates would slope off (no pun intended) for a sleep. How wrong I was. Jon was the most interesting, inspiring and engaging speaker I have heard for a long time. His enthusiasm and obvious passion for bovine health and welfare were contagious; we all listened intently as he highlighted the major problems threatening cattle welfare, such as inadequate housing, lameness and poor nutrition. These were problems I knew existed and found quite depressing, but had managed to push to the back of my mind when I dealt only with small animals. However, as a veterinary surgeon and meat eater, it made me realise that although I didn't come into contact with these animals in my day-to-day work, I had a moral responsibility to be aware of 2/6
the current welfare issues surrounding them if we were to educate people and try to encourage greater welfare standards. I can only assume that the rest of the delegates were as stirred as I was attendance remained 100 per cent and the lecture contents resulted in many topical discussions and debate later over dinner. Rachel covered a range of topics in feline medicine, including diagnosis of hyperthyroidism (as we all know, sometimes not quite as simple as a high T4) and management of the condition with concurrent chronic renal failure (something I could never quite get my head around before). We had a useful discussion session on vaccinations. I found it interesting to see within the group who was doing what there was some variation in what was considered a core vaccination strategy and in injection sites and techniques. Rachel summarised the current findings on feline vaccinations and possible side effects, obviously covering vaccination site-associated sarcoma. It appears the jury is still largely out on best practice for this one. The investigation continues. One thing I found particularly useful was the session on inflammatory bowel disease in cats. Chronic diarrhoea can be an extremely frustrating (and expensive) condition to fully investigate and effectively treat, and Rachel ended this session with an excellent protocol to follow, particularly in those cases where limited funds present a diagnostic challenge. Following Rachel's advice, I have started to do fresh wet faecal smears from affected cats. Tritrichomonas foetus (a pathogen usually found in the nether regions of bulls how it got into cats' bottoms we can only speculate) is an organism that can cause chronic diarrhoea in cats and can easily be identified as it swims around under the microscope on a fresh smear. These microorganisms would be dead and long gone by the time the faecal sample reached the lab, and so fresh smears are well worth taking a few extra minutes to do. Rachel was great fun and imparted a wealth of knowledge applicable to the general practitioner on the front line. She was more than happy to discuss any difficult feline cases we'd encountered, and to discuss chronic gingivitis/stomatitis treatment in cats with me as we rode on the Zauchenseebahn ski lift. Winter sports Which brings us to perhaps the most important factor the skiing. As the resort is home to former downhill World Champion and World Cup winner Michael Walchhofer, we had plenty to aspire to. I can safely say that we packed as much in as possible; the conditions were fantastic, dispelling the myth that there would be very little snow in the ski resorts this year. With groups of all ages and abilities, days could be spent cruising the blue runs with the B team or hooking up with some of the more experienced delegates for some off-piste, black runs or to hire a guide. Of course, there was always ski school for the complete beginners or for those who were a bit rusty or wanted to improve. That's the great thing about CITS all ages and abilities are welcome. 3/6
At the end of the final day, traditionally all delegates meet up for a last Glühwein together and the final run down. Our venue on this trip was at Rauchkopf, 1,890m up the mountain. The bar owner seemed thrilled that 56 vets had come to visit and sent his young son in with an accordion to provide entertainment. Not shy of joining in, and led by Hamish Wilson, we all enjoyed a sing song (with solo performances by Jon Duffy, Steve Gillian and Jon Huxley) before heading back down to the hotel in the valley below. After seven days of learning in the lecture theatre, interspersed with plenty of time on the slopes, it was time for CITS 2008 to come to an end. With fond memories, aching legs and knowing a lot more about cats and cows than we did when we started out, we headed back to Salzburg for the flight home. This was my third snow/cpd trip, and I still consider it a winning combination. What better way to complete a huge chunk of your CPD requirement while enjoying good snow and great company. I'd argue that 15 hours is the minimum you'd learn on one of these trips. Although there's plenty of non-veterinary talk, many of the delegates themselves are skilled practitioners and some are certificate holders. In my experience, they are always happy to impart their advice be it on clinical or pastoral topics. I've made many good friends on the trip and feel I have developed a good support network through it. So now the summer holidays are over, Christmas is around the corner and next year is a stone's throw away. I'm glad I've already reserved my place on CITS 2009. CITS 2009 will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 10 to 17 and is entitled The soft stuff and the hard stuff in medicine and surgery. The guest speakers will be Chris Shales (European specialist in small animal surgery) and Tom Cave (RCVS recognised specialist in small animal internal medicine). Chris is an orthopaedic surgeon and lecturer at the University of Bristol, and will talk predominantly on orthopaedic surgery, although he may cover some soft tissue subjects. Tom is in small animal referral practice and will discuss small animal internal medicine topics. His specialist subjects are dysautonomia and oncology. For more information and an application form, contact Michael Clark (mike@minstervets.co.uk or telephone 07715 044431). Places go quickly, so be prompt to avoid being left behind in British winter drizzle. 4/6
Delegates listen intently during one of the CITS CPD sessions. 5/6
Pictured (from left) are organiser Mike Clark and delegates Andy Bradnock, Richard Hillman and Mark Goodman, holding the author, Lorna Jordan-Owers, complete with snowboard. 6/6 Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)