Charlotte Weir shares the importance of making relief veterinarians part of the clinical team.

Bringing relief veterinarians onto the practice team

Why should relief veterinarians be considered part of a hospital’s team? Charlotte Weir, vice president of hospital success and industry relations at the Roo, a digital platform for relief veterinarians, shared her insights on how including these professionals in a practice’s culture leads to happier staff and more cohesive, stronger teams as well as improved patient care, in a 

 interview. Weir presented this topic and more during a continuing education session at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, that guided veterinary professionals in creating workplace environments that attract top relief talent, reduce burnout, and support long-term hospital success.

The following is a transcript of the video

: Relief vets are so cool, right? They're chameleons. They're like the new kids on the block all the time. So they bring flexibility, they bring a fresh perspective, and of course, they bring support. They step in to help prevent burnout [and] maintain continuity of care. They [help keep the] practice running smoothly. They're not just coverage. They're an incredible asset to your team when they feel welcome and integrated.

It really starts with intentional communication. Share your clinic's workflow, share your culture, share your expectations upfront, early, and clearly, and introduce relief vets to the team and clients. I know at Roo, we really encourage hospitals to provide these details upfront and their shift postings, so relief vets can step in with confidence. And when they feel included in your practice DNA, everyone benefits: clients, staff, and, of course, the patients. And that's paramount, right? No. 1, that's the goal. Can you imagine being the new kid on the block every day? Really hard, right? Here at my practice, we do the Kate [Farms] juices, a muffin, and a flower for our relief veterinarian coming in. And that's our welcome gift. So we just want them to feel at home, welcome, and part of the team coming through the door. It's a super-small gesture to say, hey, we hear you, we see you, we welcome you. You're part of the team. Come on in.

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Fetch Kansas City faculty Charlotte Weir discusses why it's important for hospital and clinic cultures to be inclusive with short-term staff.

Bringing relief veterinarians to the practice team

Happy Monday dvm360 readers! For those who attended Fetch Kansas City, we hope that you all had an amazing time, learned a lot, and made some new connections with fellow veterinary professionals. If you missed out on Fetch Kansas City, or are just eager for more, we are less than a month away from our next and newest Fetch conference, Fetch National Harbor. Learn more and register for the show 

While you check out Fetch National Harbor and the current coverage of Fetch Kansas City, here is what else you can find this week on dvm360.com:

The veterinary team at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine recently shared the story of Calliope, an 11-year-old gypsy-Clydesdale cross, who presented to the team with almost 100 pounds of gravel and sand in her gut.

After finishing up at Fetch Kansas City, the dvm360 team is now currently attending the 2025 KC Animal Health Corridor! Check in throughout the week to see our coverage on its Impact Awards, emerging companies, and more.

On this week’s episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes guest Alexa Romano, DVM, to the show to discuss what inspired her to open her own business, what it was like graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the different hats she wears every day.

Recent research funded by the Swine Health Information Center and lead by Natalia Cernicchiaro, DVM, MS, PhD, at Kansas State University, in collaboration with the USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, found that the Japanese Encephalitis Virus threat remains high with mosquitoes control essentials.

Nationwide Pet Insurance recently announced the winner of its 2025 Hambone Award, which is presented to a pet whose unexpected, unusual, or outrageous event brought the pet into the veterinary clinic to highlight how important pet insurance is for caring for and protecting pets.

Articles

Check out this week’s headlines on dvm360.com.

Sneak peek: dvm360 continues to cover Fetch Kansas City, and other news 

Joya Griffin, DVM, DACVD, shares her tips to help the itchy pet in your clinic

Three tips to help your pet's itchy skin

In recognition of Itchy Pet Awareness, Joya Griffin, DVM, DACVD, provided these 3 tips that pet owners can use for when they have an itchy pet at home. Throughout her tips, Griffin sheds light on the importance of consistent monthly flea control, topical barriers, and more. 

Topical therapy can be helpful in a multitude of way by removing allergens from your pet's skin, reducing bacterial and yeast overgrowth, and soothes the skin. Plus, topical therapy can help restore the barrier function of the skin, making it less inflammatory and more protective. 

Just Bust a Myth!: Canine Food Allergies Demystified

Number 2: Consider giving your flea control monthly, and make sure that you're doing it on time

By being strict with flea control, this can help prevent cases of flea reactivity as well as prevent the risk of scabies, both of these are also causes of canine itchiness. Griffin also explained that these should be ruled out before consulting your pet's veterinarian. 

Number 3: Have a visit with your veterinarian

Your veterinarian is going to help you create the best comprehensive plan for your itching pet, plus rule out things that could be making the itching worse.  There are also diseases that mimic allergic disease so it is important for these to be taken into consideration prior treating allergic disease from allergies or even food hypersensitivity. 

Check out these expert tips pet owners should know to finally help their itchy pet find relief.

There were cheers and tears in celebration of dvm360’s 2025 Veterinary Heroes. Fourteen peer-nominated award winners were recognized with a luncheon ceremony at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Veterinary Heroes program is celebrating its fifth year of recognizing individuals who have excelled in their professional roles and influenced the broader veterinary community. These heroes are recognized for their unwavering commitment and extraordinary efforts within the veterinary profession, setting new standards and inspiring others to continue evolving the practice of veterinary care. The program also celebrates those who have positively affected animal care, demonstrating leadership, expertise, and a commitment to improving the health and well-being of animals.

“A veterinary hero is someone who shows up when no one’s watching. It’s a technician who whispers to the scared cat. It’s a [client service representative who] takes a punch from a keyboard warrior and still picks up the next call with grace. It’s a surgeon who, on their 14th hour, gives every patient the same goal standard of care,” Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, chief veterinary officer of dvm360 and the ceremony’s emcee, told the audience.

Photo: Kristen Coppock Crossley, MA/dvm360

Veterinary Heroes honored at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, included (from left): Craig A. Clifford, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology); Julie K. Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Small Animal Medicine), DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice); Dottie Cimino Brown, MS, DVM, DACVS; Julie A. Churchill, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition); Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC; Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology), CFE; Leslie Bauer, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice); Ashley S. Bourgeois, DVM, DACVD; Colleen Lambo, DVM, PhD, MS; and Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA.

This year’s program is supported by category sponsors Blue Natural Veterinary Diet, Thrive Pet Healthcare, MedVet, VetriScience, Roo, and Elanco Animal Health. The winners were selected by an esteemed panel of judges, who chose to honor veterinary professionals in 14 categories.

The Veterinary Heroes Class of 2025 includes the following individuals:

Behavior (sponsored by VetriScience): Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB, CABC

Client Service Representative: Alyssa Israels-Blood

Credentialed Veterinary Technician (sponsored by MedVet): Danielle DeCormier, LVT, VTS (Oncology), CFE

Dentistry (sponsored by PRN Pharmacal): Barden Greenfield, DVM, DAVDC 

Dermatology (sponsored by Elanco Animal Health): Ashley S. Bourgeois, DVM, DACVD

Emergency Medicine: Leslie Bauer, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice)

Feline Medicine: Julie K. Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Small Animal Medicine), DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice)

General Practitioner (sponsored by Roo): Colleen Lambo, DVM, PhD, MS

Internal Medicine (Oncology): Craig A. Clifford, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology)

Lifetime Achievement: Dottie Cimino Brown, MS, DVM, DACVS

Nutrition (sponsored by Blue Natural): Julie A. Churchill, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)

Surgery (sponsored by Thrive Pet Healthcare): Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA

Veterinary Paraprofessional (noncredentialed support staff): Hannah Marie Inman

At the awards ceremony, Christman introduced each of the 14 winners with a video listing their individual achievements. Christman, category sponsors, nominators, and colleagues also spoke to a full ballroom of attendees, providing insights on the honorees’ characters, work ethics, and the impact they’ve made on the industry.

Many of the award recipients were in attendance, and they each thanked mentors, colleagues, family and others who influenced their careers. They also shared heartfelt messages, which at times brought tears to those in the audience.

In one instance, Christman called Clifford’s son up to the stage to hand his oncologist father his trophy. Clifford spoke during his acceptance speech about the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis he shares with his son, how it forced him to overcome unique challenges in his career, and how others helped him succeed.

Turning to his son, Clifford said, “I have ADHD, and so do you. And as you know, sometimes this can be a curse, but it can also be a blessing. But this [award] goes to show you that you can still succeed in spite of it. I wish you the best, and I know he's going to do amazing things in the future.”

The ceremony also took time to celebrate the profession. In his acceptance speech, Campbell noted the dedication and passion that veterinary professionals are fueled by on a daily basis. “I truly believe at the core, veterinary medicine is composed of two ideals, the combination of science and empathy. And I think that with those two ideals, there's no limit to what we can accomplish,” he said.

Fetch shines the spotlight on 2025 Veterinary Heroes 

Melissa Evans, CVT, LVT, VTS (ECC), discussed these challenges in a dvm360 interview.

Caring for cats with cardiac disease

What are some of the challenges of caring for felines with cardiac disease, and how are they managed? Melissa Evans, CVT, LVT, VTS (ECC), owner of Melissa Evans, VTS (ECC): Veterinary Nurse Consulting, discussed these challenges in a 

Evans is an experienced emergency, intensive care unit, and critical care technician with additional experience in shelter, wildlife, and disaster medicine. She is a RECOVER CPR–certified instructor who has worked in referral and specialty hospitals in New Jersey and New York. Evans is also a relief technician for specialty hospitals throughout New York, New York.

The interview was recorded at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, where Evans presented a series of continuing education sessions. Her topics included feline cardiac emergencies. The session focused on common cardiac emergencies in cats, such as feline atrial thromboembolism, congestive heart failure, and arrhythmias, as well as difficulties faced in treating cats with cardiac disease, among other topic areas.

Novel cardiology therapy for cats is launched

The following is a transcript of the video:

 Cats tend to hide their symptoms until they're very far along. So, especially in things like cardiac issues, it's [usually] going to be a pretty bad case...that gets presented. They often present in respiratory distress, so we have to treat them quickly. Also, I have found—this is anecdotal, completely—that these patients tend to be a little more aggressive. [It] makes sense. If you're struggling to breathe, then maybe you're not going to want people doing things to you. So, there's a lot of hands-off that needs to be done, especially to protect ourselves and to help our patients.

Melissa Evans, CVT, LVT, VTS (ECC), discussed challenges with feline heart conditions in a dvm360 interview at the 2025 Fetch Kansas City conference.

Parasiticides need to be administered properly and consistently to prevent heartworm disease. Michael W. Dryden, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology), drove the point home in a keynote lecture that launched day 2 of the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dryden is a professor (emeritus) at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas; author of numerous articles, book chapters, and books; and a frequent lecturer on parasitology at industry events around the world. He has also won multiple awards, including the distinctions of 2015 American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists Distinguished Parasitologist of the Year and the 2017 American College of Veterinary Microbiologists Distinguished Microbiologist of the Year.

Michael W. Dryden DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology), discusses heartworm prevention and research on resistance during his Day 2 keynote address at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dryden’s lecture, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, first emphasized the importance of understanding the life cycle of heartworm (

). This life cycle is key because products on the market that target this parasite are effective at killing heartworm in a certain range of time before they reach adulthood.

, larva in the first stage (L1) need to be ingested by a mosquito feeding on an infected dog. The larva then molts to L2 and L3 while hosted by a needed vector mosquito. Dogs become infected with L3 through a mosquito bite and the larva then molts to L4 in subcutaneous canine tissues. Finally, L4 migrates to a thorax muscle and molts into immature adulthood before migration to pulmonary arteries occurs.

“All currently available heartworm preventives administered to dogs are macrocyclic lactones [ivermectin, milbemycin oxime, moxidectin, and selamectin]. These drugs have exceptional anthelmintic activity and were dose titrated during development against L3 and L4,” Dryden said.

 rarely inhabit the heart. “This is really the pulmonary arterial disease worm. That's where it grows and develops,” he said.

Monthly parasiticide products are essentially “deworming” tools used to kill heartworm once in the subcutaneous stage (L3 and L4), according to Dryden. “They must be administered before L4 molt to the immature adult to be consistently effective.”

Oral products administered monthly can kill L3 and L4 from up to 30 days prior with a short-term “pulse” of macrocyclic lactones anthelmintic activity that lasts a few days. Other products with different formulation of pharmacokinetics can also “reach back” 30 days. Injectable moxidectin is a slow-release formulation that provides an additional 6 to 12 months of protection, and transdermal moxidectin/imidacloprid features a slow dermal absorption and slow elimination from the blood, which allows it to achieve protection 30 days back and 30 days forward, according to Dryden.

Dryden also addressed the possibility of drug resistance with heartworm preventives. He noted that interest in this notion has grown, possibly because of "lack of efficacy" reports issued by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. However, although true resistance may occur, he said, there may be other factors causing canines to be left unprotected by parasiticide products that have been proven to work. Possible causes may be improper administration of these drugs, such as timing, dose, or duration, or failure of a dog to retain a dose or to absorb an active ingredient as expected.

As an example, he cited a study conducted in the lower Mississippi Delta region that found heartworm in 301 dogs that had documented treatment with a heartworm prevention product. However, data showed many of these dogs had breaks in their parasiticide coverage when the clinics did not have the preventive product available to them.

“In 80.7% of the [301] cases, there wasn’t even enough product on hand [to give these dogs] to prevent heartworm…. In the other 19%, did they even give it? So when I say we have no idea how much resistance is out there, we have no freaking idea because we don't do a good job. We've got to do a better job,” he said.

Dryden MW. Heartworm preventive resistance, where do we go from here? Presented at: Fetch dvm360 Conference; August 22-24, 2025. Kansas City, MO.

Michael W. Dryden, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology), delivered a keynote address focused on canine heartworm disease on day 2 of the 2025 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.