Vtx_cpd

28/05/2026

🍽️ Promoting Recovery: Feeding in the Hospital
with Georgia Woods-Lee RVN (VTS Nutrition)

Nutrition plays a critical role in patient recovery, yet feeding plans can often become secondary to other aspects of hospital care. This practical webinar explores how effective nutritional support can improve healing, support recovery, and positively influence patient outcomes in the hospital setting.

Georgia Woods-Lee RVN (VTS Nutrition) discusses the importance of early nutritional assessment, identifying patients at risk, and developing practical, individualised feeding plans tailored to each patient’s clinical needs and recovery goals. The session also explores strategies to encourage voluntary food intake, manage poor appetite, and support the inappetent patient safely and compassionately.

Special attention is given to balancing feeding and fasting protocols to ensure patients receive appropriate nutritional support while maintaining clinical safety.

💡 Learning Highlights:
• Understand the role of nutrition in recovery and patient outcomes
• Develop practical, individualised feeding plans for hospitalised patients
• Explore strategies to encourage voluntary food intake and manage inappetence
• Recognise when feeding, fasting, or additional nutritional support is appropriate

🎥 Watch here: https://vtx-cpd.com/webinars/promoting-recovery-feeding-in-the-hospital/

26/05/2026

Antibiotics after surgery, are we still over-prescribing?

The new ENOVAT 2025 guidelines on surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis are worth reading and feel genuinely empowering in practice.

Based on systematic review and expert consensus, the message is clear: for many common surgical procedures in dogs and cats, antibiotics do not reduce surgical site infections and should not be used.

Key practical take-homes:

• No peri- or post-operative antibiotics for neutering
• No antibiotics for clean soft tissue surgery (exploratory laparotomy, splenectomy, dermal mass removal, gastropexy)
• No post-operative antibiotics for clean-contaminated procedures, including GI and urological surgery
• Non-implant orthopaedics: no post-op antibiotics, and usually no peri-op either
• Implants and TPLOs: peri-op cover is recommended, routine post-op courses are discouraged
• Post-operative antibiotics reserved for contaminated surgery only, with short, reviewed courses

This really shifts us from “just in case” prescribing to evidence-based, targeted use. Good surgical technique, asepsis and correct peri-operative timing matter far more than prolonged courses.

If you’re interested in building your surgical skills alongside stewardship knowledge, our emergency surgery course is now open for sign-ups:
👉 https://vtx-cpd.com/courses/emergency-surgery-essentials-for-veterinary-surgeons-2/

📄 ENOVAT 2025 Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis Guidelines
https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.70072

How are others approaching these recommendations? Which practices will be easiest to change, and which might be harder?

11/05/2026

👁️ Ophthalmological Considerations in Brachycephalic Patients
with Dr. Georgina Fricker, Ophthalmology Specialist

Brachycephalic breeds are predisposed to a wide range of ocular conditions due to their unique anatomy — from corneal ulceration and exposure keratitis to tear film disorders and eyelid abnormalities. Early recognition and appropriate management are essential for protecting both comfort and vision.

In this practical webinar, Dr. Georgina Fricker explores the common ophthalmic challenges seen in brachycephalic dogs, focusing on diagnosis, treatment options, and long-term management strategies. The session will also highlight the importance of client education and preventive care to help reduce complications and improve patient welfare.

💡 Learning Outcomes:
• Recognise ocular conditions commonly seen in brachycephalic breeds
• Implement effective diagnostic and treatment approaches
• Improve client guidance on preventive eye care and long-term management

🎥 Watch here: https://vtx-cpd.com/webinars/ophthalmological-considerations-in-brachycephalic-patients/

07/05/2026

📚 Veterinary CPD that works around real clinical life.

A VTX membership gives you ongoing access to:
🎓 Specialist-led CPD
💬 Clinical discussion and peer learning
🩺 Practical live sessions
📈 CPD tracking and professional development tools
🐾 Expert support when you need it

When you break it down, membership can cost less per week than:
☕ 2–3 coffees
🍕 One takeaway
🎥 A streaming subscription

…but supports your clinical confidence all year round.

Join a community designed to help veterinary professionals thrive in practice.

Memberships start from as little as £25/month or £250/annual for RVNs, £385 New graduate VS and £55/month or £550/annual for VS.

👉 Learn more here: www.vtx-cpd.com/memberships

21/04/2026

🚨 NEW CPD EVENT FOR VETS 🚨

The Veterinary Eras: Clinical Decision-Making That Shapes Outcomes

Every case you see is a series of decisions.
Some routine. Some critical. All impactful.

This live online CPD event is designed to sharpen the decisions that matter most, helping you move from knowing to confidently acting in practice.

🧠 What to expect:
✔ Real-world clinical scenarios
✔ Practical, decision-focused learning
✔ Expert-led sessions across key “eras” of patient care
✔ Interactive Q&A to challenge and refine your thinking

Whether you're managing complex cases or everyday consults, this event will help you:
✨ Make clearer clinical decisions
✨ Improve patient outcomes
✨ Build confidence in high-pressure moments

🎓 Earn valuable CPD
🎥 Plus get 12 months access to all recordings

💬 Got tricky cases? Bring them along, our expert panel discussion is your chance to get real guidance.

👉 Secure your place now: https://vtx-cpd.com/events/the-veterinary-eras-clinical-decision-making-that-shapes-outcomes/

20/04/2026

🩺 Theatre Practice: The Art of Reducing Surgical Site Infections
with Louise Grieve RVN

Surgical site infections remain one of the most common causes of post-operative complications in small animal practice, impacting patient recovery, client trust, and practice costs.

In this session, Louise Grieve RVN explores how everyday decisions in theatre can influence infection risk. From maintaining the surgical environment to understanding the evidence behind theatre attire and behaviour, this webinar focuses on simple, effective protocols you can apply immediately in practice.

💡 Learn how to:
• Reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections
• Optimise theatre protocols and workflow
• Apply evidence-based approaches to theatre attire and conduct

A focused, practical session designed to support safer surgery and better patient outcomes.

👉️ WATCH the session here: https://vtx-cpd.com/webinars/theatre-practice-the-art-of-reducing-surgical-site-infections/

07/04/2026

🧠 CHRONIC HEPATITIS IN DOGS — ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN YOUR DECISIONS?

Copper? Corticosteroids? Or clinical uncertainty?
If you’ve ever second-guessed your approach to these cases… you’re not alone.

Join Dr. Scott Kilpatrick (RCVS & EBVS Specialist in Internal Medicine, FRCVS) for a practical, no-nonsense deep dive into one of small animal practice’s most frustrating conditions.

🔍 In this webinar, you’ll learn:
✔️ When hepatic copper actually matters (and when it doesn’t)
✔️ How to interpret histopathology & copper results with confidence
✔️ When immunosuppression is justified — and when to hold back
✔️ How to manage those “grey zone” cases we all see in practice

Chronic hepatitis is common, often idiopathic, and full of uncertainty, especially when immune-mediated disease is suspected but poorly defined.

This session cuts through the noise with real-world, evidence-informed guidance you can actually apply in practice.

👉 WATCH the webinar now:
https://vtx-cpd.com/webinars/chronic-hepatitis-in-dogs-copper-corticosteroids-and-clinical-uncertainty/

06/04/2026

🌸 SPRING SALE IS LIVE at VTX 🌸

Upgrade your CPD/CE. Elevate your clinical confidence. Join a community that actually supports you.

For a limited time, get 15% OFF ALL courses, events & annual memberships, but only until midnight 30/04/2026 ⏳

At VTX, we do CPD differently:
✔️ Specialist-led, practical learning designed for real-world cases
✔️ Interactive courses with live sessions, forums & case discussions
✔️ Access to an extensive webinar library + ongoing new content
✔️ Real-time clinical advice from specialists when you need it most
✔️ A supportive community of like-minded veterinary professionals

Whether you’re looking to sharpen your skills, tackle challenging cases with confidence, or finally make CPD work around your life - VTX has everything in one place.

💡 From in-depth courses to live events and memberships that unlock year-round value, your next step in professional growth starts here.

🔥 Don’t miss out --- this offer ends at midnight on 30th April 2026

👉 Start learning today: www.vtx-cpd.com

(Want your employer to pay us directly? Simply request 'Pay by invoice' at checkout and we will do the rest!)

03/04/2026

27/03/2026

🩺 We all love a feeding tube – but only when it’s in the right place

Nasoesophageal and nasogastric tubes are simple, effective tools for early nutritional support, but malpositioning can have serious consequences. A recent paper in Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound validates a clear, practical radiographic checklist to help confirm correct tube placement on lateral views.

On a lateral radiograph including neck and thorax, a correctly positioned tube should:
• sit dorsal at the larynx
• show incomplete superimposition over the trachea
• lie dorsal to the carina

Using these criteria significantly improved accuracy and reduced “uncertain” interpretations across clinicians with varying experience levels.

This fits closely with what we cover in our gastrointestinal course, where we focus on practical enteral nutrition, feeding tube use, and complication avoidance in dogs and cats.

👉️ Want to learn more about GI related conditions? The join our course: https://vtx-cpd.com/courses/gut-matters-gastrointestinal-and-pancreatic-disease-in-dogs-cats-2/