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Critical Care Veterinarian Board Certified Emergency and Critical Care Veterinary Specialist Her dedication to teaching is not just a profession; it's a calling.

Dr. Mariana Pardo is a trailblazing force in the world of veterinary medicine, exemplifying the transformative power of dedication and education. In 2009, she embarked on her journey at Universidad Mayor, Chile, where she laid the foundation for her remarkable career. Her pursuit of excellence led her to the University of Georgia and the University of Florida, where she honed her skills through not one, but two emergency and critical care internships. Driven by an insatiable hunger for knowledge, she then pursued her emergency and critical care residency at Cornell University. Dr. Pardo is more than just a skilled practitioner; she is a bilingual ambassador for knowledge and change. As an international speaker, she bridges the gap between cultures, sharing her expertise far and wide. Her prolific contributions extend beyond the lecture hall; she has authored multiple articles and book chapters, leaving an indelible mark on the field. In a digital age, Dr. Pardo has leveraged the power of social media through her platform , bringing accessible continuing education to a global audience. She is on a mission to give back to the Latin American community, generously participating in numerous continuing education programs. However, Dr. Pardo's influence extends beyond her professional achievements. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine, and her commitment is evident in her role as a member of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. In 2024, Dr. Pardo's life journey led to the inspiration to create Global Instruction for Veterinary Empowerment or GIVE, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has the mission of creating global veterinary advancement by empowering sustainable specialty-level care in areas where these services are not available or cost-prohibitive. Dr. Pardo's journey is an inspiring testament to the heights one can reach through unwavering dedication, education, and a deep commitment to making veterinary medicine more inclusive and accessible for all.

I've been named a 2027 U.S. Bright Minds nominee by The Bridge Club in the Industry Influencer category! 🧠 Bright Minds ...
10/09/2026

I've been named a 2027 U.S. Bright Minds nominee by The Bridge Club in the Industry Influencer category! 🧠 Bright Minds recognizes people who bring ideas, leadership and fresh thinking to veterinary medicine. I'm honored (and still a little surprised that a criticalist made the "influencer" list 😅).

If I'm influencing anything, I hope it's this: decisions grounded in evidence, critical thinking even when it's uncomfortable, and a profession that is kind, open minded and respectful while letting each of us stay true to who we are. And I hope I'm helping build a veterinary medicine that speaks many languages, where minority and international voices are part of the conversation, not a footnote.

✨ Voting opens Monday, October 12 and runs through October 23 ✨

If my content, lectures or GIVE's work has ever made a difference for you or your team, I'd be so grateful for your vote 👉

https://thebridgeclub.com/bright-minds-voting

✔️ Every vote counts
✔️ Public votes make up 40% of the final result
✔️ You can vote once per email address

A huge thank you to The Bridge Club, Blue Buffalo and Viticus Group - Animal Health for creating spaces to recognize people across our profession 💙

And thank you to my VEG family, my students, the GIVE community and everyone who has joined a lecture, in English or en español. This nomination belongs to you too.

To all of this year's nominees, congratulations! It's an honor to be in the running with you ✨

10/09/2026

I’ve been named a 2027 U.S. Bright Minds nominee by The Bridge Club in the Industry Influencer category!!!!

Bright Minds recognizes people who bring ideas, leadership and fresh thinking to veterinary medicine. I’m honored (and fully aware that half of what I know I learned from the people around me 💙).”

If I’m influencing anything, I hope it’s this: decisions grounded in evidence, critical thinking even when it’s uncomfortable, and a profession that is kind, open minded and respectful while letting each of us stay true to who we are. And I hope I’m helping build a veterinary medicine that speaks many languages, where minority and international voices are part of the conversation, not a footnote.

✨ Voting runs through October 23 ✨

If my content, lectures or GIVE’s work has ever made a difference for you or your team, I’d be so grateful for your vote 👉 link in bio

✔️ Every vote counts
✔️ Public votes make up 40% of the final result
✔️ You can vote once per email address

A huge thank you to The Bridge Club , blue buffalo and Viticus Group - Animal Health for creating spaces to recognize people across our profession 💙

10/08/2026

Attend a Veterinary Technology Program Information Session on October 20 at 6:30 pm, at the Health Science Building, Room 13 - SUNY Westchester Valhalla. Learn about the SUNY WCC Veterinary Technology Program and how to apply! RSVP to attend through our website’s event calendar. For more information contact [email protected]

A cat comes in obtunded, breathing fast, with a swollen face. Acute onset was normal that morning.Gums look… off.We drew...
09/28/2026

A cat comes in obtunded, breathing fast, with a swollen face. Acute onset was normal that morning.

Gums look… off.
We drew blood.
Not dark red. Brown. 🟤

pH 6.947
Lactate 23.5 mmol/L
BE −24.9 | AG 35.5
Hct 51%
Severe lactic acidosis, but he isn’t anemic and he isn’t bleeding. So why are his tissues starving for oxygen?

Blood gas SO₂: 79%
Kind of okay, right? Hold that thought.

Co-oximetry:
• MetHb 61.5%!!! (normal:

Rocco, 9-year-old Rottweiler, osteosarcoma of the distal radius. His family chose palliative care, no amputation. NSAID,...
09/22/2026

Rocco, 9-year-old Rottweiler, osteosarcoma of the distal radius. His family chose palliative care, no amputation. NSAID, gabapentin, still painful. Added amantadone, still toe-touching, still panting at night and whimpering. Added codeine… no change.

His owner asked the logical next question: “Is it time?”

We tried one more thing first… Ketamine. SQ. 💉

Yes, that ketamine. And yes, the owner’s face did exactly what you’re imagining.

Why it can work
• Bone cancer pain isn’t just “bad pain.” It’s inflammatory, neuropathic, and the nervous system gets rewired to turn the volume up (central sensitization).

• NMDA receptors drive a lot of that rewiring, and they’re upregulated in chronic pain. Ketamine blocks them.

• The goal isn’t sedation or a plasma level. It’s turning the volume back down.

Here’s the fun part: the drug is gone within hours, but owners often report effects lasting much longer. Pharmacology meets magic trick. 🎩

How it’s used
• Low dose, around 0.5 mg/kg SQ, is what most pain folks use

• Start monthly, shorten the interval as disease progresses (palliative patients often need it sooner)

• Always as an add-on, never instead of the foundation

Where it fits
• Palliative cancer pain
• Refractory OA
• Dogs who can’t tolerate the usual oral meds

The honest part: this is still mostly anecdote plus small retrospective data. No canine RCT yet. Some dogs respond beautifully, some don’t, and we can’t predict which. But worth a try.

Rocco got more good weeks. Not forever, but more. And his family got to choose the day instead of having it be chosen for them.

Have you tried SQ ketamine in palliative patients?

The syringes on my desk today weren’t just medicine. They were an ending, held gently.Some days euthanasia is quick. A q...
09/02/2026

The syringes on my desk today weren’t just medicine. They were an ending, held gently.

Some days euthanasia is quick. A quiet room, a peaceful goodbye, everyone ready.

Other days it’s hours long. Today was one of those days. Multiple patients, multiple families, multiple sessions that stretched on for hours.

Because here’s the thing people don’t always say out loud about this job: euthanasia is a gift we get to give. We get to end suffering instead of prolonging it. We get to make sure the last thing an animal feels is calm, not fear, in the arms of their favorite people in the world.

That is sacred work. I mean that.

But it’s also work that asks something of us every single time. Working emergency, we get to see families that are ready to say goodbye, but more often than not we have to help families through traumatic events and conversations, guiding them to make informed decisions on one of the hardest decisions they will make… saying goodbye.

In those long rooms today, I learned about a dog adopted the week someone’s daughter was born, now grown and leaving for college. A cat who was the last living connection to a husband who passed three years ago. A senior dog who was, in someone’s own words, “my only friend.”

People don’t just let you into the room. They let you into the whole story. You become a confidant, a grief counselor, a shoulder, sometimes literally, all in the span of one vet visit.

I love this part of my job. Genuinely.

And it costs something. Every time.

A few things I remind myself:

❤️‍🩹 Feeling wrecked after a hard euthanasia isn’t a sign you’re bad at your job. It’s the tax on being good at it.

❤️‍🩹 You are allowed to step outside for five minutes. Your team should know this is normal, not a red flag.

❤️‍🩹 Debrief with someone. Your team, a colleague, your person at home. Compassion fatigue grows in silence.

❤️‍🩹 Multiple heavy losses in one shift compound. That’s not weakness, that’s just how grief math works.

❤️‍🩹 It is okay to cry. In the bathroom, in the car, quietly, alongside them.

How do you take care of yourself after days like this?

Genuinely asking, because some days I’m still figuring it out…

🇨🇴💙 Aprender, compartir y ayudar.Después del reciente terremoto que afectó a Colombia, un grupo de colegas se unió para ...
08/20/2026

🇨🇴💙 Aprender, compartir y ayudar.

Después del reciente terremoto que afectó a Colombia, un grupo de colegas se unió para crear estas Jornadas Académicas Solidarias, con el propósito de poner nuestro conocimiento al servicio de una causa que hoy necesita de todos.

Me hace mucha ilusión poder participar en esta iniciativa y estaré acompañando y representando a GIVE: Global Instruction for Veterinary Empowerment, una organización que trabaja para promover la educación veterinaria y generar un impacto positivo a través de nuestra profesión. 🐾❤️

📚 ¿Quieres participar en las charlas?
Las jornadas serán completamente virtuales y las grabaciones estarán disponibles durante 30 días, para que puedas acceder al contenido y aprender a tu propio ritmo.

Puedes inscribirte a través de Instagram en Educación veterinaria | Hibrida.

❤️ Se espera un aporte solidario mínimo de $25.000 COP, pero si está dentro de tus posibilidades, te invitamos de corazón a aportar lo que más puedas. Cada aporte cuenta y nos ayudará a adquirir insumos médicos, medicamentos, alimentos e implementos de aseo para animales y personas afectadas.

💙 También puedes hacer una donación directa:

📱 Nequi: 313 481 1349
🔑 Llave:

Más que una jornada académica, esta es una oportunidad para que como comunidad veterinaria podamos aprender, compartir y contribuir.

📅 16 al 21 de agosto
💻 Virtual por Zoom
🎥 Grabaciones disponibles por 30 días
❤️ Aporte mínimo: $25.000 COP

🌎 Conoce más sobre GIVE: www.give.vet

Si no puedes participar, también puedes ayudar simplemente compartiendo esta publicación para que llegue a más personas.

Inscríbete, aprende y ayuda.
Porque juntos podemos convertir el conocimiento en solidaridad y nuestros aportes en ayuda real para Colombia. 🇨🇴🫶

Scroll this panel and almost everything is unremarkable. Renal values normal, liver enzymes normal, even the pancreatic ...
07/24/2026

Scroll this panel and almost everything is unremarkable. Renal values normal, liver enzymes normal, even the pancreatic markers are boring.

Then you hit sodium at 175 and potassium at 2.6…

That combination in the face of other normal values is primary hyperaldosteronism until proven otherwise. Not the rare zebra it used to get labeled, it’s underdiagnosed because most hypokalemic or hypertensive cats get treated symptomatically and never worked up further.

What’s happening:
An adrenal tumor or bilateral zona glomerulosa hyperplasia is secreting aldosterone independent of the renin-angiotensin system. That drives sodium and water retention (hypertension) and potassium wasting (myopathy). Textbook teaching says sodium usually stays normal thanks to aldosterone escape. This cat didn’t get that memo, and honestly the Na this high alongside a K this low makes the picture easier to point to.

The work up:
Textbook next step is aldosterone level, renin, adrenal ultrasound.
This owner couldn’t do any of it.
So we started spironolactone (1 to 2 mg/kg PO q12h) with potassium gluconate.

That’s not a shortcut, it’s the same medical management a confirmed diagnosis lands on anyway when surgery isn’t happening. Not every patient will be able to do a full work up.

What you have to be honest about: a K that climbs and a cat that stops ventroflexing supports the diagnosis, it doesn’t confirm it. You haven’t ruled out unilateral versus bilateral disease, and a nonresponse should send you back to the differential list, not to a higher dose.

Recheck electrolytes and blood pressure 1-2 weeks after any dose change. Get a BP on every hypokalemic cat regardless of budget, that number is what prevents a blind cat.

If finances have ever dictated your workup… sometimes response to treatment is your best diagnostic.

This 4 year old yorkie had a seizure at home. Came in lateral, hypothermic 97.7F, bradycardic 76bpm, hypotensive 70 mmHg...
07/22/2026

This 4 year old yorkie had a seizure at home. Came in lateral, hypothermic 97.7F, bradycardic 76bpm, hypotensive 70 mmHg. Her blood glucose was 26 mg/dl.

The owner said it came out of nowhere. Just found her seizing on the kitchen floor.

We asked about toxins, trauma, previous medical concerns… went through our differentials (shunt, liver, kidneys, SIRS/sepsis, endocrine, cancer), point of care bloodwork was normal except for the hypoglycemia, pocus was unremarkable.

Asked about toxins again and ran down a list of possible causes: ma*****na, plants, OTC meds, sugar-free foods…

- “No, just some freeze-dried pineapple treats yesterday.”

An internet search later… read the label.
Birch bark extract.

Birch bark extract is a source of XYLITOL.

It’s showing up in “natural” and “healthy” pet treats, human snacks, and even some dental products, often without xylitol itself ever appearing on the ingredient list. If you only trained your eye to scan for the word “xylitol,” this one slips right past you.

Dogs release insulin in response to xylitol at a much higher rate than they do to actual glucose. That insulin surge can happen fast, sometimes within 30-60 minutes, and it doesn’t care that the “sugar” was disguised in a birch extract. The result: profound hypoglycemia, and in more severe cases, hepatic necrosis and coagulopathy.

What to actually do:
• Treat the seizure and the hypoglycemia simultaneously, don’t wait for one to fix the other
• Anticonvulsant of choice if actively seizing, my go to is midazolam
• IV dextrose bolus, then a CRI, glucose checks are your endpoint, not a one-time fix
• Monitor liver values and coagulation status even if she looks okay initially, hepatotoxicity can be delayed
• Ask about ALL foods, not just “did she get into anything toxic.” Owners don’t think of pineapple treats as a toxin

If a seizuring patient comes in and glucose reads low, ask about treats, chews, gum, even toothpaste. Xylitol is hiding in places none of us were trained to look.

She’s home now. Owner tossed every “healthy” treat in her cabinet just to be safe.

Check your own dog’s treats tonight. You might be surprised what “natural” is hiding!

We don’t think about pneumothorax when we hear “asthmatic cat,” but it happens, and it’s one of those complications that...
07/16/2026

We don’t think about pneumothorax when we hear “asthmatic cat,” but it happens, and it’s one of those complications that catches people off guard because the chest tap findings feel backwards. Air where you expect fluid, in a cat you were treating for a totally different problem.

The mechanism: chronic bronchoconstriction and mucus plugging create air trapping distal to the obstruction. Over time that raises intrathoracic pressure enough to rupture a bulla or bleb, usually subpleural. Air escapes into the pleural space, and now you’ve got a cat that was already working hard to breathe, breathing even harder for a completely different reason.

Radiographically this is a trap. Severe bronchial disease already gives you a busy, speckled lung pattern that can hide retracted lung margins, especially on VD/DV views where a mild-to-moderate pneumothorax is easy to miss. Lateral views are your friend here: look for that gap between the cardiac silhouette and the sternum, and for lung margins pulling away from the thoracic wall dorsally.

Clinically, the tell is usually a cat who was stable-ish on bronchodilators and steroids and then acutely decompensates. Increased respiratory effort out of proportion to auscultation, muffled heart/lung sounds, or a sudden shift from expiratory push to a more restrictive, shallow pattern.

Management is twofold and neither part is optional: thoracocentesis for the acute crisis, and treating the underlying asthma aggressively so you’re not just resetting the clock on the next rupture. Watch for recurrence, some of these cats need a chest tube if it’s a persistent leak rather than a one-time event.

Teaching point I’d want everyone to walk away with: in a chronic feline respiratory patient who suddenly gets worse, don’t just assume asthma flare. Reassess the whole chest.

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