21st Century Approach to Feline Trauma

By: Ivayla D Yozova, MVM, Dr.med.vet., MBA, FHEA, Dipl.ACVECC, Dipl.ECVECC

Description: Even in the 21st century trauma remains challenging to treat in cats. The current evidence on feline trauma is mostly focused on epidemiological studies of general or specific injuries, including larger studies from the VetCOT trauma database. Mortality from trauma in cats remains high (up to 20% depending on the setting). This high mortality is associated with severity of injuries, but sadly often enough financial concerns. This talk will offer a comprehensive approach to the feline trauma patient from the ER admission through hospitalization and discharge. Focus will be placed on conservative management of common injuries and post-operative care with emphasis on pain management, IVF administration and transfusion requirements. There will be the unavoidable mention of behavioral considerations and handling of the hospitalized trauma cat. Cases will be presented throughout to maintain a clinical focus.

By the end of the session, attendees will be able to:

1. Main points of pathophysiology of feline trauma
2. Current epidemiological information
3. Dos and Don’ts on triage and initial stabilization
4. Principles of pain management
5. Principles of IVF and transfusion requirements
6. Approach to common injuries in the cat

Speaker Info: Ivayla is an ACVECC diplomate since 2017 and an ECVECC diplomate since 2019. Ivayla obtained her original veterinary degree from Trakia University, Bulgaria (2002-2007), after which she joined the National Veterinary College of Toulouse, France for a Small Animal Rotating Internship (2008-2009). Ivayla completed a 3-year ECC residency in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Bern, Switzerland (2013-2016), including a postgraduate doctoral degree on the topic hydroxyethyl starches. Prior to the residency, Ivayla worked in a private small animal after-hours ECC practice on the French Riviera. During that time, Ivayla completed an MBA (Institute of Business Administration of Nice, France, 2010-2011) and a Pain Management Certificate (Medical Faculty, University of Montpelier, France, 2011-2012). Ivayla is currently a Senior Lecturer of Veterinary ECC at Massey University (since 2017) and the director of their ECVECC residency program. Ivayla’s position splits between clinical work in the Pet Emergency Centre with patient-focused and didactic teaching of students, interns and residents and research. Ivayla is an advocate for effective learning and is a Higher Education Academy fellow. Ivayla is passionate about low stress handling and pet-centric practices, responsible for the cat-friendly clinic initiative at Massey University. Research interests include the endothelial glycocalyx (PhD project), trauma, stress response, POCUS, and other minimally invasive monitoring tools, focusing almost exclusively on felines. Ivayla is part of Massey University’s Veterinary Emergency Response Team, a swift water rescue technician and a rope rescue operator.