North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast

Don’t hold your breath - this episode has you covered! In this episode of the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast, host Dr. Bonnie Gatson in joined by anesthesiologist and owner of Tristate Veterinary Anesthesia, Dr. Elizabeth Goudie-DeAngelis. Together, they tackle the ins and outs of anesthetizing dogs and cats in respiratory distress - covering stabilization, airway management,...

In this episode of the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast, host Dr. Bonnie Gatson is joined by veterinary anesthesiologist, Dr. Gianluca Bini, to explore the complexities of anesthetizing dogs and cats with intracranial disease and seizure disorders. Together, they discuss key physiologic considerations to know before anesthetizing any patient with a brain disorder, including the...

Welcome back, gas passers! It’s time to pick up right where we left off—because your heart (and your patients’) can’t afford to miss part two of our special cardiac anesthesia series on the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast!  Host Dr. Bonnie Gatson returns with the fabulous Dr. Carolyn McKune of Mythos Veterinary LLC to continue our journey into the nuanced world of anesthe...

Get ready to follow your heart straight into another fantastic episode of the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast! Host Dr. Bonnie Gatson is back (and pumped as ever) with a special guest who truly gets to the heart of the matter—board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist and owner of veterinary consulting business Mythos Veterinary LLC ( great video explanation of what Mythos do...

Anesthesia is a vital part of veterinary care—it’s what makes lifesaving and life-improving procedures possible for our patients. But for many pet owners, the thought of anesthesia can be downright nerve-wracking. From easing general worries and tackling tough cost conversations to navigating the emotional challenges of unexpected complications, one thing is clear: compassionate, honest communicat...

Brace yourself for an episode that’s small in animal size but big on anesthesia challenges! In this installment of the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast, we’re diving into the world of pediatric anesthesia——because when it comes to anesthetizing puppies, kittens, and foals, they’re not just small adults (no matter how cute they look when they're just a baby). We’ll cover the uni...

We here at NAVAS are excited to bring you a new podcast episode for the new year! And we're starting out our season of the NAVAS podcast with engaging exploration of pharmacogenetics, a groundbreaking field that examines how the genetic makeup of an animal can influence its response to medications.  Have you ever had a dog or a cat that took hours, if not days, to finally return to normal aft...

In this special Thanksgiving episode of the North American Veterinary Anesthesia Society Podcast, we take a closer look at some long-standing traditions and practices in veterinary anesthesia. Joined by Dr. Tasha Bartel, veterinary anesthesiologist, chief medical officer at King Animal Hospital, and current NAVAS president, we explore myths, legends, and potentially outdated habits that have been...

Happy Halloween, and welcome to another chilling episode of the NAVAS podcast, where we venture into the eerie depths of veterinary anesthesia! Join us as we lift the curtain on a topic that, while vital to advanced anesthesia practice, often sends shivers down the spine of even the bravest veterinary professionals—neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) in veterinary patients.  While paralytic...

Welcome to another episode of the NAVAS podcast! How many times in your career, after recommending a surgical or dental procedure for a dog or cat, have you been asked whether a beloved aging pet was too old to be anesthetized? Today, we’re diving into a topic that many veterinary professionals encounter but may not always feel fully prepared for: anesthesia for senior dogs and cats. Older pets ca...

Are you having a BRAT summer, because we sure are here on the NAVAS podcast! By BRAT, we mean Best Remedies for Analgesic Therapy! We’re excited to continue our discussion on post-operative pain control for dogs and cats. If you haven’t listened to part one of this conversation, please go back and listen before diving into this episode . We’re going to finish up our conversation on surgical pain m...

In this episode, we're focusing on a critical aspect of post-surgical care: creating a plan to control postoperative pain once our canine or feline patients leave the hospital. We know that managing pain effectively during this period is vital for the recovery and well-being of our patients. With so many medications to choose from, costs to consider, and non-compliance to worry about, how can we o...

In this episode, we are going to shine the spotlight on a species that doesn’t always get the limelight on this podcast: the horse! Horses pose a unique challenge for anesthetists, especially when we turn off the vaporizer at the end of anesthesia and ask these rather large animals to stand up while under the influence of medications designed to cause sedation and muscle relaxation. In equine anes...

In our last episode, we introduced a new class of drugs that have recently hit the veterinary market for treating pain associated with osteoarthritis: nerve growth factor monoclonal antibody therapy. Just over one year ago, Librela (bedinvetmab) entered the North American veterinary market, shaking up our traditional pharmaceutical approach to osteoarthritis pain management in dogs. However, Libre...

From subtle tail twitches to silent yowls, cats have mastered the art of hiding their discomfort, leaving us humans scratching our heads feeling somewhat purr-plexed when it comes to decoding the mysteries of recognizing and managing pain in this stoic species. In this episode, we are going to sink our claws into feline osteoarthritis pain management by discussing the newest drug to hit the market...

Are you someone who doesn’t feel confident in your anesthesia skills or knowledge?  Are you seeking resources beyond this podcast to improve your anesthesia expertise?  Veterinary professionals often find themselves crunched for time, so finding resources that will guarantee rapid results in training is crucial to advancing anesthesia knowledge. How can we integrate effective training mo...

Here at NAVAS we spend a lot of time educating veterinary professionals on safe anesthetic practices, but what about the safety of the anesthetist? In today’s episode, we are going to explore a mental health phenomenon known as second victim syndrome. Second victims are health care providers who are involved in an unanticipated adverse patient event, in a medical error, or in a patient-related inj...

What fasting recommendations are you making for your elective anesthetic procedures? Are you recommending that all your patients be fasted overnight? This has been recommended by veterinarians to countless dog and cat owners for years. However, our human counterparts have changed these recommendations in recent years to shorter episodes of fasting before general anesthesia. The most recent anesthe...

The holiday season is in full swing and you may be asking yourself if it’s time to invest in something new for your clinic. A new anesthetic agent, perhaps? If that’s the case, then Alfaxalone may be the new drug to help shake up your old anesthetic drug protocols. Although it has been around on the veterinary market for a few years now, Alfaxalone is the newest anesthetic induction agent and with...

Water is life’s matter and matrix, and there is no life without it. Even the founding fathers of the US understood that water was essential to sustain life, with Benjamin Franklin being quoted as saying “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”  Patients often present to veterinary hospitals with a dry well, and many of them may require diagnostics or surgery under sedation or anesth...

Imagine you are anesthetizing your last patient of the day, and the alarm for the anesthesia machine is blaring, warning that your patient’s blood pressure is far too low. The machine reads 80/40 (55). It probably doesn’t seem too hard to imagine, because anesthesia-induced hypotension is one of the most common cardiovascular complications of general anesthesia.  In this episode, host Dr. Bon...

Imagine a dog limping into your clinic with its concerned owner in tow. It’s not too hard to presume that the animal is experiencing some degree of discomfort. But what about a cat who suddenly spends less time grooming? Or a dog who no longer wants to chase their favorite toy around the house for hours at a time? Our furred companions are remarkable at masking signs of pain, which may have served...

Here on the NAVAS podcast, we are recognizing and honoring September as Animal Pain Awareness Month by giving our listeners a small taste of a larger episode on pain assessment that will come out later this month with Dr. Tammy Grubb. As a board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist who is an expert in companion animal pain management and an intense fan of local anesthetic agents, Dr. Grubb provid...

If you practice medicine long enough, you may find that mistakes can happen despite our best efforts. Although anesthesia is vital to provide appropriate care in many clinical situations, it also has the potential to create adverse side effects, complications, and even life-threatening situations. For this reason, veterinary professionals providing anesthesia services should strive to promote a cu...

If you’re a veterinary technician who loves practicing anesthesia as much as we love talking about it on this show, then maybe you have thought about becoming a veterinary technician specialist (VTS) in Anesthesia and Analgesia. If you haven’t heard that term before, an individual with a VTS in Anesthesia and Analgesia is a certified or licensed veterinary technician who has undergone a rigorous a...