2008 MVMA Summer Seminar

Fever of Unknown Origin in Cats & Infectious Diseases

of the Feline Gastrointestinal System

Speaker:  Michael R. Lappin, DVM, PhD

Thursday, June 19, 2008

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Continuing Education and Conference Center

Biographical information

After graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1981, Dr. Lappin completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia.  After 2 years in a small animal practice in Los Angeles, he returned to the University of Georgia where he completed a small animal internal medicine residency and a PhD in Parasitology.  Dr. Lappin was board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 1987.  He is currently Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University and is the section head of Small Animal Internal Medicine.  Dr. Lappin studies feline infectious diseases and is the author of more than 175 research papers and book chapters.  His principal areas of interest are prevention of infectious diseases, the upper respiratory disease complex, infectious causes of fever, infectious causes of diarrhea, and zoonoses of cats.  Dr. Lappin on the editorial board of Feline Medicine and Surgery and Compendium for Continuing Education for the Practicing Veterinarian and is the editor of the textbook, Feline Internal Medicine Secrets.  Dr. Lappin has received the Beecham Research Award and the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award.  Dr. Lappin is the Kenneth W. Smith Professor in Small Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University and is currently the Assistant Department Head for Research.  He was the chairperson of the AAFP Panel on Feline Zoonoses and the AAFP Bartonella Panel Report.  Dr. Lappin is the director of the “Center for Companion Animal Studies.”

Abstracts

Fever of unknown origin in cats

Diagnosis and medical management of the diseases associated with fever in cats will be discussed using a case based approach.  We will discuss the new diagnostic and therapeutic information concerning Toxoplasma gondii, haemoplasmosis (previously Haemobartonella felis), Bartonella spp., feline ehrlichiosis, and feline anaplasmosis (previously granulocytic Ehrlichia).  Emphasis will be placed on use of new diagnostic tests including polymerase chain reaction and on appropriate empirical antibiotic choices for bacterial infections of different body systems. 

Infectious diseases of the feline gastrointestinal system

This talk will cover the diagnosis and management of common causes of vomiting and diarrhea in cats.  Infectious causes will be emphasized and will include roundworms, hookworms, Helicobacter spp., Giardia spp, Cryptosporidium parvum, Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp., panleukopenia, and coronaviruses.  Appropriate diagnostic tests and empirical treatments will be emphasized.