I thrive on the excitement I get from learning new answers to the dark secrets we face every day. Veterinary medicine is a constantly evolving profession. So, when I make my annual pilgrimage to Orlando for The North American Veterinary Conference, I go having wrung out my spongy brain , making it ready to “soak up” everything I can take in. Leaders in every discipline from all over the world convene once a year to lecture over 10,000 veterinarians from not only the United States and Canada, but some 60 other countries. So, I always go to this conference (my 20th year I might ad), seeking the counsel of the best and the brightest about some of my patients’ more challenging cases. I wasn’t disappointed.

Ear problems in cats are among the most common, yet frustrating problems we see on a daily basis. “Tigger” has been suffering with a chronic external ear infection for months. Even the most aggressive medical therapy can’t seem to alleviate his problem. Now the inflammation has migrated from his outer ear (otitis externa) into his middle ear (otitis media). But, this is a rare and unusual form of otitis media. “Tigger” is producing mammoth quantities of mucoid discharge from his middle ear. After listening to 2 lectures on precisely this condition, no one addressed this rare form. Having vowed not to leave the conference without at least another option for “Tigger”, I cornered my two colleagues and pressed them for more information. One leaned towards a surgical cure, an invasive and risky operation into the middle ear. The other suggested a novel and unusual medical therapy he has used several times in this particular disease. Instilling a potent corticosteroid directly into the middle ear and continued medication at home for 2-4 weeks. I began treatment 2 days ago and can’t wait to see the results at recheck in 2 weeks.

Each year many veterinarians continue their educations so that they can deliver the latest and greatest cutting edge diagnostics and therapeutics to their patients. We do it to help our 4 legged friends, and also to energize ourselves in the profession that challenges and rewards in currency only a veterinarian could understand. That currency is the emotional and professional gratification we derive when we see something new and revolutionary and say “Wow!”. I love the wow factor….it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside and sometimes chills down my spine. For me, continuing education = WOW!