Melbourne, 3 - 4 September 2025
Schedule
Create your personal agenda –check the favourite icon
Official Welcome to The VET Expo
Chair welcome
Hot topic from the USA
This session will review some of the hot topics in veterinary medicine in the United States that are also important to our colleagues in Australia. These include workforce shortages, mid-level practitioners, mental health and wellbeing, student debt, workplace safety, and corporatization of veterinary medicine. We will touch upon the impacts of these issues and how the profession is addressing them in the US.
Panel: Pain Awareness Zoetis
Chair
Chair
Management of Chronic Pain - Osteoarthritis
- Why pain management is so important
- The affective components of pain
- Short and long-term consequences of pain
- Pain measurement tools that are recommended for both acute and chronic pain
The latest in itch relief for dogs with canine allergic dermatitis
Introducing Elanco's exciting new therapy in the JAK inhibitor class. The presentation will emphasise how this innovation expands the therapeutic toolbox for general practitioners, leading to improved outcomes and enhanced quality of life for dogs suffering from allergic and atopic dermatitis.
Regulation of Vet Nurses and Technologists
An update - we've advanced farther than at any point in our history.
Therian
Cenversa
Abdominal tumours in the dog - what do we know
Management of Acute pain -Perioperative
- Why pain management is so important
- The affective components of pain
- Short and long-term consequences of pain
- Pain measurement tools that are recommended for both acute and chronic pain
Clinical Demo: Fluid Therapy for vet nurses: planning for the challenges of the global shortage of IV Fluid
Profitability: Understanding vet finance, and pricing professional time (What’s your Professional Time Worth?)
Diagnostic Tech: how ultrasound can improve patient care and outcomes
Enhancing Client Communication with Petpack
Discover how Petpack can transform your client communications, making your interactions more efficient. This presentation will guide you through our comprehensive newsletter and social media services and how they help you maintain consistent, quality contact with clients while saving you time
Abdominal tumours in the cat - what do we know
Canine Welfare Direction: Agency - What’s ahead for your clinic and clients to implement
Using ultrasound in vet nurse triage
High-Impact Communication: Making Every Word Count in a Rush
In the rush of day-to-day responsibilities, how can you ensure your emails and social media posts stand out to get the response they deserve? This presentation will unveil expert strategies for streamlining your socials, crafting emails, optimising your time, and engaging your audience effectively, even when you're racing against the clock. Learn to craft impactful messages that rise above the noise and truly resonate with your followers.
Revolutionising Practice Management through the use of AI
- The potential for AI in the vet space
- Lupa case study in UK clinics
- Lupa key AI features (live demo)
Nutrition for Dogs with Hepatic Disease
Choosing the right hepatic diet at the right time
Empowering veterinary teams to engage meaningfully with grief
What we look for in bloodwork when giving chemotherapy
Clinical demo: Donning and doffing PPE, effective cleaning, hand hygiene
Therian
Redefining Gold Standard Care
While gold standard care is often viewed as the ideal in veterinary medicine, it is not always the most appropriate or realistic option for every case. True patient-centered care involves tailoring treatment plans to the animal’s needs and the owner's circumstances — providing informed, compassionate options rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
1. Understanding the owner’s context:
· Financial constraints, emotional capacity, logistical limitations, cultural values
2. Shared decision making
· Provide a range of options from gold standard to palliative/support care
3. Explain pros and cons and be realistic
4. Ethical and welfare consideration
5. Building rapport and open communication
6. Reframing “gold standard”
· A spectrum of care
How to prepare for an anaesthetic; a spay is not just a spay
What's In Those Fangs - Breaking Down Snake Venom
The emergency patient: Keep calm and communicate
Running clinical efficiently – what your team and vet can do
TrueBeam LINAC innovative Radiation Therapy program: Australia's first TrueBeam Linear Accelerator cancer treatment in pets
- What is Stereotactic Radiotherapy? (how we deliver higher doses with shorter treatment courses)
- Role of RT for inoperable tumours
- Pre- operative debulking RT
- Post-operative RT.
- Dose modulation and its impact on significantly reducing side effects. (VMAT technique)
- The patient RT journey from diagnosis to treatment and follow ups
Rescue Your Resume: Resume Tips for Veterinary Professionals
Cobalamin (B12) in Dogs and Cats: Importance and Supplementation
During this session, you will learn:
- The role of cobalamin (vitamin B12)
- How Cobalamin is absorbed
- Supplementation options and supporting evidence
How to recognise general anxiety
The emergency patient: Tips for initial stabilisation
Building Your Vet Business through Acquisition
Technology & AI
This session will review the current and future role of evolving technologies and artificial intelligence in veterinary medicine, and the role that these have in improving animal health and welfare, as well as the potential impacts on how we practice veterinary medicine.
Practice Ownership and 'making equipment easy
Discussion around some key tips and considerations from a lenders perspective when it comes to:
- Starting up a practice from scratch
- Purchasing an existing practice
- Purchasing commercial property for your practice premises
- Funding of equipment finance
Pathology and blood work: Demystifying your Blood Results - Are you seeing Red
Veterinary Palliative Care, Hospice and Thanatology: We need to talk about the tuff stuff!
What's all the hype about hypotension, Under the Pump: Blood Pressure Management in Small Animal Veterinary Patients
Together we rise!
Bringing veterinary workplaces into the future to better match the current and future need for Women veterinarians
Designing the Future of Care: AI, Advocacy and the Transformation of Vet Services
Therian
Pathology and blood work: Demystifying your Blood Results - Are you seeing Red
When Itch Turns to Ouch -Pruritis focus
Panel: Communication, - how to advocate for patients to veterinarians
Panel:Streamlining practice management systems for efficiency
The Modern Clinic's Guide to Self-Managed Recruitment Success
- e power shift in veterinary recruitment
- Why clinics now have more recruitment control than ever (even though it doesn’t feel like it)
- Essential tools for DIY recruitment
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Building a sustainable talent pipeline
- Action Items:
- Setting up your recruitment marketing system
- Creating an employer brand strategy
- Staying magnetic to passive jobseekers – even when you’re fully staffed
IM3
Host of the roundtable discussions, introducing topics and encouraging audience participation
Roundtable #01: Suicide Prevention & Collaboration
Roundtable #02: Resilience 101 for vet professionals
Roundtable #03: Equine Nutrition
Roundtable #04: So You Want To Be An ECC Nurse?
Roundtable #05: Role of vet profession in promoting good breeding and early socialisation
Roundtable #06: Wildlife Euthanasia
Roundtable #07: Leadership strategies to address burnout
Roundtable #08: Organisation
Roundtable #9: Start up or buy-in
Fish health diagnostics
Understanding diagnostic tests for coagulopathies
Compassionate care beyond the clinic: The vital role of Veterinary Nurses in Palliative Care
Veterinary nurses play a critical, yet often underappreciated, role in palliative care providing compassionate support to both pets and their owners during some of the most difficult times. In palliative care, nurses are essential in ensuring comfort and quality of life for terminally ill pets, offering pain management, emotional support, and guidance for owners navigating these challenging decisions. As we look at ways to support pet owners during this process, we are uniquely positioned to help alleviate the burden on clinics by providing in-home care options.
In this lecture, we’ll discuss the invaluable role that veterinary nurses play in these sensitive areas, and how we can extend our expertise beyond the clinic to offer much-needed relief and comfort to pet owners during these emotional times. It’s about more than just medical care; it’s about supporting the hearts and minds of our clients when they need it most.
Selling it’s not a dirty word
Every veterinary clinic wants to do the best for the pet whilst managing a profitable and sustainable business.
However, some staff struggle with the concept of selling and this may cause them to miss making clear suggestions to pet owners because they feel they are being pushy.
The perception of being pushy can ultimately impact your bottom line.
We really don’t know what an owner is prepared to invest in the health of their pet so why do staff make those assumptions for them.
Michael Bambacas of Create Learning is a learning and development specialist who designs and delivers programs to the animal health, veterinary and agri-business sectors throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Michael will provide insights into the fundamental skill we take for granted, communication. He will challenge the status quo around the concept of selling.
In this presentation Michael Bambacas will discuss,
- Perceptions and barriers to selling
- Using confident language
- Reinforcing value
You will leave the presentation with several key strategies you can introduce to your staff to improve their communication with pet owners and help them feel more comfortable about selling because they are still doing what’s best for the pet.
EXOTICS: An act of kindness: end-of-life care and stress-free euthanasia for exotic companion mammals
Understanding the coagulation cascade and associated diseases
From Fearful to Fear Free
Keep yourselves and your patients safe with these options for aggressive, anxious and angry animals
Mindset of successful Vet practice
Sound Equipment
Suicide and Herd immunity- awareness, prevention, the network of safety, and the research supporting it
Mast Cell Tumours Unveiled: Diagnosis, Management & Species-Specific Insights for Dogs and Cats
Preventative Care: The Answer to Affordable and Accessible Vet Care?
Saving Lives, One Drop at a Time: The Fundamentals of Blood Products
Key legal topics impacting the vet industry in 2025
Constantly overwhelmed? Tackling the busyness epidemic
Get on top of the constant to-do list, once and for all, without a single productivity hack in sight
Create your personal agenda –check the favourite icon
Panel: Women in veterinary business - pathways, models and inspiration
Corporatisation of Vet Profession, updates from the UK for Australia
Chair
Chair
Safer antibiotic use in smallies: big wins from small changes
Things we've been getting VERY wrong with antibiotics; simple changes you can make today; dealing with tricky patients and clients
Eovke
CoVET
Leadership in Surgery – Why technical skill isn’t enough, and how leadership directly impacts patient outcomes
IM3
Panel: First Impressions Count: Supporting Vet and Nurses to enter the profession
What students and graduates experience in their initial years will significantly influence the formation of their professional identity and their understanding of good practices. This panel discussion explore professional identityll address the significance of first impressions for veterinarians and nurses at the beginning of their careers and how mentors can influence their career longevity and satisfaction.
Supporting your team with initiating end of life and quality of life conversations
Managing canine otitis
Expect the Unexpected – Safeguarding your veterinary business from unexpected events
Pain management session for vets
Tricks for Tricky Extractions
Telehealth & consultations
Telehealth can be a tremendous tool in reducing barriers to veterinary care, especially for those with geographic, transportation, or mobility issues that make it harder to access care. There are some significant ways that telehealth can be used in practice, and also some areas where telehealth cannot replace in-person consultations.
The most common culture mistake: trying to be all things to everyone
Strong culture requires courage, communication, and compassion - but we so often forget the very first step: CLARITY. What culture are we actually trying to achieve? Hint: if your answer is the same as the clinic's down the road, you'll always be chasing your tail...
ECC: Emergency and Critical Care: Initial pain management at triage
Stranger Things: Unexpected Dentistry & Oral Surgery Cases
Internal medicine topic for small animals
Low-Hanging Fruit in Digital Marketing: Prioritise for Success
Running a veterinary clinic requires a sharp focus on effective digital marketing strategies to ensure you continue to grow. In this presentation, we'll show you how to identify and prioritise the most impactful online opportunities for your clinic. Learn to navigate through the clutter of digital options and choose the right paths that will help your practice grow and maintain a loyal client base.
When Things Go Wrong: Preparing for Aggression and Bites in the Veterinary Clinic
Tiered safety protocols, De-escalation strategies, Emergency response, Clinic design, Client communication
Anaesthesia: Don’t Hold Your Breathe - IPPV Made Easy!
Companion Animal - Avian influenza (H5N1 2.3.4.4b) is a worldwide pandemic, its impact has been catastrophic. Arrival in Australia will impact all vets, are you prepared?
AVIAN INFLUENZA:PUBLIC HEALTH & GENERAL PRACTICE
- Avian influenza H5N1 2.3.4.4b defined
- Summary of world update
- What happens in Australia
- How to be prepared for when it arrives
Nutrition and cancer patients
Client engagement
New graduates in the profession
CPR: The Basics of BLS - RECOVER
Malocclusions – How to Recognize Them and Treatment Options
Vets for Climate Action – A Global Movement
Indications for surgery in Dachshunds with IVDD
Veterinary workforce issues and solutions
Guiding Pet Owners to Your Doorstep
Discover how Petpack can enhance your clinic's communications to help more pet owners find you. Learn the importance of brand consistency throughout the customer journey and how our services reduce your team's workload and improve client engagement.Discover how Petpack can enhance your clinic's communications to help more pet owners find you. Learn the importance of brand consistency throughout the customer journey and how our services reduce your team's workload and improve client engagement.
What's In Those Fangs - Breaking Down Snake Venom
Triage and Management of Jaw Fractures in General Practice
What to do when urine trouble; urogential tips and tricks
Trauma-informed care in veterinary practice settings
CBD in Veterinary Medicine: Current Practices, Prescribing Trends, and Future Directions in Australia
- Learn where Australian vets are most commonly prescribing CBD in practice
- Potential use of CBD oil clinically to combat nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy
- Learn about current oncology study led by Dr Irina Gramer, MARS and how you can participate
Ready, Set, Stabilise- Stabilisation of the critical dog and cat
Healthy Herds, Happy Cats: A One Welfare Approach to Farm Life
Dairy farmers prefer having cats on the farm than using poison baits as they view the cats as safer, cheaper and more efficient and perceive them to have less impact on wildlife. Farmers have a relationship with working cats and using lethal cat management methods negatively impacts their wellbeing. Farmers stated that cat sterilization programs reduced the cat population and their impact on wildlife, improved cat behaviour and welfare, and benefited farmers’ wellbeing.
Saving Teeth in Periodontal Disease: Mission Accomplished
Tips for Reducing Fear and Aggression in the Clinic
Leading Psychologically Healthy Teams
- The role of Psychosocial Health & Safety in practice management
- Critical Leader mental health
- Distributed leadership in a multidisciplinary team - the key role played by veterinary nurses in building and sustaining healthy performance
- Emotional Intelligence and resilience
- Harnessing the science of psychology
- Imposter syndrome or underdeveloped professional identity?
"It Depends": A Smarter Way to Talk About Pet Nutrition
Beyond the Bag: Understanding how patient-specific factors influence dietary recommendations. Critical Evaluation: How to assess whether a diet meets nutritional needs without getting caught in brand loyalty or marketing traps. Budget and Compliance: Why affordability and owner buy-in are critical — and how to align diet plans with real-world constraints. Handling Common Client Questions: How to confidently navigate “Is this food good?” with practical, compassionate responses. Shifting the Conversation: Moving from a “good vs. bad” diet narrative to a nuanced, individualized nutrition strategy.
SURGERY: Take a breath; surgical management of respiratory emergencies
Beyond Euthanasia: The Vet Industry’s Pivotal Role in Humane Cat Management
Current urban cat management damages veterinary wellbeing and is ineffective. Solutions-based Community Cat Programs rapidly decrease free-roaming cats and the numbers of cats and kittens euthanised by veterinary teams. These programs are aligned with One Welfare and improve the wellbeing of humans, animals and the environments. Veterinarians have a pivotal role in humane urban cat management as advocates and enablers.
How do I perform permanent canine extractions in Cats and Dogs
Preventing dog bites to kids
I'm just a vet nurse, standing in front of an industry, asking it to value me
SURGERY: The Cutting Edge – Technological Advancements in Veterinary Surgery
Anaesthesia & Analgesia for Dentals
- Anaesthesia and analgesia in dental patients; techniques to help manage pain and postoperative recovery
- Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Local Anaesthesia
CATTLE: Impact of health of livestock production for the bottom line for producers
Making anxious animals your friend - a commonly missed business opportunity
Managing the risk of infection for a safer workplace
Interventional radiology
EQUINE: Recent Advances in Metabolic Diseases in Equids
- Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID): Updates on diagnosticapproaches and ongoing research
- Endocrinopathic Laminitis: Pathophysiology, risk factors, and emergingtherapeutic options for hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis
- Use of SGLT-2 Inhibitors in Equine Medicine: Investigating the use ofsodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors
- Muscle Atrophy in Equids: Application of the new Muscle Atrophy ScoringSystem (MASS; Herbst et al., 2022) and its relevance to metabolic diseaseassessment
Preventing extraction mishaps. Think before you cut
Pitchfest Listen to veterinary industry start-ups get their ideas off the ground (14:45-16:00)
Judges will assess the pitches for criteria of ingenuity, impact and business model
Palliative Care: Supporting End of Life - conversation with your team
Unlocking the Business Potential of Veterinary Nursing Consults
Multi modal approach to cancer
- Limb Sparing RT. Case example: combining surgery with adjunctive RT for Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumours.
- Stereo RT for Nasal tumours
- Stereo RT for Brain tumours.
- Half body irradiation for Lymphoma patients.
- Targeting primary tumours and oligometastatic disease in Lymph Nodes.
EQUINE Panel: Strategies to address equine care & staff shortages
Strategies to address equine care & staff shortages and what we do for the veterinary industry/ students at Living legends: the retirement home for racehorses.
The incidental finding: is it a cyst?
Conflict resolution
- Why conflict arises
- The psychology of negative behaviour
- De-escalating tension – what to do when somebody is yelling at you
- What do I say now?
- A framework for resolving conflict
Calling Out Poor Behaviours in Real Time
Can you? Should you? How to!
Panel Vet hospital logistics – managing disruption and challenges
Decision making in feline tooth resorptions: It is not all black and white
EQUINE: Coprescribing nutraceuticals, natural supplements and herbal medicines alongside conventional pharmaceutical treatment
Contact us
Sponsorship Enquiries
Ellen.phelan@terrapinn.com
Speaking Enquiries
Amanda.liversage@terrapinn.com
Marketing Enquiries
natalie.mcclelland@terrapinn.com
Chinese Sales Enquiries
zhengyumeng@cccmhpie.org.cn
General Enquiries
Meg.Obrien@terrapinn.com
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