Head of Emergency and Critical Care receives best case report honour
Press release
25 November 2008
Dr Trudi McAlees, Head of the Veterinary Hospital’s Emergency and Critical Care department, was recently awarded the Australian Small Animal Veterinary Association (ASAVA) accolade for the Australian Veterinary Practitioner Best Case Report at the ASAVA 35th Annual Conference held in Cairns.
Dr McAlees’ paper, co-authored by Dr Steven Hollaway of the Veterinary Clinic, reported on a unique case of a Siamese cat whose core body temperature had remained persistently low following treatment for head injury sustained in a car accident.
Dr McAlees said: “Chronic low or high body temperature have been documented in humans following damage to the hypothalamus in the brain, however to our knowledge, we haven’t been aware of any reports of hypothermia as a lasting complication of head trauma in cats, which made it an unusual and interesting case.
“Fortunately the cat gradually recovered full neurological function, but since the accident has remained persistently hypothermic, unless exposed to an external heat source.”
In another significant achievement, Trudi has also recently become the first ever Fellow of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Emergency and Critical Care (E&CC), and is now a Registered Specialist in the E&CC arena.
Trudi undertook her fellowship training over the past five years under the supervision of Drs Steve Holloway and Sarah Haldane from the Veterinary Clinic, and Dr Kate Hopper at the University of California-Davis in America.
The implications of Trudi’s new qualifications are very encouraging for the clinic’s emergency veterinary services. “It means that now we are able to offer a fellowship training program to residents, and they can train right here in Werribee.”
For further information please contact the Marketing Manager, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: vet-communications@unimelb.edu.au