The World Small Animal Veterinary Associations Annual Congress 2018

Dr. Niemiec just returned from a very successful trip to Singapore to participate in the World Small Animal Veterinary Associations Annual Congress. As the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry’s representative to the WSAVA as well as the Chair of the Regional Member Advocate committee, he was instrumental in the Members Forum and took part in the Assembly meeting. Following the assembly meeting, the WSAVA welfare guides were introduced.

He lectured almost every day of the Congress, in 4 different streams, Feline, How I treat, Nutrition, and the WSAVA Dental Guidelines stream.

The Dental guidelines stream was shared with Co-chair Dr. Jerzy Gawor. At the end of the lecture stream, many attendees signed the banner pledging to improve the lives of pets worldwide by making their oral health better.

Speaking of the WSAVA dental guidelines, as Chair of the Committee, he was promoting the guidelines at the Committee Forum, with one of the other Authors, Dr. Kymberley Stewart (Welfare). Finally, he is a leader of one of the sections of the WSAVA Strategic Planning Committee. They held a full day meeting to line out the plan for the next 5 years.

The Committee Forum

5 Year planning

While Dr. Niemiec was quite busy helping to improve the lives of animals worldwide, Singapore is a lovely city with many things to do. One of the best parts are the various food areas, where many vendors set up in a small place with hundreds of options (think high-class food trucks). The Congress has numerous social events as well where veterinarians from around the globe mingle and share experiences. At the Singapore night, Dr. Niemiec posed with Dr. Stewart (right) and Dr. Julie Stafford the AVMA representative to WSAVA as well as the current President of the Alaska VMA. Finally, one of the signature locations of Singapore is the Gardens by the Bay. Every night there is a free music and light show in the “Super Trees”. It’s a must see when you are in town.

The food area

Dr. Niemiec, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Julie Stafford

Speaking of WSAVA, Dr. Niemiec will be the featured speaker next year when the Congress moves to Toronto, CA in Mid July. Come to join him in Celebrating WSAVA’s return to North America.

Canadian Lecture Tour 2018

Dr. Niemiec recently completed his 2018 Canadian lecture tour on behalf of Hills Pet Nutrition.  He presented from Victoria on Vancouver Island in the west, all the way to Quebec City in the East.  Included were stops in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and London.

Dr. Niemiec speaking in Montreal

Dr. Niemiec with the Hills Pet Nutrition Canada team (From left) Christian St Hillaire, Julie Charpentier, and Dr Bob van Delst

Preparation for lecture in Calgary.

Attendees from the Calgary event signing the banner.

Arrival in Edmonton

Replica of the Santa Maria (Christopher Columbus) in the Mall of Edmonton.

Preparing for lecture for 160 people in Edmonton

 

The events were well attended as Dr. Niemiec has a following in Canada.  Interestingly, many vets are quite passionate about dentistry in Canada.

Included in the lecture were presentations at the Veterinary Schools in Calgary and St Heyesentha.  Dr. Niemiec has now presented at 4 of the 5 Canadian veterinary Schools. 

The University of Calgary Veterinary School

The announcement of the lecture at the University of Calgary

 

His lectures in Canada are slightly different from his usual presentation, focusing on improving compliance with your dental recommendations.  A key message is the utilization of the WSAVA dental guidelines.  To this end, he carried a banner for attendees to sign Pledging to improve the lives of all animals by improving their oral health.  By the end of the tour, the banner was full.

The banner filled with signatures.

CE by the SEA

Dr. Niemiec just returned from lecturing at CE by the Sea in Port Aransas. If you recall, this was the site of landfall for Hurricane Harvey last year at this time. As a matter of fact, Dr. Niemiec was scheduled to speak at the conference last year before it was cancelled.

The City/resort is still in the midst of recovery, but is doing overall fairly well. The signs of devastation were everywhere, but the rooms at the Port Royal are in excellent shape as is the pool and boardwalk to the beach. 

 

Signs of devastation

Rooms at the Port Royal

Pool view at the Port Royal

The lecture itself as well as the exhibit hall was in temporary housing, which made lecturing a challenge due to air conditioning and the thunderstorm, but the staff did a great job. The Texas VMA was there, of course, showing support.

The lecture hall

The exhibit hall

The Texas VMA

This conference is well set up for fun/family time. They have (or at least had) a gold tournament, even beach socials, and mornings off. One morning is set up for a fishing tournament. Speckled trout and redfish are the ones that we target. A large group of vets and significant others started on the trip in the morning with breakfast burritos.

Early morning start with breakfast burritos.

Early morning start with breakfast burritos

Dr. Jennifer May and her catch!

It was a glorious morning. The highlight being that Dr. Jennifer Fay caught a monster redfish.

This is a lovely area and is still in the midst of recovery. The resorts and restaurants are still getting back to normal slowly, but could use our support. Consider a trip down Corpus Christi way, you will be welcome, have a great time, and help the area heal.

#CEbytheSEA #PortRoyal #Travelogue #ContinuingEducation

With August marking National Pet Dental Health Month, Dr. Brook Niemiec traveled down under to speak at the World Veterinary Dental Congress/FSAVA and to help his Australian colleagues progress the field of veterinary dentistry even further.

To kick off the trip, Dr. Niemiec lectured at the OraVet Doggy Brunch where he was excited to discuss with the various attendees the importance of combating common dental issues faced by our beloved pets.

After brunch, Brook and the team spent the afternoon playing fetch with the furry friends in attendance – and giving them their monthly dental check-ups!

That’s when Dr. Niemiec received his 15-minutes of fame and was interviewed on Channel 7 News to talk about some of the signs and solutions of gum disease listed below.

Noted Signs:

• Bad breath
• Redness
• Tarter

Noted Solutions:

• OraVet Dental Chews
• Regular brushing

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As mentioned, Brook then proceeded to speak at the Federation of Asian Small Animal Veterinary Associations Congress while connecting with his worldwide colleagues. And just like that, a successful trip down under came to a close…

Stay tuned for more updates on Dr. Niemiec’s travels!