Western Veterinary Conference

Hello hello, I am back from Vegas and I survived!
Why was I in Vegas over my reading week you may ask?
Learning... of course... what else would I do in Las Vegas?!
Seriously tho, I attended the WVC with some fellow student veterinarians from my school and I had a blast!

Flew in Sunday so I missed the Sunday lectures and new attendee lunch :(
Monday was Dairy in the AM then I wandered about half of the exhibit hall. Order the new Large Animal Internal Medicine textbook at a sweet student discount and conference special was free shipping to Canada! Also had the Student and International banquets that evening! Met some students from California and Saskatchewan!
Tuesday was Beef in the AM and I got to see the infamous Dr. Sophia Yin (http://drsophiayin.com/ --- her blog has free downloadable posters! http://drsophiayin.com/blog) in the afternoon. She writes the Nerdbook and is HUGE in the dog behaviour world. In the evening the ladies went to see Thunder from Down Under ;)
Wednesday was more free exhibit hall swag and Small Ruminant in the PM
Thursday I didn't manage to wake up early enough to make the classes I wanted so we walked the strip instead! Caught the Bellagio fountain show twice and got 45 oz margaritas! The conference ended but we stayed an extra day.
Friday we tried the pool but it was too cool so we went to Freemont (Old Vegas)

What I learned:
- Higher planes of nutrition make better growth and milk production for heifers (from 1 L of milk replacer a day to 2.5 L!!)
- In the States they have Heifer facilities - so after calving the heifers go to a separate facility to wean, grow, and get bred, then they return to their home barns!!
- Goat pregnancy ketosis is a man-made disease due to selecting for larger litter sizes
- Tapered needles are nothing to be afraid of! And should be used for everything except strictly skin suturing
- That hospital pens are often missed when cleaning in large ranch operations
- That panting and licking of the lips are signs of fear and anxiety in dogs
- That you can just walk around Vegas with open alcohol
- 45 oz is too much fluid for one person to consume....
+ much more... my brain is a little tired from all the laundry I have had to do today and all the travelling!

There were LOTS of sponsors at the conference! A couple that I was pleased to have were Elanco, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merial. Thanks!

I recommend going if you have a chance in 2015! Even as a student, I feel like I got a fun vacation and some interesting points of view. Can't wait til next year!

https://www.facebook.com/WesternVeterinaryConf

Example of Dr. Yin's posters

Margarita!!! As big as my face!

;)

New Textbook coming in the mail in May!