This one-day, highly-practical workshop will provide a general overview of rabbit and small mammal medicine and surgery to help you develop the skills and knowledge required to gain confidence when seeing these patients in your practice.

The topics covered will include:

  • Common clinical conditions in small mammals
  • Reproductive surgery and anaesthesia
  • Husbandry and related disease
  • Common clinical techniques and supportive care

The practical session will focus on:

  • Oral examination techniques in rabbits and guinea pigs
  • Common clinical techniques
  • Desexing top tips

Working in groups of maximum 3 people you will get plenty of opportunity to practice the different techniques.

Speaker Biography:

Kevin Turner

BVSc

Kevin graduated from Massey University in 1996 and has worked mainly in small animal practice since.  After 8 years between three Auckland clinics he purchased a clinic with an existing interest in exotic pet medicine.  Kevin spent the next 4 years training under the previous owner and joined the Association of Avian Veterinarians and the Unusual and Exotic Pet special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association.  He also completed the Massey University postgraduate paper in Avian Medicine.

In 2007 Kevin launched the Exotic Pet Referral Centre – the first privately owned centre of its kind in NZ.  Since then, he has spent much of his time promoting improved standards of care in the field of exotic pets.  His caseload has included Antarctic penguins, sharks, dozens of species of pet and wild birds, reptiles and small mammals.  Kevin is currently practicing in Northland.

Jodi Salinsky

BA, BS, DVM, MANZCVS (Avian)

Jodi has spent the last 25 years working with animals in many different aspects of veterinary medicine. Several years at Oregon Zoo were spent training raptors and working as a veterinary nurse. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) in 2001, and during that time discovered wildlife medicine. She began working intensively with seals and sea lions and did her residency in Zoo, Avian and Wildlife Medicine at Wildbase (Massey University) and Wellington Zoo, after working for several years at the Auckland SPCA.

Jodi is passionate about the health, welfare and behaviour of “exotic” animals and was a lecturer at Unitec for seven years in the Bachelor of Applied Science, Diploma of Veterinary Nursing and the Captive Wild Animals and Animal Welfare Investigations certificates. As an active member of the ANZCVS, she is an examiner for the Avian Chapter. Currently, she is the Animal Welfare Officer and University Veterinarian at the University of Auckland and works with a wide variety of exotic and companion animals.