2025 Spring into Feline Medicine
Speakers
Alexa Bersenas, DVM, MSc, DACVECC
Dr. Bersenas is a Professor at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), University of Guelph – her alma mater. She has been the Chief of the Emergency & Critical Care Service at the OVC since 2008. She completed an internship at the Atlantic Veterinary College University of PEI and practiced in Toronto before returning to academia where she completed a residency in Emergency & Critical Care. She has actively trained DVM and graduate students for nearly 20 years. She enjoys mentoring all levels of trainees and participating in continuing education nationally and internationally. Dr. Bersenas’ clinical interests include fluid delivery and respiratory medicine specifically supporting small animal patients in respiratory distress. She has a fondness for feline medicine and promoting patient-centered care. Her pets include a quirky orange tabby cat and a young English Cocker Spaniel.
Marie-Claude Blais, DVM, DACVIM
Dr. Marie-Claude Blais graduated from the Université de Montréal in 2002 before completing a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency at Tufts University in 2008 and a Fellowship in Transfusion Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. Since 2008, she has returned to the Université de Montréal, where she is now a full professor in Small Animal Internal Medicine and serves as the director of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vétérinaire (CHUV) Small Animal Blood Bank. Dr. Blais is particularly passionate about advancing feline transfusion medicine, with a focus on the entire process—from donor blood collection to resolving blood compatibility challenges. Her research aims to improve transfusion safety and efficacy in feline patients through better understanding of blood groups and compatibility testing. As such, she is widely recognized for her discovery of the canine Dal blood group and, more recently, for her investigation into novel blood groups beyond the AB blood system in cats.
Michael Lappin, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Lappin graduated from Oklahoma State University and then completed an internship, internal medicine residency, and PhD program in Parasitology at the University of Georgia. Dr. Lappin is the Kenneth W. Smith Professor in Small Animal Clinical Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University, is the director of the “Center for Companion Animal Studies” and he helps direct the shelter medicine program. His principal areas of interest are prevention of infectious diseases, the upper respiratory disease complex, infectious causes of fever, infectious causes of diarrhea, and zoonoses.
Patty Lathan, VMD, MS, DACVIM
Patty Lathan, VMD, MS, DACVIM, is a Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at Louisiana State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Texas A&M University, a VMD from the University of Pennsylvania, and then completed an internship at Mississippi State University and a residency in small animal internal medicine at Purdue University. She taught at Mississippi State University for 16 years prior to moving to LSU in 2023. Dr. Lathan specializes in endocrinology, specifically adrenal function testing, diabetes mellitus, and the mitigation of side effects of glucocorticoids. She is a past president of the Society for Comparative Endocrinology.
Susan Little, DVM, DABVP (Feline)
Dr. Susan Little received her DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. She has been board-certified in Feline Practice since 1997. She is part owner of two feline specialty practices in Ottawa, Canada. She has served on the board of the International Council for Veterinary Assessments, the American Association of Feline Practitioners, and the Winn Feline Foundation (now EveryCat Foundation). She is a peer reviewer for veterinary journals as well as the author or co-author of many journal articles. Dr. Little is the recipient of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Small Animal Practitioner Award (2010), the NAVC Small Animal Speaker of the Year Award (2013), and the International Society of Feline Medicine/Hill’s Pet Nutrition Award for outstanding contributions to feline medicine (2013). She is the editor and co-author of The Cat – Clinical Medicine and Management (2nd edition, 2024) and August’s Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine, Volume 7.
Valerie Parker, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM, Nutrition)
Dr. Parker is currently a Clinical Professor at The Ohio State University. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (boarded in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nutrition).
Valerie Poirier, DVM, MSc, DACVIM (Oncology), DACVR (Radiation Oncology), DECVIM (Oncology and Rad Onc)
Dr Valerie Poirier is an associate professor of veterinary radiation oncology at the Animal Cancer Centre of the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in Canada. She completed her veterinary training at the University of Montreal. She completed a medical oncology residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to Europe to complete a radiation oncology residency at the VetSuisse faculty of the University of Zurich. She worked 8 years down under in Australia and New Zealand before coming back to Canada in 2019 and is currently completing a diagnostic imaging residency.
Angela Rollins, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-Nutrition
Dr. Angela Rollins is a Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® and Clinical Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rollins is a lifelong volunteer, having completed all her education and training at the University of Tennessee, including her DVM, PhD, and nutrition residency program. Dr. Rollins is currently a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Nutrition) and Past-president of the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition. She has authored numerous research publications in the field of animal nutrition with a primary research focus on companion animal obesity physiology, treatment and prevention.
Ashlie Saffire, DVM, DABVP (Feline)
Dr. Saffire is a graduate of The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine and is board certified in feline practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. She is a published author, serves as president of the Feline Veterinary Medical Association (FelineVMA), and is a tutor for the University of Sydney’s Feline Distance Education Program. She is both Cat Friendly and Fear Free Certified and owner of the Cat Specialty Center at Faithful Friends Veterinary Clinic, an AAHA accredited and Gold Level Cat Friendly Practice in Dublin, Ohio. As an invited speaker, Dr. Saffire hopes to share her clinical experience and expertise in feline medicine with the veterinary profession.
Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT
Renee Schmid, DVM, DABT, DABVT, is the Director, Veterinary Medicine, Pet Poison Helpline and Senior Veterinary Toxicologist for Pet Poison Helpline/SafetyCall International. Dr. Schmid graduated from Kansas State University and is a Diplomate of both the American Board of Toxicology and American Board of Veterinary Toxicology. While at Pet Poison Helpline, Dr. Schmid has had the opportunity to manage thousands of cases involving animal poisonings. In addition, she has presented on various toxins and leadership at both state, regional, and national conferences as well as national webinars. Dr. Schmid has published scientific book chapters on a variety of toxins and general poisoning therapies. Dr. Schmid has also published peer-reviewed scientific articles on intermediate syndrome after suspected organophosphate poisoning in a dog, xylitol, and mirabegron poisoning in dogs. Dr. Schmid is the Chair of the Examining Committee for the Amercan Board of Veterinary Toxicology, serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for dvm360 and is a peer reviewer for Merck Veterinary Manual and various veterinary medical journals.
Madeleine Stein, BVetMed, MSc, DACVIM
Madeleine Stein has been an assistant professor in small animal internal medicine at Lousiana State University since 2024, where her primary clinical interest is nephrology and urology. She completed her veterinary training at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London followed by a rotating internship then Master’s at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada. She undertook her residency training at Tufts University.
Amanda Taylor, DVM, DACVIM (Neurology), CVA, CCRP
Dr. Amanda R. Taylor received her DVM from the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences. She completed an internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at Colorado State University and a residency in Neurology and Neurosurgery at Texas A&M University. Dr. Taylor is certified in Neurosurgery by the ACVIM, acupuncture by the Chi Institute and canine rehabilitation by the University of Tennessee. Her research interests include MRI and neurosurgery. She is currently a neurologist/neurosurgeon and the Director of Education and Wellness at Southeast Veterinary Neurology. Dr. Taylor is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Neurology).
Samantha Taylor, BVetMed (Hons), CertSAM, DECVIM-CA, MANZCVS, FRCVS
After graduation, Sam completed internships in referral practice before starting a Feline Advisory Bureau Residency at Bristol University. She was awarded the European Diploma in Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2009. In 2011 she became an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Feline Medicine and in 2019 was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for outstanding contributions to the profession. She is a Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (Feline Medicine) and works for the International Cat Care Veterinary Society as a Specialist Consultant and as a Medicine Specialist at Lumbry Park. Sam is an Honorary Lecturer at Surrey Veterinary School, an editorial board member for JFMS, a tutor on the Sydney CVE feline medicine course, coordinates iCatCare Guidelines and is a consultant for the Veterinary Information Network. Sam co-authored guidelines on hypertension, diabetes mellitus, NSAIDs, acute pain, inappetence, blood transfusion and urinary tract disease. She has written books, book chapters and published on various medicine topics and enjoys a mix of clinical work, writing and lecturing. She has a particular interest in clinical research to improve feline health and wellbeing and has been involved in the launch of legal drugs to treat FIP.