November 21, 2025 • 15 mins
We sit down with award-winning equine researcher Dr. Charlie Barton to unpack a controlled randomized trial from Colorado State University that challenges the tradition of fasting horses before general anesthesia—and the results are hard to ignore. Horses allowed hay before anesthesia passed manure much sooner post-op, often within three hours, while fasted horses took up to eight. Even better, careful intraoperative monitoring showed no difference in oxygenation or other key anesthesia parameters.
We walk through how the team designed the study and learn how the data point toward a protocol change with real-world benefits: faster GI recovery, shorter hospital stays, lower exposure to hospital pathogens, and calmer patients who aren’t fighting muzzles or playing in water buckets out of boredom. Along the way, Charlie shares surprises in the data, how behavior can skew water measurements, and why aligning practice with species biology can be helpful.
This conversation also opens the curtain on collaborative research in a busy hospital—how a residency project became a catalyst for protocol change and sparked interest from other clinics reevaluating their feeding plans. We close with practical takeaways for veterinarians, clear guidance for horse owners, and a few personal notes about career pivots, coffee before rounds, mountain trails, and the joy of seeing horses munch hay on their way to safer, smoother recoveries.
If you care about equine anesthesia, postoperative colic risk, and evidence-based protocols, you’ll want to hear this. Subscribe, share with your surgery and anesthesia teams, and leave a review to let us know your hospital’s approach—and whether you’re ready to feed before general anesthesia.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.24.04.0235
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
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SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Welcome to Veterinary Vertex, the AVMA
Journal's podcast, where wedelve into behind-the-scenes
look with manuscript authors.
I'm editor-in-chief LisaFordier, and I'm joined by
Associate Editor Sarah Wright.
Today we're exploring anabsolute mythbuster, and that is
how fasting horsesperioperatively actually
decreases manure production andincreases the time for manure
(00:56):
output postoperatively, with thejournal award winner and hot dog
equine researcher CharlieBarton.
SPEAKER_02 (01:04):
Charlie, thank you so much for being here today.
Thank you guys so much forhaving me.
So before we dive in, could youshare a little about your
background and what brought youto this project?
SPEAKER_03 (01:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
So at the time we were doingthis project, I was a surgery
resident at CSU.
I've since finished residencylast year, and I stayed on at
CSU as a postdoc to focus onresearch, but this study was one
of my residency researchprojects.
So we were collecting data forit kind of throughout my whole
residency.
(01:35):
And then we got the finalmanuscript published in Javma
just before I finished lastyear.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
Charlie, your JAVMA article talks about how
basically test the dogma, why wealways fasted horses
preoperatively.
We thought it was going to haveall these negative impacts on
anesthetic parameters.
But as I said in theintroduction, it's a complete
myth buster.
And you show how the horses withcontinued access to hay prior to
and fallen recovery actuallypass more manure and pass more
(02:04):
manure sooner.
Again, please walk us throughthe motivation behind this
research.
It's really, we say research,but it's clinical research.
And this is really superimportant for our field.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
Yeah, so in the hospital, we were previously
fasting the horses for six toeight hours before general
anesthesia across the board forall of our elective cases.
And then at that time, ourhorses were also on straw
bedding, so they had to bemuzzled.
And this fasting protocol hadbeen the same since forever.
Um, it was just kind of whateverybody had done.
(02:36):
And we started to question ifreally fasting them and muzzling
them was really going to be thebest practice.
And then looking into theliterature that we had, they
initially thought that if wefasted horses, it would reduce
the incidence of colic.
It would improve the oxygenationof these horses under GA as
well, as they thought that avery full colon was going to
(02:57):
press against the diaphragm andthat would reduce the
oxygenation.
And then in other species inwhich some of this fasting data
was extrapolated from, vomitingand regurgitation is a big
problem.
So obviously, horses can'tvomit, so that's not really a
concern for us, and also theircontinuous grazes.
So we started to think thatactually, if they were able to
(03:20):
have access to hay, that wouldactually improve and give them
some benefit from a GI colicperspective.
Um, so we wanted to create aprospective controlled study
that looked at these variables,and then that would provide some
evidence-based recommendationsthat we could use, at least in
our hospital moving forwards,and uh hopefully other people
would read and start thinkingabout and also start questioning
(03:42):
in their hospitals too.
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Yeah, amazing that you got this done.
And prospective studies are alsoreally difficult to do.
Uh, tell me more about how youdesigned the study to ensure
that there was safety underanesthesia.
And honestly, the conversationswith anesthesia, how do you get
them on board for to design andimplement this prospective
study?
SPEAKER_03 (04:03):
So we have an amazing um anesthesia team at
CSU.
They were involved in the studyfrom the start.
Um, and there was a veryspecific protocol that we
followed to ensure that thestudy was adequately controlled
because we know that anestheticdrugs can impact their GI
function.
So Dr.
Rachel Hector was one of theanesthesiologists who really
(04:23):
helped drive this.
Um, and from looking at theliterature, we hypothesized that
other retrospective studies andum wouldn't affect the
oxygenation of these horses.
And then whenever they wereunder GA, we monitored a lot of
intraoperative parameters.
So we looked at hypoperfusionthroughout the course of
surgery, and then also the PAO2,just to make sure that they were
(04:46):
adequately oxygenating.
We didn't actually end upfinding any difference between
the fasted or fed horses interms of the anesthetic
variables.
But if we had seen a difference,we would have stopped this study
earlier.
Um, but thankfully there was nodifference at all.
SPEAKER_01 (05:02):
Fascinating.
I went to CSU, as you probablyknow, and I I remember debating
did I want to specialize inanesthesia surgery because both
teams were and still are very,very strong at CSU, a very
thoughtful uh forward thinking.
SPEAKER_03 (05:17):
Yeah, it's really lucky, and everyone works
together so well.
Like this whole study was trulya team effort.
So it was it was awesome to seeall come together.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Were there any things that surprised you or
aspects of it that wentdifferently than what you
thought might happen?
SPEAKER_03 (05:33):
So we had hypothesized initially that
there was going to be adifference in water intake
between the groups.
Interestingly, we didn'tactually find a statistical
significance between the groupsin terms of water intake.
Uh, one of the things that wehad noticed in our horses that
were muzzled is that they tendedto play in their water buckets
um just because they didn't havetheir hay to munch on.
So um they would play in kind ofthe water a lot.
(05:56):
So potentially we lost somewater from those groups from
them playing, so that could haveaffected our results.
Um, but that's definitelysomething that I found
interesting and would um wouldlike to look into more.
Uh and then I guess the other umthing that I was surprised about
was the speed of manure passagein the horses that were fasted
compared to the ones that werefed.
(06:18):
Um it was actually a really bigdifference.
So the horses that we fed passmanure within three hours after
recovery.
But the fasted horses, it tookup to eight hours for them to
pass manure.
So it was actually a really bigdifference.
And I don't think I reallyappreciated how big that
difference would be.
SPEAKER_01 (06:34):
And clinically that's so important because as
equine surgeons, we don't want ahorse to go home until they have
normal manure output.
So that may mean another day ortwo in the hospital, which is
obviously higher cost and morechances for catching other
infections from other patientsin the hospital.
Just a really, really stunningmanuscript.
SPEAKER_03 (06:55):
Yeah, thank you.
It's I'm really happy with howit's changed and everything in
our hospital.
Um, and also to provide someevidence for some of the things
that we thought.
Um, so I'm pretty excited by it.
And it makes me happy to see allthe horses in the hospital kind
of munching on the hay beforesurgery.
SPEAKER_02 (07:09):
So, Charlie, what are some of the key take-home
messages that you hopeveterinarians and clients will
remember?
SPEAKER_03 (07:15):
So, in our population, we found that horses
that were fed before generalanesthesia pass more manure and
pass manure more quicklyfollowing recovery than the
horses that were fasted.
Um, so I'm hoping that uh peoplewill think about their
anesthetic feeding protocols anduh hopefully start feeding
horses before GA.
SPEAKER_01 (07:37):
Yeah, super important.
Also, it's hard to ask a clientlike, please don't feed your
horse all night.
And I had a lot of horses thatwould trailer in for same-day
outpatient arthroscopy.
You're like, you have to trailerthe horses used to munching on
hay, and you're like, no, can'thave any hay.
So I think it's uh it's justsuper impactful.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah, definitely.
And we uh we noticed we, as Isaid, we had all the um horses
on straw.
So whenever you take away thehay, they start trying to eat
their straw and then kind oflike playing and sharing some of
those boredom behaviors.
So uh eating, I think keeps themhappy, both from a GI
perspective and also mentally,too.
SPEAKER_01 (08:12):
Yeah, makes total, it makes total sense.
All right, let's switch gear andtalk about you winning one of
the Aviumate Journal Awards.
How did it feel when you foundout you're nominated and then
you won the award?
SPEAKER_03 (08:24):
I was really excited for the award.
The the project had been reallycool, but like very challenging
at times, especially with thedata collection.
Um, so every time a horse wasenrolled, there was um
round-the-clock manurecollection and measuring and
water measurements and painscoring.
So there was a lot of sleeplessdiets involved on top of the
residency on call.
(08:45):
So I was really excited that umthe research was impactful in
the hospital.
Um, and then to get the furtherrecognition and the additional
visibility through the award wasawesome.
Like seeing uh how impactfulthat their study um was to other
places as well.
So it's been awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
That's great.
Uh when you heard, was there onepart of your team that you
immediately thought of?
SPEAKER_03 (09:11):
I was pretty excited to share the news with everyone.
It was such a big team effort.
Um so as I said, Dr.
Rachel Hector really drove theproject from the anesthesia
side, setting up the protocoland the data collection that was
performed interoperatively.
And then the whole of theelective surgery team were also
on board and they took the timeto enroll their cases and were
(09:32):
really supportive of theproject.
Um, and then of course, Dr.
Laura Goodrich was my mentor uhthroughout this.
So I was really excited to shareit with her, and she was really
excited by the project.
Um, and then she also reallydrove the implementation of the
findings from the study into thehospital.
Um, so it led to us changing uhall of our feeding protocols in
(09:53):
the hospital for elective cases.
Um so I was super excited foreveryone to hear the news.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
That's great.
If you could go back, Charlie,uh, based on your residency, if
you go back and tell youryounger self or a student who's
looking at a residency one thingabout that journey, what would
it be?
SPEAKER_03 (10:10):
Um, I always find this really hard.
So I think just to embrace allthe opportunities you get along
the way.
Um, so I went into residencythinking.
I hadn't had much research umexperience.
So I kind of went into residencythinking all about the surgery
and um kept an open mind andthen was really excited to be
involved in the research too.
(10:32):
So I think um one of the bigthings I would tell myself going
back was just to keep an openmind.
Um, kind of take all theopportunities you can, kind of
figure out what you like, andthen uh follow that path and
don't keep like a set path inmind, just be open to change and
and opportunities.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
Yeah, always a good idea to keep those doors open
because you never know wherethey're gonna lead.
Yeah, absolutely.
Charlie, how has receiving theaward influenced your research
or your career since then?
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
So I think the award really helped this study gain
and its findings too, gain somevisibility.
And so getting more peopletalking about feeding protocols
and just thinking about whatthey're doing in their hospital
and if they can uh makeimprovements or adjustments to
that.
So it's been really cool to havehad people from other hospitals
reach out and ask us what we'redoing and uh kind of talking
(11:23):
about what they're doing and howthey might change that.
And so seeing the impact of thestudy and then its extra
visibility has been reallyexciting.
And then it's also given us somefollow-up ideas of things that
we might do to um get moreevidence in this area too.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
Charlie, looking back, uh, what were some pivotal
moments that uh really sparkedyour interest in veterinary
medicine?
SPEAKER_03 (11:47):
So I think my whole first year of residency, in a
way, was kind of a pivotal time.
It was certainly verychallenging as well, but it was
when I first got exposure toresearch and I started to be
involved in my own projects andwas when I actually started
realizing how much I reallyliked the research as well as
surgery, too.
So that was a time that Istarted rethinking where I saw
(12:08):
my career going.
And then the rest of myresidency really reinforced that
as I finished up some projectsand saw the impact that research
can make and change how we carefor our patients and also
improve the standard of carethat we can offer to our
patients.
Um, so I think that whole timetotally changed the direction
that I saw myself going.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
And what sparked your original interest in
veterinary medicine?
SPEAKER_03 (12:32):
Uh, so I wanted to be a vet as long as I can
remember.
Um, I always loved horsesgrowing up.
I grew up riding and I wasworking at a bar and whenever I
could too.
So I knew I wanted to be anequine vet, but my interests in
kind of the veterinary worldchanged as I went through the
process.
So it wasn't until I was in vetschool that I realized how much
(12:53):
I loved surgery.
And then as I went through theprocess of going towards surgery
residencies, um, kind of my thesurgeries that I liked changed.
And then in residency, I startedreally liking research too.
So I think my interest hasdefinitely changed um throughout
the path.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
So now we're gonna boil it down to one important
piece of information, Charlie.
So the first is gonna be dealingwith the veterinarian's
perspective.
So, Charlie, what is one pieceof information the veterinarian
should know about fasting horsesperioperatively?
SPEAKER_03 (13:24):
So, from the findings of our research that
horses that are um not fastedbefore general anesthesia passed
more manure and manure morequickly uh following recovery.
So uh definitely consider notfasting the horses prior to
elective surgery.
SPEAKER_02 (13:41):
Now, on the other side of the relationship for
clients, what's one thing thatyou wish more horse owners
understood about this topic?
SPEAKER_03 (13:48):
I think the same that potentially not fasting
horses prior to generalanesthesia could be beneficial,
um, but definitely somethingthat they should discuss with
their vet um on the bestpractice for their horse.
Um and yeah, hopefully we canget more horses eating before
surgery.
SPEAKER_01 (14:04):
Perfect.
Okay, Charlie, before we wrapup, just a few fun questions.
Are you a coffee person?
Coffee before rounds, coffee allday person?
Which one are you?
SPEAKER_03 (14:15):
Coffee before rounds, definitely.
Before residency, I'd wake upwith that caffeine headache and
then I'd need my coffee to kindof make it go away.
Um so definitely before rounds.
Excellent.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
We talk about a lot about wellness and well-being
and work-life balance.
What's your go-to stress relief?
SPEAKER_03 (14:32):
I love being outdoors.
So living in Colorado is apretty great place.
Um, so um, taking my dog for ahike in the mountains, and I
also love running, so going on atrail run, um, kind of anything
that gets me outside, um, Ireally enjoy doing.
SPEAKER_01 (14:47):
Charlie loves running so much she recently had
a stress fracture in her foot.
SPEAKER_03 (14:52):
Yes, I probably should have mentioned that.
Can't run right now, but walkingthe dog, but yeah, definitely
did a little bit too muchrunning.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Yeah, Colorado's beautiful.
If you weren't in veterinarymedicine, what other career do
you think you'd love?
SPEAKER_03 (15:06):
Um, so both my parents are in the aviation
industry.
My mom's an airline pilot.
Um, and I think I would reallylove to do something with
aviation, maybe even a pilot.
I just find that side of thingsso interesting.
And so I think I would have gonedown that route.
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
Very cool.
Well, Charlie, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Really appreciate you being heretoday.
And congratulations again onbeing a journal award winner.
Thank you so much, and thank youfor having me.
And for our listeners, you canread Charlie's award-winning
article in Javma.
I'm Sarah Wright here with LisaFortier.
Be sure to tune in next week foranother episode of Veterinary
Vertex.
And don't forget to leave us arating and review on Epic
(15:44):
Podcast or wherever you listen.
From the makers of FET recommended Green East
Dental Treats comes an easy wayto support your dog's wellness.
Green Eats Smart Essentials, DryFood Delivers, and Friedbalanced
Nutritionists withscience-backed recipes.
Green Eats Supplements,developed by a team of PhD
animal nutritionists, offersoptions to help support healthy
(00:21):
joints, digestion, and more.
Whether it's meal time ormobility support, Green Eats
helps you care for your dog fromthe inside out.
Learn more at greeneats.com.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Welcome to Veterinary Vertex, the AVMA
Journal's podcast, where wedelve into behind-the-scenes
look with manuscript authors.
I'm editor-in-chief LisaFordier, and I'm joined by
Associate Editor Sarah Wright.
Today we're exploring anabsolute mythbuster, and that is
how fasting horsesperioperatively actually
decreases manure production andincreases the time for manure
(00:56):
output postoperatively, with thejournal award winner and hot dog
equine researcher CharlieBarton.
SPEAKER_02 (01:04):
Charlie, thank you so much for being here today.
Thank you guys so much forhaving me.
So before we dive in, could youshare a little about your
background and what brought youto this project?
SPEAKER_03 (01:15):
Yeah, absolutely.
So at the time we were doingthis project, I was a surgery
resident at CSU.
I've since finished residencylast year, and I stayed on at
CSU as a postdoc to focus onresearch, but this study was one
of my residency researchprojects.
So we were collecting data forit kind of throughout my whole
residency.
(01:35):
And then we got the finalmanuscript published in Javma
just before I finished lastyear.
SPEAKER_01 (01:41):
Charlie, your JAVMA article talks about how
basically test the dogma, why wealways fasted horses
preoperatively.
We thought it was going to haveall these negative impacts on
anesthetic parameters.
But as I said in theintroduction, it's a complete
myth buster.
And you show how the horses withcontinued access to hay prior to
and fallen recovery actuallypass more manure and pass more
(02:04):
manure sooner.
Again, please walk us throughthe motivation behind this
research.
It's really, we say research,but it's clinical research.
And this is really superimportant for our field.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
Yeah, so in the hospital, we were previously
fasting the horses for six toeight hours before general
anesthesia across the board forall of our elective cases.
And then at that time, ourhorses were also on straw
bedding, so they had to bemuzzled.
And this fasting protocol hadbeen the same since forever.
Um, it was just kind of whateverybody had done.
(02:36):
And we started to question ifreally fasting them and muzzling
them was really going to be thebest practice.
And then looking into theliterature that we had, they
initially thought that if wefasted horses, it would reduce
the incidence of colic.
It would improve the oxygenationof these horses under GA as
well, as they thought that avery full colon was going to
(02:57):
press against the diaphragm andthat would reduce the
oxygenation.
And then in other species inwhich some of this fasting data
was extrapolated from, vomitingand regurgitation is a big
problem.
So obviously, horses can'tvomit, so that's not really a
concern for us, and also theircontinuous grazes.
So we started to think thatactually, if they were able to
(03:20):
have access to hay, that wouldactually improve and give them
some benefit from a GI colicperspective.
Um, so we wanted to create aprospective controlled study
that looked at these variables,and then that would provide some
evidence-based recommendationsthat we could use, at least in
our hospital moving forwards,and uh hopefully other people
would read and start thinkingabout and also start questioning
(03:42):
in their hospitals too.
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Yeah, amazing that you got this done.
And prospective studies are alsoreally difficult to do.
Uh, tell me more about how youdesigned the study to ensure
that there was safety underanesthesia.
And honestly, the conversationswith anesthesia, how do you get
them on board for to design andimplement this prospective
study?
SPEAKER_03 (04:03):
So we have an amazing um anesthesia team at
CSU.
They were involved in the studyfrom the start.
Um, and there was a veryspecific protocol that we
followed to ensure that thestudy was adequately controlled
because we know that anestheticdrugs can impact their GI
function.
So Dr.
Rachel Hector was one of theanesthesiologists who really
(04:23):
helped drive this.
Um, and from looking at theliterature, we hypothesized that
other retrospective studies andum wouldn't affect the
oxygenation of these horses.
And then whenever they wereunder GA, we monitored a lot of
intraoperative parameters.
So we looked at hypoperfusionthroughout the course of
surgery, and then also the PAO2,just to make sure that they were
(04:46):
adequately oxygenating.
We didn't actually end upfinding any difference between
the fasted or fed horses interms of the anesthetic
variables.
But if we had seen a difference,we would have stopped this study
earlier.
Um, but thankfully there was nodifference at all.
SPEAKER_01 (05:02):
Fascinating.
I went to CSU, as you probablyknow, and I I remember debating
did I want to specialize inanesthesia surgery because both
teams were and still are very,very strong at CSU, a very
thoughtful uh forward thinking.
SPEAKER_03 (05:17):
Yeah, it's really lucky, and everyone works
together so well.
Like this whole study was trulya team effort.
So it was it was awesome to seeall come together.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Were there any things that surprised you or
aspects of it that wentdifferently than what you
thought might happen?
SPEAKER_03 (05:33):
So we had hypothesized initially that
there was going to be adifference in water intake
between the groups.
Interestingly, we didn'tactually find a statistical
significance between the groupsin terms of water intake.
Uh, one of the things that wehad noticed in our horses that
were muzzled is that they tendedto play in their water buckets
um just because they didn't havetheir hay to munch on.
So um they would play in kind ofthe water a lot.
(05:56):
So potentially we lost somewater from those groups from
them playing, so that could haveaffected our results.
Um, but that's definitelysomething that I found
interesting and would um wouldlike to look into more.
Uh and then I guess the other umthing that I was surprised about
was the speed of manure passagein the horses that were fasted
compared to the ones that werefed.
(06:18):
Um it was actually a really bigdifference.
So the horses that we fed passmanure within three hours after
recovery.
But the fasted horses, it tookup to eight hours for them to
pass manure.
So it was actually a really bigdifference.
And I don't think I reallyappreciated how big that
difference would be.
SPEAKER_01 (06:34):
And clinically that's so important because as
equine surgeons, we don't want ahorse to go home until they have
normal manure output.
So that may mean another day ortwo in the hospital, which is
obviously higher cost and morechances for catching other
infections from other patientsin the hospital.
Just a really, really stunningmanuscript.
SPEAKER_03 (06:55):
Yeah, thank you.
It's I'm really happy with howit's changed and everything in
our hospital.
Um, and also to provide someevidence for some of the things
that we thought.
Um, so I'm pretty excited by it.
And it makes me happy to see allthe horses in the hospital kind
of munching on the hay beforesurgery.
SPEAKER_02 (07:09):
So, Charlie, what are some of the key take-home
messages that you hopeveterinarians and clients will
remember?
SPEAKER_03 (07:15):
So, in our population, we found that horses
that were fed before generalanesthesia pass more manure and
pass manure more quicklyfollowing recovery than the
horses that were fasted.
Um, so I'm hoping that uh peoplewill think about their
anesthetic feeding protocols anduh hopefully start feeding
horses before GA.
SPEAKER_01 (07:37):
Yeah, super important.
Also, it's hard to ask a clientlike, please don't feed your
horse all night.
And I had a lot of horses thatwould trailer in for same-day
outpatient arthroscopy.
You're like, you have to trailerthe horses used to munching on
hay, and you're like, no, can'thave any hay.
So I think it's uh it's justsuper impactful.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah, definitely.
And we uh we noticed we, as Isaid, we had all the um horses
on straw.
So whenever you take away thehay, they start trying to eat
their straw and then kind oflike playing and sharing some of
those boredom behaviors.
So uh eating, I think keeps themhappy, both from a GI
perspective and also mentally,too.
SPEAKER_01 (08:12):
Yeah, makes total, it makes total sense.
All right, let's switch gear andtalk about you winning one of
the Aviumate Journal Awards.
How did it feel when you foundout you're nominated and then
you won the award?
SPEAKER_03 (08:24):
I was really excited for the award.
The the project had been reallycool, but like very challenging
at times, especially with thedata collection.
Um, so every time a horse wasenrolled, there was um
round-the-clock manurecollection and measuring and
water measurements and painscoring.
So there was a lot of sleeplessdiets involved on top of the
residency on call.
(08:45):
So I was really excited that umthe research was impactful in
the hospital.
Um, and then to get the furtherrecognition and the additional
visibility through the award wasawesome.
Like seeing uh how impactfulthat their study um was to other
places as well.
So it's been awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
That's great.
Uh when you heard, was there onepart of your team that you
immediately thought of?
SPEAKER_03 (09:11):
I was pretty excited to share the news with everyone.
It was such a big team effort.
Um so as I said, Dr.
Rachel Hector really drove theproject from the anesthesia
side, setting up the protocoland the data collection that was
performed interoperatively.
And then the whole of theelective surgery team were also
on board and they took the timeto enroll their cases and were
(09:32):
really supportive of theproject.
Um, and then of course, Dr.
Laura Goodrich was my mentor uhthroughout this.
So I was really excited to shareit with her, and she was really
excited by the project.
Um, and then she also reallydrove the implementation of the
findings from the study into thehospital.
Um, so it led to us changing uhall of our feeding protocols in
(09:53):
the hospital for elective cases.
Um so I was super excited foreveryone to hear the news.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
That's great.
If you could go back, Charlie,uh, based on your residency, if
you go back and tell youryounger self or a student who's
looking at a residency one thingabout that journey, what would
it be?
SPEAKER_03 (10:10):
Um, I always find this really hard.
So I think just to embrace allthe opportunities you get along
the way.
Um, so I went into residencythinking.
I hadn't had much research umexperience.
So I kind of went into residencythinking all about the surgery
and um kept an open mind andthen was really excited to be
involved in the research too.
(10:32):
So I think um one of the bigthings I would tell myself going
back was just to keep an openmind.
Um, kind of take all theopportunities you can, kind of
figure out what you like, andthen uh follow that path and
don't keep like a set path inmind, just be open to change and
and opportunities.
SPEAKER_02 (10:51):
Yeah, always a good idea to keep those doors open
because you never know wherethey're gonna lead.
Yeah, absolutely.
Charlie, how has receiving theaward influenced your research
or your career since then?
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
So I think the award really helped this study gain
and its findings too, gain somevisibility.
And so getting more peopletalking about feeding protocols
and just thinking about whatthey're doing in their hospital
and if they can uh makeimprovements or adjustments to
that.
So it's been really cool to havehad people from other hospitals
reach out and ask us what we'redoing and uh kind of talking
(11:23):
about what they're doing and howthey might change that.
And so seeing the impact of thestudy and then its extra
visibility has been reallyexciting.
And then it's also given us somefollow-up ideas of things that
we might do to um get moreevidence in this area too.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
Charlie, looking back, uh, what were some pivotal
moments that uh really sparkedyour interest in veterinary
medicine?
SPEAKER_03 (11:47):
So I think my whole first year of residency, in a
way, was kind of a pivotal time.
It was certainly verychallenging as well, but it was
when I first got exposure toresearch and I started to be
involved in my own projects andwas when I actually started
realizing how much I reallyliked the research as well as
surgery, too.
So that was a time that Istarted rethinking where I saw
(12:08):
my career going.
And then the rest of myresidency really reinforced that
as I finished up some projectsand saw the impact that research
can make and change how we carefor our patients and also
improve the standard of carethat we can offer to our
patients.
Um, so I think that whole timetotally changed the direction
that I saw myself going.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
And what sparked your original interest in
veterinary medicine?
SPEAKER_03 (12:32):
Uh, so I wanted to be a vet as long as I can
remember.
Um, I always loved horsesgrowing up.
I grew up riding and I wasworking at a bar and whenever I
could too.
So I knew I wanted to be anequine vet, but my interests in
kind of the veterinary worldchanged as I went through the
process.
So it wasn't until I was in vetschool that I realized how much
(12:53):
I loved surgery.
And then as I went through theprocess of going towards surgery
residencies, um, kind of my thesurgeries that I liked changed.
And then in residency, I startedreally liking research too.
So I think my interest hasdefinitely changed um throughout
the path.
SPEAKER_02 (13:09):
So now we're gonna boil it down to one important
piece of information, Charlie.
So the first is gonna be dealingwith the veterinarian's
perspective.
So, Charlie, what is one pieceof information the veterinarian
should know about fasting horsesperioperatively?
SPEAKER_03 (13:24):
So, from the findings of our research that
horses that are um not fastedbefore general anesthesia passed
more manure and manure morequickly uh following recovery.
So uh definitely consider notfasting the horses prior to
elective surgery.
SPEAKER_02 (13:41):
Now, on the other side of the relationship for
clients, what's one thing thatyou wish more horse owners
understood about this topic?
SPEAKER_03 (13:48):
I think the same that potentially not fasting
horses prior to generalanesthesia could be beneficial,
um, but definitely somethingthat they should discuss with
their vet um on the bestpractice for their horse.
Um and yeah, hopefully we canget more horses eating before
surgery.
SPEAKER_01 (14:04):
Perfect.
Okay, Charlie, before we wrapup, just a few fun questions.
Are you a coffee person?
Coffee before rounds, coffee allday person?
Which one are you?
SPEAKER_03 (14:15):
Coffee before rounds, definitely.
Before residency, I'd wake upwith that caffeine headache and
then I'd need my coffee to kindof make it go away.
Um so definitely before rounds.
Excellent.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
We talk about a lot about wellness and well-being
and work-life balance.
What's your go-to stress relief?
SPEAKER_03 (14:32):
I love being outdoors.
So living in Colorado is apretty great place.
Um, so um, taking my dog for ahike in the mountains, and I
also love running, so going on atrail run, um, kind of anything
that gets me outside, um, Ireally enjoy doing.
SPEAKER_01 (14:47):
Charlie loves running so much she recently had
a stress fracture in her foot.
SPEAKER_03 (14:52):
Yes, I probably should have mentioned that.
Can't run right now, but walkingthe dog, but yeah, definitely
did a little bit too muchrunning.
SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Yeah, Colorado's beautiful.
If you weren't in veterinarymedicine, what other career do
you think you'd love?
SPEAKER_03 (15:06):
Um, so both my parents are in the aviation
industry.
My mom's an airline pilot.
Um, and I think I would reallylove to do something with
aviation, maybe even a pilot.
I just find that side of thingsso interesting.
And so I think I would have gonedown that route.
SPEAKER_02 (15:22):
Very cool.
Well, Charlie, thank you so muchfor joining us.
Really appreciate you being heretoday.
And congratulations again onbeing a journal award winner.
Thank you so much, and thank youfor having me.
And for our listeners, you canread Charlie's award-winning
article in Javma.
I'm Sarah Wright here with LisaFortier.
Be sure to tune in next week foranother episode of Veterinary
Vertex.
And don't forget to leave us arating and review on Epic
(15:44):
Podcast or wherever you listen.
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