About

Paula A. Johnson, DVM, DACVECC, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. She specializes in Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care. Dr. Johnson completed her residency at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2002 and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Louisiana State University in 1995. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, having achieved this certification in 2019. Her areas of interest include emergency and critical care medicine, pain management, mechanical ventilation, trauma, blood banking, and transfusion medicine.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Pediatrics
• Surgery
• Ophthalmology
• Intensive care medicine
• Medical emergency
• Psychology
• Anesthesia
• Family medicine
• Psychiatry
• Demography
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Emergency management of hyperkalemia in dogs and cats - Part 1: Pathophysiology and etiology.

  PubMed · 2026-04-01

  articleOpen access

  Objective: Hyperkalemia is a frequent, life-threatening emergency in dogs and cats. It disrupts neuromuscular function and cardiac conduction. Clinicians need a clear physiologic framework to recognize risk and act quickly. Animals and procedure: Part 1 of this 2-part review explains potassium homeostasis and the main causes of hyperkalemia in small animals. The article draws on peer-reviewed veterinary studies and core physiology, with direct patient-side relevance. Results: -adrenergic tone, and acid-base effects; and renal control through filtration, distal sodium delivery, tubular flow, and mineralocorticoid effect. Common clinical causes include decreased renal excretion (feline urethral obstruction, oligoanuric acute kidney injury, canine hypoadrenocorticism); transcellular shifts from intracellular to extracellular spaces (diabetic ketoacidosis, mineral metabolic acidosis, extensive tissue injury); increased intake or iatrogenic load when excretion is limited (potassium chloride in IV fluids, older stored blood, drugs that reduce aldosterone effect or distal sodium delivery); and pseudohyperkalemia due to sample factors (hemolysis, marked thrombocytosis or leukocytosis, anticoagulant contamination). Conclusion and clinical relevance: Evaluate hyperkalemia in the full clinical context. In dogs, common causes include hypoadrenocorticism, acute kidney injury, and urinary tract obstruction or rupture. In cats, urethral obstruction and advanced renal failure predominate, whereas iatrogenic potassium load and severe metabolic acidosis are additional concerns. A firm grasp of both pathophysiology and etiology improves differential diagnosis and early decisions. Part 2 of this review will build on this foundation and outline diagnosis and treatment.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Emergency management of hyperkalemia in dogs and cats - Part 2: Diagnosis and treatment.

  PubMed · 2026-05-01

  articleOpen access

  Objective: Hyperkalemia in dogs and cats can cause rapid cardiac and neuromuscular compromise. Fast recognition, ECG-guided stabilization, and cause-directed therapy improve survival. Animals and procedure: Part 2 of this 2-part review gives a patient-side approach for recognition, confirmation, and emergency treatment of hyperkalemia. It integrates current veterinary evidence and core physiology into step-by-step guidance for ECG interpretation, point-of-care testing, drug selection, and monitoring. It also maps 1st-hour priorities to common etiologies such as urethral obstruction and hypoadrenocorticism. Results: agonists serve as adjuncts, and bicarbonate is reserved for severe acidemia. Potassium elimination follows with balanced crystalloids and, when needed, renal replacement therapy. After initial stabilization, durable correction depends on identifying and treating the underlying cause and removing excess potassium from the body. Close glucose surveillance prevents late hypoglycemia after insulin. For urethral obstruction, prompt unblocking and fluids often normalize potassium with little need for repeat shifting drugs. For Addisonian crisis, fluids and glucocorticoids correct the driver while potassium decreases. Conclusion and clinical relevance: Use a consistent sequence: Verify true hyperkalemia, protect the heart, shift potassium, remove potassium, and fix the cause. Pair ECG findings with serum potassium concentrations to guide action, since ECG stages do not always match absolute potassium concentrations. This approach helps emergency clinicians stabilize patients quickly and avoid relapse. Part 1 of this review covered homeostasis and causes, whereas Part 2 delivers diagnostic and treatment approaches.

  PublisherOA PDF

• New Directions For Women’s Health: Expanding Understanding, Improving Research, Addressing Workforce Limitations

  Health Affairs · 2025-01-22 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  In the United States, the field of women's health faces critical challenges. This article, part of the National Academy of Medicine's Vital Directions for Health and Health Care: Priorities for 2025 initiative, emphasizes the need for a holistic, lifespan approach to women's health that considers biological sex, gender, and intersecting social factors. We identify three key challenges: broadening the understanding of women's health beyond reproductive issues, improving the research ecosystem, and addressing workforce limitations. With innovative policies and investments across all areas of health, attention to structural determinants, and emphasis on the upstream factors affecting women's lives, significant improvements in women's health outcomes and substantial societal benefits can be achieved in 2025 and beyond.

  PublisherDOI

• Health-care workforce implications of the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-11

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Administration of high-dose intravenous vitamin C in healthy dogs transiently leads to a false increase in portable blood glucose monitor and interstitial glucose monitor readings

  American Journal of Veterinary Research · 2025-06-16

  articleOpen access

  Objective: To investigate the effects of high-dose IV vitamin C (HDIVC) on handheld portable blood glucose monitor (PBGM) and interstitial glucose monitor (IGM) readings in dogs. Methods: 6 client-owned Border Collies with normal physical examinations and baseline bloodwork were enrolled in this prospective experimental study from November through December 2024. Glucose was measured via an IGM, PBGM, and laboratory blood glucose analyzer (LG) at time (T)-0, T1, T2, T3, T6, T12, T18, and T24 hours after HDIVC (200 mg/kg; ascorbic acid 500 mg/mL diluted 1:10 with sterile water, given over 30 minutes, IV). Results: The median PBGM (T1, 189 mg/dL; T2, 138 mg/dL) and IGM (T1, high; T2, 321 mg/dL) readings were significantly higher than LG (T1, 76.5 mg/dL; T2, 93.5 mg/dL) at T1 and T2. The median IGM (183 mg/dL) readings were significantly higher than LG (99 mg/dL) at T3. There was no significant difference between modalities at T0 nor from T6 on. On consensus error grid analysis, all PBGM readings at T1 and 1 of 6 readings at T2 were clinically unacceptable. All IGM readings at T1 and T2 and 2 of 6 readings at T3 were clinically unacceptable. Conclusions: A 200-mg/kg, IV, bolus of vitamin C in healthy dogs causes clinically significant elevations in PBGM and IGM glucose readings that normalize within 3 and 6 hours, respectively. Clinical Relevance: Avoid the use of PBGM and IGM until 3 and 6 hours, respectively, after HDIVC in healthy dogs.

  PublisherDOI

• P228 SMOKING CESSATION PATHWAY FOR CARDIAC INPATIENTS: A KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION INITIATIVE

  Canadian Journal of Cardiology · 2025-10-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Societal implications of the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-11

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Ultrasonic Doppler as a guide for feline peripheral arterial catheterization

  Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery · 2024-08-01

  articleOpen access

  Objectives The study aimed to determine if an ultrasonic Doppler-guided technique (UDGT) leads to improved placement efficacy (time, success) of feline dorsal pedal arterial catheters vs the traditional palpation-guided technique (TPT). Methods A total of 26 adult, client-owned cats requiring sedation or general anesthesia for any reason, aged >12 months and weighing >3.0 kg, and with Doppler blood pressure measurements of at least 80 mmHg were enrolled. Each hindlimb was randomly assigned for dorsal pedal arterial catheterization using either the UDGT or TPT. With the UDGT, the location of the artery was identified by an audible sound using the Doppler. Successful catheter placement was confirmed by visualization of an arterial pressure waveform using a transducer and monitor system attached to the catheter. The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were used to compare the two techniques. Results The overall proportion of successful arterial catheterization was 17% (9/52): 19% (5/26) via UDGT and 15% (4/26) via TPT. Among successful arterial catheterizations (n = 9), the mean time to catheterization was 339 ± 198 s: 328 ± 237 s (n = 5) with UDGT and 353 ± 171 s (n = 4) with TPT. The log-rank test showed the two techniques were not significantly different in likelihood of successful arterial catheter placement or time to successful catheterization ( P = 0.698). An arterial flash occurred in 62% (32/52) of the limbs, 58% (15/26) with the UDGT and 65% (17/26) with the TPT. Complications (self-limiting bruising, hematoma formation) were observed equally between UDGT (3/26 limbs) and TPT (3/26 limbs) in six cats. Conclusions and relevance The UDGT did not improve the efficacy of catheter placement compared with the TPT. Few complications were associated with arterial catheterization.

  PublisherDOI

• Blood components and transfusion therapy

  2024-09-27

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Confused about the different blood components and how to administer them to dogs and cats? Look no further! This chapter is explores the secrets of creating fresh whole blood, frozen blood, packed cells and plasma from donors, and how to administer them effectively to recipients through proper screening processes. Learn all about blood-typing, major and minor cross-matches—demystified in detail, without the unnecessary fluff. If you've ever wondered what these screening processes entail, fret no more! This chapter provides a quick and complete understanding, saving you from tedious searches. No need to wade through unnecessary materials—find the simplest, most comprehensive chapter right here, guiding you through the entire transfusion therapy process. After reading this chapter, you will have a comprehensive understanding of blood transfusion therapy in veterinary medicine. You will be able to choose the right blood products for your patients, screen donors and recipients, administer blood safely and effectively and monitor patients during blood transfusion therapy.

  PublisherDOI

• Science and Sex: A Bold Agenda for Women’s Health

  NAM Perspectives · 2024-01-08

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Thomas H. Lee

  Press Ganey

  41 shared

• E. Francis Cook

  Cleveland Clinic

  29 shared

• Lee Goldman

  Columbia University

  27 shared

• Carísi Anne Polanczyk

  Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

  25 shared

• Elizabeth J. Thomovsky

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  24 shared

• Aimee C. Brooks

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  16 shared

• Kirsten E. Fleischmann

  University of California, San Francisco

  16 shared

• Marjorie Jenkins

  Cone Health

  14 shared

Awards & honors

• Diplomate: American College of Veterinary Emergency and Crit…