Ravi Dhaliwal DVM, MS, DACVIM, DABVP 

Session 1 and 2: 2023 AAHA Senior Care Guidelines Part 1 & 2 

This session will be an overview of gerontology and geriatrics of companion animals. A senior care management plan for the clinical team will be reviewed. The plan is to help our senior pets live as comfortably, safely, and happily as possible, emphasizing the values that are important to caring for a pet with advanced age. Common chronic clinical conditions of old dogs and cats will be outlined. The discussion will be clinically oriented towards what a practitioner faces “day in and day out” of his or her work life. 

• Review a senior care management plan for the clinical team. 
• Discover the values important to caring for a pet with advanced age. 
• Outline common chronic clinical conditions of older dogs and cats. 

Session 3: Selecting Diagnostic Samples for Cytology 

Cytology is a quick, cheap, and an easy evaluation of cells to reach a microscopic diagnosis. FNA is less invasive, has a diminished risk of complications, yields faster results, and has lower costs than biopsy. Many samples for cytology can be obtained without anesthesia or even sedation, with minimal risk in both healthy and critical patients. With the increasing availability of ultrasonography, many more internal organs and tissues can be evaluated than previously were accessible. In this presentation we will review the methods of obtaining a diagnostic cytology sample with case discussions emphasizing mesenchymal, epithelial and round cell tumors. 

Learning Objectives 

• Review methods of obtaining a diagnostic cytology sample. 
• Review techniques of ultrasound-guided sample collection. 
• Discuss cases emphasizing mesenchymal, epithelial, and round cell tumors. 

Session 4: Clinical Oncologic Cytology – Reading and Writing 

Cytology is a quick, cheap, minimally invasive and widely available method of examination of cells. Once a sample is harvested it should be assessed for the quality even if you are submitting the sample to a reference lab. A good-quality sample will show evenly smeared cellular material on the slide, forming a thin layer. The majority of tumors are easy to identify with practice, such as lymphoma and mast cell tumors.  

Learning Objectives 

• Conduct a sample troubleshoot. 
• Discuss analysis of the cellular contents. 
• Discuss the discipline of reading a cytology. 
• Explore the the art of reaching microscopic diagnosis. 
• Get a good overview of how to write a cytology report for medical records. 

Nerd alert! Dig deeper 

2023 AAHA Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats 

• Download the guidelines PDF 
• Download the “guidelines at a glance” 
• Watch the summary 
• Download the graphic 

Register at aaha.org/aahacon! 

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