American Association of Feline Practitioners Annual Conference 2021
Established in 1971, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) began with only 25 members, but according to their 2020 Member Report, that number has increased to close to 4000. Members can be found across the world, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. AAFP’s mission is to support their members as they improve cats’ health and welfare by setting high practice standards, providing relevant continuing education, and using evidence-based medicine. From September 30 to October 3, AAFP held their annual conference at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Hybrid conference event
The AAFP developed a hybrid program to allow their members to attend sessions according to their comfort level. Whether they opted for in-person or virtual attendance, members will be able to access the live-streamed, on-demand sessions until June 30, 2022. Expert speakers presented key feline topics, including anesthesia for senior cats, acute and chronic pain management, orthopedic examination, osteoarthritis pain, and various surgery techniques and recommendations. The hybrid conference features included:
- In-person and virtual registration options
- Distinguished expert speakers on felines
- Up to 59 continuing education hours for in-person attendees with onsite sessions and on-demand access
- Up to 56 continuing education hours for virtual attendees with live-streaming and on-demand access
- A conference app that was available to all attendees
- An exhibit hall with more than 70 exhibitors that could be accessed by in-person and virtual attendees
- Social activities and Lunch and Learns for in-person attendees
- Digital conference proceedings notes
Educational program
The conference focused on anesthesia, analgesia, and surgery, but also covered many other topics. Educational session highlights included:
- Providing for the Behavioral Needs of Each Cat — Presented by Dr. Valarie Tynes, this session focused on behavioral problems in cats, and how failing to provide their behavioral needs contributes to these problems. She reviewed the cat’s social structure, and explained why multi-cat households can be stressful. She also explained how to recognize stress signs in cats, and gave tips for meeting the cat’s environmental and behavioral needs.
- The Intertwine of Fear and Pain — Dr. Tamara Grubb presented this topic, explaining how pain can cause fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) in cats, and how FAS can exacerbate pain. These reciprocal events can negatively impact the cat’s health, welfare, and behavior, and damage the human-animal bond. She also provided pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic options for preventing and treating FAS, and tips for owner education.
- Having the Nerve — This two-part series presented by Dr. Mark Epstein focused on local anesthetic techniques clinicians should be employing. Techniques in the first session included incisional, field, and cavity blocks, and methods to extend local anesthetic duration. Techniques in the second session included sacrococcygeal, retrobulbar, orofacial, and regional nerve blocks.
- Making End of Life Decisions — Dr. Sheilah Robertson presented this lecture that examined how the term quality of life (QOA) when referring to pets does not have a universally consistent or accepted definition, which hampers a clinician’s ability to measure their patient’s QOA. She discussed helpful working definitions that included physical and mental health, and provided disease-specific QOL tools, and more generic tools for cats who are affected by comorbidities. She also provided information concerning anticipatory grief, and on conducting a structured patient-centric conversation under difficult circumstances.
- Intestinal Anastomosis — Presented by Dr. Howard Seim, this session focused on performing an intestinal resection and anastomosis without assistance. He provided tips and alternative techniques that simplify the procedure, and make success more predictable. He illustrated these techniques using clinical case videos.
- Detecting, Diagnosing, and Monitoring Feline OA Pain — Dr. Duncan Lascelles discussed diagnosing degenerative joint disease pain in the feline patient, including owner education, facilitating a clinic visit, understanding the feline osteoarthritis signalment, radiography, and observation post-diagnosis.
- Cats Gotta Scratch — Dr. Robin Downing’s session focused on how cats’ paws and toes play a critical role in their lives for exercise, escape, communication, and defense. She explained why practitioners should reject P3 amputation in cats, and presented information about the resulting chronic maladaptive and neuropathic pain. She also explained the pathologic changes in biomechanics that lead to other musculoskeletal issues, and the bioethical violations involved.
Distinguished speakers
Twenty-nine respected expert speakers presented relevant topics concerning feline medicine. These speakers included:
- Valarie Tynes, DVM, DACVB, DACAW — Dr. Tynes is a native Texan, and received her DVM from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She worked in private practice for 14 years before returning to academia to pursue a residency in clinical animal behavior at the University of California at Davis in 2000. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2003, and is also board certified in Animal Welfare. Since the Fear Free initiative began, Dr. Tynes has been actively involved, and she serves on the Fear Free Speakers Bureau. She frequently speaks at world veterinary meetings, and has authored numerous articles and textbook chapters. She joined Ceva Animal Health in October 2014 as a veterinary services specialist. She also provides consulting services to zoos.
- Tamara Grubb, DVM, PhD, DACVAA — Dr. Grubb graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, with a strong focus in pain management. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia at Washington State University. She also owns an anesthesia and pain management consulting and continuing education company, which serves small and large animal practices. She is a member of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management board of directors, lectures nationally and internationally, and has co-authored two books and more than 100 articles.
- Dr. Mark Epstein, DVM, DABVP, CVPP — Dr. Epstein received his DVM from University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, and is currently the senior partner and Medical Director of TotalBond Veterinary Hospitals and Carolinas Animal Pain Management. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP), and a past ABVP president. He is certified by the Academy of Integrative Pain Management (AIPM), recognized as a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner (CVPP) by the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM), and a past IVAPM president. He is currently the IVAPM Research and Scholarship Foundation president. Dr. Epstein chaired the AAHA Senior Care Guidelines Task Force, and co-chaired the 2015 AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines Task Force. He is published in journals and textbooks, and is a national and international lecturer on pain recognition, prevention, and treatment in the veterinary clinical setting.
- Sheilah Robertson, BVMS (Hons), PhD, DACVAA, DECVAA, DACAW, DECAWBM (WSEL) — Dr. Robertson graduated from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and spent time as a surgery intern, followed by specialized anesthesia training, including a PhD, at Bristol University in Bristol, England. She is board certified in anesthesia and animal welfare in the United States and Europe, and also holds a small animal acupuncture certificate. In 2014, she completed her graduate certificate in shelter medicine at the University of Florida, and in 2019, was certified as a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine Palliative and End of Life Practitioner from the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine. She is currently the senior medical director at Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice, a large veterinary network dedicated to end of life care and in-home euthanasia. Dr. Robertson also serves as a courtesy professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Florida.
- Howard Seim, DVM, DACVS — Dr. Seim graduated from Washington State University, completed an internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and finished a surgical residency at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. He obtained Diplomate status in the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1983, and is currently on the surgical staff at Colorado State University. He received the Merck AGVET Award for Creative Teaching, and the CSU Award for Instructional Innovation, and was selected as the North American Veterinary Conference’s Small Animal Speaker of the Year in 2009.
- Duncan Lascelles, BSc, BVSc, CVA, PhD, FRCVS, DSAS (ST), DECVS, DACVS — After graduating from the veterinary program at the University of Bristol, England, in 1991, Dr. Lascelles completed a PhD in pre-emptive and perioperative analgesia at the same university. He completed a surgical residency at the University of Cambridge, England, and then moved to Colorado for the Fellowship in Oncological Surgery at Colorado State University. He is currently a professor in Small Animal Surgery and Pain Management at North Carolina State University, and directs the Comparative Pain Research and Education Centre, where his research aims to improve pain control in companion animals, and facilitate analgesic development in human medicine.
- Robin Downing, DVM, MS, DAAPM, DACVSMR, CVPP, CCRP — Dr. Downing is a Diplomate of the College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, and is currently The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management director. She was a founder and past president of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management, and an American Association of Human-Animal Bond past president. In 2016, she completed her MS in Clinical Bioethics from the Icahn School at Mount Sinai in New York City, and is currently completing a doctorate in Clinical Bioethics at Loyola University of Chicago.
AAFP’s hybrid convention was an all-round success. In-person attendees enjoyed interacting with colleagues, and all attendees received valuable, relevant continuing education. Hopefully, everyone can attend next year’s conference in Pittsburgh in person.
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