Abstract
The Feline Advisory Bureau (a UK-based charity with an international reach, focusing on improving the health and welfare of cats) was responsible for launching the European Society of Feline Medicine (ESFM) in 1996. The two editorialists, and key people including Professors Marian Horzinek, Tim Gruffydd-Jones and Hans Lutz, Ulla Bjornehammar, Michelle Ferme-Fradin and Karin Holler were involved in the early establishment of the society, which it was anticipated would serve as a focus for veterinarians with a special interest in cats throughout Europe.
The specific aims of ESFM were to promote feline health and welfare, to provide a forum for the dissemination of information and knowledge about developments in feline medicine, to develop feline-related continuing professional development in Europe, to publish a dedicated journal, and to develop links with other like-minded organisations. Within a very short time, membership had grown to more than 500, a regular ‘satellite day’ meeting was being held in association with BSAVA Congress each year in Birmingham, and a regular newsletter ‘Feline Focus’ was being published for members.
In 1999, within just 3 years of establishing ESFM, and in partnership with Elsevier (at that time Harcourt, and subsequently WB Saunders), the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery was launched. It rapidly became established as a mainstream veterinary title, and one of the highest-ranking journals devoted to clinical veterinary medicine. The growth and development of JFMS was greatly enhanced when, in 2002, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) also adopted it as their official journal, and since then the two groups have forged a close partnership.
The ISFM offers new horizons for those passionate about improving feline health and welfare.
As readers of JFMS will know, we don't like to stand still (!) and following steady growth of the journal, in 2009 (on its 10th anniversary) we moved to a monthly publication schedule with every other issue being devoted to JFMS ‘Clinical Practice’, providing state-of-the-art review papers from leading authors that have a direct impact on day-to-day veterinary care and practice. We have been thrilled and delighted with the positive response we have received to these developments, and will continue to strive to deliver further improvements as we move forward.
Along with establishing JFMS, the growth and consolidation of ESFM allowed us to develop our own stand-alone annual European congress. From the word go – a two-day conference in Stockholm, in September 2002 – this proved a big hit. The congress has been repeated on an annual basis since then, taking in a wide variety of cities throughout Europe and growing from around 120 delegates, to more than 500. All the while, it has managed to maintain a truly intimate and tremendously friendly and relaxed atmosphere, which is undoubtedly one of the keys to its success (… along with a great scientific programme, beautiful locations and a fantastic social programme!). In 2009 we moved the congress from September to June, to avoid the increasingly busy autumn schedule of events, and had a superb few days in an idyllic location just outside Dubrovnik in Croatia. This year we are Amsterdam for the congress, combining a city with fantastic culture with a very accessible location, and we are looking forward to another superb scientific and social programme.
Throughout the past 14 years, the ESFM (with the backing of the Feline Advisory Bureau) has always been forward-looking and innovative. While almost all of our early objectives for the society have been achieved and surpassed, we continue to look at how we can better meet the needs of our members and, ultimately, help to improve the welfare of our feline friends that we are all passionate about. We are undertaking a number of new and exciting initiatives, including a Distance Education Course in Feline Medicine that is being provided jointly with the Centre for Veterinary Education of the University of Sydney in Australia, and a Distance Education Course in Feline Nursing for veterinary nurses and technicians. We are also continuing to work towards a recognised practitioner-orientated further qualification in feline medicine, and have made real progress with this over the past 12 months.
What has become clear during the past 5 years is that the European Society of Feline Medicine is much more than what it once was. Not only has the society grown in numbers and influence, but increasingly we have been developing strong links with like-minded practitioners and feline veterinary groups on an international rather than just European level. To acknowledge the many individuals and groups we are involved with, and to foster further collaborations as we move forward, we have decided that the time is now right to change the name of the society from ESFM to the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM).
Although this sounds like a big step, to a large extent it reflects where the society already is, in terms of global membership and partnerships. On a practical level, essentially nothing changes for existing ESFM members – it is simply that our horizons have expanded a little, and it will give us the chance to rationalise and focus our work even more. With ISFM we aim to:
Provide a worldwide resource for veterinarians on all aspects of feline health and wellbeing
Provide resources to enable practices to develop more ‘cat friendly’ approaches
Provide information and resources that practitioners can use with clients both in and beyond the consulting room
Continue publishing and developing the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery
Develop international guidelines and policies on important and relevant feline issues
Provide conferences and other ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD) opportunities on an international scale
Develop an internationally recognised, practitioner-orientated, postgraduate feline veterinary qualification
Provide information and resources for veterinary nurses/technicians on feline health and welfare
Collaborate with veterinary cat groups and other similar organisations worldwide, where possible through recognised partnerships, and to share information, expertise and knowledge of ‘best practice’
We will continue to work very closely with our existing partners and collaborators. We already have links with a number of cat veterinary groups in different countries under the title of Feline Veterinary Federation. These groups will now become ISFM National Partners and we aim to develop more such relations worldwide.
Increasingly, the world becomes a smaller place – metaphorically if not physically! International travel enables people to visit places they would never have dreamt of in the past, and perhaps more importantly new methods of electronic communication mean that information exchange can now be achieved on an unparalleled scale. Our hope is that the ISFM will be a vehicle that enables all of us with a passion for improving feline health and welfare to collaborate at a global level, to learn from each other, and to use the tools available to us to help the cats we have the privilege of caring for.
We hope that you will be as excited as we are about the opportunities that lie ahead, but that mostly you will join with us in helping make the world a smaller and more feline-friendly place!