Feline Focus

JFMS

In the spotlight

The Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (JFMS) came to the attention of the national press in the UK following marketing activity in April by its new publisher, SAGE, timed to coincide with the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Congress in Birmingham. The Daily Mail ran stories on mummified cats, linked to a short communication on radiological investigation of an over 2000-year-old Egyptian mummified cat (Gnudi et al, JFMS 14; 292–294), and on ‘robotic’ cats relating to a paper on 21 cats in Scotland developing peculiar neurological signs of unknown cause (De Risio et al, JFMS 14; 250–256). BBC news online also covered the ‘robot cat’ story.

Online JFMS coverage

Print coverage included a Pugh cartoon, reprinted here courtesy of the Daily Mail

• In April, SAGE was announced the Independent Publishers Guild Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year 2012.

ISFM

Cat Friendly Clinic launches in Portugal

ISFM met with representatives of its Portuguese National Partner (GIEFEL) and Purina to finalise details for the launch of Cat Friendly Clinic (CFC) in Portugal. The European CFC programme is already running in Spain and was launched in the UK in April. From left: Pedro Lourenco (Marketing Manager, Purina), Andy Sparkes (Veterinary Director, ISFM), Nelia Carvalho (GIEFEL), Ana Mimoso (Veterinary Technical Manager, Purina), José Henrique Duarte Correia (GIEFEL) and Claire Bessant (Chief Executive, ISFM). For more information on Cat Friendly Clinic go to www.wellcat.org

WSAVA/ISFM

ISFM symposium in New Zealand for WSAVA

ISFM will be holding a one day feline symposium in New Zealand prior to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association and Federation of Asian Small Animal Veterinary Associations Congress in March 2013. This will be the first time the WSAVA and ISFM conferences have been held in New Zealand.

ISFM members qualify for the member rate registration for the WSAVA Congress. For the full WSAVA programme and to register go to www.wsava2013.org.

The WSAVA president, Peter Ihrke, Professor of Dermatology at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, is a member of the editorial board of JFMS

Snap shots

Boyd Jones, adjunct professor of companion animal medicine at Massey Unversity, New Zealand, received the 2012 BSAVA Blaine Award during the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress in Birmingham, UK, for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal medicine. Professor Jones helped launch JFMS in 1999 and was an Associate Editor of the journal for a number of years

Margie Scherk, JFMS North American Editor, takes a well-earned rest after completing the Lavaman Triathlon in Hawaii on April 1. She finished the 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike ride and 10 km run in a total time of three hours, 23 minutes and 27 seconds, raising $10,220 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada in the process

CFP

Cat Friendly Practices are on the rise in the US

At the time of going to press, and in just three short months, there were already 91 AAFP Cat Friendly Practices in the USA and another 334 in progress. These Cat Friendly Practices are already using their Marketing Toolkit to promote their practices in print and online!

I think that the primary benefit is that it provides a framework that allows you to objectively review your policies with regards to feline patients, and discover ways that you could improve both your facility and your interactions with clients and their cats. Through expanding your awareness of the issues cats and their owners face with respect to veterinary care, you increase the likelihood that owners will present their cats to you for regular visits and hopefully will be able to improve the length and quality of their cats’ lives. I think that is the main benefit – we started this process thinking that if we could get one owner to bring their cat in early so we can institute a preventative wellness program, then the CFP designation has been worth it. We did that in the first week. The designation is a talking point that allows us to open a conversation with owners about what we do and why cat preventative health is so important.

Tatum Point Animal Hospital, Phoenix, AR

What are you waiting for? Do you like unhappy patients, less income and fewer return clients? If not then work on it…they are telling you the keys to success with these patients, it is up to you to take the information and run with it!

Fox Valley Cat Clinic, Menasha, WI

Everyone is more aware of our responsibility to make every visit for every cat as stress-free as we possibly can. We have had a lot fewer cats getting stressed to the point of being aggressive, everyone is happier and no one has been scratched by an angry (scared) kitty in a long time.

Adobe Animal Hospital, Petaluma, CA – on what effect the CFP has had on your practice and staff

For more information on Cat Friendly Practice go to www.catvets.com

Books

Bite-sized reviews

Feline infectious diseases – Self assessment colour review

1st ed. K Hartmann and J Levy (eds). Manson, London, 2011. Paperback, 224 pages. Price £24.95, ISBN 9781840760996

Positives The book is useful for veterinary clinicians and students interested in feline infectious diseases wishing to improve knowledge or study for exams using a case-based approach. There are no less than 199 cases studies/questions covering a wide range of feline infectious diseases.

Negatives Although most case scenarios/questions are accompanied by images, some of the images are small. References for further reading may also have been useful.

Target audience Veterinary clinicians and students.

Comment The book offers a handy self-assessment for testing knowledge of feline infectious diseases and may be helpful for veterinary students, veterinary clinicians studying towards postgraduate qualifications or general practitioners.

Natalie Finch

BVSc PhD MRCVS

FAB Senior Clinical Training Scholar

Manual of small animal soft tissue surgery

Karen M Tobias. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2010. Hardback, 492 pages. Price £59.95. ISBN 9780813800899

Positives Clear descriptions of commonly performed surgical procedures are logically organised in this concise volume. The text is readable and is complemented by the abundant colour illustrations. This volume is readily portable and easy to navigate.

Negatives There is an inevitable brevity in some areas, imposed by the subject breadth tackled by this 492-page volume, and so most conditions are addressed by a single technique. Information on basic principles of wound management and the use of surgical drains would have augmented this worthwhile book.

Target audience General practitioners.

Comment This book merits a place aside the operating room of a busy veterinary clinic.

Ivan Doran

BVSc CertSAS DSAS (soft tissue) MRCVS

Small animal emergency and critical care: case studies in client communication, morbidity and mortality

1st ed. L Powell, EA Rozanski and JE Rush (eds). Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2011. Paperback, 218 pages. Price £34.99. ISBN 9781405167529

Positives The book consists of concise, interesting and easy to read case studies with a review of key discussion points. Experienced veterinarians will be painfully familiar with many of the case scenarios and complex problems discussed. This book is valuable reading for both veterinary students and recent graduates and highlights many of the under-recognised challenges of veterinary practice.

Negatives The lack of consistent unit conversions detracts from the text and makes the case studies less accessible to an international audience.

Target audience Veterinary students and recent graduates.

Comment This unique book condenses years of veterinary experience into an easily accessible format. This is a valuable resource for new veterinarians and a useful review for experienced practitioners.

Lara Boland

BVSc MACVSc MRCVS

FAB Senior Clinical Training Scholar

Pathologic basis of veterinary disease

5th ed. JF Zachary and MD McGavin (eds). Elsevier, St Louis, 2012. Hardback, 1321 pages. Price £75.54. ISBN 0721605559

Positives This book offers a comprehensive approach to veterinary pathology. The text is logically organised, with the first section devoted to the fundamental elements of general pathology and the second dedicated to abnormal pathology. For ease of use as a reference book, this is further divided by organ systems. The chapters show excellent integration of the detailed text with diagrams, algorithms, and full colour photos highlighting the gross and histological characteristics of their subject matter.

Negatives Very few. Only that the dense subject matter and detail in each chapter means you can’t read it all in one sitting.

Target audience Veterinary pathologists and those interested in gaining a fundamental understanding of pathology.

Comment A great foundation and reference that is useful for any stage of one’s pathology career.

Anna R Brunetti

BSc BVMS MRCVS