Abstract
In the second of a series of special features celebrating JFMS’s 20th anniversary, two of our Editorial Board members reflect on what makes JFMS special. We also delve back into the journal archive and pick out some highlights from the early days, and announce the first of two anniversary videos produced by SAGE.
What makes JFMS so special
What makes JFMS special?
JFMS is unique in its focus on a single species – a species which, as a profession, vets have not always recognised as being significantly different from dogs. The complete separation of cats from dogs in this journal gives this wonderful species the recognition it deserves.
How has JFMS impacted feline medicine generally and your own area of expertise specifically?
I spent my undergraduate career being told that ‘cats are not small dogs’, but with very little information about how cats were different. Fortunately there have been huge changes in the approach to feline medicine in the past 20 years, and JFMS has a significant role to play in providing excellent feline-specific CPD. In my specific area of expertise (diagnostic imaging), much of the teaching focuses on the dog, with cats still often treated as a second-class species. I am therefore particularly pleased about Sally Griffin’s new series on feline ultrasonography.
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
Bert Cat (pictured below) arrived during my first few months in practice as a very skinny entire male, with at least 40 ticks and multiple abscesses. I estimated him to be approximately 5 years old. He lived with me for another 18 years, during which time he was wonderfully cantankerous, and was known and respected locally as ‘The Don’. He is much missed!
How has JFMS impacted feline medicine generally and your own area of expertise specifically?
JFMS has had a huge impact and continues to do so. It is the obvious publishing point for cutting-edge feline clinical research and just having so many feline papers in ‘one place’ means it is easy to find the gaps (ie, to see where knowledge gaps exist and research opportunities are). In addition, I benefit clinically from this journal.
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
Spats was a little stray who taught this animal lover just how special a cat can be, and how it may only ever be the owner who sees that – cats so rarely show their true nature to strangers. It was a wonderful lesson about cats and animals in general and it set me on the road to being a feline specialist. Sometimes there is that one special cat … this funny, demonstrative little tortoiseshell cat (pictured below) that so many saw as being ugly and unremarkable, that loved unconditionally and undemandingly for the 18 months I was blessed by her company.
