Abstract
As we wrap up our series of special features celebrating JFMS’s 20th anniversary, we hear from five of our Editorial Board members who reflect on what makes JFMS special. We also delve back into the journal archive and take a look at what’s on offer on the JFMS website to highlight the journal’s remarkable evolution.
What makes JFMS so special
What makes JFMS special?
JFMS provides a publication that has a primary focus on cats and their problems and, importantly, has an international audience.
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
Mabel (right) had myotonia, but a different genetic profile to the Canadian cats in the literature with the same disorder. I had her for 15 years and, as well as making a fantastic pet, I learned a lot from her. I published about the disease and she contributed to my understanding.
What makes JFMS special?
The great mix of clinically relevant evidence-based reviews and high-level clinical research that is directly applicable to the veterinary practitioner and clinical researcher is what makes JFMS special.
How has JFMS impacted feline medicine generally and your own area of expertise specifically?
JFMS is the go-to journal for feline research. In relation to my particular area of interest, JFMS published the ISFM hypertension guidelines, which provide an easily digestible resource for general practitioners and specialists alike.
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
Sprocket (right) is a gentlemanly cat, who loves spending time on the sofa and on knees. He enjoys his life mainly in his country residence!
What makes JFMS special?
If you read JFMS cover to cover, you will span the whole domain because of the excellent reviews that collate disparate material from many journals. I love that it includes medicine, surgery, dermatology, behaviour, welfare and more, all related to the cat – no other journal does that!
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
There have been so many! Kiwi, my first cat, got me focused on feline medicine. Lucky and Baron, who followed, helped me to determine the best way to house and feed cats, and Binks, who was next, was my first female cat and almost reached her 19th birthday. Obi is my current cat, and he has benefited from what I have learnt from the others. All of my cats have reinforced the idea that every cat is different, and that even though pedigree breeds are cute, the best cats are moggies.
How has JFMS impacted feline medicine generally and your own area of expertise specifically?
JFMS is one of the few journals with a particular species focus, and there are a number of reports on anesthesia and analgesia – my area of specialty.
Tell us about an important cat that has featured in your career, research or personal life
One of my research cats, Oscar (right), developed a spastic entropion (for reasons unrelated to our study). We treated him medically first by applying ophthalmic ointment twice a day, and although you could tell he didn’t enjoy this, he never once tried to scratch or bite us. I adopted him at the end of the study and he was a great companion to me and my family for many years.
What makes JFMS special?
JFMS is the only cat-only veterinary journal, so I know I am going to be interested in all of the papers it contains. It is also clinically focused – so it is an ideal journal for a busy feline-only clinician to dip in and out of each month, gaining essential updates that can often be used straight away in the clinic. I also often pass JFMS papers on to undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary students and nurses.
