Abstract
AAFP
Annual conference goes virtual for 2020
The AAFP is proud to present its 2020 Annual Conference as a fully virtual experience. The 2020 Virtual Conference will continue to focus on exploring ‘Feline head & neck: diseases, disorders, & more’ and will now be held over two weekends, October 3 and 4, and October 24 and 25.
The conference format is designed to provide for shorter days than would be in person. This gives you the opportunity to space out the time spent at your computer, makes sure you have adequate time to process all of the information from the first weekend, and provides additional time to access the on-demand content.
All content will be available on demand until December 31, 2020, so even if you cannot attend one or more of these days, you will still be able to access the educational content and other offerings.
AAFP
Cat Friendly Certificate program update
Excitement around the launch of the Cat Friendly Certificate Program has grown exponentially now that the entire world is online more than ever. The AAFP has been busy developing an in-depth feline individual certificate program that will launch later this month. The online program will provide you with tools to grow and change the way you interact with cats. The series of online modules are tailored to three different certificates aimed at veterinarians, veterinary professionals and cat advocates.
JFMS virtual issue
Nutrition – more than what goes into the bowl
Margie Scherk, JFMS co-editor, helped to compile a new virtual issue, devoted to nutrition. Drawing inspiration from her garden, she chronicles: It is summer and I enjoy watching plants in my garden bloom and grow, almost visibly, from day to day. They require and flourish with rain, soil nutrients and by being in the correct position for their species, be it shade or sun. Cats also flourish when they are well hydrated, nourished and have their environmental needs met. Yet we often think of nutrition only within the context of life-stage requirements or as part of disease management.
In compiling this online ‘virtual’ Special Issue, I have hand-picked a selection of interesting and varied original and review articles published in JFMS since 2014 on feline nutrition and conditions with a known or suspected nutritional component.
An oft-overlooked cornerstone is nutritional assessment. Several articles address this, along with body composition and its effects on life expectancy in the obese individual or in aging. Behavior is being recognized to play an important role in wellbeing – this, we know, extends to cats and even to plants. 1 To that end, this virtual issue includes articles on the effects of stress on eating, how to assess stress, and the influence of how food and water are provided.
You will find articles about advances that have been made in nutritional therapy, including: appetite stimulation; phosphorus in kidney disease and health; the effects of nutrition on fecal occult blood testing; fecal consistency; dietary factors associated with hematuric struvite crystalluria; and recurrence rate and long-term course in lower urinary tract diseases.
And there are some unexpected findings. Does the timing of feeding affect serum biochemical values or not? Is there an effect of age, weight or sex on serum cobalamin and folate levels in apparently healthy cats? One paper discusses flawed interpretation around carbohydrate content in grain-free diets. Another reports an alarming outbreak of tuberculosis in pet cats fed with a commercial raw diet.
Beyond implications for cats, can how we feed them affect human health? A pair of papers reveals a truly out-of-the-box approach to helping cat-allergic people live more comfortably with their cats.
Our hope is that this collection will inspire, inform and intrigue you and show that nutrition is more than what goes into the bowl.
ISFM
Bringing feline professionals together in a holistic approach to welfare
ISFM and its parent charity International Cat Care have developed two international expert groups that will further the holistic approach to cat welfare that is central to the charity’s vision. These are the:
ISFM Academy of Feline Practitioners; and the
iCatCare Feline Wellbeing Panel.
For more than 60 years, iCatCare has addressed both physical health, for example by funding vets to specialise in feline medicine, and mental wellbeing, by developing initiatives such as Cat Friendly Clinic, which emphasises the importance of reducing stress. Great progress has been made, but this new international and collaborative approach will allow these two groups of experts to push forward their respective disciplines, and provide the opportunity for knowledge sharing.
ISFM Academy of Feline Practitioners
The ISFM Academy of Feline Practitioners is a body of dedicated veterinarians from all over the world who have further qualifications in feline practice or medicine, or have specialised in disciplines that complement the focus of ISFM. Members will have the opportunity to discuss publications, investigate cases with colleagues, join forces on research, talk about developments, and forge meaningful links between vets in different countries. This is a forward-thinking coalition that will actively seek to advance developments in medicine.
iCatCare Feline Wellbeing Panel
The iCatCare Feline Wellbeing Panel is an international coalition of experts, who come from different professional backgrounds but who all specialise in some form in the mental wellbeing of cats, both owned and unowned. This group of passionate feline professionals will collaborate for the greater good of cats.
More specifically, the purpose of the panel is to help those working and caring for cats in various settings to understand their behavioural, emotional and cognitive capabilities and needs better, in order to be able to actively promote their mental wellbeing and ultimately protect their welfare. Such settings include people’s homes, catteries, veterinary clinics, homing centres and on the streets.
Through the sharing of initiatives and information, this collective effort will advance the accepted understanding and common practices in a way that would be impossible to do individually.
