Chattering With ISFM ISFM

This month Yaiza Gomez-Meijas is joined by Dr Ryane Englar who has published two articles on 'Recasting the gold standard' that were published in the JFMS special collection on Accessible veterinary care. We also continue our discussion about the treatment of invasive fungal infections with Nathalie Dowgray and Prof. Vanessa Barrs.
Our first conversation between Yaiza and Ryane features a discussion on the continuum of care in veterinary medicine, emphasizing a shift from the gold standard approach to more tailored and patient-centred care. Additionally, it delves into strategies for initiating conversations with clients about healthcare options and case management decisions.
The conversation on contextualised care also continues into the discussion on the treatment of invasive fungal infections where Prof. Barrs discusses drug selection and how to best approach these discussions with owners where the treatment options are often prolonged. Make sure you check out part one of our interview with Prof. Barrs in our January episode (entitled: ‘FCoV-23: Is it driving the Cyprus FIP Outbreak?’) in which we discuss the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections.
For further reading material please visit:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1098612X231209855
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1098612X231215639
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X231219696
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X231220047For ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Yaiza Gomez-Mejias, LdaVet MANZCVS (Medicine of Cats) CertAP (SAM-F) Acr AVEPA, ISFM Community Coordinator and Small Animal Clinician
Ryane Englar, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice), Executive Director of Clinical and Professional Skills, Associate Professor of Practice, and member of the founding faculty at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine.
Vanessa Barrs, BVSc (Hons), PhD, MVetClinStud, FANZCVS (Feline Medicine), Registered specialist in Feline Medicine, Dean of Hong Kong Veterinary School and past president of the International Society of Companion Animal Infectious Diseases.

This month Nathalie Dowgray, Head of ISFM, talks with Vicky Halls from iCatCare about her work focusing on unowned cats and the new developments in the Cat Friendly Homing program. Later in the episode, Dr Chris Scudder is invited to discuss hypersomatotropism-induced diabetes in cats as part of our JFMS clinical spotlight series.
Vicky talks us through the work she has been leading on unowned cats over the past few years and they discuss the exciting Global Enablers Grant received from Battersea which will aid in the expansion of this program. Vicky's role as Head of Unowned Cats not only involves carrying the Cat Friendly Homing model forward, but also includes developing training courses, consulting about cat population management, andresource creation.
Hypersomatotropism is becoming increasingly recognised as a comorbidity in cases of feline diabetes. Nathalie and Chris delve into the clinical signs, testing procedures, and management of this condition in feline patients.
For further reading material please visit:
https://icatcare.org/unowned-cats/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1098612X241226690
For ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Vicky Halls, RVN Dip Couns, Head Of Unowned Cats for International Cat Care and published author
Chris Scudder, BVSc MVetMed PhD DACVIM-SAIM DECVIM-CA MRCVS, Senior Lecturer, Researcher and Mentor Liason at SAMSoc, JFMS Published Author

This month Nathalie Dowgray is joined by Dr Charalampos Attipa, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh who has been investigating the causes of the FIP outbreak in Cyprus. We also feature our monthly JFMS Clinical Spotlight interview in which Nathalie discussed the diagnostic approach to invasive fungal infections with Professor Vanessa Barrs.
2023 saw a large spike in cases of FIP amongst Cypriot cats. Dr Attipa has been part of an international collaboration investigating the cause of this increase in cases and explains how and why FCOV-23 is different.
We are then joined by Prof. Barrs to discuss how climate change is causing alterations in the distribution of fungal diseases globally. We discuss what we should be aware of and how to diagnose invasive fungal infections.
Stay tuned for part two of our interview with Vanessa, where we discuss treatment, which will be available in the coming months!
For further reading material please visit:https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.08.566182v2.full.pdf
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X231219696
If you are interested in learning more about the situation with FIP in Cyprus, please follow the link to sign up to the EveryCat webinar:https://everycat.org/webinar-feline-infectious-peritonitis-from-the-fcov-to-fcov23-the-cyprus-case-or-a-new-perspective-in-the-way-we-see-coronaviruses/For ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Charalampos Attipa, DVM, MRes, MVetMED, PhD, DipACVP, MRCVS, RVCS & American Recognised Specialist in Veterinary Clinical Pathology
Vanessa Barrs, BVSc (Hons), PhD, MVetClinStud, FANZCVS (Feline Medicine), Registered specialist in Feline Medicine, Dean of Hong Kong Veterinary School and past president of the International Society of Companion Animal Infectious Diseases.

Our focus this month is on the JFMS Special Collection about accessible veterinary care which is available for you to read using the link below.
Firstly, Nathalie Dowgray sits down with Dr Linda Jacobson, our special guest editor of the collection. We discuss how the collection came to be, the barriers preventing cats from receiving veterinary care and the work she is doing with the Toronto Humane Society to help both cats and caregivers who are struggling.
Nathalie is then joined by International Cat Care’s Head Of Unowned Cats, Vicky Halls, and they speak with Dr Gemma Ma about her paper on the characteristics of cat semi-owners and their impact in Australia.
For further reading material please visit:https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-jfm/jfm-1_accessible_veterinary_care/jfmFor ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Linda Jacobson, BVSc, MMedVet(Med), PhD (U Pretoria), Senior Manager of Shelter Medicine Advancement at Toronto Humane Society, President & Treasurer of the Canadian Animal Shelter and Community Medicine Association.
Vicky Halls, RVN Dip Couns, Head Of Unowned Cats for International Cat Care and published author
Gemma Ma, BVSc (USyd), PhD (USyd), Project Manager at Keeping Cats Safe at Home, Community Veterinarian at RSPCA NSW and published JFMS Author.

Welcome to this bonus episode of Chattering with ISFM, brought to you in collaboration with IDEXX and Purina. In this episode, Nathalie Dowgray is in discussion with Dr. Zoe Belshaw about senior wellness clinics.
Our conversation goes beyond wondering if prevention is better than cure and expands into a discussion about best practices when setting up a wellness clinic, the importance of contextualised care and examines the relationship between the veterinarian, the caregivers and the cat itself. We hope you enjoy this episode!
For further reading material please visit:
https://www.catcare4life.org/
For ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Zoe Belshaw
Zoe is a veterinary surgeon with a clinical specialism in small animal internal medicine. She received a PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2017 for investigating welfare assessment in canine osteoarthritis, and was awarded the BSAVA Petsavers Award in 2020. She has worked in general practice, referral clinics, university teaching hospitals and charity practice. She is currently combining looking after a toddler with collaborative research on how veterinary professionals and owners make decisions about pets with chronic illness, how the quality of life of those pets and owners can best be assessed, and characterising the Pandemic Puppy phenomenon.

This month Nathalie Dowgray is speaking with Dr Kelly St. Denis about her study on the benefits of being a Cat Friendly Practice. We also feature our monthly JFMS clinical spotlight interview in which Nathalie discusses surgical management of biliary tract disease in cats with Dr. Daniel Low.
To begin our episode, Nathalie speaks to Dr. Kelly St. Denis about her study on the benefits of being a cat friendly practice in regards to laboratory testing and improved diagnosis of common feline conditions. Dr. St. Denis discusses her collaboration with AAFP and IDEXX in conducting the study, the financial and clinical outcomes from the data and the possible reasons behind the improved diagnoses in cat friendlypractices.
The episode also features a discussion with Dr. Daniel Low on his review article about the surgical management of biliary tract disease in cats. Dr. Low offers insight into diagnosing extrahepatic biliary tract obstruction, the procedures involved in its surgical management, as well as the circumstances in which these surgeries should be referred to specialists.
For further reading material please visit:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1098612X231204199
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1098612X231206846
For ISFM members, full recordings of each episode of the podcast is available for you to listen to at portal.icatcare.org. To become an ISFM member, or find out more about our Cat Friendly schemes, visit icatcare.org
Host:Nathalie Dowgray, BVSc, MANZCVS, PgDip, MRCVS, PhD, Head of ISFM, International Society of Feline Medicine, International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Speakers:Kelly St Denis,MSc, DVM, DABVP (Feline), 2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines Co-Chair, St Denis Veterinary Professional Corporation, Powassan, Ontario, Canada
Daniel Low,BVetMed MRCVS Surgical Intern, Veterinary Surgeon and co-author of a JFMS publication.