Abstract
The British Small Animal Veterinary (BSAVA) Congress is an important meeting for ESFM every year. ESFM holds a pre-congress study day with the Feline Advisory Bureau (of which ESFM is a division) and takes a stand in the commercial exhibition to reach the thousands of veterinary surgeons and nurses who attend each year.
High ratings for ESFM feline symposium
Eminent speakers from both sides of the Atlantic tackled some of the more difficult feline problems encountered in practice at the European Society of Feline Medicine (ESFM) Symposium held on April 6. Sponsored by Hill's and Intervet, the symposium attracted 190 veterinary surgeons keen to glean the practical advice provided by the speakers.
Speaking on feline uveitis, David Maggs of the University of California, Davis said, ‘Cats do everything they can to keep the diagnosis from you - they don't want to show you that they have disease.’ Although this was said about the eye it could apply to almost any feline problem!
Pictured speakers at the symposium, from left: Danièlle Gunn-Moore from Edinburgh and Rachel Casey from Bristol who spoke on FLUTD - the link between physical and behavioural disease; Lynelle Johnson from University of California, Davis, who spoke on managing snotty cats; Virginia Luis Fuentes from the Royal Veterinary College talked on aortic thromboembolism in cats; David Maggs spoke on feline uveitis and chair and Sarah Caney, co-ordinator of the FAB feline expert panel. Sue Shaw (not pictured) spoke on travelling cats - a passport to problems.
Keen to maintain the high standards and practical bent of its symposia, ESFM invited feedback from delegates. Sixty per cent responded scoring the day with 84 per cent for scientific content and 86 per cent for value for money. They said:
‘Very informative and relative to first opinion practice’
‘Great speakers and wide range of topics’
‘Liked the multidisciplinary approach to FLUTD’
‘Interesting and practical’
“Always excellent talks and good value for money’
‘Keep up the good work’
‘Excellent - very relevant to gp practitioner’
‘All very clear, lecturers very enthusiastic’
Full details of ESFM/FAB conferences can be
found on www.fabcats.org
In the pink at BSAVA
FAB and ESFM went pink on their stand in the commercial exhibition at BSAVA Congress this year. There was great interest in the charity's work at the 4-day congress, especially practice membership and the cpd days and conferences.