Submitted by: Colleen Currigan, DVM
It has been a busy summer for the AAFP this year. It is such a pleasure to work with such a dynamic association and with a management team that is so focused on our mission and our goals.
As always, AAFP remains committed to providing top notch feline CE through a variety of different opportunities. Our webinar portal continues to grow. We recently added two sponsored sessions, Feline Pain Management in General Practice (Michael Petty, DVM) and Cats and Kidney Disease (Jane Robertson, DVM, DACVIM). We have two very informative and practical sponsored webinars that will be released within the next several weeks: Feline Associated Vaccine Sarcomas: Myth or Reality (Philip Bergman, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVIM/Oncology) – NOW AVAILABLE, and Analgesia in Cats: Can We Do Better? (Sheilah Robertson, BVMS Hons, PhD, DECVAA, DACVAA, DECAWBM WSEL, DACAW, MRCVS) – Launching Mid-September. All online webinars are free to our members, thanks to our generous sponsors! Other continuing education events supported by AAFP can be found on our website.
We have enjoyed very strong early registration to our upcoming AAFP Conference in Washington, DC, to be held over November 3-6, 2016. This year’s theme is Feline Behavior and Respiratory Diseases. We have a great line-up of speakers and have new features at this year’s conference as well, including poster sessions, a shelter track, handling labs, AVMA Compounding update session, and a bigger (sold out!) exhibit hall. Register here for the AAFP Conference.
AAFP President-Elect, Lauren Demos, and I had the privilege of representing AAFP at the recent International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) conference in Malta. It was a great conference, and just as importantly, it provided us with the opportunity to meet many new international feline practitioners. We were also able to continue to develop and strengthen our AAFP partnership with the ISFM by meeting with their Veterinary Director, Dr. Andy Sparkes, and Claire Bessant, ISFM Chief Executive. Because of our mutual desire to promote our cat friendly programs globally, we will be working even more closely together in this regard.
I represented the AAFP at the AVMA Convention in San Antonio in early August and was able to network with many colleagues and partners on behalf of the Association. I also enthusiastically participated in an industry wellness initiative and a brainstorming session with key opinion leaders in the veterinary profession to discuss the epidemic of dental disease, along with generating solutions for strengthening the relationships that we have with our clients in improving our dental healthcare service sector. Cats may be especially lacking in appropriate dental care just by virtue of decreased veterinary visits for this unique but wonderful species. Let’s hope we’re able to bring about ideas that will lead to better dental care for our feline patients! Thank you to AAFP member and former AAHA President and Board member, Dr. Kate Knutson, for organizing this session.
Our Cat Friendly Practice® program continues to grow. We have over 1,000 designated Cat Friendly Practices®, with another 500+ pursuing CFP designation. We have formed a CFP Advisory Council, and have developed a comprehensive engagement plan for this group of stars in the veterinary community to help us promote what is best for cats. We have begun our outreach to cat owners about the CFP program which will continue to develop through active strategic initiatives including a new cat owner website and media outreach. We had a significant presence at the Cat Writers’ Association/BlogPaws conference this spring in Phoenix where AAFP Board member and Past President, Dr. Elizabeth Colleran, was a featured speaker and educated conference attendees on the Cat Friendly Practice® program which has generated media buzz. It was a great opportunity for us to put CFP in front of hundreds of pet bloggers with large cat owner audiences.
Enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to welcoming you in our nation’s capital at our AAFP Conference this November!