To my AAFP Member Colleagues,
Some of you may remember a Journal called Feline Practice. It was published out of California starting in the 1970s. It struggled because feline medicine wasn’t a stand-alone interest yet. When I first heard of the AAFP in the late 1980s, the organization had a newsletter that I eventually edited through the 1990s. Unknown to us, a small group of forward-thinking cat lovers across the pond decided to start a proper, peer-reviewed feline medicine journal.
I was first asked to become co-editor of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (JFMS) back in 2001, not long after this peer-reviewed Journal had been launched in 1999. Representing the AAFP, I would join Andy Sparkes, Co-editor for the then European Society of Feline Medicine (now International Society of Feline Medicine). There were many things I found exciting about this opportunity. From 1994 to 1995 I pushed to take feline cases from the Internal Medicine board on the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) to their own: Feline Medicine. As a board editor, it was disheartening to have to sort through so many cases, just as it was articles in veterinary journals, to find those about the species I was interested in. I believed that separating cats out from under the heavy burden of ‘actually, they aren’t small dogs’ would allow for not just a select and keen readership, but would also grow the interest in practitioners as well as researchers. The launch of JFMS meant that researchers now had a platform that welcomed feline papers, which would beget more studies on the species.
And, indeed, that has certainly been the case! While initially four issues a year were published, JFMS rapidly grew to bimonthly. From 2009, Clinical Practice issues filled the alternate months, resulting in a 12-issue-per-year Journal. The time of the cat was upon us! A few years later, in 2015, we launched JFMS’s sister Journal, the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery Open Reports, to also help provide a further home for the increasing number of papers we continued to receive.
Now we are about to embark on the exciting next step of JFMS’s evolution with open-access publication, allowing any veterinary professional, anywhere, to read clinically relevant original research and reviews on cats. As a bonus, the AAFP has developed new membership benefits for us all, including a new magazine, The Feline Practitioner, just for AAFP members. For me, so many boxes have been ticked – the chance to raise the standard of care for cats through more feline research and now through making it available worldwide. After over 20 years of representing AAFP as co-editor of the Journals, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. And so, finally, it is time for me to start to hand over the reins of the Journal.
With a lot of careful consideration and vetting, I invited Dr. Kelly St. Denis to become the new AAFP Co-editor, a decision that was supported by the AAFP Board. Kelly initially achieved a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics, which she followed with a Master in Immunology; since becoming a veterinarian she became board-certified in Feline Practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in 2013. Involved with the AAFP for many years, Kelly has provided a range of input, from being part of the Committee advising on the Cat Friendly Practice® Program to being on the Task Forces that create educational toolkits and Practice Guidelines, including the recently published Cat Friendly Guidelines, one of which she co-chaired. During the recent challenging pandemic years, she also served as President of the AAFP. Throughout the rest of 2022, and all of 2023, we will be working side by side so I can pass on what I have learned and she can reach for new goals. This will allow for a seamless transition from old to new, and from print to online-only open access. She will have, as I have had, the support of the whole JFMS Journals team, the AAFP and ISFM, and the Editorial Board. I predict exciting times ahead!
Over the years I have had the privilege of being part of a monumental publication that has helped to shape the high level of feline medicine that is practiced today. Each of you, through your AAFP membership and reading of JFMS articles, has contributed to the increase in the standard of care provided to cats. It has truly been an honor – thank you! I look forward to continuing this a little while longer during this year of transition and while you get to know Kelly.
Margie Scherk, AAFP Co-editor