Meet Nathalie Dowgray, Head of WSAVA Affiliate Member, the International Society of Feline Medicine
Could you introduce yourself and explain your role?
I head up the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM), the veterinary branch of ICC. Historically, the charity worked to improve knowledge of feline disease and welfare though funding feline research, then residencies to create a community of vets who were feline experts. This expanded into the creation of the European Society of Feline Medicine in 1996, which became ISFM in 2010. My role is to manage the veterinary content of the charity’s programs, including the production of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and our other membership benefits.
Your Cat Friendly Clinic initiative is proving very successful. Could you explain what it involves?
Cat Friendly Clinic (CFC) started life as a competition between clinics to see which could create the best space for working with cats in a veterinary environment. The advantages of modifying the clinical environment and our behavior as vets working with cats to help them feel more comfortable quickly became apparent and the CFC initiative was born.
Dr Nathalie Dowgray
It’s an important scheme because cats are not always the happiest in a strange environment, such as a clinic. CFC provides staff working in clinics advice as to how to adapt their clinics and protocols to make cats feel more secure and less stressed, reducing the risk of injury to the cat and clinic staff, as well as offering cats and their owners a more positive experience.
Anyone interested in learning more about CFC should visit our website to register an interest and download a copy of the CFC guide. The CFC guide has been translated into 14 languages.
If WSAVA members would like to register for the program, what do they need to do?
If your clinic wishes to apply for CFC status, you can complete an online application. This requires photographic evidence of your clinic’s facilities which is then reviewed by our team at ISFM and a decision is made about accreditation for your clinic.
What other key projects or programs you’re planning for 2021?
CFC is coming up for its tenth anniversary in 2022 so we plan to review and update the program and its content to ensure it’s in good shape for the next ten years. We are also updating our CatCareforLife program and creating a weekly podcast for our members. Our annual congress, the World Feline Congress in Dublin, will be a virtual congress though we hope to also have a small in-person audience depending on the situation with COVID-19.
Why did International Cat Care feel it was important to become a member of the WSAVA?
At ICC we have been extending our international reach during the last 20 years and we feel it is important to be a member of WSAVA to reach veterinary communities whose access to feline- specific knowledge may be limited. In doing this, we hope to meet our mission of improving cat welfare though increasing feline veterinary knowledge.
What’s your message to WSAVA members?
It’s lovely to meet you all and, if you are interested in cats, please explore our website and contact us if you need advice as to how to expand feline medicine in your region.