AN ABC TO KEEP YOURSELF UPDATED IN FELINE MEDICINE

   

Let’s start reviewing!

A) 5 tips to keep yourself updated in feline medicine through SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOGS

1. Choose an adequate source of information.

Twitter and blogs are much more rewarding than other platforms. However Facebook is a great place to join discussion-forums and gives you the chance of learning about other vets’ cases and asking for help when you need it.

There is also something I love about facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=enriquecimiento%20ambiental%20felino

Even if you do not speak Spanish, you will learn feline environmental enrichments- tips from the pics.

2. Prioritise: You can use filters to choose which posts you see first on Facebook. If you cannot (I still have not found the way to do that on Twitter), try to organise your time and regularly check the posts of those experts you have decided to follow.

3. By following experts you can keep up with the latest in feline medicine. There are very inspiring people and institutions you may follow. Generally blogs on organizational websites have more credibility than personal blogs. However personal blogs may have links to reliable web sites.

These are 5 sites I regularly visit:

• The Skept Vet blog http://skeptvet.com/Blog/
• Companion Animal Psychology http://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/
• Insights into Veterinary Endocrinology https://endocrinevet.blogspot.com.es/
• Cat health news blog (Winn Feline) http://www.winnfelinefoundation.org/education/cat-health-news-blog
• Clinician Brief https://www.cliniciansbrief.com/

4. Manufacturers’ web sites may contain good sources of information but always be aware of a potential commercial bias. They generally have plenty of webinars available.

5. Whichever paper you end up encountering on your way and reading, keep the Evidence Based Veterinary Medicine in mind!

https://knowledge.rcvs.org.uk/evidence-based-veterinary-medicine/ebvm-toolkit/

B) JOURNALS, LIBRARIES, RESEARCH TOOLS

- If you are really interested in medicine of cats, you are probably already a member of ISFM (International Society of Feline Medicine). However, if you have not got the budget, there is JFMS Open reports (http://journals.sagepub.com/home/jor) and their website is full of useful information that you can access without being a member. Even some webinars are free!

- Most universities have a library you can access online. I find the RCVS library is a great research tool. Again, it has interesting content for free, particularly about evidence based veterinary medicine: https://knowledge.rcvs.org.uk/library-and-information-services/infocus/

- There are also options such as Google Scholar, PubMed and SciHub too if you are not happy with the libraries’ fees. However, remember that there are differences between the different data bases. For instance CAB Abstracts has the highest coverage (90.2%) whilst Medline (PubMed) only has 36.5% (1).

C) MY BOOK LIST

Given the speed at which science evolves and the number of papers published every week, books are not enough to keep us updated. However they are indispensable for a solid base and a structured knowledge. For the moment I consider this is a good list for a start. However, there are many you can add to it! (… and I would be pleased if you let me know which ones you have found useful)

The Cat: Clinical medicine and Management ( S. Little)

August’s Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine

Problem based feline medicine (Rand)

Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook

Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Diseases (Zachary, Mc Gavin)

Veterinary Physiology (Cunningham, Klein)

Feline Stress and Health (ISFM Guide)

Feline Cardiology (Cote, MacDonald, Montgomery Meurs, Sleeper)

Feline dentistry: oral assessment, treatment and preventative care (Bellows)

Greene: Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat

Parasitoses & Vector Borne diseases of cats (Beugnet, Halo)

Dermatologie-Atlas Katze: Krankheitsbilder und typische Verteilungsmuster (S. Peters)

Feline Oncology: A comprehensive Guide to Compassionate Care (Ogilvie, Moore)

Feline Soft Tissue and General Surgery (Langley-Hobbs, Demetriou, Ladlow)

Feline orthopaedics (Scott, Mc Laughlin)

Diagnostic ultrasound in cats (Novellas Torroja, Martínez Pereira, Espada Gerlach, Domínguez Miño, Tobón Restrepo)

(1) Grindlay, D.et al (2012) Searching the veterinary literature: a comparison of the coverage of veterinary journals by nine bibliographic databases Journal of Veterinary Medical Education 39 (4) pp404-412)