The European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), now in its 7th year, was a joint initiative of Dr. Marian C. Horzinek, retired professor of virology at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Dr. Jean-Christophe Thibault, Director of Technical Services, Biologicals & NSAIDs, Merial SAS, Lyon, France. Its first aim was to issue guidelines on the prevention and management of feline infectious disease in Europe; the guidelines are based on published scientific data and follow the rules of evidence-based veterinary medicine. The members of the Board are veterinary scientists and clinicians from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy, with expertise in immunology, vaccinology and/or feline infectious diseases, opinion leaders in their respective countries. Poor vaccination rates had raised concerns about the health risks this may pose for the estimated 60 million cats in Europe. Polls conducted among >30,000 cat owners in five countries indicated that about six out of ten owners of young cats have left them unvaccinated. An essential role of the ABCD is to raise awareness about infectious disease prevention and control, through promoting vaccination as a vital part of responsible cat ownership. The Board attempts to achieve this by addressing and educating companion animal vets, emphasizing the need for evidence-based prevention and management of the major feline infectious diseases including vaccination protocols, choice of vaccines as well as the avoidance of unnecessary vaccination in cases where the duration of immunity is known. The ABCD has compiled guidelines and fact sheets (two-page abstracts highlighting the essential data contained in the guidelines, in 18 languages), has published a Special Issue on these topics in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and has participated in numerous CPD activities Europe-wide, often as satellite meetings to congresses. A recently upgraded web site (www.abcd-vets.org) is the publication platform for the most recent information, news from the research scene, upcoming events, video footage, webinars etc.   The animal health care company Merial helped in setting up the ABCD and is committed to supporting its ongoing activities. These consist of three yearly meetings where consensus-based recommendations are formulated. The most important issue is the Board's intellectual independence from the sponsor, who may participate in these meetings as an observer.