IS YOURS A CAT FRIENDLY PRACTICE?

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Catherine Stanley
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1 Vet Times The website for the veterinary profession IS YOURS A CAT FRIENDLY PRACTICE? Author : Natalie Finch Categories : Vets Date : April 15, 2013 NATALIE FINCH reviews efforts to improve the veterinary experience for felines, including what some practices have done to become cat friendly THE term cat friendly practice was coined in 2005 by the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM). Now the idea has grown and come of age, with a new and robust cat friendly clinic standard put together by ISFM. In Europe, ISFM is working in collaboration with Purina on the resulting cat friendly clinic programme to recognise clinics that have really taken the idea on board. The programme has also sparked worldwide interest, with the resulting cat friendly practice programme being adopted and developed in the US by the American Association of Feline Practitioners. ISFM will be working on the programme with Royal Canin and Ceva in Australia and New Zealand, and with Royal Canin in Asia and South Africa. The European programme aims to create more cat friendly veterinary clinics, not only within the UK, but, currently, also in Spain and Portugal, with more countries to follow. Cat friendly clinics are important in improving not only the care of feline patients, but also the experience of attending a veterinary clinic for both cats and owners. The ISFM Purina Cat Friendly Clinic programme is a self-assessment accreditation scheme open to any veterinary practice that cares for feline patients. Certain requirements regarding design, equipment and facilities within the clinic must be met to achieve the standard. The clinic must also demonstrate a high quality of care to cats and that all staff understand cats and their clinical needs. 1 / 7

2 The benefit to a practice is that the scheme will help improve the clinical care of feline patients, and may also increase the number of clients who are actively seeking a cat friendly clinic for their pet. Clinics can apply for two levels of certification. The first is silver, for which practices must achieve essential criteria, and the second is gold, which requires practices to achieve more advanced criteria. The programme also asks the clinic to nominate a cat advocate to champion cats in the clinic and be a point of contact for all things feline. This position may be taken by a veterinary surgeon or a VN, and many nurses who have completed the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB)/Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE) Feline Friendly Nursing distance learning courses have taken up this task with relish. A large number of requests for information have been made from UK-based practices, ranging from purpose-built cat clinics to mixed practices that have made many adaptations to improve their feline friendliness. Applications are being received regularly and the standard has been very high. The scheme has been available for around a year, so now is the time to get your clinic on board. The author contacted a selection of practices to find out why they were keen to get involved with the cat friendly clinic initiative, what changes they needed to make to obtain accreditation, how this has impacted on their care for cats and what client feedback to the scheme has been. Holly Bank Veterinary Centre: awarded gold Cat advocate: Catherine Burdett A Cheshire small animal clinic that prides itself on offering clients and patients the best care, Holly Bank Veterinary Centre was keen to apply for the cat friendly clinic initiative to ensure it was meeting all the current recommendations. To meet the criteria for the award, a designated cat-only consulting room was required. After careful consideration, a consulting room that avoided the passage of cats though the dog waiting area was selected by the team. In addition, revised cleaning protocols within the cat ward have also been implemented. These have been noted to have a beneficial impact of feline patient care. The practice says the cat friendly initiative has also ensured all members of staff are working to the same high standard and considering cats needs in whatever they are doing. ISFM was impressed with: adaptations made throughout the building with cats in mind; incorporation of a cat-only waiting area with benches to rest cat baskets on; and 2 / 7

3 large and spacious cat kennels. Since receiving the cat friendly clinic award, many clients have shown an interest in what the award means. In response, Holly Bank has produced a notice board display explaining the background to the cat friendly scheme and included an article about it in a practice newsletter. Anton Vets: awarded gold Cat advocate: Laura Smith Hampshire-based small animal practice Anton Vets involvement with the cat friendly clinic scheme provided it with a mechanism to communicate with clients about the standards it has for feline patients. It has allowed staff to assess cat care protocols and make improvements where needed. One of the main changes for the clinic has been to construct sneeze barriers in the cat basket resting area. The practice has also ensured all staff are familiar with the feline handling guidelines supplied with the cat friendly clinic application pack, and this has encouraged them to work with special consideration for feline patients. ISFM was impressed by: cat-only consulting rooms and waiting area; barriers to separate areas for placing cat baskets in the cat waiting room; the large, modern, wellequipped surgical theatre; and the large, spacious nonmetallic cat kennels. Many of Anton Vets clients have shown interest in the cat friendly clinic certificate and charter, which are proudly dis played in the reception. Several likes following the announcement have also been added to the practice s Facebook page. The changes have provided staff with the opportunity to discuss the scheme with clients and answer their questions. Cambridge Cat Clinic: awarded gold Cat advocates: Mini Wright and Sam McMillan Cambridge Cat Clinic is a purpose-built, feline-only clinic that opened in May The ISFM Cat Friendly Clinic scheme was launched just a few weeks after the clinic opened and, being strong supporters of the FAB and ISFM, the staff were keen to demonstrate their cat friendly attitude and 3 / 7

4 high level of clinical standards and patient care. Additionally, the clinic hoped the scheme would increase awareness among owners of carefully selecting the right practice to take cats to. Cambridge Cat Clinic was designed around the FAB scheme s original cat friendly clinic criteria, so meeting the ISFM scheme s requirements was relatively straightforward, requiring no further adaptations. Staff enjoyed completing the application paperwork, finding it a useful exercise in stimulating conversation among the team about feline issues. The clinic impressed ISFM because: it is a feline-only clinic; it has an incubator for recovering and critical patients; benches are provided for resting cat baskets, and partitions are in place to prevent cat baskets being placed too close to one another; and non-metallic cat kennels are spacious and each contains a separate igloo bed. Feedback obtained from Cambridge Cat Clinic clients shows they believe the gold award to be well deserved, and they have appreciated literature and information booklets provided to them as part of the scheme. As public awareness of the scheme grows, it is hoped the number of clients registering at a clinic that only has cat patients will also increase. Eton Veterinary Clinic (Pennard Vets Tonbridge): awarded silver Cat advocates: Claire Ross and Caroline Collins Caroline Collins obtained her GPCertFeLP (a postgraduate qualification in feline medicine) in The benefit of the Kentbased practice gaining accreditation for the cat friendly clinic scheme alongside a member of staff obtaining the qualification was recognised for not only improving feline care, but also for helping clients become more aware of the high standard of care their pets would receive. The practice had implemented the WellCat programme since its launch, and, therefore, had already considered many aspects of the cat friendly criteria and made adaptations to the practice. Thus, major changes to join the cat friendly clinic application were not required. Facilities that impressed ISFM included: 4 / 7

5 Benches provided for resting cat baskets on and to allow owners to sit next to their cat. A separate cat waiting area. Good sized, spacious cat kennels. Many of the clinic s clients were already happy with their cats care, but they were pleased the practice was recognised with the award. Involvement of the practice with the cat friendly clinic scheme has also encouraged new clients to register. The practice feels involvement in the scheme has maintained staff motivation, from reception to clinical colleagues, to continue to perform at their very best when caring for feline patients Manor Veterinary Clinic: awarded gold Cat advocate: Kirsti Furnival Kirsti Furnival was inspired to become involved with the cat friendly clinic initiative following a lecture at the FAB pre-bvna day last year. With support from the practice manager, changes were implemented quickly at the Kent practice. Similar to many practices, the greatest hurdle for Manor Veterinary Clinic was creating the cat-only waiting area. However, after much planning the practice was able to introduce it. ISFM was impressed with: a partitioned, separate cat waiting area; tables provided for resting cat baskets on; a cat photo competition; Separate cat friendly consulting room; provision of a whiteboard for patient information to be written on; and music played to cats on the cat ward. The clients at Manor have reportedly appreciated the catonly seating area. In fact, some have referred to it as the VIP area. Information leaflets and posters providing cat-related information for owners have been provided, many of which have been written by members of staff. The practice has its own Facebook page, which receives positive comments about cat care at Manor. All Manor staff are required to read the joint American Association of Feline Practitioners/ ISFM 5 / 7

6 2011 Feline Friendly Handling Guidelines, and the practice felt its approach to cat care had changed as a result, particularly among traditionally more canine-oriented staff. Many members of staff have reported they are finding cats they had previously categories as difficult to handle much easier to approach and, more importantly, the cats are reported to be happier too. Rutland House Veterinary Hospital: awarded silver Cat advocate: Leanne Jones The primary reason the Merseyside small animal practice became involved in the cat friendly clinic scheme was to increase client awareness of its cat friendly facilities and to promote a cat friendly attitude among staff. The main obstacle in implementing the changes had been encouraging all staff to become involved, due to the large number of staff members. Leanne Jones has been key in educating and delivering presentations to all staff members and establishing new and updated cat friendly protocols. Innovations to impress ISFM judges included: spacious, non-metallic cat kennels containing shelving for cats to sit on; separate cat waiting area; an abundance of cat-related client information sheets; detailed, but easy to follow, hospitalisation sheets for maintaining good clinical records. Thanks to the promotion of the cat friendly message, the practice is now noticing small changes are making big differences to the care of the feline patients. Esme, a cat that required regular sedation to obtain blood samples as part of management of her inflammatory bowel disease, was con sidered to have a much more positive experience at Rutland House Veterinary Hospital as a result of the cat friendly facilities and improved cat restraining techniques. She no longer requires sedation for her blood sample collection. Want to follow suit? If you are interested in your practice becoming a cat friendly clinic, apply for an information pack at 6 / 7

7 Powered by TCPDF ( A list of UK accredited practices is available at 7 / 7

Would cat clients choose your clinic? Find out how to improve and convey your cat friendly credentials and how to become a Cat Friendly Clinic

for life Would cat clients choose your clinic? Find out how to improve and convey your cat friendly credentials and how to become a Cat Friendly Clinic Committed to ISFM making & PURINA cats lives committed