Celebrating 10 years as a Cat Friendly Clinic

What is a Cat Friendly Clinic?

There are unique difficulties in bringing a cat to a veterinary clinic:

• Cats often do not travel well and feel unsafe away from their home
• They are highly sensitive to new sights, sounds and smells
• Most cats prefer quiet and solitude and are highly susceptible to stress
• Most cats are highly stressed by nearby dogs in the clinic
• Cats, like any patient, need to be handled gently and with respect in the clinic

Examples of what we have in place:

• Cat pods behind reception where cat carriers can be placed out of sight of dogs, and raised off the ground.
• Separation of hospitalised dogs and cats. Cat friendly hospitalisation facilities e.g. cat hides/perches. A refurbishment of our cattery is on the cards so we can further improve on cat friendly accomodation.
• High levels of equipment and skill within the team, so most cases can be managed on site without referral elsewhere.
• Regular team training on handling cats gently and safely.
• Clinical discussion around ISFM guidelines.
• Owner education campaigns regarding transporting their cat to the vets in as stress-free manner as possible.
• Use of feline pheromone products within the practice.

 We currently have 'Silver' accreditation - while we meet 'Gold' level in many areas we unfortunately don't have the space for a dedicated cat only consulting room.