Abbey Vets celebrates improving their Cat Friendly Clinic status to gold level
Local veterinary clinic Abbey Vets recently celebrated their further commitment to cat welfare by achieving the higher gold level of accreditation under the ISFM Cat Friendly Clinic accreditation programme.
This programme, developed by the International Society of Feline Medicine, the veterinary division of the leading feline charity International Cat Care, has been made available in partnership with Ceva, Royal Canin, BoehringerIngelheim, Idexx, Elanco and Zoetis. It aims to promote well-being and high standards of care for all cats visiting or being hospitalised in a veterinary clinic.
Under the programme, a clinic has to prove rigorous adherence to a set of criteria which includes provision of facilities and demonstration of staff activities and attitudes aimed at reducing stress in cats, both as in-patients and out-patients. The criteria includes having separate dog and cat waiting areas, feline-friendly hospitalisation cages, and veterinary equipment specifically for treating cats. Most importantly, staff are encouraged to approach and handle cats sensitively and respectfully. Clinics are expected to maintain high standards of veterinary care, including continuing to update their knowledge of feline medicine as new knowledge becomes available.
Kara Price, the clinic’s Cat Advocate, is proud of the clinic’s further achievement: “Cat Friendly Clinic accreditation at this further level means we’ve committed to delivering even higher standards of feline care, with compassion and expertise. Our cat facilities are specifically geared towards the reduction of stress and all our staff are trained in gentle handling techniques.
We can also give advice to owners on how to reduce anxiety when giving medication or treatments at home.
Through our accreditation, we want to show cat owners that routine preventive care, and a prompt visit if their cat seems unwell, will help to give it a longer, healthier and happier life.”
The International Society of Feline Medicine launched the Cat Friendly Clinic initiative to encourage veterinary clinics everywhere to make best efforts to improve the welfare of cats in their care. The programme advises clinics on how to make their environment as welcoming to cats as possible, as well as providing support in staff training, handling techniques and cat-specific client care.
Cat owners can find out more about International Cat Care and the Cat Friendly Clinic initiative at
www.catfriendlyclinic.org. Abbey Vet’s website can be found here.
