Four Paws Up To The Veterinary Community -- 2010 Feline Guidelines Finally Give Cats Their Propers.

If you’re like me, when you take your cat to an animal clinic, you usually feel like you’re in the minority – navigating a waiting room full of dogs. I dislike doing this so much that I go out of my way to frequent cats-only clinics. It’s hard enough just taking cats away from their home without adding the stress of seating them between strange dogs while they wait nervously for the doctor.

But I’ve been curious about this for a long time. Cats are the number one family pet– with dogs coming in a close second. If both were getting equal medical attention, the clinics should have at least as many cats as clients as they have dogs. Yet a 2006 study confirmed my suspicions -- that only 28% of pet cats routinely see a vet while 58% of pet dogs go to the vet. And -- among those dogs and cats that frequent vets -- dogs are taken in 2.2 times annually while cats go in only 1.1 times. No wonder the waiting rooms are always full of dogs – twice as many of them go to the vet twice as often as cats go!

Needless to say, this study triggered a wake-up call for the veterinary associations. They promptly formed a commission to study why cats were losing out on quality health care and to update guidelines for feline veterinary care. The results of their commission are now published on both the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) and the AAFP (American Association of Feline Practitioners) web sites. Although most of the report is geared to vets, a few things are worth noting.

First they’ve solved the mystery of why cats aren’t routinely taken to the vet. Their caregivers consider them as much a part of their family as they do their dogs but the cats are perceived as not needing medical care because they are self-sufficient. And – even when they are sick – the caregivers don’t seek treatment because cats are so good at hiding illness their caregivers don’t know they’re sick.

Then they redefined the life stages for cats from three ( kitten, adult and senior/geriatric) to six distinct stages – each with individualized veterinary protocols. These are Kitten (Birth to 6 Months), Junior (7 months to 2 years), Prime (3-6 years), Mature (7-10 years), Senior (11-14 years), and Geriatric (15-25 years).

The 2010 Guidelines recommend cats in all life stages have at least an annual wellness exam. For older or chronically ill cats, more frequent vet visits are advised. They’d actually like to see all cats get semi-annual exams but aren’t pushing the envelope. The logic behind semi-annual exams for all cats is to catch health problems early to keep the treatment costs down.

But to me, the most interesting part of the Guidelines has to do with their budding awareness that veterinarians need to be more sensitive to the needs of cats in their clinic design and procedures – that cats are distinct from dogs. Here are my favorites:

• Provide a separate waiting room for cats or at least elevated platforms to place cat carriers on out of reach of dogs.

• Reduce the waiting time before the cat enters an exam room.

• Keep the exam room itself quiet and warm.

• Use an exam table that’s warm and has a non-slip surface.

• Avoid loud noises or sounds that mimic hisses – such as whispering.

• Let the cat stay in the carrier for as much of the exam as possible -- at least through the history-taking phase -- so the cat can adjust to the veterinarian in a “safe” environment.

• When not in the carrier, provide towels so the cat can partially hide and use the towels as a preferable handling tool over scruffing the cat.

• Avoid making eye contact with the cat when possible.

• Conduct the exam in the most comfortable position for the cat – such as on the veterinarian’s lap.

• Keep hospitalized cats away from dogs and out of eye contact with other cats.

It’s great to see this magnitude of veterinary enlightenment coming into feline practice. Whether it gets more cats into the clinics for wellness checks and diagnostics is yet to be seen. But for the cats that do go to the vet, the trip will be a whole lot more pleasant. I give these changes in veterinary protocol Four Paws Up – and I think our cats will too. Now … if only I could find a clinic that follows them in my new community … I’d purr my heart out!