Cat Friendly Veterinarian® Program

Understanding what sets cats apart from other domesticated animals is key to their care. This module explores unique feline traits, emotional and behavioral responses, cat caregiver perceptions, and common misconceptions about feline veterinary visits. Learn tips and strategies to decrease stress and provide a better veterinary experience for the veterinary team, caregivers, and especially cats.

This module focuses on understanding how the experience of visiting the veterinary practice impacts the stress level of cats and clients, and the effectiveness of the visit. By re-imagining the veterinary experience from the cat’s point of view you will identify opportunities to soothe rather than stress. This includes an understanding about how the visit starts at home, reducing stress during the waiting room experience, and creating a safe haven for cats in the practice environment, and enhancing the bond between the caregiver and practice. We also explore teaching opportunities that empower cat caregivers to make informed and positive decisions that extend beyond their visit.

In this module, you will dive into the important considerations for cats in the examination room to decrease patient distress and minimize fear-anxiety, frustration, and pain for future visits. From aesthetics to practical tools, we walk you through the components to develop a Cat Friendly environment. We delve into Cat Friendly Interactions and Handling including how to minimize protective emotions and high levels of arousal, and promote engaging emotions to improve the cat’s overall experience. Finally, we explore the physical examination and learn useful tips to make it more successful.

In this module, we explore Cat Friendly strategies to incorporate into our standard hospitalization practices in order to improve the overall experience for cats. We consider the challenges facing a hospitalized cat and discover how to optimize the cage and ward setting. Handling cats in a hospital setting comes with its own unique set of best practices and you will gain a better understanding of feeding and interacting with cats so you can tailor your approach to create a more Cat Friendly experience.

This module explores the complex feline needs that need to be met within a cat’s home territory. We identify the basic pillars of an ideal environment and where cat caregivers can assess and elevate their surroundings. A “one-size-fits-all” approach does not apply to feline care, and we will learn how a cat’s behavior can signal a specific need and troubleshoot problem areas within the home. We will look at a patient’s history, nutritional needs and feeding behaviors, elimination patterns, and interaction with other cats to customize recommendations for caregivers at home.

This module takes a closer look at the individualized needs of the cat over time. We will visit a cat at each stage of their development and discuss balancing their needs as well as the capabilities of the caregiver. We take a closer look at a senior cat’s needs including the recognition of normal aging changes and early detection of disease. Additionally, we identify strategies and tactics to improve feline nursing and palliative care to minimize distress and improve patient outcomes.

Preventive healthcare is critical in helping cats live long, healthy lives. This module explores the fundamentals of risk assessment, parasite control, zoonotic disease, and vaccination needs in cats. We review the therapeutic considerations for feline fluid therapy. Understanding how to help caregivers make informed decisions is also critical to feline preventive care.

This module will cover several areas of medical care and practice. We explore feline pain management including recognition and treatment. We then explore the value of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), their various dosing methods and efficacies, and common adverse drug events. We then turn to the cat’s unique sensitivities to common drugs and household substances to better identify and remediate environmental hazards. We also conduct a detailed review of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the challenges it presents to cats.

This module will identify the challenges and best practices for managing feline diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, and retroviruses. We explore how stress can impact diagnostic test results for diabetes and how stress can affect retrovirus management and outcome. We learn to identify and follow best practices for the management of these conditions while supporting the bond between the cat and caregiver.