Abstract
Cats are the most popular pets in several countries, and their popularity continues to grow worldwide. Many people love their cats, and 78% of us consider them family members. 1 Additionally, great advances in feline medicine have occurred over the past three decades. Despite these facts, the cat is still underserved when it comes to needed veterinary care.
Recent studies have identified reasons as to why cats don't receive needed care. A survey of over 1000 cat lovers in the USA indicated that 58% of cats hate to go to the vet. 2 The challenge for clients starts at home, trying to get their cat into a carrier. Follow that with an unpleasant car ride, their cat acting at the veterinary practice in ways they have never seen, and then the difficulty of reintegrating cats when one comes home from ‘the vet', and it is understandable why many people don't want to bring their cats to the veterinary practice for routine health care. Compare this with the picture of the dog — excited to go for a car ride, meet new people, and get ‘cookies’ as treats at the veterinary practice — and it is easy to see why people take dogs to the veterinarian approximately twice as often as cats.
With increased knowledge of the fascinating feline species, including normal feline behavior and communication, we can better recognize what causes fear in cats and how to prevent it. Educating clients about safer methods to get the cat to the veterinary hospital, providing more ‘cat friendly’ hospital environments, and safer and more respectful handling techniques for cats can improve feline health care in our practices. In turn, we enhance the human—animal—veterinary bond, and the welfare of both cats and people.
Little to date has been published on feline handling. In order to help veterinarians improve the feline veterinary experience and the care our feline patients receive, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) developed the Feline-Friendly Handling Guidelines (see pages 364–375; doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2011.03.012).
One satisfied client, one calm cat. Respectful handling is key to making the veterinary visit a more positive experience for all concerned. Courtesy of Dr Eliza Sundahl
Guidelines panel members traveled from near and far to come together to address the concerns associated with veterinary visits for cats, and to identify solutions to support cat owners and veterinary teams to better work with cats. They then spent an additional intense eight months developing and revising the guidelines. Immense thanks goes out to all these volunteers who made the guidelines possible: behaviorists, Sarah Heath, Dr Gary Landsberg, Kersti Seksel and Dr Sophia Yin; and feline practitioners, Drs Hazel Carney, Anne-Claire Gagnon and, panel co-chair, Eliza Sundahl. Additional thanks goes to Dr Sundahl for her continued efforts to help finalize the guidelines and to promote them.
The AAFP and ISFM Feline-Friendly Handling Guidelines describe normal feline behavior, habituating cats to carriers, car rides and handling. Safer handling techniques and a more cat-friendly practice environment are discussed. The goal of these guidelines is to help veterinarians improve veterinary visits for cats and increase the care our feline patients receive.