Kingsnorth Veterinary Centre is awarded internationally-recognised Cat Friendly Clinic GOLD status
We are very proud to announce that our Kingsnorth branch has achieved GOLD accreditation as a Cat Friendly Clinic (CFC) which is the highest status attainable.
As all of our cat owners know, cats are not small dogs and they have very specific needs. At Cinque Ports Vets we understand it is stressful when you have to bring your cat to see us and try to minimise this as much as possible by providing ‘Cat Friendly’ waiting areas in some of our branches. Stress is a contributing factor to many illnesses in cats and this is why Kingsnorth are extremely proud of our Gold Cat Friendly Clinic status.
We try hard to minimise as many causes of stress as possible for our feline friends when they visit the practice. We have worked hard to achieve Gold Cat Friendly Clinic accreditation to reassure our clients that our vets, nurses and reception team understand cats and their requirements.
Our recent building works have enabled us to incorporate a separate cat ward for our visiting feline friends. We also have Feliway Diffusers (synthetic pheromones) plugged in all the time to help your cat relax.
The ward is designed with larger cages enabling us to provide facilities for hiding places while allowing plenty of room for litter trays and feeding facilities.
Marley the Maine Coon who came to see us recently enjoyed full use of our new facilities. Weighing in at a mere 10kg he certainly enjoyed the extra space that was provided!
The CFC programme has been developed by the International Society of Feline Medicine, the veterinary division of the leading feline charity International Cat Care, and accreditation has been made available in partnership with Purina. It aims to promote well-being and high standards of care for all cats visiting or being hospitalised in a veterinary environment.
Under the programme, we have to prove rigorous adherence to a set of criteria which includes provision of facilities and demonstration of team members 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, team members are trained in approaching and handling cats sensitively and respectfully, and in maintaining high standards of veterinary care, including continuing to update their knowledge of feline medicine as new treatments and information become available.
Lorraine Eason RVN, our Cat Advocate at Kingsnorth, said ''I'm very proud that Cinque Ports Vets have achieved Gold status. It is lovely to see how more relaxed our feline patients are when they visit us now.''
Cat owners can find out more about International Cat Care and the Cat Friendly Clinic initiative at www.catfriendlyclinic.org.
