|
press release
A change in cattitude . . .
Claire Bessant, chief executive of the Feline Advisory Bureau looks at the rise and rise of cats and how we are improving our care for them. The position of cats within society has changed dramatically in the relatively recent past. While there have always been enthusiasts and cat lovers, even 50 years ago many cats were not really seen as a valued possession, to be deep in the heart of the family like the dog or something to spend much money on. How times and attitudes have changed! The cat, long considered a second-class citizen to the dog in terms of a place by the fire, has quietly moved from living outside, pushed the dog out of the way and even had the cheek to take over the master's best chair with the softest cushions! There are more pet cats in the UK than pet dogs – the number is probably between 8 and 9 million compared to 6 to 7 million dogs. These cats live in about 5 million houses, thus the average cat-owning home has one-and-a-half cats – of course some people have a great deal more. It is now acceptable to heap love and sentiment on our animals – indeed the old-fashioned, more structured role of the working dog, which is kept outside, is not really approved of by pet lovers - a pet's place is considered central to the family unit and unless you are seen to behave lovingly to your pet you are frowned upon. Cats have done very well out of this change in attitude and their adaptability has enabled them to take full advantage of it. How has the cat made this transition from low-value rodent controller to prized companion in such a relatively short period of time? Has the cat done anything different? The answer is that the cat hasn't, but that humanity has changed considerably. The cat has merely moved into the role opened up to it by our changing lifestyles and attitudes, and blossomed there. Cat enthusiasts already knew all of this of course, but everyone else is still catching up. There are many things which have contributed to this – the time factor (people are working longer and harder and are away from home much more, making dog keeping impossible); the responsibility factor (dogs are more dangerous, noisier and produce more waste than cats); the nurture factor (we live away from our families, children are being left until later in life and we need something to love); the companionship factor (sharing the home with another creature); the female factor (women are choosing pets and like cats!); the male factor (men are being allowed to like cats!); the guilt factor (cats don't pine in the same way as the pack-orientated dog when left home alone); the house proud factor (cats make less mess than dogs in designer homes); the cat-flap and litter tray factors (cats can have control over their own activities and do not have to wait for owners); the cost factor (cats are usually cheaper than dogs); the age factor (cats live on average longer than dogs) and the acceptance factor (we are happy if our cats do not fit in with conventional expectations). So, through no effort of its own, aside from behaving as it always has, the cat has found itself fitting a role for which it has not even auditioned. We are the makers of the cat-shaped hole – the cat, with its great adaptability, has happily slotted in. While the nation is enjoying its cats and valuing them highly, have services for cats kept up with this change in attitude? Having worked for the Feline Advisory Bureau for the past 12 years, I am only too aware that many people want the absolute best for their cats and that, sometimes, you really have to look around to find it. As in any walk of life there are huge variations in quality but public demand is driving rather than following trends. People are becoming aware of what they should expect from their breeder, even from their rescue organisation; from their cattery and from their vet, in terms of quality of care. There are also people out there pushing forward standards and raising expectations. No longer do we accept the cat as a second class citizen – indeed we expect more than just good for our cats. And this means not just good facilities, but good service too. FAB has long been working to improve standards of care for cats and anyone who has used an FAB Listed boarding cattery will not use anything else (see www.fabcats.org for more information on good catteries). Through the charity's work feline diseases, treatments and care are much better understood and cats are treated to much higher standards in the UK than in many other countries. This year FAB has been working with veterinary practices on a national campaign entitled ‘Cat Friendly Practice'. For years veterinary practices have been very much dog orientated because dogs were the primary pet patient and owners spent more on their dogs. Historically dogs were more valuable animals because many were working dogs or because there are more pedigree dogs than cats (only around 10 per cent of cats are pedigrees and, in the past, thought of as ‘valuable'). However, over the years cats have represented more and more of veterinary practices' work and in many places cat clients now outnumber dog clients. Over this time this has not really been taken into account in terms of practice attitude (cattitude!) or design. FAB felt it was time to champion the cat in veterinary practice and, it could be said, to state the obvious – cats are very important not only to their owners, but to veterinary practice. With the support of sponsors, Hill's, Direct Line and Pfizer, FAB's veterinary cat experts put together a practical guide for practices on a making a visit to the vet less stressful for cats and their owners (and probably for the vets and nurses too). Practice tips Advice in the guide varies from having a cat area in the waiting room, or at least asking dog owners to keep their dogs from investigating cat baskets, to making the practice smell more cat-friendly, to suitable handling of cats to equipment and medicines which are a must in feline practice (eg blood pressure monitor). Behind the scenes there is advice on cat hospitalisation cages such as on giving cats somewhere to hide and also on how to help them to relax so that they eat more readily and recover more quickly.
Cats and medicine Giving medicines to cats is invariably fraught with difficulties and vets can help owners in a number of ways. There may be several different forms of a medicine, some of which may be easier than others to use – an injection or liquid rather than tablets, smaller tablets, more palatable tablets or, as in the case of many flea and worm treatments, spot-ons, which are applied to the skin at the back of the neck. FAB has been championing companies which have given some thought to owners when it comes to treating their cats and have come up with products which are ‘Easy to Give'. Companies too are talking about the importance of ‘compliance' – how well owners achieve the giving of medicines and finish the courses which are prescribed to them. This is very important in terms of providing a successful treatment and, where antibiotics are used, in helping to prevent resistance developing. So it is to everyone's benefit to be able to give medicines successfully – cats, owners, vets, pharmaceutical companies, and for general health in terms of avoiding the creation of resistance to medicines. Vets in practice can also help by demonstrating the giving of medicines, suggesting ways of tempting cats, using gel capsules or different tablet disguising products for bad tasting medicines (sometimes this cannot be avoided), using pill poppers, advising whether the tablet can be crushed into food such as butter or tuna oil, and cutting up tablets accurately for owners where cats have to be given a dose smaller than one tablet. As owners demand more ‘Easy to Give' products for cats they will become more common and hopefully the days of having to give two large tables three times daily to a stroppy tortoiseshell will be a thing of the past! Recovery for cats Many practices now have cat-only wards where cats can recover quietly after having treatment or an operation, away from barking dogs. Cats relax well if they are given somewhere to recover which suits them. They usually prefer not to be at ground level and to have somewhere to hide. Our FAB veterinary experts often use a type of very soft igloo bed which almost collapses around the cat making it feel warm and secure. It is also very useful in that the cat can be lifted out of the cage and restrained in the bed so that it hardly notices that it is being handled. Even providing a cardboard box for the cat to hide in can help it to feel more secure and happy to start eating. Weighing-in Knowing a cat's weight is vital for accurate dosing and to help owners monitor any gains or losses and many practices now have scales in all of their consulting rooms. Looking at changes in weight as a percentage of the cat's bodyweight can be quite enlightening – for example, 0.3 kg may not sound like a large weight loss, but in a 3.3 kg cat this is equivalent to a 10 per cent body weight loss. Think of this as the equivalent to losing about a stone for the average 10 stone person and you realise that it is quite a big deal.
The importance of feeding the poorly cat We all know that feeding the poorly cat can be difficult but is vital to recovery. As part of its cat friendly practice campaign FAB has also produced nine leaflets for cat owners, one of which looks at ways to tempt cats to eat, what to avoid and how not to put your cat off eating altogether! Vets know that food aversion is a particularly important potential complication of anorexia in hospitalised cats. For example, offering food or feeding by syringe while a cat is feeling nauseous will often result in persistent refusal to eat that food. Therefore food should never be left with the cat all the time if it is has lost its appetite as it will associate the food with feeling unwell. Advice for owners Other leaflets in the series for owners include ‘Giving medicine to your cat' - a step by step guide to pill giving, eye drops, ear drops or spot-ons. It also emphasises the importance of ‘helping the medicine go down'. Some tablets can cause damage to a cat's food pipe (oesophagus) if they sit there for prolonged periods of time. To make sure that the tablets move into the stomach quickly, a small amount of water can be syringed slowly into the cat's mouth from a syringe gently placed between the cheek and teeth, giving the cat time to swallow. Alternatively, a small knob of butter can be offered to the cat or smeared on his nose for him to lick off – assisting the passage of the pill into the stomach. There is also a leaflet entitled ‘Your cat is having an operation' and one on ‘Common household poisons and cats'. The latter was written in collaboration with the Veterinary Poisons Information Service and covers six important areas where ingestion of the products or plants, or application to the skin can have serious consequences for cats – it includes paracetamol, lilies, antifreeze, dog flea products, some slug baits and decorating materials and gives advice on what to do if you think your cat has been poisoned. The veterinary experience does not stop at the surgery door - many experienced cat owners know that bringing a cat home after a stay in a veterinary practice can have repercussions not only on feline health, but in the incorporation of the cat back into the feline household. Cats are highly sensitive to smell and use it to recognise and accept other cats in the household. A cat smelling strongly of the veterinary practice may be rejected and re-integration can be very difficult. Giving the cat time away from the others in a different room while it recovers and regains the group and house smell can make all the difference to future harmonious relationships – very important in households with lots of cats. We are very lucky in the UK to have high standards of veterinary care and a recognition of the cat and its special needs. We lead the way on many feline issues. FAB is beginning to work with vets across many other countries who recognise this and are very keen to have better information. Interestingly we are often asked if there is an equivalent organisation for dogs, which there isn't. Perhaps when people feel cats are getting a better deal than dogs someone will start one – if we keep progressing with cats, dogs might benefit too!! They will have to be quite dogged to catch up with our cattitude! All of these leaflets can be found on the FAB website ( www.fabcats.org ) along with over 400 pages of advice on cat health and welfare.
|
