Did you know that cats are twice as likely as dogs not to get routine veterinary care? I find that difficult to believe. But, the source of that astonishing statistic is the reputable American Veterinary Medical Association. According to their U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, 36.3 percent of cat-owning households received no veterinary care in 2006 compared to 17.3 percent of dog owning households. One reason cited was that cats are independent and do not need special medical care.

Well a consortium of experts and cat lovers decided to do something positive for cat’s image and for their health. In February 2008, The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AFPA) in association with underwriting by Pfizer Animal Health held the first CATalyst Summit.

More than 30 concerned organizations attended this initial meeting with the goal of improving cat’s health. The attendees represented a cornucopia of important names in the pet game including: the American Animal Hospital Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Cornell Feline Health Center, Morris Animal Foundation, Winn Feline Foundation and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

As an immediate outcome of the Summit, the AAFP and the American Animal Hospital Association announced their plan to partner on developing feline life-stage wellness guidelines for veterinary professionals. There will be a second set of guidelines for owners, with recommendations for responsible medical care will be authored by Steve Dale, syndicated pet columnist and radio show host and Amy Shojai, founder and past president of the Cat Writers Association. They will receive support from Hill’s Pet Nutrition and the Winn Feline Foundation in creating the cat owner guidelines.

The Summit attendees identified four other actions it would like to see happen:

• Include information about cat care and cat comfort in veterinarian’s education. Examples given were considering:

          Separate waiting rooms for dogs and cats

          Soft surfaces in cat play areas

          Cat toys and treats

• Improve the image of cats to the population in general - try to make owning a cat seem cool. There was even talk of having masculine archetype, Robert DeNiro as a spokesperson - you know, "Real men like cats, too."

• Conduct a public education campaign that tries to dismiss some of the stereotyped beliefs about cats like, "they are so self-sufficient they don’t need special care."

• Create the CATalyst council to oversee carryout the Summit’s recommendations headed by, Dan Kramer, senior marketing manager at Pfizer Animal Health.

Posted by Barbara.