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OUR IMPACT ON SPECIALIST FELINE CARE

RVC’s Gold Standard Cat Ward The revised layout incorporates a quiet and calm area “Manila was diagnosed with bilateral

In recent years the RVC Small Animal Referrals for examining and caring for cats and the new cat- extramural ectopic ureters. Professor Vicky
Hospital has seen a sharp increase in the number friendly kennels have been designed and placed to Lipscomb and I were able to perform
of complex feline referrals because of the range of ensure the patients do not have direct sight of each delicate surgery to re-implant them into their
advanced treatments it offers for cats and its specialist other, helping to reduce their stress levels whilst they correct anatomical position. We’ve been
Trauma Center status. This also means that their feline are in hospital. The hospital also invested in some monitoring her progress closely and are so
patients often need to stay in the hospital for several larger kennels to give bigger cats, like Maine Coons, pleased to see how well she has recovered.”
days or even weeks whilst the RVC’s specialist teams a bit more space. An important consideration in the Dr Frykfors von Hekkel
continue their treatments and monitor their recovery. design of the new ward was the need to reduce traffic
in and out of the space so new windows and digital
One such patient was Manila, who had constant screens outside the ward lessen the need for staff to
incontinence due to a rare congenital condition and enter the ward and the team can discuss cases whilst
little chance of survival. Fortunately Manila was able to viewing from outside.
have specialist surgery and then spent a week in the
hospital to receive the expert nursing care she needed The ward is an accredited Cat Friendly Clinic, which
before going home. means the facilities have attained a high standard of
cat care. This status is awarded by the International
All pets would prefer to be at home rather than in Society of Feline Medicine who consider the expertise
hospital but cats in particular find the experience very of the staff within a hospital, the environment for cats
stressful and this can affect their ability to recover from and the equipment and facilities the hospital offers.
disease or trauma. It is, therefore, very important that The Society offers three levels of accreditation, Gold,
they have the best possible environment to facilitate Silver or Bronze and the newly refurbished cat ward
their recovery. With the rise in cases, the Cat Ward exceeds the standards for the Gold award.
was often full to capacity, and it became clear that the
hospital needed to increase the capacity. We are very grateful to Petplan Charitable Trust
and our other supporters for their donations which
Thanks to our supporters, we were able to help the have improved the lives of cats being cared for at
hospital to expand the current Cat Ward to create the hospital.
more space and accommodation for cats and they
also took the opportunity to upgrade the facilities with
the very latest cat kennels and a separate dedicated
treatment area.

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