In the United States, there are millions more owned cats than owned dogs, yet cats visit veterinarians less frequently than dogs. Contributing to the reluctance to bring cats in for care is the stress cats experience when they visit their veterinarian. Fortunately for you and your cat, there is less stress in visiting Animal Hospital of North Asheville than there is when visiting many other practices because AHNA is a Certified Gold Standard Cat Friendly Practice. There are only four Gold Standard Cat Friendly Practices in North Carolina, and we are proud to be one of them.
The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) created the Cat Friendly Practice program to help veterinary practices meet the wide range of unique needs of cats in a veterinary practice setting. An extensive self-assessment checklist was designed to demonstrate that Cat Friendly Practices:
Understand the unique needs of cats and have made veterinary visits more cat-friendly.
Understand how to approach and handle cats in a gentle, empathetic and caring manner.
Have an appropriate standard of equipment needed to investigate and treat feline diseases.
Meets a standard for the facilities and care for hospitalized cats.
Cats can seem more self-sufficient than dogs, but this is definitely not the case when it comes to their health. Cats need a veterinarian visit at least once a year, ideally twice a year. There are good reasons for this including:
Changes in a cat’s health can happen in a short period of time.
Sick cats often show no signs of illness, but early detection allows for early intervention.
Semi-annual visits give you and your veterinarian the opportunity to closely monitor changes in your cat’s behavior and attitude that require further investigation.
