Steve presenting at the Summit

Cat didn’t get their tongue. Experts from around the country met in Palm Springs, CA February 5 and 6 to chart a course of action in order to help cats at the CATalyst Summit. Cats don’t fair as well as dogs when it comes to veterinary visits; cats are more often abused than dogs and felines are relinquished to shelters more than their canine cousins – not to mention the plight of millions un-owned stray and feral cats.

The Summit’s goal was to create a plan for elevating medicalization, lessening shelter give-ups and, overall, increasing the status of cats. 

            “We all went into the meeting with different perspectives, and left agreeing to focus on helping the cat,” said Dr. Jane Brunt, past president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners.

            I presented to the group and described misconceptions the public has about cats. While they’re more popular in numbers than dogs, they’re second class citizens. For example, nowhere near as much money is spent on researching health and behavior issues in cats compared to dogs. We’re a nation of dog lovers. But when it comes to cats, some people do adore them, others disdain them. I said, ‘They’re the Rodney Dangerfield of pets.’

Dr. Anna Worth, president-elect American Animal Hospital Association

            Jim Flanigan, director of marketing at the American Veterinary Medical Association offered new data which supports the unfortunate predicament cats are in – not receiving the kind of veterinary care they could or should be.

            As a group, we decided a part of the problem is that cats need a PR make-over. Misconceptions and myths about cats are so often repeated in the media and popular culture, they become accepted as fact, though they are not. Perhaps, cats need a new spokesperson – a celebrity cat lover. Since his character loved cats in the move “Meet the Parents,” one Summit attendee said he was hoping Robert DeNiro will do a series of ‘cats are cool’ public service announcements. Flanigan points out the data which illustrates the old notion about cats being pets solely for women only just isn’t true. So DeNiro could say, “Real men can love cats too.” 

            Among the organizations represented at the Summit: American Association of Feline Practitioners, American Animal Hospital Association, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, American Humane Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Veterinary Medical Association, Association of Shelter Veterinarians, Cat Fanciers’ Association, Companion Animal Parasite Council, Cornell Feline Health Center, Morris Animal Foundation and Winn Feline Foundation.

Dr. Greg Hammer, president American Veterinary Medical Association

As an outcome of the meeting, the American Association of Feline Practitioners and American Animal Hospital Association agreed to team up to craft new guidelines for veterinary professionals (subject to their respective boards’ approval) on the latest and greatest techniques and protocols for treating cats, even how to make vet practices more cat friendly . Hill’s Pet Nutrition then promised to fund similar Guidelines for the general public (based on the Guidelines to be written for veterinary professionals), which I will write with guidance and assistance from the Winn Feline Foundation, journalists/pet book authors Amy Shojai, Pam Johnson-Bennett and Arden Moore, editor/writer Beth Adelman, and others. These Guidelines will be released in 2009.    

Specific Goals for the future will include

• Branding the Cat in a new light, supporting that they are not small dogs, but unique and special on their own.
• Encouraging veterinarians to make their practices more appealing to cat owners and their cats. Perhaps this could be based on the Feline Advisory Bureau in the UK.
• Veterinarians collaborating with animal shelters and shelter veterinarians on all initiatives.

This was the first CATalyist Summit; the goal is to create an organized coalition of supporters, experts and organizations to advocate for cats - which the American Association of Feline Practitioners and Pfizer Animal Health, the event’s sponsors, are now working on. 

© Steve Dale