VetPro

Posted by: **jenvetnurse** on Sat May 22, 2010 12:00 am

Feline friendly nursing courses

Commencing in 2010, the first distance learning courses to bring together all aspects of feline friendly nursing, from behaviour and handling, to recognition of pain and nutrition. Developed by FAB/ESFM, in association with the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE), Nestlé Purina and Veterinary Nursing Times.

The cat may not be the easiest of patients; it may be fearful and react aggressively; it maybe in pain but showing no outward signs; it may not be eating and it will almost certainly be expecting the worst to happen!

Dealing with cats, and their owners, requires understanding and skill. You may be tackling anything from weight loss to critical care and, as if that is not enough, there are inherited breed disorders in pedigree cats and the challenges of feral cats to consider. Anyone involved with nursing will tackle these issues on a daily basis; small things can make a real difference to how cats behave, how amenable they are to handling and how well they recover.

Now there are dedicated feline courses that bring together all these aspects, and more, to give a rounded and competent approach to nursing the cat in practice. Building on the principles of FAB’s Cat Friendly Practice and Wellcat programmes, and its wealth of veterinary information, these courses are designed to improve your confidence and skill, and to give you recognition within the profession and among your cat-owning clientele. In addition, COAPE’s expertise in behaviour and Nestlé Purina’s expertise in small animal nutrition make these courses an unparalleled opportunity.

Four different levels to suit anyone in practice from animal assistants

to degree level VNs

Foundation award:	Foundation Award in Feline Friendly Nursing Suggested level Animal Nursing Auxiliary
Advanced award:	Advanced Award in Feline Friendly Nursing Suggested level qualified VN
Advanced certificate:	Expert Award in Feline Friendly Nursing To be launched in autumn 2010 for 2011

Working with cats

To work with cats successfully you need to understand them as a whole animal. Perhaps the reason we find them so fascinating is that their health is affected by stress and aspects of their husbandry or environment can matter enormously in terms of how they react to us and how well they recover.

During this series courses we will be examining what a cat is, looking at its innate behaviours and how these impact on how cats live with people. In particular we will look at how natural behaviour impacts on cats within the practice and what nurses and practice personnel can do to make it a more feline friendly experience. It will also give nurses a great deal of insight into cat behaviour and more confidence in dealing with cats and their owners and integrating information and advice which goes beyond the surgery door. Cat owners much appreciate understanding and advice for home recovery too. As the courses increase in complexity, the volume and range of content increases to more detailed topics such as breeding, monitoring, feline lifestages, preventive care, nutrition and interaction with cat owners.

The course

The course is presented in six stages of course notes that you will receive by e-mail along with supporting material on the internet (if applicable). The content has been put together by the Feline Advisory Bureau, the charity which has pioneered cat care standards, from veterinary information through to catteries for over 50 years. The information has been developed by experts in the feline field – a collaboration of vets, nurses, behaviourists and others who want to improve the care we give cats. It is backed up by over 500 pages of information on FAB’s website www.fabcats.org. Our partners Nestlé Purina bring a wealth of knowledge of nutrition and COAPE bring a reputation of behaviour excellence.

In order to make the courses more flexible and dynamic COAPE have developed the Student Resource Centre which is a password protected site exclusively for students on these courses. You will find much here for the feline nursing courses – we are adding videos of handling and other techniques and of cat behaviour in practice.

Through work assessment at each of the six stages (at the end of each stage you complete a multi-choice assessment questionnaire) the courses will enable you to demonstrate your knowledge and you will learn more at every stage. The more effort you put into your studies the more you will get out of the course and in applying your ideas in the future. The courses comprise six units, spread over the period of nine months with start dates February or September each year.

Our partners

We are working in several partners in bringing you these courses - The Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE) will be administrating the course and contributing to the behaviour content. COAPE has been appointed by the National Open College Network (NOCN) as an Approved Education Centre – for more information on this go to www.coape.co.uk COAPE is also an Accredited Provider for BVNA as part of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Partners scheme – again more information on this on the COAPE website.

Our other partners for these courses are Nestlé Purina and Veterinary Nursing Times. All of our organisations wish to promote and improve the care of cats in veterinary practice and beyond and are hugely enthusiastic about being involved with veterinary nursing.

Conference day

We also hope to run a conference day with Nestlé Purina on the day before BVNA congress in 2010 for anyone who is undertaking the courses – more information to follow.

The qualification

An Open College Network certificate will be awarded to those who complete the course successfully. We will also provide you with an eye-catching and attractive certificate for you to use in the practice.

Registration

There is a registration fee of £45 and the course costs £395.

For more information about the different course levels and to register, please go to www.coape.co.uk

Posted by: **jenvetnurse** on Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:17 pm

Take time to Paws Outdoors and help unwanted and abandoned cats

Cat lovers are being urged to do what their feline friends do best and enjoy the great outdoors during the month of June to raise funds for Cats Protection.

Events will be held across the UK as part of the charity’s Paws Outdoors campaign – from garden parties to fetes, plant sales to outdoor Shakespeare plays.

And the charity is on the lookout for anyone with a passion for the outdoors who would like to organise their own fundraising event.

Katrina Hodges, Fundraising Manager, said: “Paws Outdoors is all about taking inspiration from cats and doing what they do best – taking a moment to enjoy a spot of fresh summer air. Holding an event can be as low-key or grand as you like – from an informal barbeque with friends to an outdoor cocktail party.

“There are countless ways to raise money for Cats Protection by taking part in Paws Outdoors. You could ask for a donation, charge a modest entry fee, hold a raffle or sell food.

“The most important thing is that people can enjoy spending some quality time outside and have fun raising money to give cats a second chance in life.”

Cats Protection is the UK’s largest cat charity and rehomes 52,000 cats every year through a national network of over 250 volunteer-run branches and 29 adoption centres.

The charity has produced a fundraising pack to assist anyone organising a Paws Outdoors event. To request one, please call 01825 741 980. Alternatively, to download resources please visit www.cats.org.uk/paws

Posted by: **jenvetnurse** on Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:19 am

A veterinary graduate who won a research scholarship from Cats Protection for her study into feline anxiety will be presenting her findings at the International Veterinary Behaviour Meeting (IVBM) in Edinburgh this week.

Gemma Patel, who recently completed her degree in Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, will present results of a pilot study investigating whether a synthetic feline facial pheromone, Felifriend^®, reduces anxiety-related behaviour during the examination of cats in a Cats Protection adoption centre.

She will present the study as a long-spoken paper on Friday 30th October,12.00pm to 12.30pm at the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel in Edinburgh.

Gemma conducted her research during the summer of 2008 at the charity’s National Cat Adoption Centre in Chelwood Gate, Sussex, after she was selected as the winner of Cats Protection’s Veterinary Student Research Scholarship earlier in the year.

Gemma observed cats during admissions examinations, shortly after being placed into Cats Protection care, and scored their behaviour on a seven point scale based on a published cat stress score (CSS). The individual examining the cats either had Felifriend^® or a placebo sprayed onto their gloves, which were put on shortly before examination.

The results indicated that using Felifriend^® usage may reduce behavioural signs of anxiety during handling and improve feline welfare in the initial acclimatisation period when cats arrive at the centre.

Beth Skillings, Cats Protection’s Clinical Veterinary Officer said: “Cats Protection was very pleased to hear that Gemma had been accepted to present her work at such a prestigious conference as the IVBM. It is a great testament to her hard work, and to have the value of such research recognised is extremely positive.

“As a charity that looks after 7,000 cats at any one time, we know that cats experience acute stress when entering a new and unfamiliar environment such as an adoption centre while they await new homes. Minimising this stress for these cats, while performing vital examinations to ensure their physical health, is crucial to help them settle during those important early stages.

“We hope that Gemma’s pilot study will help to pave the way for future studies looking at ways of reducing feline anxiety.”

Cats Protection has joined forces with Feliway^® in 2009 to bring the issue of feline stress to the attention of the cat owning public and to increase awareness of what can be done to make life easier for cats living in domestic homes. Veterinary behaviourist Sarah Heath is delighted that the subject is being given the prominence it deserves and hopes that a better understanding of how cats display stress will help owners to create more cat friendly environments within their homes.

Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat welfare charity and helps over 193,000 unwanted cats and kittens each year. The charity’s vision is a world where every cat is treated with kindness and an understanding of its needs. More information about the charity can be found at www.cats.org.uk

Posted by: **jenvetadmin** on Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:01 am

An ‘Unsung Hero’ who works tirelessly to support his local branch of Cats Protection has been awarded the top title at Cats Protection’s Volunteer of the Year Awards 2009.
Alan Todd, 63, won the Volunteer of the Year Award for his sterling work at the charity’s Dundee Branch Adoption Centre, which finds homes for around 550 cats each year.
For the past twelve years, Alan has donated many hours to helping cats at the branch. When he first started, Alan was responsible for opening the branch’s Adoption Centre at 7.30am to give the cats their morning feed. He now volunteers around 30 hours a week taking on a variety of tasks to help the centre run smoothly.
Alan was announced as the winner at a special ceremony held at the charity’s National Cat Centre in Chelwood Gate, Sussex on 19 September. His prize consists of the Volunteer of the Year trophy, framed certificate and embossed filofax and pen.
A delighted Alan said: “I am very proud to be named as Cats Protection’s Volunteer of the Year. I really enjoy helping unwanted cats to get a second chance in life, but I never thought it would result in a national award!”
Carol Carbine, the charity’s Volunteering Manager, said: “Alan was a worthy winner of both the Unsung Hero and Volunteer of the Year because of his commitment to Cats Protection. He has devoted a lot of time towards helping his branch purely out of a love for cats and a desire to see the unlucky ones find a home. He is a great example of just how committed and dedicated our volunteers are.”
Now in their second year, the Volunteer of the Year Awards recognise the enormous contribution that Cats Protection’s volunteers make to the success of the charity, which helps over 193,000 cats and kittens each year through a national network of 253 volunteer-run branches and 29 adoption centres.
Other winners included:
Elspeth Stirling, of the charity’s Forfar branch, who won the Extra Mile Award. Elspeth won the Award for helping 2,300 feral cats in Tayside and elsewhere across Scotland over the last 13 years. Elspeth helps to neuter these cats and either finds them homes as working cats in places like farms and garden centres, or takes them to feral cat colonies where Cats Protection can look after them.
Peter Simmonds, of the charity’s Maidenhead, Slough and District branch, who won the Trustees Distinguished Service Award. Peter has given many years of active service to the charity, and his roles have included looking after cats, running the branch’s helpline, raising funds and doing the branch’s publicity.
Jeanette Greaves, of the charity’s Preston and District branch, who was the winner of the Flying the Flag Award. Jeanette won the Award for her impressive work raising the profile of the branch. She has done this by giving talks to schools and community groups, writing the branch’s newsletter, running the branch’s website (www.prestoncpl.com) and attending all of the branch’s fundraising events
Ella Christopher, of the charity’s Bournemouth and District branch, who was the winner of the Bright Ideas category Award. Upon Ella’s 50th birthday she decided to collect tins of cat food until she had a tin for every day that she had been alive. Over the next few years, Ella collected an astonishing 18,262 tins of cat food, which she donated to the branch to feed to the cats in their care. The branch estimates this has saved them around £10,000. Further information about Cats Protection’s Volunteer of the Year Awards, can be found at www.cats.org.uk.

Posted by: **jenvetadmin** on Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:58 am

Cat owners on low incomes in Great Manchester and Cheshire can still get their cat neutered for just £5, thanks to Cats Protection.

On June 1, 2009 the charity launched a major neutering campaign that enables owners who receive state benefits, pensions, student funding or who are otherwise on a restricted income, to have their cat neutered at the discounted rate.

With 80% of vets across the region supporting the campaign and no finish date scheduled as yet, it is easy and convenient for cat owners living throughout Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Warrington, St Helens, the Wirral and Blackburn to apply for help with neutering costs.

The UK’s leading cat welfare charity, Cats Protection, has been taking radical steps to really make an impact and reduce the number of unwanted cats, which has become a real issue in the North West. Cats can start reproducing as early as four months old. Neutering your cat has many benefits for both male and female cats, reducing the risk of the spread of harmful diseases through fighting, which unneutered cats are more likely to do, and of course mating, which is actually a very painful experience for female felines. Cats Protection recommends neutering both male and female cats from four months of age.

“Population control for cats is very important, as felines are prolific breeders,” explained Ian Macfarlaine, Neutering Manager for Cats Protection. “One unneutered female cat could produce up to 18 kittens a year, or 20,000 descendants over five years, so we really hope this campaign will make a substantial inroad into the cat problem in the Manchester area.”

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