Curious about cats? Lintbells has some answers

Veterinary teams have, for a long time, appreciated the need to support cat owners to recognise the signs of illness in their pets and to bring them to the practice for treatment. It is estimated that 40% of cats have not visited a vet in the last year compared to only 15% of dogs.* Lintbells, makers of some of the most effective natural pet supplements in the veterinary marketplace, agree that it’s a worrying issue. In response, the company is launching its ‘Curious about Cats’ campaign to help practices support cat owners to improve the health and welfare of their feline friends.

Sue Lewis, Head of Commercial, explains why Lintbells wanted to get involved, “While many people know us as a supplement company, we see our primary purpose as working to improve the lives of cats, dogs and horses. We are concerned that cat owners find it hard to identify the signs of illness in their pets, hesitate about presenting them for treatment and even tend to assume that cats are so self-sufficient that they have little need of treatment.** There’s a real opportunity here to improve health and welfare.”

The new campaign will provide tools to help practices educate their cat owning clients about age related changes in particular. Lintbells will supply practices with free mobility tracker packs to hand out to cat owners so they can easily assess their cats’ mobility from home. This will provide veterinary professionals with valuable clinical data to help with case assessment and help the pet owner to identify when there is a problem. Loss of mobility is very common in older cats and coped with by becoming more sedentary, which owners often don’t see as a health issue.

Lintbells will provide certificated CPD workshops for the whole team and there’s an opportunity to win a stress-busting cat hamper for the practice.

Waiting room display and digital materials will be provided to raise awareness within the local community.

Gemma says if the initiative gets people talking about their cats and their health, then that’s a great start, “We’d like to get across that it’s really important to be curious about cats and to think about their needs. By talking openly about what is normal cat behaviour and the little giveaway signs that suggest all might not be well with their mobility, we hope we can help more people to seek veterinary help and improve the health of their cat.”

Practices wishing to take part in ‘Curious about Cats’ can contact their local Lintbells Veterinary Business Development Executive or for further information visit www.lintbellsvet.com.

*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465235/

** http://www.aaha.org/blog/NewStat/post/2013/07/24/437308/Bayer-AAFP-study-explains-why-52-percent-of-cat-owners-avoid-vet-visits.aspx