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Sheltering an Animal’s Perspective
by Gregory M. Simpson
As a social worker practicing in child welfare, I am all too familiar with child neglect, including medical neglect. Therefore, it should not have come as a surprise to me the amount of medical neglect reported for cats. Yet it did.
The 2007 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook reports 81.7 million companion cats in the country. This is about 10 million more cats than dogs. Despite the edge in popularity by numbers, 36% of those 81.7 million companions cats – or 29.4 million – do not visit a veterinarian as compared to 17% of dogs. This means that cats are twice as likely as dogs not to see a veterinarian. The irony is that as the number of companion cats increase, there is an accompanying decrease in veterinary visits. This leaves millions of cats undiagnosed and untreated, for illness, for pain, and for discomfort. This includes life-threatening conditions such as heart murmurs that can be silent killers, if not diagnosed and treated.
At the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Annual Convention in July 2008, a CATalyst Council formed to address these alarming statistics about U.S. feline health care and welfare. The CATalyst Council, Inc. is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Kansas City. Says Dan Kramer, CATalyst Council chairperson, "At the CATalyst Summit, the entire feline industry came together and in one voice declared the current situation as unacceptable while painting a very optimistic path to making a positive difference….We welcome everyone who has an interest in the outcome to join us in a broad-based initiative to raise the standard of care for all cats."
The formation of the CATalyst Council followed a CATalyst Summit in February 2008 held by the Association of Feline Practitioners. At the summit, over thirty leading organizations and companies met to discuss how to improve feline health care and increase responsible behavior of cat companions. Their goal is to enhance the stature of cats and enrich their lives. During the summit, an action plan was created to, in part, develop feline life stage guidelines for veterinarians and pet owners, and produce a consumer awareness campaign.
It would serve cats well for their companions to keep in mind what Mordecai Siegal wrote in the introduction to The Cornell Book of Cats: A Comprehensive Medical Reference to Every Cat and Kitten, "…they are as vulnerable to the processes of nature as any other living organism. The natural cat is an attractive, alluring animal that requires our help and good intentions if it is to survive in the human environment….The invasion of internal or external parasites will disrupt normal body functions and most certainly will cause discomfort, pain or sickness without veterinary treatment. Cats, like all animals, are susceptible to hundreds of diseases, disorders, and potential threats….It is essential for caring cat owners to have a grasp of the medical realities of their special friends."
The cat has the distinction of being the only animal species that domesticated itself. Thousands of years ago, in the Fertile Crescent that includes Egypt, Turkey, and Cyprus, the Cat decided that living with Man was a good deal for both sides. For protecting the grain supply from rodents, cats were given food, shelter, and loving care. So, after all these thousands of years later, please live up to your end of the deal and provide your cat with routine veterinary care. You will receive unconditional love as your part of the bargain.
For the animals,
Gregory M. Simpson
Gregory Simpson’s animal welfare involvement spans over 25 years, having provided leadership for several Connecticut organizations, as well as having served as state advisor to the national Friends of Animals. Currently a Board member of Protectors of Animals, Inc., he was chosen by CAT FANCY magazine as one of the ultimate cat lovers in the U.S. He is also a member of the Cat Writers’ Association.
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