Smallanimaltalk

ISFM’s Cat Friendly Principles for veterinary professionals

Throughout its history, ISFM’s parent charity, International Cat Care (iCatCare) has worked according to a series of thoughts and behaviours that have now been articulated as the ‘Cat Friendly Principles’. There are seven principles in total – three dedicated to the cat, and four relating to ways of working with cats and each other to champion cat welfare. They include the following: respect cats; keep cats well; do cats no harm; be solution driven for cats; communicate for cats; collaborate for cats; and evolve for cats. When iCatCare refers to being ‘cat friendly’, this means embracing all the seven principles. There is no hierarchy to the principles – they all carry equal weight. In this article, each of the seven principles is introduced and contextualised to the veterinary clinical environment, demonstrating how they form the foundation of Cat Friendly Clinics and the art of being a cat friendly veterinary professional. The seven principles combine to produce a set of standards that will help veterinary professionals to promote cat welfare in clinic.

Read the article for free at: bit.ly/3gSzIkk

Some insights from the NZVA symposium for veterinary teams... http://www.smallanimaltalk.com/2022/11/wellbeing-and-veterinarians-thoughts.html

Important new guidelines!

2022 WSAVA guidelines for the recognition, assessment and treatment of pain Animal sentience refers to the capacity of animals to feel both positive and negative emotions including that of pain. As veterinary health professionals, we have a medical and ethical duty to mitiga...

FREE WEBINAR ALERT!
Join ISFM and Dr Paulo Steagall next Tuesday for a FREE session on optimising analgesia for acute pain in cats. Suitable for all veterinary professionals.

Register now at https://bit.ly/3NhjoEA
Unable to attend? Register anyway to make sure you get a link to the recording afterwards!

For those seeking to change human behaviour to improve animal welfare...

Strategy Development and Preparation

We can help with the planning stage of projects to ensure that strategic HBC principles are incorporated right from the beginning within your budget. Just a few examples of planning work we have done are:

2019: PDSA – We helped with planning the early stages of a campaign informed by human behaviour change science.

2021: We designed a survey for a farming organisation to act as a baseline for their new project; it focussed on understanding current behaviours, barriers, opportunities, and other elements of the topic.

2021-22: We worked on two projects about improving grassland management with an organisation in the farm animal sector. One project reviewed work in grassland management incorporating behaviour change science to date and provided recommendations and guidance for next steps that would enable the organisation to incorporate human behaviour change principles into their work. The second project focussed on developing a strategic plan to engaging farmers in improving grassland management using an innovative co-creation approach.

2020: We worked with an international animal welfare organisation developing a plan for a new potential campaign in an area new to that organisation.

If you'd like to work with us, please do get in touch by emailing [email protected]

The crisis of cute is upon us. Find out more.

Do you treat possums? This may be worth a look.

Brushtail possums - stressors in rehabilitation and post-release outcomes DPE NPWS Wildlife Webinar Series - post-release outcomes of rehabilitated brushtail possums

Calling all dog owners! Everywhere in the world, as long as you're at least 18! Help us out with a research study by telling us all about your relationship with your dog. Inquiring minds want to know. :)
For more info and to access the survey, click: https://redcap.latrobe.edu.au/redcap/surveys/?s=FPKPC7AFT7K9HM4J

Please share with anyone who might be able to help us out
La Trobe University Ethics approval number: HEC21093
Photo credit: Richard Brutyo

A wonderful resource

2022 ISFM Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Acute Pain in Cats - Paulo V Steagall, Sheilah Robertson, Bradley Simon, Leon N Warne, Yael Shilo-Benjamini, Samantha Taylor, 2022 Practical relevance: Increases in cat ownership worldwide mean more cats are requiring veterinary care. Illness, trauma and surgery can result in acute pain, an...

An environmentally friendly crafternoon for those who cohabit with furry companions? We love everything about this!

DIY Christmas for people and pets: a clothing reuse session | City of Sydney - What’s On Learn how to upcycle unwanted clothes into decorations, gift wrapping and playful items for your furry friends

Does your dog circle before lying down?

Our "Dog Circling" study is open again and we're searching for willing volunteers to participate!

The purpose of this observational study, is to explore why and how dogs circle before lying down and its correlation to natural nesting behavior. All the data can be collected from the comfort of your homes!