A Cumbrian veterinary group is celebrating after it was awarded the highest status for its cat care.
Paragon Veterinary Group’s Dalston centre, near Carlisle, has been given Gold Cat Friendly status by the International Society of Feline Medicine.
This status is only awarded to clinics which have the highest standards of design, equipment and care for cats.
Small animal vet Ruth Simmons said: “We are really delighted. We already held the silver status but we decided to go for gold this year.
“We had to submit an application which shows our protocols, equipment and facilities. And they also wanted to know if we offer clinics, for instance for older cats, which we do.
Paragon’s Dalston clinic has a specific waiting area for cats and a hospital wing built in 2019, with cat condos where cats can stay in the hospital completely separate from dogs, all of which makes their visits less stressful.
The practice has also recently purchased a specialist dental X-ray machine which improves care for cats.
Ruth added: “This machine is specifically for X-raying teeth. We got it because there are certain diseases in cats’ teeth where the roots get resorbed, in which case you don’t need to remove them. But you can’t know that without using this machine. It saves time and expense and can shorten the anaesthetic time for the cat.”.
The accreditation has to be renewed every three years.
