Talking Cats

Why helping your customers become more cat friendly can be good for their patients and good for business.

The future growth of companion animal practice may increasingly depend on something veterinary hospitals have historically struggled with; getting more cats into the practice to receive care. For distributor sales representatives (DSRs), this creates an opportunity to help customers address an underserved segment of their business and build volume at a time when veterinary visits are down significantly.

Cats present unique challenges. Getting them into carriers, traveling to the hospital, waiting alongside unfamiliar animals and undergoing an examination can be incredibly stressful for cats and their caregivers. The result can be fewer visits, less preventive care and missed opportunities to diagnose and treat disease.

Many people associate Cat Friendly primarily with feline handling, but it’s actually much broader. It includes communication, client education, pre-visit preparation, practice workflows, the physical environment, understanding feline behavior and emotions, and creating a better experience for the cat, caregiver and veterinary team — all things that can help build a practice’s feline business.

Importantly, becoming Cat Friendly doesn’t necessarily require an expensive remodel. Many improvements involve relatively simple changes in processes, education and how the entire team approaches feline patients.

Research suggests these changes can have measurable benefits. A 2023 study comparing Cat Friendly Practices with non-Cat Friendly Practices found that Cat Friendly Practices performed diagnostic testing at 12% more clinical visits and generated higher annual revenue per feline patient. They also identified more cats with abnormal clinical findings.

For distributor reps, the opportunity isn’t simply to promote a program. It’s to start a different conversation with customers. Ask them:

• How is your feline business doing?
• Are cat visits growing or declining?
• Are clients reluctant to bring their cats in?
• What does the practice do before the visit to reduce stress?

Those questions can uncover opportunities for the practice and give you an opportunity to recommend products, services, education and solutions that support better feline care.

Whether it’s helping your customers attract new feline patients or doing a better job serving the cats already in their practices, it’s a win for the practice, the caregiver, the cat and you.

Talk cats!

Photo Credit:

istockphoto.com/vectornation