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CAT GROOMING AT GVC – WHY WE BELIEVE IT IS ALWAYS BEST FOR CATS TO STAY NATURAL!

on : January 14, 2021 comments : (Comments Off on CAT GROOMING AT GVC – WHY WE BELIEVE IT IS ALWAYS BEST FOR CATS TO STAY NATURAL!)

This January, GVC is relaunching our “Cat Grooming” service to reflect the Cat Friendly and Fear Free principles that are so very important to the health and wellbeing of our purry friends!

Grooming is such an important aspect of natural feline behaviour and which impacts:

  • A cat’s health,
  • A cat’s social position and
  • A cat’s personal identity….

For these reasons the team at GVC believe that cat grooming services such as shaving/bathing/assisted cleaning are only beneficial when they are not going to negatively impact these key aspects of a cat’s welfare.

In short, this means that cat grooming is no longer available at GVC as a cosmetic service. Instead, the decision to intervene with the grooming of our cats will only be made when considered as having a positive impact upon a cat’s health and/or wellbeing.

Therefore, GVC is now offering assisted cat grooming as a medical procedure for cats that either struggle to groom themselves or that have a medical reason that requires a grooming procedure, for example:

  • When there is a contamination of coat (i.e. chemical/environmental etc)
  • A cat is suspected of, or diagnosed with, Ringworm
  • Arthritic cats that are unable to groom themselves
  • Cats that are unable to groom themselves due to other pain or injury management issues
  • Cats with oral issues that prevent them from grooming effectively
  • Senior long haired cats that will benefit from welfare improvements following a trim (based upon UAE climatic conditions).
  • Heavily matted cats

Medical procedures include:

  • Nail trims
  • Sanitary shaves
  • Mat removal (that cannot be brushed out)
  • Medical body trim

The delivery of these procedures will be assessed based upon medical and behavioural criteria. For example, cats can have nail trims and/or sanitary shaves if tolerated whilst they are conscious using our Cat Friendly and Fear Free approach. However, any cat that does not tolerate these activities will need to be prescribed Pre-visit Pharmaceuticals (PVP) and/or sedated…. This will be decided by a vet and any sedation or PVP will be prescribed/delivered under the appropriate clinical care.

Following these changes, please note that the below will no longer be available at GVC:

  • Designed cuts (lionshave / teddybear etc)
  • Use of any perfumed shampoos / conditioners / colognes
  • Unnecessary grooming of any animal for cosmetic reasons

By offering cat grooming solely for either medical or welfare purposes we can remain true to the things that we all hold dear… namely, the happiness of our fantastic felines!

Learning How Home Grooming Can Benefit Pet Parents

What we do want to help build is a greater awareness amongst all pet parents regarding the benefits of assisting their cats with their natural grooming habits at home… and in doing so, both support our cats to look and feel their best and enable all our purry-pet owners to help their beautiful felines carry out these wonderful, relationship building activities (brushing can be a very pleasurable activity that cats can learn to love…).

So, GVC’s Veterinary Nursing Team will be providing specialized grooming advice (as a Nurse Consult) for owners to use at home. The core of this will be focusing on the therapeutic process between cat and owner that positively reinforces their bond. We will be using Icatcare standards to promote and explain the best methods for both the cat’s and their pet-parent’s benefit.

In reality, a cosmetic cat grooming service has been a source of mixed feelings at GVC for some time… when we consider how it fits into the bigger picture for GVC as a Cat Friendly Clinic with a Fear Free certified team, the unnecessary stress and adverse impact on a cat’s welfare and the intrusion upon natural feline behaviour inherent during many cosmetic grooming procedures are counterintuitive… we really believe that these changes will benefit both your cat and your own relationship with your feline companions.
Home grooming activities are such a great way to nurture and strengthen our relationships with our cats… and the more of these activities we can do, the better it is for everyone in your wonderful furry family!

German Veterinary Clinic

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