Feline patients give a ‘paws up’ to practice’s cat pillows

A patient care assistant at Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire is keeping feline patients extra comfortable in the practice’s cat ward by making them special cat pillows.

The safe, super-soft pillows, which are all made from recycled materials and sprayed with a stress-relieving cat pheromone, have been given a definite “paws up” by patients so far.

Davies is an International Society of Feline Medicine gold standard-approved practice, which means the practice already adheres to a rigorous set of criteria aimed at reducing feline stress, but members of the feline team are always looking for new strategies to make the practice even more cat-friendly.

Recycled

With sustainability in mind, patient care assistant Rebecca Stevens recycled old pillowcases and blankets to make small cat pillows.

Each pillow is stuffed with old pillow wadding, meaning they are fully machine washable, which is important for infection control. When a cat is admitted into the cat ward, it is given a pillow that has been previously sprayed with a cat pheromone spray.

‘Rewarding’

Ms Stevens said: “We know a trip to the vet can be very stressful for cats. They all like to snuggle up to something soft so I came up with the idea of a pillow for each patient that can be sprayed with a special pheromone to help reduce anxiety, and keep them cosy and calm.

“They are a huge hit with our feline patients, which often snuggle up to them. It’s been such a rewarding project and pillows are now standard issue in the cat ward.”