Introduction
Noting a national need for more cat-focused care, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine has created a Feline Health Center, consolidating all of its feline expertise under 1 umbrella.
With our Feline Health Center, we will put an intentional emphasis on improving cat health in multiple ways, including through research, enhanced educational opportunities for veterinarians and owners, innovative care for feline patients and community outreach.
Dr. Margaret Gruen, associate professor of behavioral medicine, and Dr. Alex Lynch, associate professor of internal medicine and emergency critical care, are the center’s co-directors.
“We and our colleagues are excited by the idea of bringing all of the professionals doing incredible work in feline issues together in a structured way,” Gruen says. “Seeing all the interest and excitement can really move something forward when you reach this critical mass of people all interested in the same thing.”
Lynch says the center will be a place where people can easily access all of the innovative research, clinical care and educational opportunities available when it comes to cat care.
“We’re a big team of people where, we don’t necessarily all check every box individually, but across the board, we do,” Lynch says. “There are excellent researchers, excellent clinicians, outstanding educators, and together we do offer a lot. This center will be a good opportunity to share that.”
Dr. Alex Lynch is one of the co-directors of the new Feline Health Center at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.
Citation: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261, 8; 10.2460/javma.23.06.0315
The center has 4 missions: clinical service, research, community outreach and education. Another focus will be making the NC State Veterinary Hospital, where some donors already have helped create cat-specific examination rooms, even more feline-friendly.
There’s been a growing awareness that cat needs are very different from dog needs, Gruen says, and many small animal veterinary hospitals are set up in ways that can be difficult for cats.
“We really are thinking critically about what cats need for the entire experience,” Gruen says. “What are cat needs for entering into the clinic and the hospital? What are cat needs for hospitalization and exam rooms? Every single piece, we’re really trying to take the cat-eye view of it. All of those pieces are important, and how we handle cats is how we show clients we are dedicated to excellent feline care.”
The center also will give cat lovers a chance to donate to research in specific ways to improve cat health. The center already has funded 2 new studies on feline cancer.
As for the educational mission, we envision the center providing opportunities such as seminars in feline health both to veterinarians and to pet owners who can learn to recognize feline illness in their pets and better understand feline behavior.
The center conducted its first Feline Symposium in April, with NC State feline experts offering tracks for veterinarians and information on nutrition, common toxicities and behavioral problems, among other topics, for cat owners.
Also on the outreach front, we hope to add to the mission of our popular NC State Mobile Veterinary Hospital, which currently focuses primarily on spay and neutering opportunities at shelters, to include more pet help for underserved cat owners in our community.
