Emergency 0117 9445111
Out of hours 0117 9445111
Backwell 01275 462691
Filton 0117 969 3621
Fishponds 0117 965 4413
Patchway 0117 9312111
Stoke Bishop 0117 9683706
Westbury-On-Trym 0117 9592111
Zetland Road 0117 9445111

Cat Friendly Clinic

We're a registered Cat Friendly Clinic

We are delighted to announce that Zetland Veterinary Hospital and Westbury Veterinary Centre, have been awarded silver and bronze status respectively in the IFSM Cat Friendly clinic certification.  

The Cat Friendly Clinic award was designed by feline specialists across the world to help improve the experience you and your cat have when visiting the vets.  To achieve it we have to meet certain requirements to help ensure your cat has the least stressful experience possible when visiting us.  We also have to prove we have the most up to date equipment and staff training to make sure we are providing the absolute best care to our feline patients. 

Over the last year or so we have made a number of significant changes to help accommodate our feline friends. We have installed a separate cat corner in both Zetland and Westbury’s waiting rooms, which are cornered off from the rest of the reception areas. Cats feel safer higher up, so there are stands to place your cat on, complete with clean covers to help them feel hidden away. If you have a blanket or towel of your own we would always welcome you bringing it in to cover your cat, the smell of home will help them feel safe.

We will also always make sure cats are handled with appropriate gentleness and respect at all times, ensuring cat friendly principles are always adhered to during care and restraint. All our clinical members of staff are continuously undertaking training to keep up to date with new developments.  We even have our own Cat Advocates, Debbie Carter and Nicola Hartley , who are both more than happy to answer any cat specific questions you may have. Debbie started here with us at Zetland in March 2012. She is one of our fully qualified nurses and she has recently completed the ISFM Feline Nursing Certificate. Nicola, one of our veterinary surgeons, was born and grew up in Kenya. Although she has travelled the globe, she loves nothing more than walking her dog Kalai on the Downs and having picnics in Ashton Court with him in the summer.

We are proud to have been accredited with these awards, and we do also have many features required in gold, such as a separate soundproofed cattery area for any hospitalised patients, longer consultation times and the equipment and ability to perform more complex imaging such as ultrasound and dental x-ray at our Zetland Road practice.

To see in more detail the changes we have undertaken and what we already do to achieve our cat friendly status, you can visit their website.

If you have any further queries or would like to know a little bit more, feel free to give us a call or pop into the practice.