11/26/02

Cats and dogs are as different from each other as, well, cats and dogs.

It's not just their personalities, it's their bodies. These species suffer from different diseases, and some medications that might cure a dog could kill a cat. Situations that don't worry a dog can turn a mellow tabby into a scaredy cat.

"Cats aren't just little dogs," says veterinarian Ken Hughs, who operates the Cherry Park Cat Clinic in Troutdale, one of more than half a dozen cats-only veterinary practices in the Portland area.

Environments designed for cats: There's an obvious advantage to a feline-only environment for a cat: "The cats aren't sitting next to a dog when they're waiting for treatment," Hughs says.

But these offices are more than just dog-free zones. "Our whole clinic is designed for feline-specific work," says Theresa Cornwell, who operates Cat Care Professionals, a cats-only clinic in Tigard. Her clinic has diffusers that waft Feliway (a product based on cat pheromones that calms anxious kitties) throughout the office. The clinic's rooms are deliberately small because worried cats are happier in small, enclosed spaces. Surgery rooms are warmer to make cats comfortable, and miniaturized equipment allows for easier access and precision.

Cat house calls: Sometimes it's easier to take the clinic to the cat than to take the cat to the clinic.

"For cats, riding in a car is a major stressor," says Marla McGeorge, who owns Cat Calls Mobile Cat Clinic and Best Friends Cat Clinic in Portland. She can provide for most of a cat's routine veterinary needs from a specially equipped van, including annual examinations, vaccinations, X-rays and even minor outpatient surgery such as male neutering. She says most of the 500 households that use this service have multiple cats and find it's the most stress-free way to provide medical care for their pets.

Concentrated knowledge: "Animal medicine has exploded with the amount of knowledge that's available," McGeorge says.

Feline practitioners say they can best keep up with medical advances by specializing in one species and not trying to learn the latest procedures for everything from donkeys to dogs. "If you treat five different species," Cornwall says, "you'd have to be a physician times five to comfortably diagnose and treat all those species equally well."

Some of the Portland-area cats-only veterinarians are fellows of the Academy of Feline Medicine, which requires experienced veterinarians to take 36 hours of feline-exclusive continuing education every year (as opposed to 30 hours of general veterinary education every other year required under Oregon law of veterinarians).

Make no mistake, feline-only practitioners must consider lots of controversies and new technologies. For example, the new vaccine that protects against feline AIDS causes inoculated cats to test positive for the virus, which might be a serious problem if the cat is ever a stray. New research shows that cats commonly suffer from hypertension, and opinion differs on treatment. And there's an ongoing controversy about various vaccines and how often a cat should be vaccinated.

A special bond: The bottom line is that feline-only practitioners have a special bond with cats. "I was bitten twice by dogs whose owners thought it was funny that the dog bit the vet," Hughs says. He says he'd rather deal with a fractious feline any day.

Whether you go to a practice that specializes in cats, or one that welcomes a variety of creatures, it's important to find a veterinarian who is as dedicated to your cat's health and welfare as you are. Says Cornwell, "The definition of family is changing. People are saying, 'My cat is a part of my family.' "

You can reach Deborah Wood by e-mail at TaoBowwow@aol.com