Feline Summit pushes industry to redesign cat care

Veterinary and animal health leaders gathered July 19-21 for the inaugural Feline Summit to identify barriers to feline care and align on next steps for improving outcomes. The Feline Veterinary Medical Association plans a Cat Friendly Campaign this fall to turn the summit’s ideas into practical tools for clinics and partners.

Why it matters: - Cats are living longer and need more lifelong preventive care, diagnostics, treatment and chronic disease management. - Cats still visit veterinarians less often than dogs, leaving a gap in care that affects health outcomes. - The summit framed feline care as an ecosystem problem, not a single-organization problem, which raises the stakes for schools, clinics, manufacturers, communicators and investors.

What happened: - The inaugural Feline Summit ran July 19-21 and brought together veterinary medicine and animal health leaders to discuss the future of feline healthcare. - The Feline Veterinary Medical Association convened and led the summit. - Butterfly Network and TriviumVet/PRN Pharmacal hosted the event. - The summit focused on opportunities, challenges and solutions for improving feline health and wellbeing. - Heather O'Steen, CEO of FelineVMA, said collaboration is needed to better understand cats, remove barriers to care, educate future professionals, support veterinary teams and create systems designed with cats in mind.

The details: - Participants identified several trends shaping feline healthcare: more cats in households, evolving treatments for chronic and life-threatening diseases, longer cat lifespans, workforce shortages, changing caregiver demographics and rapid adoption of technology. - CATalyst Council data cited at the summit showed canine and puppy visits declining while kitten visits remained comparatively stronger. - Attendees said that trend points to an opportunity to engage cat caregivers more effectively and keep more cats in care across their lives. - Summit participants said cats experience handling, the veterinary environment and care delivery differently from dogs and need approaches built around feline behavior and medical needs. - The summit also highlighted barriers to veterinary visits, including transportation, carrier-related stress, prior negative experiences, medication challenges, scheduling, communication gaps, financial concerns and clinic interactions that can increase distress. - Attendees said Cat Friendly principles can improve visit frequency, reduce stress, support earlier disease detection, improve team efficiency, reduce injuries and workers' compensation claims, and support practice growth. - The summit emphasized that many gains can come from small changes in communication, handling, environment, workflow and education rather than costly rebuilds.

Between the lines: - The event signaled a shift from awareness to execution, with the industry moving toward common language and shared priorities for feline care. - The repeated emphasis on cat-specific systems suggests the sector sees canine-centered models as a poor fit for many feline patients. - The summit’s focus on education, communications and practical tools points to a strategy aimed at changing day-to-day behavior in clinics, not just setting policy. - The call for broader alignment across the industry shows organizers want feline care embedded across the full chain, from classrooms to exam rooms to product design.

What's next: - FelineVMA plans to launch a Cat Friendly Campaign this fall focused on optimal care for cats. - The campaign will offer tools, resources, education and practical guidance for veterinary teams and organizations. - Future priorities from the summit include more feline-focused education in veterinary and technician schools, broader use of Cat Friendly principles in teaching hospitals, stronger continuing education and better communications that reflect what cats are experiencing. - FelineVMA said it welcomes conversations with organizations, leaders, partners, sponsors, exhibitors and innovators at FelineVMA conferences.

The bottom line: - The summit’s message was straightforward: better feline care will require intentional design, broader collaboration and practical changes that make veterinary systems work better for cats.