Cats deserve veterinary care that respects how they experience the world. Travel, new sounds, unfamiliar smells, and the presence of other animals can make a routine visit feel overwhelming for many cats. At Pets R Family Veterinary Hospital, we take those needs seriously.
Pets R Family is proud to be a certified Gold Level Cat Friendly Practice® through the Feline Veterinary Medical Association (FelineVMA). This recognition reflects our long-standing commitment to calmer visits, gentle handling, feline-specific medical knowledge, and spaces designed to help cats feel more secure from the moment they arrive.
Recognized for Feline-Friendly Veterinary Care
Pets R Family Veterinary Hospital has maintained Gold Standard Cat Friendly Practice recognition for 10 years. From the beginning, Dr. Kathleen Deckard made feline comfort and care a guiding part of our animal hospital’s design, training, and daily patient experience.
Earning and maintaining Cat Friendly Practice recognition requires more than loving cats. It involves team education, thoughtful hospital flow, feline-sensitive handling, and a deeper understanding of how cats communicate stress, pain, and illness.
We are proud to be part of the FelineVMA’s Cat Friendly Practice® Program and honored to continue raising the standard of veterinary care for cats in our community.
Learn more about the Feline Veterinary Medical Association here.
Introducing The Whisker Wing
A new feline-focused future is coming to Pets R Family Veterinary Hospital. We’ve recently opened The Whisker Wing, a dedicated feline-only practice within our hospital.
The Whisker Wing gives cats their own calm, protected space for veterinary care, boarding, diagnostics, treatments, and recovery. It is being designed around one simple belief: cats are not small dogs. They are emotionally sensitive, medically unique, and deeply affected by their environment.
This new space allows us to care for cats in a way that honors who they are, with fewer stressors, quieter surroundings, and a team trained to support feline comfort at every step.
What The Whisker Wing Includes
The Whisker Wing has expanded our feline-friendly care into a dedicated cat-only hospital space within Pets R Family Veterinary Hospital.
This new area includes:
A private cat-only entrance
A quiet feline reception area
Two feline-focused exam rooms
A dedicated feline treatment area
Continued access to our forest-view cat boarding suites
Enhanced soundproofing to reduce noise from the main hospital
Calming design elements, including soft lighting, soothing colors, pheromone support, non-slip surfaces, and elevated spaces
Every detail has been considered from the cat’s perspective, with the goal of creating a quieter, more predictable, and more respectful veterinary experience.
Why Cats Benefit From Feline-Focused Care
Cats often hide pain, stress, and illness until a condition has become more advanced. A calm veterinary experience helps our team get a clearer picture of your cat’s health, behavior, and comfort level during each visit.
Cats also have medical needs that differ from dogs. Many feline patients face conditions such as chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, stress-related urinary issues, dental resorption, arthritis, gastrointestinal disease, and behavior changes linked to discomfort or environmental stress.
The Whisker Wing was created with these needs in mind. By reducing noise, limiting exposure to dogs, and providing a calmer environment, we can help cats feel safer while receiving the medical care they need.
A Dedicated Cat Advocate Team
Our Cat Advocate Team helps guide how we care for feline patients throughout the hospital. This team helps shape protocols, review new research, train staff, and keep feline comfort at the center of our approach.
Practice Manager Suzy Berry brings years of shelter experience and a strong understanding of feline behavior and low-stress handling. Her leadership, along with the experience of our team members who have backgrounds in shelters, specialty practices, and feline care, helps ensure cats receive patient, individualized attention.
This team’s work will also help guide the standards of care within The Whisker Wing as we continue building a more cat-focused future at Pets R Family.