Ceva Launches New Senior Pet Clinics Guide
6 months ago 
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Ceva Animal Health has launched a new senior pet clinics guide to provide vets and VNs with comprehensive information on starting and running a successful clinic for senior pets.
The move follows a recent independent study among vet professionals which was published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery into ‘Understanding the barriers to blood pressure assessment in cats’1. The study revealed that key considerations when recommending blood pressure measurement were lack of time (72.8%) and situational hypertension (92%). From a client viewpoint, vet professionals cited concerns over cost (80.8%) being the top owner factor, with longer consultations to accommodate blood pressure measurement being deemed least problematic for owners (48.8%).
The guide will help address concerns raised in the study and empower vet nurses to run nurse-led clinics for older pets, which are more at risk of age-related diseases, can be tricky for owners to spot and may just be shrugged off as ‘part of getting old’.
Written by RVN, Beth Kirwan, who combines her passion for senior petcare with the practicalities of running a clinic for senior pets, it features extensive information on the benefits of vet nurse-led senior pet clinics, which can either be free or paid for clinics, together with hints and tips on how to get started and promotion. The guide also covers the importance of a senior health-check questionnaire, tips on preparing and setting up a clinic, a 10-point health check providing guidance on what should be covered and information on additional senior pet tests that can be carried out, such as blood pressure checks for senior cats aged seven years or older2 to help identify feline hypertension.
Beth Kirwan RVN, says: "I was really excited to be asked by Ceva to create this resource for veterinary nurses and grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge. I have been a nurse for over 22 years, and I am passionate about making our nurses feel valued in practice. Nurse clinics are a really good way to do this, but I feel that setting up a senior nurse clinic service in a practice creates so much value in many ways and for every member of the practice, from the receptionists to the vets. Our RVNs are the stars of the show with senior nurse clinics; they bring so much experience, care and compassion and are a great reflection of our practice values. They often have the time that the vets don't have and will go home knowing they made a difference to a pet and an owner, or a family. Veterinary nurses can help identify disease early, support the owners with home adaptations or new medicine regimes. They can also educate the clients in senior and super senior care as our pets are living longer and provide quality of life and end of life support. The benefits are huge; as well as a financial benefit support like this will bond clients to a practice for life. We are all businesses, but we need to be caring businesses. I hope the guide provides inspiration to many nurses and empowers them to set up a new service or helps them to improve their current one."
Dr Sarah Caney, RCVS recognised Specialist in Feline Medicine who led the study in conjunction with Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore, RCVS Feline Medicine Specialist and professor in feline medicine at the University of Edinburgh, comments: “Our recent survey had more VN participants than vets, showing just how enthusiastic and engaged nurses are when it comes to assessing blood pressure in cats. Owners very much appreciate nurse clinics and I’m delighted to hear that there is a new senior pet clinics guide to support nurses in setting up and running successful clinics.”
“Nurse clinics are a fantastic way to build confidence, experience and specialist knowledge within the nursing team and nurses are well placed to identify age-related diseases, such as feline hypertension which is an extremely common condition which affects approximately one in five cats nine years or over3,” adds Nicki Glen, marketing project manager at Ceva Animal Health. “Our new senior pet clinics guide will help empower vet nurses to set up senior pet clinics to pro-actively safeguard the health and welfare of the older pets in your care.”
To download a copy of the senior pet clinics guide go to https://easethepressure.co.uk/feline-senior-health-clinics/. For further information on feline hypertension visit http://easethepressure.co.uk.
References
- Caney S et al (2023). Understanding the barriers to blood pressure assessment in cats, J Feline Med Surghttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X231183244
- Taylor SS, Sparkes AH, et al. ISFM Consensus Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Hypertension in Cats. J Feline Med Surg. 2017.19(3):288-303
- Conroy M, Chang YM, Brodbelt D, Elliott J. Survival after diagnosis of hypertension in cats attending primary care practice in the United Kingdom. J Vet Intern Med. 2018 Nov;32(6): 1846-1855
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