Boulder’s feline-only veterinary clinic is keeping the dogs away so the cats can play
02 Feb 2019
Scaredy Cats No More
By Sara Bruskin Pet owners all know the fear and uncertainty of realizing their animal is sick. It can be hard to determine what’s wrong and whether it’s serious enough to warrant a trip to the vet. According to Dr. Fern Slack, co-founder of Uniquely Cats Veterinary Center, cats can be especially difficult to diagnose because of their evolutionary position on the food chain. "Cats are predators, but they’re also small prey, and small prey animals all obey one behavioral rule: If you’re sick, you don’t act sick until you absolutely cannot hide it anymore," explains Slack, a veterinary physician who has worked solely with felines since 1993. "The minute you act sick in the wild, you have a target on your back."No Dogs Allowed
Slack’s narrow field of study enabled her to break away from the canine-heavy focus of the veterinary world. She says dogs are the subjects of most veterinary science and then their results are applied to cats, even though the two are physiologically very different.
conducts an exam on the floor to help her patient feel secure,
reducing stress. (photo by Robin Hanna Fox)
Don’t Eat Your Vegetables
As beautiful as her clinic is, Slack’s goal is to keep cats in their own homes as much as possible by maintaining their health with proper nutrition. She says everything they do starts with food, and it really boils down to the fact that cats are obligate carnivores. "The only thing they eat in the wild is meat—mice, snakes, birds, worms, etcetera—not plants," Slack explained. "Plant material is very harmful to cats, and nearly every commercial cat food in the world is made mostly or entirely out of plant material. When we switch cats to healthy all-meat diets, 90 percent of what is wrong with them goes away." If you think your cat doesn’t have that option because they’re on a special diet for heart or liver problems, think again. Slack says the prescription diets that many veterinary clinics sell are not nutritionally sound for feline health, yet some veterinarians are contractually obligated to prescribe them. Instead, Slack recommends cat owners feed their pets a biologically appropriate diet, which can be purchased or made at home. If time constraints require the purchase of prepared food, Slack vouches for Balanced Blends—a Boulder-based company that makes an evolutionarily appropriate diet.Conscious Cat Owners
Even with a great diet, everybody gets sick sometimes, and a cat’s best defense is an informed owner. Slack says cat behaviors to watch out for include general lethargy, throwing up frequently and urinating outside of the litter box. In an effort to educate cat owners on everything from vaccines to dental health, she posts informative articles on the Uniquely Cats website. Considering she's spent 25 years studying nothing but cats, we're inclined to take her advice.Uniquely Cats Veterinary Center www.uniquelycats.com 303-500-5158 1915 28th St. , Boulder, Colo. 80301 Open Mon., Wed. and Fri. 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues. 7:30 a.m.– 6:30 p.m. Thurs. and Sat. 8–11 a.m.
