A renewed commitment to cats

There's no mistaking the fact that cats take center stage at Dr. W. Mark Cousins' New Orleans practice. Before you even enter the building, you see a larger-than-life mural featuring whimsical cats and their shadows on the outside of the historic 1850s building.

When The Cat Practice was ravaged by fire in 2002, Dr. Cousins was forced to rebuild. (See "Extensive Fire Damage Forces Rebuild" online at www.vetecon.com) And while Dr. Cousins obviously wishes the fire hadn't happened, he managed to use the opportunity to spur a positive move for his practice, starting with a strong showing for his team's commitment to cats.

Award-Winning Floor Plan

Dr. Cousins, Dipl. ABVP (feline), the only boarded feline practitioner in the state of Louisiana, says his ABVP status is the most important reason he does what he does—and he thought a facility commensurate with his level of medical expertise was important. "I wanted to set cats apart and give cat owners the impression that the practice is unlike any veterinary hospital they've seen from the minute they walk in," says Dr. Cousins.

To achieve that goal, Dr. Cousins furnished the practice with soft upholstered furniture, floral arrangements, and an area rug. "The color block modern-art rug lends an immediate artistic feel to the practice and complements the practice's location in the Arts district of New Orleans," Dr. Cousins says. He also placed an artist's rug that's designed to look like a koi pond in the cattery. Overall, he says, he strived for a balance between artistic flair and a sense of peace. He even installed a fountain in the cattery to keep cats calm.

Left: Dr. Cousins found this unique set of picture frames on a buying trip to New York. He bought 250 of the frames, then snapped pictures of his patients to create a tribute to cats. He occasionally rotates pictures when he gets new patients to sit pretty for a portrait. Top right: The treatment area on the second floor has a wet side and a dry side with a dividing column. Both sides feature plumbed oxygen and wall-mounted surgery lighting fixtures. Bottom right: The surgery suite sits adjacent to the hospital area and doctors enter through a separate glass door. A glass window lets staff members and clients see the doctors in action.

"It's not home, but we try to make it as comfortable for our cats and their owners as possible," he says. "If the mural and name don't make it absolutely clear, we hope that when you walk in you get the picture that we're all about cats."

The 2005 Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition judges got the picture. They found The Cat Practice worthy of a Merit Award for its design elements, use of a tight space, fit within the community, and fun atmosphere.

Rebuilding and recreating

After the fire, Dr. Cousins considered relocating the practice because of the costs of rebuilding, dealing with codes, and keeping the facility within the confines of a historic location. He thought it might be easier and less expensive to move elsewhere. "But it came down to the fact that this is our turf, our home," he says. "I was overwhelmed by the support and encouragement of our clients and our community. It just felt like the right thing to stay here, and I'm glad I did."

The waiting area uses Murano glass overhead fixtures, slipper chairs, bright area rugs, and modern art set against historic brick walls to make a first impression with artistic flair. Dr. Cousins chose to use wood planed from the original floor joists to form the facades of the reception desk and a reveal that drops from the ceiling.

Dr. Cousins says he wanted to keep the practice nearly the same as it was before the fire—but with a lot of improvements. "I'm in a historically significant building, so we couldn't change the exterior décor and perimeter," he says. "The floor plan prior to the fire wasn't that bad, so I mimicked a lot of the original layout."

The biggest changes: He moved the cattery downstairs and the diagnostics upstairs to keep like functions together. And he tried to make the practice more transparent to the public than the old one was.

"I want clients to go in any area they want at any point and feel confident that we're taking good care of their pets," he says. "This means we need to keep the hospital presentable at all times and mind our p's and q's—but that's good for us."

To remember the past, including the fire, Dr. Cousins used pieces of the burnt wood from the previous facility to fashion furniture and other items for the new practice. "This place used to be a shoe shop, a broom factory, a hardware store, and an antique shop, among other things in its long history," he says. "I wanted to try to capture a little bit of history, so we mixed some old with the new."

A New Orleans artist designed the custom conference-room table and sideboard using timbers salvaged from the original building. Dr. Cousins uses the room for staff meetings and community presentations. One high-tech tool: A 30-inch flat-screen LCD.

In some places the practice features a modern neon sign or piece of art on the old brick walls. "The juxtaposition of the new against old gives the practice its charm," Dr. Cousins says.

Technology parallels level of medicine

Perhaps the biggest change Dr. Cousins made when rebuilding the practice was to focus on technology. In fact, he saturated the practice with high-tech tools to make practice easier and to give clients a better feeling about their pets' care, he says. And he wanted to demonstrate what a marriage of veterinary medicine and technology could achieve for his patients and clients.

"My clientele tends to be a very intelligent lot, and they're savvy about the Internet and computers," says Dr. Cousins. "I wanted people to know that when they trust the care of their animals to us, we use the best possible technology to solve their cats' problems."

For example, when clients walk in, they immediately see a screen in the waiting area that displays medical images or pictures of pets throughout the practice. "We have Web cams in every cage. We can digitize radiographs. We use a digital microscope. We've gone the whole nine yards with technology," Dr. Cousins says. "The point is to show pet owners that we're trying to use technology any way we can to facilitate effective, humane care for their cats."

Sarah A. Moser is a freelance writer and editor in Olathe, Kan. Please send questions or comments to ve@advanstar.com.