Royal Canin, feline associations partner to promote Take your cat to the vet day

It's well-known that cats rule the internet and their owners' hearts, but they're less likely to receive veterinary care in comparison to their canine counterparts. According to research from Royal Canin, only one cat is seen by a veterinarian for every five dogs, even though 10 million more cats are owned in the United States.

To help combat this gap in veterinary care, Royal Canin is launching the “Curiosity Saved the Cat” campaign, which issues a challenge to cat owners to become more curious about their cats' health and pledge to visit the veterinarian this year by visiting royalcanin.com/cat2vetday. It coincides with national “Take your cat to the vet day,” on August 22, according to a company release.

For every pledge taken through August 26, the company will donate a bowl of food to an animal shelter. Feline associations are lending their voices to the cause as well, with the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the CATalyst Council, the International Cat Association and the Cat Fanciers' Association urging more attention to preventive care for cats.

“Cats are intelligent, inquisitive and comical companions, and cat professionals everywhere want to help people enjoy a happy and healthy lifelong relationship with them. Even though there are millions more pet cats than dogs in the U.S. alone, the disparity of health care between cats and dogs-and perhaps that cats even need veterinary care-will surprise many people,” says Jane Brunt, DVM, executive director of the CATalyst Council and owner of Cat Hospital at Towson in Maryland, in the release. “With the combined efforts of cat care professionals across veterinary, pedigreed cat and sheltering communities, cats will continue to delight our daily lives.”?

To drive awareness to the cause, Royal Canin has created a PSA video featuring internet-famous felines. To watch the video, click here.

Other highlights of the company's survey of about 1,000 cat and 213 dog owners include the following:

> Six times as many cat owners as dog owners have not taken their cat to the veterinarian this year.

> Two-thirds of cat owners simply believe cats have fewer health issues than dogs do.

> The older a cat gets, the more likely the owner is to take her to the veterinarian only when she's sick.

> Thirty-one percent of those with a senior cat only take her to the vet when she is sick, compared with 20 percent for adult cats, 18 percent for adolescents and 17 percent for kittens.

More data is summarized in the infographic below.

Infographic courtesy of Royal Canin