International Cat Care

Pioneering for cats

International Cat Care is a pioneering cat welfare charity. Since 1958 we’ve challenged cruelty, ignorance and misunderstanding to affect positive change in the lives of cats. With an estimated global population of 600 million cats, half of which are thought to be unowned, our work has never been more important.

As people, we have a moral responsibility to protect cats from suffering, both physically and mentally. It’s hard to overstate the lack of feline knowledge that faced the charity in its early days. Over the course of our history, we’ve built outstanding relationships with vets and vet nurses/technicians, boarding catteries, breeders, other charities, corporations, volunteers, owners and cat lovers and continue to work with them to improve the physical health, mental wellbeing and the lives of cats everywhere. Some of our achievements include:

• Funding the discovery of the cat flu viruses, which led to the development of vaccines, changing the landscape of cat health
• Providing insight to support owners in developing positive relationships with their cats
• Developing minimum standards for design and management of boarding catteries to safeguard cats
• Funding over 50 scholars, residents, researchers, lecturers, and nurses to study feline medicine, illuminating the diagnosis and treatment of illness
• Leading the global debate on issues such as neutering, declawing and scruffing
• Creating a website and dedicated courses that share trusted information with owners and those working with cats
• Creating screening schemes for some inherited defects and campaigning against aspects of breeding that can lead to suffering
• Developing a world-leading international veterinary society, the International Society of Feline Medicine, which gives vets and nurses the knowledge they need to treat cats successfully
• Leading for change in the way that unowned cats are treated and supporting those working with them
• Influencing the design and formulation of medicines for cats with our Easy to Give Awards
• Reducing stress in the vet clinic with our worldwide Cat Friendly Clinic Programme
• Consulting on legislation and collaborating with global leaders in animal welfare as a champion for cats

To guide our work into the future across all these different areas, we have developed our Cat Friendly Principles:

• Respect cats – respect the diversity of the species and understand the individual cat
• Keep cats well – give equal consideration to the cat’s physical health and mental wellbeing
• Do cats no harm – ensure cats are never worse off as a result of people or their activities
• Be solution driven for cats – find evidence-based, pragmatic and sustainable solutions for cats
• Communicate for cats – communicate considerately and share knowledge generously for the sake of cats
• Collaborate for cats – work together for cats, locally, internationally and with people from different backgrounds, always supporting and valuing each other
• Evolve for cats – be innovative, remain curious and keep learning for cats

Our vision is for a cat friendly world. We strive to create knowledge and engaging learning experiences to motivate change and inspire more people to understand and care for cats. Our activities are grounded in evidence and experience – balancing the tried and tested with the latest scientific research, and challenging ignorance and misconceptions. Like cats, we remain ever-curious.