AN Oldbury vets has won a prestigious international award for its quality of care for cats.

Blacks Vets  on Causeway Green Road has been recognised as a silver level cat-friendly clinic by the International Society of Feline Medicine.

Blacks’ cat advocate Tracey Tripicchio said the prestigious award for its Oldbury practice is recognition of their determination to deliver the highest standards of care for all cats visiting them.

Tracey said: “We have introduced a raft of new measures to make cat visits to the hospital as stress-free and relaxed as possible.

“We have created a special allocated area in the waiting room and used a screen to section it off, so cats are unable to see any dogs or other people whilst waiting.

“A Feliway diffuser is now plugged in the kennel room which releases natural pheromones to help the cats feel calm and at ease.

“We have created ‘caves’ so the cats can relax and hide in the kennel, which helps them feel safe.

“We also now have a portable kennel, so if a cat is very anxious this is available and can be moved to a quiet dark room if required. 

“Dark curtains are now used on the outside of our dog kennels, so dogs are unable to see us, which discourages them from barking.

“It also obviously means the cats are unable to see the dogs in the kennel room.”