A veterinary practice that cares for cats in their own homes is preparing to hit the road in what is thought to be the UK’s first RVN-owned, oxygen-carrying ambulance.

The service is being offered by Whiskers ‘N’ Beans to help transfer patients to specialist care in emergency situations.

Currently operating in Greater London, the service has already attracted many clients whose mobility or transport difficulties makes attending a traditional practice challenging.

The practice also has plans to offer transport to referral centres outside the capital in the future.

Difference

Ellie Baggs, one of the company’s founders, believes the ambulance service, which is APHA-regulated, can make the difference between life and death based on her own experiences as a pet owner.

She described the challenges of not driving and transporting her own cat to emergency care in the knowledge that oxygen was needed, but not available.

She explained that provision of veterinary care and access to referral was sometimes limited if the patients were not stable enough to move, even though they need advanced care to recover.

Remain calm

Ms Baggs said: “It just brought home to me how important it is for cats to remain as calm as possible. I swore that day that I would do all I could to prevent this from happening to as many cats as I could.”

The ambulance is also at the centre of other services being offered by the company, including neutering and dental care, where cats are collected from their owners’ homes to undergo treatment following an initial check by a vet.

Ms Baggs and her co-founder, Sarah Reilly, have more than 30 years of nursing experience between them.

Working closely with vets to provide home care and with practices to provide transport, the pair hope to bring back care in the community, maintain vital human-animal bonds and raise the profile of registered veterinary nurses.

Locum vets

While the business is nurse-owned and led, locum vets are collaborating with the founders to work flexibly and get back out into the community in an effort to enable clients to see familiar faces and ensure continuity of care.

Ms Baggs added: “Neither Sarah nor I are rich, we do not have rich families, and neither of us were born into the profession. We both just worked hard, we saw our potential and chose to use it.

“We really wanted to change direction in our lives and take control of our careers.

“Meeting new people and cats are what makes us tick, so it seemed blazingly obvious that Whiskers ‘N’ Beans home vet services were meant to be.”