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Feline Advisory Bureau Courses

FAB10 FOUNDATION AWARD
A Foundation Award in Feline Friendly Nursing -
Essential Cattitude
Suggested level: Animal Nursing Auxiliary

Written and tutored by members of FAB’s Feline Expert Panel, Behaviour Panel and COAPE.

OCN Accreditation - Foundation Award 9 Credits. Click Here for details of accreditation.

Introduction: What is a cat? History of the cat By looking at how the cat has developed alongside man we can consider whether is ‘domesticated’ and look at the features that have allowed the two species to grow closer. However the way we view the cat in modern society may mean that we forget or miss what actually makes it tick and what is its primary drives. Looking at the history and nature of man’s relationship with cats will help us to understand how adaptable it really has been to life with us.

Normal development from kitten to pet cat, pet and feral cats: Cats have to grow up fast – by understanding the stages of development and the importance of play, social interaction, hunting development etc, we can understand the building blocks of cat personality and survival. This can help us to explain how cats can live closely with man, but also to understand the differences between pet and feral cats for example.

Influence of environment and lifestyle: Cats can be extremely adaptable but as the western world’s favourite pet, cats are now often living at a much higher density than just a decade ago. We are now beginning to realise how this can affect the health and behaviour of our cats. Our lifestyle also affects the cat’s behaviour enormously. Understanding this can help us to keep cats health and happy and can give us tips to improve our interactions with cats and to help their owners as well.

Communication with the cat - cat to cat; cat to person: Cat communication can be quite mysterious because the cat is not a social animal in the same way the dog or like us humans. Therefore facial expression is not used as a primary source of communication. This can mean that we miss much of what goes on between cats, especially in terms of olfactory communication. By understanding the process of communication and the signals, which cats are sending out, and attempting to understand the message, we can read them better and respond more appropriately.

Lifestages, nutrition and resources: When FAB developed its WellCat for life programme it rethought the lifestages of the cat, taking into account how the cat develops both physically and behaviourally and looking at the different ages and stages when body changes and disease risks might kick in. The six stages bring a logical approach to preventive healthcare. The cat is also very specialised where nutrition is concerned, so an understanding of what a cat needs and how this changes throughout life can help to promote health and avoid problems such as obesity. Additionally, just how we present the cat’s resources of food and water can affect how well it eats or drinks – all fascinating stuff!

Breeds and basic care: Any nurse in practice will be expected to instantly recognise a cat breed (no matter how rare!), so it is important to have a grasp of the different breeds, how they developed and what, if any, breed characteristics there are. Additionally, nurses should have a sound general knowledge of basic care for the cat, including grooming, nail cutting and litter training.

Correspondence.

Each Unit of the course notes is e-Mailed out to students as a separate e-Book. Students also have access to the FAB Student Resource Centre where additional support and course material are available online. The Resource Centre gives you access to a range of rich media content to complement the formal course notes, including video, sound, graphics and pictures, web links, and additional written content.

We supply you with a specially designed ‘template’ on-line to assist you in writing your coursework using your own computer and preferred word processing software. Your coursework is submitted to your tutor via the internet, marked and returned back to you the same way.

Nine months with two runs per year:
1: February 1st to October 31st.
2: September 1st to May 31st the following year.

OCN registration deposit £45 + Course fee £395.

Please click on the 'Enrol' button below for details.
NOTE: You are NOT COMMITTING YOURSELF TO ANYTHING by clicking on this button.

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