Cats in Ankara treated at a specialized hospital

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

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A cat hospital in Turkey’s capital of Ankara provides treatment to some 4,000 cats every year.

Founded 18 years ago by a group of vets in Ankara, the hospital provides treatment only for cats. Six vets currently serve at the hospital where cats are being treated for a variety of reasons, including vaccination and surgery.

“Specializations are required in science and in hospitals. This is the case for our profession too. We specialized in cats,” said Tarkan Özçetin, a vet at the hospital.

“The idea was to prevent confrontations between cats and dogs [when are at the veterinarian’s]. They cannot get along well by nature. They cannot get along with each other not only in nature but also in urban life after being domesticated. Cats and dogs may hug each other and sleep together, living in the same house, but in general, conflict prevails. Therefore, we have decided to open a hospital where only cats are treated,” Özçetin also added. 

Underlining the variety of diseases that are seen in cats and the length of treatment, Özçetin said: “In winter, we often see upper respiratory infection in cats while in summer, we have cases of falls caused by cats’ urge to hunt and by their curiosity.”

Özçetin added that the most of the hospital’s cases were due to traffic accidents, falls, fights and mistreatment. 

Another mission of the hospital is to find homes for cats, said Özçetin and added: “We designed an area where cat lovers and those who want to own cats can come, see the cats and socialize with them. We first solve the health problems of cats that are brought here by animal lovers, through vaccinations or neutering. Then we give them to volunteers for free. Social media plays an effective role in this as we share the information about the cats seeking homes. Every year we find homes for around 100 cats.”