Macarena Sanchez Martel, who works at Peak Vets in Sheffield, has received the coveted accreditation from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
She is one of only 40 vets in the UK to achieve advanced practitioner status in feline medicine.
Macarena said her four-year quest to succeed actually came from an experience earlier in her career, which made her determined to learn far more about caring for cats.
She said: “The reason I first set off along this path is due to a wonderful cat from a favourite client who was presented to me with an episode of dyspnoea (breathlessness).
“At the time, I didn’t know where to start and I ended up referring him for specialist care. He was suffering from asthma!
“That was the starting point of my latest achievement and I’m delighted to have succeeded. I now have full confidence in my clinical skills, I’m able to find resources easily and have significantly increased my feline medical knowledge.
“It’s taken a lot of work and study, four years in total. Three years to complete my Feline Medicine Distance Education Course then six months preparing for my exam.
“Finally, I had to complete my module A studies with the University of Liverpool to develop an in-depth understanding and critical application of the knowledge and skills required for advanced veterinary practice.”
Macarena is now looking forward to using her increased knowledge and expertise to deliver the very best care and treatment to her patients at Peak Vets.
She added: “We recognise that each cat is unique with specific needs and it is important to us to demonstrate our commitment to the animals entrusted into our care.
“Working with International Cat Care, we have looked at how we can make Peak Vets the best it can possibly be for our feline patients.
“We have a complete team of cat advocates in place, me and two registered vet nurses but the whole team is mindful about cat welfare as illustrated by our silver International Society for Feline Medicine (ISFM) award for being a feline friendly clinic.”
As a Silver Standard Cat Friendly Clinic, staff at Peak Vets are trained to handle cats in a manner that minimises stress, fear and anxiety.
Our cat friendly facilities include a separate cat waiting area, the use of feline pheromone diffusers to help calm and reassure patients and a quiet, well equipped consulting room.
Peak Vets deliver a full primary care service seven days a week, with the practice open until 9pm on weekdays.
