When it comes to bonding with cats, it’s all about the eyes—and a technique called the slow blink. What the heck is a “slow blink”? Give it a try right now (after you read this next sentence). Slowly close your eyes and keep them closed for a couple of seconds, then slowly open them again. That’s all there is to it. Approach a cat slowly and quietly, do a slow blink yourself and the cat may respond in kind (if they’re feeling you).

Research has already shown that initiating this behavior is a way to calm and connect with a cat. According to a new study focused on cats in shelters, cultivating slow-blink behavior may also help cats find homes faster.

Animal behavior researchers at the Universities of Sussex and Portsmouth gathered data from interactions with 18 cats at the The National Cat Adoption Centre (NCAC), the UK’s largest cat rehoming center. The cats were divided into two groups: anxious cats that needed more time with employees and volunteers in order to increase their confidence around humans, and cats in a non-desensitization group.

The study found:

• Shelter cats participate in slow blinking interactions with humans, and cats that showed an increased number of and longer eye closures in response to human slow blinks were rehomed faster.
  
• Nervous cats may spend more time slow blinking than relaxed cats, providing supporting evidence that this behavior may act as both a positive signal and a submissive display.

“Since the slow blink is becoming increasingly recognised as a form of communication employed by cat owners and non-cat owners alike,” the researchers note, “these findings may have practical implications for shelters by introducing strategies to promote positive social interactions between potential adopters and shelter cats, particularly for cats that might be more likely to spend a longer time in care (e.g., inactive cats or black cats).”

In other words, a few (slow) blinks could go a long way in reducing adoption length of stay. Check out the full study, “Slow Blink Eye Closure in Shelter Cats Is Related to Quicker Adoption,” and start purr-fecting your blink.

Quiz time! Take a minute to see if you know the answers to these common questions:

• Can vaccines be administered during holding periods?
• Do veterinarians have to administer rabies vaccines or can that be delegated?
• Does your shelter need a premise permit?
• When is a VCPR necessary for treatment?
• How do protocols change if you’re treating an animal without an identifiable owner?

If you’re confused about the legalities involved when shelter staff and volunteers take on certain medical tasks, you’re not alone! Luckily, attorneys Brandy Kuentzel and Bruce Wagman of San Francisco SPCA Shelter PALS are here to help you understand foundational law basics and optimize your shelter’s medical team.

Last week the legal expert duo demystified these questions and others in a presentation for CASCAR, the California Animal Shelter COVID Action Response group, and we’re excited to share it with you.

In this one-hour video, Brandy and Bruce clarify what registered vet technicians, vet assistants, and volunteers can—and can’t—do, guide you through optimizing care during intake, emergency treatment scenarios, and public vaccination clinics, and reveal why having SOPs and standing orders in place can be your shelter’s superpower.

A pet guardian shouldn’t have to choose between making rent or buying groceries and a trip to the vet for vaccinations or an overdue wellness exam, but this is exactly the choice too many face. A recent Access to Care Coalition Report coupled with American Veterinary Medical Association data revealed that 59 million pets live with guardians making under $20,000 a year, and one out of every four households has experienced a barrier to veterinary care in the last two years.

San Francisco SPCA Director of Community Medicine Jena Valdez, DVM, is working to narrow this gap with a community clinic model that provides preventative pet care to historically underserved neighborhoods in her city. In a new UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program webinar, Valdez shares the path to opening a reduced-cost walk-in preventative care clinic as part of the SF SPCA’s efforts to ensure all San Francisco pets and guardians have access to humane care by 2030.

Sustainable from year one, the SF SPCA Walk-in Wellness/Call-Ahead Clinic is an accessible and practical model for all shelters, regardless of their budget or access to eager donors. In fact, Valdez noted, the clinic ended up using exactly $0—zip!—of the $50,000 initially budgeted to get the project off the ground.

If you’re hoping to make a difference in access to care in your shelter or community—or if you just want to be inspired to dream big!—join us in celebrating the clinic’s first birthday and learn how to start and sustain your own community clinic. Discover how Valdez and staff made the case to SF SPCA senior leadership and board to open the clinic and how they’ve succeeded in making it sustainable, scalable, and valuable to pets and their people.