A trip to the vet isn’t a romp through the catnip under any circumstances. But when a sick kitty has to crouch in her carrier with a Doberman prancing about the waiting room and then fret in the examination room while a terrier next door barks incessantly, it’s enough to make the feline less than frisky about those fabled nine lives.

Now Dr. Marcia Toumayan is making it possible for ailing cats to get veterinary attention with nary a pooch on the premises. In March she opened the city’s only exclusively-for-cats veterinary clinic at 310 Cherokee Boulevard.

The Cat Clinic of Chattanooga offers comprehensive, individualized healthcare for pet cats, Toumayan says. Services include preventive care, including vaccinations, deworming and mircrochip (ID), diagnostic testing, surgery and dentistry, behavioral counseling and geriatric cat care.

“It’s a growing trend for veterinary practices to focus their attention on just cats,” Toumayan says. “There are now over 200 feline-exclusive veterinary clinics in the u.S. Limiting our practice to cats allows us to better provide for the unique needs of the feline patient. Every procedure and piece of equipment used in our clinic has been chosen with the special needs of cats in mind. We strive to provide a quiet, calm and supportive environment in which the healthy cat can flourish and the ill cat recover.”

A Chattanooga native, Toumayan graduated from uTC with a degree in English literature and language. After working in the banking industry for several years, she realized that her interest in science and love for animals could best be combined through a career in veterinary medicine.

With encouragement and inspiration from Sindy, a stray kitten Toumayan and her husband rescued 20 years ago, Toumayan enrolled at the university of Georgia College of veterinary Medicine, where she earned the D.v.M. degree.

“I fell in love with feline-exclusive medicine while practicing as an associate at the Charlotte, N.C. , Cat Clinic,” she says.

After Toumayan and her husband, David, a computer systems designer, returned to Chattanooga, she decided to open her own practice. David, who dotes on the couple’s furry family despite a mild allergy to cats, spotted the property for sale on Cherokee Boulevard.

“Overseeing the remodeling of a former auto parts shop into the clinic was a full-time project for almost a year,” Toumayan says. “It’s turned out to be an ideal location for my cats-only practice and we’re happy to be a part of continuing the North Shore revitalization down Cherokee toward the tunnel.”

For more information about the Cat Clinic call 423-752-0737 or email catclinic@chattcatvet.com or visit www.chattcatvet.com.