Even though felines are the nation’s most popular pets, they are less likely than dogs to receive basic veterinary care or to be treated as family members. But that could soon change, thanks to a groundbreaking national effort to improve society’s image of cats.

Leaders in academia, animal welfare, veterinary medicine and the pet industry, meeting during a symposium sponsored in October by The Humane Society of the United States (Washington), took several steps toward “rebranding” Felix. Among them: identifying target audiences, creating a message framework, developing specific and measurable objectives, and establishing a team to move the effort forward.

“Changing the public perception of cats has been on all of our minds, and we have all done a great deal so far to elevate cats at the local level,” said Bob Rohde, president of Dumb Friends League, (Denver) which hosted the symposium. “But the symposium is different because we asked representatives from across the animal health, care, control and welfare spectrum to come together to create a strategy for nationwide change. This symposium, I am hopeful, will be the beginning of that change.”