APPLICATION GUIDE - ‘EASY TO GIVETM APPROVED’ PRODUCT AWARD
BackgroundMedicating cats can be extremely difficult, and a source of great stress for both owners andcats. iCatCare’s Easy to Give Awards were designed to acknowledge, reward, encourage andimprove therapeutic compliance and feline welfare by recognising POM-V products that makeadministering medicines to cats genuinely easier.
The Easy to Give Awards were initially only available for POM-V products (or equivalentveterinary medicines authority regulation outside the UK). Over time, this requirement has beenrelaxed, recognising that as data on product safety and efficacy has been generated, somePOM-V products are recategorised as GSL (General Sale List) in some countries.
International Cat Care has recently made the decision to move away from a discretionary
award to an ‘Easy to GiveTM Approved’ certification programme. This will continue to encourage
the development of veterinary products with improved compliance and provide vets andowners with confidence in administering the product, whilst making the process of how thiscertification is awarded transparent.
iCatCare will consider veterinary products for Easy to GiveTM Approved certification if they are:•Innovative, safe and particularly easy for owners to administer to cats•

Minimise the number of times an owner has to administer medicine to the cat

What is assessed?
Easy to GiveTM Approved certification is made after formal and structured evaluation of theproduct by iCatCare. The certification is based on both the product and its presentation (notsimply on the active ingredient) and the certification is granted within the following framework.
We will require:•Evidence of efficacy and safety from the licensing authority* at the level of POM-V (orequivalent for products licensed and evaluated outside of the UK)•Additional relevant verifiable data on safety*, efficacy* or administration must be clearly
displayed on the packaging including highly visible, clear warnings where appropriate•

Evidence of the ease of administration of the product•

Clear and responsible owner advice and information on the product and its
administration including the route, means and dosing schedule•

Results of palatability trials for all oral medications where possible

The product will then be assessed externally by a selected panel of ISFM Academy veterinarians
and structured feedback from them and their feline clients will be sought.

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* N.B. iCatCare does not assume the role of a licensing authority and defers to the VMD (in theUK and other appropriate authorities elsewhere) on all matters associated with the safety orefficacy of the product. Only products licensed at the level of POM-V or equivalent are therefore
eligible for the certification
Application Procedure
When a company would like iCatCare to consider a product for an Easy to GiveTM Approvedcertification, iCatCare requires the company to send us the following.
A sample of the product in question including all normal packaging, inserts and•

instructions. If special precautions are needed in the handling and storage of theproduct, please contact us first to discuss this in advance (e.g. refrigeration).
•

Product promotional literature and evidence of licensing status (e.g. data sheet).

•A brief description of the product’s benefits and why it is being entered for an Easy toGiveTM Approved certification.

•All palatability/compliance information/data the company may hold (where available).

•Any additional information that may be relevant (e.g. further safety/efficacy data,publications etc.).
If this is an oral product, please state whether the product can be given with food and if•

in tablet/capsule form whether it can be crushed/broken.
•Name and contact details of the person within the company making the submission.

•Payment of an application fee of £1,000.

Please note that products applying for Easy to GiveTM Approved may do so via two possible
tracks:• Pre-launch: the product must have regulatory approvals. As veterinarians will not haveused the product in practice, we will require you to provide sufficient samples to selected
ISFM Members practising in countries where you have achieved approvals, so that we cangather feedback on its suitability for an Easy to GiveTM Approved award.

• Post-launch: the product must have been launched and available on the market for aminimum of 6 months. We will include the product in our twice yearly ISFM Members survey(January & July) to gather wider feedback from veterinarians who will have had theopportunity to use the product in practice. Please advise at the time of application on any
geographical restrictions to product approvals so that we can filter our survey lists
accordingly.
A decision will be made by iCatCare only after sufficient time has been allowed for our team to
fully assess the product and raise any additional queries about the product. The length of time
this takes varies between different products.
If successful, an automatically renewing annual license agreement then needs to be signed andthe first annual licence fee of £2,500 paid before the product can be promoted as holding Easy
to GiveTM Approved certification. Annual licence fees are then due on the subsequentanniversaries of the effective date of the agreement.
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Please note that in order to keep the scheme simple to administer, we only offer a single global
licence per product. This enables the same product to be marketed under different brandnames in different markets under a single licence agreement. We will need these summarised ina schedule as part of the agreement. We will need to be notified of any changes to this schedule
over time.
The Easy to GiveTM certification is administered via iCatCare’s trading subsidiary,
International Cat Care (Enterprises) Limited.
Please contact tony.cooke@icatcare.org for more information or to make a new application.

© 2022 International Cat Care (Enterprises) Ltd

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