Going to the Vet Doesn’t Have to Be Scary

Does your cat go under the bed when she sees the crate? Does your dog leave scratch marks as you pull him across the parking lot to go to the vet?

Bigger Road Veterinary Center for Pet Health and Enrichment, one of our amazing partner practices, says going to the vet doesn’t have to be scary.

They are one of about 50 practices across the US who have instituted a fear-free protocol, eliminating things from their office like harsh florescent lights and slippery, cold exam tables. Instead they’ve added things like soft music, Feliway (calming pheromones) for cats, thundershirts for anxious dogs and even exam rooms that look like individual cottages.

The Fear-Free„¢ initiative promotes the practices, methods, and tools that calm veterinary patients and create low-stress environments to encourage better health care and more satisfied clients. Mitigating stress and fear is important as both can lead animals to hide the symptoms that prompted their visit to the vet, and may even alter the results of their tests. By doing things like coaching us pet parents on how to get our fur kids to appointments in a less stressful manner, minimizing time in the waiting room after arrival, equipping exam rooms with things like calming pheromones, and using diet-appropriate treats, this form of practice can even help animals to look forward to visiting their vet.

To learn more about the fear-free movement, go to http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/top-10-ways-get-started-with-fear-free-veterinary-visits-sponsored-boehringer-ingelheim-vetmedica-in