We are proud to be a Fear Free℠ certified Practice and are dedicated to caring for your pet’s emotional well-being as well as his or her physical well-being. Being Fear Free℠ means putting your pet’s emotional well-being at the center of everything that we do. It means there are no standard procedures for anything. There is only what makes your pet comfortable and helps us to build a foundation of trust for future visits. We never want to just “get it done” at the cost of your pet’s trust or emotional well-being.
What can you expect?
- We may ask you to come in for happy visits, where we don’t do anything except share yummy treats, show your pet love and encouragement, and teach them that we are their friend. We may give you medication, herbs, or supplements to give your pet at home, to calm them before the appointment. (Ask about our Fear Free Kits).
- We may ask you to bring your pet slightly hungry to keep them distracted with lots of delicious treats while we examine your pet or administer vaccines.
- We may ask to do more of the visit in the room, with you present. (Unless that doesn’t work for your pet. Then we will try something different.)
- Positive experiences at the vet are so important to your pet’s long-term well-being, if your pet is too stressed, we may ask you to try again another day.
When might we ask a visit to stop?
When we identify signs of fear— especially during elective procedures—we may stop the visit and ask you to return at a later time when your pet is less stressed. Remember, distressing experiences can negatively impact your pet’s overall health and well-being.
By not listening to an animal’s body language when the pet is showing signs of anxiety, we are teaching the animal that their normal means of communication is meaningless. The end result is that the pet may develop less tolerable means of communication. Anything we can do to relieve the stress of the visit will pay off in future visits being less stressful.
What can we do?
We can prescribe a variety of pre-visit medications. These medications will help calm your pet down and lower their stress levels. One side effect is that your pet may be relaxed and sleepy for the rest of the day. With different medications and doses, we can work with you to find the best level of calmness to allow us to properly examine and treat your pet and keep them as active and awake as possible.
