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How to Make a Visit to the Vet Less Stressful

Taking the Panic out of Your Pet’s Vet Visits


                We see dozens of pets at the Patton Veterinary Hospital each day.  While some are happy-go-lucky and seem to enjoy their visits, most pets experience some degree of anxiety in the veterinary office.  Symptoms of anxiety may be mild such as trembling, tucking the tail, or cringing or tensing when touched.  Pets with extreme fears may freeze in place, try to hide, or in some situations, display aggressive behaviors such as growling, hissing, or trying to scratch or bite.  These pets do not understand what is happening to them and they may not respond well to strangers, or, they may be painful or sick and not want to be handled.  What if we could take steps to lessen a pet’s fear at the veterinary office?  Our Patton Veterinary Team is trying to do just that with tips for you to start at home before the visit, new handling techniques and use of anti-anxiety medications to reduce fear and panic in our patients.

                Fear and anxiety cause the release of fight-or-flight hormones in the body such as adrenaline.  Laurie Vasquez says, “According to research out of the University of Minnesota, ‘once the fear pathways are ramped up, the brain short-circuits more rational processing paths and reacts immediately to signals from the amygdala.  When in this overactive state, the brain perceives events as negative and remembers them that way.’”

“Later, the sights, sounds, and other contextual details of the event can become stimuli themselves and trigger fear.…  Because these cues were associated with previous danger, the brain may see them as a predictor of threat.”  These quotes are talking about fear response in humans, but our pets react the same way.

                What are we doing to try to reduce your pet’s distress during visits?  Keeping pets in the room for procedures as often as possible may reduce anxiety rather than moving pets to another new space in the hospital with which they are unfamiliar.  Using gentle handling techniques such as wrapping cats in towels or covering a dog’s eyes with a towel, using tasty food treats to distract pets and stopping or forgoing non-essential procedures if a pet becomes too upset may be employed.  For some pets, use of anti-anxiety drugs and calming supplements before a visit or even use of complete sedation with an injectable drug might be necessary to allow for pain and panic-free visits.  These drugs are safe and they help reduce anxiety making pets more relaxed and receptive to procedures like trimming nails and drawing blood.  They may also affect memories of the visit, erasing fearful and anxious feelings which help to make them less apprehensive about future visits. 

                There are also things you can do at home before the visit to reduce your pet’s stress level.  Acclimating cats to their carriers before their visits, playing calming music in the car and bringing familiar items such as a blanket or toy may help your pet feel more comfortable on arrival.  We also plan to keep notes on what works best to keep your pet calm to help make future visits go smoother.

                Our goal is to try to make visits for our patients as pleasant as possible.  There may still be times where we need to complete certain procedures or that we need to employ safety devices such as muzzles, but, if we can reduce fear and anxiety for our patients, think how much more pleasant visits will be for you, your pet and our team.  If you have any questions about our Fear Free initiative, please ask any team member.

                This blog brought to you by the Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York and the surrounding communities. 

Source of quotes:  http://bigthink.com/laurie-vazquez/what-fear-does-to-your-brain-and-how-to-stop-it

Patton Veterinary Hospital will be holding a free seminar "Reduce Stress at the Vet" on Saturday January 27th 2018 at 5pm. This Seminar will be focused on ways to lower anxiety and stress levels associated with veterinary visits for our four-legged friends. Dr. Spencer will be giving a presentation. We will be having prizes, a raffle cat and dog basket with stress/anxiety reducing products, as well as provide sandwiches and light refreshments. There will also be a question and answer session if there is anything specific that we did not cover.

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