Fear free. Stress free. These terms are used so often these days. But what does this mean in a veterinary clinic? How can we possibly reduce our patients stress in a busy clinic where noise and smells are inevitable? Is it really achievable? And should we bother? Isn’t it all just a fad?
I definitely think that even in a busy GP practice it is certainly possible to practice fear free techniques. And over the last couple of years since opening my own clinic, we have worked hard to try to make some changes to reduce stress and anxiety in both our patients AND their owners.
But how do we do this? Time is essential. And that is something that can be REALLY hard to spare in most busy clinics. But it makes all the difference.
Goldy (not her real name) is a 2year old female cross breed, labelled ‘aggressive’ by previous vets. Her owners were highly stressed about bringing her for an appointment (and tried to avoid vet visits as much as possible) but she was due her vaccinations so they didn’t have much choice. When she arrived at the clinic, we had picked a quieter time of day for her appointment so the waiting room was empty. The Adaptil diffuser was on, and there were lots of liver treats for the owners to give her. We spent some time chatting to the owners (and not really even looking at Goldy), talking about what had happened on previous visits to other vets, and how we would do things differently. Then we went into the consult room. Instead of putting her on the consult table, I sat on the floor with an open jar of treats and carried on chatting to the owners. After a while, Goldy started to gain confidence, and eventually, after many treats she consented to a bit of fuss, and a very gentle, slow and quiet examination. We were able to vaccinate her without a muzzle and she trotted out of the clinic with tail wagging. 2 years later, and she pulls her owner into the clinic, and cannot wait to have pats and fuss!
Another example is Bud. He is a huge American Staffie. Gentle and friendly until you try to touch his nails. Then he freaks out! He had a previous bad experience with nail clipping and has become completely foot shy now. He came in weekly for a couple of months, with a moderate dose of trazadone on board, and the nurses would practise picking up his feet and touching his toenails, whilst using a peanut butter covered lick pad to keep him occupied (he was one of the few dogs that didn’t like liver treats!). Eventually we got to the point of being able to trim his nails with only a little bit of wriggling, and minimal restraint.
Both of these examples took quite a lot of time but the reward for patient, owners and clinic staff is absolutely invaluable. These clients are now happy to book appointments and bring their pet to the clinic whenever needed, and they can tell that we truly have their pets best interest at heart.
