Trips to the veterinarian leave Joy so scared, she gets
sick.
The black Lab-mix dog shakes and shivers, her heart rate
jumps, her blood pressure spikes, her temperature rises, her eyes dilate and
she cowers under anything she can get beneath.
After trying vet after vet for 14 years, the dog's owner
Debby Trinen of Sandpoint, Idaho, has finally found relief for Joy's stress
from a new approach to veterinary care called "fear-free."
The fear-free movement aims to eliminate things in the
vet's office that bother dogs and cats — like white lab coats, harsh lights and
slippery, cold exam tables — while adding things they like.
For example, a fear-free clinic "will have a big treat
budget," said Dr. Marty Becker, the initiative's main cheerleader and the
vet chosen to introduce it to the country. All the dogs and cats at his North
Idaho Animal Hospital, where Joy now gets care, have space on their files to
note favorite treats, from Easy Cheese to hot dogs.
About 50 practices across the country have gone fear-free,
Becker said. Later this year, the initiative will start certifying veterinary
professionals. The certification takes about 12 hours of online instruction.
The movement hopes to register as many as 5,000 people this year.
Hospital certification could start in 2018, followed by
animal shelters and homes, Becker said.
Heather Lewis of Animal Arts in Boulder, Colorado, which
has been designing animal hospitals since 1979, says there are many ways to
make veterinary offices more pleasant for pets. Among them:
- Paint walls in
pastels and have staff wear pastel scrubs and lab coats. To an animal's eyes, a
white lab coat is like a bright glowing beacon and can be scary.
- Remove old
fluorescent lights. Dogs and cats have better hearing than humans, and the buzz
from those old fixtures can bother them.
- Consider
alternatives to lifting animals up on to high exam tables with cold, slippery
metal surfaces. Some clinics, like Becker's, use yoga mats for animal exams.
- For background
music, choose classical. Becker and Lewis like collections called "Through
a Dog's Ear" and "Through a Cat's Ear."
A fear-free vet might also use sedatives or pheromones — chemicals
secreted by animals that serve as stimulants for many things, including mating
— rather than muzzles or restraints to keep animals calm during treatment,
Becker said.
"Twenty-five to 30 percent of pets need
sedation," Becker said.
Becker introduced veterinarians to the fear-free initiative
at the North American Veterinary Community convention last year. He's
presenting version 2.0 at the 2016 conference beginning Saturday in Florida.
Becker, chief veterinary correspondent for the American
Humane Association, has written 22 books and is doing the 23rd on the fear-free
initiative.
One fear-free center is the Bigger Road Veterinary Center
in Springboro, Ohio.
"We designed this clinic to look like you were going
for walks in the park," said Dr. John Talmadge. "Support beams look
like maple trees. I don't know if we're fooling any pets but the exam rooms
look like cottages and it looks like blue sky on the ceiling. It has a very
inviting feel."
He also expanded from 2,000 square feet to 10,000 square
feet so he'd have room for better senior care and pain management. And for
owners making end-of-life decisions for their pets, the clinic offers a private
area.
"There is nothing more important than making that last
treatment dignified and calming," Talmadge said.
Becker says the fear-free initiative is important because
stress and anxiety cause so many problems for pets, both physical and mental.
"Once pets know fear and anxiety and stress, you can't
undo it," he said, adding, "You can see it. You can smell it because
dogs are stained with their own saliva from licking themselves. You can hear it
and feel it."
Stress and fear can lead animals to hide the symptoms that
prompted the vet visit, and may even alter their test results, said Richard A.
LeCouteur, a veterinarian with a specialty in neurology and a professor
emeritus at the University of California at Davis' School of Veterinary
Medicine.
Talmadge says the fear-free approach is proving popular.
"We have more than doubled our business through that clinic since opening
(in April) and are well ahead of where we thought we would be," Talmadge
said.
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