What Is A Fear Free Clinic & How Will They Help My Nervous Cat?
If you are a proud pet parent to a nervous cat, you know just how stressful a trip to the vet can be for them. While there are many methods we can apply at home to prepare them for their next vet appointment, there are ways in which the vet office can improve their experience as well. This is where a Fear Free clinic can step in and provide top notch care for your anxious little one!
Vetted wants to help you support your cat in the best ways possible, so let’s make sure you know everything there is to know about Fear Free clinics for nervous cats!
What Is A Fear Free Animal Clinic?
A Fear Free clinic’s purpose is to alleviate the potential stress and anxiety that comes along with a standard vet visit. Going to the vet can be daunting for our little ones, especially if your cat is already a nervous cat by nature. A Fear Free clinic works to help these nervous pets feel safe, which in turn makes the veterinary experience much more enjoyable for everyone involved.
When a clinic is listed as ‘Fear Free’, this means that their veterinary staff has undergone specific training that focuses on alleviating fear and stress within the walls of their clinic. This training can be offered to everyone from the veterinarian to the receptionist, which makes sure each team member is on board with supporting your pet’s comfort.
These Fear Free programs were designed by skilled veterinary behaviorists and experts, so they deeply understand the many stressors and fears our pets encounter at their vet visit. Fear Free training covers topics ranging from gentle restraint methods to creating a calming exam room ambiance, so most common triggers are addressed.
If you have more questions about how a Fear Free clinic can help your little one, you can always download the Vetted app or email our team directly at love@getvetted.io
How Can Fear Free Clinics Help Nervous Cats?
The Fear Free approach is all about changing your pet’s perspective when it comes to their veterinary visits. Even the most outgoing of cats will develop a bit of anxiety surrounding their vet experience, so this change in perspective is a wonderful help. To help you better understand how a Fear Free clinic can help your nervous cat, let’s break down the details below!
Understanding the fear: One of the most effective ways to help a nervous cat is by having a deep understanding on why they are afraid in the first place. Fear Free training helps your veterinary team better understand the specific fears our little ones struggle with, which in turn helps them avoid any potential triggers during their vet visit. This can also help them craft an exam that is as stress-free as possible.
Offering patience and understanding: If your veterinary team is trained on common cat fears and triggers, this can help them offer more patience and understanding throughout their vet visit. Fear Free training offers your vet team a peek into a nervous cat’s brain, helping to gain a new perspective they may not have realized before. Getting to know your patients is the best way to provide them with top notch care, and this is especially important for nervous cats.
Eliminating common fear triggers: When your vet team is aware of common cat fears, this can help them eliminate as many fear inducing practices as possible moving forward. While they may never be able to avoid every potential trigger, they can certainly tailor their approach to better meet a nervous cat’s needs. All it takes is a few simple tweaks in practice to make a huge difference!
Recrafting the experience: With the above factors considered, a Fear Free clinic can redefine what a standard vet visit entails. By helping your little one feel safe and secure during their vet exam, this can hopefully make them less nervous about future exams to come.
What Can I Expect At A Fear Free Animal Clinic? 3 Examples!
We’ve defined the standard principles of a Fear Free clinic, but let’s list a few examples of how these practices are implemented! The below examples are just a few of the many ways a Fear Free clinic can help your nervous little one.
Using Pheromones
A Fear Free clinic often uses pheromones during their routine cat exams. Pheromones are chemicals that the body releases in effort to communicate with surrounding animals, many of which are used as a form of comfort. For example, cat’s can release natural pheromones from the glands in their cheeks when they want to mark an object or person as ‘theirs’. Mother cats also release pheromones to comfort their nursing kittens, as this helps to promote a loving bond moving forward.
Due to how calming this natural process can be for cats, there are now products that contain feline friendly pheromones that can be applied to objects in your cat’s environment. A Fear Free clinic will often spray pheromones on the bedding used to hold their patients, as well as having pheromone plug-ins in each exam room. When used throughout the appointment, these pheromones can help to alleviate stress in many nervous cats.
Calming Sounds & Music
The sounds of an animal clinic can be scary for cats, which is why many Fear Free clinics have calming music playing in their exam rooms. This light music can not only drown out some of the unfamiliar sounds occurring within the clinic, but they can also help to ease a scared cat’s nerves. This practice is used in many human medical settings as well, so you may have seen this approach in your own doctor’s office!
Eliminating Scruffing
Scruffing has often been used as a form of restraint for cats, but there are more compassionate ways to protect both the veterinary team and the patient. While some cats do tolerate scruffing without any objection, some cats will be sent into automatic flight mode once scruffing begins. Scruffing a nervous cat can escalate some situations, which only makes the visit more complicated for everyone involved.
Fear Free clinics will typically avoid scruffing a cat at all costs. They will instead turn to gentle restraint methods such as towel wrapping and using cat muzzles, or they will simply turn to medical sedation if the cat is too scared to be handled safely. Fighting your patient will only result in stress for everyone involved, and a Fear Free trained team understands this.
How Can I Find A Fear Free Clinic Near Me?
Fear Free tactics are gaining popularity around the country, so you can typically find a Fear Free clinic in most cities. If you think the Fear Free approach would be ideal for your little one, you can search for a clinic near you with this link!
If you need any help in finding a Fear Free trained veterinary team near you, our Vetted Vet Pros are happy to help. Just reach out to us through the Vetted app once you have a Vetted membership, and we will be happy to guide you in the right direction!
