by Rowena Mills
My little dog Cornelius — who was calm and well behaved at
home — howled piteously and pooped in his carrier every time I put him in the car to go to the vet throughout his 14-year life. I talked soothingly to him and stroked his head, but I didn’t know how else to help him get over his fear and nervousness.
You probably have stories of your own about your pet’s terror or anxiety during vet visits. It turns out there are ways to help.
Individuals and clinics certified by the Fear Free initiative use those methods in their veterinary work every day. The Fear Free philosophy promotes emotional well-being, enrichment, and the reduction of fear, anxiety, and stress in pets and improves the experience of every pet and human involved, including the veterinary staff.
In 2016, Dr. Marty Becker founded Fear Free, whose motto is “Taking the ‘pet’ out of ‘petrified.’” Hundreds of experts in animal behavior, medicine, and handling have helped to develop Fear Free. It has been called one of the single most transformative initiatives in companion animal practice.
Fear Free provides online programs and courses for veterinary professionals and others who work with animals, including owners, so they can gain the knowledge and skill to care for a pet’s physical and emotional well-being. Individuals and veterinary practices can take certification courses at different levels. If a certain percentage of the staff is certified by Fear Free, the veterinary practice itself can apply for certification. A certified practice will have implemented the Fear Free philosophy into its culture and leadership, client education, staff training, facility, and patient visits. An on-site visit by a Fear Free veterinarian will determine whether the practice can be certified.
Training is available for people working with dogs, cats, horses, and birds.
Fear Free in Oklahoma
Fear Free is starting to gain a foothold in Oklahoma. OKC Vet Campus, owned by Dr. Shara Carlton, is the first certified Fear Free facility in the state and one of only two in Oklahoma City. It opened in July 2020 with its entire staff certified by Fear Free. Within several months, the practice itself was certified. Individual certification within one month is required for anyone who joins the staff of 22, including groomers and the kennel crew.
OKC Vet Campus, which treats dogs and cats, offers all its services in a Fear Free environment, performed by staff members certified by Fear Free, with Fear Free protocols and even Fear Free design choices in the building itself. The soothing color palette of soft blues and grays is designed to minimize stress. Vibrant colors are missing from the color scheme, business manager Tristan Young explains.
The hospital includes a feline-only wing (complete with pheromone diffusers) so cats never have to encounter dogs. Flooring throughout the facility has a certain slip differential to reduce slipping for pets, and two exam rooms do not have tables so pets can be examined on the floor, where they feel most comfortable.
Young says it is OKC Vet Campus’ goal to minimize crowding in the waiting area and get animals into examination rooms as soon as possible. Smell, sight, and hearing are important for dogs and cats. The staff minimizes all smells — no perfume, cigarettes, etc. They recommend spray bottles of pheromones to owners for use in carriers. OKC Vet Campus provides gentle music. It uses no harsh bleaches.
Certification starts with eight hours of continuing education, Young says, covering safe handling and procedures, operational aspects to avoid anxiety, best treats, ways to distract, physiology, how the mind works, brain chemicals, and pharmacology, including sedatives.
The benefits of Fear Free for the staff, clients, and animals were obvious within
weeks, Young says. Staff members who had worked elsewhere “had got hurt in other clinics,” he adds. Since going to work at a Fear Free facility, “People aren’t going to the emergency room,” Young says.
Several states have new regulations on how animals can be treated, Young says, and he expects public awareness and preference for Fear Free to expand. “Most people don’t know there is an option yet,” he says. Once they take their animals to a Fear Free facility, “No one would want to do anything else.”
Considering the Emotional Aspect
Other veterinary hospitals in Oklahoma have doctors and staff members who are certified Fear Free professionals. One of those is Okoboji Veterinary Hospital in Edmond, where Dr. Sarah Begemann and veterinary technician Brittani Summers have individual certification. Summers learned about Fear Free when it started while she was working at another facility and is an elite certified professional with 35 hours of training followed by a test. She was eager to continue with Fear Free at
Okoboji. Begemann says when the staff is larger, she hopes the hospital can become a Fear Free certified practice.
“Specifically, the biggest, most important difference in Fear Free and regular practice is that Fear Free takes into account the emotional aspect of the patient,” Begemann says. “The exam is more comfortable, not rapid but paying attention to signals from animals, changing to what they want instead of what they need.” There is also a different approach to previsit medications and to sedation. “It’s beneficial for the staff also,” Summers says.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fear Free made curbside vet visits easier, she adds, because owners were more comfortable with curbside.
“We work with owners,” Begemann says. “Some expenses in money or time might be more, but we try to mitigate problems with the animal at home and try not to break that human-animal bond.”
Fear Free Happy Home recommendations include long-leash moving and walking so that a dog is stress free for the first time on a leash, Begemann says.
Spreading the Word
Tulsa does not yet have a certified Fear Free facility, but VCA Woodland Central Animal Hospital and VCA Woodland South Animal Hospital have doctors and staff members who are certified as individuals. Dr. Allison Tarvin of VCA Woodland Central has been certified since 2018. Fear Free paid the costs for part of her veterinary schooling, Tarvin explains, and VCA offers continuing education to technicians who apply for Fear Free certification.
The goal is to have more people certified by Fear Free, Tarvin says, but even now, the entire staff applies Fear Free concepts throughout the practice, including receptionists, groomers, and the boarding crew.
Techniques to lower stress for animals have been around for years, Tarvin says, but “Fear Free has the potential to grow. Clients might increase the demand for it. Social media and word of mouth are spreading the word about it.”
VCA Woodland Central has separate
waiting rooms for cats only and separate areas in the hospital.
“Fear Free starts at home,” Tarvin explains. She refers clients to the Fear Free Happy Homes website for tips on how to lower an animal’s stress in the carrier and car and how to cut down on noise and separation anxiety and provide more enrichment.
Tarvin says she sees patients that need more time because they are very slow at building trust with humans. Fear Free methods won’t work with some dogs, and those will still need sedation for some procedures, she says, but most of them will make progress eventually.
Appointments take more time for some pets, such as 60 minutes instead of 30. There is no extra charge, and eventually the animal might need only 30 minutes. Shorter wait times before appointment are important too, Tarvin says.
In some cases, an animal has a certain trigger that sparks anxiety, Tarvin says. For example, “We discovered that one dog doesn’t like white coats, so we don’t wear white.”
So if your Cornelius howls piteously and poops in the carrier on the way to the vet, look into some Fear Free ideas for yourself.
For more information on Fear Free and a directory of Fear Free professionals and practices in your area, go to https://fearfreepets.com.
