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| This is Oscar, one of my patients, showing me how he feels about vets during a house call. |
Have you ever met anyone who
worked in a veterinary clinic or hospital who didn’t love animals? Nope? I bet
you’ve met some animals that don’t love the vet. I’ve said it before, but one
of the worst aspects of my job is actually being someone that some animals are
terrified of. Seeing your next patient hiding under the chair in the waiting
room, or putting the brakes on before their owner drags them through the door,
or feeling their body tense – it’s a cruel irony. We’re here to help – but
animals aren’t convinced.
One of the reasons vets and
nurses do this job is that we believe wholeheartedly that veterinary care
improves quality of life. But vet visits can be stressful for our patients (and
clients). Studies have indicated that up to 70 per cent of dogs develop a
“conditioned avoidance response” to the clinic environment; a large percentage
of dogs and cats were reluctant, aggressive or fearful during vet examinations;
the majority of healthy dogs behaved fearfully when waiting to undergo desexing
and almost one in five animals were considered fear-biters.
Other studies have
shown that owners of almost 60 per cent of cats and 40 per cent of dogs said
those animals hated going to the vet. HATED. That’s a strong word.
Not surprisingly, many of the
owners themselves did not want to go to the vet. Fair enough. What’s the joy in
subjecting someone you love to something that scares (sometimes literally) the
crap out of them?
The good news is that finally
there is research emerging about what triggers this fear and where we can
minimise fear and maximise positive feelings.
In a study released this
month, veterinarians and animal welfare researchers were surveyed about all the
potential factors that could influence dog and cat welfare in relation to veterinary
care. A total of 85 factors were identified. These included factors associated
with the clinic environment, such as auditory and olfactory stimulation;
optimisation of analgesia; patient to patient interactions; separation from the
owner and other conspecifics; novel space; physical, visual or temporal
separation of patients; and physical restraint.
Aspects of veterinary care
that impacted animal welfare in the home environment included things like
communication (about basic animal needs, preventative care, socialisation,
training and handling, for example); individualised recommendations; distress
associated with medicating; post-operative movement restrictions and client
compliance with veterinarian’s
advice.
The factors considered to have
the highest impact on animal welfare when considering both clinic and home
environments were post-surgical and chronic pain control, optimisation of
analgesia within the clinic, and the ability of members of the veterinary team
to recognise and interpret species-specific animal behaviours. The message is
clear: we need to be thinking, continually, how to reduce fear and distress in
our patients.
The task is to work out to
what extent each of the factors impacts animal welfare, measuring this where
possible, but importantly to then improve or eliminate aspects of practice that
have a negative impact.
Working in a fear-free or
minimal-fear environment will improve the quality of life not only of animals
and clients, but also members of the veterinary team. It’s a win, win, win.
