You know that your gentle, caring veterinarian is one of your pet’s best friends, yet your dog or cat seems so stressed when it’s time for their vet visit. The unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells of a veterinary hospital and waiting in a room filled with strange animals and humans can cause them severe stress and anxiety. Since they don’t understand that veterinary examinations are necessary to protect their health, many pets go into fight-or-flight mode when memories of previous visits increase their anxiety about their present situation.

Calming your anxious cat or dog before a vet visit is important, not only so they—and you—feel better, but also to avoid their stress altering vital readings and test results, which could obscure underlying problems and complicate diagnosis and treatment. Worse, you may choose to forgo the visit, and your pet misses out altogether. Therefore, our Chiefland Animal Hospital team is sharing tips that will minimize your pet’s stress and help them view veterinary care in a positive light.

These are our top 10 ways to overcome your pet’s fear of vet visits:

  • Teach pets to accept handling — Make gently touching your pet’s body a part of your regular routine at home, paying special attention to sensitive spots like their paws, ears, and mouth. When they are used to being handled, they likely will take their next medical examination in stride.
  • Train pets to like their carrier and the car — When you bring a new carrier or crate home, give your cat or dog plenty of time to familiarize themselves with it before you transport them anywhere. Leave the container open so your pet can enter and explore it whenever they want. Throw in a few treats for encouragement. When your pet seems ready, take them on car trips with no purpose other than to feel safe in their carrier and to enjoy the ride. Take a few treats and toys along to add to the fun.
  • Drop in for happy visits — Every so often, make impromptu visits to our office to say “Hello” and let your dog or cat enjoy treats and cuddles from our friendly team. This will help your pet replace negative associations with positive ones and they will start to look forward to their visits.
  • Talk with our veterinary team about calming aids — Before you make an appointment, let our veterinary team know what types of touching, handling, and other interactions your pet likes, as well as what seems to make them stressed or fearful. If your pet’s stress is extreme, an anti-anxiety medication administered before veterinary visits can also help. We can advise you on medications, calming supplements, compression garments, eye shades, pheromones, or music to help your pet relax.
  • Make appointments for quiet times — Ask about the days and hours that are less busy than usual at the clinic, and schedule visits for those times, which will decrease waiting times and stressful encounters with other animals and people. If you can’t avoid the busy times, ask if you can take your stressed pet directly to an exam room.
  • Skip your pet’s breakfast — Don’t feed your pet before their vet visit, so they arrive at the clinic hungry. Then, feed them a small amount right before seeing the veterinarian. Their focus on the food should distract them. 
  • Take comforting items — Taking your pet’s favorite blanket or toy will soothe them and reduce their stress.
  • Stay calm — If you are calm, cool, and collected during the vet visit, your dog or cat will  pick up on your mood and will likely be less anxious. 
  • Keep the visit positive — During the visit, stay with your pet if you can, praising them and offering a treat or a toy every time they cooperate, so long as you have the veterinarian’s OK. This will also help your dog or cat to see vet visits as good times.
  • Follow the visit with fun — After your successful visit, reward your pet with more praise and a favorite fun activity, such as a romp at the dog park, or extra playtime for your cat with their much-loved interactive toy.

We want every vet visit to be a pleasant experience for your pet. Contact our Chiefland Animal Hospital team to schedule your pet’s next wellness screening, or for more stress-reducing suggestions.