What is Fear Free™ Care?
The idea of low stress pet care and handling has been around for as long as veterinary care has existed. However, in the most recent decade, the Fear Free™ initiative was founded to educate and certify veterinary professionals, pet professionals, animal welfare workers, and pet guardians with the most up-to-date and science-based techniques to prevent and minimize fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) caused by care and handling.
With the mission statement “...to prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress in pets by inspiring and educating the people who care for them,” Fear Free™ created accessible education to anyone and everyone responsible for pet handling and care.
Principles of Fear Free™ veterinary care include:
Identify and grade Fear, Anxiety, and Stress (FAS) using a body language assessment.
Consider all aspects of how animals interact with the environment.
Minimize stress in all possible areas including the clinic, exam room, veterinary staff, and physical handling. This includes:
Smell – reduce the smell of other pets by cleaning between appointments and use species-specific pheromones for calming.
Hearing – reduce the volume in the clinic including barking and voices, this can include making ‘cat hours’ and ‘dog hours’ to reduce overlap.
Taste – high value, delicious treats can create positive associations in stressful environments and even distract from certain procedures. This can also include sturdy (not wobbly) tables and scales, and providing non-slip surfaces.
Vision – avoid pets from seeing each other and people to reduce stress or agitation. Natural lighting can also provide a soothing setting.
Touch – minimal restraint should be used and the ‘touch gradient’ should be considered, which means to introduce touch and to keep contact with the pet to reduce FAS that comes with reintroducing touch over and over.
Consider pre-visit pharmaceuticals (which are medications to reduce anxiety) to minimize FAS whenever needed
Ask “what do we need to get done?” versus “what do we want to get done?” Not everything we want to do at a visit is best for our pet at that moment if it increases the level of FAS. Consider breaking care up into multiple visits, or giving breaks in between care and handling.
How does Fear Free™ apply to in-home care?
In-home care applies the Fear Free™ principles by reducing the entirety of the FAS associated with a pet carrier, travel to the clinic, a clinic setting, and returning travel to home. Having your pet in an environment they are most comfortable in can completely change the cadence of a vet visit. Being at home eliminates new smells, sounds and sights from the start.
Another wonderful aspect of in-home care is the presence of the pet guardian. Having a pet’s favorite person around and involved in handling when necessary can greatly reduce FAS. Your pet is most comfortable with you — and having you involved in their care is much better than meeting a stranger and being touched.
In-home care is also extremely customized care, which allows for pet-specific needs to be identified and met. Does Fluffy love tuna? Let’s make sure it’s available for the vet visit. Does Bruno hate to be pet on the head? We’ll be sure to avoid that during the vet visit. Handling is very customizable and allows us to build a strong and trusting relationship with your pet.
Overall, in-home veterinary care maximizes the Fear Free™ principles and leads to more successful vet visits in regard to reducing fear, anxiety and stress.
Why should I pursue Fear Free™ care for my pet?
More and more, Fear Free™ care is available to pets and their guardians. Customized and low-stress veterinary care can take the stress of pursuing care for your pet off of you and them. More so, when pets do not experience stress at the vet, they can become more comfortable with medical handling which will benefit them for their whole lives.
If you’re interested in adding Fear FreeTM principles to your pet’s care, or would like a consultation about your pet’s health, contact us. Dr. Stephanie is Fear Free™ certified and comfortable with handling nervous, fearful pets. We listen to the concerns you have and take the time your pet needs to allow for care that is tailored for their specific needs. That’s why we offer a Fearful Pet Package for our clients that schedule in-home appointments in New York City.
