The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Danbury veterinarian starts ‘fear-free’ care
DANBURY — In the veterinary world, a cat that tolerates a trip to the veterinarian is hard to come by.
Most cats are afraid even before they walk — or are more likely carried — through the door, said Dr. Barbara Fanning, owner of the Cat Clinic on Germantown Road.
“I swear, you can make your appointment and think about it, and the cat already knows something bad is about to come,” she said. “As soon as they see the carrier at home, that’s where their fear, anxiety and stress begin.”
But with her staff ’s certification in “fear-free” veterinary care, Fanning hopes this fear, anxiety and stress can be a thing of the past.
Fanning and her staff completed eight one-hour courses and a test in the Fear-Free program, which was developed last year by Idaho veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker. The program includes various methods for professionals and pet owners to “take the ‘pet’ out of petrified.”
About 8,000 professionals have been certified in the program since it was introduced.
In the Cat Clinic, the staff has taken what they learned and developed a series of interventions in the office and for pet owners to take home.
One of the most successful, Fanning said, has been the “Calm Kitty Kit,” which they distribute to cat owners to use for an upcoming appointment or when traveling.
It includes a natural calming agent to be mixed into food in the week before an appointment, a pheromone wipe that when applied to the cat’s carrier “tricks them into thinking they have been there before” and a pain medication to reduce anxiety the day of the visit.
“That helps them come the day of the appointment and not be so upset,” Fanning said. “People who have used it and it’s worked, they don’t want to come in anymore unless they have the kit.”
In the office, plug-in adapters that release pheromones have been placed in most rooms, while music soothing to cats is played during exams and pheromone-soaked towels are used when handling them.
Some cats will still be fearful no matter what, Fanning said, but she estimates 98 percent of the clinic’s cat clients have seen an improvement.
A few pet owners have taken the methods and used them at home even when their cats don’t have a visit, said Kathryn Mitchell, one of Fanning’s veterinary assistants.
Mitchell said half the battle is educating pet owners about the “Fear-Free” program and how to generally recognize when animals are anxious.
The program seeks to eliminate the label of a “fractious” or “mean” cat that cannot be handled and, instead, teach professionals and pet owners to recognize when a cat might need relief, she said.
“They’re not fractious cats — they’re nervous, they’re anxious and that’s how they’re responding,” she said. “No cat is a fractious cat. It’s rather, they’re letting you know. They’re speaking to you.”