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Making It Fun (Or At Least Bearable!)

Katherine Dobbs, RVT, CVPM, PHR

Like most of you, I entered veterinary medicine because “I love animals!” Really, I do. And being in this profession has allowed me to interact with furry critters of all sorts. Some are wonderful to work with and seem to have this sense that you are trying to help, even when they are uncomfortable or in pain…even when that discomfort is caused by the diagnostics that need to be performed.

Yet there are also an abundance of those animals that do not have a clue why you are hovering over them, trying to hold them down, poking a needle in their skin, trying to flip them on their backs on the radiograph table, etc. In fact, some of them would rather growl or bite the minute you walk into the exam room! As a medical provider, this can be a challenge when all we want to do is help. As an animal lover, it can be heartbreaking that your good intentions are not sensed by the animal.

We would love for every visit to the veterinary practice to be a positive one, for the animal and the practice team. Lately, I have been hearing more about positive reinforcement methods, so to speak. It involves creating a pleasant experience for the animal, largely by offering yummy treats and temptations while you perform mild restraint and mild procedures, only going as far as the animal will let you at the time.

For example, a dog comes in for, among other things, a nail trim. Of course, it’s a large dog with black nails, and it typically takes five people thrown upon this dog to get him still enough to trim nails! With this more positive method, you would let this dog lick peanut butter off a tongue depressor while someone clipped a nail or two, however many nails the dog allows while being distracted. At each subsequent visit, the dog should become better about the nail trim. He will see going to the vet as a reward, rather than a punishment. He will come to trust the team members, and not have anxiety even while waiting in the lobby.

The next trick is making sure that everyone on the team knows the scoop, and can see right away what works with this particular dog. A colleague of mine, Dr. Sally J. Foote, has developed the Bella Behavior Label System for just this purpose. It’s a system to communicate within the medical chart how this animal responds to different rewards, so everyone can create that positive experience each time the pet comes to the practice. Rumor has it she is now considering a feline-only version of the system…wow, imagine a cat looking forward to coming to the veterinarian!

In fact, AAHA just endorsed the Feline Friendly Handling Guidelines created by The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM). It is an incredible resource for those of us “cat people” who want to make it better for our furry felines.

For more information on Dr. Foote’s Bella Behavior Label System, visit her website. Let’s do our best to make every visit a pleasure for us, and our animal friends!

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Making It Fun (Or At Least Bearable!)

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