Spring Newsletter 2023

Fear Free Hospital Visits

Many of you have asked or noticed that over the past few years we have been incorporating a number of new techniques to help keep your pets’ anxiety down while here at the hospital. Over half of our staff are now certified in these Fear Free protocols, and we continue to certify more each year. Besides the things we do here at the clinic, there are things you as the owner can be doing at home as well.

The visit starts at home. 

The following will help to prepare your animal for success when in the hospital:

-  Acclimating your pet to travel confinement. Cats should be used to travelling in a carrier. Leaving the carrier out all the time at home allows the cat to access it in non-stressful events. Which then will make it more comfortable when it is time to come to the hospital. Dogs (depending on size) either need to be carrier trained or leash trained. 

-  Bring your pet hungry to the appointment. If they are hungry, they might be more willing to want to eat our tasty treats. Or even better, bring their favorite treats with you.

-  There are many more ways you can help your pets’ stress at home. Visit www.fearfreehomes.com for more information.

At the clinic

The following are some of the things we will be doing at the appointment:

-  Our certified team members do many things to help your pet like providing non-slip surfaces for your pet, allowing your pet to feel stable during exams.

-   We offer Feliway infused towels for cat appointments, which is a calming pheromone. Our dogs receive an adaptil infused bandana, also a calming pheromone.

-   We will offer different texture and taste of treats.

-   We will note your pet’s response to the visit which will help us to adapt to your pet’s needs in controlling their fear, anxiety, and stress in the future.

The visit ends at home.

The following are things you can do for the return home:

-   Some housemates don’t always accept the other pet back into the home after a hospital visit. Make sure to manage the situation. Use baby gates, separate them by rooms, or even use leashes.

-   Have a play session upon return home. Cats can be distracted with wands. Dogs can go for a walk or ball time in the yard.

-    Leave the bandana on your dog as the pheromones will last up to 4 hours.

-  For cats, we recommend purchasing the Feliway Spray to use in their carriers to and from the hospital.

Again, there are many other suggestions and ideas at www.fearfreehomes.com. If you feel your pet might need pharmaceutical management to come to the hospital, please call ahead (3-4 days) to allow us to come up with the right plan for them.

-Erica Suarez, LVT

How to recognize subtle signs of pain in your dog or cat:

Most pet owners are comfortable with relating crying, vocalizing, and whining with pain in their pets. However, pets commonly show much more subtle signs of pain, suffering, and discomfort that aren’t so easily acknowledged. While collecting histories from owners, we often ask questions that allow us to gain insight on if a pet is experiencing pain at home, even if the owner states they are not seeing any symptoms. We may ask about weight gain, sleeping more, shaking, unwillingness to jump up or down from surfaces, and about stiffness in the morning or after play. Owners will often tell us their pet is not experiencing any pain, but state the pet is displaying some of the symptoms listed below. I’ve found owners mistakenly miss these as a classic sign of pain because their pet isn’t crying out. I try to explain it in a way that is more relatable, for example: “Have you ever been in pain and not cried?” Symptoms in cats and dogs can vary. If your pet is experiencing one of more or the following, we recommend scheduling an appointment to be seen with a veterinarian.

You can expect us to perform a full orthopedic exam and gait analysis, then to recommend x-rays, a stance analysis, and blood work. Treatment options will vary based on the level pain, overall health of your pet (i.e. certain pain medications cannot be given to animals with liver/kidney dysfunction), ability to administer medications (pills, liquids, injections), etc.

Your dog may be in pain if:

• Crying, vocalizing, whining, whimpering
• Any limping, holding a leg up, lameness, abnormal gait
• Sitting with one leg kicked out to the side instead of square
• Shaking
• Slow to get up from laying or laying down slowly
• Decreased activity, less excitement for walks or play, asking to go home/go inside during walks or play
• Decreased appetite
• Hesitating to go up or down stairs/jump on or off couch and furniture
• Panting while at rest
• Increased aggression
• Seeming evasive for being touched in certain areas, lip licking/flinching/turning head/snapping while being pet or handled
• Muscle twitching
• Hunched posture
• Weight gain or loss
• Avoiding slippery floors

Your cat may be in pain if:

• Crying, vocalizing, whining, whimpering
• Any limping, holding a leg up, lameness, abnormal gait
• Shaking
• Slow to get up from laying or laying down slowly
• Decreased activity, less excitement for play, not using cat tower or climbing as high
• Decreased appetite
• Hesitating to go up or down stairs/jump on or off couch and furniture
• Laying sitting in a ball or “bread loaf” position with squinted eyes
• Holding ears back
• Increased aggression
• Seeming evasive for being touched in certain areas, lip licking/flinching/turning head/snapping while being pet or handled
• Muscle twitching
• Hunched posture
• Weight gain or loss
• Hiding more, seeming less social

-Dr. Hailee Cotter

Employee Spotlight:

Nicole Lewis, LVT (she/her):

We hope you will help us welcome our new full time technician, Nicole. She graduated from Baker College of Jackson’s Veterinary Technology Program back in 2014. Nicole has always had the passion to work with all animals, big and small, ever since she was a little girl. She loves doing everything and anything when it comes to working with animals, but her favorites are dentistry and animal behavior; she would eventually like to specialize in these areas.

When not at work, Nicole loves spending time with her family, Jon (husband) and taking care of all their fur and non-fur babies. They have 40 pets (and counting):  6 dogs (Frankie, Ella, Tinkerbell, Shoteka, Luna, and Foxy), 4 cats (Mingen, Catori, Angeni, and Jack), 2 Julianna pigs (Cocoa and Chip), 4 goats (Buddy, Butterscotch, Oreo, and Honey), 3 leopard geckos (Yin, Yang, and Little Dude), and 20 chickens. Eventually she hopes to get a couple of horses, mini zebu, and a donkey. Nicole also likes reading, cooking, and dancing.