Fear Free Certified for a Better Vet Experience

Each cat and dog is unique, so our Fear Free Certified Professionals tailor their approach to your pet’s individual needs. With a variety of fear-free techniques, we aim to recognize anxiety and address it before it gets worse. Techniques we use include:

• Giving cats and dogs their space. Dogs can view direct eye contact as a threat, while cats will often hide in their carrier in fear of new people and a new environment. To help put them at ease, we address you first, asking you about their medical history, behavior changes, and more, giving your pet time to get comfortable with us.
• Low-restraint handling. When it is time to examine your pet, we’ll use only the most gentle, compassionate techniques to handle them, so they don’t feel panic from being constrained.
• Friendly pheromones. If pets are stressed or scared, they will emit pheromones that communicate this stress to other animals, too, as a warning. We clean our exam rooms thoroughly after each patient to remove these and replace them with synthetic pheromones that mimic your pet’s natural “happy” pheromones.
• Food motivation. What pet doesn’t love treats? We use their favorites strategically to reward them for good behavior and distract them from exams and services so we can do what we need to do quickly, safely, and efficiently.