Try to imagine a visit to the vet from your furry friend’s perspective.
- Kathryn loves the gentle care Bella Kate gets from Dr. Laurel.
What a strange experience for your dog or cat. You more or less compassionately coax them into their carrier, they live through a car ride (which, especially for cats, might not be a comfortable event), and then you take them into a strange place where other humans prod and poke at them for no good reason.
Here at Sunvet, Asheville’s integrative vet, we always practice Low-Stress Handling. This is a term that signifies that we work hard to soften your fluffy friend’s experience of visiting our clinic. We always and forever put their safety and comfort first, especially when it comes to having to accomplish things that are necessary but may seem uncomfortable and strange to them.
Communicating without words
We, as humans, can articulate through speaking what our preferences are. We hear the doctor and understand their reasons for why we should hold still when they look at our wounds or touch places that hurt. Although they’re not fluent in English, our fur-friends constantly speak to us, but most of their “words” are body language. As Asheville’s integrative vet, it is our specialty to read what they are saying to us.
We get creative in the ways we hold our animal friends and help them cope with the discomforts of physical exams, blood draws, nail trims…anything that may seem strange to an animal. Some of our fluff-muffins like to be hugged during procedures, and some prefer to be touched as little as possible. We honor that and make sure that everyone involved feels safe and well taken care of. We always speak our intentions to the animals we treat, and we also send them a mental image of our intentions. It’s our job to convey a feeling of the unflinching love we have for keeping them as healthy and happy as possible.
Often the human guardians of these dogs and cats comment that, from our staff’s way of working, they learn new ways of approaching their own dogs and cats, so that their home experiences of giving medication or checking wounds becomes easier. We find that gentle persuasion can accomplish even more than strict or controlling ways of interacting with animals.
Working this way with animals deepens their trust of us humans. We hope that you, and they, always feel that our downtown Asheville clinic is a safe, welcoming place where all species are treated with kindness.
Interested in learning more about what it’s like? Read some stories from Asheville’s integrative vet’s patients and their people!
Shine On,