More Joy, more Emotional Health-For Pets.
Lucinda’s lovely post on our Facebook page this week got me thinking about Dachs and then thinking about Dogs in general then about Cats and then this new drive in Veterinary Medicine ( courtesy of UK Specialist Dr Sarah Heath) about the Emotional Health and the Emotional Intelligence of our pet.
Two weeks ago, another Dachs owner -Megan- sent me this truly insightful observation below she found on the Internet. (Apologies to the original author-I have googled every which way, but can’t find them to acknowledge them). This snippet showing the massive emotional intelligence that runs through ALL of our pets, not just Dachs, second by second, every moment of every day and also shows the emotional level and depth on which our pets function.
If we fail to acknowledge the emotional health of our pets, then we can put our pets in stressful terrifying situations for them, that unless life-saving, need to be avoided where possible.
From my own personal point of view as a front-line Vet practitioner-this Emotional Health/Intelligence concept reinforces what we should Not do as Vets to every patient, even if we Can do it to some patients.
If the cat or dog on the table is so emotionally overwhelmed or frightened, then we as vets need to re-adjust our expectations and also adjust the owner’s expectations of what their cat or dog can tolerate at each visit.
Just because we as vets can do lots to a pet, our “Job” as Vets is also to know When and What Not to do to any given animal. Sometimes, a tiny % of owners don’t understand that and see the vet as failing, when the vet backs off from a stressed cat say and does what the pet can tolerate, not what the owner wants. Bizarrely we had just such a case recently. I had the unusual experience of reading on social media that I had ‘banned’ a cat from the clinic. Complete news to Me and my nurses!! We had readjusted our examination of a fearful adult cat, that through no fault of its loving owner, was terrified as a result of the loss of appropriate mothering and socialisation as an abandoned kitten. When the anti-anxiety medication dispensed before the visit, a Feliway infused restraint box and table, a triple extended consultation time in our staff lunch time (so the clinic would be quiet and less stressful to the cat)- all failed to calm the frightened pet- and in view of the oral history from its owner of its previous boarding & visits to other vet clinics – which “did not go well” as the owner put it-I readjusted the expectations of what that cat needed. Putting the emotional health & needs of the cat first, minimising its stress beforehand by observation and detail history taking, I then vaccinated the cat and sent it home in a not too distressed state. The owner somehow came to the conclusion and made the public accusation (later withdrawn) that the cat has been ‘banned’ from our clinic-which came as a total surprise to the all vet staff -with the follow-on negative impact on the staff’s emotional health.
To avoid such confusion in the future, over the next few weeks, I hope to provide short posts on understanding:
The Why
The Where,
The When and
The Who of
What your pet does
re behaviour but also posts to empower the owner with an expanded vocabulary to describe concerns with their pets.
If we as vets can empower the client to understand Why their pet does what it does, then the owner may understand that the vet is not ‘judging’ their pet to be ‘imperfect’ or ‘evil’ or ‘nasty’ or failing to ‘treat’ their pet but trying to instead explain the particular individual emotional health needs of that cat or dog on the table and responding to those needs-sometimes by minimal handling, maximum off-hands observation, detailed questioning of the owner for cats current and previous health history and reduced number of injections etc.rather than the traditional start at the nose and work your way to the tail usual examinations etc
To finish up on a positive note; Enjoy both the Dachs snippet above and then the video of Tyson showing emotional good health.
More Joy, more Emotional Health-For Pets.Lucinda's lovely post below got me thinking about Dachs and then thinking about Dogs in general then about Cats and then this new drive in Vet med courtesy of UK Specialist Dr Sarah Heath about the Emotional Health and the Emotional Intelligence of our pet.Two weeks ago, another Dachs owner -Megan- sent me this truly insightful observation below she found on the internet. (Apologies to the original author-I have googled every way but can't find them to acknowledge them). What Megan's snippet does show is the emotional level on which our pets function. If we fail to acknowledge that, then we can put our pets in stressful terrifying situations for them, that unless life-saving, need to be avoided where possible. From my point of view-this Emotional Health/Intelligence concept reinforces what we should Not do as vets even if we Can do it. If the cat or dog on the table is so emotionally overwhelmed or frightened, then as vets we need to re-adjust our expectations and also the owner's expectations of what their cat or dog can tolerate at each visit. Just because we as vets can do lots to a pet, our "Job" as Vets is to know when and what Not to do to any given animal. Sometimes, a tiny % of owners don't understand that and see the vet as failing, when the vet backs off from a stressed cat say and does what the pet can tolerate, not what the owner wants. Bizarrely we did such a case recently, calmly and in an expanded triple length but normal price consultation, putting the emotional needs of the cat first.and minimising its stress before I vaccinated the cat, which we did, and then sent it home. The owner somehow came to the conclusion and made the accusation that cat has been 'banned' from our clinic-which came as a total surprise to the all vet staff -with the follow-on negative impact on the staff's emotional health. To avoid such confusion in the future, over the next few weeks, I hope to provide short posts on understanding:The Why The Where, The When and The Who of What your pet does re behaviour but also posts to empower the owner with an expanded vocabulary to describe concerns with their pets. If we as vets can empower the client to understand Why their pet does what it does, then the owner may understand that the vet is not 'judging' their pet to be 'imperfect' or 'evil' or 'nasty' or failing to 'treat' their pet but trying to instead explain the particular individual emotional health needs of that cat or dog on the table and responding to those needs-sometimes by minimal handling, maximum off-hands observation, detailed questioning of the owner for cats current and previous health history and reduced number of injections etc.rather than the traditional start at the nose and work your way to the tail usual examinations etcTo finish up on a positive note; Enjoy both the snippet below and the video of Tyson showing emotional good health.Wishing for all our 2 and 4-legged clients and our veterinary professional colleagues, a peaceful and mentally and emotionally healthy environment in which to thrive, live and work.
Posted by Oak Flats Veterinary Clinic on Saturday, 24 February 2018
Wishing for all our 2 and 4-legged clients and our veterinary professional colleagues, a peaceful and mentally and emotionally healthy environment in which to thrive, live and work.