Helping clients reduce feline stress during vet visits

In this interview with dvm360, Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline), explains how client behaviors around carriers and transport can impact feline stress during veterinary visits. She also offers recommendations on carrier training and at-home preparation that veterinary teams can share with clients to make visits smoother.

Below is a partial transcript, lightly edited for improved clarity.

Ellen Carozza, LVT, VTS (CP-Feline): So pet owners can actually be contributing to their pet’s own stress. And I really feel like sometimes it starts with that phone call that [the] cat, for some reason, uses their sixth sense and says, ‘oh gosh, they’re making a call to the veterinarian about me, and this is going to go really poorly.’

However, we also know that at home, what happens is [clients] usually will stalk their cat and look for them because they go in, they get that cat carrier out that may not be left out all the time for that cat to use as a safe space, and it only comes out when you’re going to the vet or going in the car for some other trip and now that cat associates that specific cat carrier with a stressor. So now the cat is like, ‘Hang on a second. I don’t like this.’ And they start running around the house and going to hide. And then, of course, what does our client do? Runs around the house behind the cat. They might have to get on their hands and knees underneath the bed, drag their cat out, shove it in a cat carrier. Now that cat is really stressed, and now [the pet owner is] going to go throw [the cat] in a car, and it might be a hot car at that point in time. So now the cat is even stressed further.

Now the client is worried that they’re going to miss their appointment and they’re running late because they didn’t start earlier to actually get their cat acclimated to a cat carrier or the idea that we need to go somewhere. And then, you know, they [arrive to the clinic]. [The cat is] in a place that might be loud, especially if you’re in a mixed practice and you’re sharing an exam room or....a lobby that doesn’t have sound barriers, but only just a partition for visual. So, sight, sound, odor all contributes to all of this.

And then they’re going to go in a room and they’re going to get handled in a room by strange people, and then poked and prodded...