A trip to the vet can be a struggle for animals and most owners expect that. Cats hate going in their carriers, and dogs recognize pulling into the parking lot and begin cowering or need to be dragged into the building reluctantly. Acceptance that the visit will be awful for the pet is so widespread that it’s even the subject of social media memes and cartoons. So why choose this approach?
PetVet365 is working to change that. Designed from the ground up, PetVet365 makes things easier for pets and their owners under an umbrella that includes certified Fear Free methods.
Fear Free is a program created by Dr. Marty Becker, “America’s Veterinarian,” who has spent his life working toward better health for pets and the people who love them. Fear-free was designed to prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress in pets through education and behavior-led strategies, and compassionate handling techniques.
Founded in 2016, Fear-free is now a certification program and provides online education to veterinary professionals, pet professionals, animal welfare communities, and pet owners. The courses were developed and written by the most respected veterinary and pet experts in the world, including boarded veterinary behaviorists, boarded veterinary anesthesiologists, pain experts, boarded veterinary internists, veterinary technicians (behavior), experts in shelter medicine, animal training, grooming, boarding, and more.
PetVet365 has a care philosophy: happy pets are healthy pets. They give every pet one-on-one attention, customized care, and tons of love and attention through their extensive services.
Dr. Megan Garrison, one of the founding members and Pittsburgh POD owner (meaning she is part-owner of all PetVet365 hospitals in Pittsburgh) wanted to evolutionize what vet visits could be. “Fear Free is something you collaborate on with clients and the way you manage animals; it’s really a combination of both. We want our clients to understand what Fear Free is and how it is different from previous veterinary visits.” They do not use heavy restraint or other types of handling that can be difficult and frightening for the animals. When clients and their pets arrive, they are welcomed into a room designed to feel like a home, featuring couches and toys rather than the typical clinical atmosphere. “We examine our pets whether we’re sitting on a comfortable chair with them or on the floor, and we try to do as much as possible in those rooms so that they are in the comfortable living room setting,” explains Dr. Garrison. There are separate rooms for cats and dogs, and frosted windows to keep animals feeling safe and secure.
Dr. Garrison describes the process this way: “The entire practice is meant to be feel free and so we actually build all of our facilities from the ground up so that every aspect -from the very first thing when they’re entering the hospital until the time they leave the hospital – is a completely fair free experience.” PetVet365 currently has 8 locations and two more opening next year here in the Pittsburgh area. (See inset for listing of locations).
Megan grew up in Fox Chapel and went to veterinary school the University of Sydney and Australia, moving back to the area where she helped develop the Fear Free philosophy the practice employs. Although she was introduced to the Fear-free concept quite a while ago, she and other veterinarians with the same forward thinking found it hard to work innovative ideas into already existing practices. She explains: “A lot of places do a really nice job trying to incorporate parts of Fear Free into their practices, but it’s difficult for a facility to do it with the existing building design. Many of us had worked together for years and got tired of wrestling with pets, getting scratched or bitten. This is fear free for everyone involved: less stressful for the client, less stressful for our staff and our doctors and just a much healthier environment.”
Staff veterinarian, Dr Ashely Smith-Miller, has worked at other hospitals, says, “working in a Fear-free environment is like night and day compared to other facilities,” and “the atmosphere is happier and staff less stressed with less extras noise and with pets more relaxed.” This is important and according to Psychology Today, “Veterinarians and staff are subjected to a unique set of emotional stressors due to their daily interactions with animals in distress and pet owners grappling with the agony of seeing their beloved companions suffer.” Veterinary practices must always balance effectively taking care of their patients, clients as well as each other. The less stressful environment trickles from the top and is truly an advancement in the practice of veterinary medicine.
For pet owners, understanding what Fear Free is can be the most important first step. Clients receive a prequestionnaire so the staff can learn all about those pets before they come in, and efforts to make the visit easier can start straight from the time the client arrives in the parking lot. Staff can understand why they are here, if they have ever had an unpleasant experience before, or how they respond to other animals. For the owner, they offer web pages that the clients can explore to learn more about Fear Free. Understanding what your individual pet needs and how you can take an active role in helping them is something owners are willing to do if that information is available.
They offer several forms of care that encompasses all your pet’s needs, from preventive medicine, to surgery, and even same day urgent care appointments. They are open 7 days a week!
Preventative care starts with wellness exams, vaccinations and blood work and nutritional evaluations as well as heartworm, flea and tick prevention and microchipping. Urgent care is provided for times when your pet is just not acting right and needs to be seen quickly. The organization offers exams for allergies, ear infections, gross limping, lethargy, and bowel troubles. They even have VIP Wellness Plans to which many clients enjoy the benefits of.
If advanced care is needed, all of the PetVet365 hospitals in Pittsburgh offer a full range of surgical procedures such as spays and neuters, mass removals, soft tissue surgeries. Some of the hospitals also do orthopedic surgeries.
Often overlooked, dental care is essential to keep your pet healthy. Full services include cleanings, X-rays, root canals, and extractions.
One way to take advantage of everything offered at PetVet365 is membership plans the hospital offers. The comprehensive level of care that makes the organization top-notch is covered for a full year with the service. All staff members are certified in the various techniques as well as the actual facilities providing the care. While they take individual appointments, most their clients have memberships. Benefits include office visits for the year and preventative care services, as well as a technician phone line available to those membership plan clients until 10:00 PM, which can help avoid emergency visits. There’s also no waiting period to be seen, so clients always have access the very same day that they call.
Dr. Garrison sums it up: “Fear Free is a game changer. It is life-changing, trust me. I’ve been in this field for almost 20 years and it’s one of those things that those of us that have practiced more standard veterinary medicine for a lot of our careers and I can never imagine going back. It’s a different approach and great to leave at the end of the day and not be exhausted. It’s interesting to be able to work with a lot of those pets that maybe had fearful experiences in the past and now work with them on a pretty regular basis. There’s nothing better than when you know you’ve worked with that pet for long enough and then all of a sudden, he jumps up and sits next to you on the couch. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to create here for the Pittsburgh community.”
For more information about, PetVet365, visit them at https://www.petvet365.com
To learn more about the Fear Free program, you can research here: https://www.fearfree.com
