Vet visits with an anxious boy

Parodius

Parodius

Unfortunately Neo had to have a trip to the vets yesterday as he started passing a fair bit of blood when he pooped. He’s been checked over and thankfully the vet doesn’t think it’s anything sinister, likely a bug or something he ate which hasn’t agreed with him (I think it’s the latter as we got him some new natural crunchy sticks to try a couple of days ago and we thought they seemed rather fatty at the time. He only had one and the rest are now in the bin). He is on a bland diet for a few days with some digestive paste and is fine in himself, other than a bit quieter than usual, so fingers crossed it passes quickly.

My question is, does anyone have any tips on how I help him to remain calm during a vet exam? I’ve done handling exercises with him at home like checking his teeth, ears etc and he is fine with that, he will even lie calmly while I clip his nails (as long as he is treated after each one, he’s not daft!😂). However, as soon as it’s the vet handling him he will not stay remotely still, to the point that it’s really difficult for him to be examined properly. I know it’s likely his anxiety coming into play, combined with his teenage enthusiasm.

My current go to is a lickimat with his favourite peanut butter which works well for ‘rear end’ exams but is not ideal for others - any other things I could try? The vet understands his issues and is very good with him but obviously doesn’t have the time during an appointment to allow him to fully decompress first. Any ideas/suggestions appreciated.
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Oh poor Neo, that's no fun but glad they don't think it's anything serious. First off, Kipper found the vets stressful, and we started working through the Debs Jones book on Cooperative Care. I'd really recommend it, with the honest caveat that I haven't worked through it all (yet) - we tend to get so far and then stall (life gets in the way!), so we're certainly not pros - but it does make a lot of difference in simply understanding stressors and some of the ways to start addressing them.

Our local practice has a vet nurse who specialises in behaviour and is set up to help dogs and guardians anxious about coming into the vets. Your vet might have something similar? And if not, they might have someone suitable willing to work through this with you and Neo? It's such a common thing, so don't feel weird about asking! With our practice, the nurse will work alongside owners and dogs to slowly build up familiarity and comfort with the environment, the staff, noises and smells and procedures. It may be that anxiety meds play a part, and you'll know Neo best on this - hopefully the vets will be helpful in talking it through.

The challenge is always to have space to work on these things before it becomes necessary isn't it? One of the things we did with Kipper when he was a teenager and particularly worrried about the vets was some very slow acclimatizing- for example, on the way home from a walk, going and sitting in the vet's car park in the car for 5 minutes with some slow feeding, or a chew, then home; building to a sniff around the car park, then home. We'd ask when they would be particularly quiet (first thing on a Friday apparently) let them know what we were doing and then go in, have a sniff around reception, maybe a low key game of settle, a bit of a fuss from staff, then home. Alongside confidence building games at home (like puzzle paths, noise boxes, cardboard snuffle games, low tempo agility courses) this did help with Kipper's teenage anxiety around the vets. We still always try to have time for a sniff around the vet's car park when we arrive, and I've noticed it makes a big difference to reducing some of the stress for Kipper. He always has a small poo in the same corner of the car park, no matter how recently he's been on a walk - and I genuinely think this is an indication for him, saying 'right, I'm now in the zone'!
 
Parodius

Parodius

Thanks for sharing your ideas, I’ve been reading a lot on the cooperative care front online, will take a look at the book too.

I did a 6 week course at our vets when he was a pup where they opened up the practice out of hours so the dogs could go in and explore the surgery, play games and in theory have a positive association to going there. I will see what options they have now he’s older, hopefully we can come up with something to help him feel calmer about the experience 🤞
 
Emily

Emily

Location
Melbourne, Australia
Ella gets terribly nervous at the vet. She whimpers and shakes with stress. It's awful.

We have a supply of Trazadone that we give her before going. It doesn't "fix" the issue but it certainly takes the edge off and makes her more comfortable.

Of course all of the suggestions above are preferable and we have done our fair share of cooperative care work at home but we ended up going down the medication route.

I'd recommend having a chat to your vet as I wish we'd started the Trazadone earlier. Ella was so nervous that we had no hope of making any progress without medication so I actually think she got worse (even with my best efforts) as she was simply too stressed to improve.

That's a bit of a rambling response but I hope it makes some sense!
 
Foxy Lady

Foxy Lady

I have a bouncy teenage boy also slightly anxious about vet - def not for keeping still at all and a big strong boy - I use a small round raised disc as a target for his front feet - lots of reinforcement for standing with front feet on disc - then introduced another person (not vet just a friend) - person puts hand near Cola - Cola nose touches hand (acts as a consent button) and then mum (me ) administers squeezy cheese while other person does handling/exam - if Cola stops licking cheese or moves off the front foot target - then exam stops - he has a pause - person offers hand again - if Cola puts his front feet back on the target and nose touches person's hand then squeezy cheese continues while exam continues. We did lots of practise with other people in different places - the raised disc makes it familiar and also provides an 'anchor' for my bouncy boy
 
Granca

Granca

Parodius said:
I did a 6 week course at our vets when he was a pup where they opened up the practice out of hours so the dogs could go in and explore the surgery, play games and in theory have a positive association to going there. I will see what options they have now he’s older, hopefully we can come up with something to help him feel calmer about the experience 🤞
Click to expand...
I hope your vet can help. Wispa was transformed by the desensitisation sessions at our local practice. I took her weekly then fortnightly for two years to see the nurse, who played with her and gave her lots of treats, gradually introducing various examination techniques and gaining Wispa’s trust. The vet would sometimes pop in too, and a couple of other nurses. The first time the vet saw her at one of the sessions she barked at him, almost pinning him against the wall, but now she greets him like a long-lost friend.

The sessions stopped because of the pandemic, but when I took the dogs for their boosters Wispa even went happily with the vet and nurse to the hospital room to have blood taken and sat quietly, allowing them to take it from under her neck, just as they had practised (without actually taking blood then) at the sessions. Tuppence was another matter and came back with hair shaved from her leg!

It was a big commitment to take Wispa regularly, but the service provided was excellent and has really paid off. (She still barks when I park the car and we go into the waiting room!)
 
Selina27

Selina27

Location
Herefordshire, UK
Parodius said:
I will see what options they have now he’s older
Click to expand...
Our vets have a weighing scales in the waiting room and from puppyhood I've been able to take Cassie in to hop on the scales and nothing else but that a check out the area for toys/treats/say hi to a dog if appropriate. Perhaps yours does the same.

With Cassies outgoing,, gungho, life is one big laugh until proved otherwise temperament :facepalm:I don't have the issues that you and others do but post spay she definitely took a dim view of going there but being able to pop in to be weighed did help her get over it. Aslong that is, she doesn't have to go in the consulting room I left her in -- and it's 5 years ago now!

@Granca , that's a lovely outcome for Wispa.
 
Granca

Granca

Jelinga said:
@Granca, why did your girls need blood taken when they had their boosters, are they ok?
Click to expand...
Yes, they’re fine, thanks. Wispa had had blood checked when she became a ‘senior dog’ at seven, I think, as a ‘control’, so this was just another routine check recommended by the vet - and included in the pet scheme run by the practice, covering all routine work and consultations and discounts off food, treats, toys, etc sold at reception (in addition to Petplan insurance, though :(). This was a first for Tuppence. Fortunately the results were all good. I think there are different opinions on whether the checks are necessary, but after losing Penny unexpectedly when she was seven I now feel a bit wary and am happy to trust my vet’s advice.
 
JES72

JES72

Location
SW London UK
When Homer went to the Ralph they put a bandana which some calming pheromones on it around his neck. I’m sure they pumped calming scents through their air conditioning as it was such a quiet calming place. I take Homer into the vet and pop him on the scale in the waiting room and give him treats for sitting nicely a few times a year.
What do they check for with the blood tests?
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

JES72 said:
When Homer went to the Ralph they put a bandana which some calming pheromones on it around his neck. I’m sure they pumped calming scents through their air conditioning as it was such a quiet calming place. I take Homer into the vet and pop him on the scale in the waiting room and give him treats for sitting nicely a few times a year.
What do they check for with the blood tests?
Click to expand...
It's a standard panel. They check renal and liver function and a FBC.
FBC is full blood count. It checked for infection and some other things
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top