This week we are examining what owners can do to help their animal companions better cope in the clinic BEFORE they arrive, what clinic staff can do to help reduce anxiety for the pet once they have entered the building, and we will define the terms ‘trigger stacking’ and ‘building a welfare bank account’. How to improve patient welfare and reduce stress in the waiting room and consulting room will also be explored this week by examining the latest scientific evidence, and we will also discuss the techniques and benefits of low stress handling, how to perform a low stress examination on a cat, dog, and rabbit, and how to handle a cat or dog that is behaving aggressively.

This week we are going to delve into what we can do to make the preparation room, also known as the treatment room, less worrying for our patients. We will discuss pre-emptive, multi-modal analgesia prior to going for surgery, and the difference between light anaesthesia and nociception. We’ll also consider what we can do to make the operating room, and the kennels or recovery area more welfare focussed, and the ways in which we can improve the clinic experience for the long-term inpatient.

This week we are talking about pain in rabbits, cats and dogs – how to recognise it, how to score it, how to treat it, and why, physiologically, treating acute pain is so vital. We’ll also study pain pathways, multimodal analgesia, the post operative advice we can give to owners to ensure good welfare continues when they take their animal home, and what owners can do to enrich the lives of their pets if they must be strictly rested for an extended period of time.