Implementing Stress-Reducing Veterinary Care: Perceptions of Australian Veterinary Professionals Working with Dogs

ABSTRACT

Veterinary care that incorporates a proactive, practical approach to reducing fear and stress (often referred to as stress-reducing or low-stress veterinary care) in companion animals in the veterinary context is becoming increasingly prevalent. However, the attitude of veterinary professionals toward these techniques is not well understood. This mixed-methods study utilized an online survey to provide an initial benchmark of the certifications for stress-reducing veterinary care within the Australian veterinary industry and to gauge the attitude and experience of veterinary professionals (n = 291, 91% female) toward reducing stress during veterinary care for domestic dogs. One in five (n = 56) participants reported having a stress-reducing veterinary care certification (e.g., Fear-Free^TM Veterinary Professional, or similar). Respondents generally held a positive attitude toward stress-reducing veterinary care. Factors that predicted a positive attitude toward stress-reducing veterinary care included attitudes to animals (F = 7.83, p = 0.006) and whether the participant held a certification in stress-reducing veterinary care (F = 4.73, p = 0.031). Professionals with a certification reported higher frequency of use of stress-reducing techniques in general (p = 0.005) and of specific techniques (p = 0.001) in comparison with those without a certification. Commonly reported strategies included handling and interactions, training and distractions, environment, patient management, pharmaceutical interventions, and preventative strategies. Reported barriers to implementation centered on themes of workplace and practice management, colleagues, clients, clinic environment, work-specific conflict, personal abilities, and patients. While stress-reducing veterinary care is important to veterinary professionals, implementing strategies to improve patient welfare as part of routine practice likely still requires significant changes in workplace and industry culture.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitudes
• companion animals
• fear of vet
• human–animal interaction
• low-stress handling
• stress-reducing veterinary care

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the veterinary professionals who participated in this survey. We acknowledge the generous nature of their contribution, especially considering many in the industry were at the time also integral to wildlife recovery and companion animal welfare during the 2019 Australian bushfire crisis.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.