24/7 Emergency
If visits to the emergency room are stressful for humans, imagine how pets feel. They’re rushed to unfamiliar doctors in frightening situations. Yet there are ways to make a less stressful ER visit for pets before, during and (if they’re admitted to CARE) after the visit. Animals needing calming before a routine vet visit may be given medications such as gabapentin. Those take time to work and aren’t always effective fast enough in a true emergency. The first thing to do is to determine how urgent your visit needs to be. For instance, if you nick your pet during grooming, giving gabapentin at home may take the edge off. This allows you to wait 1-2 hours before coming in and could spare some of the stronger sedation.
Checking In as Calmly As Possible
Your pet is very in tune with your emotions (it’s called mirroring). So, as much as you can, try to stay calm and take deep, slow breaths. After you check in, a veterinary technician will take your pet to check vital signs and get a history as quickly as possible. This process will help decide how urgent your pet’s problem is. If a pet’s condition is stable and their vitals are normal, ER staff may triage them lower on the list. This is a good thing, since an ER is the one place you don’t want to be first. If they don’t have to be seen right away, it may be safe for them to wait with you in the lobby. It is also important to stay calm to lower your pet’s stress while they wait to be seen by the doctor.
Staying Calm During the Visit/Hospital Stay
A less stressful ER visit starts with a calm start to the examination and a true introduction. Veterinarians ask permission to handle animals (from the animal themselves) by talking to them, gently touching them in “safe zones” or letting them sniff a hand. They may also make calming sounds, such as trilling to a cat or using a baby voice with a nervous dog. Veterinarians also use a touch gradient. Some patients want more touching and feel more secure with a hug, while for some, less is more. Some also talk (or sing) to the patient– not just the owner – through what’s happening: Who knows how much animals understand?
If an animal remains stressed, staff may reposition them onto a non-slip yoga mat or cushy bed to improve comfort. The veterinarian may also apply an Elizabethan collar (which can sometimes be less stressful than a traditional muzzle) to prevent biting during painful procedures like blood draw. This device prevents dogs or cats from having to wear muzzles, which may make them more upset. Many cats feel more secure and comfortable swaddled in a towel (lovingly called a “purrito.”)
Calming Tactics Used at CARE
Our practice keeps cats and dogs in separate wards so they don’t smell or hear each other. Heaters keep the wards temperature-controlled, and light music plays. Pets may also watch squirrels or birds through windows. Feliway, which releases calming pheromones through plug-ins or sprays, may help hospitalized pets feel calmer. Sometimes, a vet tech will share a YouTube video of birds flying or fish swimming to distract a patient.
Dogs thrive off interaction. So, we position their kennels to see CARE staffers coming and going. While in the hospital, staff take them for frequent walks as well. The clinic provides toys that can be sanitized and filled with food. Sometimes, we hang plush animals outside of their cages for reassurance and play.
All patients get cushy beds and blankets while in hospital at CARE. CARE also supplies yoga mats and rugs with rubber backing to stabilize animals with mobility problems. Hiding boxes – cardboard boxes with holes cut in one side – provide privacy, as do towels hung in the front of a cage for nervous cats. Sometimes, a pet needs to stay in the Intensive Care Unit for a long period. In those cases, CARE often turns down the lights and groups check-ins as much as possible, so animals can rest longer without interruption. Hospitalists and nurses coordinate coverage to ensure we are meeting individual needs. For example, some dogs with kidney disease or diabetes need frequent bathroom breaks. Staff may take them out for a walk every two hours instead of four to six.
Medical Ways to Calm an Unhappy or Stressed Pet
Vets use medications like gabapentin, trazodone, and acepromazine for anxiety when pets stay in the hospital. Some pets benefit from thundershirts that help by compressing their chest like a hug. We can tailor other medications to each patient’s needs, depending on why they’re admitted and what must be done for them.
You may have heard of “white coat syndrome,” where an anxious human’s pulse or blood pressure increases in a doctor’s office. Vets keep that in mind with animals, too, checking those readings multiple times or even letting an owner hold the animal and taking a reading off the tail (which is often less scary for them). If readings go down after a while, doctors know stress was probably the cause. If the readings stay high and have clinical signs that match, a vet may consider medical interventions.
What Roles Do Owners Play in Creating a Less Stressful ER Visit?
Believe it or not, many pets grow calmer the longer they stay at the clinic. The technicians have schedules that keep them with the same patients for several days in a row, so pets often bond with these technicians while they are here, and the technicians get to know what your pet likes (how they like their blankets, their food, etc.) and they aim to keep them happy and comfortable. Regardless of how yummy the staff says the food is, sometimes your pet only trusts you. That’s when a visit from you, the owner, might be necessary to get them to eat. However, at other times it can increase stress in animals thinking you are there to take them home. This is especially true for some dogs. When you leave and they are not with you, it is like starting all over again. In those cases, CARE recommends against visitation.
Hospitalists: There for You and Your Pet
On the other hand, hospitalists sometimes release pets before they’re 100 percent medically ready, because they’ll recover faster in familiar surroundings. For example, after eating a foreign object, a dog requires surgery and support. This usually requires 1-3 post operative days in hospital to heal. However, he may be so stressed at the clinic that he needs to be sedated for staff to safely take care of him. He also may not eat for us in the hospital, and the sedation can sometimes worsen that. We may release that same pet on day one if comfortable, as he will more likely eat for his owners at home and still be comfortable on oral pain medications.
Every doctor wants to get your pet home as quickly and safely as possible. That depends on whether the disease has a chance to improve with oral medications at home and the owner’s comfort level with giving nursing care and reporting further complications.
It all starts with good planning, mindful owners and mindful interactions from the staff to ensure a less stressful ER visit for your pet.
Charlotte Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) is the pet version of a human medical center. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and provides a wide range of treatments. That includes not only emergency room care, hospitalization and board-certified specialty care, after your primary vet provides a referral. Please check out the practice at carecharlotte.com/tour.
