OkcPets Magazine January 2022

January/February 2022 • OKC Pets 25 an will determine whether the practice can be certified. Training is available for people working with dogs, cats, horses, and birds. Fear Free in Oklahoma Fear Free is starting to gain a foothold in Oklahoma. OKC Vet Campus, owned by Dr. Shara Carlton, is the first certified Fear Free facility in the state and one of only two in Oklahoma City. It opened in July 2020 with its entire staff certified by Fear Free. Within several months, the practice itself was certified. Individual certification within one month is required for anyone who joins the staff of 22, including groom- ers and the kennel crew. OKC Vet Campus, which treats dogs and cats, offers all its services in a Fear Free environment, performed by staff members certified by Fear Free, with Fear Free pro- tocols and even Fear Free design choices in the building itself. The soothing color pal- ette of soft blues and grays is designed to minimize stress. Vibrant colors are missing from the color scheme, business manager Tristan Young explains. The hospital includes a feline-only wing (complete with pheromone diffusers) so cats never have to encounter dogs. Flooring throughout the facility has a certain slip differential to reduce slipping for pets, and two exam rooms do not have tables so pets can be examined on the floor, where they feel most comfortable. Young says it is OKC Vet Campus’ goal to minimize crowding in the waiting area and get animals into examination rooms as soon as possible. Smell, sight, and hear- ing are important for dogs and cats. The staff minimizes all smells — no perfume, cigarettes, etc. They recommend spray bottles of pheromones to owners for use in carriers. OKC Vet Campus provides gentle music. It uses no harsh bleaches. Certification starts with eight hours of continuing education, Young says, cover- ing safe handling and procedures, opera- tional aspects to avoid anxiety, best treats, ways to distract, physiology, how the mind works, brain chemicals, and pharmacology, including sedatives. The benefits of Fear Free for the staff, clients, and animals were obvious within weeks, Young says. Staff members who had worked elsewhere “had got hurt in other clinics,” he adds. Since going to work at a Fear Free facility, “People aren’t going to the emergency room,” Young says. Several states have new regulations on how animals can be treated, Young says, and he expects public awareness and preference for Fear Free to expand. “Most people don’t know there is an option yet,” he says. Once they take their animals to a Fear Free facility, “No one would want to do anything else.” Considering the Emotional Aspect Other veterinary hospitals in Oklahoma have doctors and staff members who are certified Fear Free professionals. One of those is Okoboji Veterinary Hospital in Edmond, where Dr. Sarah Begemann and veterinary technician Brittani Summers have individual certification. Summers learned about Fear Free when it started while she was working at another facility and is an elite certified professional with 35 hours of training followed by a test. She was eager to continue with Fear Free at Okoboji. Begemann says when the staff is larger, she hopes the hospital can become a Fear Free certified practice. “Specifically, the biggest, most im- portant difference in Fear Free and regular practice is that Fear Free takes into account the emotional aspect of the patient,” Begemann says. “The exam is more comfortable, not rapid but paying attention to signals from animals, chang- ing to what they want instead of what they need.” There is also a different approach to previsit medications and to sedation. “It’s beneficial for the staff also,” Sum- mers says. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fear Free made curbside vet visits easier, she adds, because owners were more comfort- able with curbside. “We work with owners,” Begemann says. “Some expenses in money or time might be more, but we try to mitigate problems with the animal at home and try not to break that human-animal bond.” Fear Free Happy Home recommen- dations include long-leash moving and walking so that a dog is stress free for the first time on a leash, Begemann says. A food game occupies this dog’s attention. Photograph courtesy of OKC Vet Campus