Animal Welfare in the Clinic

Overview

Why is the experience of going to the vets a negative one for some animals? Is it the anticipated pain, the way the place smells, the colour of the waiting room, the noises coming from the consulting room, or something else? What can vets, vet nurses, animal carers, and owners do to ensure that the welfare of the animal is supported at every stage of the clinical visit (from transportation, waiting area, examination, operating room, and recovery)? In this course, leading experts in the field of animal behaviour, welfare, veterinary medicine, and industry provide an insight into practical approaches and considerations for improving and maintaining animal welfare in the clinic.

Syllabus

Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the Clinic

In this first week, we look at animal welfare as a science, how we can use evidence to make objective measures to determine whether an animal is experiencing positive or negative welfare, and why it is so important in the veterinary clinic. We’ll also look at what constitutes normal cat, dog, and rabbit behaviour, what motivates canine aggression and what we can do if an owner reports aggressive behaviour in their dog.

Animal Welfare: The Waiting Area and Consulting Room

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.

Animal Welfare: Preparation and Theatre

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.

Animal Welfare: Post op/Kennels/Care

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.