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Making the Most of End-of-Life QOL

Creating a high-quality end-of-life period is a critical aspect of veterinary practice. Although we can’t prevent the inevitable passing of a beloved pet, we can advocate for patient comfort and support pet parents through end-of-life care decisions. Fear Free Certified® Professionals are uniquely qualified to help pets with terminal and progressive diseases overcome not only physical barriers to increased life quality but also emotional and behavioral impacts. Here, we discuss best practices to improve quality of life (QOL) during a pet’s last days.

Assessment and Planning

Effective end-of-life care begins with a thorough patient assessment and history to evaluate the pet’s current QOL, establish management goals, and develop a treatment plan in partnership with the pet owner. Many physical, emotional, and social factors contribute to patient comfort and wellbeing, with each weighted differently for individual pets. A professional QOL scale provides clients and the veterinary team with an objective measurement tool to track disease progression and QOL changes, facilitating discussions about palliative care or euthanasia.

Palliative and Hospice Care

Palliative and hospice care focus on reducing the impact of disease symptoms, improving comfort when a cure is unlikely, and supporting pet families during a pet’s final days. Many hospice caregivers provide in-home services, which can help reduce stress levels and give the family more time with the pet. Hospice care often culminates in euthanasia or a medically assisted natural death.

Supporting Quality of Life

End-of-life care should focus primarily on implementing strategies to manage pet comfort. Pet professionals should consider the following QOL assessment categories to develop effective interventions:

  • Happiness — Increase pet happiness by modifying activities they once enjoyed and continuing to provide enjoyable social interactions and play.
  • Mental state — Pets experiencing pain, cognitive decline, or other effects of chronic illness may also suffer from fear, anxiety, and stress that impacts life quality. Address behavioral changes with medications, supplements, training, calming aids, and household management.
  • Pain — Uncontrolled pain is the hallmark of reduced QOL. Address pain early and aggressively, emphasizing the importance of pain control to clients. Medications, rehabilitation, and alternative treatments are viable options.
  • Appetite — Consider appetite stimulants, antiemetics, and high-energy diets for pets dealing with anorexia or weight loss.
  • Hygiene — Pets unable to stay clean are uncomfortable and at risk for skin infections. Work with clients to find solutions that are not overly burdensome, such as bathing, diapers or belly bands, or medications to control urinary and GI conditions.
  • Hydration — At-home subcutaneous fluids are an excellent solution for keeping chronically ill pets hydrated when they are unable or unwilling to drink enough water.
  • Mobility — Poor mobility can limit a dog’s ability to interact with the world around them. Address mobility by selecting safe pain and anti-inflammatory medications and by modifying the home environment with rugs or runners to provide traction. Support harnesses and carts may also be appropriate.

Client Support

Open and empathetic communication with pet owners is essential during the end-of-life period. Veterinary professionals should provide education about the pet’s condition, prognosis, and care options and remain open-minded and non-judgemental during discussions. End-of-life care can take a physical, emotional, and financial toll on clients. Offering simple treatment regimens with the most bang for their buck can reduce the caregiving burden and prevent breakdowns in the human-animal bond.

With a compassionate approach, veterinary professionals can provide exceptional care and QOL during a pet’s final days. The Dechra Quality of Life Survey helps veterinary professionals and pet owners take a step back to objectively assess the pet’s current state and track changes over time. We encourage pet professionals to share the survey with clients and use their answers to discuss treatments and guide decision-making.

For pets facing a lymphoma diagnosis or relapse whose owners cannot or do not wish to pursue chemotherapy, consider Laverdia, an oral drug designed to target cancer cells and spare healthy ones to prolong time to progression (TTP) in canine lymphoma. Learn more about Laverdia here.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Want to learn more about Fear Free? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop on upcoming events, specials, courses, and more by clicking here.

Brought to you by our friends at Dechra.

Tips for Fear Free® Heartworm Treatment

Heartworm treatment can be challenging for dogs, but keeping them calm and quiet can minimize their risk of increased stress. Try these tips to prevent treatment-related stress and facilitate a Fear Free heartworm treatment experience. Brought to you by our friends at Elanco.

Exploring the Benefits of Veterinary Telemedicine: A Fear Free Future

Exploring the Benefits of Veterinary Telemedicine: A Fear Free Future

Veterinary telemedicine holds tremendous potential for improving animal welfare by increasing veterinary access for pet owners, reducing unnecessary pet fear, anxiety, and stress, and enhancing shelter programs. While federal and state laws have expanded access to telemedicine for people, telemedicine for pets remains limited, so the ASPCA is working with state lawmakers across the country to expand access to veterinary care, which can help bridge gaps in care caused by workforce shortages and help keep pets in loving homes. Join ASPCA experts for a special webinar hosted by Fear Free to learn about the ASPCA’s work to improve access to veterinary care through telemedicine and how you can get involved to help pass laws that effectively empower veterinarians to use telemedicine technology to help more animals in need.

Showcase Your Practice: How to market your Fear Free Certified Practice

Showcase Your Practice: How to market your Fear Free Certified Practice

Has your team recently achieved the Fear Free Practice Certification? Congratulations! You’ve worked hard to implement the Fear Free standards through culture change, facility modifications, patient and client care, and more! Now what? How do you get the word out to maximize your return on investment? This webinar is for any Fear Free Certified Practice members that are looking for ideas on how to market your achievement. Natalie Gruchow, CVPM, Elite FFCP, was a practice manager for nine years and led her team to become the first Fear Free Certified Practice in the Dakotas. In this webinar, you will learn: Marketing strategies for your Fear Free Certified Practice How to ensure consistent messaging throughout your hospital with mindful brand cohesion Real world examples from the first Fear Free Certified Practice in the Dakotas How to locate community resources to market your brand Communication tips to overcome resistance and adversity

You must be a Fear Free Certified Practice member and logged in to view this webinar.

Alleviate Communication Anxiety

Alleviate Communication Anxiety

Finding Connections with Colleagues and Clients Communicating effectively with others is often challenging and stress-inducing. During this webinar, Dr. Maryse Osborn-Doser, DVM, Insights Discovery Client Practitioner with IDEXX, will walk through the value of a deeper understanding of psychology preferences in communications, along with tools to adapt and connect more effectively in conversations with your colleagues and clients. In this webinar, we will: Discuss how perceptions and preferences influence attitudes and decisions Describe the value of recognizing and adapting to personality preferences in communications Identify your psychology of preferences Evaluate how color preferences look in real life

Brought to you by our friends at Idexx.

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Marketing Your Fear Free Certification in the Digital Age

Our friends at Latah Creek Animal Hospital displaying their certifications at their clinic.

So, you’ve completed your Fear Free® Certification or Fear Free®Veterinary Practice Certification. First and foremost, congratulations, and thank you! You have taken a huge step in alleviating fear, anxiety, and stress for your clients, their pets, and even your team. Now it’s time to start spreading the word!

As you move through your Fear Free marketing journey, keep in mind that like all of us, pet owners are busy, and their attention is demanded by many other businesses as well as personal obligations. However, as their trusted Fear Free Certified Professional, the messages you share are often held in their highest regard. To get the most out of this benefit, always ensure that you are crafting your content and messaging in a way that addresses how your Fear Free Certification benefits your clients and their pets as quickly as possible. Align your goals with theirs and you’ll end up with happier, healthier, more relaxed pets and, in turn, happier pet parents.

Whether you have achieved your individual Fear Free Certification, or your clinic has achieved Fear Free®Veterinary Practice Certification, we recommend starting by choosing a few goals, defining specifically what success looks like to you, and then outlining and deploying your marketing plan.

As you work on developing your goals and success measures, here are some tips for getting started:

Marketing Your Individual Fear Free Certification

Your individual Fear Free Certification is a powerful tool that can be used to market not only your personal brand, but also elevate the work you do.

  • Display Your Fear Free Certified Professional Badge. We recommend adding your certified professional badge to your team member bio on your company’s website and updating it to include more about Fear Free, your certification, and the difference it brings for the pets in your care.Additionally, add a homepage spotlight on your company’s website highlighting the presence of Fear Free Certified Professionals on your team. We encourage you to take that a step further and link the spotlight to another page where you explain what Fear Free is, how having Fear Free Certified Professionals on your team benefits your clients and their pets, and links to where they can learn more (here’s a great page to send them to).
  • Educate Clients Directly. Weave Fear Free principles into your touch points when preparing clients for appointments, during their visit, and in follow-up communications. Let clients know you are a Fear Free Certified Professional and what that means for their pet by walking them through what to expect and following up with them on that education throughout their Fear Free visit. If they have a pet who experiences fear, anxiety, or stress in the veterinary, grooming, training, or boarding & daycare environment, discuss how their Fear Free visit will be a different and a more positive experience for their pet and themselves than what they may have experienced in the past. Discuss how your team will allow their pet to tell them if they’ve had enough and stop the treatment or appointment if their FAS level becomes too high. Continuing that education from your marketing messaging through to their in-person visit can have a significant impact.
  • Shine a Spotlight on Your Certification. Ask your company’s marketing team to create a team member spotlight about your Fear Free certification. This can be shared on social media or even in an email newsletter. Have someone snap a photo of you in action practicing Fear Free techniques and pair it with a brief write-up about you, your certification, what it means for pets in your care, and where clients can find more information.
  • Be a Fear Free Champion in Your Professional Community. Odds are, you are one of many Fear Free Certified Professionals in your community. Use the Fear Free Online Directory to find other Fear Free Certified Professionals in your area. Reach out to them, build relationships, and discuss how you can promote and refer clients to each other to strengthen the Fear Free ecosystem in your community.
  • Grow Your Professional Brand. Are you working on amplifying your professional brand on social media? Map out your goals for your brand and utilize your certification to support them. We recommend developing a campaign across all the social media channels you use with a few different posts highlighting Fear Free, what it means to be Fear Free Certified, and how that certification can benefit your audience. Use photos of you in action, share success stories, and include calls to action for your audience to take on each post. Our Fear Free Marketing Toolkit, which can be found on the left side panel of your member homepage on our website, includes several social media posts and cover photos to help you get started spreading the word.
  • Achieve Your Career Goals. Are you looking to move to the next level in your career, find a new role, or build your network? Share regular posts on LinkedIn about the work you put in to become certified, how it is helping you in your everyday practice, and the difference it makes for the pets in your care. Add your certification to your resume and utilize the Fear Free network to find a company that aligns with your professional goals. Find and connect with like-minded Fear Free Certified Professionals through our private member community on Facebook to further work toward your professional goals.

Marketing Your Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification

Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification allows you to not only bring a higher level of Fear Free care to your patients but also opens the door to many new opportunities for marketing Fear Free to your clients and community.

  • Define Your Differentiators. One of the first steps in your clinic’s marketing strategy should be developing and advertising your clinic’s differentiators. If you haven’t already, gather your team and brainstorm 3 to 5 things that make your clinic unique from others nearby. Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification is a built-in differentiator and a great place to start. Once you define some additional differentiators, highlight them on your website’s homepage, on social media, and in client communication. Tell the story of not just what you do differently, but how you do it differently. Looking for a great example of highlighting Fear Free as a differentiator within a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice group? Check out PetVet365’s homepage and Fear Free Experience page.
  • Display Your Certified Practice Badge. Add your certified practice badge to your clinic’s website homepage with a brief write-up on what it means to be certified and what it means for your clients. Couple your homepage highlight with an additional page on your website that dives deeper into your Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice designation, the hard work your team completed to get there, and how it will positively affect your clients’ experience with your clinic. Need some inspiration? Check out how Family Pet Health in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, showcases their veterinary practice’s certification on their homepage and an additional Fear Free page.Additionally, your team’s professional certification badges should be included on their website biographies. Spotlight them on social media or in your clinic’s newsletter to continue spreading awareness. Our Fear Free Marketing Resources page, which can be found on your member homepage on our website, also includes social media graphics and client-facing videos you can share to spread the word.
  • Walk the Walk, Don’t Just Talk the Talk. Marketing can fall flat when it isn’t backed up by your clients’ experiences. Make sure clients and their pets can recognize your differentiators, especially your Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification, in every interaction, from their search online to the preparation for their appointment, from their time inside your clinic to the follow-up after their visit. Don’t let the initial marketing of your certification be the end; keep reminding, educating, and impressing your clients with the Fear Free principles your team practices every single day.Also, remember that word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal, so arm your clients with the education they need to shout your clinic’s name from the rooftops to their families and friends!
  • Attract and Retain Qualified Team Members. We all know that attracting strong candidates and retaining them is a pain point many practices are experiencing right now. Recruitment marketing is just as important as client marketing and can make a big difference in the types of applications you receive for open positions. Being a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice is a powerful recruiting tool that you should use to elevate your practice above the rest. Include that you are a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Practice in your job ads, the careers page on your website, and on your clinic’s LinkedIn page, explaining how that designation improves your team’s experience, safety, and medical standards, as well as delighting your clients.
  • Network, Refer, and Cross Promote Within Your Fear Free Ecosystem. There are likely many other Fear Free Certified Professionals in your community who are looking to ensure that their clients have a Fear Free experience everywhere they go. Use the Fear Free Online Directory to find certified groomers, boarding and daycare facilities, trainers, and pet sitters in your area. Connect with them, build relationships, and develop strategies for referring clients and cross promoting each other. This could look like a postcard or flyer you each give out to new clients that includes a special gift or discount, highlighting each other on social media or on your websites, and referring clients who are looking for a new professional service to a fellow Fear Free Certified Professional.

As with any new marketing endeavor, failing to ensure that you have the resources you need can result in missing goalposts. The great news is that our Fear Free team is here to support you and provide those tools you need to achieve your goals and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress for not just pets, but people too.

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Since 2016, Fear Free has helped to change the way pets receive care from both veterinary and pet professionals. By closely listening to the needs of pet care professionals, Fear Free has built a robust catalog of certification programs and courses that focus on emotional wellbeing, enrichment, and reduction of fear, anxiety, and stress in pets. Over 100,000 Fear Free Certified Professionals are working to change the standard of animal care across the world. We thank you for being an important part of this initiative.

To learn more about Fear Free, register for a new membership, renew your membership, or learn more about Fear Free Veterinary Practice Certification, visit www.fearfreepets.com.

Improve Wound Healing and Patient Recovery

By Dr. Natalie Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCPAs a practicing veterinarian and previous practice owner for more than two decades, I’ve witnessed quite a bit of evolution within our industry. There continue to be advances in diagnostic technologies, telemedicine, novel therapeutics for dermatology and osteoarthritis, and a dramatic shift from independent practice ownership to corporatization. However, one of the most important discoveries and initiatives has been the concept of Fear Free, the initiative dedicated to the physical and emotional health of our patients and clients through the reduction of fear, anxiety, and stress.

However, Fear Free is, and can be, more. It is a lifestyle and guide on how to practice and manage and educate. Client trust and compliance is key to a successful veterinary-client-patient relationship, and that’s difficult to achieve when fear, anxiety, and stress surround exam room interactions and associated communications. This is never more evident than when trying to manage wound care. The aftercare associated with an incision, a laceration repair, a skin lesion, or a superficial burn can be extensive and complicated, often with multiple medications, bandage care, an Elizabethan collar, and an incredibly stressed patient and pet parent. This negatively affects patient care and the veterinary team as frustrated pet parents call and email frequently, taking veterinary professionals away from patient care in hospital.

There’s now a single solution for improved wound healing for patients, reduction of the home care burden for pet parents, and preservation of emotional health for patient, pet parent, and the veterinary health care team. KeraVet® Gel is a first-of-its-kind wound care product.  As a scientist, safety and efficacy of any new product is top of mind.  I’ve been impressed with the initial studies with this product, which has a keratin-based patent-protected technology to promote a moist wound environment and barrier to the environment as well as a bitterant to deter licking behavior, enabling us to send a patient home without that collar that so often leads to increased stress for both the patient and our client. That said, it is important to note that there can be a risk to the human-animal bond when we frequently apply something to our pets that tastes unpleasant, and for some pets that can be more stressful than protective clothing, bandages, or an Elizabethan collar. Each animal is an individual and their needs should be taken into account when deciding on the best solution for wound healing.

In the right circumstances, though, this product can be a game changer. One of the tenets I lived by as a practice owner was “best medicine leads to best business.” Our clients want to see the value in the care they are investing in, that it’s convenient and safe, and that it addresses their family member’s physical and emotional health. When we choose to use KeraVet® gel, we give our clients a single effective solution addressing both of their needs, thus building trust and compliance, and strengthening the human-animal bond. These are the clients who return and refer and stay lifelong members of our hospitals.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Natalie Marks is a veterinarian, consultant, educator, media expert, an advisor for KeraVet Bio, on the Executive Committee of VANE (Veterinary Angel Network), and an Elite Fear Free Certified Professional. She is passionate about working with colleagues and mentees and moving the needle forward with innovation with companies like KeraVet Bio. Learn more about Dr. Marks at marksdvmconsulting.com and KeraVet Bio at https://keravetbio.com/

Want to learn more about Fear Free? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop on upcoming events, specials, courses, and more by clicking here.

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To The Rescue: Five Tips For Stopping The Spread of Canine Influenza

To The Rescue: Five Tips For Stopping The Spread of Canine Influenza

Canine influenza is becoming a hot topic within all pet professional spaces, particularly within the veterinary medicine space. Join us as Dr. Natalie Marks shares the top facts every veterinary professional should know about canine influenza. Not only will important medical and transmission highlights be discussed, but also the role disinfection plays in disease prevention and the creation of an emotionally healthy practice. Dr. Marks will share the anatomy of the respiratory system and its role in physical and emotional health, as well as client messaging around respiratory disease and prevention.

Brought to you by our friends at Virox.
https://virox.com

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