Creating lower-stress veterinary visits for cats
Bottom line
A new Vet Blast Podcast episode from dvm360 spotlights a familiar challenge in small-animal practice: making veterinary visits less stressful for cats. In episode 404, host Adam Christman speaks with Kathryn Primm, DVM, FCCP (Elite), an early Fear Free Certified professional, about how feline care has shifted toward lower-stress handling, better carrier use, and more intentional team communication around the cat’s emotional state. The discussion aligns with established feline-friendly guidance from the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the International Society of Feline Medicine, which emphasizes reducing fear, pain, and defensive behavior during transport, waiting, handling, and examination. (podcasts.apple.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary teams, this isn’t just about client experience. The 2022 AAFP/ISFM Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines say lower-stress handling can improve feline welfare, team satisfaction, caregiver confidence, exam efficiency, and the reliability of diagnostic testing. The same guidance notes that travel, the waiting room, and the exam itself are among the most stressful parts of the visit for cats, and that seeing that stress can discourage pet parents from returning for care. Practical steps include carrier training, minimizing restraint, allowing cats to remain in the carrier base when possible, reducing noise and odors, and considering pre-visit medication when needed. (journals.sagepub.com)
What to watch: Expect continued emphasis on cat-friendly workflows, including pre-visit prep, exam room design, and wider use of pre-visit pharmaceuticals for patients with known fear, anxiety, or stress. (journals.sagepub.com)
A new dvm360 Vet Blast Podcast episode is putting renewed attention on a long-running issue in companion-animal medicine: many cats still arrive at clinics already stressed, and the visit itself can intensify that fear. In episode 404, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, interviews Kathryn Primm, DVM, FCCP (Elite), about creating lower-stress veterinary visits for cats and how feline handling has evolved over the past decade. (podcasts.apple.com)
The conversation lands in a field that already has substantial clinical guidance behind it. The 2022 AAFP/ISFM Cat Friendly Veterinary Interaction Guidelines were developed specifically to help veterinary professionals reduce fear and other negative emotional states during feline interactions and handling. Those guidelines frame low-stress care as both a welfare issue and a practical clinical issue, tying better handling to improved wellbeing, more efficient exams, stronger caregiver trust, and more reliable diagnostics. (journals.sagepub.com)
The background is important because feline avoidance of care remains a persistent problem. According to the AAFP/ISFM guidelines, caregiver surveys found that transport to the practice, the waiting room, and the examination itself are especially stressful for cats, and about one-third of respondents said seeing their cat’s stress discouraged them from bringing the cat back to the practice. AAHA’s recent client-facing coverage makes the same point in plain terms: distress during veterinary visits can lead to delayed or avoided care, even though preventive care remains essential. (journals.sagepub.com)
In practical terms, the evidence-backed playbook is well established. Guidance from AAFP, ISFM, and AAHA recommends keeping carriers out in the home, building positive associations through carrier training, using familiar bedding, and in some cases applying feline pheromone products before transport. At the clinic, suggested changes include minimizing waiting times, moving cats quickly into exam rooms, using elevated carrier placement or separate feline areas, avoiding forcible removal from the carrier, and allowing the cat to stay in the bottom half of the carrier for as much of the exam as possible. Minimal restraint, towel-based support instead of scruffing when feasible, and use of sedation, analgesia, or pre-visit medication when indicated are also part of the toolkit. (aaha.org)
There’s also research support for one of the most common recommendations: carrier training. A study indexed by ScienceDirect reported that positive-reinforcement carrier training reduced stress during transport to the veterinary practice, reinforcing the idea that low-stress visits begin before the client ever reaches the parking lot. That fits with the broader AAFP/ISFM position that feline welfare during veterinary care starts at home and is shaped by preparation, transport, environment, and handling technique. (sciencedirect.com)
Expert commentary in the AAHA coverage adds a useful operational lens. Ilona Rodan, DVM, emphasizes carrier training as the top priority for cat parents, while Sarah Heath notes that rushing to remove a cat from the carrier can worsen the experience and that giving the patient time to emerge voluntarily can make the visit easier for the veterinary team as well. AAHA also highlights another increasingly normalized strategy: discussing anti-anxiety medication in advance for cats with a history of fear or distress during visits. (aaha.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the takeaway is that low-stress feline care is no longer a niche preference or branding exercise. It’s increasingly part of standard-of-care thinking around welfare, safety, compliance, and quality medicine. If cats are less fearful, practices may see better client retention, fewer skipped wellness visits, smoother sample collection, and less risk of escalation to defensive behavior that can endanger staff or compromise care. Just as importantly, a more predictable, lower-stress workflow can reduce friction for the whole team, from reception through restraint, diagnostics, treatment, and discharge. (journals.sagepub.com)
What to watch: The next phase is likely to be less about new philosophy and more about implementation: how practices standardize cat-friendly protocols, train teams consistently, redesign waiting and exam spaces, and decide when pre-visit pharmaceuticals should become routine for selected feline patients. As client expectations rise and feline-specific guidelines continue to circulate, practices that operationalize these changes may be better positioned to improve both patient welfare and follow-through on preventive care. (journals.sagepub.com)