• Leave your cat's carrier out and open in an easily accessible area for several days before your appointment.

• Use a top-loading carrier so your cat can easily be placed into and removed from the carrier. This also allows us to remove the top and examine your cat in the bottom half of the carrier if your cat refuses to come out.

• Inside the carrier create a comfortable environment with blankets, toys or an article of clothing from a favorite person.

• Reinforce the cat's positive associations with the carrier using treats, food and calm praise.

• Once your cat is comfortable with the carrier, take him or her for a few short car rides, but make sure the experience is positive.

• Withhold food before the trip to reduce motion sickness.

• Drape a towel over the carrier to reduce motion sickness.

• Thirty minutes prior to leaving, spray a synthetic feline pheromone (Feliway)  in the carrier to help keep your cat calm.

• Before leaving your house, grab a few of your dogs special favorite treats.

• Often when dogs are getting into the car they are expecting a negative outcome and will often exhibit anxiety.  To help with this, socialize your dog often (give them treats in the care, and have every new person they meet give them a treat) and take your dog to fun destinations as well.

• Be calm!  Your attitude will also make a huge difference.  The more confident and calm you are, the safer your dog can feel.

• Fun visits! We encourage you and your dog to stop in just for fun. This can be done when you need food or prescriptions, or if the two of you are just in the area and feel like stepping on our scale. This helps them to feel more comfortable and we can get to know them better and give them some treats!

• If your pet does well at the veterinarian, please be mindful that not all dogs are as outgoing. Because of this we  encourage you to always be aware of what your dog is doing and do not allow them to approach, sniff, or invade the space of other dogs or cats. Remember, a nervous animal is a dangerous animal.

For everyone's safety we ask that all dogs coming into our hospitals be on a regular leash!  Your dog may interact well with other pets, but some dogs inside the hospital may be injured or frightened which may lead them to bite when approached.