Methods for calming animals in practices or animal shelters

How do you calm animals according to the latest scientific findings? Let's take recommendations for calming animals in veterinary practices as an example, as this place is associated with stress for many animals and people. Due to the need to restrain animals during some examinations and procedures, there is a particular need for helpful measures here.

As a rule, the methods are not aimed at active calming, but at the indirect effect of minimizing stress. This does not start directly with the animal, but with the design of the environment.

A veterinary practice has an effect on its patients that should not be underestimated. From a dog's point of view, the reception area can seem threatening if it has to walk through a crowd of waiting dogs on the way to registration, who may be growling or sniffing. The situation cannot be assessed, the other animals are unknown and the fear of another dog may be transmitted. What's more, the waiting areas are usually cramped, making it difficult to get out of the way. Ideally, the animals will be calmed down if the time schedule is equalized by allocating appointments, separate entrances, the design of the seating areas and as much space as possible to escape. The waiting room can also be divided into several separate areas. Separate rooms from dogs are suitable for cats. Cats also prefer raised areas. They feel safer when they have a clear view of the room, which is why a cat-friendly practice offers small tables for the transport boxes. The design of the practice rooms also includes taking the sensitive sensory organs of the animals into consideration. Loud voices and metallic rattling as well as slippery floors stress animals. On the other hand, it has a calming effect if the staff are quiet, metal is muted or handled with care and floors are non-slip yet hygienic to clean and offer a comfortable grip. Dimmable lighting can also have a calming effect on animals. The odors of stressed animals that were previously in the treatment room may be easily perceptible to the next animal. The areas used should therefore be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. However, to ensure that the cleaning agents are not too odorous, wait until they have evaporated. The use of artificial calming pheromone vaporizers has proven successful in small animal practices.[1]

If the rooms are designed in such a way that an animal can relax there, the next important thing is how it is handled! One of the most important prerequisites for this is the time factor! Another important basic requirement is knowledge of the animals' body language and, not to be underestimated, awareness of your own body language! Your own body can then be used in a targeted manner. Humans tend, presumably due to their primate ancestry, to approach an animal directly, to maintain eye contact and to stroke it from above. All of this has a threatening effect on many animals. Dogs and cats often find staring directly into the eyes unpleasant, even if they are only observing, and should therefore be avoided. On the other hand, it has a calming effect if the gaze falls next to the animal's eye.

Ethological knowledge is the knowledge of the body language of individual animal species. This is essential in order to be able to quickly classify behavior. This is the only way to avoid accidents caused by ignorance of the expression of fear or aggression. Only if animals' emotions are correctly recognized can they be dealt with appropriately. In this way, animals can be indirectly calmed by avoiding unnecessary stress.[2]

In veterinary practices, it is often essential to restrain animals. However, this should be reduced to the minimum necessary, as it usually stresses the animals. Less touching therefore indirectly calms animals. An automatic neck grip on a cat as soon as it sits on the treatment table should be avoided. Beforehand, the animal's readiness to flee should be assessed by observing its body signals. Instead of a neck grip, you can gently rest your hand on the animal. A loosely or professionally wrapped towel also fixes and calms at the same time, as it can convey a protective feeling.[3]

The pet owner also has the opportunity to reassure their pet. They can accustom them to veterinary treatment methods, to being held, to noises or to smells. Calming is also achieved indirectly by reducing stress. Elements of behavioral training are usually used here. Counter-conditioning reduces the feeling of threat for a situation or stimulus, especially if it is associated with something pleasant such as food. It is also worth getting kittens used to practice rooms and examinations. Some veterinary practices offer cat or dog puppy play sessions. Medical training is a special type of behavioral training that owners can practice with their pets. Here, certain examinations are simulated based on behavioral training with positive reinforcement. For animals that already show strong fear or aggression to treatments, it is recommended not to start directly with medical training, but to consult a behavioral veterinarian beforehand. The behavior is then analyzed in detail and appropriate exercises are precisely instructed in small steps.[4]

Similar or adapted design frameworks for the environment apply to large veterinary practices. Loud talking and rattling metal as well as bright light should be reduced. The place where the examination takes place also plays a role. Are other animals present? Do they have a calming or stressful effect?

For owners of large animals such as horses, medical training can also be used to prepare the animal for veterinary treatment or care measures such as farriery or hoof trimming.[5]

Knowledge of learning theories and training methods that use positive reinforcement are the basis of medical training. They can be used or adapted in a variety of ways. Medical training, which is taught for dogs, cats, pets or horses, has its origins in zoo animal care. Here it is mainly used for care measures and veterinary treatments. By reducing stress during such treatments, medical training helps to calm animals when dealing with people. Through behavioral training, it is also possible to actively practice relaxation by positively reinforcing it.[6]

Animal shelters also offer many opportunities for stress. It is therefore also important here to make the environment and handling as calming as possible. The same principles apply here as in veterinary practices to calm animals. Training staff and animal keepers in the behavior and expression of animals and in low-stress handling is particularly important here. However, the design of the premises and the provision of play and hiding places also help to calm dogs, cats and other shelter residents.[7]

Nowadays, there are specialist books and behavioral veterinary recommendations for both the design of the environment in which animals are treated or where they spend time. Knowledge of animal behavior is of great importance in order to assess the condition of animals correctly and in good time. Thus, by observing facial expressions, body language and behavior, the emotions of the animals are deduced. Sometimes attempts are made to modify undesirable behavior. This is done by adapting handling or using elements from behavioral training with positive reinforcement. While emotions such as fear and aggression are a major topic in all behavioral textbooks and it is also pointed out that body language and calm handling are conducive to not reinforcing unwanted emotions, the effect of emotion transfer between humans and animals is not focused on in any standard work. It is recognized that animals are influenced in their emotions by the pheromones of other animals. However, no specialist book goes into the effect of emotions from humans on animals and vice versa in any detail, let alone refers to ways of changing them. There is a clear need to include another area in the reassuring treatment of animals.