Dog terrified of vets

Eliza_2 · 19 June 2013 at 8:28PM

I have an 11 yr old dog and at the last 2 annual checkups she was diagnosed with a heart murmur (grade 3, is that what it's called?) The vet said there's nothing that needs to be done and no cause for concern. She is always a nightmare at the vets though, I blame myself as I should have taken her more often just to get her used to it but as she is never ill, I never did that. So once a year I have to take a quivering shaking terrified wreck into the surgery.

I feel she is a bit more breathless than usual and lays around a lot more, could just be old age beginning to hit her, but I want to take her back though her check up isn't due for another 6 months. The last time they couldn't listen to her heart as she was shaking so violently but as we had been for a good long walk ( I mean a real scramble across rivers and thick vegetation and up hills etc, that sort of thing!) a couple of days previously the vet said there couldn't be much wrong. Has anyone any hints for the best way to keep her calm so she can be examined? I'm scared she'll have a heart attack or something she is so bad. I wonder if going to an unfamiliar vets would help, so she doesn't associate it. She has never had any treatment or anything that should cause her to be like this, it must be the smells or something. She's fine in the waiting room and sits quietly looking at the other animals, but once in the examination room she cowers behind me shaking from head to toes!

Any help please?

unholyangel · 19 June 2013 at 9:11PM

How far is your vets from where you live? Local enough to pop by on daily walks or even weekly/monthly?

If there is a vet close enough to do this, I'd consider registering her there. Pop by on walks when possible and feed her treats. Dont stay too long. Just a minute to start with then build up every so slightly so she realises "bad" things dont happen every time she goes.

If your current vet is the best in the area....i'd perhaps try just walking her past to start with. Then going closer to door next time you're passing until you get to the stage when you're inside for a minute and continue as above from there.

chris_n_tj · 19 June 2013 at 9:41PM

YOu could ask your Vet if they would do a home visit?. Sorry i cant offer anything else, but I hope you manage to get her looked at without causing her upset xx

Eliza_2 · 19 June 2013 at 10:05PM

Unfortunately the vet's is around 8 miles away so even if she can make a 16 mile round walkies I certainly can't! Nothing nearer. She loves going in the car.

Have just come back from quite a strenuous walk, though not long particularly, lots of stiles to jump over and sheep poo to eat and although the last stretch of lane seemed to be tiring for her, jumping around in the field and sniffing out rabbits was ok. (We saw 2 red deer too!) She's happily eaten her bedtime snack and had a drink but is bushed now which is understandable but sometimes she seems puffed from doing nothing. The vet said to look out for a cough but she never coughs.

I'll ring the vet's tomorrow and see what they think. It'll have to be a home visit if that's what they suggest.

mtbbuxton · 19 June 2013 at 10:07PM

Do you drive to the Vets? They may be willing to come out to your car and look at her there.

My whippet is the same and it makes no difference which Surgery we use (we have a choice of three) I think there's just a smell about the place that sets her on edge.

M x

skivenov · 19 June 2013 at 10:15PM

Mine was the same (massive wimp, in all senses), yes, a house call's a bit pricey, but its worth the money for the peace of mind.

fannyadams · 19 June 2013 at 10:16PM

Bach rescue remedy - I give it to my Greys and it chills them out for fireworks night.
I should add that they are used to being pulled around all the time because they are ex-racers so they don't mind our vets.
What Unholy Angel wrote is also very very good advice and worked with my Rottie who was terrified of the vet and the boarding kennel (abandonment issues much?) but we found a vet and follwoed Unholy Angel's advice which is pretty much the vets advice we received and she calmed down after about 6 months hard work (every walk we had to walk past the vets and with all the dogs (we had 4 at the time) not just our Rottie and they were walked 4 times a day).

meritaten · 19 June 2013 at 10:47PM

I was going to suggest Rescue Remedy too - but I wonder if its also White coat syndrome? is there a particular smell in the vets examining room? or is it just that particular vet? my Springer loved the male vet but always played up badly if we saw the female one. The staffy didn't care which vet it was - she loved all of them!

MrsAtobe · 19 June 2013 at 11:33PM

This may sound like a stupid question, but do you like & trust your vet? If you aren't 100% sure about your vet, your dog may be picking up on this.

Eliza_2 · 20 June 2013 at 7:21PM

Hi, not a stupid question at all. She's very tuned in to me so is always picking up on things I don't really want her to know, you know, like the sound of a pack of cheese being opened from 5 miles away!

Yes I trust the vet I think. I don't know them to be honest and get a different one each time we go, which is only once a year anyway. As long as they know what they're doing it's fine.

I'll follow up on some of your great suggestions, thank you all so much.

Liz

calicocat · 20 June 2013 at 8:49PM

I have this with my cat as she has just never been ill, so now she's older it a flaming nightmare from getting box out to back home.

My dog was great, flew in, couldn't wait to either greet or argue with someone, up until he had a locum vet inject him and didn't do it very well. After this it took a few goes just walking in, the receptionist or vet giving him a bit of sausage I had taken with me, and eventually things were ok again. It only takes one bad injection to freak them sometimes...and we don't know it's happened. also as has been said I think that you are now both feeding the fear to eachother...mine spread straight down the lead into the dog. I had to train myself not to do this.

Dog terrified of vets

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free