{"id":2835,"date":"2023-07-10T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T07:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2023\/07\/words-count-the-language-of-fear-free\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T19:53:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T19:53:09","slug":"words-count-the-language-of-fear-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2023\/07\/words-count-the-language-of-fear-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Words Count: The Language of Fear Free"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><strong>Julie Liu, DVM<\/strong>Last year, I watched a great webinar on Fear Free Pets by Dr. Tony Buffington called \u201cHelping Our Feline Friends Feel Fear Free.\u201d He shared a number of helpful tips on helping reduce stress for feline patients, but one of the points he made really resonated with me. He talked about going to an exhibit hall at a conference and seeing a booth selling signs that can be clipped onto the front of the cage, including a red sign that said, \u201cCaution, fractious cat.\u201d He asked if there were any signs that said \u201cCaution, fearful cat,\u201d because when he saw \u201cfractious cat\u201d his instinct would be to take care of himself to prevent injury, whereas if he saw \u201cfearful cat\u201d his instinct would be to take care of the cat.<\/p>\n<p>Based on that conversation the company started making \u201cfearful cat\u201d signs, but it got me thinking about the language of Fear Free and the terms I routinely hear vet professionals use for pets exhibiting FAS (fear, anxiety, and stress): \u201cfractious,\u201d \u201cangry,\u201d \u201cspicy,\u201d \u201cCAUTION!!!\u201d, and of course, a variety of R-rated terms used only in the treatment area. And I totally get it. No one wants to get bitten, scratched, snapped at, or injured, and it seems like these terms will keep us safer when approaching stressed patients. So why could this language be problematic?<\/p>\n<p>Well, I\u2019ve noticed that when there\u2019s a patient alert such as \u201cfractious\u201d for a cat, people tend to approach the pet in an adversarial way. They put on their cat gloves, take a deep breath, and go into the exam room ready to do battle with their patient, which usually includes scruffing the cat to immobilize them. Unfortunately, this approach often has the opposite desired effect. Cat gloves can cause fear in patients, and scruffing is painful and takes away the cat\u2019s sense of control. The \u201cfractious\u201d cat\u2019s FAS levels then escalate, which increases the chances of getting injured.<\/p>\n<p>Changing our language so that it describes and advocates for the emotional health of the patient can keep us safer. Instead of \u201cfractious,\u201d what about, \u201cFearful, keep in carrier until doctor is ready, prefers hiding under towel for exam and vax\u201d? It\u2019s rare to see these types of patient alerts, yet they take only a few seconds to update in a medical record.<\/p>\n<p>Terms like \u201cfractious,\u201d \u201cangry,\u201d and \u201c&amp;#%!@\u201d also shut down the empathy we should strive to bring to our patients, both feline and canine, and joking that a pet is \u201cspicy\u201d trivializes their emotional experience. Instead, see how it feels when you use patient-focused language such as \u201cfearful,\u201d \u201canxious,\u201d and \u201cstressed.\u201d Just as most of us felt at least one of these emotions during the pandemic (or even all three at the same time), most of your patients are feeling at least one of these emotions during their vet visit. In fact, many of these \u201cspicy\u201d patients are utterly terrified and completely justified in their emotions considering all of the scary things they experience at the vet. Using terms like \u201cfearful\u201d and \u201canxious\u201d also contributes to a Fear Free culture and sets the tone for how we\u2019d like fellow team members to approach their patients\u2013with empathy, not as adversaries.<\/p>\n<p>As Fear Free professionals, we have the tools to identify, prevent, and alleviate FAS. Modeling <a href=\"https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/delightful-downloads\/2022\/12\/Fear-Free-Word-Choices.pdf\">Fear Free language<\/a> is another important step we can take to bring compassion to the patients in our care.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/helping-our-feline-friends-feel-fear-free-with-dr-tony-buffington\/\">https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/helping-our-feline-friends-feel-fear-free-with-dr-tony-buffington\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/fas-spectrum\/\">FAS Spectrum Handouts<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/serona.vet\/collections\/cage-tags-signs?page=1\">https:\/\/serona.vet\/collections\/cage-tags-signs?page=1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>This article was reviewed\/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and\/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.<\/em><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"h-julie-liu-is-a-veterinarian-and-freelance-writer-based-in-austin-texas-in-addition-to-advocating-for-fear-free-handling-she-is-passionate-about-felines-and-senior-pet-care-learn-more-about-dr-liu-and-her-work-at-www-drjulieliu-com\">Julie Liu is a veterinarian and freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. In addition to advocating for Fear Free handling, she is passionate about felines and senior pet care. Learn more about Dr. Liu and her work at <a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.drjulieliu.com\">www.drjulieliu.com<\/a>.<\/h6>\n<p data-wahfont=\"18\"><em>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/stay-in-the-loop-with-fear-free\/\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h6><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Changing our language so that it describes and advocates for the emotional health of the patient can keep us safer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,83,94,97,99],"tags":[145,170,147,134,295,296],"content-type":[47],"duration":[],"membership-type":[],"profession":[35,37,36],"species":[34],"topic":[14,29],"class_list":["post-2835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-blog","category-educational-library","category-hospital-design","category-procedures","tag-cats","tag-communication","tag-dogs","tag-fear-free","tag-language","tag-patients","content-type-blog","profession-owner","profession-technician-nurse","profession-veterinarian","species-feline","topic-animal-handling","topic-veterinary-visits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - 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