How veterinary practices and cat owners can reduce the fear and stress of vet visits, improving welfare and encouraging better preventive care.
Veterinary visits are a significant welfare challenge for cats, combining the stress of car travel, carrier confinement, strange environments, unfamiliar animals and humans, and often uncomfortable medical procedures. The consequence is not just short-term distress but long-term avoidance: cats who find vet visits traumatic are brought in less frequently, receive less preventive care, and are more likely to be presented with conditions that could have been caught earlier. Reducing the stress of veterinary visits is therefore a welfare intervention with benefits that extend far beyond the visit itself. Fear-free and cat-friendly approaches have strong evidence and are increasingly becoming the standard of care.