Unpleasant vet visit, meds, etc.

I am pasting in something I shared on my business Facebook page a little while ago, that I thought would be helpful to have here as well. It's connected with my last blog-post on communicating with your animals, and focusing on the thing you want them to focus on.

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Sometimes we have to do things with our animal companions that we know are unpleasant for them. 💛 Vet visits, medications, moving, etc.

Last time i took Humphrey to the vet (a while ago), they hinted strongly that he would be a great candidate for tranquilizers next time he goes to the vet 😂 (he was very aggressive towards them 😬).

Last week i had to take him to the vet again, so i did a few things differently when it came to my communication with Humphrey about it all (and did not give him tranquilizers).

1. I told him i had scheduled a visit with the vet, about a week in advance. (Keeping secrets never work with pets and it just confuses them and can sometimes worry them more🙈). I was straight to the point and also told him why i was bringing him in. (Just saying it out loud is enough, as they get the gist of it).
2. I focused on the positive aspects of it: the vet being a safe place, that they will check his health and help him feel better, that they love cats and that’s why they do this work 🌞.
3. I focused on the ideal situation. I did not go into the whole “i know you hate the vet...” or “i know it was scary last time...” because when we do that we’re sending them the energy of those negative feelings, reinforcing that in them. Instead, i focused on the ideal situation🌻 (even visualized what that would look like) and told Humphrey that the calmer and more relaxed we could be, the easier and more pleasant the visit would be.
4. I managed my own anxiety/worry about it. ✨ Anytime i started to worry about it, i took a few deep breaths and released those feelings in order to make room for the ideal situation. I wanted Humphrey to know i was confident about the vet being safe and positive.

He did amazingly well this time, and even purred for a good portion of the visit. I was so proud of him 🥰 As with anything we want to communicate with our animals, to the point and focusing on the positive is a good way to go. 💛