Announcing a Formidable New Veterinary Partnership: The Fear Free™ Initiative and Pokémon are Teaming Up!

Part of our mission at The Pet Concierge is to let the world know when new and exciting trends are taking off in the veterinary world. Today, we are thrilled to announce that Montclair Veterinary Hospital is adopting the Fear-Free™ initiative throughout their entire practice—and it’s doing so with some added flare care of the world’s most popular cartoon pets: Pokémon!

The Pokemon Go phenomena that has swept the country is a great opportunity for all of us virtual trainers to take a moment to reflect on how we can be improved pet owners ourselves. Training Pokemon is, at its heart, about forming a deep bond of trust, love, and respect between a Pokemon and her trainer. Montclair Veterinary Hospital wants to help facilitate these types of bonds between owners, their pets, and their veterinary team, and that is why they believe Fear-Free and Pokémon integrate so well.

First, the scoop on The Fear-Free™ initiative: Fear-Free™ is a comprehensive body of training protocols and hospital guidelines which “promote the practices, methods, and tools that calm veterinary patients and create low-stress environments”. In other words, Fear-Free™ is all about making veterinary hospitals the warmest, most inviting and comfortable spaces possible for patients and their owners! This program will begin affecting every aspect of the Montclair Veterinary experience, from before clients even leave their house to come to an appointment, all the way up to getting their pet safely and calmly back home. For example, doctors and technicians will begin to educate their clients on the steps they can take to desensitize their pets to carriers, the car, and the drive to our hospital. On the hospital’s end, they’ll be making many small, subtle changes to how they interact with pets, all of which are based on studies focused on discovering and codifying the best practices of veterinary handling and care. When their customers drop by, Montclair staff will be ready with tips and pamphlets about how to get a pet ready for the journey to the vet, and explain some of the thinking behind other aspects of the Fear-Free™ initiative. 

A huge part of being Fear-Free involves educating their clients on how they can help reduce their animal’s stress. Kristie A., Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), and one of the hospital’s managers introduced this initiative to the hospital. When asked about her project she said, “I am always looking for better ways to communicate with our patients who can’t speak to us directly. We want to alleviate pets’ anxiety when they’re coming in for check-ups and treatment, and Fear-Free is a great way to do this.”