Robin Downing, DVM, DAAPM, DACVSMR, CVPP, CCRP, CVA, MS

Creating a compassionate care clinic culture means paying attention to the team dynamics. It means accepting responsibility to be as effective a team member as possible. Here are some ideas for making a difference on your practice team.

The most common application of nutrition and nutraceuticals in the world of pet pain is among chronic, maladaptive pain patients... These are the patients who benefit the most from a multi-modal, multi-target approach to their pain relief. In order to provide the very best care for these patients so as to achieve the best outcome on their behalf, we need to adhere to a few simple strategies.

For many years, chronic pain in dogs and cats was either tolerated as a necessary evil, or was considered a reason for euthanasia to relieve the pet from unnecessary suffering. With the development of contemporary pharmaceuticals and technology, more pets are able to live reasonably comfortable lives despite chronic conditions that could have previously caused unrelieved suffering.

When planning for the recognition, prevention, and treatment of pain in animal patients it is useful first to decide whether we are dealing acute pain or chronic pain. These two categories of pain patients have some needs that overlap, but our approach to them needs to be different as we articulate our middle-term and long-term plans.

When we consider and treat the population of patients we see who are dealing with cancer, or who have a terminal disease and are approaching the ends of their lives, we are really talking about providing palliative care. This is a concept borrowed from human medicine, and is defines as any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of the symptoms associated with disease, rather than providing treatment designed to delay or reverse the progression of disease or to provide a cure.

Chronic pain patients certainly present their own set of challenges beyond the obvious challenges around relieving their discomfort. We have to ensure that they eat enough, but not too much of the most appropriate nutrient profile.

Recent studies consistently report that 75 - 80% of pet owners think of their pets as children.

Recent studies consistently report that 75 - 80% of pet owners think of their pets as children.

Recognize the opportunities for raising the standard of medical care, improving patient quality of life, and enhancing the family-pet. Relationship

Protocols create consistency of experience - - for the team, for the client, and for the patient

Culture is what you think and do without thinking about it.

How to implement a pain scoring system.

Strong bonds with clients make for healthy pets, profitable practices, and fruitful careers.

Dr. Robin Downing shares her secrets to being a successful female veterinarian. Hint: She considers herself a businessperson.

"Pet owners don't want their pets to suffer, so we rarely encounter resistance to our pain management recommendations," says Robin Downing, DVM, Dipl. AAPM, owner of Windsor Veterinary Clinic and The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management in Windsor, Colo.

Cultural insights from a hospital executive who became a Disney cast member

Communication is the key to working smarter, and not harder.

Cultural insights from a hospital executive who became a Disney cast member

Q What can we do to gently handle pets with possible pain issues?

The American Animal Hospital Association and the American Association of Feline Practitioners have just put together new guidelines for pain management, which cover types of pain, recognition and assessment, and intervention.

If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 9½ Things You Would Do Differently by Fred Lee

If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 91/2 Things You Would Do Differently by Fred Lee

Your team can help heal the hurt pets feel with a pain management program that supports pet owners.

Are you committed to helping your practice--and your career--grow? Here's how you can make your hospital a better place for people and pets--and make yourself a more valuable, more marketable employee.