3 Cs to kill your stank

Client-focused, entrepreneurial practice owners have worked for more than a century to make their high-quality veterinary practices smell nice. It's not all about the high-quality medicine. (OK, it is, but you know what we mean.)

Here are three "C" words that can get your reception area and hospital smelling better. And, no, it won't substitute for fast and thorough cleaning, but once your place is clean, it'll help cut that antiseptic nasal blast.

Look: A nice table, a few decorations and a coffee maker at Country Club Veterinary Clinic in Port Charles, Louisana. Instant class."C" is for coffee!

Don't get hung up on the gorgeous reception area of this 2015 Merit Award winner. Just check out Country Club Veterinary Clinic's Keurig machine in Port Charles, Louisana. People go to Starbucks every morning for a reason and gather around the coffee maker at work. Yes, it's for the hot caffeine injection. But it's also because coffee is a strong, masking smell. Put it to work, for cheap, for your reception area! (Learn more about Country Club Veterinary Clinic here.)

Veterinarian-approved leashes and collars for better pet behavior. Pet-odor-fighting candles for better client satisfaction. (Courtesy Oxford Animal Hospital)"C" is for candle!

A couple of our reporters went out to a few practices a year ago, and three out of five practices visited prominently displayed pet-odor-killing candles. They sold them. They burned them (in safe locations). This retail wall at Oxford Animal Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas, shows off a rack of Pet Odor Exterminator Candles. Let's see ... Apple Pumpkin, Lavender & Chamomile, or bleach. We've come to a decision. Have you?

Look at those coffee flavors and the chilled water in the Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital reception area. Now forget all that and imagine what those warm cookies smell like. "C" is for cookie!

This one's for you, Cookie Monster. It's not about brand-Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital in Thousand Oaks, California, picked an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie warmer-but it is about cookies. Warm cookies. Soothing cookies. Cookies that call back to Grandma's oven, not the animal clinic. So whether you go with this 2015 Merit Award winner's cookie brand or another, consider finding a way to get warm cookie smell all over your rooms and halls. (Fun fact about this hospital: Dr. Robert Miller used to own it. Read more here.)

Bonus!

Click below for different tips from 2007 and 2012 about the powerful odor-killing power of ear cleaners:

1. "We have found that Epi-Otic (Virbac) works well to get rid of the smell associated with anal gland expression ... "

2. " ... After expressing anal sacs, I wipe the perianal area with Epi-Otic-soaked gauze sponges to remove any remaining smell. Clients appreciate this effort ... "

Now you share!

Do you have a favorite way to get sweet smells into your veterinary hospital? Email us right now. If they're good, we'll pay you $50 and share them with the world. (Except for your competitors. We'd never tell them. Of course, if they've wandered into your cookie, candle, coffee practice, they might already know your secret.)