Visiting the vet shouldn’t be a stressful ordeal for your furry family member. Yet, for many pets, a trip to the clinic triggers fear, anxiety, or even outright panic. Whether it’s the association with feeling unwell, a traumatic experience in the past, or simply a dislike of needles, many pets—and their owners—dread veterinary visits.

But, why do we care? Well, there’s some very practical reasons why taking a low fear approach is better. If our patients are anxious or feel pressured, they are likely to react in the ways that can and that includes biting and scratching. None of our team want to be injured so reducing our patients’ apprehension makes a safer workplace. Secondly, we know that >60% of cats and 10% of dogs don’t get veterinary care because they are challenging to bring to the clinic or are a handful to manage once here. If we can take steps to lower the stress of that process, then more animals can access the health care they need. Lastly, we believe that taking a ‘low stress’ approach is the right thing to do! It is well recognised now that pet’s emotional wellbeing is just an important to the physical health, and we don’t want to be relying on traditional approaches that don’t accept this and contribute to the development of fear of the vet clinic.

This is why we’ve invested in the Stress Free Pets professional veterinary certification program for our entire team.

What Is Stress Free (Fear Free) Certification?
This certification equips veterinary professionals (vets, nurses and other support staff) with the skills and tools to reduce stress for animals in a clinical environment. Through rigorous training, comprehensive testing, and annual continuing education, our team members have learned how to recognize signs of stress and anxiety in pets—and, most importantly, how to minimize them.

So What Do We Do Differently?

• Dedicated Spaces: We offer separate dog and cat areas, reducing stressful encounters in the waiting room and in the hospital areas.
• Personalized Care: Patient notes help us identify pets who are nervous around others. We can use different entry points, indoor or outdoor waiting spaces, and minimize contact throughout the visit to make your pet as comfortable as possible.
• Pre-Visit Sedation: When appropriate, we recommend gentle sedation before the visit to help particularly anxious animals remain calm.
• Pheromone Therapy: We use comforting pheromones, like Feliway and Adaptil, on bedding and consult tables to create a soothing environment.
• Ongoing Training: Our team commits to continuous education in stress reduction techniques to ensure your pet always receives the best care possible.

Our Stress Free Pet Certified Professionals go beyond providing medical treatment—they look after your pet’s emotional wellbeing. We’re here to help your pet feel safe, comfortable, and cared for—every step of the way.

​Springwood, maximum 13 degrees. Brrrr!

Who wants to put their pet birds outside in winter? In the mountains? You'd have to be crazy, right?

Actually, you'd be crazy not to. And that's because of the importance of direct sunlight to your bird's vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D is essential for the absorption and utilisation of minerals including calcium. Human residents of the Blue Mountains may be used to their GP's exhortation to get more sun, especially in winter. Without enough vitamin D, laying birds can show reduced eggshell thickness or eggs with no shell at all. Growing birds can show osteodystrophy. All can show clinical signs of hypocalcaemia including seizures, and soft bones prone to deformity or fracture.

Backyard chooks will usually get plenty of direct sun. When it comes to caged birds, however, setting their cage near a window won't quite be good enough, since it's the ultraviolet part of the spectrum they need, which can be filtered out by the glass.

UV-B converts provitamin D in the skin to cholecalciferol, or Vitamin D3. If it's really freezing outside, could you use UV-B fluorescent bulbs for some fake sun therapy? Absolutely! 30 minutes of direct sunlight per day should be sufficient.

Couldn't you just supplement with vitamin D in water or food instead? This can be tricky when it comes to under- or over- dosing. Macaws can get vitamin D toxicity (mineralised kidneys) at lower levels than other birds (1000 IU/kg). Dosages vary, and many formulated diets already contain extra fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin D.

Ideally, regulation of calcium and vitamin D would happen with variety in the diet, optional grit available at all times, and plenty of direct sun. It is possible to get vitamin D toxicity by oversupplementing, but not via too much UV-B! (Sunburn remains possible, keep in mind).

Whether you go for the UV-B lamp or the wintry mountain sunshine, taking care of your bird's bones will be worth it. Happy solstice!