Behavioral Consultations at Veterinary Medical Center
Helping Pets Live Happier, Less Fearful Lives
At Veterinary Medical Center, we believe behavioral health is an essential part of your pet’s overall well-being. We are passionate about helping pets and their families address behavioral concerns early—before fear, anxiety, or reactivity become overwhelming.
Too often, we meet pets who are so fearful or anxious about veterinary care that medication is needed simply to allow them to receive routine medical attention. While medication can be an important and appropriate tool for some pets, our goal is also to help prevent fear and anxiety from becoming the reason a pet cannot comfortably receive care.
Many behavioral challenges can be improved—or even prevented—with early socialization, positive experiences, patience, and teaching pets that routine handling does not have to be frightening.
Why Behavioral Health Matters
Behavior is about much more than obedience. It affects your pet’s quality of life, your relationship with your pet, and their ability to comfortably participate in everyday activities—including veterinary care.
Early positive experiences can help pets become more confident with:
- Veterinary professionals and unfamiliar people
- Being touched and handled
- Having their paws, ears, mouth, and body examined
- Getting on and off a scale
- Entering and leaving a veterinary hospital
- Grooming, nail trims, medications, and other routine care
- New environments, sounds, and experiences
By addressing these skills early, we can help reduce fear and anxiety, improve cooperation, strengthen the human-animal bond, and make veterinary visits less stressful for everyone.
Happy Visits
One of the ways we help pets develop positive associations with veterinary care is through our Happy Visits.
During a Happy Visit, your pet may:
- Practice coming into and leaving the hospital comfortably
- Get on and off the scale
- Explore the environment at their own pace
- Visit an exam room
- Receive treats and positive reinforcement
- Interact with our team without having medical procedures performed
These visits give pets the opportunity to learn that coming to the veterinary hospital does not always mean something scary is going to happen.
Happy Visits can be particularly valuable for puppies and kittens, but they can also help adult pets who have developed fear or anxiety associated with veterinary care.
Meet Dr. Kathleen Maltby
While Dr. Kathleen Maltby is not a board-certified veterinary behaviorist, she has a deep passion for helping pets and the people who love them navigate behavioral challenges.
Dr. Maltby understands that behavior can sometimes cause a pet to be misunderstood. Fear, anxiety, frustration, pain, and other underlying factors can influence how a pet responds to people and situations. Her goal is to help families better understand their pets and develop practical strategies that improve their relationship and their pet’s quality of life.
Dr. Maltby is particularly passionate about early intervention and prevention. By addressing behavioral concerns before they become overwhelming, we may be able to help families avoid situations in which a pet’s behavior becomes so difficult that the human-animal bond is severely affected.
Ultimately, our goal is to help more pets remain safely and comfortably in their homes and to reduce the number of pets whose behavioral challenges ultimately lead to behavioral euthanasia.
Every pet deserves the opportunity to be understood, supported, and given the tools they need to succeed.
What We Offer
Our behavioral consultations are tailored to the individual pet and family. Depending on your pet’s needs, we may focus on:
- Comprehensive behavioral assessment — Understanding your pet’s history, behaviors, daily routine, environment, and specific concerns
- Goal setting and practical strategies — Developing realistic steps for socialization, training, desensitization, and behavior modification
- Cooperative handling skills — Teaching pets to become more comfortable with having their paws, ears, mouth, and body gently touched and handled
- Veterinary visit preparation — Strategies to reduce stress and help pets feel more comfortable during veterinary care
- Happy Visits — Positive, non-medical visits designed to help pets build confidence and trust in the veterinary environment
- Ongoing support and follow-up — Helping families continue working toward their goals at home and at the hospital
- Additional professional support — Collaboration with qualified trainers or veterinary behaviorists when a pet’s needs require additional or specialized expertise
Whether you are raising a new puppy or kitten, helping a fearful adult pet, dealing with reactivity or handling challenges, or simply want to give your pet the best possible foundation for a lifetime of veterinary care, we are here to help.
Prevention Can Change a Pet’s Future
Some of the skills that make veterinary care easier can begin at home when a pet is young.
Practice touching your puppy’s paws. Reward your kitten for calmly allowing you to look at their ears. Teach your pet that opening their mouth or gently touching their body can be a positive experience. Practice getting on and off a scale. Reward calm behavior around new people.
These small, positive interactions can make a tremendous difference over the course of a pet’s life.
And when a pet is already struggling with fear or anxiety, it is never too late to begin working toward a better experience.
Our goal isn’t simply to make the next veterinary visit easier. We want to help pets develop skills and confidence that can improve their experiences throughout their lives.
Let’s Change the Experience Together
We believe veterinary care should be about more than treating illness. It should also be about helping pets feel safe, understood, and supported.
When we address behavioral health, we are not only making veterinary visits easier—we are helping protect the human-animal bond and improve the quality of life for both pets and their families.
If your pet is fearful, anxious, reactive, difficult to handle, or simply needs help becoming more comfortable with veterinary care, we’re here to help.
Contact Veterinary Medical Center to learn more about our Behavioral Consultations and Happy Visits and find out how we can help your pet have a happier, more confident experience.
Let’s Work Together to Change the Experience
We’re passionate about making veterinary care less stressful—for everyone. When pets feel safe, they live healthier, more connected lives. And when you, as a pet owner, feel confident and empowered, your pet benefits too.
If you have questions about your pet’s behavior or would like to schedule a behavioral consultation or a Happy Visit, give us a call. We’d love to help your pet feel more at home—both in the world, and in our care.