If you own or run a Veterinarian clinic or hospital, you might wonder how you can make the waiting room more calming and comfortable for pets. When pets and patients visit the Veterinarian, often times patients arrive with a stress level that is already elevated. Then the treatment or interactions a pet has, may also add to their stress. One significant way you can help to mitigate this stress is through the design of your space.

Veterinary clinic and urgent care design impacts the pet’s experience either positively or negatively depending on a number of factors.

We recently designed a veterinary urgent care and design was top of mind! We used evidence based design to decrease stress levels and to create a more soothing environment for the animals.

A few key changes go a long way towards eliminating some of the common stressors that pets experience at the Vet.

Ways to eliminate pet stress:

• Optimizing patient flow

• Separation of cats and dogs in waiting areas and exam rooms

• Managing acoustics

• Choosing colors that are not stressful

• Installing windows for pets and patients to see the outside world

Pets are family members. So if you run a Veterinarian clinic, the trust of your patients is often one of your top priorities. You can build trust through many small moments and interactions. From the moment a pet enters your space, until discharge, there are a multitude of opportunities for pets to have a better experience.

Optimizing patient flow

One of the common stressors for pets is proximity to other animals during their visit; especially in waiting areas, while checking out, or the visibility of other animals receiving procedures. Managing the flow of movement through your space can help with regulating these interactions and provide enough space for each pet as they move through your clinic.

For example, consider utilizing a separate entrance and exit. This way, patients checking in will have a designated area to arrive without a lot of other animals coming and going through that entry point. It’s also helpful to have a designated area for discharge. Imagine a pet owner trying to hold onto a dog leash while digging in their purse to pull out a credit card, and maybe they have a child in their arms as well. While checking out, it can feel like juggling several things at once. It’s helpful if pet owners aren’t also worried about keeping their pet away from new animals coming in through the door.

When designing you should also consider the movement flow between the check in point, the waiting area and the pathway to exam rooms. If the waiting area is too close to the check in desk, then animals can get agitated from being right on top of each other. We recommend not bringing patients back through the check in point when transitioning from the waiting area to an exam room. Provide enough space for pets to transition from one area to the next without overlapping too much with other animals.

Separate areas for dogs and cats

A great way to reduce anxiety in pets is to provide separate lobbies and waiting areas for dogs and cats. Separating dogs and cats allows the animals to avoid the stressors of interacting with different species. This also reduces stress for pet owners who are trying to manage their pet’s interactions during their visit.

One way to achieve this is to implement separate lobbies for dogs and cats that are connected by a desk that spans across both areas. This allows the reception staff to move back and forth, and creates access to both the dog and cat lobbies. If the divider is glass above eye level, it will provide visibility for staff of both areas.

You can continue this concept throughout your clinic or hospital by providing separate treatment areas for dogs and cats. This helps cats in particular to be more relaxed during treatment. The treatment area should be separated fully, which includes visibility, noise control, and ventilation. The goal is that the pets are not be able to see, hear or smell another species. If you require visibility for staff between the different spaces, you can make the walls glass above pet eye level.

Manage acoustics

Another major stressor for pets is the noise level. Ensuring a more tranquil, quiet environment helps to keep the animals calm. However, a typical animal hospital or clinic can be naturally very noisy since they often use sanitary finishes that cause the sound to reverberate. There are several steps you can take to prevent this and provide greater sound control. To reduce noise utilize sound proofing walls, choose finish materials that absorb sound, and implement quiet zones that are free of noisy equipment.

Implementing thicker walls will help to block sound transmission, try using masonry walls instead of stud walls. Or consider installing sound attenuation batting. Make sure to seal up and/or insulate any openings in walls such as doors, windows or air ducts. Sound proofing also includes closing up any openings in the walls so that the sound can’t leak through.

One of the best ways to manage acoustics is through your finish selection. Typically in an animal hospital, many of the finishes need to be sanitary which tends to reverberate sound. So the goal is to choose materials rated with the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) that are also easily cleanable. Rubber flooring is highly absorbent of sound and also has the added benefit of being slip resistant when located in dry areas.

Another idea is to add acoustic panels in place of artwork on your walls. These come in a number of shapes, colors, sizes and materials and will buffer the sound in a treatment room very nicely. Or you could consider installing an acoustic “lay in” panel in the ceiling which is shown below.

Choose colors that are not stressful

Hospitals can become Fear-Free certified if they acquire a certain number of credits from the Fear-Free Hospital Design Guideline. The guideline has a Fear-Free color palette that was developed for both cats and dogs that you can utilize. It includes colors that are on the soft yellow, blue and violet end of the spectrum, and avoids more intense colors like reds and oranges. Cats and dogs are able to see the blue and violet end of the spectrum best.

The Fear-Free Hospital guideline also recommends avoiding bright white in materials such as paper, plastics and fabrics, as well as clear plastics. This is because they appear to fluorescent to dogs and cats.

Lighter colors are also better, because dogs and cats see better in low light than humans do. This will allow them to discern their surroundings especially when staying in an overnight area. The above color palette is provided by the Fear-Free Hospital Design Guideline and takes all of these considerations in to account.

Windows for pets and patients to see the outside world.

Lastly, providing windows for pets to see out of can be a great way to reduce fear especially for cats. Windows can be added throughout the space but particularly in exam rooms for cats, a large window allows them to view the outside environment. You can add a ledge in front of the window for the cat to perch on to see out. Cats enjoy being on elevated ledges and platforms, and this provides both a point of elevation as well as a view.

For dogs it’s a mixed bag. Some dogs do well with windows to see out of, while others become more agitated when they can see other animals outside. So you can provide windows, as well as, areas with barriers such as a personal divider in a waiting area. This way the pet owner can determine which view is most beneficial for their dog.

Conclusion

Implementing our recommend design changes to your veterinarian clinic will make a huge difference by providing a space that induces less stress for pets. When our pets are less stressed, owners are stress free too! This will create a better experience for all parties involved when visiting the Vet. It will also create space for better care and treatment of pets during their visit.

Consider your color choices, finish selection, managing acoustics, separation of cats and dogs, patient flow and daylighting when setting up your space.

If you would like additional help in the design of your clinic or hospital, we would be happy to provide a free discovery call to discuss your goals and options!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Reference: Fear-Free Hospital Design Guideline (2015) by Heather E. Lewis, AIA, NCARB