Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: What would you say to some of our colleagues that are that would say, I don’t have the time for this, or this isn’t financially lucrative. I’m sure you might have heard that and from some but what are your thoughts on that when you hear that?
Kathryn Primm, DVM, FCCP (Elite): So one of the things we do in our practice is there are certain days of the week that are just not as busy. I don’t know why, but it’s always been that way. I know Wednesday is one of our not as busy days. And there are lots of Wednesdays where I see mostly just cats. So those would be appointment spots that weren’t full at all if I didn’t see cats.
You can sort of leverage it and be efficient about it. It doesn’t really take extra time once you get used to doing it and make sure everyone on your team is on the same page. That is a huge tip maybe for success, is that everybody has to be singing the same song.
Christman: Yeah, absolutely be aligned with it. What are some additional tips that you would give? So let’s just say we’re going to journey the cat parent that comes into the office. What would be some things as soon as they come out of the car, for instance, with the carrier? What are some tips that you would give to some of the viewers?
Primm: Well, so you know, from being in practice, you can hear the cats come in the door when they’re in their carrier. They’re already unhappy, so we use that as a platform to address that with people. Hey, how was the ride today? What can we do? And we just ask a lot of leading questions because people grab their cats and stuff them in a box and throw them in the car, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
They can put the carrier out and feed the cat in it, put catnip or Silvervine in it, or, you know, just make it not a scary place, not trap the cat in it, so that the cat’s instincts are screaming, I’m about to die, which is kind of what we do at our practice, making sure we are not sending the message to the cat, you’re about to die. And it’s a lot of different ways, and it’s not the same for every cat, but I feel like it’s really important.
