Talking to Pet Owners about Life Stage Guidelines: Tips for Clear Communication
A pet’s life stage dictates their preventive care needs, which evolve with age. Understanding the life stage concept and how it impacts wellness can help pet owners plan for a healthy future and know what to expect along the way. Organizations like the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and Feline Veterinary Medical Association (FelineVMA, formerly AAFP) provide canine and feline life stage guidelines endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
Although the guidelines offer a standardized framework for tailoring each pet’s veterinary care, successfully implementing them requires clear and effective communication from the veterinary team. Here, we discuss why life stages matter and how to communicate their importance to veterinary clients.
Why life stages matter
Life stage, from pediatrics to senior care, is a critical concept in veterinary medicine. Pets age faster than people, so it can be difficult for pet owners to understand how rapidly changes occur. For example, clients may struggle to understand why a young adult has different nutritional needs than a senior or how an overweight puppy can have a shorter lifespan and increased disease risks during end-of-life.
Educated pet owners can make informed decisions about preventive care, nutrition, diagnostic testing, and overall well-being. Additionally, pet professionals should develop a strategy for consistently communicating life-stage information so clients see and hear the same message from all veterinary professionals they encounter.
Life stage guidelines address animal health from every angle. Within each set of recommendations are more specifics, such as nutritional assessment guidelines and senior care guidelines. Here are some highlights of what to discuss for each life stage:
- Early-life care — Puppy and kitten owners need extensive education about spaying and neutering, vaccinations, zoonotic diseases, parasite control, behavior, training, body language, and socialization. Introducing positive reinforcement training and low-stress handling techniques at this stage prepares pets for a lifetime of successful veterinary visits.
- Adult pet healthcare — Owners of young through mature adults should pay close attention to pet nutrition, body condition score (BCS), exercise, and preventive diagnostics (e.g., blood tests, blood pressure screening, fecal exams) to establish a health baseline.
- Senior pet care — Owners of older pets should understand that proactive care doesn’t stop as pets age. Monitoring for clinical signs of cognitive dysfunction and chronic diseases, keeping pets physically and mentally active, providing social enrichment, preventing weight loss or gain, and maximizing quality of life dominate this stage.
Communication strategies for veterinary teams
General veterinary client communication strategies apply to the feline and canine life stage guidelines. Here are a few to try:
- Ask open-ended questions — Engage pet owners and start the conversation by asking about their pet’s daily habits, pet food, exercise routine, and perceived health problems.
- Use visual aids — Refer to body condition score (BCS) charts and life stage or vaccination schedule infographics to help clients conceptualize their pet’s health needs. Provide links to online resources, such as a blog post or trusted website, to convey specific condition information.
- Emphasize value — Help pet owners understand the value of preventive healthcare by discussing the costs of treating chronic diseases versus preventing them. Discuss breed and species-specific health risks and how preventive care can mitigate those risks during a pet’s first visit.
- Offer a personal touch — Recommend basic diagnostic testing, nutritional assessment, parasite control, and obesity prevention measures to every pet owner, but tailor recommendations based on the prevalence of the health risks in your location and the pet’s lifestyle.
- Use technology — A cloud-based veterinary practice management system can simplify client education and life-stage guideline communication. Automated reminders improve compliance, digital records help track body weight and diagnostic test results, and communication portals allow personalized educational content.
- Harness the veterinary team — Every veterinary hospital team member should reinforce life-stage guidelines. From check-in to check-out, each point of contact is an opportunity to discuss and explain evidence-based recommendations.
A core tenet of companion animal healthcare is educating pet parents about life stages and the concept of a lifetime of care. Effective communication strategies help veterinarians educate pet owners on veterinary care plans that improve and extend a pet’s healthy years. Veterinary teams can frame pet ownership as a proactive and lifelong journey that benefits every feline patient and canine companion.
