A ‘fear free’ vet clinic opens to treat dogs and cats, better known as ‘kiddos’ there

The first thing you might notice about veterinarian Christy Rafferty is that she doesn’t talk about dogs or cats. Her preferred term is “kiddo” when talking about people’s pets.

“I talk to people as pet parents because that’s how most of them consider themselves,” she said.

Even her business name, Wichita Pet Wellness, isn’t a typical veterinary hospital or clinic name.

“We didn’t want to have it sound like everybody else,” Rafferty said. “We’re not about being a clinic or a hospital. We want to be different.”

Her business, at 1815 E. Douglas just down from Tanya’s Soup Kitchen, doesn’t have any exam tables.

“It’s a lot more like a living room,” Rafferty said.

Pets can hang out on couches, chairs or rugs.

“We basically examine the kids, the dogs and cats, wherever they want to be,” she said. “The whole idea is to not scare them (and) to have them as calm as possible.”

Rafferty has practiced in Wichita and the surrounding area for 21 years. Years ago, she worked with veterinary technician Marissa May, who now works for her, and learned about Fear Free Training.

“Some people are doing kind of components of it,” she said of other local vet clinics, “but nobody has just changed it up entirely to get rid of the exam tables.”

Rafferty initially “was resistant because it means taking more time, it means slowing down, but it’s worth it in the end. You really don’t lose efficiency.”

She said it’s all about entering an exam room slowly, not making direct eye contact, speaking calmly and quietly to animals and not towering over them.

Rafferty makes a point to pet the animals somewhere that isn’t sensitive.

“You can kind of slide into doing an exam, and they don’t even realize you’re doing an exam.”

Wichita Pet Wellness offers surgery, preventative care, dentistry, boarding, day care and grooming. Puppy classes have just started.

“We finally have several puppies that have come in,” Rafferty said.

She called the classes an excellent chance for socialization of dogs.

Rafferty said she loves downtown and wanted to locate there but quickly realized she needed to go a bit outside of it for more parking and outdoor space.

Four years after floating the idea of her own clinic past her husband, Rafferty did not expect to be opening during a pandemic.

“It’s been hard,” she said.

There have been a lot of delays for equipment and other supplies. On the other hand, Rafferty said people seem to be paying more attention to their pets these days.

Also, she said that “everybody thought, well, this is a great time to get puppies”

“It’s been very interesting opening a business during a pandemic, that’s for sure.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 12:57 PM.