I recently moved to a city 2 hours away from my vet and I plan on keeping him.  Why?  Not because my cats like him (one is friendly, one is indifferent and one is an absolute terror) but because I like him.  And it took me six  docs to find someone that I felt comfortable around and who I'm confident is treating my cats properly.  So maybe people who claim their pets like are actually saying I really like you and choose not to go elsewhere?

Shannon November 6th, 2009 07:39:47 AM

I think if the owner feels comfortable with their vet the animal will too.  Although I've seen dog owners who were absolutly a nervous wreck in the exam room because they are so afraid their dog is going to bite the vet, and the dog ends up licking my Dr's face!  We have several clients who claim their pet's don't like anybody else.  We just hope that the owners don't like anybody else either!  LOL

DNS83 November 6th, 2009 07:58:38 AM

I think we all have public faces and private faces.  Animals just generally seem to see right through the public face and know what lies beneath.  Then it's mostly a matter of compatible personalities.  Of course, if an animal has had a poor past experience, they're likely to reject a person or react to them without bothering to delve deeper to see their private face; that's just simple survival instinct.

After watching my first Lab convert from vet hating, snarling, snapping wolf-beast to vet adoring love bug through Heartworm treatment (which is certainly not pleasant); I can't help but think she could see/sense something beyond my ken.  And her feelings never did extend to any other vet we tried to see (although there were only a couple of those).  Whatever her experience was with a vet before I got her left a truly lasting effect; so did the vet who earned her trust.

PJB November 6th, 2009 08:15:15 AM

I dunno if it has any effect as my dog love people regardless of the environment, but at least once a month I pop into the vet office to say "hi" and chat for a few minutes with the front desk folks.  With that, my dog associates a trip to the vet with the 5 or 10 positive visits a year and mimimizes the cause/effect relationship of vet visit=shot mentality.

Now many years ago when I wasn't so well versed in keeping a dog calmed down and under control I had a very intelligent yet excitable shepard mix.  I told the vet that my dog was so smart and well behaved but during a routine visit the dog, more times than not, he would get super excited, piddle a bit, and finally take a dump in the exam room. My poor vet would look at me and say "smart, eh?"

EAB November 6th, 2009 09:30:13 AM

I swear there is something to this.. The clinic I go to has 7 Vets and in the past when one of my crew needed to be seen i just called and took whoever they gave me. On one visit one of my male labs reacted in abject terror to having having his temp taken by a male vet. The vet then had him held down and it was not pleasant at all. Return vists for rechecks became an absolute nightmare with this vet, he would shake and pee on myand the vets shoes etc. Since I was seeing another vet at the clinic for my Addisonian I requested to see her for my other boy as well. It all started out the same way, shaking, getting my shoes peed on, but within 5 mins he was giving her kisses and allowing his ear to be looked in with out any problem.. Months later we were back at the clinic and the same male Vet walked by him and he was instantly a shaking, peeing mess... Now all my crews, cat included sees the same vet at the clinic, They already know when I call who to give me an appointment with.

So is there something to it... I believe there is, I believe what my dogs tell me.

Elizabeth - From Nova Scotia November 6th, 2009 09:31:38 AM

There's a vet that my horses adore--even the one-woman horse, the one who doesn't like ANYbody but me--but one of my dogs hated her on sight.  That dog loves everybody!  I do think there's some social chemistry there.

Sure, my animals often have good judgment, and if one of them doesn't like someone I often will take a close look at that someone to see if there's something I missed, or if they're being unpleasant to my animals when I can't see it.  That's certainly been the case in the past, that my animals took a dislike to someone who was mishandling them behind my back.  But sometimes animals are just /quirky/.

As are people.

Galadriel November 6th, 2009 09:44:04 AM

I've seen preferences for particular staff over the years from many different animals. We had one vet at a practice I worked at who got growled at by about a quarter of the dogs, though he was always slow, kind and gentle to them. My husband (not in health care at all) had many  dogs who allegedly hated all men making up to him. I was always the one who dealt with the really difficult cats, as I could usually get procedures done if I could be alone with the cat somewhere quiet.  Right now I have one horse who tenses up so much around most men that he might as well be made of solid marble; thus, he sees one of the female vets any time he needs evaluation or routine care. We had a parrot as a patient at one clinic who tried to attack one tech with red hair, but was fine with anyone else.

Maria Shanley November 6th, 2009 09:45:33 AM

My dog actually howls in excitement when we pull into the vet's parking lot, and he pulls and pulls all the way to the door. Everyone in the office gets a bum wiggle greeting full of slobbery kisses (luckily the vets and techs don't seem to mind dog drool). We are there at least once every three weeks for dog or cat food so more often than not he's in there for treats and pets rather than needles. Its been that way since he was 10 weeks old.

My cats don't seem to mind the vet either, and more often than not the vet has trouble with her stethoscope because they're purring! Its the car ride to the vet that they just loathe.

SAM November 6th, 2009 09:56:23 AM

You know, I can't help but look at people askance when a pet truly distrusts them for no good reason, not because they're being poked and prodded).

Recently, however, my goats' favorite person (they adore her for some reason) managed to elicit fear in Slumdog. He barked and growled at her in a way I'd never seen him do before. Meanwhile, every other animal she's ever met is completely at ease around her. It got me to thinking that sometimes their reaction is just a memory trigger, a smell (she takes care of a dying person) or something hardwired––not related to the human's trustworthiness at all.

As with a fear/distrust of men (which I see much more often), some of this behavior has got to be deeply ingrained, perhaps even genetically so. I need to take this into account when trusted folks elicit untoward reactions in my animals and not be so quick to judge.

Dr. Patty Khuly November 6th, 2009 09:58:36 AM

I've driven out of my way to take pets to a specific vet, but that was my preference, not the pet's.  I do think that there's something to pets having preferences, though. 

My parents' younger dog has many issues, including signs that she was abused before we found her.  She becomes a barking, snarling beast when she's afraid, and we've all learned to be very careful with her around strangers.  She drives my husband insane when we're over there because she will bark incessantly at him as if he's an intruder.  Most dogs absolutely love him, and he tries very hard to win her over.  But, he's tall; so, I think she finds him intimidating based on size.

Luckily, she does well with the vets who office around the corner from my parents' house.  So, my mom doesn't have to go too far out of the way.  They're really awesome and have bent over backwards to help her care for this dog (and for the other dogs they've had).  In fact, they're so awesome that when my parents' dalmatian was dying this week, they offered to send a tech over to the house to help my mom bring her in.  If I wasn't happy with our vet, I'd drive the 40 minutes to bring my pets to them, but that's my preference, not my pets'.  :)

Posey November 6th, 2009 10:25:51 AM

I used to think there was something to it when dogs distrusted a particular person.

Until our dog decided my father in law was an untrustworthy sort who might be dangerous to have on the property.

Now, we all have our flaws, but I know him pretty well, and he's one of the last people I would label as dangerous - none of the other animals I've seen him with throught so either.

My only hypothesis at this point is, well, he's a rather large man ... maybe she never met anyone overweight before?

My husband on the other hand is consistently adored by dogs, but he's very aware of and in control of his body language, which explains that pretty well for me.

(it's also hiliariously useful, as he can give a 'hard eye' to the neighbor's confrontational, yappy, off leash lap dog and send it scurrying back home without moving or saying a thing. I just can't get that much force into my expression no matter how I try)

puppynerd November 6th, 2009 10:26:12 AM

Olfaction is a key element in dogs who immediately distrust people, even ones they have met previously.  

Humans who are being treated with anything from sinus sprays and antibiotics can elicit an aggressive or fearful response in dogs. 

Hats and other modes of dress can cause dogs to react strongly as well.

There is something to be said for the dog that is otherwise well socialized and well trained that reacts for seemingly no reason to the presence of a particular individual. 

I had a German Shepherd for many years who absolutely detested my ex husband.

If hind sight is 20/20 vision, she was a premier discriminator of human character.

She loved my current husband 'til the day she died.

I have a now 7 year old Pointer dog who detests the scent of people with pre- diabetic conditions. Something about the way they smell makes him terribly aggressive, shooting his chances of ever being an effective diabetic alert dog.

I discovered this when a roommate of mine went undiagnosed for diabetes for about 2 years, which coincided nicely with the behavior of the otherwise loving and attentive dog into a maniacal demon in this man's presence. 

Until he started taking medication. 

Cotton soon learned to put his gift to work, often alerting Jimmy to low blood sugar by reacting in a nervous and fearful manner, something that to this day I have not been able to deter him from.

Although that individual and I are no longer living under the same roof, Cotton has detected the presence of diabetes in others, always with the same reaction.

I suspect his adverse reaction to be caused by one of two things; Either he has paired a bad association with a pre-diabetic individual in the life prior to my getting him (almost 6 months old by the time he arrived) or something about the odor itself just scares him.

Either way, it's not the nifty trick I thought it could become. His reaction is just too strong.

Linda Kaim November 6th, 2009 10:59:47 AM

As much fun as it is to hear this from a client, I am (shockingly) skeptical. There are so many variables influencing the pet's behavior, most notably the owner. Pet's are very sensitive to their owner's feelings and respond to cues that people are not even aware of sending.

My favorite example is the comment I frequently here that "Fluffy doesn't like men." I oftn then have the fun of getting along just great with Fluffy, usually to the surprise of the client. What I think Fluffy doesn't like is large, loud people, and while I'm male I'm neither of those. However, a client who believes their pet doesn't like men is undoubtedly going to be tense when seeing a male vet for the first time, and I have to wonder how much of the worsening of such a problem ove time is due to that, confirmation bias, and all the other fuzziness associated with guessing what our pets are thinking. 

SkeptVet November 6th, 2009 11:11:02 AM

Hats and other modes of dress can cause dogs to react strongly as well.

Darwin, our boxer, has always been an extremely friendly dog - towards both people and other dogs. But we quickly noticed that hats were a common element in the rare person who elicited a growl. I also caught him growling at two nuns wearing habits as they walked by our home. He has also shown a negative response to morbidly obese individuals.

Karlyn November 6th, 2009 11:43:08 AM

My dog loves everyone.  I don't think she's met a stranger yet, at least not in the year and a half we've had her.  She does seem to like some people MORE than others, but she's happy to meet everyone.  Including the vet.  The only thing she doesn't like at the vet's office is when they take her away from me (she's a serious velcro dog) but once they get her out of my view, she does ok.

I have noticed, though, that some people illicit an "omg I'm want to meet you NOW NOW NOW" response and I always wonder why.  Every time we run into a heavy-set short black woman she pulls horribly at the leash and tries to rush the poor woman (who sometimes wants to meet her and sometimes doesn't!).  Dahlia is a rescue so sometimes I wonder if perhaps those people she's rushing to like that resemble her former owner.

Crysania November 6th, 2009 11:47:57 AM

Crysania:  Our dog was in "lockup" IE rescue for almost 7 month and the only postive attention she got was from white women.  When training her I could get her to walk loose leash by dogs and cats was only a few days but it took forever to keep her from sprinting after women.  To this day she loves the ladies.

Linda:  The Diabetes thing, much like detecting cancer and the cat that goes to visit a person at their hour of death, is just mindblowing.  It seems to me that even in modern times we are still only scratching the surface of the skills and abilities of animals.  I do know that while I take the alpha position with my dog, it's doesn't mean that I am not in awe and utter amazement of some of her skills and abilities.

EAB November 6th, 2009 12:35:10 PM

Humans who are being treated with anything from sinus sprays and antibiotics can elicit an aggressive or fearful response in dogs.

More anecdata.  Some cats, too.  When my wife managed to fall, spend a few weeks in the hospital, and come home on antibiotics and assorted pain-killers including fentanyl patches, PrettyCat started to avoid her.  When the meds stopped the cat resumed being her best buddy.  SmartCat didn't seem to care at all.

Will November 6th, 2009 01:16:13 PM

Fascinating comments. I've enjoyed reading all of these stories. It confirms that animals are such intuitive, unique creatures -- we are lucky to share a planet with them.

My personal opinion: I think cats are among the most intuitive. They truly have a knack for picking out who they can trust to handle them properly (although I have seen them try to get lap time from the one person in the room who is allergic, their idea of a joke, I guess). Neither of my cats likes vet visits. But they definitely prefer the only one, in this four-person practice, who has cats of her own and is involved with the feline specialty group.

Moongirl November 6th, 2009 01:51:19 PM

@Moongirl - why is it that they pick out the one who's allergic?  My female cat is especially good at it, and she tends to rub against or sniff our friends who are allergic to her.  The most embarassing thing she's done, though, is climb on the back of the couch, get behind one of our guests, and proceed to try to eat his hair!

Posey November 6th, 2009 03:24:04 PM

Don't cats almost always target the person that least wants them; part of their inherent perverse nature; their toying with us?  The person who's allergic is putting out that "stay away" vibe.  My son doesn't like cat hair on his stuff, he sends out that vibe too, so my long haired cat is, of course, the one who likes to sneak in and nap on everything he owns :)  It's what I was taught to do to get a cat to come to me, ignore it.

PJB November 6th, 2009 03:52:25 PM

I have a client whose dog has been a weight loss patient of mine for several months.  She claims that the dog hates me because 'you put him on a diet'!  However, I can take this dog to the back and clip his nails by myself, without someone else holding him, and without him stressing.  Of course, I'm moving slowly and talking calmly to him.  But if I try to do it in the room with her, he tries to take my head off (quite a trick for a chihuahua!).  I think that the owner's thoughts do affect the pet a lot. 

Sassy November 6th, 2009 05:16:37 PM

Yay, now we can buy car parts! It is interesting, what a dog/cat perceives and we don't know why.

My dog's caretaker grew a beard after spinal surgery and freaked out a couple of mine, or was it the surgery smell? The Scotties weren't fazed in the least.

Pocketwas frightened over anyone with leather dress shoes, including us! She was never kicked or stepped on with them--so what was it? Heavy winter boots or sneakers were ok.

What makes a dog accept numerous other strange dogs & go bonkers (from a distance even) over a particular one?

I prefer my dogs to get used to one vet, since they recognize and remember that person. And as long as positive reinforcement occurs after negative, it seems to work.

Barbara/NH November 6th, 2009 09:00:17 PM

I think a lot can be said for taking a little time and letting the animal approach you to get aquainted. Depending on the animal's history though, certain things can trigger a defensive response. When I was in vet school, I had a Westie that I bought at a pet store as a 3 month old puppy. Baseball caps always elicited a growl, even if I was wearing one and he was far enough away to not realize it was me. Once I said somethin to him, it was fine, but the first glimpse of a basball cap consistently got a growl until he realized it was a friend. I figured somewone with a baseball cap scared him when he was young. Definintely anecdotal, but that reaction was so consistent that I do think that a fear-inducig experience at the right time can induce a resopnse later. I have a Jack Russel now that was chased up onto the porch by a skunk when he was a pup during a 3 am call of nature, and he still will growl at a skunk, or a skunk sized shadow at night. I believe Karen Overall mentions a couple of "sensitive periods" during puppy and kitten development during which excessive stress can induce fearful reactions. ( Clinical Behaivioral Medicine for Small Animals, Overall, 1997).

Bartimaeus

Bartimaeus November 7th, 2009 12:10:55 AM

Re: cats targeting allergic/cat-hating person.

I've read in several cat books that it's the hostile felines that look at another cat -- a challenge, I guess.  Friendly cats don't make eye contact, or do a deliberate look away.

So while the cat-lovin' humans are looking over at Kitty and trying to coax him to come, Kitty is targeting the one person making a friendly gesture by totally ignoring him.

The practice we take Old Pup to has four vets, and Old Pup is very apprehensive of three of them.  My husband took her to the fourth vet, and said that #4 was quiet and moved very slowly and Old Pup, while not comfortable, was a lot less confrontational than she has been for other vets. (O.P. is muzzled for all of them)

lin November 7th, 2009 06:30:22 PM

"I've read in several cat books that it's the hostile felines that look at another cat -- a challenge, I guess. Friendly cats don't make eye contact, or do a deliberate look away."  I agree but it doesn't go far enough because, in a room full of people where many are ignoring the cat (knowing these rules), the cat tends to head for the allergic or truly anti-cat person.  Of course, there are even exceptions to that!

PJB November 7th, 2009 10:49:52 PM

I socialized my girl to love everybody without reserve, and I still think I went a little overboard.  But what I find strange is that she positively loves her orthopedist, even after multiple operations.  I always want my dogs to love their vet.  =)

Julie in OH November 11th, 2009 05:19:02 PM

This was very timely for me. I recent left a clinic that I had been working at for five years because the focus had shifted from what I thought it should be (I'm a CVT). After leaving, I worried about the care that my long term patients would recieve from my replacement, but one dog in particular. He's a 120lb German Shephard who lunges at the rest of the staff, but for some reason had a soft spot for me. I heard from an excoworker that he's owner had called to schedule when I was there, and was very upset to learn I had left. I think I'll always carry a little guilt for that. 

Nikki November 18th, 2009 02:47:30 AM

oops! His, not he's. Spell check.

Nikki November 18th, 2009 02:49:55 AM