Town N Country is a Fear Free Certified veterinary practice. To us, your pet’s emotional well-being is just as important as their physical health. That’s why we use a specialized tool called the FAS scale, which stands for Fear, Anxiety, and Stress. You might hear our team mention your pet’s “FAS level” during a visit. What exactly does that mean, and why is it so important?

It all goes back to “Fear Free”.

What Is a FAS Rating? We actually have an FAevaluating fasS Scale to help us evaluate how your pet is feeling emotionally during their visit. Whether it’s a routine wellness exam, a grooming appointment, or a medical procedure, the FAS rating helps us understand and respond to your pet’s emotional needs. By knowing your pet’s FAS rating beforehand, we can be prepared to help that FAS rating move down the scale.

The scale ranges from 0 to 5:

0 means your pet is calm and relaxed.
1-2 may show mild signs of stress or unease.
3-4 reflect increasing levels of fear or anxiety.
5 indicates a high level of distress that may require intervention and maybe even rescheduling to get the best outcome.

Note that observed FAS levels of 3-5 may indicate the future use of pre-visit pharmaceuticals like sedative medications to help reduce your pet’s stress and ensure we can continue to provide thorough care and obtain accurate diagnoses? Pre-visit pharmaceuticals are prescribed on a case by case basis and are used in combination with other interventions both at home and in practice.

FAS ratings help us provide more compassionate, personalized care. They also help us deliver better medical outcomes. Calm pets are easier to examine and treat—and they tend to recover faster, too.

Why FAS Ratings Matter. We want your pet to be more comfortable, and that’s a huge part of the reason we are a Fear Free practice. But reducing FAS also improves medical outcomes! Pets who are calm are easier to examine and treat, and they recover better when their stress is minimized. FAS ratings help us customize each visit, whether that means scheduling a “happy visit” ahead of time, using calming aids, or simply giving your pet space to acclimate by hanging out in the reception area or spending time just playing with one of our team.

We know that vet visits can be stressful—for pets and their people. That’s why we’re proud to be a Fear Free Certified practice, using tools like FAS ratings to provide personalized care. Every wag, purr, or relaxed sigh from your pet tells us we’re doing our job right, and helping keep your pet healthy – and happy.

Curious how we actually measure FAS in real time? Click here to read about how we evaluate pets during their visits.