My current soapbox at work is low stress handling, particularly for cats. I am absolutely getting on my coworkers about it, particularly when it comes to scruffing. One of my goals for this year is to take the scruff free pledge, and I encourage any other veterinary professionals to do the same.
You may ask, "but what if the cat is fractious? Should I just let myself get bit?"
No, of course not. Even this particular campaign notes: "There may be exceptional circumstances in which there is a real and imminent risk of injury to a person where very brief heavy restraint, such as scruffing, may be necessary. However, these occasions should be rare and exceptional, never ever routine."
Our goal should be to reduce the likelihood that cats will feel need to bite/swat by implementing appropriate low stress handling techniques. There's a lot that goes into this, and honestly it is kind of a steep learning curve at first. But once you start to get the hang of it, you'll see a huge difference.
The thing about scruffing is that it is a LAST resort. Not a second resort, or a third resort. It is something you use if you need immediate and brief control of a cat. That may be for safety, or to implement life saving care. It is NOT meant for prolonged restraint, especially for something routine (i.e. wellness blood work, nail trims, vaccines, etc). Basically, if you have to scruff a cat for something routine, you should not continue that procedure. A cat should not be biting/swatting, screaming, or excessively struggling for something that is not essential to their immediate health. If they are, we need to stop and reassess, and potentially consider oral or injectable sedation. I think that's where some disconnect comes in, at least with my own experiences
Yes, we are no longer scruffing as a first resort at my work (or doing the "scruff and stretch" for blood draws), and I think this is true in many clinics. And that's great! But getting people to stop grabbing the scruff and continuing with a kitten's FIV/FeLV test because they started screeching and nipping? We're working on that. It's a good lesson for me too, because yes, I did say that you can scruff to protect yourself from getting bit. So I've gotten some push back because a cat was actively struggling or trying to bite/swat when I've called someone out for scruffing. The point is, they shouldn't be getting that worked up in the first place. And if they are, and we have to scruff to protect ourselves, we should not be continuing, because the animal is already way too stressed.
Dr. Sophia Yin said something in a lecture that I thought really put things in perspective. She asked, "is it appropriate to strap down uncooperative children at the dentist?" While of course we need to be careful with anthropomorphism, I think this is a case where the comparison is very apt. Because cats, like kids at the dentist, are reacting this way due to fear and stress. It's not out of malice or spite, it's fear. So we, as veterinary professionals, need to stop accepting that forceful, full body restraint (which has been shown to increase the amount the cat struggles and also increase their aversion to the area they were restrained) is acceptable in anything other than dire circumstances.
I encourage all veterinary professionals and cat owners to get familiar with the AAFP/ISFM 2022 Feline Handling Guidelines. Because this is gold standard medicine, and cats deserve better.
tldr; scruffing cats in the veterinary clinic is inappropriate and outdated as a restraint method and should only be used briefly as a method to regain control in an extreme situation, not as continued restraint.
