Arlington Pets And Their Owners Feeling Stress Due To Coronavirus

CLARENDON, VA — Many animal care businesses in the Arlington community have been very busy the last few of months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"People are spending time with their pets," said Dr. Kayleen Gloor, who co-founded Clarendon Animal Carew with Dr. Natasha Ungerer in 2014. "I'm seeing more stressed-out cats. Cats having issues with their people being home, inappropriately urinating, over grooming, and other stress-related things that cats will do."

Many people who are stuck at home have decided that this would be a good time to adopt a dog, making it difficult for area shelters to keep up with demand. While fewer dogs without homes is a good problem to have, according to Gloor, these new adoptions can create their own challenges for the new owners.

"A lot of people have adopted puppies over the last few months," she said. "These puppies have gone through their main window of socialization never being alone. So, as people have to start going back to work, how is that going to look? How are they going to be able to cope and handle? Are we going to have to deal with a lot of separation anxiety over the next year?"

Living in a high-density community with many high-rise apartments and condominiums, Arlington residents also need to be mindful of signs of stress in their pets.

"Not all dogs need to be OK with a bunch of dogs at the dog park," Gloor said. "Not all dogs need to be OK with people coming up to them and petting them on the street. I always give the analogy to people. Do you like random strangers coming up to you and rubbing your ears? That may not be what all of them like, and that's OK."

Often, people purchase a dog with the intention of the animal being outgoing for everyone.

"Dogs have their individual personalities as well, and we can mold that to an extent in their window of socialization when they're very young," Gloor said. "But, we don't always have that opportunity. There are things we can do to help reduce the exposure to some of their stressors, and we should be working on that and considering their behavioral health as well as everything else."

Gloor always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. A Northern Virginia native, she grew up in Alexandria and began working Saturdays at her local vet's office when she was 16. After graduating from Virginia Tech with a veterinary degree in 2006, she came back to Northern Virginia for an internship focused on small animal internal medicine, surgery, and emergency care.

After working at other small animal practices in the area, Gloor teamed up with Ungerer to open Clarendon Animal Care (3000 10th Street N, Suite B, Arlington). In June, Gloor and Ungerer expanded their business by opening a second location (3000 10th Street N, Suite B, Arlington) in the heart of Clarendon, where they'll offer the same services as their 10th Street clinic.

"It's grown from it being Natasha and I to now we have nine full-time vets and a 10th one starting in August and potentially an 11th one starting too," Gloor said.

When asked what she likes about being a veterinarian, Gloor said it's the relationships she's built over the years with her customers that she appreciates most.

"When I did emergency and relief, I liked the crazy, cool cases the I saw working emergency. That was a lot of fun," she said. "But there was no follow up. There was no relationship building."

Recently, a client visited the clinic with his dog, which she remembered him adopting years ago.

"We were talking about his kids who are 14, and I was like, 'Oh my goodness, I remember them when they were 2,'" she said. "It's things like that that I didn't realize going into this that would be such a big part of the enjoyment factor."

Having worked in the Arlington community for about 13 years and serving on the board of the county's animal shelter for the last year, Gloor has nothing but praise for the county's pet owners.

"Arlington as pet owners are great," she said. "There's a strong feeling in the community, a sense of pets being part of the family versus like yard ornaments, because you do get to certain demographics and areas of the country where they're just there versus being a part of the family."

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Arlington Shelter Offers Virtual Adoptions During Coronavirus