Designing the layout of kennels in a veterinary office is far more than fitting cages into a room. It’s about supporting workflow, minimizing animal stress, promoting hygiene, and maximizing safety and comfort for every patient. Whether you’re building a new facility or reconfiguring your existing space, your kennel layout plays a critical role in the overall efficiency and success of your clinic.
Here’s what to consider when planning your kennel layout, based on real-world experience from veterinary professionals who work in the space every day.
1. Start With the Big Picture: Your Practice Workflow
Before you dive into square footage or materials, take a step back and assess your current workflow. Where are bottlenecks happening? Where do animals need to be housed temporarily? Where are staff frequently moving between treatment areas and kennels?
An optimized layout should reduce unnecessary steps, keep noisy or high-stress areas away from recovery zones, and allow your team to move quickly and safely between patient care stations. Place kennels within close proximity to treatment, surgical, and exam rooms so that staff can monitor patients post-op without constant backtracking.
2. Prioritize Patient Safety and Comfort
Every animal reacts differently to clinical environments. Dogs, cats, and exotic species all have unique stress triggers and housing requirements. Ideally, your kennel area should allow for species separation and sound control.
Cats benefit from quiet zones with limited visibility of other animals. Dogs need secure, durable housing with adequate space to lie down, turn around, and stretch. Consider using sight barriers, soft lighting, and gentle ventilation to create a more peaceful recovery area.
Incorporating veterinary pet boarding products that are both easy to sanitize and built with patient comfort in mind will elevate the quality of care you can provide in these spaces.
3. Account for the Types of Treatments You Perform
Are you doing routine outpatient surgeries or do you frequently handle orthopedic or emergency procedures? Your kennel layout should reflect the nature and volume of treatments you provide.
For example, if your clinic handles post-op recovery or isolation cases regularly, you’ll need a layout that supports close monitoring. Recovery kennels should be located near surgical suites with clear sightlines or integrated viewing windows so that staff can observe patients without disruption.
If you also board animals overnight, it’s critical to separate short-term recovery housing from long-term boarding to avoid unnecessary noise and stress.
4. Plan for Cleanability and Sanitation
Sanitation should be built into every inch of your layout. Use non-porous, corrosion-resistant materials and ensure kennels are elevated slightly to prevent pooling. Rounded corners, sloped floors, and seamless welds can help eliminate bacteria-harboring crevices.
Arrange kennels with enough clearance around and between each unit so that your team can clean effectively without moving animals unnecessarily. Removable trays or slatted floors can reduce clean-up time and support better drainage.
Also consider incorporating pass-through doors or two-way entry designs that allow for safe animal transfers between exam or grooming areas and the kennel itself.
5. Incorporate Ergonomics Into the Design
Kennel layout isn’t just about animal comfort, it’s about staff health, too. Ergonomics play a major role in daily operations, especially when lifting, cleaning, and moving animals throughout the clinic.
Raised kennels reduce strain on backs and knees, and mobile or adjustable-height kennel banks can improve safety for both staff and patients. If you’re integrating housing with your exam or treatment rooms, choosing ergonomic veterinary exam cabinets can help streamline your workflow and minimize physical strain on your team.
6. Maximize Flexibility and Future Growth
Design with the future in mind. Your patient load may grow, and the services you offer could evolve. Consider a modular layout that allows for additional kennels, repurposed recovery bays, or the ability to convert space into isolation or treatment zones as needed.
Avoid over-customizing the space for one type of patient. Multi-functional designs give you the ability to adapt without a complete renovation down the line.
The animal care experts at TriStar Vet design and manufacture veterinary exam cabinets, veterinary pet boarding products, and other innovative products for your vet clinic that are ergonomic, ultra-durable and affordable.