The Take Away:
Better living through chemistry! I can emphasize enough how happy I was with our pre-visit drug regimen. It took so much stress out of the morning and made Quin happier and so much easier to handle. She still got barky at the office cats, but she seemed more curious than dangerous. I didn’t realize what she was doing at the time, but she did get her muzzle right up against a cat and only sniffed at it. 
She was quite wiggly for the vet and staff when she had been unsure of or growled at them at previous visits.
My Fear Free training has cemented in my mind the importance of removing as much fear and stress from any procedure or visit as possible. First, it is easier on the dogs and easier on the vet team. Additionally, the better an experience our dogs have, the easier future vet visits will be.