When the weather outside turns cold and snowy, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reminds you to think about your pet's safety and recommends the following winter care tips to protect your companion animal:
1. Keep your cats inside. Outdoor cats can freeze, or become lost or stolen, injured or killed.
2. During the winter, outdoor cats sometimes sleep under car hoods for warmth. Before starting your car, bang loudly on the hood and wait a few seconds to give the cat a chance to escape.
3. Antifreeze, even in tiny doses, is a lethal poison for cats. Unfortunately, its sweet taste attracts animals to it. Thoroughly clean up spills from your vehicle. To prevent accidental poisoning, more and more people are using animal-friendly products that contain propylene glycol rather than traditional products containing ethylene glycol. Call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (1-888-4ANI-HELP) if you suspect your animal has been poisoned.
4. Never leave your pet alone in a car during the cold weather. A car can act as a refrigerator in the winter, holding in the cold. Your companion animal could freeze to death.
5. Make sure your pet has a warm place to sleep far away from drafts and off the floor. Consider a cat bed or basket with a warm blanket or pillow in it.
Originally published on Cat Channel.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Resolutions for Pets and Pet People
So here we are at the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Who am I to buck the tradition of the New Year’s Resolution? This is mine from the "professional improvement" category:
I will strive to be more compassionate with "difficult" pet owners.
As is the case for many veterinarians, I got into this field because I love animals and am fascinated with medicine and science. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy working with (most) people, but if people were my primary focus, I would have gone into human medicine. I wasn’t naïve when I applied to veterinary school; I knew that dealing with people would be a huge part of my job. But when I get tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed, I have little patience with people who make helping their animals more difficult than it has to be.
I can usually fake my way through appointments with difficult clients. I basically become an actor playing the role of a considerate veterinarian and focus most of my attention on my patient. I try to remember that it is never the animal’s fault if his or her owners are driving me crazy. In this way, I ensure that my patient’s medical care doesn’t suffer just because I don’t really like the people to whom he or she is attached.
This approach works in so far as it goes, but leaves me feeling like I’ve shirked one of my professional duties — truly connecting with my patient’s primary caretaker. I suspect that these owners leave our appointments somewhat unsatisfied as well — my acting skills haven’t landed me in Hollywood, after all.
Therefore, I resolve to truly try to connect with even the most difficult of clients by remembering that I don’t know what troubles are the cause of a person’s attitude and that most people are doing the best they can under the circumstances.
I can usually fake my way through appointments with difficult clients. I basically become an actor playing the role of a considerate veterinarian and focus most of my attention on my patient. I try to remember that it is never the animal’s fault if his or her owners are driving me crazy. In this way, I ensure that my patient’s medical care doesn’t suffer just because I don’t really like the people to whom he or she is attached.
This approach works in so far as it goes, but leaves me feeling like I’ve shirked one of my professional duties — truly connecting with my patient’s primary caretaker. I suspect that these owners leave our appointments somewhat unsatisfied as well — my acting skills haven’t landed me in Hollywood, after all.
Therefore, I resolve to truly try to connect with even the most difficult of clients by remembering that I don’t know what troubles are the cause of a person’s attitude and that most people are doing the best they can under the circumstances.
Now on to the other side of the exam table, so to speak. If you haven’t made a resolution in the "pet care" category, might I suggest:
I will take care of one aspect of preventive veterinary medicine that I’ve been putting off.
Did 2012 pass without your pet benefiting from a "wellness" exam? Does your cat need a dental cleaning? What about a fecal examination/prophylactic deworming for your dog? Did your veterinarian recommend a panel of lab work to screen for disease in your canine or feline "senior citizen"? Is there a vaccination you declined, but with hindsight think might be a good idea? What about heartworm or feline leukemia/immunodeficiency virus testing? Does your pet have a microchip? Is he or she neutered/spayed if not part of a breeding program?
Make it your New Year’s resolution to knock off at least one aspect of veterinary preventive care from your "to do" list in January or February.
Make it your New Year’s resolution to knock off at least one aspect of veterinary preventive care from your "to do" list in January or February.
Post originally published by PetMD.
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