Category Archives: Veterinary

Health and Wellness, Veterinary

Does Your Senior Dog or Cat Need Help?

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An old, senior dog with grey hair around eyes and muzzle

Aging is a fact of life, even for our pets. And the vast amount of products and services available for a senior dog or cat is incredible. With everything from stairs, ramps, slings and carts, to medicines and supplements, it can feel like companies are taking advantage of our love for our pets. But how many of these products are really necessary, and how many of them are just a money grab? It is very hard to tell if your pet really does need some help or if you are just overreacting.

They Start To Slow Down…

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen someone oblivious that their leash is fully extended and their senior dog is 30 feet behind them. Or a previously agile cat that missed a jump up to a favourite windowsill or scratching post. Many pet parents dismiss these things and believe their pet is just getting older. Isn’t it a normal part of aging that they can’t do all the things they used to? Slowing down does happen naturally as they age, but it doesn’t mean we have to accept it and let it limit what our pets can do.

If you put yourself in their paws, would you so quickly accept defeat and give up the simple things that you used to easily do?  Is getting older automatically a death sentence for the simple joys of life? We wouldn’t accept a disruption in our regular lifestyle so why should our pets? Yes, it is natural to reduce the intensity or frequency of leisure activities and exercise as we and our pets age. But the small things that make up the majority of our lives shouldn’t be compromised just because of the number of years on our calendars. ‘Quality of life’ is a phrase tossed around a lot in regards to our aging pets. But it is an easy and powerful tool to use when deciding whether some help is necessary.

When Should You Help?

Sit and carefully consider the activity and what is involved in making it happen. Is it a part of your pet’s life that brings them joy or peace? Or is it something they do because YOU enjoy it? Should it continue or is it time to say the risks outweigh the benefits? One way to help find the answer is to consider this question – is this something that ANY other young dog or cat would normally do in a routine day? Is it an activity that is a natural and instinctual part of life for that species?

When the answer to that question is ‘no’ then it is probably time to stop. An example of this is your dog running along while you go mountain biking. You might think, “But he loves that just as much as I do!” Yes, he might have when he was younger and stronger, but now he may be over-exerting himself to keep up with you. Bringing him along now as a senior dog probably causes more problems than enjoyment for him.

If the activity is a normal part of a happy life, then you should do what is reasonable to help them continue to enjoy that activity. The senior dog 30 feet behind his owner does not want to be back there on his own. He is struggling with joint issues or pain and can’t explore interesting things or smells on his walks. He can’t enjoy a major part of being a dog! And what about the cat that can’t get up to her favourite spot to lie in the sun? Sure, she will find a new place to sleep but why should she have to?

How To Help Your Senior Dog or Cat

Once you decide an activity is important now you need to figure out how to prevent any unnecessary stress or pain. Most of the time a simple adjustment or two in the early stages of a problem can fix it for quite a while. You can add a shelf or step up to the windowsill for your cat or a small ramp up to the car for your dog. This really doesn’t take much effort for you but it can make all the difference for them. Make walks with your senior dog a more casual and slower-paced activity. After all, going for a walk is for HER benefit. On a slower walk she can once again sniff out that interesting smell, or explore and go where she wants to go.

However, sometimes more needs to be done. Once the small things are no longer enough it might be time to consider some medication. It will start to get difficult to just stand up from a lying down position. Or they will have a hard time going up and down even just a few stairs. At that point there isn’t a simple product or solution anymore. They need to perform these actions on their own like they used to. These are the times where medications are likely necessary to allow them to continue with a normal life for as long as possible.

In the beginning, a supplement or additive to their food might be all that is necessary. Arthritis is just as common in pets as it is in humans, and giving some glucosamine or switching to a joint support diet might be enough if they are just entering their senior years. These are great ways to provide your pet with gentle support and can extend the time before you need some heavier products.

Properly Using Medications

A drug or medication might be added once your pet becomes geriatric or their condition gets more serious. A visit to your veterinarian is vitally important and the best place to start. They will do blood work and urine testing to check the status of your pet’s major organs and see how well their body can handle medication. Sometimes these tests will determine that one kind of medicine isn’t appropriate but a different type of drug will be perfectly safe. Major damage can happen from giving your pet a drug or medicine without checking with your veterinarian or performing these tests first. Even off the shelf human medicines can be fatal so be sure to talk to your vet before taking any serious steps on your own.

There are lots of options available and most are really easy to administer to your pet. Some are given on a daily basis, and some are given as needed when you expect your pet will experience some pain. Using medication when indicated can majorly help to your senior dog or cat and add years to their life expectancy. They do require periodic monitoring of organ function and occasional dosage adjustments though, so working with your veterinarian is vital to make sure they continue to be comfortable as they age.

Aging Is a Part of the Journey

It is never easy to accept that your pet is not the youthful and energetic dog or cat they used to be. Their life spans are much shorter than ours and they always seem to get older before we are ready. However, there is no shame in giving them some help to continue enjoying the activities they have always loved. Sometimes they really are just slowing down and taking things easier as they age, and sometimes they do need help to deal with an ache or pain.

Ultimately a much harder decision may have to be made when it comes to determining what is best for your pet, but that is a topic for another day. But when it comes to the beginning of our pets’ senior years, careful observation and some simple changes make a huge difference help support them for many happy years to come.

Veterinary

Veterinary TV Shows – The Good, Bad, and Ugly

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Vet TV Shows
With pet care becoming one of the fastest growing industries around, it makes sense that television networks are catching on and offering many new television shows about pets and veterinary care. After the huge success of the “Dog Whisperer,” Caesar Milan, there are many others hoping to capitalize on the love we all have for our pets. However, most professionals in the veterinary industry are outraged about the quality of some of the shows popping up.

Being a huge animal lover myself, of course I love to watch these types of shows. But I also have a professional interest and so really enjoy seeing the different types of cases that occur and following the treatment plans the doctors put in place. It feels really cool to be able to tell my husband that I’ve helped with a surgery like that one, or to be able to predict what is wrong with the animal because of my own experience.

But because of this experience and knowledge, sometimes I end up really disliking some of the things I see on these shows. And I’m not the only one. Let’s take for example one of the most popular shows about a veterinarian there is; ‘The Incredible Dr. Pol.’ This show airs on Animal Planet and follows a Michigan vet in his 70’s as he treats both farm and small animals. I have been horrified on numerous occasions by some of the practices I have seen on this show, such as; almost no sterile technique for surgery, no separate operating room, no visible pain control on major surgeries, no inhaled gas anesthetic or even a breathing tube, no apparent vital sign monitoring, no apparent surgical aftercare or monitoring… and the list goes on. In fact, some of the things I have listed are not up to the standards required by the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association. I haven’t seen one single surgery on his show yet be provided with basic surgical necessities that would meet those standards.

Dr. Pol has had 2 official complaints resulting in investigations of his practices. The first one resulted in a charge of negligence (failing to provide the minimum standard of care) and he was fined, placed on probation, and required to take further education courses. The second, charges of both negligence and incompetence, ended in the same result but were later overturned in a court of appeal because the animal survived and the owners were happy with his services. Dr. Pol argues that he will “provide all the necessary treatments required by state law while respecting the financial situations in his rural community.” While I understand financial restrictions of owners means that care provided must sometimes be kept to the minimum necessary, but a dog recovering from surgery should at least get some warm blankets. That doesn’t cost Dr. Pol a cent to provide.

There are so many fantastic shows about veterinarians that we don’t need a show like that. The ones that I have seen and are great actually do provide proper standards of care to their patients. Some of them are; Dr K’s Exotic Animal ER, Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet, and Vet School (all on Nat Geo Wild), as well as ER Vets on CMT. If you want to see the difference in the care provided, watch a surgery performed on a dog on both The Incredible Dr. Pol and Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER. I think it will be immediately apparent that you would prefer any dog to be in Dr. K’s hands and veterinary hospital!

There may be more shows that I haven’t seen that also provide excellent patient care so please leave a comment if there is one you think I should check out. I hope I have made you think a bit about the shows that are out there and the type of care you should be looking for when your own pet needs to see a veterinarian. Good medicine and care can still be provided at lower costs without having to put the animal’s safety at risk.

There are a lot of shows about training and animal behaviour as well, but I will tackle those shows in my next post. What do you think about this article? Have you seen any of these shows and what did you think of them?

Veterinary

What to consider when choosing a veterinarian

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puppy and vet

So, you’ve got a new pet and you’re very excited! The first step for most pet owners is to get a health check for your new addition to make sure that they are disease-free and in top shape. But how do you know where to take them?  These days, most people turn to the internet to find a veterinarian in their area. They read reviews posted by others, check out some websites and addresses, and maybe phone around to a few offices to compare prices. A place is chosen and an appointment is made likely before even setting foot in the hospital! While location, reviews, and costs are definitely factors to consider when choosing a vet clinic, I encourage you to not stop there in your search. There are so many more aspects to consider when it comes to finding the right veterinarian for your pet and your family!

My number one consideration that I recommend is to look for clinics in the area that are AAHA accredited. AAHA stands for the American Animal Hospital Association and it is a voluntary, PAID membership that veterinary clinics apply for. In order to be approved the clinics have to pass a comprehensive inspection and meet a minimum standard. Basically, a clinic that takes the effort and money to become AAHA accredited is a clinic that provides an excellent standard of care for the patients they see, and is one that I would immediately trust with my pet. However, that doesn’t mean a clinic that is not certified is a bad one. It is just a way to immediately know about the care they provide.

Next, I would look into the different services that are offered at the clinics you are considering. A hospital that has the latest technologies or is offering progressive surgeries or procedures is one that invests in education and takes an interest in new medicine. Improved technology means better results and more information for veterinarians to use in treating animals. Also, ask the clinics you are considering for a tour. See what their treatment area, surgical suite and kennels look like. There should be a separate operating room for surgery where a sterile environment can be maintained. The treatment area should be clean and tidy, and you should feel good about the state of the clinic. I would be at least wary if a clinic did not agree to a tour! Unless it is an emergency clinic or large specialty hospital, most clinics wouldn’t have a problem giving a tour.

Finally, cost. I realize that cost is an important factor for most people. Yet, I really caution that it be the main factor in this decision. It may be appealing to go the cheapest place, but there is usually a reason it is the cheapest. Exams and vaccines are often discounted to bring in new business, and that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking the real important things, like spays and neuters, dentistry, etc. These things are very important and should not have corners cut to save money. I’m not saying that you should go with the most expensive place either. But most likely a clinic that can charge low prices on everything they provide is one that does not provide the best care they possibly could.

So, my advice is to just really have a look and carefully consider a few clinics before choosing one. Take all these factors into consideration, and any others that may be important to you. And nothing says you have to stay with the first clinic you go to. If you are unsatisfied with your experience you can always go to another. But you want the best for your pet and they deserve a little consideration when you make this decision for them.

For a list of AAHA hospitals near you, use the search tool at their website.