The Preventive Vet
My thoughts and well wishes are with those people and families affected by the #tornadoes in #Oklahoma yesterday. In light of these tornadoes, please take a moment to make/review your #disaster and #emergency preparedness plan for your pets.
http://www.thepreventivevet.com/disaster-guide-for-pets.html
This is a #free #PDF download. Please use it and please share the link, natural disaster season is just now upon us.
Be well, safe, and prepared, everybody.
As it does each year, September 1st marks the beginning of National Emergency Preparedness Month. Established in 2004, National Emergency Preparedness Month is designed to encourage us all to learn about and take some simple steps to become better prepared for a range of potential emergencies and/or disasters. After all, it’s often the “little things” that can make a big difference when the s*#t hits the proverbial fan and a little advanced planning and awareness can go an awful long way.
Welcome to the third, and final, installment of this blog series on feline urethral obstruction… Part 3 - ‘Be Preventive’. In this post I’ll highlight the things you need to know and the steps you should take to prevent an occurrence (or recurrence) of this condition.
If you missed the first two installments in the blog series, click the respective hyperlinks here to read them… Part 1 - ‘Be Aware’, and Part 2 - ‘Be Prepared’.
Additionally, and as an aside, if you’ve ever had a cat suffer from a urethral obstruction I’d greatly appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete the online survey I created on SurveyMonkey. The survey can be found by clicking here, its completely anonymous and only takes a few minutes to complete. Thanks in advance for your time.
And so, without further ado, lets talk about the things you need to know and do to decrease your cat’s risk for urethral obstruction…
Regardless of how aware and proactive you may be with your pet’s health and safety, and as much as I will prepare you, there will, sadly, always be the possibility of an illness or emergency ‘sneaking through’. Do you have a financial plan in place should such an event occur?
Part of the preparedness aspect of my ‘Be aware. Be prepared. Be preventive.’ mantra is financial preparedness. For example, what would you do if suddenly faced with the following costs for your pet’s necessary emergency care?
Cat bite abscess (cat): $1,250
Hit-by-car (dog): $5,600
Urethral obstruction (cat): $2,700
Toxin ingestion (mushrooms, dog): $6,500
Heatstroke (dog): $4,200
Gastrointestinal foreign body surgery (diaper, dog): $3,275
Vomiting and diarrhea (pancreatitis, dog): $3,000
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (cat): $4,600
Back surgery for ruptured disc (dog): $5,600
These are just a few examples, but they’re real and they’re common. As you’re hopefully beginning to realize and coming to appreciate, it truly is best to give some thought and consideration to such situations before they happen to one of your pets — doing so will not only allow you to be more medically and emotionally prepared, but better financially prepared as well. In this post I’ll outline the options available for you when faced with the unexpected costs of a pet emergency.
In the first post of this series I covered the ‘what’ of urethral obstruction. In this post I’ll be detailing the things you should know to be prepared for in the event of a urethral obstruction. Hopefully you’ll never need this information, but as with most things in life, its best to have it and know its here if you do. After all, when it comes to feline urethral obstruction, your cat’s life is truly at stake.
Christmas and batteries just seem to go hand-in-hand, don’t they. Whether those batteries are for your child’s toy, a new camera, or your cool new digital watch, you really should take the necessary precautions to keep them out of your pet’s mouth.
Now you might not think that your dog would eat a battery, but given the frequency with which these types of cases are seen in pet emergency rooms and general practices around the country, it appears as though, for some reason, quite a few dogs just seem to love chewing on and swallowing these things!
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and a great time to join together with friends and family - be they two legged or four (or even three, lest we forget about our tripawd animal companions). As you’re preparing your Thanksgiving plans though, don’t forget to consider the common pet hazards associated with this day of friends, family, feasting, fun, and football. If you don’t, you may be enjoying your Thanksgiving in the local animal emergency room uttering another word beginning with ‘f’. Oh, that’s right… ‘phooie’ begins with a ‘p’, my bad. Regardless, I’m sure you’d prefer to spend the holiday at home with friends and family rather than in the waiting room of the local animal ER. And wait you will, as this is a very busy time of the year in pet emergency hospitals. So, even if you’re trying to avoid spending time with your family, there are significantly better (and cheaper) ways of doing so!
To have a pet-safe Thanksgiving this year, and every year, keep in mind the following information and advice…
Many of the foods we eat safely throughout the year can cause digestive upset, obstruction, or toxicity to our pets. At Thanksgiving, several of them are all in one place at the same time - a pet emergency ‘perfect storm’ of sorts. From the ‘culinary centerpiece’ to many of the common side dishes, danger lurks on the Thanksgiving table.
Regardless of the flavor, 100% xylitol is SO not a good thing for dogs!
