The Preventive Vet

Information and advice on pet safety and emergency prevention from an experienced emergency room veterinarian. I may not always tell you what you want to hear, but I will always tell you what you need to know. See the website for more information and advice (www.ThePreventiveVet.com), and don't forget to follow along on Facebook and Twitter too.

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Posts tagged "health"

Cat Can’t Pee! Feline Urethral Obstruction: Part 3 - Be Preventive

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…

Pet Emergencies… What’s Your Financial Plan?

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.