Pet Health: Making the Decision to Own An Animal

My pets are very important to me and I consider them members of our family. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for animals. I was the little girl bringing home strays all the time to give them a loving home. I've had dogs, cats, horses, cows, rabbits, hamsters, mice, fish... you name it, I had it. Except snakes. Snakes and I don't jive. Never have, never will.

Being that our domestic animals depend on us for all their needs, this series of blogs is going to be about pet health. I will break them down in segments for 2 reasons:

1. I don't want to bog you down with info.

2. Each segment is important enough to warrant it's own blog.

Upcoming blogs will be about: vaccinations, heart worm prevention, spay & neutering, oral health, grooming and anything else that I come up with in between. You just never know what I will come up with.
After working in a veterinary clinic for a couple years I found that people didn't take care of their animals. It wasn't because they didn't love their animals, there is an abundance of people that love their animals just as much and more than I do. It was just that they were ignorant to their needs. Remember, ignorance means uneducated. I'm not insulting anybody here. This is an insult-free bliggity blog.

I always thought that a seminar or a pamphlet with the information that you need to know about owning an animal would be beneficial to pet owners so here is my online seminar.

Many pet owners find themselves with a large vet bill and/or a dead animal when they could have easily prevented the illness or condition with a little maintenance. It's just like us going to the doctor except we can verbalize what hurts or what's wrong or what our needs are. Pets can't so they need us to pay attention to their needs.

There are many things to consider when thinking about owning an animal. You have to be realistic. I would have 1,000 animals if I could. I would pick up every single stray animal and save all the animals from the pound that are to be euthanized but that's just not possible for many reasons. Here are a few things that you will need to make sure that you can handle before deciding to take on the responsibility of owning an animal or adding an animal to your brood.

1. Can you afford the animal?
Take into consideration the money that it will take to care for the animal properly.

Can you afford the food it requires? Big dogs eat LOTS of food and they do need the nutritional benefits that the cheap dog foods don't offer. Believe it or not but cheap dog food can lead to other health issues in the future. Good dog food is very important.

Can you afford the vet expenses? Animals need yearly vaccinations, monthly heart worm prevention medication, they need to be spayed or neutered, flea and tick prevention, and they may need grooming.

Can you afford the grooming expenses? Long haired dogs and cats do need grooming. If you do not maintain their coat, they will develop mats which can create hot spots. Hot spots are painful for the animal and sometimes require the attention of a vet for medication to treat the hot spot.

2. Do you have time for the dog?
Without the proper love and attention that a domestic animal needs, several things can develop in the animals behavior. It might act out by tearing up things, it is less likely to become potty trained, it might learn an aggressive behavior, among many other things. Domestic animals are very different than animals such as cows, horses, pigs and so on. We have trained our domestic animals to be a part of our life and when we don't give them the proper attention, they revert to the basic animal instincts. Fight or flight is a basic animal instinct and all they know to do is react.

3. Does the animal work with your family dynamic?
Whatever your family dynamic might be, you need to make sure that your animal fits well into it. Would you adopt an abused, problem animal with a newborn baby in the house without the proper time or facilities for the animal? Probably not. Common sense is a wonderful thing and it being used while taking your new animal into consideration would be helpful for a happy family.

4. Do you have room for the animal?
Research the needs of your animal. A cat is pretty versatile in the ways that they can pretty much live anywhere because of their independence: in the house, outside, both. We just recently adopted a border collie that comes from a long line of working cow dogs. Border collies need a job, lots of attention, and lots of room to play. A person that cannot give the animal their social and developmental needs would probably need to consider another breed.

So, there is is part 1 of our Pet Health Series. Feel free to discuss this on the blog or email me with any questions. If I don't have an answer for you, I know plenty of people that do.

-Kaci