After Hours Pet Emergency Care

So it's Friday night and your pet is sick and your excuse for not taking it to the veterinarian is that they are closed. What a load of crap. Nearly all veterinarians offer 24 hour emergency care. Get your pet to a vet now because if you wait until Monday your pet could be dead, or in worse condition.

The real reason people do not want to take their sick pet to the vet after hours is either due to laziness, on my gosh they might miss the hockey game, or due to the fact that they do not want to pay extra for emergency care.

Most veterinarians have an additional charge for calls made after hours. Big deal, this is your pet's life we may be talking about. The very least you can do is call, find out what the extra charge is, and decide if you can afford it.

You may even be able to talk to the veterinarian, explain the symptoms, and have them suggest if the pet should come in right away, or if it can wait until morning. You should know most will suggest bringing in the pet at the time, because depending what is wrong, waiting could threaten its chances for survival.

You should never wait if your pet has a fever of 2 degrees more than normal, if it is very young, very old, or pregnant and been straining to deliver for more than 1 hour. Black smelly diarrhea, can be a sign of parvo, this cannot wait. If your pet is unconscious you need to call a vet, also do not take the “wait and see” approach if it has swallowed poison. CALL THE VET!

Of course many after hour, especially weekend, veterinarian appointments can be avoided if you simply take it to the vet if symptoms first show up during regular open hours rather than hoping they go away on their own. There is nothing worse, and more frustrating to a vet, than a person who noticed their pet was sick on Wednesday but they waited until it was really sick on Saturday night before calling for help.

When you call a veterinarian after hours you either get their answering service, or may get the veterinarian themselves. Be respectful of them and their time, they do not want to drop what they are doing any more than you do, but it is their job. Do not argue about having to pay extra simply because they served you after hours. When was the last time you had a car mechanic look at your car at 2 in the morning?

Tips on When to Take a Sick Dog to the Vet
Tips on When to Take a Sick Cat to the Vet

Your pet is  your responsibility, when it is ill, no matter what day or time,  you need to suck it up and... well... deal with it.

Fat Pets are Abused Pets

Some people love to brag about their fat pet. They flaunt the picture of their chubby chihuahua or porky Persian as if rolls of skin were a sign of affection. Food does not equal love, too much food equals abuse, and a fat pet is a sign of a pet that is fed too much and exercised too little.

Not only can cats and dogs suffer from obesity, so can other pets, ponies not only get fat but if overfed they can get founder which may cripple them for life. Although many people do not realize it, snakes are often fed more than they need, and can be “fat”.

Neutering is commonly blamed for making a pet fat, but in reality overfeeding, and lack of exercise are the real cause. The problem is made worse when the pet gets so fat it often suffers from heart problems and joint pain making it less willing to exercise.

photo source

A fat pet is only slightly excusable; it is easy for a pet to put on a few pounds and for the owner not to notice, but obesity is not excusable. If a pet reaches such levels that it waddles around like a seal, this is a case of abuse, and allowing a pet to be in such a condition can result in prosecution under animal cruelty. In fact 2 brothers in England were charged with such a crime in 2006 when they allowed their chocolate lab, Rusty, to become so obese he moved like a seal.

While you do not want to see ribs and hip bones sticking out of a pet, if you cannot feel ribs then your pet is fat.

Pets become fat because their owners equate food with love, they overfeed the pet because they feel guilty. Dogs become fat because it is their nature to eat everything they can, they do not regulate their intake, they live as though every meal may be their last. Cats become obese for different reasons, while most cats regulate how much they eat, many cat foods skimp on quality ingredients and use fattening ones instead. "Chunks in gravy" = fattening.  Where in nature would a dog or cat going to find gravy?  Get real!

If your pet is fat you need to start increasing the amount of exercise the pet gets, and decreasing the amount of food it gets (gradually - crash dieting can be dangerous). With cats it is very important to feed a better quality food, one with less carbohydrates, after all cats are carnivores, the carbs used as filler in cheap foods are what make them fat.

There is no excuse for having an obese pet. No excuse for not walking a dog once or twice a day, no excuse for not playing with your cat – they love honey suckle toys by the way! If your pet is fat it is your fault you need to start looking after it and not smothering it with calories.

Oh sure you might try to use the “Thyroid condition" as an excuse, but a thyroid condition is no excuse for overfeeding it, or not exercising it, if the pet has a thyroid condition talk to the vet and give the pet more exercise to balance the issue.

If your pet is fat get up off your lazy ass and do something about it. You are not showing your pet love by giving it treats, or too much food, you are killing it, shortening its lifespan, making it sick.  Your pet needs better care, you need to deal with it.

*Note obese pets can become diabetic.

How to Put your Cat on a Diet 

Cats Kill Birds, so do You, Deal with it

Sometimes I encounter people who are very angry at cat owners who allow their cats outside. One of the reasons for this is the fact that house cats who go outside kill birds. I am certain even the cat's owners are not particularly thrilled with this behavior, but to be fair human activities kill a lot more birds than do house cats.

Cats are carnivores, by their very nature they have a high prey drive, we consider this an advantage if they kill a mouse, and a disadvantage if they kill a pretty little songbird. It is not that the cat is doing something intentionally evil, it is doing what is natural to do. People argue that house cats are not a natural species, and they have been introduced to areas where they did not exist, well... the same can be said of humans.

Why don't we take any blame for our own actions on killing birds? I am not even talking about the billions of chickens we slaughter, but am referring to the millions the song birds we kill. Do we dare measure how many songbirds are killed in a year by our own actions and see how that compares to how many birds cats kill?

How many songbirds die when their nesting area in the rain forest is cut? How many songbirds die when they smash into skyscrapers as they migrate in the night? How many songbirds die as the result of pollution or chemicals? How many song birds are consumed as delicacies in countries such as Cypress? How many songbirds die as the result of human activities every day?

Sure, cats kill birds, it's what they do, they are carnivores, prey hunters. Humans kill birds all the time with no thought of eating them. People come around and clean up city streets in the wee hours of the morning to remove bodies of birds killed on their migration, tossed in to the garbage. Why are we always blaming the cats?

Has anyone who is mad at cats changed their own lifestyle so as to harm no other life forms? Have they stopped having children so we no longer need to destroy forests to make houses or toilet paper? Hmm?

Good luck getting people to blame themselves when they can blame cats instead.

Cats kill birds, well... deal with it.

As a note, concerned owners who want to reduce the likelihood of their cat killing birds could put a collar with a bell on their cat but these are not very effective as cats learn how to move without ringing the bell. Keeping the cat indoors is the best way to prevent it from killing songbirds, or by confining it a fully fenced cat section made out of chicken wire so birds do not get in. Cat owners should not entice birds into their yard with bird feeders.

Why are Dogs Neglected by Their Owners?

Recently I was awarded best answer for the question “Why do People Own Dogs but they Don't Take Care of Them?”. This not an easy question to answer because there are so many reasons why dogs are neglected, and some people do not even realize that they are not taking proper care of their pet.

Many people get dogs without realizing how much work they really are. They see a cute pup, and think it would be rather fun to have a dog, but before too long that pup is huge, and tearing their house apart, and is tossed out to live in the backyard where it digs and barks.

A lot of neglected dog problems start when a parent has given in to their child's begging for a dog.  When the child becomes tired of the dog, or out grow the novelty of owning a dog, the parents may not be willing to pick up the slack. This is something that always troubles me since the adults should have been aware that this does happen and should not have taken on getting a pet they were not willing to help care for. It's pretty much common knowledge that kids really cannot make lifetime commitments to pets.

Eager prospective dog owners often do not do proper breed research when they get a dog, they fail to recognize that different dogs have different lifestyle needs; while one breed of dog is fine at home on the sofa, others need a ton of exercise or mental stimulation to keep them satisfied (and behaved). Some breeds of dog require daily hair brushing or their fur tangles and forms painful mats.

Some people overlook the costs and expenses of dog care. They cut corners. They fail to vaccinate their dog, don't spay or neuter it, do not take it to obedience lessons, and neglect worming and flea control. The dog ends up riddled with parasites, becomes unruly, or starts urinating in the house so the people kick it outside. Again this is failure to plan for the pet.

Overall I do not think that anyone gets a dog with the intent of neglecting it. They simply were over eager and failed to do their homework before getting the dog.

 

If you are thinking of getting a dog or puppy, you need to:

• Do Breed Research
• Calculate the Yearly Cost of a Dog
• Decide if you have Enough Time for a Dog

If you took on the responsibility of dog ownership you are responsible for training the dog, feeding the dog, making sure the dog is well groomed, and overseeing the mental happiness of the dog. You are responsible for the veterinary needs of the dog for its entire lifetime, so, well... deal with it.

Veterinarians are Not Charities

I am so tired of people looking for free help for their sick pets or complaining about the high cost of veterinary care for their pets.

Seriously if you cannot afford vet care, do not get a pet.

Vets are not charities. They paid for education, they should get paid for their time and the equipment needed to help your pet. Veterinarians have many expenses you may not be aware of.

Some veterinarians have their own clinics, others work out of a clinic, or are employed by a vet clinic. They have receptionists to pay, anesthesiologists to pay, kennel staff to pay, and want a wage themselves. There is a lot of expensive equipment in a veterinarian clinic, everything from cages, microscopes, x-ray machines and so forth. They have to pay for their building, land, and taxes.

If your pet requires shots they have to use a new needle every time, plus what ever they use on your pet.

Why should you, a pet owner, assume that the vet should do this at, or below, their cost? Why should they be held any different than another professional?

A veterinarian is often on call, their meals could be interrupted at any time. Livestock vets hardly get any sleep during calving, lambing, and foaling, seasons as they are often called at night to attend an animal in distress, shouldn't this be worth more? Their weekends are often broken up with emergency calls and sometimes with calls from people who simply didn't want to call on Friday and decided to wait to see if their pet got better, only to have it get worse after hours.

Nobody forces you to have a pet, and if you do have a pet out of a medical need, that pet, and its medical bills, are tax deductible.

There is no excuse for anyone who gets a puppy or kitten to say they cannot afford veterinary care for that animal and to then complain about the cost. “Why are vets so expensive?” should not even be a thought.

Unless you yourself work in a charity as a volunteer you should not expect others to work for free. Veterinarian care is not cheap, and rarely free, veterinarian's are people who have jobs they deserve to be paid for, so well... deal with it.

Other Reading

Concerns with Free Online Veterinarian Help

Pets do Not Wander Off to Die

Recently I had somebody tell me a story of their cat. They said their cat was sick and old, and one day it just wandered off to die. What? This person genuinely believed that their sick and old cat wandered off to spare them from having to see it suffer any more.

Sick, old, or suffering, pets might wander off and die... but pets do not wander of to die.

Pets do not give a shit if you feel good about watching them die or not. A pet that is sick and suffering simply wants go feel better, it hides because it wants to feel safe, not because it cares about your feelings. It knows it is weak and vulnerable. The pet is hiding so other animals don't beat the living daylights out of it as some animals are prone to do, including feral animals as well as wild ones such as foxes, coyotes, and raccoons.

If your cat is sick and old what the heck are you even doing letting the poor thing out of your house? Take it to a veterinarian for proper treatment, or euthanasia even. Keep it indoors so it is comfy and can recover and be safe. Would you kick out your dear old ailing grandmother and let her wander off to die?

Maybe some people are just too stupid to realize that sick, old, or dying pets, can be cared for, and should not be left to suffer alone.

Most pets who “wander off to die” hide and die of dehydration or starvation, having become too weak to leave their sheltered spot to find food or water. They may lie there for days before the end finally comes. In some cases these animals would have had a chance at life if only their owner got help for them.

I recall one half dead cat that my sister and I found, she was so thin that when we took her to the SPCA they immediately directed us to take her to the veterinarian. The poor cat had a bone stuck in her throat, the owner just assumed the cat dropped weight due to age and had wandered off to die. In truth the cat was dying because the owner neglected it.

If your pet is old it is up to you to make its final days more comfortable, letting it wander the streets aimlessly (many senior pets suffer from dementia) just shows a lack of compassion, and I would question how much such a person really “loves their pet”.

If you own a pet that is sick or old, turning your back on it to let it suffer and die is neglect. People who do such are pathetic and if they call themselves a pet lover after committing such a crime they should be ashamed of themselves. If your pet is old and dying you need to care for it and keep it in your home even if this means you have to watch it die, and may have to deal with the body. This is the part of pet ownership that sucks for all of use but to escape your responsibility by ignoring the plight of your pet is cruel.

If your old pet is missing, get out there and look for it!

Pets do not wander off to die, they do not run away from home to spare your feelings, they do not wander off to save you a few dollars at the veterinarian. They wander off because you didn't care enough to keep them in your home. If your pet is dying well... do something.. and well... deal with it.

Are Rodeos Cruel

Anna Sewell once wrote a book called Black Beauty. She wrote this book to educate adults about cruelty and abuses towards horses. Anna's book did cause things to improve for many horses of the time, and has since been important in encouraging people to support kindness to horses, however to deny that any cruelty to horses does not exist now is just false.

Although cruelty does exist in many equestrian disciplines (and in some methods of training), it is the rodeo industry that often comes under attack by animal welfare advocates, and rightfully so. Can't we just agree that rodeos are cruel? Apparently not!

People in the rodeo industry, and many fans, often defend rodeos as not being cruel. It's a shame they cannot at least admit cruelty exists but be honest about finding some enjoyment in it. It would at least be more honest than saying that raking spurs along a horse's shoulder is not cruel. How can throwing a rope around a running calf's neck and jerking it to a sudden stop, not be cruel? And those are just the better known rodeo events. There are many rodeo events that are quite rough that are not televised, including wild pony chases where miniature horses soon learn to be terrified of humans.

Does the horse look happy?

How can anyone watch a horse, pinched with a painful strap around its groin, bucking, being “raked” by spurs and not say it's cruel? If you find entertainment in that, you should at least have the balls to admit that the animal is not enjoying it.

To say that something is not cruel, when clearly the animal is not having much fun, shows a greater ignorance. If the rodeo fans, and participants, want to live in denial, being somehow blissfully unaware that livestock animals do feel fear and pain, then they are fools.

Not intentional, but the rope is pressing on the one eye.

How can anyone watch a horse so terrified it throws itself over, and say “Oh no, perfectly fine, no cruelty here!”? How can anyone watch a calf die of a broken neck (admittedly rare but it does happen) as a result of being roped when running, and say “Yup, not cruel, totally normal.”?

This is not to excuse cruelty in other equestrian disciplines (often people in the rodeo start pointing fingers when the rodeo is criticized as being cruel), it is simply to say that rodeos are more for enjoyment of people, than animals. Why can't people at least “cowboy up” and admit it? Rodeos are cruel, if you like them, that is your choice, and well... deal with it.

Photos are from Wikimedia Commons.

You can read more on the debate of Rodeo Cruelty if you wish.