The Savvy VetTech

Christmas is a time to celebrate family, and there’s an important part of the family that people sometimes forget – the pets! Cats, dogs, fish, snakes, birds, or whatever variety of animal you have, remember to include them in the celebrations as well. They may not know it’s Christmas time, but you don’t give presents to make others happy, you give them because it makes you happy. Giving to your pets works just as well as giving to other humans. Check out these ideas for the pets and pet lovers in your life.

Every year at this time, I start to think about dog pancreatitis for obvious reasons. Lots of delicious food and soon to be holiday parties taking place.

And as the old saying goes, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! This is especially true with dog pancreatitis prevention, as this can be a very serious and even life threatening disease for dogs.

Take the time to remind your veterinarian clients about the dangers of various Thanksgiving food for dogs when they come in to the clinic, and potentially even have a handout or e-mail for them as a helpful reminder.

While some dogs may easily tolerate some plain turkey meat, others can become seriously ill. The most common thing that I see in practice is a dog with pancreatitis or gastrointestinal upset because of things the GUESTS give the pets without the owner knowing!

Multiply that across multiple guests and it can make for a bad combination. So besides educating your clients, who may know what their dogs can and cannot tolerate, remind them to tell their guests- politely but firmly- that they must not feed the pets without permission, or better yet not at all. Otherwise...they can pay the vet bills!