There is so much I wish pet owners knew before they walked through my practice door.
I wish they knew how dangerous some over the counter medications are for their pets, that grain-free diets are not actually hypoallergenic diets, or that their pet might have worms they could catch even if their pet’s poop looks normal.
These are things that would save them frustration, money, and sometimes their pet’s life.
Even though I get to help my patients every day, I want to be part of a bigger change for animals.
As a veterinarian, I only get to see my patients once, maybe twice a year. There are so many other pet lovers and pet professionals in my patient’s lives.
My dream is to create a local coalition of dog trainers, groomers, pet store folks, and dedicated pet parents that can be sources of valuable information for the other pet lovers in their lives.
On top of that, I am working through blogpaws and the online petverse to create helpful content for pet owners savvy enough to search for information online.
I also want to inspire others. I want all veterinarians to believe they have a power to make a difference and to stay positive and motivated in this profession we love but that can sometimes break our hearts.
We all have the power to make a huge difference by believing that change starts with a single person and a single step. When others see us normal people working making a difference, they’ll believe they can make a difference too.
Join me on the journey.
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Check out some of the other folks looking to be the change for animals too:
Bravo to you for your commitment! Best wishes on a very worthy endeavor.
That is a beautiful message.
I love your commitment. I am the exception vs the norm when it comes to my pups. I’d much rather incur an office visit to prevent a larger issue.
When I have a question I often times google, but then I’m never sure which are the better websites as one often gets conflicting information, I’d love to see it all in one place.
Absolutely. There’s definitely some good information available through google (for instance I think if you google “is tylenol safe for cats” all the top hits will tell you how deadly it is) but it definitely helps to have 1) some reliable sites that have a lot of information (some of my favorites are the veterinary section of webMD – pets.webMD.com and vetstreet.com) and 2) a veterinarian who can filter what you read online into what is going on with your unique pet and the best steps for them. Personally, I love when my clients are committed enough to research their own pet’s health, so long as they don’t take everything they read online as gospel :). Just out of curiosity, what kind of pet information do you normally go looking for online? What kind sites do you find are conflicting each other?
You sound like a truly compassionate and caring veterinarian. I’d love to join your coalition! One of the issues I try to help others with is pet obesity. When my vet told me that my spaniel needed to lose weight or she’d be at risk for a list of serious health concerns I realized I’d heard that list before…from my own doctor. So we set out to lose weight and get fit together! My book Dieting with my Dog shares that journey, and my third book, The Dieting with my Dog Guide to Weight Loss and Maintenance is a how-to book, sharing weight loss tips and true stories of many people who are active in hiking, biking, and exercising with their dogs. There are even step by step exercise instructions by the K9FitClub. There are so many fun ways to be active with your dog!
Peggy
Be the Change for Animals
Peggy’s Pet Place
I’m a huge bookworm, I’ll definitely add your book to my list. What is the best place to find it? Thanks for inspiring other owners to get fit with their dogs too, so many of the patients I see have diseases that could be prevented by being at a healthy weight!
OTC meds scare us when it comes to uninformed humans! For instance, yes, glucosamine has been known to benefit older pets and declawed cats, but…NOT in human doses! And what of the other inert ingredients in a human-grade pill? Most people don’t have the knowledge to determine if any of it is harmful to a pet. And don’t even get us started on what a pain medication such as tylenol can do to a cat (we’re still steaming over the op-ed piece written by an Audobon Society editor-at-large and published in the Orlando Sentinel last summer. He actually recommended using Tylenol as a “humane” way to “reduce the feral cat population”. Why yes, that *is* steam coming out of our ears! (LOL)
Thank you for caring enough to have such a worthy mission as your goal. We applaud you!
Yeah, I remember seeing that tylenol comment – how terrible!
It’s amazing how much misinformation is about there about human over the counter nutraceuticals too. I was surprised to read in the book “Do Your Believe in Magic” about studies out there about how some multi-vitamins may actually be pretty harmful. I’ve seen alternative medicine do some wonderful things (we have a holistic doctor in our practice) but you have to know its limitations too. We have to be careful with anything we put in our, or our pets bodies. There’s a great organization I use called ConsumerLab that does independent testing of nutraceuticals for pets and people to at least make sure they have the amounts they say they have in them and don’t contain contaminants.
Thanks for reading!
Wow! Love this!
You’re right – vets may only be visited once or twice a year (knock on wood), but I’d argue that advice given at those few visits has more impact than several to a groomer, a pet store employee, or possibly even a trainer.
I’ve seen a vet’s opinion easily trump the opinion of a store nutritionist or a behaviourist, and it’s easy to see why – in the pet community, vets have the most rigorous training, years of formal education at accredited univeristies/colleges, and widely recognized designations. It makes sense; I’d trust the person with the University degree, too.
But rather than pitting the industry against itself (often happens), I love the movement for a unified front. Of course there are differences in opinons, approaches, and ultimately people are in competition with one another for business, but there are some things that all pet lovers just agree on, and I’d love to see more cooperation to get those issues taken care of.
Exactly! We’re all out there trying to help pets.
Even within veterinary medicine we don’t agree all the time, but there is enough common ground that we can do some amazing things for pets. Plus the more we discuss and debate the more perspective we get on our own opinions.
I had a great experience speaking at the Pet Sitters International convention talking about diseases people can catch from pets. I learned so much about their role in pet’s lives and a lot about what owners are doing at home with their pets on a regular basis. I realized how much vets could learn from pet sitters and how many opportunities there are for us to work together. We’re stronger when we work together.
Your message is as full of hope and happiness as your profile photo! My daughter’s a vet tech and I know she sees a lot of heartbreaking stuff. Point well taken about only seeing clients once or twice a year. But I’m sure you know that when our pets are sick or hurt, we deeply appreciate the skills and advice of a good veterinarian. Thank you for all of the hard work you put in out of a love for animals.
Thank you so much for the kind comment and thank your daughter for all the hard work she does as a veterinary technician. I don’t know what I would do without the wonderful vet techs I work with, I don’t think there’s a more hard-working, compassionate group of people out there.
I have followed you on Twitter for quite some time and appreciate everything you do to help pets and their people. I do hope you will take some time to visit my web site, VetBilling.com. I’m working very hard to contribute to the effort to reduce the frequency of economic euthanasia and owner surrenders due to financial constraints. To that end, VetBilling.com is dedicated to providing vets and pet owners with an alternative and viable payment option in the event that 3rd party financing is not the right solution, for whatever reason. I see our work as only a small part of the solution in overcoming the cost barrier to care. In my blog on the site and through our social media efforts, I advocate for pet owner education on the responsibilities and costs of pet ownership; pet insurance: establishing emergency funds for vet care; and increased awareness of charitable organizations that can help with vet costs. I also think both vets and pet owners could benefit from mutual empathy for one another’s situation. I want to dispel the myth prevalent among pet owners that “vets are only in it for the money,” but I also want more vets to be willing to accept that not every pet owner who faces challenges in paying for care is a “deadbeat” who is trying to get something for nothing. Costs for care have gotten so high that it is becoming increasingly more difficult for “average” pet owners with an “average” income to afford specialized or emergency care. I understand that much of this increased cost is due to advances in diagnostics and treatment, but I feel that pet owners and vets must come together and begin an honest, open dialogue about how to address this issue. I’m beginning to worry that all too soon, the only people who will be able to afford having a pet are those that are wealthy. I would hate to see anyone deprived of the love and companionship of a pet because the price of caring for them is out of reach. Thank you, and I wish you continued success in your efforts to “change the world.” I applaud you for having the courage and commitment to “being the change that you would like to see in the world.” We need more people like you in the world. 🙂
Absolutely agree! I will definitely check out the site 🙂 thanks for sharing!