Pet Parents' Visit To Vets'

Mrs. Shirke rushed into my clinic with her 1.5 month old German Shepherd Bruno and in a very worried voice declared that Bruno has Chronic Renal Failure. “Kidney failure!” “Who told you that?” I enquired. Mrs. Shirke, PhD from University of Google replied that Bruno has been vomiting for the last 2 days and after aggressive internet surfing. She thinks Bruno is suffering from Chronic Renal Failure. After calming her down and examining Bruno I assured her that Bruno is simply having indigestion due to sudden change in his diet.

- Dr. Karishma S. Gupte (M.V.Sc.)

Information overdose on the internet and excessive trust on forwarded messages leads to such unnecessary confusion and panic amongst pet parents. Now a days our role as veterinarians is not only limited to treating animals but also, educating pet parents appropriately so that they can take best possible care of their creature companion.

In an ideal scenario, a would be pet parent should visit their local vet and thoroughly understand the basic necessities of the pet which he/she is interested in adopting. Different breeds of dogs have different requirements; cats are not simply small dogs while exotic pets like turtles, birds etc. need very special environment enrichments.

After adopting a pet make sure to make the first vet visit as soon as possible, even if the pet is healthy. During the first visit I make sure to empower the pet parents with basic yet life saving skills such as taking rectal temperature, checking the pulse rate, giving basic first aid and even giving CPR. We also discuss at length the pet’s ideal diet, vaccination schedule, deworming schedule, grooming requirements, litter training, environment enrichment plan in case of exotic pets etc.