pet connection

The House Rabbit Journal, the quarterly newsletter of the non-profit House Rabbit Society, has to be one of the best pet-related newsletters around, and kudos to editor Holly O’Meara for what’s likely a non-paid labor of love. The HRJ is a nice-looking publication with a lot of heart, and it’s always packed with practical information on caring for rabbits as real companions, not forgotten and often neglected residents of small backyard hutches.

This current issue’s lead story, by Beth Woolbright, is about developing safe outdoor day play spaces for indoor pet rabbits. It sure inspired me to take another look at the outdoor play space I’ve set aside for my own house rabbits, Velocity and Annie. As with all HRJ pieces, the article pushes people to think about how rabbits are in a natural environment, and to work to simulate those conditions, allowing the pets places to dig, hide and kick up their heels in that particular physical expression of bunny joy known to rabbit-fans as “a binky.”

In the same issue, a piece on two city bunnies makes it clear that rabbits can also be happy without a big play yard. I also loved the piece on sharing indoor space with pets who like to chew and aren’t always flawlessly house-trained.

The payoff of better living conditions for a rabbit is pretty obvious, but the payoff for the owner may be less so. But I can tell you as a convert to bunny love that once you let rabbits in the house and into your heart, you can’t imagine how much personality they will show you, and how much fun they can be as companions. I’m really happy I have rabbits in my family of furred and feathered companions. And to think it all started with a trip to the HRS headquarters and rabbit shelter, in Richmond, Calif.

Most people don’t know how wonderful pet rabbits can be, which is why a lot of cute baby bunnies get snapped up on impulse, and a lot of adult bunnies get dumped just as quickly. In the shelters, their adoption rate is dismal, and that’s a real shame.

If you’ve never thought of a bunny companion, please do. Joining the House Rabbit Society will help you to get the most out of one of these wonderful pets. As is true of any relationship, you get more out of it if you put more into it!

No longer content to just be a “media vet,” I’m in the trenches practicing again as a veterinarian at North Idaho Animal Hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho. I love pets and people, missed practice terribly and don’t know why I waited so long to once again put on my smock, wrap a stethoscope around my neck, and head back into the exam room.

I can’t tell you how great it’s been to once again get whiff after whiff of puppy breath, have a hyperkinetic, happy kitten leap from the exam room table to land Matrix-style on my smock, or help an animal shackled with the pain of arthritis find relief and resume full activity.

Yesterday,  I saw a baby alpaca with a facial paralysis, a 9-year-old chicken with a tumor above the eye, a 150-pound St. Bernard with arthritis and a brand new kitten who found a lady who’d swore she’d never have another pet.

I also got to remember the economic seesaw with a couple divided on care — one wanting everything done, the other wanting nothing at all. In the end, the one who wanted everything insisted I do something, so I did.

With several weeks under my belt I’m reminded of two things pet owners can do to help their pets live happy, healthy, full lives:

1) Keep your pets at their ideal body weight. One out of two pets is overweight and these pets are at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, cancer, skin problems and life-threatening behavior issues. Studies show that pets kept at their ideal body weight will live 15-percent longer which is an average of two years. Ask your veterinarian for food recommendations, invest in a measuring cup and feed precisely that amount split up into multiple feedings per day;

2) Make your pet’s oral health a priority. I’m not just talking about having “kissable breath,” although that’s desirable, but having a mouth where there’s a normal bite, healthy gums, and pearly white teeth. It’s going to take work. For example, the Becker dogs get their teeth brushed every day, use other products that help with keeping teeth clean, and have their teeth professionally cleaned as needed. The payoff for a healthy mouth is a pet who will live 15 percent longer, or an average of two years.

So there you have it: one-third longer or about four years on average. Yes, the furry fountain of youth is attainable by just working with your veterinarian on some preventive measures.

I’m looking forward to sharing more “tails from the trenches” with the readers of the Pet Connection blog.

… are right here. I’m adding Caturday to the blog roll. If you know of other great pet-related blogs, shoot me a line.

If you don’t mind looking at an ad all day, check Purina’s new widget, which puts a picture of your pet and the current weather on your screen.

Over on the always-outstanding Dolittler blog, Dr. Patty is discussing “convenience” euthanasia and the veterinarian’s role in it — in other words, what happens when someone brings in a healthy pet to be killed because of reasons other than health? It’s a hot controversy in veterinary medicine, dividing practice-owning veterinarians from employee veterinarians, older veterinarians from younger ones, and (although Dr. P doesn’t mention this) I’m guessing there’s some gender issues, too. (Older veterinarians are primarily men, while more recent graduates are primarily women.)

From Dolittler:

Because the role of pets in our lives has shifted from property to family (if not legally then at least in terms of how we care for them), coupled with the increasing influence of mainstream animal rights in our profession, more vets are taking a strong stand against what we perceive to be inhumane or unethical treatment.

[...]

I know what you’re thinking, my dear readers. What could possibly qualify as a defensible reason for euthanizing a healthy pet? How could anyone (least of all, a vet!) defend killing healthy animals for the sake of expediency?

For her answers, read on.