Last week Betsy came in for a complete check-up. Betsy is a medium-sized eight-year-old cross breed with large, soft, brown eyes. Unfortunately, these past five months, Betsy has been through the wars.
After losing an inordinate amount of weight, she was diagnosed with a severe form of diabetes and has since endured daily injections of insulin. Following a strict dietary regime, high levels of medication and lots of love and attention from her owners, Betsy has since regained her lost weight and now weighs her normal 23 kilos. But the purpose of her visit was to prepare her for a stay at the kennels.
It is, indeed, the time of year when many plan for their summer holidays. Planning for the housing of your pets while you are away should also form part of your preparation, and this should be done well in advance, both for the sake of your pet as well as for your own peace of mind.
Several options are available. You can either chose to keep your pet at home, leave it with friends, relatives or a pet-minder or board it up at the kennels. The least disruption to your pets would be if they could remain in their familiar environment at home.
With cats, this is always my preferred option. If you have friends, relatives or even a pet-sitter who you can trust with the keys of your home and who can visit once or twice a day to feed and water your cat, change its litter and possibly spend some time with your feline companion, this would be the ideal arrangement. What is very important is that your nominated person would be someone who is doing this willingly and astute enough to notice if something is amiss and prepared to take your pet to your vet if need be.
With dogs, I have heard of situations where they were similarly cared for and that the familiar home environment offset somewhat the anxiety caused by the absence of their owners.
However, in such cases, visits must happen at least twice a day to ensure that all is well. Very importantly, the character of the dog must be amenable to being left alone at home for extended periods. Alternatively, and if you would like to give your dog as close to a home environment as they are used to, leaving it with friends, relatives or a pet minder might be another option.
A pet minder is someone who takes in a few cats and/or dogs at a time and gives them a home environment. Taking your pet to a pet minder is as much about the pet as it is about the minder. You need to like them and their home environment as much as they need to like your pet. Recommendations by word of mouth is always a good cue in such cases.
Kennels are another option where your dog would be housed in a professional manner, albeit together with a large number of other pets. Their set-up is usually rather austere, thus providing your pet with little opportunity to injury itself.
Taking your pet to a pet minder is as much about the pet as it is about the minder
Ideally, you would have already got your dog used to living at the kennels by leaving it there for the odd weekend even though you have not gone away. In this way, your canine friend will come to understand that kennels are not prisons and that you are actually going to come back for it.
Either way, it is important that you visit the place yourself in order to meet the people who are going to take care of your dog while you are away and also so that you can get a good idea of the level of cleanliness, amount of daily exercise your dog would be getting, feeding arrangements and access to your veterinarian if the need arises.
Of course, it would be important to advise the carer regarding any medical condition that your dog suffers from, that arrangements are made for the administration of medication at the prescribed times and quantities and that special diets are adhered to.
Boarding kennels too have their own set of rules and these help to safeguard the well-being of all their boarders. You will find that good kennels insist that your dog is up to date with its veterinary check-ups, worming, flea treatments, tick and sand fly prevention and recommended vaccination programmes. In particular, they will stipulate that your dog is vaccinated against kennel cough.
Kennel cough is a highly contagious, infectious tracheobronchitis that affects the upper respiratory system of dogs. Notwithstanding the name, outbreaks of this disease are not confined to kennels. They also occur when many different dogs are in close confinement. This is why instances of kennel cough also occur when dogs attend canine shows, dog school and even social dog meets and groups.
The cough is distinctive in that it sounds harsh and dry and is sometimes followed by retching and gagging. It is usually self-limiting in a healthy adult dog and will last about one to two weeks. It can, however, become life-threatening in very young, old or sick dogs.
The good news is that there are very effective vaccines that can go a long way towards reducing or preventing kennel cough, so it is highly recommended that you discuss the vaccination of your dog with your vet prior to boarding your dog. This is a particular vaccine in that it is administered via the nostrils and should be given at least three weeks before admission to the kennels to be fully effective.
Additionally, there are a number of things you could do to make your pet’s stay as least stressful as possible. A visit prior to the actual day would help, as well as packing your pet’s familiar bedding and toys. If your dog suffers separation anxiety, it would be a good idea to discuss valid, safe, anti-stress treatments with your vet.
Betsy received her kennel cough vaccine and was also due her worming pills as she had not taken these in the last six months. Her insulin treatment has now stabilised, so instructions regarding continuation of this treatment should be easier to follow. In her case, it made sense for her to go into kennels and, knowing the high level of care offered, I am hopeful that her stay there will be a success.
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com
Dr Martin Debattista is a veterinary surgeon.