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by
Shawn Messonnier DVM, author of the award-winning The Natural Health
Bible for Dogs & Cats. Join over 5 million satellite radio
listeners and listen to Dr. Shawn each week on his award-winning show,
Dr. Shawn -The Natural Vet, on Martha Stewart Radio Sirius 112, Tuesday night from 8-9 PM EST.
ABC's of Pet Health Care
- Anesthesia can be safe for all pets, both young and old, IF the correct anesthesia is chosen for the pet’s needs.
- Believe in your gut feelings. You know your pet best. If you think there is something wrong and your doctor won’t listen to you, get another opinion.
- Communication is extremely important. If you and your veterinarian can’t communicate effectively, your pet’s health is in jeopardy.
- Diet is important. Feed your pet the best, most wholesome diet to ensure proper health.
- Educate yourself. Sometimes
what you know can guide the doctor in helping your pet. For great
information on pet care, check out the articles I post on
www.petcarenaturally.com.
- Follow your veterinarian’s recommendations for testing and treatment.
- Give your pet all the love and attention you can. They are only with you for a short period of time.
- Hope is always possible for
even those cases deemed hopeless by conventional medicine when using an
integrative approach to health care.
- Investigate a second opinion if there is any doubt about the proper diagnosis or treatment.
- Join groups, including email
discussion groups, to learn about proper care for your pet and get
support from like-minded pet owners. However, keep in mind that even
the pet owner with the best intentions is not a doctor, and his or her
advice isn’t necessarily medically correct or in your pet’s best
interest.
- Know as much as you can about
your pet. As a doctor, it’s very frustrating when a pet owner comes to
my practice and can’t tell me the exact names of the pet’s diet and any
medications or supplements the pet is taking. The more I know the more
I can help your pet.
- Listen to your veterinarian.
He is the expert on pet care and usually knows more about medicine than
the groomer, breeder, pet store clerk, or internet “expert.”
- Monitoring is critical when a pet is anesthetized. Proper monitoring may be the difference between life and death.
- Nothing is more important
than preventing disease. A preventive approach to health care is better
for your pet than constantly treating illness.
- Open your mind to all of the available options for keeping your pet healthy and treating illness.
- Personalized pet practice is
a term I coined to indicate that your pet is unique. No 2 pets are
alike, and no 2 pets are ever treated the same.
- Quality should never be sacrificed just to save money. You can have high quality or low cost, but not both.
- Regular checkups are
important to allow early diagnosis and treatment. I recommend annual
visits for pets under 5 years of age, and twice yearly visits for pets
5 years of age and older.
- Say "No" to drugs when safer, less expensive, alternative therapies exist.
- Titer testing should be used in place of vaccines to determine if and when your pet might need a booster vaccination.
- Understand that your doctor
and staff are human. We all make mistakes, and medicine is NOT an exact
science. There’s actually a lot of art to the practice of medicine.
Work with us to do the best for your pet.
- Vaccines are NOT needed in most pets on a regular basis.
- Watch your pet. Signs of illness can be subtle, so pay close attention to any changes in your pet’s normal behaviors.
- X-rays can be useful tools to show the reasons for illness when other testing doesn’t reveal a cause.
- You are the most important person in your pet’s life. You ultimately have the final say on the outcome of your pet’s care.
- Z is a tough letter with
which to start a word! Seriously, approach life, including your pet and
its health, with a lot of zeal and zest!
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Used with kind permission from Dr. Shawn
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About the Author
Shawn Messonnier DVM, author, the award-winning The Natural Health
Bible for Dogs & Cats. Join over 5 million satellite radio
listeners and listen to Dr. Shawn each week on his award-winning show,
Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet, on Martha Stewart Radio Sirius 112, Tuesday
night from 8-9 PM EST.
www.pettogethers.net/healthypet
http://www.petcarenaturally.com/
Check out Dr. Shawn's new book, The Natural Vet's Guide to Preventing and Treating Cancer in Dogs, NOW AVAILABLE! www.petcarenaturally.com/bookpromo2007
To get Dr. Shawn's weekly newsletter, go to to http://www.petcarenaturally.com/ and sign up.
To see Dr. Shawn on You Tube, go to www.youtube.com, click on
categories, then pets, then search for shawnvet to see his latest video!
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