Ally the dachshund has chronic pancreatitis thatrequires daily care.
Itsa国际传媒檚 special veterinarian-assisted care that her owner is worried might not be available when she needs it most due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
sa国际传媒淪hesa国际传媒檚 on strict food and thatsa国际传媒檚 the only thing shesa国际传媒檚 allowed. Shesa国际传媒檚 allowed no treats, no human food, no nothingsa国际传媒nd insulin twice a day,sa国际传媒� said Marisa Panter. sa国际传媒淪he cansa国际传媒檛 have a different kind of food, the food is bought from a vet office. She cansa国际传媒檛 have a different kind of insulin, and the insulin is bought from a vet office.sa国际传媒�
Panter and 7-year-old Ally live outside of Kelowna, along with her three-year-old daughter, 13-year-old step-son, her husband, her in-laws, and six pregnant dachshunds that Panter is breeding.
Ally loves all dogs and humans she meets. Shesa国际传媒檚 visited hospitals and retirement homes, bringing joy to residents and patients, and is inseparable from Pantersa国际传媒檚 daughter.
sa国际传媒淪hesa国际传媒檚 probably done 500,000 km in a vehicle, if we go anywhere and wesa国际传媒檙e not going to be home for insulin, we have to take her with us,sa国际传媒� she said
Like most veterinarian clinics, Pantersa国际传媒檚 vet clinic has closed its doors to all non-essential visits and has resorted to parking lot pickups for food and medication.
She shares a common concern with many pet owners during this time sa国际传媒� will she be able to get the adequate care she needs when so many services are being cut back?
sa国际传媒淚f her pancreatitis acts up, she needs to be in a (clinic) for three days on IV,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚f theresa国际传媒檚 no vets, I watch her die.sa国际传媒�
Dr. Chris Armstrong, a veterinarian and member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Associationsa国际传媒檚 (CVMA) Council, said the one of the main things pet owners should keep in mind is that vet clinics have been declared essential in many provinces and theresa国际传媒檚 no sign of them shutting down in British Columbia.
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sa国际传媒淚t may not be business as usual, but I think certainly pet owners and animal owners should not be afraid that their animals wonsa国际传媒檛 be taken care of,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淧articularly in emergency or urgent situations.sa国际传媒�
Virtual care options are also starting to become available sa国际传媒� recently launched a Canada-wide service that can help pet owners connect with vets to ask questions and get advice on if their animal needs further care.
The CVMA put out a on March 24 advising vets on best practices for telemedicine. However, Armstrong said there is a big worry in her industry: running out of medical supplies.
sa国际传媒淰eterinarians, like human medicine, wesa国际传媒檙e running out of masks, wesa国际传媒檙e running out of surgical gloves, wesa国际传媒檙e running out of personal protection equipment,sa国际传媒� she said.
Armstrong said that puts limits on things like non-essential surgeries, like a neutering or spaying.
sa国际传媒淚 think thatsa国际传媒檚 really one of the biggest limiting factors is: can we access sufficient masks and gloves and gowns to be able to continue service?sa国际传媒�
When it comes to another common worry, running out of medicine, Armstrong said that hasnsa国际传媒檛 been a problem so far. She urges pet owners to resist hoarding because that would start to affect supply.
sa国际传媒淔or most of the medications, I think certainly the supply chain is still there,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淗oarding at least for pet owners goes just as true for medications and products.sa国际传媒�
Armstrong said people have also been worried about their pets contracting COVID, which she said is very unlikely. Theresa国际传媒檚 also been no proof that humans can contract COVID from their pets.
sa国际传媒淭here has only been two COVID positive dogs, theresa国际传媒檚 been a tremendous number of dogs been tested through IDEX, which is one of our labs,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淎nd out of all the testing, itsa国际传媒檚 only the two Hong Kong dogs.sa国际传媒�
However, Armstrong said itsa国际传媒檚 worth remembering that pets can carry COVID, much like any other surface.
sa国际传媒淒ogs, like your pen or a table, could act as what we call a fomite,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淪o, in other words, a COVID positive person kissed their dog on the head, just like if they kissed their pen, could they put the virus on those two objects? And the answer is, yes.sa国际传媒�
New information comes forward all the time, said Armstrong, and the best thing pet owners can do is stay up to date from reliable sources.
sa国际传媒淚 think that the message to go across is that, if we are patient, if we kind of know that this is a fluid situation, take direction from responsible and reliable sources,sa国际传媒� she said.
sa国际传媒淪tay calm and be nice.sa国际传媒�
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