Listen to internet radio with Roger Welton DVM on Blog Talk Radio
Listen to this podcast directly from my show page by CLICKING HERE.
Podcast airs Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 9 PM EST
Greetings loyal viewers, listeners and readers,
On this week's podcast, I discuss the interesting dichotomy of cats representing a much larger percentage of household pet ownership, yet are far more often left out in the cold when it comes to receiving regular veterinary care when compared to their canine counterparts. In fact, felines are 30% less likely to receive regular wellness veterinary care than dogs. I get into the core reasons for this discrepancy. You will learn that it is not lack of love, but the result of cat owners' erroneous assumptions and observations that give them a different personal perspective about cats and wellness care as opposed to dogs.
Plus, as always I will be addressing listener e-mail comments throughout the broadcast, so please tune in, keep the e-mails coming, and thank you as always for caring about what I have to say.
Sincerely,
Roger Welton, DVM
Dr. Roger Welton is the President and chief veterinarian at Maybeck Animal Hospital in West Melbourne Florida, as well as CEO of the veterinary advice and health management website Web-DVM.net.
2 comments:
This resport really saddens me. I have 4 cats and one dog, and from a health perspective, my cats have been SO MUCH more high miantenance than my dog. One of my cats that really came to mind when I first listened to this show was Ralph who seemed just fine when I took him to my vet just for a yealr exam and rabies vaccine. During his exam the vet noticed that he had lost 2 pounds since the year before and his kidneys felt small to him. He suggested bloodwork and thank goodness I agreed!
We found out that Ralph had early stage kidney failure. I WOULD HAVE NEVER KNOWN THIS IF I JUST DECIDED HE WAS FINE AND DIDN'T NEED A WELLNESS VISIT! I mean, he seemed just fine, but unable to speak and seeing him every day, I just did not know!
My vet put him on a special kidney diet (called kd) and he has put weight back on and his kidney levels have come down to almost normal in his bloodwork and have remained so for the past year!
If not for that yearly visit, my cat might be dead now. Everybody, CATS NEED REGULAR WELLNESS VET VISITS JUST AS MUCH AS DOGS DO! I call on everyone to spread and disseminate Dr. Rogers report, because when you really examine the reasons why cats get so much less welness care than dogs, it really just comes down to ignorance.
Regrettably, I was once one of those pet owners who thought cats just really could fend for themselves and that little went wrong with them. This came partly with the way I was raised, we had lots of cats throughout my childhood that we all loved, that were part of the family, but who never saw the vet once they were spayed and neutered. After all, they have 9 lives don’t they?
Most lived to old age, but I think of my favorite of all, Sylvester, to this day the most affectionate, cuddly little cat I have ever had. One day he started coughing, then the next morning we found him dead at only 9 years of age. My Dad buried him, so never found out what happened to him.
Having moved from home, had house cats of my own, I gradually changed my views about cats and regular wellness care. I realized that not having them rabies vaccinated was illegal! I learned that they can have parasites without showing one stitch of evidence. What prompted me to first take a cat for a wellness visit was when I was moving into a rented townhouse, and I needed an updated rabies certificate to be allowed to have my cat there. The vet who examined him, pointed out that my cat’s teeth were nasty, and one tooth in particular was horrible. There was blood and pus coming from the tooth, and the rest were covered in tartar and his gums were red and swollen. I FELT HORRIBLE!!!
My cat had not given me one sign that his mouth hurt, yet I know if I had teeth that looked like that, especially the one, I would probably be in agonizing pain. And I had no idea how long the teeth were like that! The after they checked his stool, I found out he had TAPEWORMS! UGH!!! I vowed from that day forward, that none of my cats would go more than a year without seeing a vet.
I do it right now, but I can’t help but think about poor sylvester, how long he may have been living with the disease that killed him, how much longer I would have had him in my life if it had been found early.
When listened to this weeks show, I thought of Sylvester and how many other millions of cats go without vet care every day. I felt I needed to share my story.
Everybody, please let your cats have regular wellness care. Its once a year, it does not cost very much, and it could mean your cat living in pain or with disease (they just don’t let us know if they are hurting!), or even be the difference between life and death.
Post a Comment