Looking after a pet involves more than just pulling on the walking shoes occasionally. Photo: Kim Treasure.
I had an interesting conversation with my vet recently. Having noticed my dog wasn’t looking comfortable in his legs, I took him in for a proactive checkup.
Charlie is getting on in age and had surgery on his hips five years ago. So we like to make sure he’s doing ok and manage his arthritis.
As we discussed Charlie, I mentioned we do regular physio exercises with him and have done since his surgery. “We’ll book in to take him back to the physio as well,” I told the vet after we had agreed on a medication plan.
“That’s so refreshing to hear,” she replied. “You’d be surprised how few owners are willing to do physical therapy for their pets.”
This surprised me – physio is the least invasive and most useful way to manage long-term and chronic mobility issues. And given we can do the exercises at home after being taught them in a session with the therapist, it’s also the cheapest.
My vet said for many of the owners she sees, physio is a level of time commitment and effort they’re not willing to undertake. One even said to her that he “can’t be bothered with that”, and preferred to just put his dog onto more aggressive pain medication regardless of the long-term impact.
Here’s what I don’t get – the majority of owners I know with dogs have bought pedigree breeds for sometimes thousands of dollars. And yet, apparently there are plenty out there who aren’t willing to match that financial investment with their time and energy when it comes to keeping their animals healthy.
Pets are lifelong commitments and that means taking care of their physical and mental needs until their lives come to an end. If you buy a puppy and haven’t fully considered the long-term requirements they’ll have – beyond the initial training and integration of a cute fluffy little one into your life – then you’re already doing the dog a disservice.
My conversation with the vet reminded me of a story a friend told about a colleague who spent thousands on a poodle mix, only to discover it had significant genetic abnormalities that would cost another several thousand to treat. Instead of treating the dog, or even surrendering it to a rescue organisation that would manage the treatment (they do exist, believe it or not), she chose to have the dog euthanased. It was a year old at the time.
This is a great example of treating pets like an accessory or plaything, and forgetting these beautiful, sentient creatures rely on us for their every need and deserve to have those needs met for their whole lives, not just for the period of time that’s convenient to us.
Maybe it’s time we increase the requirements for pet ownership to include some baseline conditions people need to meet – or at least increase education and awareness about what caring for a pet can look like, financially and timewise, over their lifetime.
Pets deserve more from us, and they have so little choice in how their lives play out – the minimum we can do is to think carefully about what we can offer before we commit to them.
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