Homes & Animal Home Care
• Homes
We are still working on selling our “starter” house that we bought in 1973 in a development that was built in an apple orchard. We are looking to downsize and have purchased a condo in Valley Cottage.
Our travails in buying and selling sometimes were interwoven with our status as animal owners. When looking at rentals, co-ops and condos, we were often confronted with no animal owners need apply. Sometimes we felt discriminated against.
There are many reasons, many of them reasonable, for this anti-animal sentiment. With rentals in a house, the owner may have allergy issues or concerns about scratched floors, inappropriate elimination, excessive noise, etc. I suspect condos and co-ops also have concerns about noise, but probably more about dog’s soiling the common lawns. I have to say that it takes only one inconsiderate individual to ruin it for all dog owners by not cleaning up after their pets.
On the selling side, every time someone wanted to view the house, all the dog and cat hair had to be vacuumed from everywhere and all the messed-up couches and beds needed straightening. The cat litter had to be moved to the garage and the animals needed to be absent. We would either go for a walk with Tunie and leave Oliver at the animal hospital or leave them both for a few hours. Oliver made friends with the house cats and picked out a shelf with a towel to sleep on.
• Animal Home Care
My real estate agent asked me to discuss how to deal with a pet who has to be treated at home. While most vet techs and veterinarians are very able to do what has to be done to meet a pet’s medical needs, the average pet owner may not be. It is easy for us to give a prescription or treatment instructions but they will do no good if they can’t be followed. Diabetic animals will need daily insulin injections. Dehydrated pets will need fluids under the skin, requiring a needle and restraint while the fluids are flowing. Oral medications, both pills, capsules or liquids, need to make their way to the small intestine; so they have to get past the teeth and/or cat’s claws. Bandages may need to be changed, wounds cleaned, etc. How can a veterinarian make this easier?
We might give a liquid or a transdermal patch if pilling is difficult. Pill pockets, a flavorful soft chew with a hole for a pill are palatable. Most animals do not mind the very small, thin needle used for an insulin injection. Animals can be wrapped in a towel so that a limb may be treated. As they say, “there’s more than one way to _ _ _ _ a cat.” Most of my clients surprise themselves in their ability to handle their precious pets’ needs.
Tunie and Oliver send their best wishes.
Dr. Segall can be reached Tues thru Thurs mornings at The Hudson Valley Animal Hospital, 4 Old Lake Rd Valley Cottage, NY (845) 268-0089 ex 3.