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The veterinary costs detailed inside the latest Nationwide Purdue Veterinary Price Index show interesting drops and increases in what people pay for veterinary care for their pets -- particularly in the immediate aftermath of The Great Recession as well as in the most recent couple of years. My general sense is that my experience overall has been different as a Dog Mom in Colorado, where the recession wasn't particularly bad, with costs going up and up. However, one point about veterinary costs at primary care / general veterinary hospitals versus at specialty veterinary hospitals rings true. Eerily true.
Corporate consolidation in veterinary medicine -- and the pet world in general -- makes me worry. Here is the latest example of how it's changing my experience as a Dog Mom. Recently, I learned that the veterinary clinic I use for primary care decided to drop its AAHA accreditation. This is the latest unwelcome change at the clinic since it got bought out by one of the corporations that now collectively own about 11% of all veterinary practices in the U.S. I'm worried about what this may mean to me as a veterinary client and for the future care of my dogs.
The American Animal Hospital Association updated its Vaccination Guidelines in September 2017. The guidelines include some important decision flow-charts about titer testing and how to respond to the results in a variety of situations. This is an important topic if you want to avoid over-vaccinating your dog. So, I figured it's a good time to talk about Clover's recent titer test results and about titer testing in general since it may be a new thing for you. This is a LONG post. Grab a snack.
Xylitol Toxic to Dogs ! While cruising the aisles at the natural foods market recently, I nearly collapsed in a heap when I realized that you can buy WHOLE BOXES of xylitol (a sugar-free sweetener) to use at home -- in baking and whatnot. I'd always thought the biggest risks to dogs (since xylitol is super toxic to dogs) was from food makers including xylitol in their products and not being particularly forthcoming about it and seemingly not giving a rat's @$$ that it's dangerous to dogs. Apparently, though, you can buy a whole box of death. Yikes!
People sometimes contact me after reading the pet loss book I wrote (called Heart Dog: Surviving the Loss of Your Canine Soul Mate). People often ask about feeling guilty about getting a new dog after your dog dies. I have a theory about love that might help.