Ally the dachshund has chronic pancreatitis thatrequires daily care.
It鈥檚 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.
鈥淪he鈥檚 on strict food and that鈥檚 the only thing she鈥檚 allowed. She鈥檚 allowed no treats, no human food, no nothing鈥nd insulin twice a day,鈥� said Marisa Panter. 鈥淪he can鈥檛 have a different kind of food, the food is bought from a vet office. She can鈥檛 have a different kind of insulin, and the insulin is bought from a vet office.鈥�
Panter and 7-year-old Ally live outside of 琉璃神社, 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. She鈥檚 visited hospitals and retirement homes, bringing joy to residents and patients, and is inseparable from Panter鈥檚 daughter.
鈥淪he鈥檚 probably done 500,000 km in a vehicle, if we go anywhere and we鈥檙e not going to be home for insulin, we have to take her with us,鈥� she said
Like most veterinarian clinics, Panter鈥檚 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 鈥� will she be able to get the adequate care she needs when so many services are being cut back?
鈥淚f her pancreatitis acts up, she needs to be in a (clinic) for three days on IV,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 no vets, I watch her die.鈥�
Dr. Chris Armstrong, a veterinarian and member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association鈥檚 (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 there鈥檚 no sign of them shutting down in British Columbia.
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鈥淚t may not be business as usual, but I think certainly pet owners and animal owners should not be afraid that their animals won鈥檛 be taken care of,鈥� she said. 鈥淧articularly in emergency or urgent situations.鈥�
Virtual care options are also starting to become available 鈥� 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.
鈥淰eterinarians, like human medicine, we鈥檙e running out of masks, we鈥檙e running out of surgical gloves, we鈥檙e running out of personal protection equipment,鈥� she said.
Armstrong said that puts limits on things like non-essential surgeries, like a neutering or spaying.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 really one of the biggest limiting factors is: can we access sufficient masks and gloves and gowns to be able to continue service?鈥�
When it comes to another common worry, running out of medicine, Armstrong said that hasn鈥檛 been a problem so far. She urges pet owners to resist hoarding because that would start to affect supply.
鈥淔or most of the medications, I think certainly the supply chain is still there,鈥� she said. 鈥淗oarding at least for pet owners goes just as true for medications and products.鈥�
Armstrong said people have also been worried about their pets contracting COVID, which she said is very unlikely. There鈥檚 also been no proof that humans can contract COVID from their pets.
鈥淭here has only been two COVID positive dogs, there鈥檚 been a tremendous number of dogs been tested through IDEX, which is one of our labs,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd out of all the testing, it鈥檚 only the two Hong Kong dogs.鈥�
However, Armstrong said it鈥檚 worth remembering that pets can carry COVID, much like any other surface.
鈥淒ogs, like your pen or a table, could act as what we call a fomite,鈥� she said. 鈥淪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.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 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,鈥� she said.
鈥淪tay calm and be nice.鈥�
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