Pet Care: TikTok, Insurance, Pain Relief | News

As technology continues to change every aspect of human lives, it’s also changing pets’ lives—for better and sometimes for worse—as owners and care givers now have ready access to a wide variety of resources, previously untapped by animal lovers.

Ken Melberger and Moriah McCauley of Leesburg Veterinary Hospital sat down with Loudoun Now to talk about how technology is continuing to revolutionize the way pet owners and veterinarians, like themselves, interact with their furry friends.

While 20 years ago, a veterinarian having to take X-rays of a pet would either have had to keep a radiologist on staff or send physical copies to an expert for reading. Now they can be sent to experts in seconds, dramatically decreasing the time until the patient can be treated. And that kind of access isn’t just limited to radiology.

“Most of the things that you would see in human medicine, we’re able to offer in vet medicine nowadays,” McCauley said. “I think almost every week we’ll have someone who’s like, ‘there’s a cardiologist for dogs? Or an ophthalmologist for dogs?’ It’s pretty cool that we can now offer these things. And it’s not just up to us as [general practice] vets to be like, ‘well, that’s the extent of our abilities or knowledge.’ We can actually refer them on to someone who has extensive specialized medicine.”

And, Melberger added, now those experts are down the street instead of hours away. As a result, pets are living years longer than they used to.

But there’s plenty of challenges that come with greater access to technology.

Leading those challenges are social media trends that often can inflict more damage than good when unknowing, well-intentioned pet owners try them out.

“Nutrition is probably the number one[problem] we see,” McCauley said of the variety of trends being promoted.

TikTok fad diets of grain-free food or the raw diet—feeding only raw meats and vegetables to your dog or cat—can cause unintended consequences when not properly vetted with a doctor, they said.

“There’s a lot of misconception about vaccines,” Melberger said. “People sometimes have concerns about the use of preventions—heart worms, flea and tick—and concerns that they cause damage. In reality, not using them causes a lot of damage.”

“It used to be the only source of information people had before they came to the vet was a breeder.” Melberger said. “So, there was essentially one source of information, but now we’ve got however many resources they look for on the internet.”

More information is not always a bad thing, Melberger and McCauley added, but it’s better with input from your local veterinarian.

“We’re not just a service—you come in, you get your vaccine, you leave. We want to talk to you about your overall entirety of the pet. We want to develop that relationship with our pet parents,” McCauley said.

With the increasing access to technology, better medicine and better treatments, comes an increasing cost in caring for pets as well.

A study by Synchrony Financial Services Company shows average annual costs for basic pet care range from $1,270 to $2,803 for dogs and $961 to $2,487 for cats. The overall 15-year cost of a pet’s lifetime can range from $19,893 to $55,132 for dogs and $15,055 to $45,790 for cats.

As a result, owners using some form of pet insurance is on the rise. Pet insurance works like human insurance. There’s a monthly fee for a plan that covers differing levesl of services with a range of deductibles.

“Ultimately, this is a consumer decision,” Melberger said. “… I think it’s important to look at the websites of reputable programs and really find the policy that works for you, because some folks want all the bells and whistles that cover vaccines and dental cleanings. They’re willing to pay more per month to have that kind of comprehensive level. Other folks just want to know that if their pet has a serious injury or serious illness, that that is covered. And they’re willing to take care of the basic annual care on their own.”

McCauley said she points her clients to Pawlicy Advisor, which provides a tool to compare a variety of different plans.

“Some of the changes in the last 20 or 30 years is that we’re now much more preventative health care. We used to be reactionary,” McCauley said.

Part of that preventative health care is enabling domesticated pets to live longer than ever before. The life expectancy of dogs has doubled in the past four decades and house cats now live twice as long as their wilder counterparts, according to QRILL Pet.

That achievement also brings new challenges for owners.

“Dogs and cats are living longer so they’re simply experiencing more age-related joint disease,” Melberger said.

“And they’re good at hiding it,” McCauley added.

Dogs, always looking to please their owners, are hesitant to show signs of joint or muscle pain.

Top ways to identify that your dog might be experiencing pain include panting more than usual when not exercising or hot, moving less or hesitating before jumping on the sofa or bed, and stiffer joints when first standing up. For cats, top pain identifiers include hiding more than usual, a decrease in activity, and muscle mass loss identified by a more protruding spine.

Melberger and McCauley said they and other local veterinarians are in the industry to help and bringing your pet to the vet too often or calling frequently, is never bad.

“Develop that relationship, because then they can help guide you to other resources that are specific to the needs of your pets and your family,” McCauley said.