Care

One of the big questions that veterinary teams have been getting from pet parents during the COVID-19 pandemic is, “How much pet food should I have on hand?” Given the current state of this global pandemic, this is definitely not a question that we should take lightly. We have all seen what happens when people panic buy essential items like toilet paper. Although I’ll admit, the onslaught of memes with cats destroying financial investments (aka toilet paper) did provide a bit of humor during these trying times.  

What drives panic buying? 

Panic buying is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the act of buying large quantities of a particular product due to the sudden fear of a forthcoming shortage (1). The keyword here being fear. I get that people are panic buying because they are scared and I realize there is a lot of uncertainty right now that is driving people’s fear. My goal is to provide some common-sense information to help calm this fear.

Has panic buying of pet food been occurring in the United States? 

The short answer is “yes.” In fact, Dr. Tim Schell, Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Office of Surveillance and Compliance, has urged pet parents not to panic-buy pet food, reminding pet parents that most bags of dry pet food last at least a few weeks (2). This critical story was reported by PetFoodIndustry.com and quotes Dr. Schell as stating, “There are no actual pet food shortages due to the COVID-19 crisis, just current unprecedented demand” (2). 

Second, Pet Food Processing® conducted a survey of pet food manufacturers at the beginning of April and 63% of the manufacturers surveyed had experienced an increase in sales (3). It is unclear how many manufacturers were surveyed and if the survey was conducted across the US or if a smaller geographical area was surveyed; however, there is a least a trend that pet food sales increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Third, Forbes covered a story in early April on Chewy, one of the largest online pet product retailers, stating Chewy expects first-quarter sales to be up 35% over the first quarter of 2019 (4), keeping in mind that Chewy sells much more than just pet food.

How much pet food should you have on hand? 

Pet parents should have a minimum of 14-days of pet food on hand for each one of their pets during this time. The reason for recommending 14-days minimum is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 who have not been able to be tested remain isolated at home (i.e. self-isolation) until at least 7-days have passed since symptoms first appeared AND no fever has been detected for at least 72-hours (i.e. a full 3-days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers) (5). Having 14-days of pet food on hand will provide sufficient buffer if pet parents become ill from COVID-19. 

For more information please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. 

[Canadian veterinary teams: Please check out Dr. Parr’s video with recommendations for Canadian pet parents based on the Canadian Government’s recommendations.]

Why should pet parents avoid panic buying pet food? 

There are a couple of really good reasons to avoid panic buying large amounts of pet food:

Best-Before-Dates: Pet parents run the risk that pet foods pass the best-before-date prior to having a chance to feed it to their pets. Pet stores and veterinary clinics will not be able to accept returns if the product is past its best-before-date. Additionally, pet foods that have passed the best-before-date are not ideal for donation. The last thing we want during this time is food waste. 

Nutrient Losses: Some vitamins that are essential for pets to get from their diet(s) every day degrade overtime. Pet food manufacturers must account for this vitamin loss when they formulate diets to ensure there will still be appropriate levels of vitamins in the diet if the food is fed right at the best-before-date. For example, a study showed more than 20% of the thiamine (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and niacin (Vitamin B3) were lost from dry dog and cat foods after 18-months, which coincides to the standard best-before-date for many dry pet foods (6). Similarly, more than 30% of the riboflavin and niacin from canned cat foods and 18% of the niacin from canned dog foods was lost after 18-months of storage (6). 

Other nutrients start to degrade the longer the bag of food is open and exposed to oxygen. As an example, essential fatty acids (aka polyunsaturated fatty acids) become oxidized when they are exposed to oxygen, which results in these fats becoming rancid (7). This process is slowed down greatly when pet food manufacturers add antioxidants, such as mixed tocopherols (i.e. a mixture of vitamin E in different forms), and oxygen scavengers, like ascorbic acid (i.e. Vitamin C) to pet foods (8). In general, avoid feeding pet food past the best-before-date as amounts of different nutrients in the diet could be lower than needed.

Freshness and Palatability: If you have a cat or a small- or medium-sized dog, these pets do not need huge amounts of food, so stick with the smallest available bags of food for these smaller pets, instead of stockpiling large bags of food. If you buy a bag of food that is intended for a large dog for a Yorkie or Chihuahua, the bag of food will likely become stale before these small dogs finish it. 

Many of us have experienced a pet running to check out a new bag of food when it is first opened. This is because the food is fresh and the aromas are the strongest when the bag is first opened. Aroma (i.e. smell) is one of the most important factors for dogs and cats when it comes to how appealing their food is (9, 10). This is not surprising given that a dog’s sense of smell is extremely sensitive (i.e. a million times more sensitive for some compounds) compared to a human’s sense of smell (9). Likewise, a cat’s sense of smell is much more sensitive than a human’s even if it is not quite as sensitive as a dog’s sense of smell (10). As a rule of thumb, a bag of pet food should last about a month once it has been opened and air should be pushed out of the bag before sealing the bag after each use.

The Most Important Reason: And the most important reason to avoid panic buying pet food is that we are all in this together. As a society, we want to ensure all cats and dogs have access to pet food during this difficult time. This doesn’t just apply to cats and dogs living with families. It also applies to cats and dogs living in shelters or rescues and even working animals (e.g. police dogs). 

Our call to action to all pet parents should be to make sure they have 14-days of pet food on hand for each of their pets and to avoid purchasing excessive amounts of pet food. We all need to support each other during this difficult time.

Sincerely, The Kibble Queen^TM

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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Now, I will first say, I would never wish any illness or injury on any animal. However, if I had to pick one emergency case to see forever (Groundhog Day-style) it would be the PPQ dog. I specifically remember the need for this signalment to be recurring as a geographical criterion for where I wanted to practice when looking for my first job.

There is nothing like a “PPQ” as we call it in the biz. I have seen technicians squabble over who gets to help as the patient is en route to the clinic countless times. There is no more rewarding case. Most of the time, after sedating a young and otherwise healthy patient, you get the sweet satisfaction of the subcutaneous release of barb after barb after barb… You observe the bewildered, grateful expression of a creature who has just realized that the pokey things have magically disappeared. You have grateful owners, as many quickly realize at home that even the nicest dog in the world is unlikely to hold still for too long to get them yanked. You have a slightly intoxicated patient that walks themselves out the door.

Many dogs do not learn. I remember working at an emergency clinic during university and seeing a family with 3 “multiple offenders” Labradors over sequential summers. They would all get into one at the same time.  Imagine how much those ER visits cost! One of my first emergency calls as a veterinarian was a pair of huskies that had gotten into one in the yard while their owners were gone. Fourth time for the one, third time for the other.

They often came to me in the middle of the night, the patient has been missing all day.  Sometimes they came the next day, sometimes several days later. There is no other ailment that I have heard more ridiculous at-home remedies. I had a client call once after his dog had an encounter. He had a friend tell him to soak a rag with starter fluid, let the dog “huff” it and then cut off all the ends of the quills. “That didn’t seem like a good idea to me, Dr. Amanda,” he admitted, “so I called you.” I was grateful to help. Common sense is not common. Sedation is the best way to remove them. It is so much easier and safer for a veterinarian to remove them with sedation than to try at home.

Sometimes things do not go so well. If people didn’t bring their pet in right away the quills can migrate, fester, and cause other problems. I once removed a BUNCH of quills from a dog’s cheek. She had been pawing at them and some had broken off.  We always removed all of the ones we could see and feel, and we could sometimes dissect out ones near the surface. Sometimes we needed to leave some and monitor them very closely. We warned our client of this and we were so grateful that we had. He came back 2 days later- one had migrated. Either end was stuck in her upper and lower eyelids. It had moved while she was sleeping and just missed her eyeball. I have also heard of cases of the quills moving to the lungs, heart and great vessels. A colleague of mine had a patient that never woke up from sedation, and suspects one went into his jugular vein. Thankfully, these cases are rare, and such incidents are less likely to occur if the quills are removed promptly.

I always wonder, what about the other guy?  How often does the porcupine walk away unscathed?  They sure are cute. I remember seeing one on my front porch at 5:30 am at our house in Canada. Just looking in the window. My dogs sleeping in the other room, none the wiser. I like to think that my dogs are less likely to encounter them since they are not to be trusted off-leash. It is something for you to think about if you live or hike with dogs in Porcupine Country. Super-Cute Hiking Hazards. Veterinary Job Security. I guess if you are going to have an emergency with a young and otherwise healthy dog, this might be the best one to get.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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Being a Licensed Veterinary Technician working in a small animal and exotic practice for over a decade I’ve seen my fair share of ill exotic pets over the years. So, when an appointment popped up on the schedule for a leopard gecko with an abnormal tail, I prepared like I would for any other exotic appointment. I mentally readied myself for the husbandry discussion, printed all the care handouts, grabbed the gram scale, and walked into the room. I was reminded that day no matter how long you have been in this field, always expect the unexpected. 

This was not your average gecko; he was emaciated, dehydrated, covered in retained shed skin, squinting eyes, and was dragging a completely necrotic tail. It was clear he was in desperate need of a tail amputation surgery and supportive care. So, an arrangement was made, he was signed over into our care and surgery was scheduled for the following day. 

Surgery was a success, and the next step was for the frail leopard gecko to receive rehabilitation and I was the natural choice after successfully rehabilitating and re-homing several reptiles in the past; I thought this experience would be no different. I brought him home that night with a bag of medications to temporarily join my zoo and began the process of daily charting, photo-taking, and inspecting his every move. He started a drug regime of pain medication and antibiotics, daily soakings to correct his dehydration, as well as perfecting his cage temperature, lighting, and humidity. During this time, he refused to chase his prey (crickets and other bugs) so I was forced to hand feed him daily. 

It was miraculous how quickly his tail begun to repair itself! As he healed this frail leopard gecko became feisty! Every time I touched him to feed him, give him medications or inspect his amputation site he would give it his best attempt to bite me. Lovingly I gave him the only name that fit, Cujo. As time went on and I continued his care, Cujo mellowed. Maybe because he felt better not having that tail behind him, maybe the pain medications were working, maybe he loved the sound of my voice (he would perk up when he heard me talking to him) or maybe it was consistent confident handling. But within a few weeks, Cujo became more of an ironic name, because now he is the sweetest leopard gecko you will ever meet!

As the weeks passed, I was able to discontinue the medications as his tail grew and healed. He spent a lot of time in his humidity house and with every shed his color became brighter and brighter. An eye flush with saline and a course of antibiotic eye drops did the trick to stop his squinting. His eyes then appeared normal, however, he still did not chase his prey and walked with more caution than a leopard gecko should. This is when I came to the daunting realization that I had a visually impaired leopard gecko that would require hand-feeding for life. 

Now I had mentioned before that I have successfully rehabilitated and re-homed many reptiles over the years. And I was not looking for any more pets when I started this journey, especially not a leopard gecko. But there is something special about Cujo. After weeks of nursing him, seeing him perk up when he heard my voice, carrying him around on my shoulder so he can supervise my care of the other animals; I was growing attached to this little guy. And I started thinking, who would want a half tailed, partially blind gecko that would have to be hand-fed for life anyways?  

It has been two years now and Cujo’s tail has grown back thick and fat (regrown tails are never the same as a leopard gecko’s original tail), his color is bright tangerine orange, and he is fat, happy and healthy. I’m sure you can guess how this story ends, Cujo now lives happily with me in my zoo. I started this journey with a scrawny, dehydrated, honestly pathetic looking leopard gecko, and with a lot of TLC ended up with a beautifully perfect Cujo!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My name is Nicole Harchuk I am a Licensed Veterinary Technician working in small animal and exotic practice. My favorite part of my job is the opportunity to educate and share my passion for veterinary medicine. I also enjoy traveling and attending conferences and continuing education classes to expand my knowledge. Additionally, I recently started back to school to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Management. In my spare time, I enjoy caring for my “zoo” of reptiles and Poonchkei the orange tabby cat, as well as, scrapbooking, reading, and spending time with friends.