Advice For Animal Owners During The COVID-19 Pandemic

If you are feeling sick - get away from the cat

Patients with coronavirus or those who suspect they have this disease should reduce contact with pets. Thus you should limit contact with pets the same way that you limit contact with other people. If you are ill, ask another member of your family to take care of your animals as much as possible during illness. Try not to caress, hug, kiss, or lick the animal. If you must look after your pet or be near animals during disease, wash your hands before and after talking with them and wear a face mask.

By the way, Chinese scientists from a veterinary research institute in Harbin tested a strain of coronavirus on animals with which people contact most often (for example, dogs, cats, pigs, and birds). They published the results of their work on the bioRxiv website (a portal to which researchers can download preprints of their scientific papers for free before being published in scientific journals). The study showed that not all pets are equally susceptible to coronavirus. For example, the virus does not take root in the body of a dog and a pig. But ferrets can be active distributors of the infection, while they carry the infection painlessly.

The most challenging thing is with cats: it turned out that their coronavirus is transmitted quickly, by airborne droplets. At the same time, Western colleagues of Chinese specialists in their article for the journal Nature noted that although the data from China are of great interest to science, they cannot mean that cat owners should be afraid for their health. Because there is still no direct evidence that infected cats can secrete enough coronavirus pathogens to infect humans. It is important, and especially during a pandemic, that your pet is protected by insurance against unforeseen injuries or illnesses and this website is a very helpful resource in that aspect.

Wash the dog after a walk

Experts advise washing the dog's paws with a disinfecting shampoo containing, for example, chlorhexidine. You can buy it online in veterinary pharmacies, which at the moment have not stopped their work. By the way, experts advise walking only with dogs, but cats should not go outside. When walking with a dog, avoid contact with your animals with other people, keep a safe distance while walking. And the point is not that you can become infected; the virus will quickly get from a sick person to your pet.

By the way, while you are sitting at home, you have a great temptation to put your pet an extra portion of food or to please him with something tasty. Should not be doing that. The number of snacks should not exceed 10% of the daily allowance. Otherwise, an animal that is already moving less than usual will quickly gain excess weight.

Of course, for any pet ​​owner, the health of the pet is essential. One of the most important factors influencing the formation, and in the future, the maintenance of good animal health is its daily diet.

Cat Healthy Nutrition During Pandemic

For most owners, cat food occupies a central place in the pet's diet. It is assumed that dry feeding should be a pleasant addition to the main diet. Canned cat food can be more often, but should not exceed 25% of the main food.

In general, feeding a cat involves a relatively standard set of products: boiled meat and fish, milk, broths, cottage cheese, decoctions of oatmeal. The latter, by the way, is an excellent food for cats of a young age, and besides, based on such decoctions it is possible to organize nutrition for old cats. Also, cats are given raw meat. As for fish, proper nutrition for cats implies the presence of only marine fish in the diet.

Also, natural feeding of cats suggests the presence of eggs in the diet (yolk is incredibly useful, it contributes to the growth of wool), hard cheese, and vegetables. You can add rice or oatmeal to the food, which cleanses the stomach well, but it is better to avoid the usual sour cream and cream since they badly affect the liver.

And one more aspect: cat nutrition cannot do without stalks of grass that can be brought from the street but can be grown at home. However, care should be taken that cats do not eat indoor plants, as they can be poisonous to them.

Dog Healthy Nutrition During Pandemic

Often, the owners perceive the dog as a full member of the family and are ready to make maximum efforts, both temporary and financial, to maintain the well-being of the animal. Thus, associating his animal with his kind, the owner begins to feed the dog with human food, sharing with her the best that he thinks he can offer - food from his table. Such feeding often becomes the cause of the development of both chronic and rapidly developing acute diseases.

When choosing a diet for your dog, it is essential to understand that it must be balanced and contain all the necessary macro-micro nutrients and vitamins according to the veterinarian's advice on ThePets. Moreover, consider that the diet should vary depending on the age, physiological status, and breed of the animal. So, for example, in no case should you allow the same feeding of puppies and elderly animals, dogs of small and giant breeds, working and domestic decorative animals.

Of course, to maintain health and prevent disease, pay attention at a few more rules:

• Visit a veterinarian you trust at least once a year. This is a fundamental rule, and it will be excellent that the examination is combined with the vaccination of the pet and accompanied by appropriate marks in the veterinary passport (this will allow you to monitor the regularity of visits to the veterinary clinic);

• Do not use any additives, preparations, or goodies without consulting a veterinarian. You should not trust the opinion of experts from among friends and even from the best intentions to purchase unknown dietary supplements and medicines. The same goes for antiparasitic drugs and vaccines, unfamiliar feeds, and treats. Remember that if you feed your dog full-balanced balanced meals, adding vitamins and minerals to the diet is useless.

• Inspect your dog regularly at home (at least once a month). It is more convenient to combine such examinations with routine hygiene procedures: bathing, combing, clipping, treating fleas and ticks, etc.

What if you found suspicious abnormalities when examining your pet? In this case, vigilance will not be superfluous. If signs of the disease are detected, it would be better to contact a veterinary clinic to conduct a full examination and receive professional treatment recommendations. It is not recommended to self-medicate because unprofessional treatment can significantly complicate the diagnosis and even exacerbate the pathology.

The easiest and most reliable way to provide your pet with a complete diet is to feed it with dry food. The composition of high-quality modern feed will completely satisfy the taste and everyday physiological needs of any animal, and the minimum moisture content will ensure freshness and ease of storage.