Of the many responsibilities that having companion animals entails, one of the most important is paying regular visits to the vet. Unfortunately, many pet parents take this responsibility for granted, leading to preventable veterinary emergencies.
Royal Canin recently conducted a survey among pet parents in the city and found that only 20% bring their companion animals to veterinarians for annual check-ups. Eighty percent would do so only when their companion animals were sick or in need of immediate cure.
Because of these findings, Royal Canin unveiled a platform called “Bring My Dog to the Vet” to help pet parents become more responsible in all aspects of their guardianship.
As with health for humans, prevention is better than cure for our loyal companions.
Easy access to vet clinics
The “Bring My Dog to the Vet” (BMDV) campaign was launched by Royal Canin to emphasize the role of veterinarian care and regular check-ups in ensuring animals’ general health.
The platform is accessible through the company’s official website and allows pet parents to register their dogs in the system, providing them the opportunity to schedule visits to over 100 participating vet clinics nationwide.
Aside from easy access to vet clinics, the website also provides monthly newsletters that covers a range of topics, such as the importance of vaccines, responsible pet parenting, general knowledge on pet healthcare, and nutrition for dogs.
“We at Royal Canin recognize the need to establish and pioneer an education campaign that would mobilize the pet lovers community in advocacy for the well-being of dogs,” said Ann Madelene Garcia, Royal Canin Vet Pillar head for sales and marketing. She went on to say, “Through the BMDV campaign, we aim to encourage pet owners and vet practitioners to be our partners not just in pet nutrition, but most importantly in responsible pet across the country.”
By taking advantage of technology, the company hopes that more pet parents will be encouraged to schedule regular vet visits.
“Royal Canin strongly believes that pets contribute positively to a person’s well-being, which is why we strive to make it a better world for them,” Garcia added.
Importance of regular check-ups
Experts say that common pet diseases are preventable, especially if detected early. A pet parent’s lack of knowledge about pet healthcare oftentimes leads to an animal’s sickness or, worse, demise.
Though your animal companions look healthy, their natural instinct is to hide health problems so as not to look weak in front of other potential predators. As this is the case, pets should be taken to a veterinarian once a year for a complete physical examination, followed by regular check-ups every six months.
Check-ups help veterinarians detect diseases to prevent them from worsening. A lot of diseases are not evident in their early stages, such as dental disease or a heart murmur, and giving companion animals routine preventive care will ensure that they stay disease-free.
Nutritional counselling is also an essential part of the check-up to ensure that companion animals are in good shape.
Aside from scheduling physical check-ups, pet parents can seek a veterinarian’s help when it comes to behavioral problems.
This appeared in Animal Scene magazine’s January 2020 issue.
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