11. My wife is a vet. She says that a lot of people tell her they want their dog to experience child birth at least once. It’s a horrible and traumatic experience for dogs because they not only have to go through pregnancy and labor, but they have to give up their babies.
Spay and neuter your pets.
12.
KNOW YOUR BREED!!! Don’t complain about your dog being too energetic or destructive when you keep them cooped up in a cage for 12 hours a day!! A Labrador is a working dog – he needs a job to do!! A husky is a snow dog – don’t own one in Florida!! German Shepherds shed ALOT – don’t complain about the hairballs!! DO YOUR RESEARCH 1st!
cbeagle
13.
If you see a stray cat with a cleanly clipped ear tip do not take it to a shelter. Either take it home to live with you or leave it on the street.
Clipped ears mean they were caught, neutered/spayed by the city/county, and released. This is a way to control cat populations and, over time, protect wildlife. They compete for resources with fertile cats without adding to the population.
In many cities, stray cats are more likely to be adopted from the street than in the shelter. If the cat is taken to a shelter they cannot legally release it because it is now abandoning the animal. That cat will be euthanized, or at best absorbs resources until it finds a home.
Strict_Ad_2094,wikimedia
14.
They rely solely on you for care. For everything. You are their everything. Don’t f**k it up.
KatieMarmalade
15.
RVT here. There are sooo many.
1. It is not cute or sweet to have an obese pet. It can cause joint issues and heart disease among many things. Stop showing love through over feeding (especially human junk food).
2. Dogs are living creatures who need preventative medical care just like you do. And sometimes they get sick like you do. If you can’t contribute the bare minimum to take care of them, maybe you should think again about owning one.
3. GET YOUR PUPPY ITS DAMN DISTEMPER/PARVO VACCINES.
Mayg14,Tripp
16.
If your cat or dog was hit by a car and is whining and limping, when you bring them in and get asked when the accident happened, the damn answer best not be ‘oh, 4-5 days ago, but I haven’t had time to bring him in’
Source = wife is a surgical vet nurse
bearchr01
17.
Not a vet, but my mom was a vet tech for years and I’ve been an animal profession for awhile now.
Cats DO NOT do things because they are mad at you. Your cat did not poop on your boyfriend’s pillow as revenge for being yelled at, and they certainly did not pee on your clothes because they’re mad you didn’t feed them on time. Cats are creatures of habit and prefer routine to feel safe, so when you have drastic changes in behavior (such as eliminating outside the box), it’s typically due to one of two reasons: environmental changes or a medical issues. If you cannot think of anything in your home environment that’s changed, then you need to get them checked at the vet.
Neither milk nor tuna from a can are good treats for you cat, despite the stereotype.
Unless it’s for a legitimate medical reason, declawing cats is cruel. If you don’t want cats clawing your furniture, but can’t be bothered to do the bare minimum of just researching how you can prevent it, then don’t get a cat. Don’t have a completely unnecessary medical procedure done on your cat simply because you don’t want to be inconvenienced.
YukiXain
18.
Your rabbit is not a f**king hamster.
It needs actual space to run around, and not a single cage sold at a commercial pet store has even close to enough space. They need runs, and access to the house if you can.
They are incredibly social animals, so don’t come to me and say you got one. They are lonely, and need a buddy. If they don’t have one, be prepared to spend 6+ hours a day hanging out and socializing with them because they need the interaction.
They do not just eat pellets, 80-90% of their diet is should be hay and I’m tired of people coming in with morbidly obese rabbits as a result of the rabbit being fed nothing but calorie dense pellets and carrots.
And stop buying pugs from breeders. Bringing more of those poor suffering creatures into this world is inhumane.
Momordicas
19.
Vet here.
Your dog does not need to eat grain free food with massive amounts of protein because they are “basically a wolf.” No. They’re not. They’re a dog. And not only does the actual science not support the need for these trend diets, now there’s concern they’re actually doing harm, causing dilated cardiomyopathy in certain animals.
In a similar vein, we do not get any money from diet companies. Do you think I would be wallowing in my 325K of debt (no this is not an exaggeration in the slightest), driving a 15 year old broken down car, and renting without a hope of buying a house, if I were getting kickbacks? I would not. If we make a diet recommendation it’s because current science says it may help your pet.
We agonize over cases, work longer hours than we should, spend time away from our families and friends to figure out difficult cases and help the really sick pets. Taking out your anger and grief on me and my staff does nothing but tear us apart and contribute to the high suicide rate that vets and vet techs have. We are helpers at heart and it hurts when we can’t help – please be kind and don’t make us feel worse.
Corgimatic
20.
Not a vet but my mom is.
One thing that really frustrates her is the myth that neutering a cat will make them fat and lazy.
It reduces the amount of calories they need which means they need less food and/or more exercise to maintain the same weight. Cats generally get less energetic as they get older regardless, but most will still perk up if you make the effort to wave a toy in their face every so often.
mylifeisathrowaway10,John Donges
