Hi PawSquad friends! Today’s adventure is a fun one, because the adventure is coming to us! For PawSquad Summer’s “PET CARE PREP” week we are having a mobile veterinarian visit our house for a routine vet appointment.
Vet appointments are just like the doctors appointments you go to, but for animals. Usually you have to go to a physical location to visit a pet’s doctor, but mobile vets like Vets to Pets come to you! This is the Vets to Pets van:
The van carries all the supplies the Vets to Pets team needs to see and treat your animal! The team brings all of these supplies inside to set up in your house. Having a doctor come to your house can reduce a lot of potential stress both on you and your pet!
This is Dr. Kirk, Morgan, and Amber, the team that is helping us! Have you noticed the furry friend joining us today? That’s right! In the lower left corner you can find Scout, our lovely patient for the day. Let’s go through this appointment together!
The first thing that we do is answer the questions the vets have for us (if you don’t have a pet, think of the answers for your friend’s pet, or even an imaginary one!): What is your pet’s name? How old is your pet? What does your pet eat? Do you have any concerns about your pet right now?
Each and every appointment is tailored to the individual pet, and a check-up for a dog will be different than for a cat, or any other animal. But, Scout is a cat, so today we’ll be observing a cat appointment!
The first thing we see being pulled out is a “CAT COZY”. A cat cozy is a piece of medical clothing that wraps your cat up nice and snug so that they feel calm and cozy! Just like a big HUG! Be sure to leave this to professionals and adults, trying to wrap your animal in something like a blanket can actually make them more stressed!
Now Dr. Kirk takes Scout’s weight and temperature. Scout is not feeling too well today and has a sore mouth, so his temperature is a little bit high! A higher temperature can tell us that a kitty isn’t feeling well, which is important to know, because unfortunately that isn’t something cat’s can tell us in human words.
Next, Dr. Kirk checks the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of Scout. Do you remember the last time you went to the doctor for your annual checkup? I’m sure you got all these things checked too. You might even recognize the tool being used to check Scout’s ears from your own doctor! It’s a cone shaped magnifying glass that helps the doctor see super well inside, and the fancy word is an “OTOSCOPE”.
Then the doctor checks lymph nodes for swelling. What does that mean? Lymph nodes are found throughout the body, and get bigger when an animal isn’t feeling well. Just like the temperature, this is another way to tell if a kitty is sick. So when a doctor checks for lymph node swelling, all that means is that they are feeling around for larger than normal lumps.
Some of the final things Dr. Kirk checks in Scout are his heart rate and breathing, skin and nails, & tail and rear end.
You might be wondering how the doctors keep track of all of their findings! Teamwork makes the dreamwork, and in the Vets to Pets team there is always someone with a computer writing everything important down so no one forgets! Amber is on the computer today and reminds us that Scout’s ears need a bit of a cleaning, so Morgan concludes the appointment by cleaning Scout’s ears.
The Vets to Pets team also wants you to know a few things about caring for your animals that involve vets
- Take your pet to the vet for an annual checkup at least once a year, just like you do!
- If you have a young animal, you have to bring them into the vet once every four weeks for very important, auto immune boosting vaccines from age 8 weeks until 18 weeks! Deworming every 2 weeks is also very important for young, growing animals.
- Around 4 months, get your animal spayed or neutered. This makes it so your animal can’t have babies and keeps them healthy!
- Give your pet preventative medication (oral or topical, meaning on their fur/skin), to keep them safe from dangerous bugs and fleas!
- Get your pet microchipped and get it registered! This small chip is a little larger than a grain of rice. It will help your animal have a better chance of being returned to you if they get outside & lost. (Photo below from Dr. Phillips Animal Hospital)
Before we go, let’s hear what each Vets to Pets member has to say about how they ended up working this job!
[Dr. Kirk – Loved animals, science, and biology all throughout growing up
Morgan – Accidentally found this job, felt she was in the right place and signed up for vet tech school
Amber – Loves exotics like rats and lizards, wanted to work with animals]*
Thank you for joining me today PawSquad! What’s one thing you learned today? I learned that in veterinarian appointments doctor’s check a cat’s ears with the same type of tool they check human’s ears! I think it’s really cool how we’re all very similar. What do you think? I can’t wait to see you for next week’s virtual camp theme, “BACKYARD WILDLIFE”.
Your PawSquad Summer friend,
Maanasa
Join us for PawSquad Summer on Facebook from July 3 – September 1! – @pawtectorsprogram
If you haven’t signed up for PawSquad Summer, here’s the link for more information & to sign up on our online learning platform: linkin.bio/pawtectorsprogram
Follow The PawSquad on Instagram – @pawtectorsprogram
Watch more fun videos on our Tik Tok! – @pawtectorsprogram
Visit the Pawtectors website for more information – www.thepawtectors.org
Credits
- Vets to Pets
- Debbie H – photos
- Animal Angel Aid
- Maanasa S – photos
- Amber – Vet Assistant
- Morgan – Vet Tech
- Dr. Kirk – Veterinarian
- Kelsey H
If you haven’t signed up for PawSquad Summer, here’s the link for more information & to sign up on our online learning platform: linkin.bio/pawtectorsprogram
PawSquad Summer “virtual” weekly camps run July thru August. Once a camp week goes LIVE, you will have access to it ALL summer. Super cool! You’ll never miss a day of animal fun & experiences.
