Modern innovations for pets

The inventions please the owners in practicality, and these advancements in quality pet care improve the quality of life for beloved companion animals.

Veterinary pharmaceutical companies are constantly and intermittently revealing marvellous discoveries through their research and development protocols based on the needs of animals in the modern world with its wide variety of problems.

It is their products that help improve the veterinary treatment standards, primary health care, prophylactic measures against a wide variety of diseases and parasites, with the main benefit being the increased longevity and quality of life for our companion animals. Pet owner gratitude can simply be expressed by supporting their products.

An admirable recent invention is the topical application of a vial of liquid to the back of a cat’s neck promising to offer a generalised de-worming. This is of enormous practical value when having to offer some sort of primary health care to, particularly, feral cats that cannot be restrained without the handler being bitten or scratched.

The same mode of application has been in use for quite some time as anti-tick and anti-flea remedies in dogs and cats, but one such drug has gone a step further to act as a deterrent for up to a month for flies and mosquitoes; and another specialising in flea control has an indirect effect on sterilising the flea life-cycle in the immediate environment.

A safe oral tablet for dogs and cats can also kill fleas on the body. The ingredient, after ingestion, is absorbed into the system and manifests itself in the skin in such a presence that any bite from a flea will have the flea in a state of hyper-excitability, by over-stimulating its nervous system, causing death of the insect. This drug only needs to be administered fortnightly.

Medication for pain and arthritis and certain de-wormers have been flavoured so that most dogs will ingest the medication by hand. While this idea avoids having to hide it in food when certain pets resist opening their mouth it is dangerous to leave these drugs lying around the house, as the dog may detect its attractive smell and ingest an entire month’s supply in one go and end up requiring intensive care. People need to be vigilant and responsible.

A hamster used to be kept in a cage with food, water and shavings to burrow under. After obesity became a health problem a wheel was introduced and the distance this creature runs at night is phenomenal.

Now they have a habitat with ladders, cavities and tunnels with various options of nesting sites and the design is easily dismantled by the owner and can be reconstructed so that the hamster can be afforded more variety, exploratory opportunities and energy expenditure to rebuild its nest.

Dogs inundated with contact allergies or sensitivity to solar-related skin disorders, including cancer, can now have specially measured and fitted lycra jackets made to cover most of the torso, to act as a barrier between skin and sunlight, skin and contact surfaces such as grass, carpets and groundcover.

This is very effective and may avoid having to use medication; but the dog needs to be tolerant of the jacket. Most dogs which have not been trained as pups to accept such an item on its body may never accept it – in fact, it may rip it to pieces.

The contact allergy problem can be further helped by teaching the dog to sleep on a durable canvas-type sleeper similar to what people regard as a stretcher used in camping. This allows the dog to sleep comfortably off the floor. Heated pet beds are also available for senior cats and dogs whose insulation ability is decreased and arthritic joints require diathermy. One has to be extra careful that the temperature does not cause skin burns.

Read more on innovations for pets next week.