‘I heart my pet’ campaign to encourage pet disease prevention
Pet owners across the UK will be encouraged to seek expert advice on preventing disease in their pets as the National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) embarks on a new campaign, due to launch in late November 2012. The “I heart my pet” campaign follows extensive NOAH research during 2007 and 2011, which found that while both groups of pet owners clearly loved their pet, and whilst all pet owners considered themselves responsible, some do not see regular preventative healthcare as part of that responsibility.
The campaign will be built around a specially created seasonal healthcare calendar with tips, advice and activity ideas for pet owners and their animals. This will be available to download at Pet Health Info or on request, in poster form.
Researchers find link between dog-associated dust and reduced asthma rates in children
Research conducted by the University of California in San Francisco has found a link between homes with dogs and natural protection against respiratory synctial virus (RSV) which leads to the development of asthma. The composition of dust from homes that own a dog or cat is different to homes that do not.
Tests so far have only been conducted on mice and the actual microbes that provide resistance to RSV have yet to be identified, however the research definitely shows promise.
Pet Allergy Worldwide Survey (PAWS) finds 44% of owners not aware their pets can suffer from allergies
44% of more than 1250 owners across six countries were unaware their pets could suffer from allergies, and 51% did not know that pet allergies are more likely to develop during human allergy seasons.
The study, conducted by Novartis Animal Health, found 80% of owners wanted to know more about pet allergies. Given the statistics it’s definitely worth mentioning allergies to owners as we hurtle into summer.
We recently wrote about the PDSA Wellbeing Quick Reference guides which have extremely useful tips for owners on the basics of looking after their pets.
However the full report is also available for free and contains much more detailed information and statistics.
The video below is an explanation of the report and how it was carried out. It’s also very well produced and shows how video can really benefit vets in reaching a wider audience.
Mucky Pups is an iPhone app that has been launched to coincide with Microchipping Month. Mucky Pup will alert all local app users and send images, key information and last known locations to all other app users when a pet is reported missing. The app will also alert owners as to when their pet needs to be checked up, wormed and treated based on a preset scheduling system — leading to better care and happier pets.
This innovative app is available at the Apple app store and could be of tremendous value to clients. For full details and links please click read more.
