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Animal Wellness Week begins Oct. 4, and is a time to check on your pet’s health and celebrate the impact pets can have on humans’ health.

Photo courtesy RAPS

Time to focus on pet health

By Eyal Lichtmann

Published 3:50 PDT, Wed September 30, 2020

Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021

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Every season has its own charms and challenges. For responsible pet owners, autumn can be a time to calm down, enjoy the chillier weather with dogs or curl up near a crackling fire with a kitty or puppy on our lap. A few things to take into account, though, as we prepare for the fall.

Animal Wellness Week begins Oct. 4—a time to take stock of the health of our pets. Make sure your pet is up-to-date on checkups and routine care like vaccinations. While you’re at it, be sure your pets are microchipped and tattooed and that your dog is licensed. If they are ever separated from you, that will help us reunite them with you as quickly as possible, reducing anxiety and stress for both of you.

Take the time to call your vet for an appointment to make sure your pet’s records are updated. Coincidentally, Animal Wellness Week begins on the same day that the RAPS Animal Hospital begins opening Sundays, making our facility a seven-day-a-week operation.

Fall is when rodents start looking for warmer places to rest. That means there is a higher likelihood of poison “rodenticides” in some locations. While most of the mushrooms that we see popping up at this time of year are harmless, some can be fatal. Ethylene glycol-based automotive coolants and antifreezes are highly toxic. Leaks should be cleaned up immediately and everyone should be cautious of unknown substances in the vicinity of our pets. Keep an eye on your pets whenever outdoors.

Autumn is also the time when fireworks and firecrackers make their noisy arrival known. For many or most household pets, these unexpected explosions can be terrifying and disorienting. Around Halloween especially, but anytime you hear loud noises (like thunder), consider playing some soothing background music or turn up the TV to cover some of the scary sounds.

Halloween may be different this year, but it is usually a time when the RAPS City of Richmond Animal Shelter experiences the most lost animals. Cats and dogs can escape with all the opening and closing of doors to trick-or-treaters and, again, if frightened by firecrackers, many pets’ natural instinct is to run—in any direction. Keep them in a separate room with safe, calming toys and background sounds.

While we’re talking about Animal Wellness Week, why not celebrate the fact that animals make us healthier! People who live with pets are less likely to get sick and are likely to recover sooner. People with pets are likely to get more physical activity, have lower blood pressure, less stress, lower risk of heart attack and stroke, alleviated depression and a whole host of ancillary benefits. A person who has had a significant health crisis like a heart attack or stroke and return to a home with a cat are more likely to be alive a year later than those who have no pet.

This is to say nothing of the way pets help build community. Walking around the neighbourhood with a pet is a routine that builds social connections, strengthens community resilience, enhances safety and security and just makes it a nicer place to live!

For all our pets do for us, the least we can do is keep them healthy!

Which brings us to you. For 25 years, RAPS has been saving and improving the lives of animals in Richmond. Everything we have accomplished is because of the support of people like you. Thank you! And happy Animal Wellness Week!

Eyal Lichtmann is CEO and Executive Director of the Regional Animal Protection Society.