We've all been there. The bills have been mounting but life continues to move on in other ways, including pets that perhaps don't feel well. And we know that veterinary services during this COVID-19 pandemic are more challenging to receive. So you're scrolling the internet and you see an ad that claims “Discount pet drugs—no prescription required”. Even we in the veterinary community understand the appeal of this, but FDA experts say it can be risky to buy drugs online from sites that tout this message and others like it.

Blood tests are an easy, safe, and relatively inexpensive way to peer inside your pets and find potential health problems. Analysis of the numbers and structure of blood cells is important in the diagnosis and monitoring of disease and infection. These tests can help us identify a problem before clinical signs or symptoms appear. But what exactly are we looking for when we do a blood draw on dogs and cats?

One benefit of our quarantine time during this COVID-19 pandemic is that many of us are getting more physical activity, and our dogs are getting more exercise, too. After all, getting moving outside is nearly the only thing to do for leisure at this point! The downside is that this is the time of year that many of us need to be hyper-vigilant about snakes when taking walks or hikes.

It's hard not to panic when we get this constant influx of news on the COVID-19 virus, especially because the stream of information is steady, relentless, and always evolving. And that's also true when it comes to information about the COVID-19 virus and pets. Once you break down the information about how this virus relates to pets, you'll realize that fear is largely unfounded. And, yes, that's true despite the news of a tiger and two cats recently being diagnosed.

You may have seen the quote: “The best therapist has fur and four legs” floating around the interwebs by way of inspirational memes, but is there any truth to this saying? According to studies performed by the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), our pets can actually benefit our mental health in a variety of ways.

We're all feeling it. While there have been some silver linings to these days of quarantine due to COVID-19, many of us are feeling a case of the BLAHS. And by "BLAHS", we mean that we're Binging Lots And Hoarding Snacks. It's completely understandable, and our pets might even become a bit of collateral damage.

Life has definitely changed in the past several weeks. We hear daily of more and more stores, restaurants, beaches, and parks being closed, along with a ton of event cancellations. "Social distancing" has become part of our everyday vernacular. In most states, we are allowed only to go out for essentials, to get gas, to walk our dogs, and to get exercise. We're generally allowed to walk outside freely (with the very strong recommendation that we endeavor to keep a distance of at least 6 feet from another person).

As members of the veterinary community, we've been monitoring the situation with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) from the beginning. At a time when people are understandably prone to panic, it's more important than ever to separate fact from fiction. Pet owners want to know the straight truth about the possibility of pet infection and the spread of this virus, and we share the latest information on that in this blog post.