How To Support our Pets during Covid-19 Shutdown
Help them to survive in this challenging time.
COVID-19 shutdown means everyone is not allowed to go outside -- and that includes our animal friends.
With a few more weeks to go, here's how you and your fur-babies can cope and even bond during this time.
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
Everyone is obliged to stay at home and do their part in "flattening the curve", and going out to walk the dog is strongly prohibited.
According to most of the veterinarians, it is essential for the pets to do outdoor activities to keep them mentally and physically active. Similar to us humans, dogs or cats may experience stress or worse a depression, if they are cooped up inside for too long. Here are some tips you can do keep them active.
1. We can play fetch or make them go up and down the stairs if there's a space inside the home.
2. Do a tug of war with them or hide and seek.
3. Teach them with new tricks or play some puzzle games.
POTTY AND HYGIENE
Another concern animals have to endure during the shutdown is the limited option to relieve themselves.
This is particularly concerning for dogs who live in apartments, used to have business during walks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed proper clean up and disposal of animal feces (poop) should not be neglected. This disposal contain parasites and germs such as roundworms, hookworms, giardia etc. that are harmful to people, especially children.
Be responsible on disposing them to the appropriate places (on bagged) and have the area disinfected.
For Cats, owners are advised to have their litter box cleaned daily to lower the chances of exposures to harmful parasites. CDC, warned pregnant women to avoid changing them to prevent contracting a toxoplasmosis infection.
FOOD RATIONING
Since most of pet stores will remain closed for the duration of this shutdown, and panic-buying is the new norm where shelves at the grocery's pet aisle are often left empty, you might be tempted to curb food portions to make sure their supply lasts.
You can depend their food by sizes, weight, age, level of activity and health. " the general rule is to give 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of food every 25 pounds of their body weight."
If you start running out of dog or cat food, you can transition them to complete and balanced home-cooked meals.
In times of crisis, an animal companion is the first defense and will always be their owners or we can call it their "parents" responsibility to survive.
You also have to remember to always WASH YOUR HANDS before and after holding or playing with your fur-babies to avoid environmental contamination. See our blog post about proper hand washing.