As Omicron spreads through the country pet owners need to be prepared for a variety of possible scenarios ranging from a period of self isolation at home and no infection through to a stay in hospital.
How much you need to do in advance to get organised will depend somewhat on your own personal situation, but here are a few things to think through:
1. Have you got enough food?
We’re recommending our customers have at least 2-3 weeks supply of pet food at all times, especially as courier delivery times are now being impacted by covid. Supermarkets and pet stores are also becoming more affected by stock outages, so if your pet is on a particular food that you need to stick to, you may want to stock up a little more than that.
2. Have you got enough medications?
If your pet is on any medications make sure you have at least 1 month’s supply. Don’t leave it until the last minute to ring the vet for a repeat prescription, as their ability to fill your prescription quickly may be impacted by reduced staffing levels and slower than normal stock deliveries.
Make sure that you have all medications and their dose rates well documented in case someone who doesn't normally do this ends up needing to care for your pet while you are unwell.
3. How will you care for your pet if you are very unwell or hospitalised?
This is going to vary depending on your personal situation, but make sure you have a well thought through plan for managing this. If you live alone then this may involve organising for a friend or neighbour to care for them or potentially a boarding facility if necessary.
If you have covid in your household, you will be trying to minimise contact between family members and you may want to extend this to your pet as well, if this is practical and not too stressful for you all. Your pet can get covid from you, but it is not common and would likely only be mild and self-limiting. Ideally get someone who is not symptomatic to care for your family pet
4. Check under what scenarios can you still use your doggy daycare or dog walking service?
Check in with any dog carers you have outside of the home about what their covid policies and contingency plans are.
5. Take care with storage and disposal of rapid antigen tests
Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) need to be kept out of reach of pets as they may contain a preservative called sodium azide that is toxic to animals if ingested in large quantities.
Don’t forget that we still have our 30% off Stock Up and Save promotion running this month to help ensure you have plenty of dog food on hand. Just enter code SAVE30 at checkout for 30% off a 9kg bag of food.
