Are pet owners listening?

Three of the top five zoonotic diseases occurring in pets are easily preventable through the use of anthelmintics, according to 2007 Banfield data. So why aren't pet owners complying? Some feel the treatment or products recommended aren't necessary, and others don't know why they don't follow through, according to the 2007 AVMA Perceptions and Attitudes of Pet Owners Study. But when making life-saving treatment decisions or decisions about their pet's chronic condition, pet owners report that their veterinarians most influence their treatment decisions, according to the AVMA study.

"I think a lot of veterinary teams ask pet owners to do things that are all but impossible," says Jim Kramer, DVM, CVPM, a partner at Columbus Animal Hospital in Columbus, Neb. "If the treatment isn't practical, we keep the pet at our practice until the care is easy enough for the pet owner to do at home. For example, perhaps a client just can't pill her cat. We won't ask the owner to give the cat giant pills twice a day. Instead, we offer almost all of our oral formulations for cats in liquid form."

Why they don't comply

"You need to ask why pet owners aren't complying," says Caitlin Rivers, a veterinary assistant and inventory and special projects coordinator at Metzger Animal Hospital in State College, Pa. "We tend to talk but we don't always listen. There are different ways to deal with conditions, but we need to know what the problems are."

Top 5 zoonotic diseases