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pet owners

No pet owner wants to give their vet "the ick."

Ally McBeal first brought us the phrase “gives me the ick” back in 1999, and it’s had a resurgence in recent years, thanks to TikTok. While mostly reserved for describing annoyances in the dating world, the term can and has been used to describe virtually every red flag or pet peeve under the sun. Now, thanks to Dr. Frank Bozelka, we can enjoy a veterinarian version of “the icks.”

Just to be clear, the icks in question don’t come from the patients themselves…but the pet parents. While Dr. Bozelka is clearly just poking fun, he doesn’t shy away from highlighting some of the choices that pet parents make that cause some serious problems for their furry friends.

Ick #1 - Trusting a breeder's opinion over a vet’s

As Bozelka points out in his video caption, breeders “are not medical experts.” He added that while there are certainly knowledgeable breeders out there—even some who taught him breed specific tidbits—”most of the time you’re dealing with a backyard breeder who is literally just trying to dodge any responsibility.”

@dr.bozelkaervet

While there certainly are breeders that know their stuff, they are still not medical experts! Sure I’ve learned a few things from breeders about unique breeds I didn’t know, but it’s not very common. And the harsh reality of being a vet is that most of the time, you’re dealing with a backyard breeder that’s literally just trying to dodge any responsibility. So yes, our gut reaction when people say that is to cringe, sorry. I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT JUST BUY A BREED BECAUSE IT’S CUTE!!! DO! YOUR!! HOMEWORK!!! Make sure the breed is a good fit for your lifestyle, and make sure your lifestyle is a good fit for the breed! And for retractable leashes: I’ve seen far more injuries caused to dogs and humans from retractable leashes compared to other leashes. End of explanation. For number 6: stop complaining about the wait times. We know it’s frustrating. The dirty truth, however, is the vast majority of the time it’s NOT the fault of the hospital staff. It’s other owners and the cases we are seeing. #fyp #comedyvideo #satire #doglover #catlover #petlover #vetsoftiktok #drbozelka


Hence why his gut reaction when he hears someone refer to a breeder’s opinion as gospel is to “cringe.”

Even breeders agreed on this one. One wrote, “As a breeder I never give medical advice. I say: ‘please go see your vet.’ Maybe because I’m also a vet tech.”

Ick # 2 - Doing the opposite of what the vet says they would do

Next on the list: when someone asks, “If this were your dog what would you do?" then proceeds to do the opposite of what he’d do.

“Bro, why did you even ask me?” he says in the clip. Seriously, why ask if you're not even going to take the information to heart?

University Of Washington Dog GIF by Pac-12 NetworkGiphy

Ick # 3 - Not accommodating a dog that needs lots of activity

Some people desperately want, say, a husky dog because they're so beautiful and so smart. But breeds like that also have very high activity needs that require some pretty significant lifestyle changes. And yet, people complain when that same breed of dog is tearing up the house all the time because they're not giving them the physical activity outlets they require.

In other words, you can put a dog bred to race sleds through the snow into a 12' by 12' living room and expect them to just happily chill there.

Ick #4 - Buying a pet after doing zero research on the specific needs of the breed

Along the lines of the husky example, pet owners really need to understand the breed of animal they are getting.

“I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT JUST BUY A BREED BECAUSE IT’S CUTE! DO! YOUR! HOMEWORK!” Bozelka wrote in all caps.

Dog breeds in particular vary a lot and some have very specific needs that an owner may not be prepared to handle. Know what you're getting into before making a decade-plus long commitment to care for an animal.

@dr.bozelkaervet

True story… Legends has it that Hisoka aged another 2 years by the time she realized what was happening with him… Make sure to follow me on other platforms for when TikTok inevitably gets banned! YouTube: @Dr.BozelkaERvet1 Facebook and Instagram: @Dr.BozelkaERvet #fyp #comedyvideo #catlover #doglover #petlover #animallover #vetsoftiktok #drbozelka

Ick #5 - Complaining about wait times at the ER

No one wants to be made to wait when their animal needs to be seen, but there's only so much that is under the staff's control.

“We know it’s frustrating,” Bozelka writes, “The dirty truth, however, is the vast majority of the time it’s NOT the fault of the hospital staff. It’s the other owner and the cases we are seeing."

Ick #6 - Retractable leashes

Lastly, Dr. Bozelka listed retractable leashes as an ick, simply because they’re so dangerous. He’s seen “far more injuries caused” by them in comparison to other leashes, so better to be safe than sorry.

While not every vet might have the same icks as Bozelka, it’s easy to see how any one in his situation would be aggravated. Vets undergo years of education and training to help give our pets the best life possible. And when we make their job even harder, frustration is inevitable.

Dr. Bozelka has also shared things pet owners do that vets love:

@dr.bozelkaervet

Replying to @konagirl02 May not be mah best work, but it’s still important work! There are plenty of things pet owners can do to make us happy, and most of them are pretty simple! And TRUST me, for those of you that are understanding and considerate of the wait times, the vet staffs are literally singing your praises and blessing your family and friends behind close doors because of how amazing you are! Being polite and understanding about your wait is a sure fire way to get a staff to love you (at least from an ER standpoint). #fyp #comedyvideo #catlover #doglover #petlover #animallover #vetsoftiktok #drbozelka

According to the website KeepingItPawsome.com, there are a few other behaviors that vets find frustrating, including:

Overfeeding, trusting “Dr. Google” over their professional opinion, being verbally abusive or getting hysterical in the waiting room, not having pet insurance or an emergency fund, waiting too long before brining the pet in to get a check up, expecting free treatment or reduced fees, giving up on sick or old pets, trying medications or supplements without consulting them (again, Google can’t always be trusted), and last but not least—expecting a quick and easy fix.

Vets want what’s best for our fur babies. So these are good things to remember as pet parents, so that we may better help them help us.

This article originally appeared last year.


Joy

Guy's viral story of becoming an unexpected 'Cat Dad' is utterly adorable

"Paternal instincts kicking in. Overwhelmed with feels. Don't know how to deal."

@pariszarcilla/Twitter

Even if you're not a cat person, you might have missed out on this wonderful journey.

Life can come at you really fast.

Sometimes you're just moseying along, smelling the flowers (or getting your usual morning coffee; I don't know your routine) — and then BAM! Your existence has entered a new and exciting stage you weren't at all prepared for.


We've all been there. And that's probably why so many on the internet are relating to a man named Paris Zarcilla, or as the internet has dubbed him, #CatDad.

All Zarcilla wanted was to grab a sweater. He found a litter of kittens under his bed instead.

On May 29, 2018, Zarcilla rolled up to his bedroom to get himself a change of clothes. Then, I assume, he heard some kind of strange noise. And because this isn't that type of horror movie, he decided to check under his bed.

Where he found this:

That tweet went viral almost instantly, with the entire internet dissolving into what I imagine to be a puddle of mewling goo. At least, that's where I was when I started favoriting these tweets.

But while the rest of us were enjoying the delight that a surprise pack of kittens and their mama can bring to an otherwise dull day, Zarcilla was struggling with an important question:

Hello and welcome to the world's most adorable existential crisis.

I mean, what else are you going to do, right? You find a couple of kittens just hanging out in your home, clear your schedule, and start partying with them. (Safely and from a few feet away, maybe, so as not to spook them.)

If there's one thing that this story proves, it's how important animals are in our lives.

I'll spare you every one of the adorable cat pictures in the thread (and there are a lot), but many people have joined in on the love, and Zarcilla's story has become even more epic as he continued live-tweeting his experience.

Sure, he's doing a lot for the kittens — he can't separate them from the mom for six weeks, so everyone's staying under his bed indefinitely — but he's also recognizing the power our furry friends (or, you know, furry strangers who quickly become friends) have to impact our mood and change our outlook on life.

Zarcilla even pointed out the fact that being with the cats and the responsibility of becoming #CatDad may really be helping his mental health.

According to research, being the dad (or mom or parent) to a cat — or dog, if you're so inclined — is beneficial for us humans. Dog owners experience less stress, and those who own cats are less likely to have heart problems.

And it's therapeutic to spend time with an animal, because, unlike other humans, they're not going to expect anything from you except that you feed and love them. That's why so many of us may feel more comfortable being ourselves around our pets.

Of course, not all of us will be blessed with the discovery of a whole group of cats in our own homes.

Although strange kitties wandering in and just doing their thing in someone's dining room aren't unheard of.

So if you're considering a pet, don't wait for a family of felines to take up in your room. Consider rescuing an animal (like Chris Evans did!) to become your companion.

As for #CatDad? He's doing just fine.

You're doing amazing, dude.

And for a quick update... looks like the journey of his, "cat life" is evolving.

This article originally appeared on 06.01.18

Joy

Photographer captures dogs' faces as they catch treats mid-air, and it's sheer, hilarious joy

German photographer Christian Vieler's dog portraits bring delight around the world.

There's nothing funnier than the millisecond before a dog catches a treat mid-air.

German photographer Christian Vieler wasn't trying to become famous for his comedic dog portraits. He was just trying to test out a new portable flash he'd just gotten in the mail.

He tossed some treats to his dog, Lottie, to make her move quickly so he could test out the options of the flash with his camera.

“Days later, when I cleaned my hard drive, I noticed how funny the shots were,” he told CNN.

That was 2013. Nine years later, Vieler has a thriving business taking photos of people's dogs mid-treat-toss, a website selling greeting cards, calendars, planners and more, and two popular coffee-table books showcasing hilarious doggo faces. His work has been covered by news outlets all over the world.


He also shares his photos on Facebook and Instagram.

People absolutely adore Vieler's catching-treats portraits and compilations of them regularly go viral on social media.

Seriously, who can resist a face like this?

Who knew that the millisecond before a dog catches a treat would make such perfectly hilarious pictures? It happens so fast in real life, we don't ever get to see these faces except when they're captured on camera.

Vieler told CNN why he thinks these photos became so popular.

“I asked myself: What is the magic behind these photographs? I think the expressions of the dogs remind us of well-known feelings like desire, loss, pain or joy. And that's what we normally don't see that clear in the faces of our dogs,” he said.

They really do seem to add a whole other layer of personality to these pets.

Some of them are just laugh-out-loud funny.

Scrolling through Vieler's Instagram page is a veritable feast of doggo delight. Vieler also takes absolutely gorgeous portraits of dogs when they aren't catching treats, so there's a little something for everyone. Highly recommend taking some time to peruse.

And if you want to get some of this "good boy" joy into your home, check out his website as well. He is based in Germany, but his products can be purchased with free shipping to 34 other countries.

Photo by Daria Shatova on Unsplash

The life of a housecat is generally pretty cozy, but some cities make it easier to spoil our kitties than others.

According to a new ranking of cat-friendly cities from OneVet, felines in Florida are particularly fortunate. The state boasts the honor of having three cities in the top 10, and is the only state to have multiples cities on the list. (Florida. Who knew?)

The "Best U.S. Cities to Be a Cat" rankings are based on five equally-weighted factors: the number of pet-friendly rentals, number of veterinarians, number of cat cafes, number of pet stores, and number of cat adoptions in 2020 (all per 100K population). A pretty solid set of criteria, at least from a human perspective.


(If cats themselves were making these rankings, we'd be looking at number of mice per square block, number of birds visible through windows, number of sucker humans that can be convinced to put food out for us, etc.)

Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash

Anyhoo, pouncing in as the number one cat-friendly city in America is Miami, Florida, with a score of 43.47 out of a maximum score of 50. In a close second was Orlando, followed by Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.

Offering a nice geographical spread, the cities of Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, Tampa, and Riverside, CA rounded out the top ten.

blog.onevet.ai

So how about the worst places to be a cat?

Well, you can take your pick of cities from coast to coast, with New York City being the worst, with a shockingly low score of 5.23, and two California metros—San Francisco and Los Angeles—making the bottom 10.

Others on the cat-unfriendly list include Memphis, New Orleans, Jacksonville (so Florida isn't all feline-friendly), Phoenix, Detroit, Houston, and Virginia Beach.

blog.onevet.ai

Of course, the care and feeding of a cat is mainly a product of how wrapped around their owner's finger they are, but it is interesting to see how much varies from city to city as far as cat-friendly amenities goes. Apparently the Northwest is remarkably average, with no cities in the top or bottom 10. (Either that, or the region just entirely forgotten about, which happens a lot.)

But really, cats themselves don't care all the much. As long as they get rubs and snuggles when they want them (and only when they want them) and as long as everything is exactly as they feel it should be, they're happy wherever they live.

Photo by Yerlin Matu on Unsplash

And hey, at least Florida has something to brag about other than off-the-wall people and off-the-rails politicians. "Most cat-friendly state in the U.S." may not be much, but it's something.