I am very fortunate to work with motivated pet lovers when I perform surgery on their pets. Yet I am always surprised when they make the 3 following mistakes.

1. Allowing their pet to gain weight

Allowing your pet to be overweight increases their chances of getting certain diseases: diabetes, heart disease, urinary issues, tumors, orthopedic problems (such as ACL tears) and arthritis, to name a few.

It gets worse: obesity decreases your pets’ quality of life and shortens their lifespan.

Studies showed that maintaining a healthy weight can extend dogs’ lives for 2 years! The same concept likely applies to cats.

2. Giving your pet “freedom”

Every year, I fix a number of broken bones that could have been totally avoided. If more dogs were on a leash and fewer cats were allowed to go outside in the name of “freedom”, there would be much fewer broken bones.

Dogs and cats will never win the battle against a moving vehicle. The damage can be extensive, even life-threatening. Not using a leash may also increase the risk of your pet getting into a fight with unfriendly four-legged neighbors or even wildlife.

Use a leash – save a life (and money).

3. No pet insurance

Surprisingly, pet insurance is still a fairly new concept for some pet owners. Pet insurance can help with unforeseen emergencies or surgeries.

Similar to health insurance for humans, it will help offset some of the cost of pet ownership. It may give you much needed assistance in the event of an emergency or costly but necessary surgery.

Now… not all pet insurance companies are created equal. Some are good, some are really bad… So do your research to find the company and plan that’s right for you and your pet.

On that note, I’ve heard many pet owners say “I’ve paid for pet insurance for years, and I never used it, so I stopped paying for it.”

Ironically, we typically have this discussion when they need my surgical services (Murphy’s Law)… ie when it’s too late!

With all due respect, this is not the right way to think about pet insurance. Would you ever say “I’ve paid for fire insurance for years, and I never used it, so I stopped paying for it. Man, I wish my house had burned down so I could make my investment work for me!”

Of course you’d never say that!

It’s the same for pet insurance.

It’s not an investment.

When you buy pet insurance, you are buying peace of mind.

You are buying the certainty that if and when your pet needs surgery or some other treatment, you will be able to help your pet without putting your personal financial situation at risk (one big caveat: as with any insurance, there are exclusions!).

So consider getting pet insurance, have peace of mind, and hope you never need it.

Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified

Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling veterinary surgeon in Pennsylvania & New Jersey. An award-winning author, he loves to share his adventures in practice along with information about vet medicine and surgery that can really help your pets. Dr. Zeltzman specializes in orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries for dogs, cats, and small exotics. By working with local family vets, he offers the best surgical care, safest anesthesia, and utmost pain management to all his patients. Sign up to get an email when he updates his blog, and follow him on Facebook, too!