Pet Apps
So, I have a confession to make. You all know how dog #4 went terribly bad for us last year. But on the second day of 2015 we got a call from a neighborhood friend. They have an outdoor German Shepherd and someone threw a tiny puppy into his enclosure, we think, hoping either tossing her over a six foot privacy fence or the dog himself would finish her off. But that’s not what happened. She ended up with us, and well…I swear there are dogs we’ll say no to.
Anyway, here is Ursa.
So this has me working on my dog records. You all do keep your dogs records right? I keep two copies, one in a folder just in case something happens at home and a little booklet for each dog that I bought at Petsmart which goes in our BOB/emergency bag, so if we have to get out of dodge we still have all this info. Having this info on hand is VERY important in case of an emergency from being able to prove our dogs are vaccinated if we have to cross state lines to if a neighbor anonymously reports to Animal control that you leave your dogs outside all hours of the day and night with no food, water or shelter.
Can you tell that latter happened to us last year? I was at work, but Jason was home and was able to show rabies vacc dates and city registration for three of the four dogs, and explained that the fourth was a foster. He was also able to show records of heartworm treatment and vet visits for Butch, who was limping because of his back hip issues at the time. (He was also able to show her four friendly, happy, well fed dogs, a 5 gallon bucket of water a dog house big enough for all four dogs to fit into not to mention the holes the dogs dug under shrubs to lay in. Even the Animal Control person asked which of our neighbors we pissed off because the charges were ludicrous.
Keeping records is especially important when you own large dogs, or breeds people tend to be scared of. Rottweilers, pitt bull types, Akitas, Huskies, Dobermans, German Shepherds, Dogo Argentino, Cana Corso….if you own a dog of these breeds or that LOOKS like any of these breeds it’s very important to keep those records and be able to show someone on the spot (it could mean the difference between your dogs being taken or not.
You should absolutely keep hard copies, just in case. But I’ve been toying around with some Apps too.
Pet First Aid by The American Red Cross
This one costs a token fee and isn’t really for pet management, but is totally useful especially if you don’t know when is time to hit an emergency vet and when it can wait until morning. I don’t know what things are like in your area, but here the most reasonable emergency vet starts at $600 a visit, before they even start doing things.
This app also includes disaster management and preparedness tips for pet owners, though this and the first aid tips are limited to dogs and cats.
This one offers emergency tips even without a connection to the internet, as well as file storage, help making lost posters and (with internet access) access to lost/found pet listings. It’s really nice to be able to put all your pet information (including vacc records and medicines they are taking) in one app with the preparedness info.
Wow… I got the free version of this one and I’m glad I did. It’s very basic advice, no customization, and not written primarily for English speaking users. Plus, ads run constantly at the top, which means it slowed my tablet down. The pro version might be better, but it also costs.
It’s pretty much Facebook for pet owners, only you also have to log in with your facebook account and be online to use it. The only stellar feature I found (that is for my needs/tastes) is it can use your location to tell you where pet friendly locations and events are around you. But not real useful for me because I’m not using a smart phone that’s on a network all the time.
This is pretty much a giant list of dog breeds, most with pictures and the breeds link to Wikipedia info pages. My kids are into guessing the breeds of dogs we pass, so they like this one.
This is a new free app from the ASPCA that allows you to instantly access information about foods and meds that are poisonous to your pets. You can also call directly to the ASPCA’s pet poison help line for advice on how to treat your pet.
Finally, there are a lot of pet apps that help you track your pet’s records and/or set up reminders for when shots or treatments are due. Of the ones I’ve tried my favorites are Pet Health Book Lite because it allows you to track symptoms and sicknesses in addition to weights, vaccinations and such. And Dog Health, which has all the same bells and whistles, plus an impressive interface.
Do you have any apps I should try out?