Take a moment and look at your pet. Do they have a waist? Compare them to a photo from January of last year… Does it look like they’ve packed on some “covid LB’s”?

Since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Viva La Pet, like many business, took a huge hit. Six months and some weeks into the pandemic, as businesses reopen, we at VLP are still experiencing hard times. With most of our clientele working from home, our daily walk services have dropped by a number that’s a bit too daunting to type out and publish in a blog post.

As people begin to venture out a bit more, we have gotten calls from those in our beloved #VLPfam to visit some pets we haven’t seen in months. We’ve been ecstatic to see those wagging tales again! But, (there’s always a but, isn’t there?) we’ve noticed a little change in some pets… their weight.

October 14th is Pet Obesity Awareness Day, so this is a great time to address the “number one health threat that pets face”. We know all pet owners want to provide their pets with their best life, especially our #VLPfam. We’re also learning that working from home doesn't always allow us to give our dogs the 30-120 minutes of daily exercise they require or provide our cats with the 20-60 minutes of daily exercise they need.

Viva La Pet is here to ensure your pets are living their best lives. Contact us today for a customizable exercise visit. We guarantee, with a regular schedule of exercise visits from us, your pets will lose that extra weight and gain more happy years with you.

We want to let you know that however you’re feeling is okay and not being okay is also okay. Okay? (a little humor is needed in times like these, amirite?)

A common question we are asked is, “Can my pets contract Covid-19?” Well, like everything else during this time, there is no definitive answer to that.

What we can tell you, at this point, there is very little evidence that our animals can get sick from the virus. As per the CDC, “there is no evidence at this point to indicate that pets can become ill with COVID-19, or that they can spread it to other animals or to people. Out of an abundance of caution, the CDC does recommend that if you are ill with COVID-19, you should limit contact with your pets. If possible, have someone else take over the routine care of your pet while you are sick. If this is not possible, wash your hands and wear a face mask while walking and feeding your pet, and avoid hugging, kissing, petting or sharing food with your pet.”

Simply put, continue to do what you’re doing by taking precaution. Part of safeguarding your pets includes proper prep in the way of stocking up on supplies that may be running low in pet stores, considering the pet supply mail delivery services are running 7-10 days behind (did we mention that we are offering supply pick up and porch drop off during the pandemic?), having care set up for your pets if you or someone in your family gets ill and asking your vet to fill an extra month’s prescription to keep yourself from having to make the trip. Also, be sure your pet has ID tags on their collar and that your pet's microchip information is up to date. It’s always a great idea to have a document saved for easy print-out that includes instructions for your pets’ care, behaviors, vets, ER contacts, favorite toys, daily routines, and more.

We’ll do another blog post detailing what to include in your Pet’s Prep Kit.

Last, please keep taking your pets outside. Walks, playtimes, enrichment games, trick training sessions, etc are always needed. Get some sunshine, exercise and fresh air. We promise, it will make you and your pets feel a little better. Be sure to follow our social media for fun games and enrichment activities to do with your pets.

Wishing you warm wags.