Self-advocacy is just one strategy to hurdle being overwhelmed by a sick pet's treatment plan
One of the ways that I spend my time working in the field is by helping families out with specialty care—things like subcutaneous (sub-q) fluids, esophagostomy (e-tube) feeding, giving injections, things like that. It can take some of the load off of the family when they need to travel, or when work or other obligations make keeping up with the care regimen prohibitive. I also coach families on ways to get comfortable with performing the tasks, best practices for keeping things sterile and having ensuring safe interactions with their pet during the tasks, as well as what to look out for as far as signs of trouble. I make a point of going over the veterinarian's written treatment plan with the family to try and detect any trouble areas they might have, and to answer any questions they are reluctant to ask the vet or their staff. It’s not lost on me that it's not easy to perform this kind of care when the pet is your own, especially when you've no experience and you...