Family-owned Hastings Veterinary Hospital in the Heights is inviting all pet parents and prospective pet parents interested in learning more about animal health to a free education seminar in October.
The veterinary hospital, owned and operated by brothers Jangi and Amardeep Bajwa, has been a part of the Heights for more than a decade. Four years ago, the staff came up with an idea to offer pet parents a free seminar where they could learn more about pet care as well as ways to keep pets healthy longer.
"We've always believed in educating our clients and pet parents in terms of preventative health care as opposed to just trying to treat illness because that goes a long way to maintaining good health," Bajwa said.
The event coincides with the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association's Animal Health Week, which runs from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, and each year Bajwa and his team chooses a different topic for the seminar depending on what the association is doing nationwide.
"It's a time to raise awareness about pet care in general and normally the (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association) will come up with a topic they want to educate people about," he said.
This year, the association is drawing attention to antimicrobial use, including incorrect and overuse of antibiotics, in pet health care. With that mandate in mind, staff at Hastings Veterinary Hospital came up with the topic "Healing is a team effort" for its October seminar.
The free lunchtime event features four guest speakers who will speak on a variety of topics related to animal health care.
In the past, Bajwa said the hospital has brought in representatives from the pet food industry to speak with pet owners but this year staff decided to go in a different direction, bringing in experts from a variety of pet-related fields, including Dr. Rebecca Ledger, an animal behavior and welfare counselor.
"(Dr. Ledger has) done a PhD in animal behaviour and she works in Vancouver and she works with veterinarians," Bajwa said. "I've had a couple of patients where we were having some behaviour issues (and) she did visit and she advise as well."
Dr. Carmen Lake, a Richmond veterinarian with special interest in public health will also be speaking at the event. She will talk about general pet care while Dr. Amit Ranjan, a veterinarian at Hastings Veterinary Hospital and a member of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, will talk about geriatric care for pets.
Bajwa is also set to speak at the event and says his specialties - allergies and skin care - go hand in hand with the Canadian vet association's focus on antimicrobial use.
"My niche is allergies and skin care," he said. "So I'm going to talk about allergies and how preventing allergies can prevent infections, and if there are infections, how best to treat them."
Bajwa said one of the things he'll discuss with pet parents is bringing pets in early for an exam to prevent chronic infections.
"We (will) educate people about when and how to use antibiotics, which goes really well into my niche area where we're treating a lot of skin infections and ear infections," he added.
Hastings Veterinary Hospital's fourth annual pet parent education seminar, "Healing is a team effort," starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. on Oct. 4 at Confederation Community Centre at Confederation Park. It is an indoor event so pet owners are asked not bring their pets. The free event is open to all pet owners, not just Hastings Veterinary Hospital clients.
In addition to the four guest speakers, there will also be a complimentary lunch provided, contests to enter and other information related to pet health care.
To register, call the hospital at 604-291-6666 or email [email protected]. For more information on the event as well as pet care, follow @petparentedu and @HastingsVet on Twitter.
