Last week we suggested some uses for your phone beyond fun photos and videos for you pets to put on social media or share with family and friends. (Dog Lovers, Use Your Phone for More than Photos)
You should always have one great picture of your dog that you could share if your companion is lost or separated from you. Beyond that, we suggested using photos to communicate with your veterinary team, dog walkers, pets sitters, and other caregivers.
Tips For Photo & Video Communication
● Practice your photo/video skills before you need them.
● Set up an online account with services like Google Photos, iCloud, or YouTube and learn how to use them to upload your photos and videos, send links to someone who needs the information by email, or show it on your phone in person.
● If movement is part of the symptom, try to take videos with the animal walking towards you, away from you, and across the screen to give the doctor more points of view
● Create an album for specific ongoing issues. For example, if your dog is showing signs of seasonal allergies with goopy eyes, take photos of them for a few days and after treatment is underway. After surgery or a procedure take an initial photo of the scar or wound so you can compare it as days go by to be sure healing is taking place and redness is diminishing.
● Do your best in stressful situations. We don’t know if we would have been a great videographer when our first Westie Sassy was having seizures. However, we know it would have been wonderful to have been able to show the veterinary team exactly what her seizures looked like.
● Ask your veterinarian if they would like to be sent a video of a symptom prior to a visit and what they would charge for that type of consultation.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)
