With the holiday season afoot, many clients who celebrate are rolling out popular traditions to enjoy with friends and family, not realizing the dangerous effects some may have on their beloved pets. To ensure your patient's safety during the festivities, we have selected 3 articles detailing the most common toxins many pets are exposed to this time of year, tips for educating clients on potential hazards, and much more.

From the top 3 notorious pet holiday hazards to bear in mind to tips and tricks on educating clients about festive items that pose health risks to their companion animals—there's something for everyone. Happy reading! 

Don’t eat that!: Top 3 pet holiday hazards

From the dangers of caffeine and chocolate to poisoning from plant-based items, discover some of the common hazards pets can ingest during the holidays.

Educating clients about common holiday hazards

Curb the last-minute ER calls this season by learning how to effectively communicate to clients about festive items that may pose serious threats to their beloved pets.  

Pumpkin spice and toxic vice: common fall toxins for pets

Discover potential toxic exposures and health hazards many canines and felines are susceptible to during the fall season ranging from acorns and oaks to antifreeze and beyond. 

Articles

With the holiday season underway, here are 3 informative articles detailing harmful festive hazards to pets.

3-Must reads on holiday toxins for pets

Marketing used to be easier in veterinary medicine; many practices relied mostly on ads in the Yellow Pages and maybe a few other programs such as local advertising or community events. With the advent of the internet, marketing options have mushroomed. Practices have many more options, and most now focus primarily on digital marketing.

More options—and their related costs—means a part of the marketing plan must include tracking the success of each component. For most practices, the primary goal of marketing is to bring in new clients. Therefore, the management team needs to know where new clients are coming from, the customer acquisition cost (CAC), and which programs produce the best types of clients. For many owners and managers, it is not completely clear how to do this, particularly with digital marketing, which can generate a lot of responses (clicks, likes, and shares) but may not actually bring in new clients.

One of the first questions managers often ask is: How much should I spend on marketing? The budget should include digital efforts, such as the practice’s website and social media platforms, as well as more traditional nondigital advertising, community activities, or sponsorship of local groups. The answer, of course, is “the amount it takes to accomplish the goals set by the practice in its business plan or via strategic planning.”

These goals often have to do with the number of new clients desired, but they also may include revenue and growth targets and the sought-after level of profitability. Although the above answer is true, it doesn’t provide specific guidance to help practices make decisions about their marketing spending.

It is impossible to talk about business topics these days without bringing up the COVID-19 pandemic. Many practices are swamped right now, and the idea of trying to attract more clients is horrifying to them. If your practice is one of those that is too busy, marketing programs aimed at bringing in more clients may be a less critical area to focus on right now. However, the increased growth provided by the pandemic will not last forever, and practices will need to focus on new client marketing again in the future. Another marketing goal often involves client retention, which remains as important as ever.

Let’s start with how much of their budget practices are spending on marketing as a percentage of gross revenue: 0.5% to 1.0%.

These figures are typically for mature, stable practices; startup practices or those focusing on significant growth are likely spending more. The above percentages only include direct costs for outside marketing services. If practice team members spend time keeping Facebook posts up-to-date or doing other promotional tasks, those costs would be included in staff compensation. Most importantly, just because this is how much practices spend on marketing activities does not mean it is the 

 amount or that the money is spent on the 

 activities. However, if your spending is significantly different than most practices, at a minimum that’s telling you it’s time to investigate your spending and see if it makes sense. Recommendations in articles or made during continuing-education programs are often much higher, but, again, they may not be right for your practice. No single spending level fits all.

The next step is to ask your new clients how they found you. The focus should be on what worked to get them in the door, not just what worked in engaging their interest digitally. Asking clients how they heard about you should be a question on your new client worksheet, followed with a list of your marketing initiatives to help clients answer properly. That list should include all your formal marketing programs (Facebook ads, Google search results, newsletter, etc) as well as things such as “recommended by a friend or colleague” or “noticed the practice when I drove by.” If the clients don’t fill this out when they complete the new client worksheet, the front desk team should be trained to ask for the information. Remember that it is the management team’s job to make sure the front desk staff have the time to do this with every client. The data then must be collected and reviewed regularly. The data may not be perfect. For example, clients may have driven by, looked up the practice online, and then received a recommendation from a work colleague before making the decision to come to your practice. However, it does give you a decent idea of what is working and what is not.

There are also a lot of data that can be collected from your digital efforts, such as how many individuals:

The downside of analyzing digital data, however, is that just because hundreds have viewed your Facebook page, it doesn’t mean they plan to visit the practice. What if 99% of those page visitors live 1000 miles away? Analyzing the meaning of these data can be very difficult. Make sure your marketing service provider can help you collect the right data and knows how to interpret it. How many have actually become clients?

Ideally, you’d also like to compare the cost of acquisition between various programs, whether you are using a digital campaign or a more traditional marketing program. For example, let’s say you participated in a community pet fair and handed out flyers offering a free exam for new clients. There was no rental cost for the booth and you already had the things you brought to decorate it. Printing the flyers was $100, and you incurred $200 in staff compensation costs for the team members who manned the booth that day. Over the next 2 months, 14 new clients visited the practice, received their complimentary exam, and spent $25 to $150 each.

Total cost of marketing program = $100 + $200 = $21.43 per client

We don’t include the lost cost of the exam in this calculation because the practice doesn’t actually pay out any cash for those exams; it simply doesn’t bring in the exam revenue. The only exception to this might be if you have doctors on production pay and you give them some amount when they see these free exams. Some practices do and some don’t. If you do, you can include that cost in the calculation.

Is this a reasonable CAC? We don’t have good benchmarks for CAC in veterinary medicine. The numbers quoted in business articles in other industries are all over the board and not really applicable to our field. The best way to make this determination is to compare the CAC of your practice’s various marketing activities, taking into account the number of clients generated by the program and the estimated lifetime value of the client. You may have a program where the CAC is $5 per client, but if you only get 2 clients from it in a year, is that worth your time and effort compared with another program where the CAC is $50 per client but it generates 150 clients?

Determining whether the practice is spending the right amount of money on the right activities has both subjective and objective components, and although the analysis may not be perfect, it will give you information you need to make better marketing decisions. Remember that retaining clients is generally more beneficial than bringing in new ones, so if your practice isn’t doing a good job of that, focus first on figuring out why and fixing those problems.

Karen E. Felsted, DVM, MS, CPA, CVPM, CVA, is the founder and president of PantheraT, a veterinary management consulting firm.

2019 Well-Managed Practice Benchmarks Study. WTA Consultants. August 16, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2021. 

https://wellmp.com/2019-well-managed-practice-benchmarks-study-wmpb-provides-insights-to-the-top-veterinary-practices-in-the-country/

Financial and Productivity Pulsepoints, Tenth Edition. American Animal Hospital Association. 2019. Accessed November 14, 2021. 

https://ams.aaha.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?site=store&Action=Add&ObjectKeyFrom=1A83491A-9853-4C87-86A4-F7D95601C2E2&WebCode=ProdDetailAdd&DoNotSave=yes&ParentObject=CentralizedOrderEntry&ParentDataObject=Invoice%20Detail&ivd_formkey=69202792-63d7-4ba2-bf4e-a0da41270555&ivd_cst_key=&ivd_cst_ship_key=&ivd_prc_prd_key=dcd2a161-f778-498b-a097-3d107e993fe2

A promotional strategy should align with practice goals, which may include business and revenue growth.

Are you spending your marketing budget wisely?

Monthly report of patient compliance with preventive care

This compliance tracker offers an interactive monthly report of patient compliance with preventive care. It features 8 key areas of preventive health care: annual physical examination, wellness bloodwork, heartworm testing, fecal testing, core vaccines, lifestyle vaccines, parasiticide compliance, and dental prophylaxis. The metrics offer critical insight into whether clients are following preventive care recommendations, and you can filter reports by species, view your benchmark region, download and print the report, or download a code checker appendix. The compliance summary offers a monthly report of key compliance metrics, and you can easily monitor compliance trends over time. Plus, it enables you to track conversion rate by doctor and wellness service.

vetsuccess.com/products/compliance-tracker

C.E.T Dental Authority Certification Program

This online tool strives to decrease the prevalence of periodontal disease by increasing the percentage of dogs and cats receiving regular professional dental care. It was created to enhance dental protocols and help veterinary professionals educate clients. The tool features 4 sessions that emphasize preventive dental care for patients’ overall health, professional in-clinic dental care, at-home dental care, and relationship building. After successfully completing the courses, users become a certified C.E.T. Dental Ambassador.

(Photo courtesy of Veterinary Care Logistics). 

This platform is designed to optimize inventory costs, reduce shortages, and decrease the amount of time spent managing inventory. Inventory Ally uses the practice’s order history to optimize a weekly cycle count schedule and prioritizes items based on their value and sales volume to recommend and highlight what to order based on your counts. It features an affordable monthly subscription and a user-friendly interface to offer dynamic, intelligent ordering straight to your computer or mobile device.

ezyVet allows practices to save time, expand their business, and provide excellent customer service. It automates manual processes and decreases administration so you can prioritize and improve your bottom line by attracting and retaining clients. It features solutions tailored to how your individual practice operates, whether it’s a general practice, equine practice, university, mobile-operated practice, emergency practice, specialty practice, corporate group, or production animal practice. You can integrate ezyVet into all your business partners, tools, and software, and it offers comprehensive onboarding when transitioning. Plus, the company provides 24/7 customer support and protects your organization’s information.

Green Gruff CBD Dog Supplements feature 3 unique blends containing ingredients that help treat specific ailments: EASE joint supplements, RELAX calming dog chews, and SOOTHE skin and coat supplements. The Health Routine Pack combines all 3 formulas into a complete supplement set. Each supplement is all-natural, organic, and veterinarian approved and includes the extensive benefits of full-spectrum CBD. In addition, the products undergo third-party testing, have consistent potency, and do not contain pesticides or harmful chemicals.

greengruff.com/collections/plus-cbd-dog-supplements

(Photo courtesy of Xenex Disinfection Services). 

This handheld, ultraviolet-C disinfection device uses high-powered LEDs to create ultraviolet light that deactivates pathogens. According to Xenex Disinfection Services, the product’s manufacturer, Deactivate is proven to destroy SARS-CoV-2 in 30 seconds at 1 meter and methicillin-resistant 

 in 1 minute at 1 meter. It does not require warm-up or cooldown time, and it does not leave behind any chemical residue. The disinfected area is ready for use within minutes.

Healthy Gums is a patented, first-of-its-kind molecular iodine-based canine and feline periodontal health product that promotes gum and periodontal health, freshens pet’s beath, and supports overall well-being. This easy-to-use, effective solution should be added daily to a pet’s drinking water and begins working instantly to dramatically decrease dental plaque formation. According to an ioVet news release, a recent study found that using molecular iodine as a water additive was 177% more effective than brushing teeth every 2 days and 444% more effective than brushing teeth weekly. As a result, molecular iodine earned the Veterinary Oral Health Council’s Seal of Acceptance for its effectiveness in safely reducing pet dental plaque formation.

iotechinternational.com/product-page/healthy-gums-by-iovet-1

Charlotte’s Web Skin Health & Allergy Support Chews

Hemp extract-infused chews for dogs with seasonal allergies

These chews created for dogs with sensitive skin due to seasonal allergies feature proprietary full-spectrum hemp extract and other natural botanicals including biotin, nettle leaf, burdock root, and marshmallow root. Each chicken-flavored chew is non-GMO, grain free, and contains USA-grown hemp. These chews help dogs maintain the normal moisture content of their skin and promote overall skin health while supporting the normal detoxification process. They are available in a 30- or 60-count package and are tested for quality and safety assurance.

charlottesweb.com/skin-health-allergy-support-chews-for-dogs

Here's our regular rundown of new and notable veterinary products.

dvm360® product report: Pet periodontal support, plus inventory management software and more

 Kansas City conference, David Dycus, DVM, MS, CCRP, DACVS-SA, outlined ailments that commonly affect younger and older pets, plus revealed which breeds are often predisposed to these conditions.

View the video below for the entire discussion. The following is a partial transcript

In the younger dogs, we want to be thinking along the lines of our developmental orthopedic disease, so breeds that we can see heightened evidence of hip dysplasia for example...another big one is developmental elbow disease....but then as animals get older, we also start to think about other ailments such as osteoarthritis..we also see plenty of [older] dogs that will tear their cranial cruciate ligament, we also see a number of orthopedic soft tissue injuries. 

Videos

In an interview with dvm360®, Dr David Dycus detailed orthopedic conditions to bear in mind that are often found in young and old companion animals alike.

Orthopedic ailments affecting young and old pets

Drs Cline and Saker explain to Dr Adam Christman why it is important that the whole veterinary team should speak with one voice when it comes to nutrition recommendations, plus why you need to ask pet owners their pet's feeding schedule from meals to treats.

How to utilize the whole veterinary team for nutrition recommendations

To help you educate your clients, Drs Cline and Saker explain what red flags to look out for on pet food labels to help your clients find what is best for their pet, including why there are no AAFCO guidelines for senior pet foods.