ReliaPet Blog

https://www.reliapet.net Caring for pets and their people.

[reliapet]

Vet costs are skyrocketing because big corp knows we'll do anything we can to save our pets.

You're not imagining it. Behemoth companies are buying out privately owned practices. Veterinarians working for corporations are being pressured to generate more profit. Corporate is adding unnecessary costs, jacking up the prices of procedures and medication, taking your vet's bonuses, and more. The people treating your animals are under more stress and getting paid less so corporate can skim more cream off the top. This negatively affects your pet's medical outcomes, because it's harder to think clearly under stress. In the video linked below, a whistleblower mentioned stress being so high they're getting ulcers, hair loss, and other medical issues. The only people benefiting from this is Corporate. Private practices who refuse to or have not yet sold out to bigger companies are also feeling the stress. Prices for medications and other supplies has also gone up. However, they're still more likely to be more affordable, higher quality, and more ethical than going to a big corp owned vet office. So, what can you do about it? * Look for and use privately owned vets. * Ask what the price of prescriptions from the vet office is, and if it's too high, ask for the script and get the medication somewhere more affordable. * Ask questions. If at a corporate vet, refuse procedures which seem unrelated to the reason you made the appointment, or unnecessary. * Shop around vets within reasonable driving distance. Call ahead and ask for prices. If your pet is prone to specific health issues, check what the most common treatments for those issues are. Then ask the cost of those procedures before making an appointment. * Save up a vet fund!!! It's $150-200 just to get in the door of most places anymore. My boss had to spend $600 for treatment of their cat's tail amputation. Surgery goes into the thousands. * Get pet insurance, or a pet insurance alternative. I hate encouraging this because human health care in the US used to be affordable without health insurance and now it's mandatory, and part of it is because the healthcare industry knows most people have insurance and will get more. But, it's becoming necessary to keep pets alive. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-reforms-would-require-vet-businesses-to-make-fundamental-changes-to-the-way-they-support-pet-owners

[horsefigureoftheday]

Sucks how many people were taught that "horses put their ears back when they're mad" but then never taught the difference between "angry backwards ears," "mildly annoyed backwards ears," "pain backwards ears," "concentrated backwards ears," "sleepy backwards ears" and "just happens to be listening to something behind it."

"Horses put their ears back when they're mad" idk man i think it depends

[horsefigureoftheday]

These are all completely different expressions in completely different scenarios, and only two of them are decidedly negative.

[horsefigureoftheday]

Actually, I wanna talk about the third horse, the one putting its ears back in pain. Over the last 15 years veterinarians and animal scientists have worked out pain scales for most domestic animals by taking photos of the during routine procedures.

We know vaccines painful, and by comparing horses at rest with horses getting vaccinated, we've been able to determine how they express pain visually. By looking at horses with disorders like colic, broken bones, wounds, and so on, we can determine their facial expressions during more severe pain.

At zookeeper school we were drilled through the pain faces of the most common lab animals and livestock. Nowadays I believe this has become a routine lesson in all animal related fields, but the general public still doesn't know that this is a thing that exists.

Here are all the pain face/grimace scales I've been able to find. Please study them if you interact with any of these animals on a regular basis:

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Also a useful resource if you want to change the way you draw or describe expressions on non-human characters

[teaboot]

"Oh yeah, we have an outdoor Corgi, he just gets so bored cooped up inside all day. He knows to stay off the road. Don't worry, he's way too smart for coyotes and the neighbor's know to look out when they drive past."

"Us? Oh, of *course* our Dachshund sleeps inside- we just let him out in the morning and make sure he comes back for dinner. He just does his own thing, no worries."

"Um, you know it's not humane to keep a chihuahua confined to an apartment? They're dogs, they're natural predators. They need to experience hunting behaviors or they get depressed. No we don't leash ours, he absolutely hates it, we just let him come and go whenever."

Yall get how fucking stupid that sounds, right? So stop letting your goddamn cats get eaten and attacked and infected and hit by cars

A toddler would probably love full unattended access to the neighborhood too, but we don't do that either, do we

It's 2026, "keep your damn pet in a house or in your view" should not be controversial

[angel-stars]

I had to go on a hunt for this but it was worth it. 100% agree

[edgebug]

happy 20 year anniversary of Neil banging out the tunes!

though every rat is special, it's a wonderful and unusual thing for their accomplishments to be remembered and cherished by so many people so many years later. we're all so fortunate to know about the rat who banged out the tunes!

thank you to all the people who sent me reference photos of their beloved rats for this piece!!! credits under the cut!

@joe-spookyy Ben and Socrates

@gooseontheinternet Chamomile and Beefy

@runawayy-rat Bartholomäus and Emo

@theunholystromboli Macrogryphosaurus, Xenoceratops, and Graciliraptor

@techlecticwtch Solas and Dorian

@merlyn-bane Roslyn and Rizzoli

@logictoinsanity Luna and Buttercup

@hagsthehag Orphie, Psyche, Calypso, Ariadne, and Eury

my sweet ladies Bonnie, Mira, An, and Tula

and of course, the irreplaceable

Neil,

who banged out the tunes

[reliapet]

Happy Easter!

While we're seeing bunnies and chicks in Easter baskets, let's all remember it's better to get stuffed animals of these creatures instead of the real live versions if you're wanting to get your kids or significant other an easter gift!

Stuffed animals are cleaner, quieter, super easy keepers, no worries about veterinary care (600$+ not unusual for exotic pets nowadays!), will cuddle you all day eith no complaints, have no qualms about getting dyed fun easter colors or sitting in an easter basket for an hours long photoshoot with your kiddos, and more! Not only that, but they don't mind one bit if they get forgotten in a box until next year or if your toddler tries to feed them chocolate.

Get a stuffed animal chick or bunny (or even both!) for Easter today, and have absolutely no regrets later :D

[violetsandshrikes]

to all my researchers, students and people in general who love learning: if you don't know this already, i'm about to give you a game changer

connectedpapers

the basic rundown is: you use the search bar to enter a topic, scientific paper name or DOI. the website then offers you a list of papers on the topic, and you choose the one you're looking for/most relevant one. from here, it makes a tree diagram of related papers that are clustered based on topic relatability and colour-coded by time they were produced!

for example: here i search "human B12"

i go ahead and choose the first paper, meaning my graph will be based around it and start from the topics of "b12 levels" and "fraility syndrome"

here is the graph output! you can scroll through all the papers included on the left, and clicking on each one shows you it's position on the chart + will pull up details on the paper on the right hand column (title, authors, citations, abstract/summary and links where the paper can be found)

you get a few free graphs a month before you have to sign up, and i think the free version gives you up to 5 a month. there are paid versions but it really depends how often you need to use this kinda thing.

[thefifthtetrahedron]

researchrabbit works similarly. you do need to create an account to use it, but it is completely free (as far as I know), meaning no limits to your collections/graphs.

[brighthounds]

okay i promise i'm only going to do this the one time. I promise I'm not going to continue to be annoying about this. but i am sharing my instagram post to tumblr because idk why not yolo. maybe this will actually be useful to somebody. and more can be found on the world's most cursed website/app.

[brighthounds]

hello again! there is now a free ebook version of this with additional tips, ideas, and thoughts on the subject of dog parenting while chronically ill (written by a dog trainer with chronic illness). It's pay-what-you-want (including the low low price of $0) and you can get it at the above link on Ko-fi.

[reliapet]

If you ever get the chance to touch a rabbit's ears, you might notice how warm they are. Their very vascular ears bring warmth to the surface of their skin where it can be cooled by the breeze between their ears. It's also a vet's preferred access point for an IV port. Multi-purpose sonar discs :P

[thelittlebunnypawsthing]

what does it mean if their ears are cold?

[reliapet]

If their ears are cold, they may also be cold and needing warmed up.

[reliapet]

If you ever get the chance to touch a rabbit's ears, you might notice how warm they are. Their very vascular ears bring warmth to the surface of their skin where it can be cooled by the breeze between their ears. It's also a vet's preferred access point for an IV port. Multi-purpose sonar discs :P

[reliapet]

Did you know a bird has uni-directional air flow for their respiratory system? Their lungs consist of 4 chambers, funneling air in one direction through the sacs. They get more oxygen out of every breath compared to mammals. But this is also why they're sensitive to airborne chemicals like spray cleaners and essential oils.

[reliapet]

Me: doubting my own ability to make an ad

Also me:

We are a friendly community of small and exotic pet lovers in a diverse, nature acknowleging server focused on scientifically backed care information. With active and fair moderation, a growing community, and a well-organized channel setup, we prove our potential of standing out among the rest instead of just talking about it.

Key notes:

- We are authentic and help filter out harmful misinformation by disallowing AI use

- Our server is 2 years old and growing strong

- We are the only official server of ReliaPet.net

- We are LGBTQIA+, disability, neurodivergent, and system friendly

- Fun events with rewards, a poketwo bot, and chat-based-game channels

So, what are you waiting for? Join us and drop a message! Our amazing members will come out of the woodwork to help you feel at home.

The Official ReliaPet™ Discord for the reliapet.net website. Small/exotic pet care focus, safe learning space for all. | 310 members

[reliapet]

Just realized the server is 5 years old actually. Wow

[reliapet]

Me: doubting my own ability to make an ad

Also me:

We are a friendly community of small and exotic pet lovers in a diverse, nature acknowleging server focused on scientifically backed care information. With active and fair moderation, a growing community, and a well-organized channel setup, we prove our potential of standing out among the rest instead of just talking about it.

Key notes:

- We are authentic and help filter out harmful misinformation by disallowing AI use

- Our server is 2 years old and growing strong

- We are the only official server of ReliaPet.net

- We are LGBTQIA+, disability, neurodivergent, and system friendly

- Fun events with rewards, a poketwo bot, and chat-based-game channels

So, what are you waiting for? Join us and drop a message! Our amazing members will come out of the woodwork to help you feel at home.

The Official ReliaPet™ Discord for the reliapet.net website. Small/exotic pet care focus, safe learning space for all. | 310 members

[reliapet]

Hamsters run up to 5 miles a night ght in search of food btw.

That's probably why they have such big pouches. Why go back and forth with a seed or two when you can just stuff your cheeks down to the hip and unload when you get back to your burrow?

Their burrows are also very clean and organized. In the wild, they have a chamber for food and one to sleep in. Their burrows can get pretty deep and lengthy, which is why it's so important to make sure you offer 10-12+ inches of bedding for your hammies at home! When it's too shallow, they can't even come close to replicating natural behaviors and this increases their stress.

[reliapet]

Here's the ReliaPet Ko-Fi if you're interested in supporting what I do:

Support ReliaPet™

Support ReliaPet™

[reliapet]

And if you zoom out, having a better understanding and appreciation for the small and exotic pets you own often requires an understanding of their native habitat and behaviors in the wild, or behavior of their wild-adjacent siblings, in the case of rabbits and certain other domesticated exotics. Which may spark the question of, how is that habitat doing?wait, they're extinct in the wild? What can I do about that?

[reliapet]

Meandering thoughts and a more personal insight into ReliaPet stuff. Hey, it's Jay.

I want to be able to scroll Craigslist and not be saddened by what I see. Not just the obvious stuff of pets needing homes, but the stuff the owners don't realize has anything wrong with it.

Selling cages that are too small. Not enough burrow space for a hamster, a listing of a rat that should "be kept alone," and so much more.

Old Tiny Tales cages. I used the base of one as a sand bath once, and I destroyed another I found so no dumpster diver could take it for their own animals. It's not suitable for any pet, they're all too small, and some are downright dangerous.

It's so, so common. It's part of what motivates me to continue with ReliaPet and writing free articles for anyone who will read them.

I wish I had the funding to do more, but I have an unrelated job I need to pay rent with. I'm well into the hole with this passion project of mine that I call a business. I keep this going not because I make anything off of it, but because I genuinely care about improving the lives of as many pets as possible. That through updating the general populace about what pet care should look like, they'll be happier, save money in the long run, have happier, healthier animals with better QOL, and also have a better connection and understanding to/for those animals.

I've been burnt out for months, I'm the sole writer and self-taught web developer for the ReliaPet.net site. I take advice and additional info where offered, but it's 99% my work. I deeply appreciate all the help that's been given so far. And I love hearing when the info on the website has helped someone. I'm hoping to get rested up enough to write another article soon. I have a couple ideas, but a general guinea pig care article seems to have the most interest right now.

I confuse every entrepreneural mentor I happen to talk to because they can't wrap their head around continuing a business that does not make you any money, continuing a business you're losing money on, no matter how much it costs. They say I should be talking to a nonprofit mentor instead.

But nonprofits have a certain legally required structure and it would also bar me from ever being able to quit my job and dedicate all of my time to ReliaPet because as a nonprofit owner, I'd never be able to get any wages from it. I'd be riding in the trunk of my own passion project. So it remains a for-profit business.

As long as I can afford it myself, I'll do what I can with it and keep it up and running. I have big ideas, just no funding to do anything with those ideas.

[reliapet]

Vet costs are skyrocketing because big corp knows we'll do anything we can to save our pets.

You're not imagining it. Behemoth companies are buying out privately owned practices. Veterinarians working for corporations are being pressured to generate more profit. Corporate is adding unnecessary costs, jacking up the prices of procedures and medication, taking your vet's bonuses, and more. The people treating your animals are under more stress and getting paid less so corporate can skim more cream off the top. This negatively affects your pet's medical outcomes, because it's harder to think clearly under stress. In the video linked below, a whistleblower mentioned stress being so high they're getting ulcers, hair loss, and other medical issues. The only people benefiting from this is Corporate. Private practices who refuse to or have not yet sold out to bigger companies are also feeling the stress. Prices for medications and other supplies has also gone up. However, they're still more likely to be more affordable, higher quality, and more ethical than going to a big corp owned vet office. So, what can you do about it? * Look for and use privately owned vets. * Ask what the price of prescriptions from the vet office is, and if it's too high, ask for the script and get the medication somewhere more affordable. * Ask questions. If at a corporate vet, refuse procedures which seem unrelated to the reason you made the appointment, or unnecessary. * Shop around vets within reasonable driving distance. Call ahead and ask for prices. If your pet is prone to specific health issues, check what the most common treatments for those issues are. Then ask the cost of those procedures before making an appointment. * Save up a vet fund!!! It's $150-200 just to get in the door of most places anymore. My boss had to spend $600 for treatment of their cat's tail amputation. Surgery goes into the thousands. * Get pet insurance, or a pet insurance alternative. I hate encouraging this because human health care in the US used to be affordable without health insurance and now it's mandatory, and part of it is because the healthcare industry knows most people have insurance and will get more. But, it's becoming necessary to keep pets alive. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-reforms-would-require-vet-businesses-to-make-fundamental-changes-to-the-way-they-support-pet-owners