Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

Now more than ever, our dogs and cats are family. But our love for pets doesn't automatically make us great pet parents. We have so much to learn from pet health experts, which is why we were thrilled when Tripawds was chosen to attend the 2015 Nestlé Purina^ Better with Pets Summit in New York City!

Disclaimer Nestlé Purina covered the cost of our one-day trip to the Big Apple and this follow-up coverage of #BetterWithPets. We are being compensated for creating awareness about the awesome things we learned at Summit, but we only share information relevant to you and this community. Nestlé Purina is not responsible for the content of this article.

We Can Make Life Even #BetterWithPets

What a thrill to hop on a plane and attend the Summit last week! Not only was it a pawesome opportunity to meet one of Tripawds' first feline members, Jill the Cancer Fighting Tripawd Kitty and her mom Erica . . .

But more importantly it was the first chance we've ever had to meet some of world's brightest stars in pet health – all in one place!

Exploring the Emotional Health of Pets

As non-vets, we just don't get access to so many vet experts in one room. See, without a “DVM” after our names, we can't attend most veterinary conferences. The Summit was an incredible chance to ask our biggest pet health questions to pet health superstars, like the one and only Dr. Marty Becker, pictured bottom right.

The Nestlé Purina crew corralled these experts into the Brooklyn Expo Center to discuss their latest findings with pet communities like Tripawds. Of course every summit needs a theme and this one was right up our alley – the emotional wellness of pets and people who love them.

For an entire day we explored questions like:

• How has the role of pets changed in our lives?
• What kinds of environments create healthy, emotionally balanced pets?
• How can we interact with pets in ways that make them feel encouraged and safe?

As Tripawd parents, we know you understand the importance of pets' quality of life. But there's still so much to learn about how to create it. For instance, did you know that:

• Animals can see fluorescent lighting, and they hate it.
  
• One of the biggest stressors of pets is . . . us!

Over a dozen experts helped us dig deeper into the emotional health of pets, a relatively new field of study led by nutritionists, behaviorists, trainers and veterinarians.

Dr. Becker did a fantastic job moderating our favorite panel “Stress, Our Pets and Us.” In this exciting session we learned the newest ways to manage our pets' stress by creating pleasing, calming environments and interactions at home and beyond.

Next week we'll share what we learned about creating a better recovery experience for post-op Tripawds.

We also got helpful insight on feline behavior from experts like <a href="