I look at veterinary medicine as a team sport. It’s not just the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center team your pet needs—you’re part of the team as well.

As a pet owner, you are your pet’s advocate and voice. You tell veterinarians like me what clinical signs your pet is showing and how they’re responding to treatment. Together, we make decisions for your pet based on the available scientific evidence, always considering what is best for your pet and family.

But being on the same team doesn’t mean I can always say yes. I have to say no when a pet owner’s ideas and suggestions are not medically correct, even if well-intentioned.

Here are three real-life examples from this week.

The “Donut” Recovery Collar (Cone Alternative)

Pet owners hate, hate, hate “the cone”—known as an Elizabethan collar to veterinarians. I understand. The cone bumps into furniture, collects bits of food and drool and generally makes life harder. However, the cone is a necessary medical device.

This week, the family of one of my patients arrived to pick their dog up after surgery with the cutest recovery collar that looked like a frosted donut with sprinkles. But the dog had a long, narrow snout that extended past the donut, giving her full access to lick her incision. That puts her at risk for infection and delayed healing.

So I said no.

Ultimately, we compromised: an infant-sized long-sleeved T-shirt to cover the incision, combined with the donut collar. The result? She looked cute AND couldn’t get to the incision.

Random Pet Supplements from the Internet

A cat cancer patient of mine who had been doing well for months, but came in for a scheduled recheck after losing weight because of a poor appetite.

Normally, I send this cat’s blood tests to our main laboratory—but, because I was worried, I used our in-clinic machines and was surprised to find an elevated calcium level. I confirmed the result on a different machine.

The owner mentioned giving a new supplement purchased on the internet. We reviewed the product together—the main ingredients were calcium. I said no to continuing that supplement. Two weeks later, the cat’s calcium level was normal, and she felt better.

Transdermal Medications for Cats

Medicating cats is hard. One of the great innovations in feline pharmaceuticals is transdermal medications—drugs delivered through the skin in the form of creams, gels or patches that are placed on the skin. (Think of the nicotine patches that people use to quit smoking.) In cats, transdermal medication is frequently a cream that is applied to the inside of the ear.

In cats, we often use a transdermal appetite stimulant and a different transdermal medication to treat hyperthyroidism.

However, not all medications can be absorbed through the skin, unfortunately. It depends on the drug’s chemical structure.

A frustrated cat owner asked for antibiotics in a transdermal gel, and I had to say no because the chemical structure of the antibiotic prevents it from passing through the skin.

Take Home Messages for Pet Owners

Follow your veterinarian’s post-surgery advice carefully, including proper use of a recovery collar, to prevent infection and support healing.

Check with your veterinarian before giving any supplement to make sure it does not interfere with your pet’s current treatment plan.

Trust your veterinarian if they say no to compounding a medication into a special formulation—there’s a medical reason behind the no!