110. Pet Tech, Snake Safety & Cutting Through Veterinary Misinformation

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Pets ad Life, your guide to the latest in Pet Trends products and the joy of the human animal Bond with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Add Life. I am one of your hosts, Chris Bonti, and joining me as always is pet lifestyle expert and owner of 43 Papa John's franchises. Kristen Levine. Kristen

Speaker 3 (00:31):
44. I just bought one.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh, you just got another one. Wow. Better ingredients, better pizza, better podcasts. Papa Kristen's. That's I love. It's what are commercials say in her neighborhood? It's crazy. I can't believe Papa John's corporate lets you run with that.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
I know. I don't know anything about pizza or running a pizza franchise, so I always love finding out how you're going to introduce me each week. I don't know how

Speaker 2 (00:57):
You come with this stuff. Yeah, don't like Kristen know. I don't let myself know until I start opening my mouth. So I don't know where that came from. Maybe I'm a little peckish.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
I have to say. You're looking pretty good for a few days following Global Pet Expo, which

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, the recovery has been good. Lots of electrolyte drinks, lots of good meals. Some Pepto Bismol along the way to make it all settle. But now we're in the smooth part of the year. We're actually in my favorite part of running the show, which is where I look at all the statistics and data and become a little politician to pick out the stats that make us look good. Like any records that we could break. It doesn't matter that we never talked about it before, but if it's a record, we're definitely going to be talking about it. So be able to look out for the press release. That definitely wasn't written by Chris.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, it was a great show and we talked to a lot of awesome guests, so coming soon to this podcast, so be sure,

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, there'll be all sorts of content scattered throughout the calendar year coming from global. Maybe it's because Chris and Kristen need a break, or maybe it's because we think that particular guest would be able to talk to an important subject that we're theming an episode around you. Be the judge, you get in the comments and say, this is filler. Get back to the main art.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Anyway, let's go to story time.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Kristen and Chris. Present story time.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Alright, Kristen, you want to lead us off today for stories?

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Sure. Okay. So I came across an interesting story. This is a business story in the pet industry world, but I thought it was kind of interesting. So apparently there is a body composition opportunity for dogs that has yet to be tapped by anybody in the veterinary world. So there's a technology, you may have heard of it, it's called DEXA scanning, and it turns out it can really revolutionize how we track our pet's weight and body composition, but nobody's doing this yet. So we talk a lot on the show about pet obesity. 59% of American dogs are overweight or obese and cats are even worse off at about 61% and that's a lot of pets carrying excess weight that could lead to serious health problems. But the interesting thing is that most veterinarians still assess your pet's body condition by looking and feeling. Can you feel the rib cage?

(03:40):
Is there an indentation past the rib cage? It's pretty subjective. And not to say that it doesn't work because clearly it can work. But dexa, which stands for dual energy, oh, I don't even know how to pronounce this, absorb geometry, absorption metric. I know I'm butchering that one. It is a gold standard in the human world for measuring body composition. So why are we not using this for dogs? I also looked, I was reading this article and I'm like, cats aren't even mentioned here except at the very bottom. And they talked about how it would be a little bit more challenging for cats because cats would've to be sedated to use this technology, whereas dogs maybe not. So anyway, I guess it's just an interesting observation and probably something that will be coming to a veterinary practice near you say in a few years. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (04:34):
That's interesting. I mean with people, they always use BMI and that's one of the worst measurements. It doesn't take a lot. It's such a simple calculation that I could do it fake Dr. Chris can do it. Right? So somebody has to have looked at this kind of stuff and been like, there's a better way to do it.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Right.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
They call me overweight when I go to the doctor, they're like, you're overweight. And I'm like, I barely eat. I don't have time to eat. You're

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Definitely not overweight.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
I know, especially after global.

(05:05):
I know. Yeah, I'm spelt They should look at me and say, wow, you're spelt, yeah, they should, whatever. Anyway, I'm not a story. They're not. Alright. What is it that has to do down a similar vein of animals that are eating things they shouldn't. This is for my snake people out there. Has your snake ever tried to eat itself? What? Yeah, they do it, especially some. So it takes some special conditions. If you've ever heard of, I think the Latin phrase is like Oro Boros, like the snake that eats itself has something to do with the end of the world. I don't know. You mythology nerds get in the comments and correct me on Oro Boro. I'm sure you're out there. But it happens with actual snakes. It could be they've confused their tail for another snake and some snakes eat other snakes. You could be in a situation where it's a domesticated snake and you've messed with their heat settings because they're very sensitive to how much heat they require and if you go over it can mess with their little brains or they could just be dumb.

(06:10):
Like this video I saw on Reddit of a king snake that ate its own tail and the vets like this, these snakes are just notoriously dumb and they do this. So if you own a king snake, you should be aware. And what he does is he just gets some hand sanitizer on his gloved hand and just quickly mashes the face of the snake and the alcohol tastes terrible. It sets their gagging reflex off and they start gagging. So they open and they regurgitate their tail back out. The snake seemed unharmed. So if you're a snake owner, and this is something that happens to you, the vet goes on to say, if you don't have a glove or your snake's really bity you don't like, don't do that. You could dangle a wipe like an alcohol wipe they use to clean wounds. You could sort of dangle that. And sometimes just the smell is enough as long as they don't ingest a full glob of hand sanitizer and they're really just sort of getting a taste of it. It's perfect glob.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
That doesn't sound like a very

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Accurate

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Measurement

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Glob. That is not a term that the vet used in the video. That is a term that I've decided to coin. One glob of hand sanitizer. If you remember back in 2020, the amount you put on your hands before you walked into a grocery store, that's a glob. So keep it under a glob and you're good. So I just thought that it's apparently a thing that happens. I've never owned a snake. I've never really been around snakes and I thought like, wow, if that happened to my snake, I'd be going to the vet and this is all the vet does and he's probably going to charge 300 bucks for it. So it's something you could just figure out. It's a pro tip. Pro tip.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
It's a great pro tip. And also one of the 5,000 reasons I will never have a snake.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
I had no idea that they eat that on me. That's not that bad of a reason. That's goofy. It's like when a dog chases its tail, but lovecraftian horror version.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Okay, well hopefully that tip will come in common for somebody

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Beyond the leash exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Alright, it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Silva and Hammond. She's a veterinarian known online as the Honest Vet where she shares evidence-based pet health guidance to help pet parents cut through misinformation. She's a 2018 graduate of Texas a and m University's College of Veterinary Medicine and practices in Charleston. Love Charleston, South Carolina at All Creatures Veterinary Clinic where she serves as chief of staff. Dr. Hammond is a general practice and an emergency veterinarian with a fear-free centered approach. And her clinical interests include preventative care, nutrition, internal medicine and dentistry. Welcome Dr. Hammond.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
Hi. Thank you guys for having me.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yeah, it's great to have you on the show. I met you briefly at the veterinary conference we were both at recently, and it's a real honor to have you here on the show. You have a massive social media following on TikTok and Instagram as the honest vet, and I'd love to hear a little bit about how you got started with that and what kind of myths or misunderstandings are you most passionate about trying to correct right now with pet parents?

Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, I never expected it to be massive, to use your term. It started truly as almost like a therapeutic release. I felt so prepared. I graduated veterinary school like you said in 2018, and I felt so prepared to practice good medicine. I was ready to interpret lab work. I was ready to do surgeries, I was ready to treat patients. I was not prepared to walk into the exam room and make recommendations, evidence-based recommendations based on all of the wonderful things that I had just learned from some of the greatest clinicians in America, only to have it thrown back in my face as like a, yeah, we don't trust you, you're just in it for the money. I don't think our pet needs that. I'm going to call my breeder and see what they think. And I mean, I was scooping my job off the floor and I was like, what do I do here?

(10:16):
Not prepared for this scenario at all. And so I started my Instagram platform. Well, really, I started it just, I was scrolling. We all do, especially it was around, so we're all at home on our phones, what do we do? What do we do? We do, and I'm coming across this stuff and I'm like, that's wrong, that's wrong. Bad advice, bad advice. No, no, no, no, no. I'm like, well, if they're doing this and they have a hundred thousand followers and they're just spewing nonsense, I can do this. And so it started really in that way, just very relevant to what I was seeing today. And I'm like, Hey people, here's what I saw. Here's why you shouldn't do that. Here's what I recommend. Here's the evidence. It just boomed. I think people really appreciated that. They're like, oh my gosh, someone else. My goal has never been to dig deep in the rabbit hole and scoop all those people out who've just gone so far.

(11:07):
But it's to provide that alternative narrative. Hopefully pet parents will come across my stuff before or as well as some of that other less pet care approaches, and at least stop and consider who should I trust here? Who should I think? Or at least show them that hey, veterinarians care. I'm here because I care. And just help change that narrative of veterinarians, earn it for the money. And now it's kind of almost blossomed into another channel of, again, going back to that situation of a baby, Dr. Hammond in an exam room scooping her job off the floor. Now I'm so good at navigating those conversations. I do have the gift of the gab, I like to say I can talk a lot. So now I want to help other veterinarians communicate. Right? With my platform, I can help everybody that follows me, but if I help other veterinarians talk better than I can help even more. It's like it's snowballing and it's just been so exciting and so rewarding. So yeah, that's the whole spiel of the Honest Vet and my journey with it and my passion for it.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
That's great. Well, I like to think of myself as the honest podcaster because before we give any advice on the show, I'm like, you should probably talk to your vet, but if you want my advice, Mr. Didn't go to school for this, but speaking of advice, what's some of the most common, I wish they came in sooner. Moments you have, and what are some signs that pet parents are tending to miss where it's like, oh, if you have brought the animal in sooner, this would be an easier case.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
One of the biggest things that I tell pet parents is to monitor for unexpected or unintentional weight loss. I think that's one of the easiest things we can do, especially for cats, right? Cats are so good at just hiding, they're sick, hiding, they're sick, hiding, they're sick, then they're really sick, right? Dogs can be a little bit more expressive. We've bred dogs to be expressive. We've genuinely put in expression in their facial features, but cats not so much. So if you are noticing that your pet is losing weight, definitely go get them checked out. That can be a sign of so many different disorders. Unless of course you're trying, your veterinarian told you your pet is pudgy and then you put them on a diet, that's totally different. But how often do we weigh our pets? Maybe once a year when we go to the office.

(13:39):
And so sometimes that'll be a big red flag to me. I have a Labradoodle who's always weighed 90 pounds, and then this year suddenly he's 84. And I can say to the owners like, Hey guys, did you do this intentionally? What's going on here? We should probably do, definitely need to do his blood work, or maybe we should do his blood work a little earlier, something like that. But I tell pet parents, weigh your pets at home. It's such an easy thing to do. It doesn't cost you a dime. Most of us already own a scale. If your cat or dog is small enough that you can weigh yourself, step off the scale, pick them up and weigh yourself again, do that. If your dog is big, then just pop into the vet clinic every once a month, every other month, and use our scale. It's totally free. We will never charge you to weigh your pet. So yeah, when I have pets on a weight loss plan, I'm like, please bring them here. Please let me weigh them so we can see if it's working. So that's such an easy thing that people can do just to spot illness. Is unintentional weight loss, a hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
Great advice. And speaking of weight loss, I know nutrition is one of your key focus areas. So what are the biggest nutrition mistakes that you see happening with dogs and cats and what are a few practical tips or advice you could share?

Speaker 4 (14:49):
One of the biggest things that pet parents or biggest, most common mistakes is just not measuring the food that their pets eat all the time. We get people come in and it's so important to me again, and I think more and more vets are in tune with nutrition and understand nutrition. So we always ask at every intake appointment, what is your pet eating and how much? And the amount of people who go, oh, just like a scoop. And I'm like A scoop of what? Like a scoop this size or like a scoop this size because scoop, right? It's actually really funny. Growing up, we had a scoop for our dogs and we would just give them one scoop that was, we got one scoop scoop in the morning. Yeah, I would've said the same thing, universal measurement, the scoop. But unfortunately, it's not very accurate.

(15:31):
And a lot of cats are free fed, so that can be problematic too. So measuring portion sizes is one of the best things that pet parents can do, not only for weight control, but it also can tell you earlier if they're maybe not finishing all their food, if you're just dumping a bunch of food in there and letting them graze on it, you don't know how much they're actually taking in. You might not notice subtle losses in weight, especially if multiple pets are eating from one bowl because all the food is gone, right? And the other pets might've just finished what that pet normally would. So measuring food and measuring those portion sizes, I mean, again, it's one of the easiest ways to be in control of your pet's health and also monitor your pet's health

Speaker 2 (16:12):
And normalize your scoop. Learn

Speaker 4 (16:14):
How much is in scoop normal. Standardize it. Yeah, standardize

Speaker 2 (16:16):
Your

Speaker 4 (16:17):
Scoop. Whenever anyone tells us that Hills gives out these free little one cup scoops. So each scoop is one cup and it's measured on the side, and it has a quarter cup, a half a cup, all these things. And I'm like, okay, this is now your scoop. You tell me how many, yeah, go home and scoop your scoop into this scoop. The latest software, harmony scoops. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (16:37):
The latest Scoop software update.

Speaker 4 (16:40):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
I want to ask a little bit about Fear Free because it's become incredibly mainstream. I think it's awesome. And we went to a Fear Free vet, and it's great that these vet practices know what to do and how to create that environment, but a lot of pet parents don't know what it is and don't know about the before and aftercare to a vet visit. There is a lot of, I know when I had Tiger my Cat, she saw the crate come out the carrier and knew exactly what was happening and would become a demon. So any advice for parents on how to bring fear-free into their home, especially around if the animal's sick and they have to go to the vet a few times in a row, how they can make that experience comfortable for their pet?

Speaker 4 (17:28):
I love this question. So yeah, fear free is so important to me. When I first learned about it, I was like, oh my God, this is everything I looked devoted my heart and soul to it. So basically the background of Fear Free is using a gentle and considerate approach. In veterinary medicine, we are not trying to force your animals. The old thing used to be old school was like, we're just going to hold 'em down and get it done, and they'll be okay and they'll get over it, right? But we were learning, we're like, okay, that's so bad for their mental health. It actually made each visit subsequently worse. So now instead of holding your dog down just by laying people on top of him to trim his nails, we're saying, okay, let's maybe give him some calming medication. If this is stressful for him, let's distract him with some treats. Let's restrain him gently in a way that he's more comfortable with. And in some cases, that even means suspending them. I dunno if you've ever seen small dogs suspended in a little sack, we don't know why. They find it more relaxing. They're not struggling, and you can just trim their nails while they look cheese off the wall, and you're like, whatever. As long as you're happy, I'm happy.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
Listen,

Speaker 4 (18:27):
I'm

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Not one to judge you. Put me in a little hammock and let me lick cheese off the wall. You could do my nails too. It's fine.

Speaker 4 (18:33):
100%. 100%. So trying to just make sure that not only are we caring for the physical wellbeing of each animal who comes to see us, but caring for the mental wellbeing of each animal who comes to see us is the basis of fear free. And there are definitely ways you can bring this to your home. So for dogs, one thing I'll tell them is if your dog is stressed and anxious at the veterinary office, that is not a sign that you're a bad pet parent. And please do not apologize for that, right? I get anxious going to the doctor. It is totally normal. Now imagine if you were going into this place where you're getting poked and prodded and felt up and nobody's telling you what's happening, you don't understand and you're just supposed to sit there and take it. I'd feel very anxious returning to that place as well.

(19:14):
And like I said, each time it happens, the anxiety can be worse. So getting medication does not mean that you're a bad pet parent. It does not mean that you have a bad dog or a bad cat. It can just really, really help make the whole experience so much better for that animal. So if you have a pet that you know is going to be anxious that really does not enjoy veterinary visits, do not hesitate to ask for some fear-free medications. They're very, very widely used. They're small doses. So we're not going to knock your dog out completely. We're just going to give them enough to make them a little loopy, a little drowsy, a little bit more responsive to us and our touch. And then also sometimes taking your dog out for a long walk or a ton of exercise, getting them nice and sleepy first and keeping them a little hungry.

(19:56):
So maybe giving them half of their breakfast. If they're going to the vet that day, not only will they be a little calmer, they're a little sleepier, but they'll be hungry, and so they'll be more likely to take our treat. So an easy thing you can do for dogs are those two things, like starting that at home before you even come. And my last thing that I'll mention for dogs is doing happy visits. So if you have a dog that just walks into the vet visits and they're immediately, or vet's office, they're immediately shaking, they're trembling, they will not move. Just bring them by When you come in to weigh them, come and check their weight once a month, walk around the clinic, we'll pet them. We'll give them treats. We'll love them. Sometimes we'll put a stethoscope on them just depending on how they're doing, and then they'll leave. And there's no charge for that. I know. I don't know a single veterinarian who would charge for that, right? We're happy to just love on your pets. It brings us joy to just see a cute animal who's not sick, who doesn't need anything, who's just there to get treats and love. So happy visits. And then for cats, it definitely starts at home. Most of the time people are going into their closet and they're pulling out this dusty, dingy, dirty cat carrier that their cat only sees once year or when they're sick. Yeah, right. It

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Was me.

Speaker 4 (21:00):
Would you go in that box? Would you be like, here's your box that put you in only when you're getting tortured, right? The amount of time people call us and they're like, I'm so sorry. I'm going to be late. I can't get my cat in the carrier. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. So actually one of the best things that you can do is keeping your carrier as part of your home. You can get one of those hard carriers. I actually much prefer those, the soft carriers, because also, now imagine you're in this dingy, dirty box thing and it's collapsing on you, and you're like, it smells, it's small. It's like, I'm so claustrophobic. So getting a hard shell carrier is much better, especially when that has a top open or it comes apart because then when they get to the veterinary office, we don't have to reach in and yank 'em out. We can just open the top and it's like ta,

Speaker 3 (21:42):
Of course, of course. But if you could give every pet parent one rule of thumb about when to stop Googling or scrolling social media and pick up the phone and call your veterinarian, what would that be? And then leave us with how we can follow you.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
Okay? Yeah. If you think your pet is sick, if you think your pet is sick in any way, shape or form, don't Google it. Firstly, if you Google it, it'll be like, ah, it's probably fine. Or it's dying of cancer. So it's not really going to help you very much at all. If you have any inclination that your pet is sick, that they ate something toxic, don't waste time. Just call us. We are again, we're not going to charge you for a phone call. We might tell you like, ah, it's nothing. Keep an eye on them. We might recommend bringing them in. And having a relationship with a veterinarian will help you in that case too, if it's a pet, I know I feel comfortable. If I saw them last month, I'm going to be like, Hey, I can tell you more confidently. If it's a pet I've never seen before, I might just say, Hey, if you think your pet is sick, please bring them in because your pet best. So if you're worried about your pet's health, don't Google it. Call your vet. We want to help you so badly. We want to help you so badly. And then you can find me. I'm mainly on Instagram as the honest vet, but you can also find me on TikTok and YouTube.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Amazing. Fantastic. That's Dr. Hammond, the Honest Vet. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy day to join us for all the great advice. Be sure to follow her account. It is a most excellent resource to break up your doom scroll, and when you get to one of her videos, if you feel like you could relate, pick up the phone and call the vet. Don't hesitate. We appreciate you hopping on the line, Dr. Hammond.

Speaker 4 (23:08):
Yep. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
So Kristen, we've done quite a few of these shows and we've had a lot of vets on, and we get a lot of repeat advice, which is fine because not everybody listens to every episode, and sometimes reinforcement of an idea is important. But Dr. Hammond had some unique pieces of advice there that we haven't heard before, and I just think that's awesome. So definitely going to be checking out her channel.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yeah, absolutely. You've got to be a follower of her channel because she has a really great way of disseminating information. Some of it's kind of tongue in cheek, but it's all really great. So guess who's here. Dr. Andy Rourke, one of my favorite people to interview. He is a practicing veterinarian and educator and one of the most influential voices in modern veterinary medicine. He's the founder of the Uncharted Veterinary Conference and Community, which focuses on helping vets with leadership, business skills, communication, and wellbeing for veterinary professionals. How am I doing so far?

Speaker 5 (24:11):
One, you're absolutely lovely. Thank

Speaker 3 (24:13):
You. Okay. And he's also the host of several popular veterinary podcasts, including the Cone of Shame, the Uncharted podcast, and he co-host the Veterinary viewfinder with Dr. Ernie Warren.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
I do not.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
I

Speaker 5 (24:24):
Do not. Okay. That's true

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Or false. That

Speaker 5 (24:26):
Was false. That was all. That's fault.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Okay. All right. Forget I said that. No, for his humor, honesty, and practical insight, no pressure. You're going to have to be funny, honest and smart. I'm not worried about it. Dr. Rourke brings bridges the gap between the exam room and the bigger picture of veterinary care. Welcome Dr.

Speaker 5 (24:44):
R. Thank you so much for having me here. I always love to get to talk to you. I'm so honored to be invited.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
The feeling is mutual. So let me just start by asking you, because you're in practice and you also work with other veterinarians, what do you wish pet parents understood about what it's like in the veterinary clinic today from your perspective?

Speaker 5 (25:02):
Oh, wow. What is it like in the veterinary perspective? So, oh boy. The vet medicine is changing really fast, and that's driven by a couple of different forces. And so I would say, I don't expect to know this or anything, but obviously artificial intelligence is changing a lot of medicine. I think it's changing for the better. I think the ability for pet parents to be informed coming in is greater now than it's ever been. I think it's really wonderful. The structure of medicine is changing. There's a lot more of the large corporations and things like that. That's not good or bad, is just sort of, it's just different. And so I guess what I would say is know that the veterinarians and the veterinary technicians on the ground, they want you to have a wonderful experience. They're still here for the pets, but just almost everybody else.

(25:47):
They're starting to work inside of these larger environments, these corporate structures, and we're all kind of finding our way. I think the thing that I would hope is to say, use AI to your advantage. Come with your questions. Make sure that you are getting heard and listened to. I think it's more important now for pet parents to be better advocates than ever before, but also assume good intent on the part of the veterinarians. You know what I mean? And know that they're trying their best. And generally people get into this business because they want to celebrate the pets and be supportive. So anyway, it's always kind of that sort of balance of know that things are changing, but also know that people are still doing it for the right reasons. And the person in front of you is human, and they're doing their best and probably really want to help read.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
And I do know that veterinary appointments have to move relatively quickly. You have lots of patients to see, lots of clients to see. I'm one of those clients that will come to the office with my dog and I'll have a list of questions. You would encourage that, right?

Speaker 5 (26:51):
There's always these challenges, right? Because as you noticed, the cost of veterinary medicine is going up, and people have seen that, and there's a lot of different reasons for that. Inflation in veterinary care, it matches basically what we see in human healthcare, which is again, a lot. So prices are going up. I think a lot of practices are, they're trying to combat the price by maybe shortening appointment times or moving faster. And so it's coming from a reason of is trying to keep things affordable by doing more, which I understand, but that shouldn't take away from the relationship of the pet parent, right?

(27:25):
I think, I love that you asked this. I want informed pet parents. I really want you to feel good at the end of your appointment. I think coming with your list of questions and saying up front, I have some questions that I have brought along. I think that sets the expectation at the very beginning that this is what I want to get covered. What I don't want is for you and me to have our time together. And then I say, great. Well, I'll see you later. And you say, well, now I've got these questions. And then it's like, oh, I wish you, I could have probably woven these into what we were doing from the beginning. Be out front if you can be. I'm glad you

Speaker 3 (27:55):
Made that point.

Speaker 5 (27:56):
And then the other thing is to say, again, I'm so glad you said this, because medicine is changing and the practices are sort of changing and stuff. It might be that the practice that you have been happy at for years is starting to change, and it might become a practice that's not really a fit for you anymore. And I would say be open to the idea of if you are not getting your time, then I want you to get to me. Having that experience that matches what your needs are, I think that's really

Speaker 3 (28:23):
Important. And I personally haven't felt that way. I haven't felt cut short at all, but I do. And tell me what you think about this. I know there's also, it's important that pet parents understand that there is a team approach to their pet's care. So I'm typically going to share those questions with the tech that I meet first in the room, because I figure that he or she is going to be able to determine which questions you can address with me versus which ones they can address with.

Speaker 5 (28:48):
I think that's exactly it mean. So if you know what your objectives are going in or what you want, I think communicate that at the very beginning. Oftentimes the technicians can say, well, I can answer this, this, and this, so that the amount of time we have with the doctor is really focused on the doctor specific things. The other thing is sometimes your technicians can work on things while the doctor is talking with you as well. So if you can lay out what your needs are, what your interests are, your technicians should be an advocate for you inside the practice, and they should help you get the most out of your time with the veterinarian. And then also, they should be a point of service and support themselves.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
Gotcha. Okay. Cool. So why do communication skills matter so much in veterinary care? Well, you know what? We kind of addressed this question already. I was going to say, how can pet parents make the visit go smoother? We already addressed that, but when you're talking to veterinarians, when you're educating vets about their business, how do you help them be better communicators for their clients?

Speaker 5 (29:45):
Well, I mean, I think that the number one thing that I'm trying to impress on veterinarians now I think is you need to meet pet owners where they are. And we all come from different places, and we all have different amounts of time, resources. We have different fears because we've had different past experiences. And I really think for me, the simplest answer to this question is, as a veterinarian, you need to look at each person with fresh eyes and you see them as a human being, and you need to try to understand them and what their fears are, what their hopes are, what their specific relationship is, what their pet is. And really, communication is really about meeting them where they are and tailoring what we talk about and how we talk about it to that person so that you're really meeting them. And that sounds super simple, but it's easy to lose that along the way and say, well, this is a pet owner. This is a 12-year-old Dotson, and so I'm going to talk to 'em about this and say, well, but that is more than a 12-year-old Dawson. That's Sammy, and we need to talk about Sammy. And so anyway, but that personalized connection and care and seeing people's individual and really meeting them where they are to make sure that you can do the best for that specific patient. I think that's my number one sort of focus with the doctors.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
A lot of pet parents find the field of veterinarian medicine so fascinating. And your podcast, the Cone of Shame is fantastic. Well, thank you. And even though it's four vets, right? Yeah, I've watched many episodes of found them. Very interesting, very entertaining. So tell us a little bit about that podcast and where people can find it.

Speaker 5 (31:16):
Yeah, so I have a podcast called Corner Shame, and we do two things. One is I talk about the actual industry. And so if you thought it was interesting about the types of practices changing and the structures and things, I talk a lot about that. I talk to veterinarians. And so we talk about, Hey, the job is a little bit different. There's different requests and requirements, and what does the future look like? And what does it mean that we're heading into processionary forces or things like that? How does that affect about what's happening? And so if you're interested in the nuts and bolts of the industry is for you. The other thing that I do is I am a doctor and I like to practice. And so I love to bring on the smartest people in the world in terms of their clinical expertise and say to them, Hey, I had this case and I wasn't exactly sure what to do with her.

(31:59):
I hope I did the right thing. Well, how would you do this? And then you hear these brilliant people talk to those cases. And so if you're someone who's really interested in the medicine side, and that includes behavior. For example, Lisa Roda, who I know you've talked to a number, she's so wonderful, but I've had her on many times and she runs me through how she works up these medical cases, and I learn from her brilliance. And so if you're a serious pet owner, if you're a breeder, a trainer, and you were like, I would like to hear what the doctors are actually talking about, that's something that we do as well. And so those are the areas of the podcast that I'm most proud of and that we do the most best

Speaker 3 (32:35):
And the best name for a podcast ever.

Speaker 5 (32:38):
I love the Kone Shame. It is a fun one.

Speaker 3 (32:41):
Well, Dr. Rourke, thank you so much for spending your time with us today. It's always so much fun to talk to you, and thanks for the work that you do for pets of People.

Speaker 5 (32:46):
Oh, thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
I just love Dr. Rourke. He's so much fun to talk to. And actually he practices in Greenville, South Carolina, which is not too far from me.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
An hour and a half out's. Good to know you have, dare I say, expert nearby because you could text Dr. Rorick on season one of the experts. And who knows, maybe he'll make an appearance down the line because we keep having him back.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
And I know his staff loves him. He was telling me at VMX that he said he's really looking forward to VMX being over because he brought several members of his staff and they all have credit cards. And he said he keeps getting these notifications on his phone while all these charges coming through.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
Oh, no. He's about to learn a very important lesson in per diem,

Speaker 3 (33:34):
Right?

Speaker 1 (33:36):
The product of the week.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Alright, folks, it is time for our product of the Week post Global Edition, and we've got some great products for you. And I've got one, Kristen, I was just talking spring's here. It's time to go outside. All right.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
Hooray.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
It's time to shed the skin of seasonal depression and enter the world of regular depression. So it's time to, I know I'm really, it's a good keeping the mood nice and light here. But listen, people around the country are heading outside in spring. I don't know about North Carolina down there, Kristen, but up here in Connecticut Spring's Gross. It's muddy's rainy, it's disgusting, but we love it because it's better than winter. So we're heading outside, and I was looking through a, I believe it might've been either a wire cutter or the Chewy blog. That's where I got a lot of my products of the week. Pro tip for Best Rain jackets for dogs if you wanted to take 'em. And this one scored really well across a couple of different things. It's from no stop dog wear or nonstop nonstop dog wear.com. And they've got all sorts of stuff for both humans and dogs.

(35:05):
And this is a premium product. This is the Fjord Raincoat 2.0. It's a premium product. It's going to run you about a hundred bucks, but it's scored really well for its durability from reviews, being able to be used multiple seasons. And it's great for if you're actually going to be out in the rain, if you're going to take your dog for walks in the rain or if you're going to go on hikes where you might get rained on for part of it. This is a raincoat. This isn't just a thing you throw on, comes in four colors and get this, I think it's something like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14 different sizes.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
Wow, that was a question I was just about to ask you is how many sizes it comes in

Speaker 2 (35:44):
14. It's got 14 sizes, I think this might be by weight, but it goes from 24 to 90. There's a size chart, so use that. But this is a highly premium product. It's come reviewed and recommended from a few different trusted sources, whatever this means, a 20,000 millimeter waterproof rating. I don't know what that means because if it's raining, I don't go outside. This is not a crisp product if it's raining. I'm not outside, so I don't need to worry about water. Sounds like

Speaker 3 (36:17):
It's good for up to many globs of rain.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
Many, yes, Kristen. Many globs of rain. So check it out their website, nonstop dog wear.com link will be in the show notes as always. Kristen, what do have for us?

Speaker 3 (36:32):
Okay, so I also have a spring themed product because weather's getting warmer. It's not so messy and muddy here in North Carolina. It's beautiful. The daffodils are coming up. I just love spring. So this product of the week is actually kind of a sister product to one I mentioned many months ago, which was called the Tick mit. Well tick MIT has come out with the Tick Sidekick and the Tick MIT was, it's literally a MIT that you can wipe ticks off your dog when the tick first jumps on your dog and you can still wipe it off. But the Tick sidekick is for when that nasty tick actually embeds itself in your dog's skin or your cat's skin. So it was featured on Shark Tank, shark Tank and a Time Magazine Best invention. So it's got a pocket pocket knife sized multifunctional utility tool that's small enough to put in your pocket ladies, throw it in your purse wherever.

(37:32):
Precision Tweezers that are designed to remove those embedded ticks. It's got a built-in flashlight, which is super smart for visibility. So when you're trying to pull the tick out during the night or just a dark cloudy day, I don't know. And let's see what else. It matters because recent studies show that one in two ticks carry Lyme disease people and the tick population is at a record high. So that's not good news. So get yourself the tick mi and the Tick sidekick so that you're prepared for those nasty little boogers and hopefully your dog or your cat are on tick prevention too. That's something that you can talk to your veterinarian about. I can say that in the three years we've lived here, I think we've only had to pull one tick off of Tulip, and she is on a tick preventative salt.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
I wish she had made that for people. I hate ticks, I'm anti tick. Oh,

Speaker 3 (38:28):
You're nasty

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Anti tick. It's one of those bugs where if they just all disappeared, I don't care how it would affect the ecosystem, so be it.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
Well, is there a tick community? I don't know,

Speaker 2 (38:40):
I guess. I think people who like bats and frogs and certain birds that sort of eat the ticks. But listen, if the ticks are at a record high, those animals are slacking off as far as I'm concerned. They're fired, they're done. Okay, let's step it up. Tick predators. I'm thinking we should do a whole tick themed episode down the line because something really don't talk about tick prevention, but it is like, I mean, depending on where you live, it's such a problem. It really is. It's such a, and it's so dangerous. One of the many reasons I don't go outside

Speaker 3 (39:16):
Ever.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
Ever.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
Yeah, and there's, well, I don't want to keep droning on about it, but there are a lot of tick related products too. So maybe we will do a tick themes session this summer. Link to the sidekick is in the show notes

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Q and a.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Alright, Kristen, it's time for our favorite part of the show. That's right. We're going to answer two questions from our lovely audience, and I know what you're thinking. Lovely audience. How do I get my questions answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, couldn't be easier. Head on over to pets at life.org/podcast. Scroll on down to the bottom of the page and you will see a form to submit your question. Or if you're feeling as brave as a firm mom pulling ticks off of their very angry, upset, and irritated dog, then you can record a voice memo and you may hear your question played live on this show. So Kristen, before I forget which question you asked for, I'm going to read you a question here, pulling up my page from Karen in Denver. Thank you, Karen for your question. And Karen asks, my 8-year-old dog still seems active, but lately he's sleeping more and isn't as excited about walks. How do I know if this is just normal aging or an early sign of something more serious?

Speaker 3 (40:45):
Okay, well, Karen, this is exactly the kind of subtle change that's easy to just dismiss as, oh, my pet's just getting older. So it's normal, but it's definitely worth investigating. So aging definitely brings changes, but those changes shouldn't really, the fact that he's less enthusiastic about activities that he used to love and changes in energy and interest can signal an underlying medical issue. So I'm a little concerned about what you're describing here. So he could have some pain from arthritis that's been developing. It could be a thyroid issue. Hypothyroidism is common and it's a common cause of lethargy. It could be early heart disease, dental disease. I'm not trying to scare you here at all, Karen, I'm just saying that his sudden lack of enthusiasm and energy could be a sign that there is a medical issue. So I would schedule a senior wellness exam with your veterinarian if you don't already have one.

(41:52):
Even if you do have one, maybe move it up and get it done sooner because at eight years old, your dog definitely qualifies as a senior y. Yvette will probably do some comprehensive blood work, a physical exam, ask you lots of questions about his behavior. And if you've noticed any other symptoms, you definitely want to maybe keep a log of those on your phone so that you can, I don't know about you Chris, but whenever I go to the vet, I always, when we leave, I remember two or three things that I forgot to ask about. So it's a really good idea to keep a log of your questions and your observations so that you can really cover a lot of ground when you're there.

(42:32):
But the good news is that a lot of these age-related conditions are very manageable and treatable if it is a medical issue. Arthritis pain can be controlled with medication and with some changes in their activity schedule, supplements or supplements to help that physical therapy. So I'm sure that this can be resolved and I love that you have good instincts and keeping a close eye on your dog so that you're recognizing those signs. And anybody that has a pet that is six or seven, they are probably considered senior. So make sure you're having those senior wellness exams. Alrighty. Chris, are you ready for your question?

Speaker 2 (43:13):
I'm ready. I've never been more prepared in my whole life actually.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
Okay, it's a good one for you. This is from Olivia in Minneapolis and Olivia says, my cat's breath smells terrible, but she's eating normally and acting fine. How serious is dental disease in cats and when should we intervene?

Speaker 2 (43:35):
This is a great question. I shouldn't have said I'm ready. I'm not. I don't know. I'm done. I'm walking off the show. This is it for me. Stinky breath. I, I'm just kidding. This is actually a topic near and dear to my heart. Tiger who lived for 23 freaking years died of old age, but that was definitely accelerated by a dental infection. And what you need to worry about with cats is they're pretty bad at fighting off infections normally. So you go and get antibiotics and the antibiotics are bad for their kidneys. And renal failure is, I mean, that is what goes first for most cats are the kidneys. So if your cat has bad smelling breath with which tiger usually did, it could be an infection. And what happened with Tiger was there was an abscessed tooth that got infected and her whole face blew up.

(44:34):
She was miserable and that got cured and she lived for another six months. But the treatment definitely caused a turn for the worst for her. So what I will say is if your cat is a senior, you should be cleaning their teeth for them because they're too lazy to do the things that she used to tear at her little toys and stuff and sort of play around and she'd eat some dry food. And towards the end when she got lazy, she was only eating wet food and she wasn't playing with anything and she spent most of her time asleep, which meant her mouth was closed, which meant bacteria had the perfect ecosystem to thrive in there. So bad breath usually means bacterial infection can be prevented. We did whole thing on dental health. Just listen to the old episodes. Go back to our old stuff

Speaker 3 (45:25):
February.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
All right? Yeah, like all of February's episodes, we recommend some excellent products in there and talk to some experts on maintenance, what you can be doing at home with minimal effort. And then make sure that when you take your cat into the vet every six months that they're doing a teeth checkup and a teeth cleaning if they feel like it's necessary, those teeth are important. I'm very lucky that Tiger got to 23 years, but I don't know the data on this. I know that kidneys are the number one thing, but I imagine that for senior cats, teeth is right up there and things that go wrong and can start to be a real problem for our kitty cats. So the fact that you're paying attention is step one. Now it's time to take action Olivia. So great question and best of luck. Alright, and that does it for our show. If you're watching on YouTube, you might see my camera shaking right now because my neighbor is using the dryer apartment living everybody. It's excellent. It's so excellent. It's such a great place. The economy is so good. So we hope you had a nice time. I had a lot of fun doing this one. We're right on the cusp of April Fools, so don't believe anything you hear tomorrow. That's right. Nothing from anybody, just buckled down and hope for the best.

(46:46):
It's been a pleasure. Kristen, what you got for us?

Speaker 3 (46:48):
Yeah, I got a tale and tidbit about dogs aging. We talked about senior dogs a minute ago, and you've heard the term or the idea that one year in human years equals seven dog years. Well, actually I looked this up on a Pet MD and dogs actually age really drastically in years one and two. So a one-year-old dog is like a 15-year-old human and a 2-year-old dog is like a 24-year-old human. And then in their kind of adolescent years, it tends to slow down. And then of course when they become seniors at age six, seven, or eight, that's when it's really important, as I said earlier, that you are getting them to see the vet twice a year because, because things just move faster in pets because they live shorter lives, unfortunately. So it's not exactly seven years every year. Just keep that in mind.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
That's going to change a lot of math on mine. I know. We have to develop the algorithm, the dog age algorithm. Call it up. Mark Zuckerberg. Somebody get Zuckerberg on the line.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Pets, add life, your guide to the latest in pet trends products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog TV.