111. Pet Industry Trends, Behavior Science & The Real Cost of Pet Care

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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 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Ad Life. I am one of your hosts, Chris Bonti. In joining me as always is dairy expert and purveyor of rare cheeses. Kristen Levine.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Oh gosh, that

Speaker 2 (00:35):
One. Really?

Speaker 3 (00:36):
I don't even know what to say. That one threw me. I got nothing for that.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
So what's your favorite fancy cheese? Money's no objects.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, I like Bri. I mean, that's pretty simple,

Speaker 2 (00:51):
But could be really good

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Cheese, especially when you

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Bake it

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Into pastry and you put those hot jam on top. Oh my gosh, I love the

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Cheese. Yeah, with a little bit of butter. That is good.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
How about you? I like the veiny kind of cheeses, like a gorgonzola or a blue cheese spread on some crackers. Delicious. Can you tell It's near lunch over here on the PAL Podcast. We're getting a little close to lunch, right? Right. But hey, we're feeding you a feast of duos with two amazing stories, two great guests, two awesome products, and at the end we'll answer two of your questions because the best things come in pairs. That's

Speaker 3 (01:32):
True. And we even just shared a bonus. Two favorite cheeses,

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Two favorite cheeses. I mean, where else are you getting this kind of content? People? So sit down, buckle up. Don't touch your remote. I showed off my remote last episode and I got yelled at by everybody. So no more, no more remote picks. No more

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Props.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
No more props. Yeah, I'm done doing comedy. I'm done doing prop comedy. I'm done being funny. Everything that comes out of my mouth from this point on in this episode will only be the most serious truth. I can't even say what would be the most serious groundbreaking journalism? You couldn't

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Do a whole serious show if you tried. Chris. Come on.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
I really don't think I could. I'm struggling right now. I'm like, how would I even, even, I'm looking at my stories and products and stuff, and I'm like, there's no kids. No way. It's just not who I am. But let's go ahead and see what we got going on in this week's story time.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Kristen and Chris. Present story time.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
All right, story time. Kristen, I'm going to kick it off before I lose my train of thought. So the train of thought is fleeting because we just got through global, used up all my brainpower, and it was amazing. It was great to see everybody and to have all these awesome guests on the podcast. But in the past couple of years, our presence at the show is limited to sort of just this little podcast chamber. I called it my little Swedish jail where I spent all my time and we've decided to expand our reach and do some offerings for some other influencers and partners in media. And we had this whole thing called the Pet Fluent Studio, and we were just a part of it. We were just a corner in this neighborhood, and I thought it was awesome. We saw if you're really plugged into the pet industry, whether you are a pet professional yourself, or if you're a pet parent who follows a bunch of brands on social media, you might've seen some of the content that was developed at the pet fluent studio where leading influencers came by and helped brands basically get the word out about their product.

(03:46):
They tried a bunch of stuff. They talked about some of their favorites, and they were able to record all of that at the show. I mean, the life of an influencer, a lot of people think it's easy, but it's busy, all the filming and the meetings and all this kind of stuff. So a lot of the influencers really appreciated being able to knock out a lot of content. I mean, it's what we do too. You're going to be seeing a lot of global Pet Expo related content all through the summer, basically as we scatter those interviews. So it's sort of the magic of TV and radio where we record a lot of stuff in one spot and really focus really hard and put on our best faces, and we're able to recycle that throughout the year. So being able to offer that type of service to some of our influencers and get our brands involved, I think it was just an incredible experience. So if you're out there and you're looking and you see that show floor looks familiar, those signs look familiar. Look at that weird guy with the mustache walking behind in that global shirt. I know him from somewhere. I know him from somewhere. You're not crazy. It's just one of the many things we did this year, and I'm sure you'll be seeing some of our Global Pet Expo related content coming down the pipeline. So stay tuned.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yes, yes. That was a great addition this year, and it's going to add some great value for our listeners and our viewers. My story is regarding economy sort of, and childcare. Okay, get this. My

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Two favorite things to talk about

Speaker 3 (05:13):
In San Francisco. It's a good thing you don't live there because doggy daycare now costs more than American childcare. What? So, okay, listen to the statistics. Crazy. In San Francisco, doggy daycare now costs more. Well, I just said that it costs a dollar five for every dollar that the average American family spends on daily childcare.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
That's insane. Yeah. So you're saying just doggy daycare in San Francisco is 50% more expensive than average childcare costs?

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, not 50%, but it's more expensive by a little bit. But it's just the point $55 a day, which adds up to $13,750 per year, I guess if you're going every day. But the national average for child daycare is 13,128 every year.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah. So still, exactly. It's basically 5% more expensive than average American in

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Child care. 5%.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Isn't that

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Insane? I misheard. That's still crazy. I mean, that is,

Speaker 3 (06:23):
San Francisco has about two dogs for every child under 18, and it's the only major US city where dogs definitely outnumber kids. And I guess that's why they can charge those prices, right?

Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's a crazy stat too.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
Dogs outnumber kids. That's nuts. San Francisco is a weird place, man. I am lucky. I don't live there. I don't think I'd ever luck to. I'm just not a West Coast guy.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
Doesn't

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Matter. But hey, we love our

Speaker 3 (06:52):
West Coast friends.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
We love our West Coast friends. I would just simply never live there. And I expect a lot of West Coast people would never want to live in the East Coast. Trust me, there's some crap that happens here you don't want to be a part of. I've still got snow thawing. It's what? We're in April. What's today? I've still got snow on the ground. It is. What? But that's insane. We've looked at daycare prices for grace. It's nuts.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Is it? It's

Speaker 2 (07:17):
Nuts. What for

Speaker 3 (07:18):
A day, do you know?

Speaker 2 (07:20):
I don't know about a day, but by the week it's hundreds and hundreds of dollars a week. So a month you're getting close to the thousands. I mean, for hope to go back to work would just mean paying for daycare with her salary,

Speaker 3 (07:37):
Which is insane,

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Crazy, crazy. We need more dogs in the Senate and House of Representatives

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Absolute pleasure to introduce Dr. Catherine. A halt, a professor emeritus of Behavioral Medicine at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and a board certified veterinary behaviorist. She's one of the pioneers of the veterinary behavioral medicine and has spent decades studying domestic animal behavior, authoring, leading textbooks and scientific research that help shape how veterinarians understand aggression, anxiety, compulsive disorders, and the human animal bond. Dr. He's work has influenced generations of veterinarians and behavior professionals, and she continues to be one of the most respected voices in the field. Doc, it is a pleasure to have you on the show today.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
So you've been a part of the field of animal behavior for decades, and you've seen it evolve through a lot of changes, especially recently. So what are some of the things we used to believe about dog behavior that now we know are wrong?

Speaker 4 (08:50):
I think probably the biggest one was the concept of dominance that was very strong when we first formed the college. And it became clear to us that resulted in pretty painful, if not frightening things that we no longer recommend to do to dogs. And so that has probably been the biggest change. And of course, the other thing is the rise of our understanding of the medications that we can use to make dogs life lives pleasanter.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah. And let me ask you about, well, let's go back to dominance since you brought that up. From a scientific standpoint, what did we misunderstand about dominance and dogs? Why did we think that dominance was a key effort that we should try to dominate our dogs?

Speaker 4 (09:53):
Well, I think because dominance hierarchies have been recognized in many species, maybe not cats, but they're always different. And so the idea was that we should act like a dominant dog. But dogs, I think do not perceive us as other dogs. Not sure what they think we are, but they don't think we're other dogs. So rolling on their back and holding them down is going to frighten them rather than make them more likely to obey what we say or less likely to bite us. In fact, have a very good cartoon where someone is saying, well, I can make this dog better. And he pokes the dog in the neck and the dog bites him. And so that sort of tells you the history of the changes in our approach to veterinary behavior problems.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah. Well, when a dog shows aggression, a lot of families assume that's a training issue, but how often is aggression actually rooted in a dog's mental state, like their fear or anxiety or even maybe some medical causes?

Speaker 4 (11:12):
I mean, it's always based in their brain. That's what makes them open their mouth and close their teeth on your hand. But whether it is a pain related thing, a endocrinological thing, the dog has been giving corticosteroids because he is scratching, and that tends to make them more aggressive. Or is it the old dog who now hurts when he jumps up on things and when you try to pick him up, it hurts and he bites.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Doc, I have a question about anxiety in general. It seems like today more pets are anxious or fearful, or maybe it's just that we recognize it more. So are we seeing more anxiety disorders in pets, or are we just better at diagnosing it and recognizing it?

Speaker 4 (12:03):
I think that the latter is certainly true, that we're better at recognizing it. And especially if you're a little dog living in a world of giants, you can understand where they might be anxious.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
And so one of my questions is for all the pet parents out there who may be listening, they have a dog who may be a little aggressive or have some, just any behavioral problem. And I think there is a disconnect between behavioral problems and going to a vet office. I think a lot of people think, oh, okay, maybe I could train this behavior out of them. Where do you draw the line on, okay, this behavioral issue can be solved with training alone, but where do you draw the line in saying, now we need to bring in veterinary medicine and medical intervention or medication for a pet parent at home? What should they be looking for to draw that line for themselves?

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Well, the first thing they should be looking for as a proper trainer. So if the person says, I'll take your dog for two weeks and return him to you, and he'll be fine. If that person doesn't want you to watch what they're doing to your dog, don't send your dog to them. So those are often the harshest people. I think that the dog training world has really progressed during my professional lifetime. And so there are various ways that people can be certified that they are actually properly trained trainers. But the first thing to find out is if they say they're balanced trainers, that means that they use both negative things and positive things. So you probably want an unbalanced trainer who uses only positive reinforcement. It's not that you can't learn, your toddler learn not to touch the stove the first time he or she was burned, but that is not going to make the dog make the proper decision when someone walks in the door.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
True. So Dr. Halt, I understand that you've worked both, not only extensively with dogs, but also horses. So what are some of the behavioral differences between a prey species like horses and predators, like dogs that people aren't aware of or that they don't appreciate?

Speaker 4 (14:33):
Well, of course, when it's a thousand pound animal, you're usually more respectful of it.

(14:43):
We see a lot of resource guarding in dogs and in horses, but fortunately in horses, it's usually directed to the other horses, not to the humans. So horses seem much more aware of the species difference. And many of the problems that we see with horses are also fear based as in dogs or they're based in pain, especially if it's a show horse that has to jump four feet 20 times a day. And then the other problem is that horses do not take to confinement all that well. And so you may have them develop what they call vices, but really it's our vices. We stuck them in a stall, feed them lots of grain and not much hay to an animal who should spend the majority of his time chewing. And so there are lots of problems that result from that. But

Speaker 2 (15:45):
That's really interesting. You brought up vices. What's a horse vice? Are horses going out back to have a cigarette because they're stressed out?

Speaker 4 (15:54):
There are some behaviors that may be based on at least endogenous opiates. So in a way, there's some addiction problems, but most of the things that the horses do are things like circling in their stalls and that can become stereotypic. And so of course, the cure, is it possible to get them out of the stalls and to be with other horses? We've even used mirrors, although the problem is that sometimes the horse does not like his own reflection. I could

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Relate to that.

Speaker 4 (16:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
I want to ask a bit about body language, because obviously we can't communicate with our pets the way you and I communicate. I can't ask my dog how it's feeling and get an honest response. So what are some of the common ways that pet owners may be misreading their animal's body language?

Speaker 4 (16:55):
For example, I have a client who said, my dog rolls over on its back, and that means it wants to have his belly petted. And when I do that, it bites me. It is not saying, please pet my belly. It's saying I am just a subordinate dog. Recognize that I am harmless, but it doesn't mean invade my personal space. That's

Speaker 2 (17:20):
Funny.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah. So Dr. Halt, we've talked to a few board certified veterinary behaviorists here on the podcast, but I think it's been a while since we had one on. Can you share with our audience what a veterinary behaviorist is and when you might need one for your pet?

Speaker 4 (17:38):
Okay. So what one is someone who's become a veterinarian? So that's four years, usually after college. And then you go through this rigorous program of doing a residency, which means you spend three years seeing, I guess 400 cases now, and you have to take an exam and you have to publish a paper. And as a result of all that, you can put those extra letters after your name. That means that you've had a lot of experience.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
And then how do we know if our pet's behavior problem would benefit from meeting with aborted veterinary behaviorist? And how do we do that? Can we just reach out to you directly or how does that work?

Speaker 4 (18:27):
One could do that, but there are lots of veterinary behaviors on the coast. The center of the country is fairly empty, so you might have more problems there. And what you do is you ask your veterinarian, who is the closest or the vet behaviors he likes best, or you can go on the website, the A CVB, and you can actually use a link to find the one in your geographical area. But your local vet usually is aware. Lots of veterinary behaviorists in California. And there are how many now? Four or five in New York now. But the rest are pretty well spread.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yeah. And there's only about a hundred, right? Isn't that what

Speaker 4 (19:23):
I That's right. Yeah, over a hundred now.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Okay. Well, we're coming up on time here, Dr. Halt, but you've learned a lot in your very illustrious career, and I'm going to ask you to boil down all of your learning for one piece of bottom line advice. Based on everything you've learned to pet parents, what would your big piece of advice be, let's say, to somebody who may be introducing a new dog to their home?

Speaker 4 (19:54):
Well, my first question would be, why do you want a second dog? Is it some failing on the part of the first dog, or, my worst thing is when someone says, well, my dog is old and I really get upset when my dog dies, so I'm going to replace him now, which is terrible because you're going to neglect that old dog while you're playing with a puppy, and that's very sad for that old dog. And the two dogs may not get along, so that's another problem. So please don't do that. No, grief has a reason

Speaker 2 (20:33):
The way I've always done it. I mean, I recently lost my cat maybe

(20:39):
Six months ago, and oh, I'm sorry. I'm still in the morning period, and I host a pet podcast, and I currently don't have a pet pet, but I can't imagine deciding to do that yet. So I completely agree with you, Dr. Halton. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have today. I want to say thank you so much for hopping on today and sharing your expert advice with all of our lovely pet parents. I'm sure they appreciate it. Is there anywhere we could send our pet parents to learn more? I know you mentioned, what was it, A vcb.org to find a vet behaviorist. Is there any other resources you could share with our pet parents?

Speaker 4 (21:23):
Well, they should ask their veterinarian about who is a good trainer, and they can, if they have a problem with your veterinarian and your nice reward-based trainer can't handle, that is the point when you should be referred to a vet behaviorist. So that's my advice.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Ha. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (21:49):
Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
Well, I think the students of Cornell are incredibly lucky to have Dr. Hup at their What a sweet woman. Honestly, she's

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Awesome. She's awesome. What a crazy and incredible career. And after we finished the interview, she shared with us, oh, I hope she doesn't mind me telling this. I don't think she'd mind, but she shared that she's 87 years old, and I was thinking, wow. And she still, she's still got it.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
I will not have it at 80 if I'm still doing this podcast at 87, you can shoot me in the head, put me down. Good for her way to go.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
So Chris, right before Global, I was at VMX where I got to interview a ton of great veterinarians for the show. And I don't know if you remember Dr. Dana vrbo? Of course, she's been with us a couple of times, but of course. Yeah, she's always great to catch up with. And so here's the interview I did with her there. I love it when we're at VMX because we get to sit down in person with Dr. Dana vrbo. So welcome.

Speaker 5 (23:01):
Thank you so much for having

Speaker 3 (23:02):
Me. And I know you've been on the show a few times, but lemme just, it's

Speaker 5 (23:05):
Always good to be back though. Always,

Speaker 3 (23:07):
Always. Yes. We're lucky. It's lucky to get a chance to sit down with you because you're very busy at the show. I am a touch chef. But let me just remind everybody who you are. You are the Chief Medical Officer here at BMX and the Chief Veterinary Officer of the North American Veterinary Community, NABC. This is the organization behind the show, VMX, which is the world's largest veterinary conference. It's held annually in Orlando, and in your role, you oversee the medical and scientific integrity of VMX programming. We'll talk about what that means in a second, guiding education for tens of thousands of veterinarians, technicians, students, and industry leaders from around the globe.

Speaker 5 (23:45):
Wow. So wow, you do all that. Yes. You always do a great job of introducing me and me going, oh, well, yeah, I

Speaker 3 (23:52):
Do quite a bit.

Speaker 5 (23:53):
Okay,

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Cool. Well, for pet parents, who are our listeners who've never heard of VMX, can you explain what it is and what big, why does a big BET conference matter?

Speaker 5 (24:05):
Yeah, that's a great question. So I think most of us realize, or think, or maybe we don't even think about it, but veterinarians are medical professionals. We are required to continue our education beyond graduation just to maintain our license. But to be honest, veterinarians are lifelong learners. They're always interested in the newest, the latest, the greatest ways to make the lives of pets and pet parents even better. So at VMX, what we offer is continuing education, but we also offer this opportunity on the expo hall floor for companies products and our innovators in the space to introduce the things that they're leading, these leading edge ideas, innovations, and products that are going to make it into the clinic this year to make the lives of pets and pet parents even better.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
And that's such great news, and I don't think a lot of pet parents realize that. So I'm glad that we get to bring this to them.

Speaker 5 (25:05):
I think it's really important to pet parents that their veterinarians are staying up to date and bringing them the newest things because we know there's solutions right around the corner that are really going to make pets even healthier.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
I was looking at the program and there are hundreds of sessions happening here as the chief medical officer, how do you decide which medical topics or research areas, how do you decide what topics get

Speaker 5 (25:29):
The focus here? It's always a challenge, right? Because there are, I mean, veterinary medicine first and foremost runs the gamut, right? We're preventative medicine to reactive medicine. We have to deal with herds and individuals. So we have nearly 1300 hours of continuing education at VMX and I rely on other experts. We have a program committee made up of experts in their field who then tell me the things that are leading the edge in their respective areas. So for example, we have a cardiologist who tells me, Hey, we have to pay attention to this new procedure or this new medication because it's going to change the lives of pets, and we need to get these speakers on the programs because they're the ones who are making the difference. They're again, leading that edge of science and bringing these new innovations to the clinic. And we want to make sure that general practitioners know what's happening so that they can spread the word.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Absolutely. Absolutely. So what are the biggest challenges that veterinarians are facing right now, and how does VMX help the profession adapt and move forward?

Speaker 5 (26:37):
Yep, great question. Because it is a big varied field, and we know we have pet parents that we want equity in pet ownership. We want pet parents from those that are struggling to make ends meet to those that want anything and don't necessarily have a budget to be able to get what we want to meet them where they're at. And I know we've spoken about this before. So one of the ways I think that VMX is always so interesting is this is a great time to discuss the spectrum of care from those we may have to look for new payment plans for, or new insurance solutions, or even new models of veterinary care where we have low cost or no cost clinics that are being supported by nonprofits to those that are looking for three dimensional CT for their pet and the newest surgeries that might be assisted by, again, a remote veterinarian helping somebody. If someone in Japan is innovating surgery, how can I bring their advice to someone in the us? So this is a great place to do that because again, we have all subjects being discussed, but we also have all the experts from those subjects coming together and collaborating in a really unique way.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
And those challenges really are easier to solve when such a variety of professionals, more brands

Speaker 5 (27:59):
Are

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Always

Speaker 5 (28:00):
Better

Speaker 3 (28:00):
For

Speaker 5 (28:00):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
So how would you say that the role of the veterinarian has changed as pets are increasingly viewed as family members?

Speaker 5 (28:09):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
They've been viewed that way for a while now. But how has that changing and how has VME respond to that shift?

Speaker 5 (28:16):
I think it's really interesting because I just had this discussion with a variety of speakers that really, again, have very different focuses in their careers just yesterday. And I think it's important for all veterinarians to remember that first and foremost, we're actually family health practitioners. We're helping family members and we're helping families because if we have healthy pets, we've really been able to change how people view their pets. We don't have to worry about parasites in the house anymore because we have good medication to prevent that from happening. If you have a farm, whether it's a hobby for you, the animals are your pets. If you have a pet cow, you need a pet cow veterinarian.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
And we spoke to one of those here at vMix.

Speaker 5 (29:06):
Yes. But it's also true for families that are still running farms too. How can we change your financial situation? How can we make your family farm more efficient? But the same is true for those with an exotic parrot. How can we make sure your parrot's living to their full, full promise? Can we have 40, 56-year-old parrots in a house and we can't? And that's so exciting.

Speaker 3 (29:31):
Now let's talk about the veterinary students or the young professionals that are attending. I was at a talk yesterday where somebody asked How many are here for the first time? And so many hands went up. That was really exciting. What advice do you give them to help them get the most out of this experience?

Speaker 5 (29:47):
Well, so it can be so overwhelming. So first, VMX has always been, and our fingers crossed, hopefully we'll always be free to veterinary students, veterinary technician students. That's wonderful because we want you to be able to come here and explore the options for your career, see what areas of interest you might have that you aren't thinking about. You don't know what toxicology really involves, go to TOS on toxicology. You're thinking, oh, I just want to be a small animal practitioner, but then, oh, let me go talk to the dental specialist and realize this is a really fascinating area and I maybe want to specialize when I wasn't thinking about it before. So I think it's a great time to explore areas that you're not sure about, go to talks that you're like, oh, I don't even know what that is. It's okay. I think the great thing about being a student is you don't have to get it all. We're here to teach you. We're here to teach you.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
Well, and it's February when this interview is airing. So it's Pet Dental Health Month. And you did mention dental a minute ago. So I did notice there are a lot of talks on dental health. So how important is it to address dental health and what kind of education can vets get here?

Speaker 5 (30:58):
Oh, dentistry is an increasing area of interest for veterinarians because we know, first of all, our pets are living longer. So teeth that are not necessarily meant to live a certain number of years, we really want to keep oral health at the forefront. It's another thing, again, that makes your pet healthy, makes them interacting with you healthier. So we not only have dental specialists who are teaching lectures here, but we have folks who are teaching workshops on things like getting better dental X-rays, doing better, more comprehensive dental cleanings. We're teaching veterinary technicians that they can be the leader in dental health and help coach pet parents regarding dental health. And we also know there's just a wide variety of solutions from products to new surgeries that we want at the forefront we want in every clinic.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
And we actually got to speak to Dr. Jan Bellows recently, and he was talking about how he's also helping veterinarians communicate better with pet parents about the importance of dental care.

Speaker 5 (31:57):
So we don't want it to be an afterthought, and we want to explain to you, I think sometimes we have to make sure we understand the value of what we're doing, not why it's important, but what the dollars and cents of it and make sure that it's right for every pet parent at every stage. So lots of solutions there.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Wonderful. Well, I know you've got a lot of people to talk to today, so we're going to wrap things up there. But I thank you so much for spending time with us today and for the amazing work you do here at VMX with the veterinarians and ultimately all trickles down to make life better for pets and

Speaker 5 (32:30):
People. Yes, I'm really excited for all the things we're doing to make their way into the clinic and for pet parents to be so excited this year to come. Excellent. Thank you. Thanks.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
So right here on the Pet's Ad Life podcast, you guys are getting the innovation, the innovation leaders, both on the veterinary side and also on the pet product side. So you guys are Yeah,

Speaker 2 (32:57):
Absolutely. And I think what's really great is you guys can't get into these places. You can't. They're for professionals. But that's what we are. We're professional podcasters,

Speaker 3 (33:07):
Believe it or not.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
We're there for you. And we're bringing home all of that relevant learning and innovation so that what's upping, you don't have to read boring newspapers. Instead, you get to listen to our awesome Voices report the news. So a win all around is what I call that

Speaker 1 (33:22):
The product of the week.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Alright, it's time for the product of the week. And Kristen, I believe it's your turn to kick things off with this

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Product. It's my turn. Yeah. I picked out a product for our kitty cats this time. It's called a Birthday per Present from Give Pet. And it's a treat. It's more than just a treat actually. It's a treat that gives back. So for all of our cat loving listeners, especially if you have a feline birthday coming up, these are single ingredient, a hundred percent freeze dried beef liver. Yum. They're specifically made for cat's birthdays. I'm not really sure how

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Specifically,

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Specifically, I mean other than the package that says birthday per present, but they deserve a special treat on their birthdays, no fillers, no junk, just pure quality protein. And what I really like about Give Pet is they give back. So for every bag that's purchased, give back or give Pet donates enough treats for at least 10 shelter pets. So it's not one for one, it's one for 10. You buy one, they give 10. That's really cool. And that's been their mission for 10 years, turning celebrations into support for animals in need. And actually most of their treat products are holiday themed or birthday themed.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
Yeah, I've seen them.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
Yeah, so they did a really great job with that. So next time it's your Katie's birthday, pick up the present of Beef Liver.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Amazing. That's a great recommendation.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Yeah. How about you, Chris? What's your product?

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Well, you inspired me last week with the whole flea and tick thing. And so I went down the rabbit hole as I begun preparing for a flea and tick themed episode down end in the summer here. And listen, I live in an apartment. I don't have to take care of a lawn, so I don't know anything about it. And I know there's these lawsuits about Roundup and stuff like that. So there's a lot of attention towards what we're spraying on our lawn. And I found this company called Wonder Side, and I don't if you've ever heard of Wonder Side. It is like a pesticide adjacent product. It is using some chemical active ingredients, but it is, and I quote, safe for residue is safe for beneficials is what they call them. So things like bees and butterflies, this is a spray you lay down on your yard that's supposed to kill specifically fleas and ticks.

(36:03):
Now, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes actually. So like the big three, I have no problem murdering those three kinds of things, but the bees and the butterflies, I do want to save. Now, I personally have not used this product. I have never had a yard. I've never had to take care of a yard, so I really don't know. But I found it incredibly interesting. I didn't know that you could treat your yard. I thought that my only option if I were a dog owner or outdoor cat owner is like the collars or the spot medicine on the back of the neck. I didn't even know that this was an option. So while I'm not throwing my entire support behind it, because I know a lot of these yard sprays have their benefits and their faults, I thought it was interesting that this is an option and I want to let the good people of the PAL universe know that this option exists out there.

(36:59):
Wonder Side also does make the collar and the sprays and the shampoos and stuff like that, so it's not like this is a one-off product. They make other types of things as well. But this spray is where I was like, that's different. That's product of the week material. So check 'em out, wonder side.com, Q and as. Alright, it's time for our favorite part of the episode. That's right. We're going to answer two questions from our emotionally intelligent audience. And I know what you're thinking. Audience, how do I get my question answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, it couldn't be easier. Head on over to pets at life.org/podcast. Scroll on down to the bottom of that page and you'll see a form to submit your question. Or if you're feeling as brave as a pet parent trying to get their cat in the carrier without gloves for a vet visit, then you can record a voice memo and your question may be played live on the air. And guess what, Kristen? What? Guess what? We have a voice memo to play. No,

Speaker 3 (38:04):
We

Speaker 2 (38:05):
Do.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Seriously,

Speaker 2 (38:05):
We got a question. It's like

Speaker 3 (38:08):
Our third one, I

Speaker 2 (38:08):
Think.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
Second or third, yeah. Oh, cool,

Speaker 2 (38:10):
Cool. We are blaming it on Ron inbox. Ron Inbox is about as sloppy as a 13-year-old boy's room. So some voicemails may have been lost in translation, but we got one for this episode. So let's listen in. Play the tape run.

Speaker 6 (38:26):
Hi Chris. Hi Christine. My question is how can I tell the difference between something that's truly an emergency and something that can wait until my regular vet opens?

Speaker 2 (38:37):
That excellent question comes from Natalie from Columbus. Thank you. Thank you Natalie, for letting your voice be heard. And who's this? Christine? This is

Speaker 3 (38:46):
Christine. This one's for you. I don't know who Christine is.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Well, I'm going to need your help on this. I think we'll go ahead and tag team it for an honor of a voicemail. And we've had some vets on the show recently that kind of goes over some of this advice. And if you have, I would say, I'll answer the cat side, how about that? And you answer the dog side. So if you have a cat, cats are really good at masking illness. So from personal experience and what I've heard from experts, what you're really looking for is slight changes in behavior. Do they have a favorite spot that they're not going to anymore? Especially if it's like an elevated spot that might take more energy to get up to. Has their appetite reduced? Are they using the box less frequently or missing the box or not using the box properly, even if it's just a one-off one or two times and you're like, oh, accidents happen. Not with cats. That's usually something wrong. They're so good at masking their behavior. And I would say with a cat, the second something is out of routine, it may not be an emergency, but that's a call to the vet. At least tell them what's going on and they'll tell you whether or not it's an emergency.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
Yeah, for sure. Very similarly with dogs, if there are routine changes, personality changes, eating changes, and if there is blood diarrhea or vomit involved, it's an emergency,

Speaker 2 (40:13):
I would say. Yeah, the stuff that should be inside is outside,

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Right? And I mean always err on the side of caution. You can call your vet and run the situation by them and they're not going to charge you to tell you whether or not it's probably okay or that you should come in. So

Speaker 2 (40:33):
That's what I would say. I've got an additional thing that I recommend. Get the number for your local emergency vet. I'm really lucky I live next door to mine, but there were multiple times where I called the emergency vet first because I knew that the person picking up the phone, their specialty is like immediate triage. A vet is picking up the phone at the emergency vet where at your vet office it might be the receptionist and nobody may be available because they're all in appointments. And they would tell me, you can make an appointment. Like, that's okay. Make an appointment with your regular vet, or you should bring the cat in right now. Just get in the car, come right now. And they did that multiple times and they were always right. So that's just know where your emergency vet is and have that number in your phone as well.

Speaker 3 (41:23):
Okay. Chris, I have a question for you. This one's from David in Tampa where I'm from. Hey David. He says, there's so much debate online about vaccines causing long-term health problems. How can I make informed decisions about my pet's vaccination schedule without putting them at risk?

Speaker 2 (41:43):
This is a great question, and as everybody knows, I spent a long time in college studying economics, so I'm going to use a lifeline here. I'm going to use a phone, a friend, I'm going to use a phone, a friend, and I'm going to call back in our good friend Dr. Hammond, who we had on the podcast to answer this question. Welcome back, Dr. Hammond, the Honest Vet. You heard David's questions about making informed decisions about their pet's vaccination schedule. So what are your thoughts?

Speaker 7 (42:16):
Well, thanks for having me, Chris. This is such a passionate topic of mine. So honestly, my best tip to you as the pet parent would be to talk to your veterinarian. And I know some people might think that veterinarians are biased sources, but we really do have all of the latest data and information that we can show you to help you guide your decision. And we are not just going to willy-nilly vaccinate your pet, I promise. Any vaccines that we recommend for your pet based on their specific lifestyle and their age, we will recommend or we will show you why we recommend that, right? We'll talk to you about each specific vaccine. We're not just throwing vaccines at pets to make money like the internet might claim. We just truly want to protect your pets so they can live their longest, healthiest life possible. So if you have any reservations about vaccines, that is 100% valid, but please bring them up to your veterinarian so they can help you navigate that comfortably.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
Thank you, Dr. Hammond and Chris. I'm so glad you phoned a friend on that one because I shudder to think what you might've said that've

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Been bad advice,

Speaker 3 (43:20):
But

Speaker 2 (43:21):
I could answer some questions. But medical advice, not my forte. There's no letters before my name. There's no letters after. I'm just Chris. I've got a microphone, a dad hat, and a pair of fancy headphones. So whatever that gets me.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
Thank you, Dr. Hammond.

Speaker 7 (43:39):
You're welcome.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
And that's the end of our episode. Eagle Eyed viewers may have noticed me blinking in Morse code throughout the episode. Decode the message, send it to your local pets ad life advocate and receive your decoding ring. Use the decoding ring to unlock bonus content on the internet. This is all true. This is all actually happening, and you could only decode these messages by watching us on video. Wow, we're plugging video. There you go. I was wondering where you were going. Wondering where I'm going with it? On video, on YouTube and dog TV Unleashed, we have these beautiful, what are these, around 4K cameras. I look gorgeous. I'm looking gorgeous. Kristen's looking gorgeous. So come view us in video every single Tuesday. Or if you're a driver, keep listening to us, share the show with your friends. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
And here's my practical tale and tidbit for the week. This is a way that you can decode your dog or cat's fear of going to see the veterinarian. Simply go to the Fear Free website, which is fear free.com. Click on Pet Parents, and you can type in your zip code and search for a fear free sort of pride sort of practice near you and change your dog's fear into joy when they start going to the Vet

Speaker 1 (44:57):
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 pets Ad life with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonti, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
Guess what, suckers, we got a special episode for you. Big round of applause for all the winter. Kidding.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Congratulations, Scott. We are going to show you some of our best, funniest, smartest, greatest guests. Oh, sorry, Chris. Me. You go

Speaker 2 (45:37):
Ahead. You're getting right to what

Speaker 1 (45:39):
I was.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
I'm so excited. I know, I know. I know.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionals.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
Yeah. Go to the vet. Don't ask us.

Speaker 6 (45:53):
Oh, this is our dog shaped cat birdie.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Wow. Is Chris as handsome as he sounds? Oh my gosh. It's

Speaker 1 (46:14):
The product of the week

Speaker 3 (46:15):
Because we're having so much fun together. Hopefully some bloopers, I don't know, big bloopers might be in there.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
Bloopers. We don't make mistakes we don't make. There's going to be no bloopers. If you encounter a snake, don't be a crisp. Just walk the other way. Don't be a crisp. Why risky people with big feelings and dogs with big feelings. I think you get applied words to so many situations that I've seen

Speaker 6 (46:45):
To allow your dog to just kind of think that you're a bit more fun than you are boring

Speaker 3 (46:50):
At tail end. Yes.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
You and

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Kate,

Speaker 3 (46:57):
He says sometimes he wants to be a puppy again.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
Don't we all?

Speaker 3 (47:00):
He was always he.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Next time she comes on the show, she's going to be like, yeah. So I was training Dragons in Trainer.

Speaker 6 (47:15):
You never know what I, you never

Speaker 2 (47:17):
Know. You really don't.

Speaker 6 (47:18):
Lemme tell you, my life is full surprises. I wouldn't be

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Surprised.

Speaker 4 (47:22):
Kristen

Speaker 1 (47:22):
And Chris, present story time.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Your step count must have been ridiculous. I'm over here. There's some days where I rack up work from home days and I'm racking up 45 steps. So I don't think I'm any further away than we already have the giggles. I'm sure that the energy's un h Yeah, the energy's un off the charts. I'm going to be an old man doing pets ad life. So prepare self, but

Speaker 6 (47:51):
Chef's kiss,

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Listen to pet's ad life with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonti every Tuesday, wherever you get your podcasts.