112. Canine Fitness, Senior Pet Benefits & The Future of Pet-Inclusive Living

Disclaimer: Our podcast is produced as an audio resource. Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and human editing and may contain errors. Before republishing quotes, we ask that you reference the audio.

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Ad Life. I am one of your co-hosts, Chris Bonti, and joining me as always is the April shower to bring the May flowers. It's Kristen Levine. Kristen, how are we doing today?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Oh, we're doing great. We're doing great. How was your Easter?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
It was good. I always spend it with family and this economy rack of lamb wasn't quite happening. So I guess we settled for the Hardboiled eggs.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Right? Right. Where'd those look

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Like? How about yourself?

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Oh, same thing, just family. Quiet weekend. We didn't adopt a bunny or baby chicks didn't adopt. Adopt a bunny. That's good. None of that. None of that. I

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Feel like quiet weekends are rarefied these days. What is a quiet weekend?

Speaker 3 (01:05):
And you don't appreciate quiet weekends until you're after 30, I think. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah. I was just negotiating with my wife for another hour of free time this weekend for another hour of free time if we could leave this thing early to go somewhere else. And I was like, what if we just went home after?

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
But hey, if you've got an hour of free time or 48 minutes specifically, you're in the right place because we're going to be bringing you two stories, two guests, two products, and at the very end of this episode, we're going to answer two of your questions. So if you're a first time pal, welcome. If you're a loyal pal, we love you. And if you're somewhere in between, welcome.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Stay with us.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
We're going to hop into our stories.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Kristen and Chris, present story time.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
All right, Kristen, story time. You want to go ahead and love story? Kick us off. Love

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Kick

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Us off. Everybody loves story time.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yeah, yeah. I've got kind of a spring themed story time. This is April is National Canine Fitness Month.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
You

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Always

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Know the month.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
I know, I know. I got to tell you, you're

Speaker 2 (02:19):
On top of the month.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
My secret is I discovered Reader's Digest does a really great job of outlining all of the awareness months, special days. It's also adopted Greyhound month. But I thought National Canine Fitness Month was a better story because everybody has a dog. They can get involved, and this has actually been going on for over 10 years, so it's like a legit pet holiday. And the whole point, of course, we talk a lot about obesity and pets and how that leads to diseases like diabetes, arthritis, heart issues, and the importance of mental and physical health for our pets and keeping them from getting bored, reducing their anxiety. And so the whole idea behind Canine Fitness Month is to recognize that walks are great, daily walks are great, and those are good for cardio, but we can actually do more to strengthen our dog's muscles. They're cognitive problem solving skills and all of that just helps 'em stay healthier, happier, and live longer. So again, the daily strolls are important, but if you just add five minutes a day, that's all it takes. And incorporate a different activity. It could be hiking, it could be swimming if your dog likes to swim. It could be brain games using those puzzle toys or even agility exercises to build balance and strength. And agility is not just for athletic dogs, it's for any dog.

(03:48):
And I haven't tried it with Tulip yet, but Chili, chili, loved agility. We went to some amateur agility classes and he really enjoyed them. And obviously all this different activity also builds a bond with you and your dog. So I would just say consider adding those five minutes a day to your routine or just maybe start out with three times a week and incorporate something, a new activity for your dog to build their strength or their brain. And it's not just for senior dogs either. This could be for your puppy, your adolescent dog, or your senior dog.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
It could be good for you too.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, yeah, I mean, when we get our pets moving, we are moving ourselves. So

Speaker 2 (04:35):
If you're a couch potato like me, and at this point I'm like a sprouted couch potato, I'm growing roots, it could be a good idea to participate.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Pun

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Master.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
What's the name of the month? One more time? I always forget once you

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Say it disappears. National Canine Fitness Month.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Okay. I was going to say National Pet Fitness Month, which I suppose

Speaker 3 (04:58):
It could be. It could be. It certainly could be. Yeah. Take your cat for a hike on a leash. What's your story, Chris?

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yeah, I've got a poll. You know how we like to talk about stats on this show and University of Michigan Go Wolverines. They did the National Poll on Healthy Aging in that poll. It's a very large one they do every year, but they had a very specific section on animal companionship. And I'd like to share some of the findings. 83% of pet owners age 50 and older feel their animals, give them a sense of purpose. That is a notable jump from 2018 when they did this poll last where 73% reported the same. So that's a 10% jump there. 70% said their pets helped them stay connected with other people, which I think is really amazing. But the downside is among seniors who don't have pets, one third cited high costs as the main reason. So I think a lot of people who are older, or I like to say retired age at retired age, I think is when people kind of get that idea of do I get a pet? And I would say, based on this study, it can be really good for your mental and physical health. Kristen just talked about getting out with your dog. If you've got that extra free timing, you're not sitting behind your desk anymore. It could be a great way to spend retirement. But from a personal note, my parents ended up getting a dog right before retiring, and it transformed their entire retirement. Did

Speaker 3 (06:49):
It really? In

Speaker 2 (06:51):
A good way, right? In a very good way. They wanted to retire and stay put to deciding to move and moving to a new lake town. And they got a boat and the dog was coming to the lake and all that kind of stuff. And I had never seen them happier. So that's just a little, I mean, maybe when I was born, but I don't remember what, I'm going to go ahead and give myself credit that I was a more valuable addition to.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Let's get your parents on the phone. Let's

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Find out. Yeah, let's get Artie Bonty on the phone and ask him. But if you are of that age and you've been considering getting a pet, think about it. Consider this your sign to think about it. I will never push people into pet ownership, but if you've been looking for a sign, consider this your sign.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
I love it. And particularly for retired folks who are single, having a pet can really combat loneliness. And you don't have to adopt a puppy. You can adopt a five, 6-year-old dog cat

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
It's my pleasure to introduce Luis Zamora, the co-founder of Pets Vivo, a platform focused on powering what he calls the pet inclusive economy, helping housing communities, hotels, and travel destinations better serve the growing number of pet parents. With pet ownership influencing where people live, travel and spend money, Luis and his team are working to shift the conversation from simply pet friendly to truly pet inclusive, where pets are treated as part of the family rather than an afterthought. Through pets vivo, he works with property operators and hospitality brands to design better experiences for traveling pet families from smarter policies to services and amenities that genuinely support life with pets. Luis, thank you so much for hopping on the podcast today.

Speaker 4 (08:47):
Welcome. Thanks guys. And what an introduction. Wow. Happy to

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Be here. Well, you deserve it. You deserve it.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
You did all that.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, you did all that. That's true.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
By talking about the terms pet friendly and pet inclusive, but you've said those are two very different things. So what does true pet inclusive travel actually look like to you?

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Totally, totally. And let's take this back a little bit and how we got here. So I'm a dog dad. I have two dogs, 180 pound German Shepherd and 1 45 pound pit bull. When people hear of those dogs and those dog breeds, there's a little bit of pushback. There's some connotations of aggression or anxiousness or high energy. And so I found it extremely difficult to one, find a place to live with My two literal sons. I treat them like family. They're basically people. They provide so much joy in my life. And then also, I'm 29, I travel a bunch. I love going hiking. I love going to new cities. I love everything about it. And finding a hotel, that was one, accept pets, two, accept my type of pets. And then three, also feel welcomed was a big, big challenge. And so that's how we created this platform.

(10:06):
That's why we are here to help these properties, one, feel comfortable accepting pets, make sure that they have everything in place to be protected, but then also to attract pet parents because the demand is huge. Last year, for example, 25 million pet parents traveled with their pets in the United States. It's a massive number, and now up to 72%, depending on what number you're looking at of households have pets. And so this is a massive, massive industry. And right now, only less than 10% of housing providers in the multifamily industry except all kinds of dogs and all breeds and weight. So most people are going to be excluded from that, that have bigger dogs or maybe dogs that fall into one of those categories. And that's why we're truly here. So to get to your question about what's the difference between pet friendly and pet inclusive, pet friendly broadly speaking means they accept some pets, some cats, some dogs, maybe they accept dogs, but not cats. That's what pet friendly is. Pet inclusive. And what we're trying to push for is they accept all types of dogs, all types of cats. There's no restrictions, and maybe they even have some amenities and benefits to truly make their home or their hotel welcoming to pets.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
And along those lines, what is the response you get when you talk to these hotels? Are they coming to you? Are you going to them? Do they understand the market opportunity?

Speaker 4 (11:39):
You know what? I hope no one from the hotel or housing industry is watching this. They are very set in their ways. You have certain individuals that come out and they see the opportunity of lifting restrictions of marketing to pet parents. But when you have so many issues and you have ingrained processes, these are multi-trillion dollar industries, both of them across the world, they don't accept change. Well, and so 10, 15 years ago, most properties, most hotels weren't even accepting of pets. So we're slowly pushing this narrative that like, Hey, you can start accepting pets. Here are the things to help protect yourself. And then also, hey, this is a huge market opportunity for you. After that conversation, they're opening up the idea. They're like, okay, I get it. And then actually going live and seeing the real use cases of using our products, using our services, and seeing the benefit that their guests or their residents feel, they want to stay longer. They want to spend more money with you, they feel at home. It's a no brainer, and they tell everyone. So we're getting a lot of inbounds from referrals.

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Well, that's

Speaker 2 (12:56):
Great.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
That's good news. That is really good news, especially Chris. I know you're the next question, but my experience is friendly with my dogs, has always been very friendly, tolerant, not accepting or not pet tolerant, but from what I read about all the travel trends, pet parents are really looking for experiential opportunities when they travel for their pets. So there's this big gap there.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
Of course. Of course. And think about the difference in the experience or the moment when you go to a coffee shop or you go to a hotel and the front desk person or the barista is like, oh, what's your dog's name? Here's a little treat, right? You remember that moment, you feel welcome. Do you want to go back there? So I think just creating these experiences and moments, it doesn't take a lot to truly feel that warmth and make an impact in that person and build loyalty, brand loyalty by just being welcoming and not tolerant. Right? I think all of you guys have traveled with your pets. I'm sure a lot of people listening have traveled with their pets. They get there. They're like, oh, you have a dog. You have to sign this waiver. You can't leave All of these things. They run through the rules and restrictions, right? Then when you're trying to make a really great first impression with this new guest or new resident, this is a lasting impact. And you're going off and making them sign a waiver and just feel like a burden, not a great experience, and you're not going to drive loyalty with that customer. So we really go in and we say there's little things that you can be doing to really build brand loyalty, and it's not a huge lift, and it really makes an impact with the pet parent to just feel welcomed and not feel tolerated.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah, that's a great point. And I wanted to ask about some of the changes that you're pushing for maybe specifically with hotels. That's largely been where I get the most

Speaker 4 (14:59):
Stress

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Is trying to find the right hotel. When you have these conversations, what do you feel like is sticking the most? What are hotels most likely to change, and then where are you getting the most resistance?

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Right. I think the big one is having the check-in digital beforehand. Like I said, I think the current process of getting there, telling them you have a pet, telling them that you have to pay a pet fee now or sign a waiver, all of this should really be communicated during the booking process. We have the technology to implement this all beforehand. And so get that liability waiver stuff out of the way so that as soon as the guest shows up, you have a treat for their dog. You have maybe a bed or like a leash for them or different services or a menu for their dog, and really create an instant impact and build that loyalty. And then on the other side, there's really unique insurance. I don't want to get too business jargon, but really unique insurances for hotels and for housing properties now that protect the property, don't tap into their overall liability coverage and aren't that expensive.

(16:15):
And it just allows you to be way more welcoming, allows you peace of mind on both sides to creating a really good environment where you're not scared of anything or damage or liability or something like that. And we now provide those. And so properties feel way more safe and welcoming and offer more services. And then the third thing is just partnering with pet service providers in the area. A lot of these hotels feel as if they, or these housing providers and hotels feel like they need to do everything themselves, have pet events, have dog walkers on staff, have pet concierge. There are so many local service providers that want access to those customers, to those pet parents. And if you just have a platform to partner with them, you're going to make more money. They're going to make money, and you're going to offer more services to the pet parents. So they truly feel an amazing experience when they're in your property.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, yeah. That's a great point. The partnerships are important.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
What

Speaker 3 (17:17):
About technology? What role can technology play in making things more inclusive as opposed to welcoming or pet tolerant?

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, I think the first thing is just adding visibility to properties that are doing the right thing and already taking steps to make their property pet friendly or pet inclusive. I think right now it's difficult for pet parents, especially ones like myself that maybe have the restricted breeds or stuff like that that aren't welcomed at certain spots, finding places that they are welcomed, and then planning trips around those so that you can have a great experience while traveling with your pet. So we've built a database so that pet parents can find all of these amazing properties. The next thing would be as travel with pets increases and the velocity increases.

(18:09):
Hotels, housing providers, even transportation providers, they need more information and more data and more insurances to offer these services. And I think technology in this specific space can be huge. There needs to be one centralized place or record or health records so that it's easy to share, it's easy for you to travel, it's easy to share this information with these providers instead of, oh, having to go find your vaccination records in your email, or, oh, have to sending it to seven different, my Uber driver, my hotel, the flight Delta or whatever. Having all of that centralized and allowing you to just easily share that, I think technology can play a major role in that. And I think we're getting there slowly. It's really the businesses that are having a hard time adapting using software and technologies that have been in place for 40 plus years and getting those, sorry, business jargon, but like API integration so that you can easily get that information in there is not the easiest. So we really need those businesses established players, like I said, deltas, the Marriotts, the big ones to modernize their technology so that sharing this data is easier for pet parents and then we'll see this kind of transaction, this data transaction open up and pet parents will be more easily welcomed in these spaces.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Yeah. You said API integrations and you just triggered me. I did that for my day

Speaker 4 (19:47):
Job

Speaker 2 (19:47):
And it's They're the

Speaker 4 (19:48):
One they, I'm sorry guys. I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wanted

Speaker 2 (19:53):
Ask because we are coming up on time, but I want some advice from you for all of our pet parents who may be planning some amazing spring break travel here. As an expert yourself traveling with two larger dog breeds, what advice would you give a pet parent looking to travel this spring or summer with their pets?

Speaker 4 (20:15):
Yeah, definitely. So the first one would be checkout Pet Compass by Pets Vivo. All of our partner hotels and housing providers are there, and you can easily see which hotels and housing providers welcome your pet. The next would be try and travel to boutique hotels or the smaller groups. They are way better right now at making pets feel welcomed in their space. And who doesn't love supporting a little mom and pop shop or a family run business and stuff like that outside of these national parks? That's personally my favorite to go to. I love hiking. I love being in nature. And so if that aligns with you, go find those boutique properties. They usually do an amazing job at making your pet feel welcome On the technology side, they're still catching up, but if you do go refer Pets Vivo so we can help them grow their pet parent technology and their services so that they can just be more visible.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
Excellent. Well, you're doing great work for pets and our people out there. Louise, thank you so much for joining us today. And yeah, I'm going to check out Pet Compass for our next trip for sure.

Speaker 4 (21:29):
Amazing. Amazing. Thank you guys so much for having me. This has been a pleasure. I love talking about what we do and it's easy because I just love dogs and I love cats, and I love,

Speaker 2 (21:40):
We could tell you've been smiling, you're in the right place, you're smiling this whole time. So I'm going to assume you like what you do.

Speaker 4 (21:46):
Yes, I do. I do. It doesn't feel like work there good.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
Even when you're doing those API integrations.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Oh, okay. Well maybe at that point, and thankfully my co-founder handles that process, I can just be here on podcasts talking about the amazing, fun stuff we do. Exactly.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Every jobs needs his wozniak.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
Yes, true. Exactly. Exactly. We make a good team. We make a really good team.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Fantastic. All right. Great to meet you, Luis.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yeah, thanks guys. I really appreciate it. And maybe I can see you guys at one of the pet events in the future.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
That'd be great.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
Awesome.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
What a nice guy.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
He's awesome.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
He's

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Not what expected. I think

Speaker 2 (22:31):
The platform is really, really, really useful. I have had a lot of problems trying to get my parents places with their dog,

Speaker 4 (22:43):
Who

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Is the sweetest little girl, although she's not little. She's 40, 50 pounds. And it's tough because there's a lot of hotels where it's like you go on Google and it'll say pet friendly. And what they mean is if your dog's under 15 pounds,

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Right.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
And I think this is a great tool to help people plan some travel over the summer.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yeah. Luis is doing some great work. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Angela Lennox. She is a veterinarian specializing in avian and exotic animal medicine and nationally a recognized leader in advancing care for non-traditional pets. She's a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in avian practice and practices at the Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic of Indianapolis, and that's where she treats birds, reptiles, small mammals, and other exotic pets. Welcome Dr. Lenox. Thank

Speaker 5 (23:34):
You. It's

Speaker 3 (23:35):
You for joining us.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
Absolutely

Speaker 3 (23:37):
Fantastic. Exotic and non-traditional pets are becoming more and more popular. So what is driving this shift and what species are you seeing most these days?

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Two very good questions. And some of it may be novelty, and I'm not sure. I mean, you have to ask all these owners, why do you not want a dog and a cat? Which to be honest, dogs and cats have the best pet qualities overall, but these exotic pets are a little bit different and they can come very close and be absolutely phenomenal pets. Yes. So we see, and it's interesting through the years, you'd see fishes, there's more fish, and then here comes the bunnies and now the group that unless the stats have changed, it's the reptiles that are actually increasing.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
Interesting.

Speaker 5 (24:23):
So there's probably a lot of reasons why people want to get into those kinds of pets.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
And let's talk about when we say exotics are rabbits in that category and

Speaker 5 (24:33):
Gerbil,

Speaker 3 (24:34):
Hamsters, puck. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (24:35):
You hit upon a really good subject. There is no good name for pets that are not a dog, cat horse. There's no name. We don't have a name for them. So somebody says, how is a rabbit exotic? Exotic rabbits have been pets forever. There's nothing exotic about that. And actually our specialty really struggled for years to come up for an actual name for this group of pets because you can't fit all that on the car, not a nada. And exotics is what kind of came up, even though some are kind of exotic when somebody brings up Kinka Jew or something like that. But a rabbit and a Guinea pig. Interestingly enough, in Europe they have the same problem and their solution was to call them small mammals. But some of my bunnies are bigger than some of their dots,

Speaker 3 (25:20):
So there's no good tarp. I came from the shelter background and we used to call them pocket pets,

Speaker 5 (25:26):
But they don't go in your

Speaker 3 (25:27):
Pocket. Rabbits don't fit in your pocket. So I

Speaker 5 (25:29):
Don't pay for either. Don't have a good payment. If there's somebody out there that has the perfect term, yeah, maybe they would adopt it right now. That's what we got.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
So a lot of pet parents don't realize how different exotic pet care can be different from dogs and cats. So what are the biggest misconceptions that you see people have either after they've acquired these pets and then they come to realize, whoops, I didn't know this. Well,

Speaker 5 (25:55):
I think it all leads to the foundational problem of not doing your research ahead of time. And if you're super surprised at how something has turned out, you probably didn't do your research. So if you're thinking about a non-traditional let, we could say non-traditional, maybe that's even a better name. I dunno, pet, there's so many good resources to find out. And then visit people that have them and do the research that you can. At my practice, we offer a no charge pre-purchase consults. Well, we'll get on the phone with you and or video conference and we'll go over everything. And in the end, hopefully you've made the decision, this is what I want to add to my family, or maybe not. And sometimes that's just as successful. I wish more people would take us up on it. Most of the time we meet them and see away for that. Right? So then we do all this catch up to try to figure out what's going on and to try to correct any problems and then correct problems for the future because we don't want these pets to be home so quickly. That's

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Not good for anyone. No, definitely not. How important is it for one to seek out an exotic specialist or avian specialist when they have one of these pets? Let's say there's not a specialist in their area.

Speaker 5 (27:11):
That's a tough one. And the result of part of that is some of these more difficult surgeries On my surgery day, 50% are coming from out of state or even sometimes from Canada because there's not a lot of people. However, I do think part of the do I want this pet, the equation is do I have someone that will treat it? And you may have to go and find what level of care can you provide for my pet? And if we need more, do we have a referral place? And I wish I knew had a feeling if more people are entering in non-traditional medicine or it's stable, I'm not really a hundred percent sure, but we do need more.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
How many are there

Speaker 5 (27:53):
Of you? How

Speaker 3 (27:54):
Many of

Speaker 5 (27:54):
You

Speaker 3 (27:54):
Are there?

Speaker 5 (27:55):
How many of us are there? I have two specialties. One's for avian and one for exotic and candy mammals. Okay. And there's over a hundred avian and maybe close for the mammal too. It so embarrassing. I don't know. No, that's okay. When there was five of us, I knew. But each year, and I'm on a committee that helps design to look at the applications and go over the tests. So each year I hear, oh, we got another five to seminar sitting, or we've got another two or, wow, big class of 10, they're coming.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
And

Speaker 5 (28:26):
I hope that's going to really help.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
Do you ever consult with a general practice vet who is seeing an exotic pet on behalf of

Speaker 5 (28:36):
Absolutely. Because knowledge is not something we keep ourselves. So you're accessible

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Even though you might not be in their city or town.

Speaker 5 (28:41):
We can. Lots of people. I meet a lot of people, especially at conferences, and they know how to find you. And actually, I give out my email and I'm happy to answer questions. I recall as a practitioner, a couple of years out of school, a long time ago, there was nobody, there was nobody to help. And the feeling isn't great. And I got the same treatment when I went to call these colleagues. I mean, these rooms are full of my exact mentors and there were so gracious and I want to be gracious fashion and help. So sure, absolutely. Okay. So

Speaker 3 (29:15):
What are some of the early signs of an illness and an exotic pets that are commonly missed? Because I would imagine a lot of these pets hide symptoms pretty well.

Speaker 5 (29:23):
You hit it exactly because any of the prey species, rabbits and those sorts of things do hide their signs of illness because otherwise the predator picks them out to be eaten. And that doesn't help. I wish they wouldn't do that. It doesn't help us. So as a part of our wellness spiel when we meet people is to realize that we've also got so much video content on those sorts of things. But we have to be a detective. We sell scales. So you can just weigh your pet and track the weight, and we watch what food going in and out. You do have to watch more. I think our dog, at least my dog, she's not feeling well, she tells me right now. But someone's rabbit not necessarily will do that. And

Speaker 3 (30:03):
Then let's see. How does stress or environment and enrichment play a role in the health of exotic pets? Compare to dogs and cats? Is it equally as important, I would

Speaker 5 (30:13):
Imagine?

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Right.

Speaker 5 (30:15):
And some of our pets came from older laboratory situations where there was a minimalistic housing. So we understand you can keep 'em that way, but now in the lab animal, they're required to, most of 'em are required to do enrichment.

(30:31):
And so we're really big on that. Feeding and foraging toys, making sure we're rotating the toys, getting outside, getting exercise. All of that is just as important for these species birds. They need to, if we can get them to free fly, not outside, don't mean outside, but free fly in the home, in a safe environment, there's nothing better for cardiovascular health. So all of this is important. It's just was kind of a novel idea. Now somebody says, what about reptiles? Obviously they have no emotions. Recent paper on the emotions of tortoises. Oh goodness. Wow. What about this? I don't know. I think we're going to learn a lot and we're going to spend a lot of time in wrenching. And I think it's great for everybody. I think what's so fascinating about your area of

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Specialty in exotics and in avian animals is you have to understand the systems of so many different creatures as opposed to just dogs

Speaker 5 (31:26):
And cats. How in the world, well does that work? We are starting to specialize in veterinary medicine like the humans are. And when you meet a human orthopedic surgery, he really doesn't delve. He, she doesn't delve into a lot more. So I do feel that we know less about many more species, but we're quite good at extrapolating. And if we don't have that knowledge, we're going to use some common sense and try to pull things out of other medicine to make our way and canine feeling there's enough support. You don't maybe have to do that as much, and that makes you nervous. But it is also a neat new frontier. And every year there's more publications. With my residents, we take residents, we're two days a week in the morning for an hour and a half going over publications so that we can keep up on it and it's getting harder and harder. Good news, more publications, more evidence. Interesting. That's good to hear.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
So as we wrap up, can you share with our exotic pet owners one piece of advice to dramatically improve their pet's quality of life?

Speaker 5 (32:37):
No pressure.

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Just one.

Speaker 5 (32:39):
Okay. Okay. Okay, cool. Or two or three pet insurance companies will now insure exotics. Really not all of 'em. Okay. Not all of 'em. And we won't mention any of this, whatever, but do your research. And I find that my owners that are getting in the situation when we have an expensive healthcare thing, they're pulling out their insurance, it's like, oh, sure, no problem. And I'm able to offer far better care now that goes beyond nutrition and enrichment, but that's the one thing. It's just I now wish more people had the insurance policies. It gives 'em a little bit more flexibility to pay for that veterinary visit.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Interesting. Okay. Well thank you so much for joining us with your time today. We appreciate it, Dr. Lenox. No problem. And thanks for the great work that you do for pets. Oh, thank you.

Speaker 2 (33:29):
Kristen. If I got a chance to do life over again, I think being an avian and exotic veterinary expert would be right on up there. Such a cool job. So underappreciated too. It is. So many people focused on cats and dogs, but birds, snakes, reptiles, they all need help too.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Well, and that's why I asked her, how is it that you can be so smart that you know how to treat all these different species? That just blows my mind.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, you think dogs and cats, their anatomy largely the same, but the difference between a pet turtle and a pet iguana, fundamentally different, very different animals with different issues get so much information in that brain. I think we're going to have to have Dr. Lennox on another time to talk more about it.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Yeah, and that's what I love about being at VMX. You just get some of the most brilliant, interesting veterinarians and

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Yeah, absolutely. The

Speaker 1 (34:25):
Product of the week.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
Alright, it's time for the papa product of the week. There was a dramatic pause in that one. I swear my brain didn't

Speaker 3 (34:38):
Stop working. I thought you needed to be jumpstarted or something.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Maybe. Yeah, let's get the jumper cables. Let's get the car battery. And let's see what happens. I've got a fun little discovery here. Did you know that IKEA has pet furniture?

Speaker 3 (34:52):
No,

Speaker 2 (34:53):
They do. So I was looking around the IKEA site for other stuff, and because I do so much Googling of pet products, they were immediately pushing all this pet stuff on me. But they have this one thing that I found really interesting. And then we're going to play a little game. I'm not going to pronounce the name yet. We're going to go through some of my favorite names from their pet furniture line. But this is a cat scratching mat that is specifically made for the legs of wooden tables, which I think is really brilliant because they make all sorts of stuff for the fabric in your home. I've talked about covers that could go on your couch and the corners of your walls and other things. But I've never seen one specifically for the table legs. And I've seen plenty of pictures and I've been in plenty of homes where the table leg has been, especially if you have a softer wood, they've been torn to shreds by the cat. Being Ikea, it's not expensive. This is going to run you 10 bucks a pop. So to get a full set, we'll run at 40 bucks. But usually cats have one favorite leg that they tend to scratch up. True. So it's typically you really only need one. But I've also seen people put protection on an area that the cat likes, and then the cat moves on to greener

Speaker 3 (36:07):
Pastures. Exactly. To destroy something else.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
But they have all sorts of stuff. And that one was called, let's Give it a Whirl, the Sade scratching mat. Some other favorites in the line is the CX for the cat houses, the Ule, which is like their pet rugs that you could put down instead of beds. They're like little tiny. I think it's two by four feet lots in the Oad line. And now if you really, really want to get creative, when I search for pet, they brought up their doll furniture as well, and they advertise their doll beds as pet beds as well. So it's a little mini bed, a little mini Ikea bed, a little mini.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
Is it big enough for a cat?

Speaker 2 (37:08):
I think so. Big enough. Let's see what the dimensions are. Yeah, it's a few feet. Big enough for a cat or a small dog, A duck. Tig. I love Ikea. Nothing like Ikea. And while you're there, folks, get some meatballs. Get

Speaker 3 (37:24):
Some meatball. Absolutely yourself. Don't pass that out.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
You're worth it. You're worth the meatballs.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
That's a great find. Yeah, it's

Speaker 2 (37:31):
A lot of fun. Thank you Google for providing me with advertisements

Speaker 3 (37:35):
That are

Speaker 2 (37:36):
Relevant to my interests.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
Okay, well mine's a lot easier to pronounce.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
And I'm going for a thematic thing here today because we talked earlier about Canine Fitness Month. So I chose my product of the week is the Canine Fit Bone. This is a bone shaped, maybe you've seen it. It's a bone shaped balance platform for dogs and it's got little nubbies on it, so it's real easy for your dog to balance on it. And it comes with, I guess like a bicycle pump. So you blow it up and it helps your dog with their core stability, body toning. It's kind of like a bosu ball at the gym or a stability ball at the gym. Basically. It's the same thing but for dogs. But it's shaped like a bone. So it's super cute. And you can train your dog just to maybe put their front feet on it and then they have to balance. And as your dog gets better at that exercise, you can, let's see. Would you inflate it or deflate it to make it more difficult? I think you would deflate it, right? It'd be more squishy.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
I don't know. I feel like both present because if it's inflated, it's going to

Speaker 3 (38:44):
Cheat

Speaker 2 (38:44):
More. If

Speaker 3 (38:45):
It's deflated, it'll be stable. It's not going to move as much. You're right, you're right. Inflated is going to increase the difficulty. So anyway, it's for all dogs, all sizes, the pumps included, they come in all different cool colors. You can get 'em on Amazon, but you can also go to fit paws.com. I would go to the company website because they have a lot of tips and tricks to help you learn how to use the fit, fit bone canine fit bone with your dog. So check it out.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
Yeah, that's a great indoor activity.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
Oh

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah. Rainy days and things like that. Yeah, for sure. Especially these April showers

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Q and As.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
Alright, Kristen, you know what time it is.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
I do.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
It's time for us to answer some questions from our lovely audience. We're going to do two today as we do every day. And I know what you're thinking. Dear audience, how do I have my question answered by Chris and Kristen? Well going to be easier. Head on over to pets at life.org/podcast. It's down here somewhere. I think it'd be really funny if they don't do the graphic that one time. And you're going to scroll on down to the bottom of the page. You're going to see a form to submit your question. Or if you're feeling as brave as a young man traveling with a German Shepherd and a pit bull mix, you can record a voice memo and your question may be played live on our show. So without further ado, Kristen, I've got a great question for you that comes from Mark. Mark who is in Denver, Colorado. Thanks for your question, mark. He asks, my dog is terrified of loud noises like thunderstorms and fireworks and he starts shaking and hiding. Oh, poor guy. What are the best ways to help dogs cope with phobias like this?

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Yeah, great. Great question. And unfortunately something I have a lot of experience with a few dogs that we've had in the past. What your dog is experiencing, mark is called, we call it noise aversion or noise phobia. And it's more than just being a little scared of thunder. He's having a genuine fear response and his nervous system is kind of treating like that thunder clap like it's a predator. So he's terrified. So it's not something he will just get over or that you can kind of just train out of him, so to speak. So I'm going to tell you a few things that can help, but I'm going to end off with telling you to talk to your veterinarian and I'll explain a little bit more in a second. But one thing that's really commonly advised is to create a safe space for your dog so that when a thunderstorm is brewing, he can go there and feel comfortable.

(41:31):
And I always made my dog safe space in the place where he preferred to hide anyway, which was my closet. So put a comfy bed, blankets, whatever things that he likes in there, things that have your scent on them. You can even try a pressure wrap. Some dogs get relief from a pressure wrap, like a thunder shirt. And literally there are probably dozens and dozens of over the counter calming products that you can try. Everything from supplements to pheromones to things like the pressure wrap. And another thing too I want to mention is not, you don't want to coddle him when he's scared, but you also don't want to dismiss his fear. People used to think that you're rewarding this fear response by comforting your dog, and that's simply not true. You want to avoid matching his panic, though obviously you don't want to be as scared for him as he is as scared of the thunder because that can actually amplify his distress.

(42:31):
So I really think that you should talk to your veterinarian about medication because the way you describe his fear and trembling, he's kind of too far past this ability to simply desensitize him and do some behavior modification. And the reason I talk to youve about medication is because if your pet has some medication to calm them down, then you can start to work on behavior modification. It kind of brings that fear level down to a more normal response so that you can start to help him associate a storm with, oh, my favorite treats, I get my favorite treats when it thunders and that kind of thing. So my dog chili was on cieo. When it went thunderstorm. It worked beautifully and we were able to kind of train some of that fear away, although he always did remain rather fearful of storms. So talk to your vet, but also try some of those other things in the meantime and and certainly never punish 'em. I know you wouldn't do that anyway, mark. But you never want to punish a pet for them being fearful because they're truly having a panic response.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
Kristen, I've been waiting for Thunder Works to create a human-sized product for a while now.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
You know what? For April Fool's Day, they did that one year. They actually,

Speaker 2 (43:49):
That's not funny. They

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Should do it seriously. Well, they should, but they announced that they created a thunder shirt for humans and they had this guy wearing a thunder shirt. It was a joke. But you're right. I don't know why they don't.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
I don't need

Speaker 3 (44:01):
It. You need one. Need

Speaker 2 (44:02):
It for the thunder. I need it for API Integrations

Speaker 3 (44:08):
An API. Pressure wrap.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Alright, what

Speaker 3 (44:13):
Do you got for me this week? Okay, so I have a question for you. This one comes from Olivia in Portland, Oregon. She says, my indoor cat suddenly started scratching the furniture even though she has a scratching post. Why do cats change behaviors like this and how can I redirect her without punishing her?

Speaker 2 (44:30):
That's a great question and I want to key in on a keyword here, indoor cat, because it is very different behavior from a cat who is either outdoors or indoor outdoor. And the reason I say that is why do cats scratch, right? Is it because they hate us and they hate our furniture? Do they think that that chase is particularly ugly? Do they feel as though your kitchen table doesn't do the best to bring out the color of the paint? No. Believe it or not, cats are not interior designers. And the reason that they are scratching is really twofold from what I found first is their marking. This is their way of getting their scent and marking their territory. Really important for an indoor cat because most outdoor cats will do that outside. But the indoor cat, its kingdom is limited to what it can find indoors.

(45:20):
So that could be part of the behavior. The other is the way cats nails grow isn't like ours. Our nails, they sort of just push out and up and keep growing cats. It's more like an onion. It's an outer layer. And when they're scratching, they're starting to pull that outer layer off to make room for the fresh claws to grow the fresh nails, claws, whatever you want to call it. So cats are going to scratch. It's what they do. And I know you got that scratching post, but there's a couple things to know. Is the scratching post large enough that the cat can do a full satisfying stretch on it? Because what you need to do is create an opportunity that is higher value than the furniture. So if that scratching post isn't sturdy enough and actually pulling at the nails, and that may sound uncomfortable, but think of it as like when we crack our knuckles, that sense of relief we get from tension. It's like that same feeling for the cat. So if it's not sturdy enough, if they're not getting enough pole that's not good and it's got to be big enough that they could get that full cat back stretch in, it's going to be really satisfying for them.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
Yeah, we used to have a chair that we just ended up calling the cat's chair the

Speaker 2 (46:37):
Cat. It's just the cat

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Chair. So she's chair.

Speaker 2 (46:39):
It's just the cat's chair. So best of luck. And that folks, that brings us to the end of our show, this lovely spring edition of Pets Ad Life. We'll be back as always. Next Tuesday, catch us on YouTube, dog TV unleashed, wherever you get your podcast. Share it with a friend, follow us on social, do all that stuff. And I believe Kristen has a tail and tidbit.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
I do, I do. We talked to Luis about pet travel, and did you know that humans have actually been traveling with their dogs for at least 2,500 years? So pet travel is nothing new. According to asap, the ancient Greek storyteller, it was common. It was of common custom for people traveling by sea to bring small lap dogs along for the journey. The most prized dog at the time was the Meean. Never heard of that. A tiny lap dog that was traded across the Mediterranean from Egypt to Italy who enjoyed all the privileges of today's modern pet. Amazing. Well, maybe not all of them.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
That's amazing. I love it. Well, that's Kristen Levine. I'm Chris Bonafide joined as always, by ASAP the Fable Master. We will see you here next week.

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.