97. New Year Reflections, Animal Intelligence & The Healing Power of Dogs

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Speaker 1 (00:00):

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

Speaker 2 (00:15):

Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Ad Life, the only podcast where you get me. Chris Bonti and investigative reporter Kristen Levine. Kristen,

Speaker 3 (00:28):

Is that my new title?

Speaker 2 (00:29):

Yeah. You're an investigative reporter, right? Obviously.

Speaker 3 (00:33):

Sure,

Speaker 2 (00:34):

Sure. And this is also a show where we tell no lies.

Speaker 3 (00:38):

Oh, okay. Alright. Well

Speaker 2 (00:43):

I feel like fing because Santa Rock

Speaker 3 (00:45):

To a bad start.

Speaker 2 (00:45):

Santa already came and the week between Christmas and New Year's, Santa is too hungover to pay attention. So you could do whatever the heck you want until January 1st and you won't end up on the naughty

Speaker 3 (00:59):

List. Doesn't the naughty list doesn't start until the new year.

Speaker 2 (01:02):

Yeah. There's a grace period in between Christmas and New Year's where you can fib and call your co-host and investigative reporter in the show intro and not end up with calling your stalking.

Speaker 3 (01:17):

Okay, Chris.

Speaker 2 (01:18):

Well anyway, moving on. It's our New Year's Eve special. We've got the new year approaching quickly. We're dressed to the nines in our regular shirts. In our very regular shirts. Getting ready for New Year's. Kristen is playing an away game. Kristen, where are you this week?

Speaker 3 (01:38):

I'm, I am coming to you from Tampa, actually, Oldsmar Florida at the Holiday Inn Express. And fortunately I'm flying home today so I don't have to spend New Year's Eve here at the Holiday Inn,

Speaker 2 (01:52):

Which I could think of off the top of my head. Five worst places to be. You could be at the La Quinta in Orlando.

Speaker 3 (02:00):

Oh, that would be worse. That would be worse.

Speaker 2 (02:03):

No shape to LaQuinta.

Speaker 3 (02:04):

I already had my free breakfast this morning, including my unripe banana that they gave

Speaker 2 (02:09):

Me. Unripe banana.

Speaker 3 (02:11):

Every free breakfast comes with an unripe banana.

Speaker 2 (02:14):

Every free breakfast comes with an unripe banana. And every episode of PAL comes with two stories, two product recommendations, two excellent guests. And we're going to answer two of your questions at the end. Happy New Year all. Let's get right into it.

Speaker 1 (02:31):

Kristen and Chris, present story time.

Speaker 2 (02:35):

Alright, Kristen, it is story time. Would you like to go first this lovely week?

Speaker 3 (02:43):

Yeah, sure. I will go first. Mine is, it's kind of part story, part advice for the new year for investors. I've got some pet stock picks for 2026.

(02:57):

So pet healthcare costs have practically doubled over the past five years. That's not great news for us pet parents. And there's a lot of reasons for it, but it's potentially good news for investors. If you are an investor and you have not been dabbling in the pet industry, this might be time to do that. And I got this article from, what's it called? It's called Wall Street. No, 24 7 wall streete.com. And they say that some projections are estimating that pet healthcare is going to swell to 112 billion by 2030. And so as a result, some of these animal healthcare companies are looking at a really strong market climate heading into the new year. So if you are interested in some pet stocks, they listed the top five as follows, Zoetis. And that ticker symbol is ZTS. Zoetis is a dominant player in vet medications and vaccines.

(04:02):

The number two pick was idexx, that symbol is IDXX. They are a leader in diagnostics. So when your pet has lab work done, special tests, heartworm tests, that sort of thing, that's what IDEXX does. And then the third one was Elanco Animal Health. They also have several medications for pets on the market and they also serve livestock too. Two number four is Trupanion, which is pet insurance. And we've talked a lot about pet insurance here on the Powell podcast. So they're expecting, unfortunately that treatment costs will continue to rise, so pet health insurance is going to continue to become more of a consideration for pet parents. And then number five is one that I was not familiar with this company, it's called Pet Vivo Holdings. Apparently they're a veterinary biotech company creating some innovative medical devices and biomaterials for pets. So those are my five pet stock picks and I am not a certified qualified financial advisor in any way, shape or form. So take that advice with a grain of salt.

Speaker 2 (05:18):

Yeah, but we're telling fibs Kristen, you're Kristen Levine, investment queen.

Speaker 3 (05:22):

Investment queen. That's right. Okay. I'm okay. I'm liking where this show's going

Speaker 2 (05:26):

Now. Those are good. You're an investigative reporter. You play the stock market well, you're building generational wealth. Things are looking up for Kristen.

Speaker 3 (05:39):

Okay. So what kind of story do you have for us, Chris?

Speaker 2 (05:42):

I've got a fun one. I've got a fun one that I saw on NBC as I was perusing a yield internet to try and find something here. And I put the link in the notes here because there's a video and I'll read the headline because the headline is pretty good here. Video shows a wild wolf stealing fish in possible first use of a tool. So this is really interesting stuff. It's like a happenstance because there's this up in British Columbia, there was an indigenous government that had essentially done a different study on these invasive green crabs and had found that they were destroying habitats. So they set up all these traps to trap the crabs. And so they do that. They set up video cameras. It's a whole study, a whole thing completely unrelated to wolves. And this story, well, they go to recover the traps and they find that some of them had been torn up and pulled out of the water. So they're like, what the heck is this? They go back and they consult the cameras and they brought in some, of course more scientists who investigate this because it was so interesting. And it ends up on video, a female wolf diving into the water to grab a fishing float, carry it to the beach, tug on the attack trope until the trap surfaced and then tore it apart to eat the fish inside.

Speaker 3 (07:13):

Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (07:14):

The studies authors quoted as saying, this sequence appears to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the multi-step connection between the floating buoy and the bait within the out of sight trapp. And this is incredible behavior for wild animals. So domestic dogs that we have, they use tools. I mean, you've seen the videos of dogs opening the refrigerator or service dogs who do all sorts of tasks for their owners, but for this behavior to appear in the wild without human intervention, without a human to explain the step-by-step process is a really big step forward for biodiversity in this species. So I just thought it was really cool. There is literally a video of the wolf fishing definitely worth checking out.

Speaker 3 (08:08):

Can we drop that in the show notes? I'd like to

Speaker 2 (08:10):

Share that. Yeah. I already got the link in our little spreadsheet, so it's up to those with greater power than I for I only yell into Mike. I do not post, I do not write captions. I do not know how the TikTok works. I dunno how the TikTok works. Actually, someone sent me a TikTok the other day, one of my friends, and she was like, I think you'd like this. And I don't have TikTok and you can't open it on your phone without TikTok. So I had to go down to my wife, I'm a 78-year-old grandfather and be like, can you play this TikTok on your phone for me? I'd like to see the TikTok, please.

Speaker 3 (08:54):

Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (08:55):

And that's, it's hilarious. That's story time.

Speaker 3 (08:58):

Now, are we supposed to guess if that was a true or false story since apparently

Speaker 2 (09:02):

Lying? Yeah, get in the comments. Was Chris lying? Was NBC news lying? Is it fake news? Are they working with alternative facts? Yeah. Oh man. Oh boy.

Speaker 3 (09:13):

Okay. That's a different show. Oh, right. So yeah, great story. And it just makes me wonder, was the wolf, did they see the buoy first and think, oh look, there's a toy. And then when she dragged it in jackpot, right?

Speaker 2 (09:30):

Yeah. Or they observed humans pulling out this thing that had a bunch of fish in it and they wanted the fish knows

Speaker 3 (09:36):

That's more likely.

Speaker 2 (09:37):

Yeah, it's really, really, really cool stuff. Alright, let's head into our next segment. I think that's a segue

Speaker 1 (09:48):

Beyond

Speaker 2 (09:49):

The leash, exploring the untold stories of pet

Speaker 1 (09:52):

Passion and

Speaker 2 (09:52):

Professionalism. Joining us now is Amy Gilbert, the president of PetSmart Charities, one of the largest funders of animal welfare in North America. Since stepping into the role in 2020, she has led the organization's mission to keep pets and people together by expanding access to veterinary care, strengthening community-based programs, and supporting families in crisis. Before joining PetSmart Charities, Amy served as the founding executive director of the Mickelson Found Animals Foundation, where she helped build innovative programs such as micro shipping initiatives, adoption programs, and the first ever pet related startup accelerator. Emmy brings deep expertise in, and these are in bold in the intro, so they're important strategic philanthropy, cross-sector partnerships, systems innovation and humane community development, bridging the worlds of animal welfare, human services, and public health. Amy, thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy schedule to join us today.

Speaker 4 (10:52):

I am thrilled to be with you and oh my goodness, it's hard to listen to yourself be introduced.

Speaker 2 (10:58):

Yeah, that's why we do it. For you to put you on the spot. It makes you feel a little off kilter. You're like, wow, I did all that. I forgot. Why are we here again? We'll start with your role as president of PetSmart Charities. How would you describe your mission in your elevator pitch? One sentence for people who might not be familiar with PetSmart Charities.

Speaker 4 (11:21):

Sure. Well, the very short version is what we're here to do at PetSmart Charities is make the world a better place for pets and the people who love them. It's important that they go together and as a grant making organization, the way that we do that is by investing in community organizations all over North America who do the work on the ground. That's the short version of why we're here and what we do.

Speaker 2 (11:44):

And you actually kept it short. Yes, she did. Yeah. Podcast first.

Speaker 3 (11:49):

Right. So Amy, I actually started my career in animal welfare many, many moons ago, and it's changed so much. And I know that as you just mentioned, you champion this idea that we have to support both the pets and their people. And why is that holistic approach so essential for modern day animal welfare?

Speaker 4 (12:10):

Well, I think that a daunting recognition that has happened certainly since I entered the field in 2008 and has been accelerated during the pandemic, is that we cannot think about the issues that impact pets in isolation from the impact on their families. People love their pets, people want to do right by their pets. And so when there is an issue, it's largely because the humans are struggling. So we can't help the pets unless we help them through humans in whatever way. And that's why we have such a focus on this. Holistic pets are an integral part of the family and they need to be an integral part of health and human services programs because animal welfare as a field is not big enough and does not have the resources to address all of these issues alone.

Speaker 2 (12:56):

Yeah, absolutely. This idea of bigger and better together is kind of what makes these charities tick and you've actually become one of the largest funders of veterinary access initiatives. So what are some of those innovations that you're most excited about in expanding affordable pet care to be nationwide?

Speaker 4 (13:21):

This is a really great question, and for a long time, even before I sat in this chair in this role, I have thought that the veterinary industry was ripe or due for some innovation. I'll say innovation instead of disruption. Veterinary care is one of the most expensive, one of the biggest costs of owning a pet, and it probably should be because keeping your pet healthy is an investment that you want to be able to make. What I would say though is if you look at the veterinary care market compared to some other markets, let's choose airlines. And I choose that parallel because you can't fly a plane without a highly trained professional, a pilot, just like you cannot deliver veterinary care without a highly trained professional, a veterinarian. There are lots of airline models that deliver service at various price points. If you want to be a dedicated Delta customer and pay for that privilege, you can.

(14:15):

If you want to fly Spirit or Frontier or Southwest and have a different price point for a different value equation, you can do that in veterinary care. What we've seen is that there are far more options in the high end of the market and not very many options for folks who are operating on a budget. And so that's one of the things we advocate for is that we need care delivery models that meet families where they are and that offer a full range of options so that you don't have to be committed to the most technologically advanced care to get care that will help your pet. So what we've been funding in our portfolio, we call them our accelerator clinics because these are clinics that are providing care to a lot of pets. We refer to them as community primary care. So they are your veterinarian, your first opinion practice, your practice you can go to throughout the life of your pet.

(15:15):

They're not a specialist. If your pet needs orthopedic surgery or oncology, that's not what they're going to offer. But you can come to them for your pet's lifetime care. And through our program, we are proving now these are all nonprofits because we're making them grants, but we are proving that you can offer that model of veterinary care sustainably. You're still charging clients fees. People want to contribute to their pet's care. They're not expecting fully subsidized or free care, but you have to have pricing and services that meets them where they are. And we're discovering that in these models you can deliver a lot of care to a lot of pets. And on average, these organizations are recovering 90% of their total operating cost from client fees while still offering prices that are 30 or 40% below market rates. So we really feel strongly about proving that model, expanding that model, scaling that model so that more families can get care for their pets. We estimate that there are 50 million pets who aren't getting the veterinary care they need in the us.

Speaker 3 (16:14):

Wow, that's incredible. What does expansion look like for that program?

Speaker 4 (16:21):

Right now it looks like we add a new cohort of 10 ish clinics every year, and they're with us through a four year program and then they graduate. So at this point, our network of clinics in the US and Canada is over 40, and we're now at a point because we're four plus years into this program where we can see what success looks like in various communities and we can document some of the common success principles. So in addition to continuing to add cohorts every year that we help fund, we're going to start publishing the model so that other people can pick it up and run with it even if they're not part of our funding network.

Speaker 3 (16:56):

Gotcha. And I also wanted to ask you in the intro, Chris mentioned that you work on a lot of cross sector partnerships. Aside from veterinary care, what are some of the other partnerships that you work with to work on?

Speaker 4 (17:11):

So what we're best known for probably our legacy program 30 plus years now, is our partnership with PetSmart. And we're not your typical corporate foundation. We are an independent 5 0 1 C3. I have a board of directors that's not all PetSmart executives. So we partner with PetSmart stores to do in-store adoptions where 11 million adoptions and counting. Practically any room I walk into, if I ask, Hey, has anybody adopted their pet through an adoption group in the PetSmart store? Most rooms I'm in, somebody raises their hand. So that's a huge partnership with a retailer to get pets into homes. We also have big partnerships in pet hunger and in disaster response. So what folks don't often think about is if a family is struggling to figure out where their next meal is going to come from, they're probably also struggling to feed their pet. And because people think of pets as family members and as important as human family members, we know that lots of folks will choose to feed their animal before they feed themselves, which is not a choice we want anybody making.

(18:08):

So we partner with Feeding America to help get pet food into human food banks so you can go to a one-stop shop, get resources for all the members of your family. We have a partnership with Meals on Wheels America, which is amazing because older Americans often struggle and their pet is sometimes their only consistent source of joy and companionship and Meals on Wheels. Volunteers were noticing they would come back for a return visit and the tray would be on the floor because these seniors are sharing their meals with their pets. So they have great programming. And then same thing, American Red Cross, we discovered way back in Hurricane Katrina that a lot of folks won't evacuate if they can't bring their pets with them. So we need to make sure that disaster response systems, and we come a long way in the last 20 years, we're so much better off than we were. We have a big partnership with the American Red Cross to make sure that their shelters that they run are pet friendly and that pets are included in their systems so that when folks are displaced, they are able to stay intact as a family. We think that's incredibly important because pets can mean the most for our human emotional health and wellbeing in times of crisis. Of course, we want to keep the family together.

Speaker 3 (19:16):

Wow. Amy, you are the right woman for this job. I could listen to you all day. I love what you're working on and really excited to see this veterinary program roll out because that is, as we know, one of the biggest problems that the pet parents face,

Speaker 4 (19:35):

It is, if I could close with something, I think something that folks don't realize is the vast majority of the cash that we have available to fund programs comes from average everyday pet parents who shop at PetSmart. And when they check out, they choose to be generous and they choose to add a few dollars to their basket and support PetSmart charities. So if you ever wonder, what does my donation at checkout do? This is what it does. If you ever wonder, does my $2 or my $5 matter, I promise you it does. It is the small generosity of millions of generous PetSmart customers who shop and say, I'm going to add to my tab that allows us to do this work. So we are incredibly grateful and I always want to say thank you. Thank you for considering us, thank you for donating, and we really work hard to make you proud of what we do with the money you trust us with.

Speaker 2 (20:26):

That's amazing. And I'm happy you're grateful because I'm going to threaten everybody, threaten into PetSmart, make a donation or else good cop, bad cop. There

Speaker 1 (20:39):

You

Speaker 2 (20:39):

Go. Well, Amy, thank you so much for taking some time today. This was an amazing little interview. I think the work you're doing is absolutely incredible and I'm happy someone like you is paying attention to it.

Speaker 4 (20:52):

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 (20:56):

Charity is pretty cool, Kristin. It's, and if you're in a giving mood at the end of the year here, get to hear local PetSmart make a little donation.

Speaker 3 (21:04):

And I'm glad that she clarified that extra dollar or two or five when you check out really makes a big difference because I feel like just about everywhere I shop in person now wants that extra dollar or two

Speaker 2 (21:16):

And

Speaker 3 (21:17):

You just, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (21:19):

I mean, I'm spamming the no button you want me to give. I'm the needy. I'm the needy. But as George Costanza once said, it adds up, Jerry. It adds up. And what's really cool is if you are a dog TV Stan and have been watching the Adoption show, which has been coming out each week, PetSmart Charity is the one presenting that programming. They are helping to fund it. So we have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to PetSmart Charities.

Speaker 3 (21:57):

It is my pleasure to welcome Julie Barton as our next guest. She's a critically acclaimed writer and author of the New York Times Bestseller Dog Medicine, how My Dog Saved Me From Myself. At Age 22, Julie collapsed under the weight of Severe Clinical Depression while living in Manhattan. Now amid her struggle, she adopted a golden retriever named Bunker. I love that name. And Bunker became her lifeline. Through his unwavering love and companionship, she found a path toward healing and ultimately wrote her memoir to honor their extraordinary bond together. Julie holds a bachelor's in English literature from Kenyon College and a fine arts degree in writing from Vermont College and oh, sorry, Vermont College of Fine Arts and a master's in women's studies from Southern Connecticut State University. And today she lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and a small menagerie of beloved pets. Welcome Julie.

Speaker 5 (22:59):

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 3 (23:02):

Yeah, we are happy to have you. And just to kick things off, can you tell us what you remember about the moment you adopted Bunker and why did you feel drawn to bring a dog into your life at that challenging time?

Speaker 5 (23:20):

Well, like you said, so nicely, I had been diagnosed with depression. It was 1996, and I decided to take medication, but I knew that what I was really feeling was just serious deep loneliness. And people were scary for me at that point in life. But I love animals, particularly dogs. As a kid, when things were troubling, I would turn to the dog because the dog never judged me. And I just had this idea that even though I had no job and no place to live and didn't know what I was going to do next, that if I got a dog, it would be helpful. And so it doesn't sound very logical, does it? But it really, really worked. I went to this, so I went to this farm with my mom first. We went and looked at one litter and there were really cute white goldens running all over, and they were so cute, but they didn't see me the way that I know that I have been seen by a dog.

(24:32):

And so we went to this other farm in this little town in Ohio called Alexandria, Ohio, and we drove up and there were no dogs to be seen. And the woman who was at the house walked out and she whistled and all the dogs came out of the woods, puppies. Oh my goodness, this little red one. It felt to me at the time, he was like, there you are. And he came up on my feet and he looked up at me. None of the other dogs were near us. And so I picked him up and he looked at my nose and I was like, this is it. This is the one.

Speaker 2 (25:08):

That's amazing. That's an amazing story. And you talked a little bit about how you had this perception of dogs before adopting Bunker, that you knew animals can really see the true you and provide that level of companionship. But after Bunker and going through your life with Bunker, how did that connection evolve your view of pets and their purpose?

Speaker 5 (25:39):

Oh, immensely. I think that, I mean, I don't know what is right or real, but I feel that pets and animals in general have a really deep sense of knowing that we don't understand and they can see and smell and sense far more than we understand or give them credit for. And I think dogs in particular, because we've been for centuries living alongside them and cohabiting and loving each other, I think to me, they know when I'm needing love and needing just even just a lean or needing to get outside and get out of my brain, get out of my head, whether it's you're sitting down and you need to just get up and go do something. Or even just, I remember very vividly with Bunker, we moved to Seattle a lot when he was still a puppy and I had to walk him. And so when I would walk him, people would stop and talk to us.

(26:53):

If it was just me alone, most of the time it wouldn't be a positive interaction if someone was trying to stop and talk to me, right? With the dog. It was this amazing buffer that was like, oh my God, he is so cute. How old is he? What kind of dog is he? He was very red. He looked more like an Irish setter than a golden. And I felt the goodness in people that brought that out. It brought out the humanity in people and the common interaction, the common love and connection that we all have around animals. And also my dog can't talk and tell me that's one of the most wonderful things is that you have to get out of language. As a writer, it's funny to say that, but you have to be in the energy between the two of you, which I think is beautiful.

Speaker 3 (27:47):

Dogs are like magnets that attract goodness and the right people that you need in your life. And

Speaker 5 (27:53):

I help realize, oh, there are good people out there. There are really nice, lovely people who may have been, I might've been scared of before or thought things about based on my own experiences and biases. And then they come up and I'm like, wow, that person totally surprised me. That wasn't at all what I thought they were like. And that's really, really amazing. I think that's a window that pets can open up for us that is not to be overlooked.

Speaker 3 (28:25):

For a lot of pet parents, their dog, for example, is a companion, their family member, but not necessarily a savior like Bunker Woods. In your life, what do you think sets apart relationships where a pet becomes a true emotional support or emotional anchor versus just a companion?

Speaker 5 (28:49):

Yeah. Yeah. It's a really good question because I have to say that I haven't found another bunker. I love all of my pets. I've had dogs and cats up. Here's my dog right now. Right on cue is like, don't you dare say that. I thought, yeah,

Speaker 2 (29:07):

Hey, I'm

Speaker 5 (29:08):

Special too. I'm special too.

(29:11):

When I knew that Bunker was my, I mean, I guess you could say he was my emotional support dog, but he was such an integral part of my life that was sort of considered kind of weird back then. It was sort of like, okay, it's just a dog. And I would often have to just sort of somehow figure out how to try to either convince someone that it was more than just a dog or say, I'm just going to go home and fill my cup up with Bunker and then go out back out in the world. But I think now there is an understanding that there's almost like a transcendent relationship between dogs and people and cats and people. I see it now with my daughter, with cats. They say, your kids are like you, but not like you. But my daughter's a cat person and she has a cat right now who I think is a lot like Bunker was for her. And I think that it's not considered strange the way that it went eighties and nineties to really feel like your dog is the thing that helps keep you going. And we're also seeing in so many dogs that are trained to be medical dogs and that they do sense far more than we know.

Speaker 2 (30:35):

Yep, yep. A hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (30:38):

And we're all much more aware of the human animal bond, and there's so much data to back up that pets truly do make our lives better. So I appreciate you sharing your story with us today. And tell us where we can find the book. Dog Medicine.

Speaker 5 (30:55):

Dog Medicine. You can find it anywhere. I mean most Amazon online, and it's been translated into 10 languages, so if you don't speak English, it's in That's cool. Almost every other language.

Speaker 2 (31:10):

If you don't speak English, you're listening to the wrong podcast. I dunno what you're doing.

Speaker 5 (31:18):

True, true. But yeah,

Speaker 2 (31:20):

That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (31:21):

Yeah, so it's Amazon or but bookshop.org or even penguin random house.com. You can find it there too. There

Speaker 3 (31:28):

We go. Fantastic. Well, we appreciate you joining us on this New Year's Eve special and happy 2026 to you and your family and your pets.

Speaker 5 (31:39):

Thank you. You as well.

Speaker 2 (31:43):

Well, I like what she said about the dog almost knowing what she needed because when I had Tiger, tiger would make me take breaks from my computer. Really. She would come in about every hour, hour and a half and just bother the heck out of me until I got up and assisted with her cat problem, whatever her cat problem happened to be right then and there. And in the time between when Hope is watching the baby or out with the baby and I'm working, I'll sometimes look at my watch and realize four hours have gone by and I haven't stood up. So yeah, that resonated with me pretty heavy there.

Speaker 3 (32:26):

Oh, absolutely. I know they're so perceptive. And like Julie said, in so many ways that we probably don't even notice.

Speaker 2 (32:34):

Yeah, they see you when you're sleeping day knowing you're awake.

Speaker 3 (32:44):

Wow. That was a great guest. The product of the week,

Speaker 2 (32:48):

And now it's time for the last time in the calendar year 2025 for the products of the week. Oh gosh. Ouch. Sorry. Sorry for everybody with headphones, those of you commuting. You're welcome. I woke you up. It's Product of the Week time, and I've got a product here for you all.

Speaker 3 (33:18):

What you got for us,

Speaker 2 (33:19):

I think I've talked about before, but I want to talk about again in case I haven't, because it's really great and solves a problem a lot of people have when their cat is sick. So one thing about cats when they get sick at all, it could be a UTI, it could be a little infection. It doesn't have to be anything major. It could be completely solvable by a quick trip to the vet and a little bit of antibiotics. But nonetheless, when they get sick, they stop eating. It's just what cats do. And that at times can end up becoming more dangerous to them, especially with elderly cats can become more dangerous to them than the actual disease. It was always a big deal when Tiger would get UTIs because she wouldn't eat for a day and there wasn't a lot of meat on them bones when she was passed 20.

Speaker 3 (34:12):

And they get dehydrated too when they don't eat.

Speaker 2 (34:14):

Yes, very much so. There's this product out there from Oxbow called Critical Care Carnivore, and it's basically a meat-based protein powder that you mix up into water. And there's a couple of ways you could do it. You can make it into a paste or a topper. You could also turn it into a liquid and get it into a, what are the injecting things called? Why can't,

Speaker 3 (34:41):

Yeah, those little syringe, not a

Speaker 2 (34:43):

Syringe. Syringe. Yeah, syringe. Yeah, syringe. That's inject thing. Get it into an inject thing. I don't like using the term force feed because of the negative connotations with it, but you can perhaps stimulate their appetite that way. But the thing about carnivore care is it's incredibly calorie dense. A little goes a really long way. This is not a dog product. It's called carnivore care. Dogs are not carnivores. This works well with snakes, lizards, some types of birds, small animals that are carnivorous cats for sure. I mean, I've only ever used it for a cat, but it smells terrible for people. But Tiger used to go crazy. It smells like meat. It does smell like meat. It's kind of gross. It's a paste. You're going to be like, this is disgusting. Your cat is going to love it. And it's just such an easy way to solve what, in my opinion was always the biggest deal for the pet owner when it came to the cat being sick because I don't have to diagnose the cat. I don't have to figure out that's what the vet's for, but I do have to make sure they're well cared for and eating and drinking. And we had a lot of challenges with Tiger at the end there. So highly, highly, highly recommend this product and wanted to get that out into the ether as my last product of 2025.

Speaker 3 (36:12):

That was a good one. So I came across this product, it's for, okay, I've kind of been on a lookout for new senior dog products.

(36:29):

And that's because I had written this senior dog care book a long time ago or like an ebook, and I wanted to update it with some new products. And I came across this company called Myco Dog. I'm not sure how long they've been around, I'm not familiar with them, but they have some really cool supplements. And this one in particular is called Clarity. And it's for senior dogs who are slowing down, maybe losing a little bit of their spark. Maybe they're cognitively not as with it as they used to be. And it's a mushroom based supplement. Actually mushroom and see if I can say this word, adaptogen, adaptogen based supplement. And what caught my eye was specifically this 12 week veterinary trial that they did. And they found that eight out of 10 dogs either improved in some of these ways that aging tends to create, whether it's mentally or physically.

(37:38):

Eight out of the 10 dogs either improved or didn't decline, which to me at first I was like, well, how do you know it worked then? But it's actually a big deal because most aging pathways assume a steady decline. And I forget, I didn't look to see what time period this was over. That would've been important. But it did show to support better sleep, more engagement, clearer orientation and calmer nights for older dogs. And they used tracking devices and they had all kinds of things to track how these dogs were doing on the supplement. So what is it? It's a blended formula. It has medicinal mushrooms such as lion's mane, Rishi, and I can't pronounce this, here's another word I can't pronounce. Cords and adaptogens like ashwagandha and bacopa. I'm totally butchering these names. Anyway, it's got good stuff in it. It's

Speaker 1 (38:38):

Got good stuff, it's got good

Speaker 2 (38:39):

Stuff in it, you can't pronounce.

Speaker 3 (38:43):

And one of the other things I like is developed by a clinician researcher who's worked with rescue dogs and holistic pet care for over 20 years. So check out micro dog.com. We'll drop a link in the show notes to this particular product called Clarity.

Speaker 2 (38:59):

I really like that one. Chris. I recently switched out, not all the time, but sometimes my coffee with a mushroom coffee that has a lot of those same properties and it's only got 20 milligrams of caffeine in it, which is nothing. That's like a small iced tea at McDonald's amount of caffeine. And I really felt clear for a while and then I missed coffee and went back to it. But that kind of stuff works. There is something with, I'm no nutritionist. My diet, the past few weeks has been soup, but there's something with those mushrooms and whatever's in them that really helps kind of connect some of those synapses in the brain. So I wouldn't be surprised if the same stuff ain't working for dogs too. And even if it doesn't, there's nothing in there that's going to hurt 'em. It's all natural products.

Speaker 3 (40:03):

And not only that, but I reached out to the company to ask a couple of questions about this particular product and the girl that responded to me admitted that she actually takes it herself.

Speaker 2 (40:13):

Yeah, yeah.

(40:16):

It's funny because normally you say like, oh, don't eat anything with ingredients you can't pronounce, but this one you can't pronou pronounce. But in this case, they're all natural. It's just weird mushroom names that we can't pronounce. No, I like that. I didn't know that they were looking into that stuff for dogs. That's really interesting Q and as. Alright folks, it is time for our favorite part of the episode. For the last time this year, we will answer two of your questions. And I know what you're thinking in the year of our Lord and Savior 2026. How do I have my questions answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, the calendar may be changing, but the process ain't you. Head on over to pets add life.org/podcast. Scroll on down to the bottom of that page. Or if you're feeling as brave as a young woman who just moved to Manhattan, you can record a voice memo and your question may be played live on the show. Without further ado, Kristen, I'm going to ask you a question. I hope you're ready. Okay. Our question comes from Daniel in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you, Daniel, for your question. They ask, I recently adopted a rabbit and I'm realizing they're way more sensitive than I expected. What's the best way to set up safe, enriching space for a house rabbit? And what are the biggest mistakes new rabbit owners make?

Speaker 3 (41:42):

Okay, well congratulations. Daniel. Rabbits are great pets. And I'm sort of fresh on this topic because my aunt and uncle just rescued a bunny that somebody in their neighborhood let loose. And so I've been kind of helping her get ready for having a bunny. And I think a few things that are very important with rabbits is to make sure that they have a large cage or pen where they can roam around. And even my aunt has a whole room that she's dedicated to the bunny. You don't have to do that, but if you're going to have your bunny in any type of enclosure, you want to make sure that they're getting plenty of time outside that enclosure for exercise. Secondly, you'll want to be sure to rabbit proof your home. So making sure any electrical cords aren't accessible by the rabbit or covering them with something that they can't chew through. Blocking off any unsafe areas and just keeping stuff off the floor that you wouldn't want the bunny to chew on. Rabbits can be litter box trained. They tend to do best with a paper type of litter. There are several on the market, but don't use the clumping litter for bunnies.

(43:07):

The other thing that I've told my aunt, and she didn't want to hear this, but I'm going to tell Daniel the same, is that rabbits are very social and they typically do best in pears. Of course, you'll spay and neuter your pear so you don't end up with a whole litter of bunnies. But if you can only have one bunny, it's really essential that you spend a good amount of time with it each day. Socialization exercise and that sort of thing. Otherwise you have a lonely bunny. Nobody wants a lonely bunny.

Speaker 2 (43:37):

They're very social creatures, even in nature, they're very, very, very social.

Speaker 3 (43:42):

It's very true. So, alright, Chris, are you ready for your question?

Speaker 2 (43:47):

Hit me with it last time this year. Nothing can stop me. Everything a thousand percent faster. Full momentum. Let's do

Speaker 3 (43:54):

It. Okay. All right. Coming in hot from Atlanta, Georgia. This is from Michael. Michael says, my cat scratches everything, the couch, the chairs, the bed frame, and my wife says she's reached her limit. How can we redirect this behavior and actually protect our furniture without stressing out our cat?

Speaker 2 (44:13):

Well listen, you signed up for this because you have a cat. First, let's talk about the reason cats do this. There's really two reasons, three reasons. Cats scratch. Reason number one, they board. Reason number two, they are marking. And reason number three, their nails have grown to the maximum length and it is time for them to shed their nails. They actually, it's really interesting. Cats don't grow nails like us where they want to be whittled down. They grow nails like a shell, like an outer shell, and as they pull, they're pulling off that outer shell to make room for the new nail. So that's the three reasons your cat is scratching and you're going to want to address all three for boredom. Make sure they're getting enough activity during the day. Cats are not. They need to be entertained just like the little bunny. You need to spend good time with them.

(45:10):

You want to make sure they have interactive toys that are itching their natural instincts for hunting and things like that. Number two, the marking clean up around your couch every day. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. If it smells like cat, they're going to continue to make it smell like cat. If all else fails, use a cover where they scratch. They usually go back to the same place. And I've talked about 'em on the show. There's stuff you kind of tape to your couch and then throw away when you're done. But you could also tape it up to it when you're out of the house if the cat kind of misbehaves when you're gone and then take it away. And now they're going to be like, oh, that spot doesn't really exist anymore. I found a little bit of success with that. And then three, the nails. You can trim your cat's nails.

(46:03):

There are all sorts of videos on how to do it. They make a specialized tool. The video will show you where to cut and the angle to cut. And I didn't find it that hard. Although Tiger was a very, very good patient, very easy to coax with a little bit. Yeah, with a little bit of treats, a little bit of churro. Paste on a plate would keep her occupied while we took care of her nails. But helping to trim the cat's nails can also assist. So Michael from Hot Lana, I hope that helps. By the end of the day, cats are going to cat. And worst case scenario, just get a couch cover or just don't have furniture. That's your alternative. Alright, well that brings us to the end of our episode and the end of our calendar year 2025 is in the books. Kristen, do you have any New Year's resolutions going into 2026?

Speaker 3 (47:12):

I don't make resolutions because I haven't kept them in the past. I prefer to think of them as goals. But no, I haven't set my goals yet.

Speaker 2 (47:23):

Yeah, I haven't either. Join us next episode and there's the tease. Join us next episode. And you may hear how Chris and Kristen are looking to improve themselves.

Speaker 3 (47:33):

That's right.

Speaker 2 (47:34):

Alright, well folks, we will see you next year.

Speaker 3 (47:39):

Happy New Year. And as the ball drops, remember nobody gives better midnight kisses than the dog

Speaker 1 (47:46):

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 Bonti. Powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.