Episode 4: Live from Global Pet Expo with Veterinary & Animal Health Experts

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00:00:00:18 - 00:00:02:21
Intro
Live from Global Pet Expo in Orlando.

00:00:02:23 - 00:00:19:04
Intro
Welcome to the Pets at Life podcast. Pets at life. Your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal. Bond with Kristin Levine and Chris Bonifati powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog TV.

00:00:19:07 - 00:00:24:05
Kristen Levine
Welcome to day two of our Global Pet Expo special series of the Pet to Life podcast.

00:00:24:05 - 00:00:43:15
Chris Bonifati
Day 2. We're still breathing. We're still upright. How are you feeling? I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling a little tired. Yeah. Just a little, though. But, mostly excited that the show is going so well. We've got, so many people in the building, so many people saying great things about the redesign of our new product showcase, the redesign of our entrance units.

00:00:43:19 - 00:00:54:06
Chris
you're going to see a lot of that on film coming through dog TV. So, be sure to pay attention to the YouTube channel and things like that if you weren't able to make it. but it's been a really exciting and absolutely game changing show.

00:00:54:06 - 00:00:57:16
Kristen
They weren't able to make it because they're pet parents. They can't come to the show.

00:00:57:18 - 00:00:59:08
Chris
Yeah. You know, but we're.

00:00:59:08 - 00:00:59:19
Kristen
Bringing the show to you

00:00:59:19 - 00:01:15:17
Chris
Show. We're bringing the show to you. We're bringing you the best parts of the show. Right? You don't want to deal with any of that annoying business stuff right here. The deals that are being made. You guys want to hear about the animals, their stories, and maybe some products. Yeah, a couple of cool products too, which I'm sure we're going to go over later in the show.

00:01:15:18 - 00:01:17:06
Kristen
Yeah, we got some cool guests, so stick around.

00:01:17:06 - 00:01:19:23
Chris
Pets, add life.

00:01:19:26 - 00:01:22:24
Kristen
So Chris, we kind of have a veterinary theme today. Yeah.

00:01:22:26 - 00:01:23:15
Chris
Animal health.

00:01:23:15 - 00:01:42:16
Kristen
Animal health, which is a hot topic. I've been to many sessions where we're talking about the cost of veterinary care and accessibility and all those kinds of things. We have a shortage of veterinarians in this country. and we had two really great guests to talk about the issues. And one of them is Greg Geckles from Independence Pet Holdings.

00:01:42:18 - 00:01:44:24
Kristen
He'll tell you what that means when we you when you're here.

00:01:44:24 - 00:02:03:00
Chris
Yeah. And then we're going to bring in, Doctor Werber with AirVet, who's really changing the game when it comes to animal health and the way you could get in touch with a veterinarian. Really great. For a guy like me who gets really anxious to pick up the phone and make an important call. So looking forward to speaking to both of these guys.

00:02:03:00 - 00:02:09:27
Chris
Let's see what they have to say. Right. All right. Beyond the leash exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

00:02:10:00 - 00:02:27:02
Kristen
Okay, we are live at Global Pet Expo. This is our special series that we're doing here at Global Pet Expo. so this is series number two and this is The Pets Add Life podcast. And I am excited to introduce you all to Greg Geckles from Independence Pet Holdings. Hi, Greg.

00:02:27:02 - 00:02:28:14
Greg Geckles
I hear you today.

00:02:28:15 - 00:02:39:27
Kristen
I'm doing great. I'm doing great. We got to chat the other day, so I'm glad we got you to sit down in front of a mic this time. Yeah. tell us what Independent Pet Holdings does.

00:02:40:00 - 00:02:52:08
Greg Geckles
independence Pet Holdings is the largest provider of pet health insurance. in North America, as well as the largest provider of shelter software microchips and, Las pet services.

00:02:52:08 - 00:03:17:11
Kristen
Okay. Gotcha. And, what we wanted to talk about today is something that is really kind of a very hot topic I'm hearing about at the show, and something a lot of pet parents are, you know, talking about and concerned about it. And that is the increasing costs of veterinary care for their pets. And so so what are you seeing here at the show that kind of ties back to what's happening in the veterinary world, to to address this.

00:03:17:14 - 00:03:24:16
Greg Geckles
Yeah. Well and the cost of care is, is a hot topic. We've actually seen the cost of care increase. veteran care.

00:03:24:19 - 00:03:25:20
Kristen
Yeah.

00:03:25:23 - 00:03:42:13
Greg Geckles
Increase faster than inflation. So we've all experienced inflation over the past couple of years. it's actually, veterinary care has outpaced the state of inflation for other categories. We've seen over 19% increase since we started. That is increasing very significant.

00:03:42:14 - 00:03:44:20
Kristen
What's what's driving that?

00:03:44:23 - 00:04:06:23
Greg Geckles
but we do have a massive shortage of veterinarians and veterinary staff. So access to care is is becoming more difficult. but also there's more things available, more treatments available to help take care of pets. And you're able to see more services that are very similar to what you could receive in human medicine, actually in the veterinary world.

00:04:06:23 - 00:04:27:28
Greg Geckles
So. Right. we're intimately familiar as being a pet health insurance provider with those costs. But we're seeing a lot of innovation, both in the pet space and the vet space to help try to control some of that. or I should say improve the access to care and control that cost.

00:04:28:02 - 00:04:30:06
Kristen
Okay. What what are some of those things that you're seeing?

00:04:30:12 - 00:04:47:15
Greg Geckles
You know, we're seeing we're seeing products, whether they are digital products, you know, apps, at home diagnostics, other things that will allow consumers, a greater level of participation in the care for their pet.

00:04:47:22 - 00:04:49:03
Kristen
Right.

00:04:49:06 - 00:05:05:29
Greg Geckles
Also, just recently here we are in Florida and Florida just passed legislation to enable the virtual VA CPR, which is the veterinary client patient relationship. So you're able to actually have telemedicine start virtually or have that relationship start virtually.

00:05:06:00 - 00:05:06:14
Kristen
Okay.

00:05:06:19 - 00:05:18:23
Greg Geckles
So telemedicine visits are going to also help bring down the cost of care for a lot of pet parents. Sure. And with things like the, the litter products that will do various detection.

00:05:19:00 - 00:05:24:21
Kristen
Yes. Those are so amazing. They change colors depending on the composition of the urine.

00:05:24:28 - 00:05:45:23
Greg Geckles
So when you have those kind of things available to actually augment a telemedicine visit where you have at home, diagnostics can augment a telemedicine visit. The veterinarians not relying just on what your interpretation is as a consumer, as a pet parent, you're actually able to provide them with some great tools to help them provide even better consultation.

00:05:46:00 - 00:05:57:22
Kristen
Yeah, that is a great point. Can you tell our audience a little bit more about what you mean by at Home Diagnostics? Because I know what I think of when you say that, but what could that encompass?

00:05:57:25 - 00:06:19:26
Greg Geckles
you know, there's quite a few new companies out there. We don't have an interest in any of them. but you'll one that comes to mind is my simple pet labs. Okay. there there are several others that I have seen at the show over the years where, it may be collecting urine at home. That you can send in, and they'll be able to provide the diagnostics there.

00:06:19:28 - 00:06:33:08
Greg Geckles
a lot of it has to do with pH levels and things that are easy for consumer to, to do. yeah. In fact, oh. And I apologize to them because I, the, the name of the company has slipped my mind.

00:06:33:08 - 00:06:33:20
Kristen
It's okay.

00:06:33:25 - 00:06:47:06
Greg Geckles
But, the one of the, key people who worked for Everlywell, yep. Has actually started a veterinary line. To where? For consumers or a pet line.

00:06:47:08 - 00:06:48:01
Kristen
Okay.

00:06:48:03 - 00:06:50:05
Greg Geckles
starting with fecal so it's pretty easy.

00:06:50:05 - 00:06:50:27
Kristen
That one's easy.

00:06:51:00 - 00:06:51:20
Greg Geckles
Easy to collect.

00:06:51:25 - 00:06:52:27
Kristen
We're picking it up anyway.

00:06:52:29 - 00:06:59:15
Greg Geckles
And picking it up. You just see it right in. So we could, run the fecal tests there for them. And I'd do that remotely.

00:06:59:22 - 00:07:13:12
Kristen
So we're really giving the pet parent more power and more control and more. More. And I don't mean to see like, control, but participation in the care and also saving time at the at the vet hospital, potentially. Right.

00:07:13:15 - 00:07:42:15
Greg Geckles
Oh yeah. And and I when I think about the advantages, so access to care is a big topic both in the humane world as well as the veterinary world. Yeah, we know that there's a shortage of veterinarians. Some folks have had, you know, had to wait weeks, to be able to get a veterinary appointment. But there's there's also the, logistics challenges for a lot of folks.

00:07:42:17 - 00:08:08:04
Greg Geckles
Right? You know, there we talk about veterinary deserts. There may not be a veterinarian anywhere nearby. Right. And so being able to have access to telemedicine, have access to care for those. And if it's a financial issue, too, I mean, that's another barrier that we can help bring down with some of these, remote diagnostics, telemedicine, products or services.

00:08:08:04 - 00:08:10:01
Kristen
Right.

00:08:10:03 - 00:08:19:03
Greg Geckles
Overall, just providing a better opportunity for pet owners to provide the level of care for their pet that their pet deserves.

00:08:19:03 - 00:08:40:15
Kristen
Right. And what is, because we're in the industry. You know, I've known about telehealth for pets for many years. I've used it. I think it's fantastic. But what is how many pet parents are actually adopting telehealth or, you know, is it is it slow to get popularity or is it gaining like, help me understand that.

00:08:40:18 - 00:09:01:19
Greg Geckles
I, don't have exact figures on that. Yeah. What I, what I can share with you is, from the early days of telehealth, and there's kind of a we need to make a clarification. Yeah, there are a, quite a few providers and places all over the country where you are able to have a telehealth visit.

00:09:01:22 - 00:09:02:25
Greg Geckles
So advice.

00:09:03:00 - 00:09:03:10
Kristen
Okay.

00:09:03:10 - 00:09:14:18
Greg Geckles
Right. So 24-seven, you can actually make that call, talk to a veterinary professional, find out is this an emergency. Do I need to go in. Is this normal. Is it not.

00:09:14:18 - 00:09:15:22
Kristen
Normal.

00:09:15:24 - 00:09:17:19
Greg Geckles
But they can't provide a diagnosis.

00:09:17:19 - 00:09:18:09
Kristen
Right.

00:09:18:12 - 00:09:27:22
Greg Geckles
So in the areas where telemedicine is available, that's where they can get a diagnosis, potentially receive a prescription okay.

00:09:27:25 - 00:09:30:21
Kristen
So telehealth and telemedicine are different.

00:09:30:21 - 00:09:32:09
Greg Geckles
Yeah two different things.

00:09:32:11 - 00:09:35:10
Kristen
That's very important I'm glad I but I just learned.

00:09:35:10 - 00:09:55:07
Greg Geckles
That there's a lot of providers now who have started in telehealth, who are now able to like, branch out and do more in telemedicine. And we're finding it to actually be a big employee benefit push as well. So there are, several companies that are telehealth or telemedicine or both.

00:09:55:08 - 00:09:55:23
Kristen
Right.

00:09:55:29 - 00:10:01:22
Greg Geckles
And they actually work with some of the largest employers to where that becomes an employee benefit.

00:10:01:24 - 00:10:03:17
Kristen
And that makes a lot of sense.

00:10:03:19 - 00:10:23:19
Greg Geckles
When you think about it. Hey, you need your employees to be able to come into work and show or be able to take care of that. And so providing, a benefit to them to allow them to access telehealth or telemedicine and to make sure that they're available for their job. Right. instead of needing to take time off to go to the veterinarian.

00:10:23:22 - 00:10:24:15
Kristen
Yeah.

00:10:24:18 - 00:10:34:07
Greg Geckles
It's a it's a big win. And just seeing the number of companies that are adopting that as a benefit and the number of companies providing those services, the demand is pretty evident.

00:10:34:07 - 00:10:50:07
Kristen
That's great. That's great to hear. So, Greg, what what is the future? Let's say let's just say five years from now. What does what does veterinary care look like for the average pet parent or what what tools will most of us be?

00:10:50:11 - 00:10:52:11
Greg Geckles
I, you know, as I've seen.

00:10:52:11 - 00:10:54:22
Kristen
So, you know, I'm asking you look into a crystal ball, but I.

00:10:54:25 - 00:10:56:21
Greg Geckles
I'm going to do my best because that's one of the things that.

00:10:56:23 - 00:10:57:19
Kristen
I won't hold you to.

00:10:57:19 - 00:11:17:27
Greg Geckles
It. I love to look at the crystal ball, when I, when I imagine what veterinary care can be, and all of the great advancements that we're seeing, especially with some of these apps that are amazing, you're able to use your cell phone to take a picture instead of actually collecting the fecal matter and sending it in.

00:11:17:27 - 00:11:22:25
Greg Geckles
You can take a picture with your phone and it can actually run the diagnostics right there.

00:11:22:26 - 00:11:24:15
Kristen
That's amazing.

00:11:24:18 - 00:11:43:19
Greg Geckles
You know, we're seeing that happen in, both with fecal samples, gait analysis, where you can actually see the, the animal walking, and it will take the video and do an analysis in the back end and tell you what's the likelihood that this may have, like, situation.

00:11:43:21 - 00:11:44:20
Kristen
Or something like.

00:11:44:23 - 00:11:49:20
Greg Geckles
That or, you know, if it's got issues with, a cruciate.

00:11:49:27 - 00:11:51:14
Kristen
Right, right.

00:11:51:17 - 00:12:05:00
Greg Geckles
Ligament. So those kind of things I think are only going to advance even more and more. We're seeing, some of these companies are focusing, on now eyes and ears to be able to use those tools as well.

00:12:05:00 - 00:12:05:21
Kristen
Right.

00:12:05:23 - 00:12:31:16
Greg Geckles
And as we see those evolve and more veterinarians partner with these companies to be able to bring those in, some of the wearables now are amazing. And they can detect, you know, they it's not just how much motion does a pet have before, you know, respiration rate and heart rate, right. And temperature. And so now we're actually creating the tools to allow more access to care.

00:12:31:16 - 00:12:45:00
Greg Geckles
Because now I can connect with veterinarians. And as the as more states, more state veterinary boards adopt the virtual VA, CPR. We're going to see more of those veterinary deserts disappear.

00:12:45:00 - 00:12:45:16
Kristen
Right.

00:12:45:18 - 00:13:07:25
Greg Geckles
And, I think overall it's going to be great for consumers. I also see all the folks who are really focused on preventive medicine, not just with pharmaceuticals and I mean flea tick, heartworm preventive. All those are extremely important. But even focusing on the basics like, let's make sure the nutrition is right and let's really focus on that.

00:13:07:25 - 00:13:08:24
Kristen
Right?

00:13:08:27 - 00:13:13:28
Greg Geckles
obesity is the number one challenge with pets, right? in the United States.

00:13:13:28 - 00:13:21:19
Kristen
And yeah, it's it's something like cats, 50% of cats are overweight or obese and dogs are not far behind that that statistic.

00:13:21:23 - 00:13:49:16
Greg Geckles
Right. And you know, just because you're it's you may think, oh fluffy, he's a little chubby, but that's okay. Well it's really not okay. Right. And you know, we often think about like weight in terms of how much do they weigh. But really there's something called the body condition score. let's, let's make sure that we can use some of these digital tools to help evaluate a box as well.

00:13:49:16 - 00:13:50:07
Kristen
Right, right.

00:13:50:07 - 00:13:57:20
Greg Geckles
And really understand, you know, not always is a lab a lab, you know, it's not the same. You may have a small.

00:13:57:20 - 00:13:58:25
Kristen
Lab, right? True.

00:13:59:03 - 00:14:03:08
Greg Geckles
So if that small lab is 85 pounds, that's going to be overweight.

00:14:03:08 - 00:14:03:28
Kristen
That's a big small.

00:14:03:28 - 00:14:07:17
Greg Geckles
But if you've got a big male it might have a great box score.

00:14:07:23 - 00:14:08:03
Kristen
Yeah that's.

00:14:08:03 - 00:14:28:03
Greg Geckles
True. So the number game I think is a little bit dangerous in that area. But again focusing on nutrition, making sure that we're not over treating, making sure that we're providing, everything they need to be healthy upfront also helps us rely less on treatments.

00:14:28:03 - 00:14:50:28
Kristen
Right. And so really the industry is really kind of helping us have this holistic approach to having our pets be healthier and happier and living longer. And it sounds like the future is very bright for, improving access to care with all these great tools available. I do have one last question, though. you mentioned at the beginning about the shortage of veterinarians.

00:14:51:03 - 00:15:01:06
Kristen
Yeah. And what do you use? Either what's being done or what do you, what's new in your crystal ball as to how we're going to address the shortage of veterinarians going forward?

00:15:01:08 - 00:15:25:07
Greg Geckles
Well, one of the great things that's happening, we're seeing new veterinary schools open, and I forget the number that's opening right now. Mark Cushing in the animal Policy group, they have done some amazing work to help get some of these new schools open. I also believe, you know, it's a controversial subject. So but I'm going to go out on my limb.

00:15:25:07 - 00:15:32:13
Greg Geckles
Okay. I think there is a real need for, a mid-level veterinary professional.

00:15:32:15 - 00:15:34:19
Kristen
I agree. Explain what that means.

00:15:34:22 - 00:15:41:27
Greg Geckles
So much like you can go see a nurse practitioner. you would be able to see a, a veterinary practitioner.

00:15:41:27 - 00:15:42:15
Kristen
Right.

00:15:42:17 - 00:16:07:25
Greg Geckles
And especially for some of the things that you don't need to see a DVM to treat. Right? I mean, when you think about how many times you visited a veterinary hospital and you have there are certified veterinary technicians, registered veterinary technicians, licensed, we've and that word, I think confuses a lot of people. And we've got so many different variables there.

00:16:07:27 - 00:16:09:11
Kristen
Right.

00:16:09:14 - 00:16:17:20
Greg Geckles
But the ones who have gone to school and have studied and, and can perform the various tasks, sure.

00:16:17:23 - 00:16:20:05
Kristen
Like vaccinations for example. Right. That's super.

00:16:20:06 - 00:16:24:22
Greg Geckles
You know, we need to be able to enable them more. And I think that's going to make a big difference.

00:16:24:22 - 00:16:24:29
Kristen
Okay.

00:16:25:01 - 00:16:34:14
Greg Geckles
As far as helping us in the short term, while we do see an increase in the number of veterinarians that that are right coming out of school.

00:16:34:16 - 00:16:50:14
Kristen
Fantastic. Well, again, like I said, I think the future is bright, even though costs are up significantly. I can't that's that's an astonishing increase. The 19%. but obviously the industry is working very hard to, to eliminate those challenges for people.

00:16:50:16 - 00:17:00:05
Greg Geckles
And we're going to continue to work hard and create new products. Like I said, you know, we are the largest provider of pet health insurance. we will continue to do our best.

00:17:00:05 - 00:17:04:10
Kristen
To, in your best interest to make sure this, that that accessibility is there.

00:17:04:12 - 00:17:11:19
Greg Geckles
And we'll do our best to innovate and bring new products, to market to help folks on the financial side.

00:17:11:19 - 00:17:13:20
Kristen
Yeah.

00:17:13:22 - 00:17:16:11
Greg Geckles
we know that that's that's an important piece, too.

00:17:16:12 - 00:17:16:21
Kristen
Yeah.

00:17:16:25 - 00:17:21:23
Greg Geckles
But yeah, I think the future of this industry is, is really bright.

00:17:21:26 - 00:17:29:28
Kristen
Excellent. Well, I think that's a great way to wrap it. All right. We'll wrap up with that Greg Geckles from Independence Pet Holdings, thank you so much for being with us today.

00:17:30:00 - 00:17:31:04
Greg Geckles
Thank you for having me.

00:17:31:04 - 00:17:33:02
Chris
Pets Add life.

00:17:33:05 - 00:17:38:04
Intro
Is here. You all right? come on, fellas, come on.

00:17:38:06 - 00:17:40:02
Chris
Oh, yeah. You're a live studio audience.

00:17:40:02 - 00:17:45:03
Kristen
You deserve the applause, doctor Jeff. So thanks for having me, for being here.

00:17:45:04 - 00:17:46:04
Dr. Jeff Werber
Thanks. Thanks for having me.

00:17:46:06 - 00:17:55:01
Kristen
Let me let me more formally introduce you, doctor Jeff Weber, celebrity veterinarian, veterinarian, two celebrities and just all around amazing guy.

00:17:55:04 - 00:17:59:24
Dr. Jeff Werber
Well, thank you. I don't know who's celebrities are, but.

00:17:59:26 - 00:18:05:22
Dr. Jeff Werber
No. Know. It's you know, it's I always say it's hard to work in Hollywood and not have some celebrity clients.

00:18:05:22 - 00:18:06:07
Kristen
Of course.

00:18:06:09 - 00:18:12:10
Dr. Jeff Werber
I, you know, it's nice when they bond to you. I've had some for many, many years. Right. And, you know, it's fun.

00:18:12:17 - 00:18:15:20
Kristen
As a matter of fact, some of them are texting you as we were waiting to record this podcast.

00:18:15:20 - 00:18:21:21
Chris
Probably, yes. who would have thunk? Celebrities being a little pushy? I don't know. It seems off to me.

00:18:21:23 - 00:18:28:09
Dr. Jeff Werber
But yeah, it's great is when I get a referral from a celebrity about another celebrity.

00:18:28:15 - 00:18:29:07
Kristen
Oh that's cool.

00:18:29:07 - 00:18:30:17
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yes, that does happen. It's really.

00:18:30:17 - 00:18:31:26
Chris
Cool. We call that networking.

00:18:31:26 - 00:18:35:10
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah, exactly. But they the fact that they think of me, that's their.

00:18:35:12 - 00:18:53:08
Kristen
Absolutely ultimate compliment. So one of the things that I think is so impressive about you is you practice still practice medicine full time. You, you work with your son's company, er, vets, which we're gonna talk about in a second. and you're just so involved in what's going on in the pet industry and, and then the vet space.

00:18:53:08 - 00:18:54:01
Kristen
How do you do it all?

00:18:54:01 - 00:19:13:26
Dr. Jeff Werber
It's a great space. First of all. I love it. I'm one of those guys that wanted to be better since I was five, according to my parents. and so. So here it is. I mean, my 40th year, who did my 40th year practice, and it is like day one. I still love it. I cannot imagine not doing it.

00:19:14:01 - 00:19:22:07
Dr. Jeff Werber
And it's that bond that I, I sort of form with my clients and my patients. And to me, that's what makes it so worth it. It's great.

00:19:22:13 - 00:19:24:17
Kristen
Oh that's wonderful. That's why they love you so much.

00:19:24:17 - 00:19:25:06
Dr. Jeff Werber
It's my golf.

00:19:25:13 - 00:19:25:26
Kristen
It's your golf.

00:19:25:27 - 00:19:27:26
Dr. Jeff Werber
People say golf I yeah, I go to work every day.

00:19:27:27 - 00:19:47:25
Chris
Golf I golf is yeah, I heal in-house. It's the same thing. I would imagine that golf is probably honestly more frustrating. I'm practicing medicine, although I've never been a doctor, so I don't think I could make a fair comparison. though I do struggle on the golf course, so talk to us a bit about, this company er, vets and what it seeks out to do.

00:19:47:25 - 00:20:12:23
Dr. Jeff Werber
So AirVet we I actually started the its predecessor was called live DVM and we the goal was because I've been concierge my entire career, how do we bring that value to most veterinarians that aren't willing to give their cell phone out? Want to actually have a life? I don't know what that means. And and so what happens to those patients and clients when they're not around or not unavailable?

00:20:13:00 - 00:20:30:22
Dr. Jeff Werber
So since I know the value of the benefit of being able to converse, to talk to one of my clients live real time on video, I said, you know, why don't we bring that to every vet who doesn't have the time? It just doesn't choose not to want to do that. All right. So we started live DVM. my son was watching.

00:20:30:22 - 00:20:54:19
Dr. Jeff Werber
We were doing, marketing was was a little difficult for us at first. And the first thing my son, who's a techie business guy, he said that nobody knows what DVM is. I go with you. I know because I'm a son of one, but. Right. Most people don't know. Case in point, one of my partners, in live DVM, has a huge, he's been in the pet business for years.

00:20:54:19 - 00:21:10:20
Dr. Jeff Werber
Huge. One of the better, microchip companies. His name was chance. And chance was at dinner one night we happened to be talking to. And Brad had heard a lot of noise in the background chats. Where you. I'm dinner with some friends. Oh, are you some friends? That's great. Give the phone to the guy to right. So gets the phone to the guy, right?

00:21:10:22 - 00:21:19:09
Dr. Jeff Werber
Brad says hi, my name is Brandon. I'm friends. What's DVM? No idea. Passed the phone. No way. It's five people, not one.

00:21:19:11 - 00:21:22:21
Chris
That's not where I get my driver's license. Right, Jeff, you.

00:21:22:24 - 00:21:40:00
Dr. Jeff Werber
So that's, Brandon kind of took over the helm. He. He had an investor friend who said, what are you doing now? I ran it, so Saul is interested in a company who's working with you guys? I'm working my dad. He's got some pet telemedicine company, but doesn't know what the heck he's doing. And the guy goes pet telemedicine.

00:21:40:02 - 00:21:46:17
Dr. Jeff Werber
And Brandon says, yeah, he goes, Brandon, if you were running that company, I would invest right now. Wow. And the guy wrote a check for a half $1 million?

00:21:46:17 - 00:21:47:09
Kristen
No way.

00:21:47:11 - 00:22:11:27
Dr. Jeff Werber
And Brandon became CEO and he is doing an amazing job. So I'm CVO, TV officer. He's CEO and we are now working. We have got several hundred thousand users. We have about 2200 veterinarians across the country, and we are available 24 seven. And what we started doing now, which has been the best thing ever, we are going to large companies because we figure 70% of the U.S. households own pets, right?

00:22:11:28 - 00:22:36:02
Dr. Jeff Werber
That means 70% of the employee force probably has pets. So why don't we provide pet care to those 2,070% of employees? Right. So we've gone to large companies. We have Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Synchrony Financial, Samsung, Adobe, working on Nike, working on AI, large companies like that and providing it as an unemployed that I say well, and the employers love it.

00:22:36:05 - 00:22:42:08
Dr. Jeff Werber
It's engaging. It's forming that bond with their employees to stay because we're taking care of your pets too.

00:22:42:11 - 00:22:44:27
Kristen
And don't tell us how it works from the pet parent side.

00:22:45:00 - 00:23:01:29
Dr. Jeff Werber
So so you you download the app right on the App Store, Google Play, it's called Air Vet. You put down is if you're working, if it's one of your companies that you're working for, you put down your employee, okay. Email that you personally okay. It automatically goes, we know who that employer is because they're on our email.

00:23:01:29 - 00:23:11:19
Dr. Jeff Werber
So sure. And you would you say you want to talk to a vet. You want to schedule an appointment. And with it, if you want to talk to a vet now within 1 to 3 minutes. Wow. That's pretty impressive.

00:23:11:19 - 00:23:25:13
Chris
Yeah. One thing I'll say, as a millennial who gets anxiety when I have to pick up the phone to order a pizza, this certainly would take a lot of that anxiety out of having a contact event or find a vet. Is that something that you find is like one of the traps?

00:23:25:16 - 00:23:32:07
Dr. Jeff Werber
Because first of all, I was I personally a CVO have, taken over 4000 virtual visits.

00:23:32:07 - 00:23:33:00
Chris
Wow.

00:23:33:02 - 00:23:39:24
Dr. Jeff Werber
And I will tell you, of the 4000, probably 200 needed emergency that really?

00:23:39:24 - 00:23:40:08
Kristen
Yeah.

00:23:40:11 - 00:23:44:14
Dr. Jeff Werber
So that tells you the vast majority are not emergencies, right? It's the peace of mind.

00:23:44:21 - 00:23:45:00
Chris
Yes.

00:23:45:00 - 00:24:08:25
Dr. Jeff Werber
The suggestions is I call it tell it advice, tell educate. Right, right. It's not necessarily always telemedicine though. Now in many states, California included, if I can establish the v CPR, that's the veterinary client patient relationship. We can establish it virtually. And then I can actually prescribe medication. Wow. It's great. That's going to be a game changer. That's the way it was in human medicine all these years.

00:24:08:28 - 00:24:21:08
Dr. Jeff Werber
Right now in very, very same 11 or 12 states have already, modified that VCR where they can establish it virtually. And I think there are going to be more states to follow this. There's a relative shortage of veterinarians.

00:24:21:08 - 00:24:29:09
Kristen
Yeah. And this addresses a hot topic here that we've been hearing a lot about at the show. And that's accessibility to veterinary care and cost of veterinary care.

00:24:29:12 - 00:24:53:29
Dr. Jeff Werber
All has gone up. And you know what. We can try to do an air raid is trying to limit it. We're trying to bring practical medicine sure into the arena. And not just academic medics. Sure. And I've been a practical doctor for my entire career, and I know the value. I know the value of building bonds with my clients, and that's what it I mean, we want the users to to trust Air Vet as their alternative source when their doctor's not available.

00:24:54:00 - 00:25:05:26
Dr. Jeff Werber
Right? Of course, if you need to be seen, go to your door, of course. But sometimes you don't know or you don't know. Is it a rush you have to do today, or can I make an appointment for a week for now? Because I got a busy week this week. Air vet will be the solution.

00:25:06:02 - 00:25:12:00
Chris
So you you said you've done 4000 virtual visits yourself. How many other veterinarians are part of Air Vet?

00:25:12:06 - 00:25:17:24
Dr. Jeff Werber
We have about 2200 that are signed on and active at any time. About 600.

00:25:17:24 - 00:25:18:20
Chris
Vets. Okay.

00:25:18:22 - 00:25:20:02
Dr. Jeff Werber
So we can we can definitely handle.

00:25:20:02 - 00:25:23:24
Chris
And these are all, generally speaking, vets who have a practice somewhere and they're just.

00:25:23:24 - 00:25:42:23
Dr. Jeff Werber
Looking for a lot of relief that like to do this. So they're not relieving. Right. Gives them an opportunity to to make some money. Right. Right. And you know look I enjoy the conversations I have with clients. And in fact that's probably my biggest problem at work is I'm always so overworked just because I'm spending too much. I mean, I know what I need to do in the first five minutes.

00:25:42:23 - 00:25:48:01
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah, right. How Billy's doing his baseball, and I want to see how high we sit. Bruce.

00:25:48:03 - 00:25:51:00
Kristen
Your staff is probably okay. I was driving you out of the room into the.

00:25:51:00 - 00:25:54:24
Chris
They actually have one of those comical, large looking canes to to get them away.

00:25:54:24 - 00:25:59:17
Dr. Jeff Werber
From right then. They're not. I'm not sure it would be a three, four, five, six.

00:25:59:20 - 00:26:07:21
Kristen
So, what else are you seeing at the show that's exciting for you? And in terms of this whole, you know, veterinary innovation for me is energy.

00:26:07:21 - 00:26:27:10
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah. I love to see that. it's seeing how there are certain trends. People would be amazed at how many food companies are here. Sure. Yeah. And one of the questions I always get is, doc what's the best food. Well me telling you what's the best food for your dog is like me telling you what's your kid's best ice cream.

00:26:27:12 - 00:26:39:20
Dr. Jeff Werber
I mean there's so many out there right. There is no I always start there is no best. There are a lot of good ones. And it all depends specifically on what is right for your dog. First of all, most importantly, does he eat it? If he doesn't like it.

00:26:39:23 - 00:26:40:23
Kristen
That's not the right matter.

00:26:40:23 - 00:26:58:24
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah, I mean, you could buy that Rolls-Royce without an engine and seats. That's so good. Yeah. So? So you got to go with what would they like? Just leave their coat nice and shiny. Okay. do they have nice normal stools? They have lots of energy. Well, if you're checking. Although he said, what are you changing for? Are you asking me for it?

00:26:58:24 - 00:27:23:09
Dr. Jeff Werber
Right. You got the perfect food for your dog. Now are there some recommendations made by veterinary? If there's a problem? Of course. And that's when you work with the veterinarian. But don't be fooled by the grain freeze, okay? Veterinarians, nutritionists all over grain is not terrible for your dog that sometimes it's good. So don't buy it raw. That's a sore spot for me.

00:27:23:12 - 00:27:42:27
Dr. Jeff Werber
Well, God, I mean, in nature. Their ancestors used to eat raw. Yeah, but that was a different gut. Flora. It's the same as the investigated dog anymore. So their dogs that get Listeria and Campylobacter and E coli and salmonella, because you fed that raw meat, that's like going to regular store, buying a hunk of fish and eating it raw.

00:27:43:00 - 00:27:45:01
Dr. Jeff Werber
Oh, you got to buy sushi grade there, right?

00:27:45:05 - 00:27:45:15
Kristen
Right.

00:27:45:19 - 00:28:06:21
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah. The difference. Right. Test the fish for bacteria. I mean, it's not the same. So when it comes to raw look for, process like freeze dry, right. Or HPP, which is high pressure pasteurization or they call it high pressure processing. flash freeze. There are other ways to take raw, not cook it, not destroy the nutritional value.

00:28:06:22 - 00:28:21:13
Dr. Jeff Werber
Right. The vitamins and minerals, but to make sure we're not getting all those bad bacteria ingested by your pet. Right? So, I go to the trends. I like to see what's interesting. I'm seeing less of this year that I've seen here. This is the CBD craze.

00:28:21:13 - 00:28:23:05
Kristen
Yes, I noticed that, too.

00:28:23:07 - 00:28:25:27
Dr. Jeff Werber
And I thought every other booth.

00:28:26:04 - 00:28:27:14
Kristen
Was CBD for the.

00:28:27:17 - 00:28:29:10
Dr. Jeff Werber
CBD. So now.

00:28:29:12 - 00:28:30:19
Kristen
Do you have any idea what I think?

00:28:30:19 - 00:28:38:26
Dr. Jeff Werber
I just I think veterinarians are accepting it. Yep. it's readily available and I think people are just, you know, give it a try. Right. It's safe.

00:28:38:26 - 00:28:56:03
Chris
And one of the things, you know, when you I've done this my ninth Global Pet Expo. So one of the things we always say is not every business is going to be successful. That's I guess that's just the reality of the situation. And when a trend emerges like CBD. Yes. Because we're starting to see less CBD companies doesn't mean that CBD is, more or less viable.

00:28:56:07 - 00:29:11:12
Chris
It simply means a lot of people jumped on to that trend, and now the winners remain people who have figured it out, the ones with the best product, the ones with the best marketing, the ones with the best, leaders. So it doesn't necessarily mean that CBD is more or less viable. It's just we've only got the winners now.

00:29:11:12 - 00:29:30:07
Dr. Jeff Werber
Right? And and what I also love is this dog TV. Yes. I mean, when you think about it and now going to a trend where you're going to be having programing for the consumer because the pet parent, what makes a good pet parent is an educated pet parent. So if we can educate those pet parents, then we have better pets.

00:29:30:13 - 00:29:35:14
Kristen
Healthy pets, and the pet parent has to turn the TV on anyway, right? So if I sit down and watch.

00:29:35:17 - 00:29:42:13
Dr. Jeff Werber
And they're a lot of programing, they could see already. I mean, you have other networks that are all about animals. Why not? Why not dog TV?

00:29:42:15 - 00:29:44:07
Kristen
Exactly. So it's not.

00:29:44:09 - 00:29:45:03
Dr. Jeff Werber
Just showing that it's.

00:29:45:05 - 00:29:54:02
Kristen
Fantastic. Thanks for the plug in because you get it. So what else are you doing these days besides you've got your practice and your ear rats and you probably don't have a lot of extra time.

00:29:54:04 - 00:30:07:18
Dr. Jeff Werber
I do not know. But they say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. I do, I, I just got back from I go to a lot of the trade shows. One of my favorite is the Colorado Vet Association. Yeah. Has called sky's ski. Ski?

00:30:07:20 - 00:30:08:11
Kristen
Oh.

00:30:08:13 - 00:30:28:24
Dr. Jeff Werber
So I'm a snowboarder, and and so is in, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was fantastic. The segment, the whole lectures that were on it, they picked a subject. It typically was ophthalmology. And I do a lot of ophthalmic work and ophthalmic surgery. So I was thrilled to be at this conference and I still learned a lot. Yeah. this.

00:30:28:26 - 00:30:29:10
Kristen
Is very eye.

00:30:29:10 - 00:30:44:13
Dr. Jeff Werber
Opening. Oh, very eye opening. Yes. Very good. Good putting. So, so it was it was great. I got a BMX and Western in here and, what else do I do? I, I get enough free time, I do, I do, I do.

00:30:44:13 - 00:30:46:08
Chris
Sound like you're trying to convince yourself to.

00:30:46:10 - 00:30:56:29
Dr. Jeff Werber
I am I play basketball at Tuesday night. I won't miss that. That's my I live for it, so I'm good, I'm good. I don't play golf. And that takes a lot of time.

00:30:57:03 - 00:31:00:21
Chris
It does. It takes a lot of time. Don't. Don't tell my boss how often goes.

00:31:00:25 - 00:31:12:05
Dr. Jeff Werber
That would be wasted time. Yeah. Okay. Because you don't you can't be very good at it. Right? Right. And, I just, I'm in a good balance. Work life balance, whatever that means. Whatever it is for me, I hit it.

00:31:12:10 - 00:31:13:02
Chris
There we go.

00:31:13:02 - 00:31:21:27
Kristen
So if you are listening and you're an employer, they can reach out to er vets to talk about getting the program into their, into their company, for the employees.

00:31:22:04 - 00:31:42:08
Dr. Jeff Werber
For the employees. I will tell you that what the employers like about it is we're very reasonably priced. Okay. The the key really is that they've noted less time off of work because of. Wow. Sure. Right. And the employees note that, oh my God, my boss loves me and my pet. They're taking care of us.

00:31:42:08 - 00:31:42:21
Kristen
Yes.

00:31:42:21 - 00:31:44:14
Dr. Jeff Werber
So what it does, it's a win win.

00:31:44:16 - 00:31:45:02
Chris
There we go.

00:31:45:02 - 00:31:59:02
Dr. Jeff Werber
And we had, as I said, I think my son told me Adobe in the first quarter, they had more, calls, virtual visits requested by their employees than they expected in a year.

00:31:59:04 - 00:32:03:25
Kristen
Really, in the first, first quarter, quarter for the whole year. Oh, that's pretty cool.

00:32:03:26 - 00:32:21:02
Chris
I mean, makes a lot of sense. You on the side of caution when it comes to health, right? So if I, you know, I don't know anything about animal health, my cat starts acting up. My first instinct is going to be I got to take a sick day. I got to bring the cat in. Right. So wouldn't it be great to just be able to send a text and them to say, no, your cat just has gas, right?

00:32:21:05 - 00:32:31:14
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah. It's live video calls right now. We we do text with. It's our technicians. Sure. so the veteran nurses, their right techs, they can do texting when you speak to a vet, it's going to be live.

00:32:31:14 - 00:32:32:05
Chris
Face to face.

00:32:32:05 - 00:32:37:00
Dr. Jeff Werber
Face to face chat because if a picture is worth a thousand words, a live video is worth 100,000.

00:32:37:00 - 00:32:38:09
Kristen
That's true. Sure. Good point.

00:32:38:11 - 00:32:43:02
Dr. Jeff Werber
I could see so much just by looking at how that pet is running around, interacting with.

00:32:43:02 - 00:32:44:00
Kristen
Their owner body language.

00:32:44:00 - 00:32:52:14
Dr. Jeff Werber
Whatever it is exactly. Body language, whatever it is. I can tell you it's not an emergency. This dog's not going to drop dead right in the next, you know? Yeah. And today. Exactly.

00:32:52:15 - 00:32:54:19
Kristen
And peace of mind is so valuable right.

00:32:54:20 - 00:33:16:00
Dr. Jeff Werber
And they and they the pet parents love the engagement also. And once it case open, it's open for 72 hours. So even if we don't resolve the case today right I just visit this virtual visit. They have three days. Yeah. Just put a request back in. It goes to the same doctor. And I said, oh, doc, I tried what you were saying and he's still he's a little better, but not much better.

00:33:16:03 - 00:33:39:28
Dr. Jeff Werber
We could talk a little bit. And then the doctor after the consult does their so subjective objective assessment plan. And that goes part of the medical record. And every if they have a veterinarian we can send it on to their veterinarian. And every single virtual visit is recorded. So when someone said no but that the doctor can tell me that and we go back and look at the video,

00:33:40:01 - 00:33:42:15
Chris
Play the tape. Yes.

00:33:42:17 - 00:33:43:10
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yep.

00:33:43:12 - 00:33:45:28
Kristen
You know, it's like the modern day house call.

00:33:46:01 - 00:33:46:28
Dr. Jeff Werber
Yeah. Yeah.

00:33:47:00 - 00:33:48:12
Kristen
Yep I love it. What a.

00:33:48:12 - 00:33:49:12
Chris
Brilliant idea. Yeah.

00:33:49:17 - 00:33:50:08
Dr. Jeff Werber
So we're loving it.

00:33:50:15 - 00:33:52:20
Kristen
Well best of luck to you and your son with our vets.

00:33:52:21 - 00:33:53:03
Dr. Jeff Werber
Thank you.

00:33:53:03 - 00:33:56:18
Kristen
And it's great to see you again. And thanks for sitting down. Chat with us today. Thanks for.

00:33:56:18 - 00:33:57:09
Chris
Coming in.

00:33:57:11 - 00:33:57:28
Dr. Jeff Werber
Enjoyed it very.

00:33:57:28 - 00:34:02:25
Kristen
Much. All right. The product of the week. All right. Because you go first with your product okay great.

00:34:02:25 - 00:34:32:14
Chris
Well I have a really fun one here today. This was, sent to me by a coworker. the company name is called Swell Gelato. and as a proud Italian man myself, I never turned down the chance for gelato. And honestly, I think our animals should be treated to some of the similar fine things in life. There's this really interesting trend happening in pet products right now where we're starting to treat our pets more and more like people.

00:34:32:14 - 00:34:52:13
Chris
So I've seen, you know, wine for cats and beer for dogs, but this is the first time I've seen gelato for dogs, and it acts as either a standalone cup or it comes in a tube as a topper. comes in all sorts of different flavors. Obviously sugar free sugar is very bad for your animals. Don't be giving your animals sugar.

00:34:52:18 - 00:35:00:12
Chris
Obviously sugar free. Obviously tested and made for animals, and I've tasted a bit of it myself. Well, I won't say it's the best. Well, I won't say.

00:35:00:12 - 00:35:01:02
Kristen
There's no sugar.

00:35:01:02 - 00:35:15:08
Chris
Definitely edible as a human. Definitely edible for people to, So if you see it on your shelves, you feel like your dog's been a particularly good boy this week. Maybe they just had a difficult visit to the to the vet. maybe treat them to some swell gelato.

00:35:15:10 - 00:35:17:28
Kristen
Awesome. And and what flavors did you notice? The flavors?

00:35:17:28 - 00:35:34:27
Chris
I so the flavors range, the two that I've noticed, they do they do some fruity stuff, and then they also do the savory, but, it'd be really interesting. I don't know about you, like, maybe like a tuna fish gelato. So, as I said to you guys out there, I don't know, but maybe Fido will appreciate it.

00:35:34:27 - 00:35:44:07
Chris
So give it a whirl. proud APA members, they here at Global Pet Expo. so if you're listening to this and you're about to go into day three of the show, maybe go check out their booth.

00:35:44:09 - 00:35:54:14
Kristen
Awesome. All right, so I've got a cat product I want to tell you about. it's from world's best cat litter, and it's called Poop Fighter. Now you have a cat, so this may interest you.

00:35:54:14 - 00:35:55:14
Chris
I feel like I'm the poop, fighter.

00:35:55:18 - 00:36:18:21
Kristen
You. You are. You actually are the poop fighter. But this is litter that's actually going to make your job scooping the poop even better, even easier. Now, from what I understand, world's best cat litters all natural, cat litter made from corn that is highly compressed, so it's super absorbent. But what's unique about this new poop fighter is that it uses better nickel.

00:36:18:21 - 00:36:40:21
Kristen
So let's see, what do they call it? It's like but some kind of botanical technology. Botanical blockers. That's it. Botanical blockers. That kind of way down the stinky, the stink. Is it? I know, so it doesn't waft up. Okay, okay. So I'm maybe I'm butchering how this actually works, but from what I understand, it just keeps it so you don't really smell it.

00:36:40:29 - 00:36:48:27
Kristen
You might smell a little bit. Actually. Got to scoop it. Yeah, but you're not going to, like, all of a sudden know that your cat just relieved himself in the box.

00:36:49:00 - 00:36:50:11
Chris
So that sounds like a deal to me.

00:36:50:12 - 00:37:08:12
Kristen
Pretty good technology and and actually me, myself and Doctor Courtney Campbell are going to be doing a Facebook Live, with Facebook. With Facebook. Well, obviously. Yeah, with Facebook, we usually. And with the world's best cat litter live on Tuesday night, 8 p.m. eastern, talking about all things cat poop.

00:37:08:14 - 00:37:09:01
Chris
All things.

00:37:09:06 - 00:37:09:27
Kristen
Things.

00:37:10:00 - 00:37:16:27
Chris
I think there's some parts of cat poop I don't want to talk about, but I still I'll still tune in. Okay, I still tune in. Sounds good. All right.

00:37:16:29 - 00:37:22:03
Kristen
yeah. So I think that's I think I think that's the end.

00:37:22:06 - 00:37:39:18
Chris
I think that's the end of the segment. Yeah. Well, thanks, everybody for joining us. day two here at our, Global Pet Expo, our special. Well, not quite live, but coming to much faster than usually. Thank you. Ron, episode of the Powell podcast. we appreciate you guys listening.

00:37:39:20 - 00:37:52:26
Kristen
Yes, thanks. It's in the can for day two. We've got one more day to go. Some more awesome. One more products, and, yeah, I know you've had a rough time because, you know, it's the show is like, so popular that you've had to work like it is.

00:37:52:26 - 00:38:15:02
Chris
There's a lot of people here, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Of course not. Yeah. So thank you, everybody for listening. remember to submit your questions on dog tv.com/pal podcast. You can leave a voice memo. you could rate and review on your favorite podcast sites. Please give us your best five star rating. If you don't think we deserve a five star rating, give us a five star rating anywhere and then tell us in the comments what we could do better.

00:38:15:04 - 00:38:17:27
Chris
thanks, everybody for joining us today. Bye. Pets add life.