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Fantastic Felines with CheckOut Vet · Ask The Experts

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Speaker 1: Thirteen ten WIBA and ask the experts. Brought to you
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Speaker 1: this morning by Checkout Veterinary and join this morning from
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Speaker 1: Checkout Veterinary is doctor Marty Greer. Of course, doctor Greer
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Speaker 1: recognized as Veterinarian of the Year from the Westminster Countel Club.
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Speaker 1: You can learn more about doctor Greer. You can learn
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Speaker 1: more also about checkout Veterinary. All on the website check
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Speaker 1: out vet dot com. That's all one word. Checkout vet
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Speaker 1: dot com. Great website and resource to learn more about
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Speaker 1: checkout Veterinary, about things that make it so unique, the
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Speaker 1: very cool drive up days, and a little bit more again,
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Speaker 1: all on the website checkout vet dot com. They are
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Speaker 1: there for you Monday through Wednesday, Friday through Sunday nine
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Speaker 1: until five. And you say, well, who's there for me
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Speaker 1: on Thursday? Well, check in vet is there for you
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Speaker 1: Monday through Friday nine until five. So they've got you
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Speaker 1: and your pet covered. Great day to start that relationship.
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Speaker 1: Teleph a number of Checkout Veterinary six oh eight three
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Speaker 1: one eight sixty seven hundred. That's six oh eight three
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Speaker 1: one eight sixty seven hundred, as mentioned. Joining us this
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Speaker 1: morning is doctor Marty Greer. Doctor, how you doing this week.
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Speaker 2: I'm doing great and I have such good news that
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Speaker 2: starting in April, will be open seven days a week
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Speaker 2: at checkout because we've hired two new doctors, so going
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Speaker 2: to change the schedule. We're excited about that.
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Speaker 1: That is super exciting. And we're going to talk about
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Speaker 1: cats this week. But before we get to given our
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Speaker 1: cats all the all their needed and do attention real
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Speaker 1: quick for folks that don't know check out Veterinary. You
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Speaker 1: mentioned right now. Of course check out vet on Thursdays
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Speaker 1: it's closed. Part of this is veteran finding a good
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Speaker 1: vet for a vet for a clinic. That's that's a
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Speaker 1: challenge these days. I think a lot of folks may
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Speaker 1: be surprised by that.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, just like a lot of other industries were short
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Speaker 2: of staff, so it's been hard to find doctors and
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Speaker 2: hard to find staff. We've been very fortunate that we've
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Speaker 2: been able to hire between our four locations five doctors
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Speaker 2: in the last two months. So we're very excited that
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Speaker 2: we can help with expanding the hours and expanding the
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Speaker 2: available appointments for people. So we're going to be able
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Speaker 2: to have capacity all of our locations. Lamira Marshall and
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Speaker 2: the two wins on Prairie. So it's going to be
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Speaker 2: a game changer for people that are struggling to get
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Speaker 2: in with clinics. Sometimes, even if you've had a pet
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Speaker 2: established there, if you bring in a new pet, they're like, no,
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Speaker 2: we can't see you. So we're going to have all
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Speaker 2: kinds of capacities. So please, please, if you're struggling to
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Speaker 2: get an appointment, give us a call. We're going to
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Speaker 2: get you in.
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Speaker 1: That number six three eight sixty seven hundred three one
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Speaker 1: eight sixty seven hundred. More information available online checkout vet
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Speaker 1: dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. If you need
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Speaker 1: another reason to get on in, don't forget that first visit.
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Speaker 1: It is free. You get that exam free at checkout Veterinary.
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Speaker 1: And again, things like testing and other things there are
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Speaker 1: fees available. It's spelled out black and white. But that
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Speaker 1: first exam itself, that will be free to you and
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Speaker 1: your pet. Again, you can learn more online the website
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Speaker 1: checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. And
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Speaker 1: doctor we talk about you know, I'm just amazed by
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Speaker 1: what a what a fantastic clinic you have at checkout Veterinarian.
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Speaker 1: What a great design it is, And I've got to
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Speaker 1: I guess cats benefit quite a bit from kind of
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Speaker 1: that unique design at checkout veterinary. What a great thing
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Speaker 1: for I know kiddies can get a little skittish. Having
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Speaker 1: the opportunity to keep them in the car and where
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Speaker 1: they're comfortable has got to really really be good for
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Speaker 1: those kiddies.
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Speaker 2: Oh, it's just incredible how much more comfortable they are.
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Speaker 2: I have pictures after pictures after pictures of them just
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Speaker 2: laying on the damn table, laying on the floor because
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Speaker 2: instead of having to get out of the carrier or
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Speaker 2: out of the car and take the carrier outside through
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Speaker 2: the weather and then in through the lobby and there's
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Speaker 2: barking dogs and on activity, you just drive right into
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Speaker 2: the garage bay. You have your own private bay, you
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Speaker 2: have your own private examer and you never have a
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Speaker 2: lobby waiting room. You never have to see a dog,
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Speaker 2: they never smell a dog. They're just in their own
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Speaker 2: little compartments, and so it makes them a lot more comfortable.
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Speaker 2: Even though cats aren't notorious for loving to be in
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Speaker 2: the car, your car is still safer than the exam
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Speaker 2: room and the lobby at a lot of veterinary products
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Speaker 2: so they're much more comfortable, a lot more at so
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Speaker 2: that means fewer drugs, less stress, easier for us to
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Speaker 2: handle them, to get blood and vaccines and all the
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Speaker 2: things that we need to do to cats. And let's
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Speaker 2: say said, we don't do a lot of nice things
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Speaker 2: to pets when they come to the that clinic, so
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Speaker 2: like when you go to the dentist, you always kind
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Speaker 2: of count on it being a little bit like what
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Speaker 2: are you going to do now? So it's a much
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Speaker 2: more comfortable situation for them, and we want to cater
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Speaker 2: to those little kiddies that struggle with those trips. Now,
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Speaker 2: if they still are stressed, we can put them on
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Speaker 2: drugs like AABA petan to help them be more comfortable.
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Speaker 2: My Dodgers are very good at handling cats. My staff
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Speaker 2: is very good, so they're as comfortable as they can
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Speaker 2: be in those situations. We work very hard to be
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Speaker 2: stressed free, fear free as much as possible, knowing that
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Speaker 2: a blood sample still is a blood sample with cats.
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Speaker 1: And you know, I think some of the greatest pets
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Speaker 1: I've ever had, and some of the best pets. I
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Speaker 1: have two cats right now. Personally, they are just amazing
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Speaker 1: little creatures, great companions, just really really cool little characters.
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Speaker 1: But all cats are, just like dogs, very unique, and
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Speaker 1: there are those some commonalities as well. Are there certain
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Speaker 1: things with especially if you get a kitten, for example,
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Speaker 1: that you want to kind of get them started on
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Speaker 1: to really prepare them for for one, a good good
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Speaker 1: relationship with the family, but also a good relationship with
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Speaker 1: the vat. Are there like things that folks can be
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Speaker 1: doing early on with their cats to really set them
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Speaker 1: on that kind of on that right journey doctor, And.
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Speaker 2: That's such a great question. The answer is yes. You
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Speaker 2: can get them used to being in a carrier in
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Speaker 2: pat taxi with a door or with a zipper front.
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Speaker 2: So if you get amused to that when they're a
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Speaker 2: little babies, they're a lot more comfortable. So leave it out,
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Speaker 2: Let them go in and out, Let them go in
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Speaker 2: and take a nap, have a little snack in there.
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Speaker 2: When we have kittens that come to the veterinary clinics,
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Speaker 2: we offer chicken baby food or Chiro's or something that
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Speaker 2: they want to nibble on, and usually by the time
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Speaker 2: they are adults, they're like, no, I'm good. But as kittens,
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Speaker 2: deli chicken baby food out of our jars or out
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Speaker 2: of our hands. That that makes them just a lot
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Speaker 2: more comfortable. And of course, you know, we have warm towels,
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Speaker 2: and we have the pheromone sprays and all the things
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Speaker 2: that we can do to try and make them as
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Speaker 2: at ease as possible. There's a couple of really good websites,
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Speaker 2: the Cat Friendly and the feline friendly websites aren't very
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Speaker 2: useful in having videos on them for how to acclimate
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Speaker 2: your cat to the carrier, put them in the car
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Speaker 2: and take them.
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Speaker 1: For a ride.
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Speaker 2: You know, you don't have to just put them in
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Speaker 2: the car when they come to the vet clinic. You
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Speaker 2: can take them out for a ride. Because cats, you know,
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Speaker 2: they're not like dogs. Cats are not small dogs and
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Speaker 2: dogs are not be cats, so we can't classify them
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Speaker 2: the same way. But there are cats that get very
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Speaker 2: good at writing in the car. When I was a
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Speaker 2: BET student, I had a cat that I obtained out
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Speaker 2: in California, and by the time I graduated, she had
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Speaker 2: about twenty thousand miles on her because we've gone back
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Speaker 2: and forth across the country multiple times. When she was
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Speaker 2: with me and she would just you know, just hang
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Speaker 2: out on the front seat. I had at that time,
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Speaker 2: a manual transmission. That tells me how old I am.
6:52
Speaker 2: I had a manual transition and I had a sister
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Speaker 2: that was learning to drive, and I said, if you
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Speaker 2: can shift gears without kalamazoo falling off the seat, you
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Speaker 2: are doing a good job of driving the manual transmission.
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Speaker 2: So that was our litmus test for do you know
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Speaker 2: how to use a clutch? Yeah, exactly. She was great
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Speaker 2: in the car because she had so many miles on
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Speaker 2: her that she just got really accustomed to it. So
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Speaker 2: those are some things that you can do that are
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Speaker 2: pretty easy to do and really make a big difference
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Speaker 2: for the cat in their ability to acclimate. The other
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Speaker 2: thing with kittens is I think kittens are best raised
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Speaker 2: in pairs. I think puppies should be raised as single.
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Speaker 2: I don't think that puppies do as well socializing with
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Speaker 2: people if they have another puppy at the same time.
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Speaker 2: But if you have two kittens at the same time,
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Speaker 2: oh my goodness, they love each other. They're much more
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Speaker 2: social with other cats come into your life, with other
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Speaker 2: people that come into your life. So that ability to
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Speaker 2: raise two kittens, it's not twice as much work. You're
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Speaker 2: going to change the litterbox. Anyway, you might as well
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Speaker 2: have two, so they're just a lot easier to live with.
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Speaker 2: If you've chained two kittens and they grow up together,
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Speaker 2: they're a lot more fun.
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Speaker 1: Talking this morning with doctor Marty Grere of check out
7:57
Speaker 1: Veterinaria online. Check out vet. That's checkout vet dot com.
8:02
Speaker 1: Great data, learn more about checkout veterinary. The website is
8:05
Speaker 1: a great resource to start that journey. Even better, pick
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Speaker 1: up phone, give them call great data, make an appointment
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Speaker 1: and start that relationship. Six o eight three one eight
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Speaker 1: sixty seven hundred. That's three one eight sixty seven hundred.
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Speaker 1: Don't forget that first visit that exam. It is free
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Speaker 1: to your pet again, all the details, everything you want
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Speaker 1: to know. Checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com.
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Speaker 1: Cats are I know they are. Dogs are predators as well,
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Speaker 1: but cats are very efficient predators and part of their play,
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Speaker 1: and that is is trying to take care of everything
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Speaker 1: from bugs to any little furry creature that may come
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Speaker 1: near come near your house. They are they're ready to go.
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Speaker 1: That obviously puts them in in an area where they
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Speaker 1: can become vulnerable, and things like vaccines and other things
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Speaker 1: are especially important not just for your dog, but for
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Speaker 1: your cat as well, aren't they.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think a lot of people assume that
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Speaker 2: when they have a kitten, they get or payed or
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Speaker 2: newter and they get the vaccines as babies, and then
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Speaker 2: they just figure they don't need to go to the vet.
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Speaker 2: And I've seen cats that we haven't seen a veterinarian
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Speaker 2: for twenty years, And to me, that's a little bit shocking,
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Speaker 2: because there's a lot of things that we need to
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Speaker 2: be protecting our cats against with vaccines, with wellness visits,
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Speaker 2: with blood work when they start to enter the geriatric
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Speaker 2: age category, which is somewhere around twelve to fourteen years
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Speaker 2: of age. And if we know early on that we
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Speaker 2: have a cat with a kidney problem, which is very common,
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Speaker 2: like a third of the cats we see and the
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Speaker 2: elderly age trip end up in kiddie failure or syra disease.
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Speaker 2: The earlier we diagnose the diseases, the better we can
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Speaker 2: manage them. The longer you get to spend lifetime with
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Speaker 2: your cat. So it's important that you're paying attention that
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Speaker 2: you're coming in once a year, and that the cats
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Speaker 2: are comfortable getting in the car and coming to the
9:45
Speaker 2: back clinic so that you do have that wellness. Is
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Speaker 2: that if we have them come in and they've lost
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Speaker 2: some weight, we're going to be on top of that
9:53
Speaker 2: right away that something's not right. If they've gained too
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Speaker 2: much weight, We're going to discuss with you what kind
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Speaker 2: of nutritional things that you can do or what kind
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Speaker 2: of diet we could put them on to help them,
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Speaker 2: because weight is a big reflection of how health is,
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Speaker 2: and it's really hard to weigh your cat at home,
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Speaker 2: so sometimes you don't notice some things. We're going to
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Speaker 2: look at their cheek, We're going to listen to their hearts.
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Speaker 2: I mean, we're going to do things that aren't routinely
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Speaker 2: done in your house. So we're going to pick up
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Speaker 2: on some disorders and diseases that we need to manage
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Speaker 2: when they're younger, so that you do have that longer
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Speaker 2: lifetime experience to spend with that beloved cat or cats
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Speaker 2: of yours. There's such great cats. We really should be
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Speaker 2: taking care of them. Just because they don't pop in
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Speaker 2: the car with you, it doesn't mean that they don't
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Speaker 2: need to come to the veterinary cunet.
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Speaker 1: You know, I earlier this morning when I was kind
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Speaker 1: of thinking about, you know, things that we might talk
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Speaker 1: about on the show. I googled taking your cat to
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Speaker 1: the vet, just to kind of get some ideas, and unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: one of the first things that there's like a little
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Speaker 1: secon so is people also ask and the number one
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Speaker 1: thing is there is it worth taking taking a cat
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Speaker 1: to the vet? I think, is what the first thing was.
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Speaker 1: And I thought, well, that is there are people that
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Speaker 1: do feel like cats are different. And I know, Doctor,
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Speaker 1: one of the things I've I've learned from doing the
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Speaker 1: show with you over the years is just like with
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Speaker 1: other pets, it's vital to get cats in and as
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Speaker 1: you were just kind of illustrating there, some of these
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Speaker 1: these things that you're able to monitor at the clinic
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Speaker 1: cannot just prolong the cat's life. But the overall quality
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Speaker 1: is is you know, you know, going back to how
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Speaker 1: athletic and agile cats are, you want to make sure
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Speaker 1: that that that they're that they're happy and healthy, and
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Speaker 1: those things really do go hand in hand or points.
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Speaker 2: Right, and we have we have such great treatments for things.
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Speaker 2: Now we have three treatments for a thyroid disease, one
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Speaker 2: involved with diet change. We have kidney disease medications and diets.
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Speaker 2: We can do things for our thritis for cats within
11:43
Speaker 2: a monthly injection. I mean, there's so many opportunities that
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Speaker 2: we have that people just kind of assume that as
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Speaker 2: their cat gets older, it's normal for them to not
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Speaker 2: be awake as much, or play as much, or move
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Speaker 2: around as much. Into reality, that may be our thritis
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Speaker 2: and hats just don't complain. It's not like they're going
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Speaker 2: to cry or they're going to come over to you
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Speaker 2: and say, hey, my hip hurts. They're just not going
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Speaker 2: to move. So if we can identify early on that
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Speaker 2: you have something going on, we can manage those cases
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Speaker 2: with really good treatment options that didn't even exist a
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Speaker 2: few years ago. So please don't disregard your cat's needs
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Speaker 2: for medical house because there's so much we can do.
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Speaker 2: It's not about vaccines. Yes, vaccines are part of it,
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Speaker 2: but cats can be on a three year vaccine schedule
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Speaker 2: very safely. But there's so much more we can do
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Speaker 2: for them that I really think is important that people
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Speaker 2: are aware of that, and I identify that with those
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Speaker 2: interventions we can change lifestyle and life expectancy.
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Speaker 1: How much you can't sleep, by the way, on an average.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, they sleep about fifty Yeah, they sleep about fifty
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Speaker 2: percent of the time and half of the time that
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Speaker 2: they're awake, I think they're eating. So yeah, they're they're
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Speaker 2: you know, not real interactive at a lot of points.
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Speaker 2: But you know, the only activity that some of them
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Speaker 2: get is moving across the couch when the sun moves.
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Speaker 2: They just kind of keep up with the sun rays.
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Speaker 2: That's not enough activity for a cat. So there's some
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Speaker 2: things that we can help you with make those things better.
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Speaker 1: I want to ask you about that, about about making
13:05
Speaker 1: sure your indoor environment is appropriate for your cat and
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Speaker 1: of course enjoyable, uh safe as well as we talked
13:11
Speaker 1: this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary. The
13:14
Speaker 1: website checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com,
13:18
Speaker 1: telph number six so eight three one eight sixty seven hundred,
13:20
Speaker 1: that's three one eight sixty seven hundred. Don't forget that
13:23
Speaker 1: first visit is free. That exam it is free to
13:25
Speaker 1: your pet. Again, you can learn more online the website
13:28
Speaker 1: checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Let's
13:31
Speaker 1: talk about that. I know the other week we talked
13:33
Speaker 1: a little bit about keeping your pets active, and we
13:37
Speaker 1: touched on cats, but let's get kind of get into
13:39
Speaker 1: a little bit more depth about that. Is Obviously cats
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Speaker 1: are are they at least every cat I've ever owned,
13:46
Speaker 1: very high energy, really likes to play chase things, really
13:50
Speaker 1: but also really likes being interactive with their with their family.
13:54
Speaker 1: Creating a good environment is really vital for their overall
13:57
Speaker 1: happiness and health, isn't it.
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Speaker 2: Oh, it's sure is. And there's some really simple things
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Speaker 2: that you can do. There's some really great cat trees,
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Speaker 2: the cat trees that are recommended to the ones that
14:07
Speaker 2: are heavy duty enough that if the cat runs from
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Speaker 2: across the room and hits it on the dead run,
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Speaker 2: that it's not going to tip over and fall. So
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Speaker 2: you want to have a big, heavy base to the
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Speaker 2: cat tree. You want to have some nice soft areas
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Speaker 2: on the tree for them to climb up onto. And
14:21
Speaker 2: those cat trees, I've got several that I've purchased, and
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Speaker 2: they've got nice little beds in them and there can
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Speaker 2: be like six cats on one tree without anybody having
14:29
Speaker 2: to share a space. So those things are really nice
14:32
Speaker 2: for cats. The people who really get into their cats
14:36
Speaker 2: will sometimes build shelves around the top of the room
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Speaker 2: so that the cats can go up little ladders or
14:41
Speaker 2: little stairsteps and be up above everybody because cats like
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Speaker 2: to be high, especially if you have a young dog
14:46
Speaker 2: in the house that's annoying to the cat, you can
14:48
Speaker 2: give them that as an option. Some people will build cadios.
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Speaker 2: They'll build an outdoor space that's screened in so that
14:54
Speaker 2: the cat can go out and get fresh air and
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Speaker 2: see the birds and you know, interact with nature, but
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Speaker 2: not be on Because cats that go out unattended, it's
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Speaker 2: not always a safe world for them out there, so
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Speaker 2: having an enclosed area for them to interact in can
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Speaker 2: be really safe and really helpful. So there's definitely things
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Speaker 2: that we can do to make our cat's lifestyles much
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Speaker 2: more intriguing and more interesting. You can put bird feeders
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Speaker 2: up that attached to your window so that the cats
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Speaker 2: get right at the window ledge and see the little birds.
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Speaker 2: I don't know if that makes them happy or frustrated,
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Speaker 2: but you know, it gives them something to do. So
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Speaker 2: there's a lot of things that we can do for
15:27
Speaker 2: our cats that people just once they start looking into it,
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Speaker 2: they can kind of get excited about and carried away
15:33
Speaker 2: because it really is fun to have those cats have
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Speaker 2: those opportunities. And like I said, two at a time
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Speaker 2: is really fun because you don't even need to turn
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Speaker 2: the TV on at night or play a video game.
15:43
Speaker 2: You could just watch the kitten because they are so
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Speaker 2: entertaining when there's two of them. It really is a
15:48
Speaker 2: blast to have kits. I think two cats at a
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Speaker 2: time we've had. I've always said two at a time,
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Speaker 2: and then I've ended up with three at a time.
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Speaker 2: That's another conversation.
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Speaker 1: Sorty. Yeah. Sometimes it's hard just to say or they yeah,
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Speaker 1: or they yeah, I'm talking this run happen Yeah with
16:10
Speaker 1: doctor Mardi Griham. Check Out Veterinary online. Checkout vet dot com.
16:15
Speaker 1: That's checkout vet dot com. You can learn more online.
16:18
Speaker 1: The website's a really good tool if you're wondering about
16:21
Speaker 1: how checkout vet operates. They have a really really nice
16:24
Speaker 1: section on the website that explains it very very well.
16:27
Speaker 1: It's just such a great concept. It's not only convenient
16:30
Speaker 1: for you, it's super convenient and lower stress on your
16:33
Speaker 1: pet as well. Imagine just having that exam right in
16:36
Speaker 1: your car, right in the drive in baz Again. You
16:38
Speaker 1: can check it out at checkout vet dot com. Learn
16:41
Speaker 1: more delphin number six oh eight three one eight sixty
16:43
Speaker 1: seven hundred. That's six oh eight three one eight sixty
16:45
Speaker 1: seven hundred for checkout Vet. We're gonna continue our conversation
16:48
Speaker 1: with doctor Greer. We're doing all about pets this week.
16:51
Speaker 1: I asked the experts and check out Veterinary right here
16:53
Speaker 1: on thirteen ten wu I b A. This is asked
16:57
Speaker 1: the experts here at thirteen ten wu I b A.
16:59
Speaker 1: Chatting this of course with doctor Marty Greer. Doctor Greer
17:02
Speaker 1: comes to us from check Out Veterinary the website checkout
17:05
Speaker 1: vet dot com. Let's check out vet dot com. Go
17:08
Speaker 1: into the cats this week. This week's program all about cats.
17:11
Speaker 1: Don't forget by the way, if you ever miss part
17:12
Speaker 1: of the show, you can always listen back at WIBA
17:16
Speaker 1: dot com. It's great day too. As we talk with
17:18
Speaker 1: doctor Greer. Maybe you've got some new kittens, maybe you've
17:20
Speaker 1: got an older cat. Maybe you're looking for a better
17:23
Speaker 1: situation of getting your cat in to see the vet.
17:26
Speaker 1: Definitely check out checkout vet. You got a website, checkout
17:29
Speaker 1: vet dot com. Great data. Start their relationship. TELF number
17:32
Speaker 1: six so eight three one eight sixty seven hundred. That's
17:34
Speaker 1: six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred and
17:37
Speaker 1: doctor uh. When it comes to a cat's diet, what
17:40
Speaker 1: should we be feeding them? What's kind of best there
17:43
Speaker 1: for cats? And what about treats for for your kiddies?
17:46
Speaker 1: What are some good options there as well?
17:49
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, and we definitely need to give them some treats.
17:51
Speaker 2: I mean, just plan of food is kind of boring.
17:53
Speaker 2: So the basic premise is that a commercially available pet
17:57
Speaker 2: food is going to be your best bet. Most people
18:00
Speaker 2: feed a dry and a can food diet for cats.
18:02
Speaker 2: The nice thing about the can food is it puts
18:04
Speaker 2: some extra moisture in their diets. Cats are desert animals
18:07
Speaker 2: by genetics, and so they typically don't drink very much.
18:11
Speaker 2: And we know a lot of cats have bladder problems
18:14
Speaker 2: kidney problems, and if we can get more fluid into
18:16
Speaker 2: them every day, that's going to help them. So a
18:18
Speaker 2: combination of the canned food and a commercially available kibble
18:21
Speaker 2: is probably your best bet. The kibble you can leave
18:23
Speaker 2: out all the time. The can food should be fed
18:26
Speaker 2: two or three times a day, and kittens need to
18:28
Speaker 2: be fed about four times a day because their little
18:30
Speaker 2: tummies aren't big enough to eat enough at one meal.
18:33
Speaker 2: So that's important now as our cats age and develop
18:36
Speaker 2: metabolic problems. If they have a thyroid problem, there's a
18:39
Speaker 2: commercially available diet that will fix cyrid disease if that's
18:42
Speaker 2: all you feed. It's called hyd by Hills. There's a
18:46
Speaker 2: lot of companies that make kidney diets for cats. Those
18:49
Speaker 2: are prescription diets. We see diets for joint disease, diets
18:52
Speaker 2: for a cognitive dysfunction like Alzheimer's, and cats cats can
18:56
Speaker 2: get that aging changes in their brains as well. But
19:00
Speaker 2: if you just go to the grocery store or the
19:02
Speaker 2: pet store, you can buy diets for senior cats, for
19:05
Speaker 2: indoor cats, for cats with hairballs. So there's a lot
19:08
Speaker 2: of different products on the market cats that are overweight.
19:11
Speaker 2: So we have a lot of diets on the markets
19:13
Speaker 2: that are available without a prescription, and then many more
19:15
Speaker 2: that are available with prescriptions. And a lot of people
19:18
Speaker 2: are like, well why do I have to have a prescription.
19:19
Speaker 2: It's just food, Like what's the big deal. Well, if
19:23
Speaker 2: your cat's supposed to be on a kidney diet, you
19:24
Speaker 2: buy a bladder diet, or they're supposed to be on
19:27
Speaker 2: a bladder diet. You buy a syroid diet, that's going
19:29
Speaker 2: to throw everything off. So it's really important that we
19:31
Speaker 2: get the right food for the right medical condition. So
19:34
Speaker 2: you need a prescription from your vet where you can
19:37
Speaker 2: get the food online and many veterinary clinics. Now we
19:40
Speaker 2: do have an opportunity that you can order your pet
19:43
Speaker 2: food from the vet clinic and it comes directly to
19:45
Speaker 2: your home, so you don't have to go to the
19:47
Speaker 2: vet to pick it up. Hills has a product. Their
19:50
Speaker 2: line is called Hills the Home. Purina has an automatic ship,
19:53
Speaker 2: roy Ocanaan has an automatic ship. So once you have
19:56
Speaker 2: the diagnosis of what pet foods should be, then you're
20:00
Speaker 2: vet clinic can write a prescription for you. You can
20:02
Speaker 2: have it directly shipped from the distributor not even have
20:06
Speaker 2: to go through the VAT, and they can really make
20:09
Speaker 2: it affordable for you to do that. So I strongly
20:11
Speaker 2: encourage people, if they've been told to feed a pet
20:13
Speaker 2: food that's prescription, that they stay with it because it
20:17
Speaker 2: is absolutely life saving. We see cats that live two
20:20
Speaker 2: for two to four years longer on a kidney diet
20:23
Speaker 2: than they would if they were on a commercially available diet,
20:25
Speaker 2: even if you're buying something for a senior cat. So
20:28
Speaker 2: if your VET says you need a prescription diet, please
20:31
Speaker 2: do it. Bladder disease really commony cats. Three percent of
20:34
Speaker 2: the cats we see and the veterinary clinics have bladder problems,
20:37
Speaker 2: and fifty to eighty percent of those cats will have
20:40
Speaker 2: a recurrence if you're not keeping up the prescription foods.
20:43
Speaker 2: So it might be easier to buy it at the store,
20:46
Speaker 2: but it's not going to be as effective and you're
20:48
Speaker 2: going to actually spend more money in the long run
20:50
Speaker 2: if your cat ends up back in the hospital because
20:52
Speaker 2: of the bladder or kidney problem because you'd failed to
20:54
Speaker 2: continue with the diet that was prescribed.
20:56
Speaker 1: One of the things I've noticed too with cats and
20:59
Speaker 1: all pets, Salemen, they seem to happen Saturdays, Sunday. Oh yeah, Christmas,
21:04
Speaker 1: Christmas weekend. You know, so really really see that's why we're.
21:08
Speaker 2: There, Yeah, while we're there on weekends, because that.
21:11
Speaker 1: Happens, that's for sure. Speaking of of course, the doctor
21:13
Speaker 1: being there on weekends. Don't forget checkout VET Monday through Wednesday,
21:17
Speaker 1: Friday through Sunday nine until five and of course we
21:19
Speaker 1: check out VET and check in vit they VET. They've
21:21
Speaker 1: got you seven days a week right here in town.
21:24
Speaker 1: Soon to be open as well. Checkout Veterinary. Big news
21:26
Speaker 1: there on Thursday, so we'll keep you posted on that
21:29
Speaker 1: and so much more. One things I wanted to ask
21:31
Speaker 1: about doctor is h is litter is Does it matter
21:35
Speaker 1: the type I know that there are. You know when
21:37
Speaker 1: you go to that there's like an entire aisle in
21:39
Speaker 1: the in the store for cat litter, And I'm like,
21:43
Speaker 1: does it make that big a difference? Are things to
21:45
Speaker 1: look for, things to avoid or is it just something
21:47
Speaker 1: that your whatever your cat likes and whatever you like.
21:50
Speaker 2: It's really what your cat likes. And what I suggest
21:53
Speaker 2: people do is get too by side, put different kinds
21:56
Speaker 2: of cat litter in and let your cat vote with
21:58
Speaker 2: their feet, so the one that they like the best
22:01
Speaker 2: is the one you should be purchasing. And the general
22:03
Speaker 2: rule of some is if you have multiple cats, you
22:05
Speaker 2: should have one litter box per cat, plus a fare.
22:08
Speaker 2: So if you have six cats, you should have seven
22:10
Speaker 2: litter boxes. So it's really important that we are giving
22:14
Speaker 2: cats a place to go. A big behavioral problem that's
22:18
Speaker 2: the second largest behavioral problem with seeing cats and reasons
22:22
Speaker 2: that they get turned into shelters and humane societies and
22:24
Speaker 2: open the door and boot it out. The door is
22:26
Speaker 2: because of failure to use the litter box. That's a
22:29
Speaker 2: life threatening disease. If you don't use the box reliably.
22:31
Speaker 2: You're using the laundry basket, the bathtub, you know, the
22:34
Speaker 2: kid's backpack, the newspaper in the corner. So all those
22:37
Speaker 2: things are really a bad idea. So you want to
22:41
Speaker 2: provide the litter box and a clean box for the cat.
22:44
Speaker 2: You don't want the litter too deep in the box.
22:46
Speaker 2: Caps only like it about two inches deep. So people
22:49
Speaker 2: tend to put that scupable litter in a really big
22:51
Speaker 2: amount and then they don't have to put more in
22:54
Speaker 2: his office. They just scoop out the clumps and then
22:56
Speaker 2: throw it in the toilet or throw it away. But
22:59
Speaker 2: that's actually appealing to the cat. So scented litters are
23:03
Speaker 2: also a thing. But some cats don't like the sense.
23:05
Speaker 2: Sometimes people don't like the sense, so be sure that
23:08
Speaker 2: you're buying the litter that your cats tell you they prefer.
23:12
Speaker 2: Some cats have You may have multiple cats in the
23:14
Speaker 2: house and not all of them like the same things,
23:15
Speaker 2: so you might have to buy two different kinds of litter.
23:18
Speaker 2: But if that's what makes them happy, hey, you know,
23:20
Speaker 2: keep buying the litter that they're going to use the
23:22
Speaker 2: box with.
23:23
Speaker 1: Really good guys. Great advice as always for doctor Marty
23:26
Speaker 1: Greer of check Out Veterinary. And then of course, if
23:28
Speaker 1: a cat starts using or not using a litter box
23:31
Speaker 1: and things seem unusual, definitely a sign that there may
23:35
Speaker 1: be something medically going on.
23:37
Speaker 2: Yes, cats don't miss the litter box. People are like, oh,
23:40
Speaker 2: I don't think he got in the box. Cats don't
23:42
Speaker 2: miss When you watch him in the litter box, then
23:44
Speaker 2: I have spent more time than I should doing. That is,
23:47
Speaker 2: if you watch them, they go in, they dig a
23:49
Speaker 2: little hole and then they kind of position over it
23:51
Speaker 2: and they're like, nope, nope, that's not quite right. So
23:53
Speaker 2: they move over and they dig it a little bit
23:54
Speaker 2: more and then they get it just adjusted right. Cats
23:56
Speaker 2: precisely urinate and defecate. They don't accidentally go out side
24:00
Speaker 2: the box. So if they're not using the litter box,
24:03
Speaker 2: they have a medical or behavioral condition, and that means
24:06
Speaker 2: you need to get them some help behaviorally. It could
24:08
Speaker 2: be stressed. It could be the litter box isn't clean.
24:10
Speaker 2: It could be they've got another cat in the house
24:12
Speaker 2: that lays in the hall and says, Nope, you can't
24:14
Speaker 2: come down here. I'm in charge. So sometimes people don't
24:18
Speaker 2: even notice that those kinds of things are happening in
24:20
Speaker 2: their homes. So if your cat is not using the box,
24:23
Speaker 2: you need to go in and get your analysis done.
24:25
Speaker 2: If it's urine, get a stool sample done. If it's stool,
24:28
Speaker 2: and find out what the medical condition or behavioral condition is.
24:31
Speaker 2: Then get it managed so that you can keep that cat,
24:34
Speaker 2: because it's pretty disheartening to have a cat that doesn't
24:36
Speaker 2: need to box.
24:38
Speaker 1: Talking this morning with doctor Murdy Greer of Checkout Veterinary.
24:40
Speaker 1: If you've got a kiddie, you got a puppy, you
24:42
Speaker 1: got maybe both, Maybe you got a couple of both,
24:44
Speaker 1: great data. Start that relationship at checkout Veterinary. They'd love
24:48
Speaker 1: to see you, they'd love to see your little furry
24:50
Speaker 1: friends as well. You can learn more online the website
24:53
Speaker 1: check out vet dot com. That's check out vet dot com.
24:56
Speaker 1: Don't forget that first visit that exam that is free
24:59
Speaker 1: to your pat You can learn more online again, check
25:01
Speaker 1: out vet dot com or again to start that relationship
25:03
Speaker 1: I'll get Just pick a phone, make a call six
25:05
Speaker 1: oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred. That's six
25:08
Speaker 1: oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred, doctor Greer.
25:10
Speaker 1: It's always great chatting. You have a fantastic Dan and
25:13
Speaker 1: we'll do it all again real soon.
25:15
Speaker 2: Sounds great, Thank you.
25:16
Speaker 1: News is next here on thirteen ten Wiba