Latest / Ask The Experts / Dental Health with the Checkout Vet
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Eight thirty eight thirteen ten Wiba and ask the experts
- 0:04Speaker 1: with Checkout Veterinary joined in stude he'll buy doctor Marty Greer.
- 0:07Speaker 2: Of course.
- 0:08Speaker 1: Doctor Greer comes to us from Checkout Veterinary the website
- 0:10Speaker 1: check out vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com.
- 0:14Speaker 1: Of course, doctor Marty Greer and checkout Vet. It's an
- 0:16Speaker 1: amazing clinic. If you haven't had a chance to check
- 0:20Speaker 1: it out or learn about it, you court you can
- 0:22Speaker 1: learn about the unique concept right at checkout vet dot com.
- 0:24Speaker 1: It's one of those things where you go, why doesn't
- 0:26Speaker 1: everything just work this way? Every veterinary? You should be
- 0:29Speaker 1: doing that stuff. Doctor, how you doing this morning?
- 0:31Speaker 2: I'm great?
- 0:32Speaker 3: Thank you.
- 0:32Speaker 1: The other great thing is, not only is checkout vet
- 0:35Speaker 1: just a great concept, your open weekends, which is for
- 0:38Speaker 1: and I think every pedal owner can probably relate a
- 0:40Speaker 1: story or two of when the pat needs to get
- 0:43Speaker 1: in get in to see the doc. It's always on
- 0:45Speaker 1: a Friday afternoon or a Saturday morning.
- 0:47Speaker 3: Oh yeah, and those things happen. Yeah, So that's why
- 0:50Speaker 3: we're there. Is it doesn't matter if it's the last
- 0:53Speaker 3: minute trip to the boarding kennel and you need to
- 0:55Speaker 3: get your vaccines updated, or if you forgot your heart
- 0:58Speaker 3: room preventive, or if you have a dog that isn't
- 1:00Speaker 3: feeling well, yeah, or cat, we can accommodate that. Now,
- 1:04Speaker 3: anything really serious, anything that needs X rays, hospitalization, those
- 1:07Speaker 3: things all need to go to the referral centers that
- 1:09Speaker 3: are open for those kinds of upper level kind of care.
- 1:13Speaker 3: But you have your dog that tears a toenail or
- 1:17Speaker 3: starts limping, or has an ear infection, or if they
- 1:20Speaker 3: have some diarrhea, any of those really common things that
- 1:23Speaker 3: we see all the time, please feel free to give
- 1:26Speaker 3: us a call, come on over, and we're going to
- 1:28Speaker 3: be able to patch things up and put you back together.
- 1:30Speaker 3: And then if you need additional work done, if you
- 1:32Speaker 3: need blood work, we can do that. If you need
- 1:35Speaker 3: x rays, any other kind of services, we can provide
- 1:38Speaker 3: those for you. Then Monday through Friday and the check
- 1:40Speaker 3: in Veterinary Clinic, which is our sister clinic.
- 1:43Speaker 1: What I want to ask you too, is we think
- 1:45Speaker 1: about dogs and conditions as you're talking, you know about
- 1:48Speaker 1: what people bring you know us upset stommilus, tummy or
- 1:53Speaker 1: those type of things. Are some dog breeds more dramatic
- 1:56Speaker 1: letters or is it something that's on our part as olds.
- 1:58Speaker 1: Are some people just more dramatic dogs feed on that.
- 2:01Speaker 3: Well, there is partly owner differences and what owner tolerances are.
- 2:05Speaker 3: I have some people that they just power through things
- 2:08Speaker 3: and they're good with it, they can deal with that,
- 2:09Speaker 3: and other people that are just a little bit more
- 2:11Speaker 3: fragile and the same with their dogs. We see dogs
- 2:14Speaker 3: at you know, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, man, they're just tough.
- 2:17Speaker 3: You know, they tear a tonail, they keep running like
- 2:20Speaker 3: nothing ever happened. You get the next dog and oh, jeepers,
- 2:24Speaker 3: you know, legs up in the air.
- 2:25Speaker 2: Drama.
- 2:26Speaker 3: So there's definitely differences, and partly it's us and how
- 2:29Speaker 3: we've trained our dogs to behave and partly it's them
- 2:32Speaker 3: just their constitutions so not surprising.
- 2:34Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think and a lot of that too
- 2:37Speaker 1: goes back to know knowing your pet, right, I mean,
- 2:39Speaker 1: I think, and I don't want to speak for you,
- 2:41Speaker 1: but I feel like a lot of times pet owners
- 2:45Speaker 1: obviously know their pets behavior best and can sometimes pick
- 2:49Speaker 1: up on things maybe being off that you know other
- 2:52Speaker 1: people probably would never right.
- 2:54Speaker 3: And we'll have people that come in and they say, well,
- 2:56Speaker 3: you know, it doesn't seem that bad, but I just
- 2:58Speaker 3: know that this isn't right, and I would much rather
- 3:00Speaker 3: have you give us a call and come in immediately
- 3:03Speaker 3: and have something taken care of when it's still minor,
- 3:06Speaker 3: then to wait until it really, you know, accelerates into
- 3:09Speaker 3: something that's more serious. So if even if you come
- 3:11Speaker 3: in and we can't find something, we'll still believe you
- 3:14Speaker 3: that something's not right. That just means we need a
- 3:16Speaker 3: little bit more information, maybe some diagnostics, some blood work,
- 3:19Speaker 3: maybe you know, some imaging, maybe just a little bit
- 3:22Speaker 3: of time to see what other symptoms develop. But we're
- 3:25Speaker 3: not ever going to think that you're jumping the gun
- 3:28Speaker 3: or that you're crazy. You know, please, please please make
- 3:31Speaker 3: sure that you come in now. The referral centers and
- 3:34Speaker 3: the emergencychnotics have gotten so busy that many times they
- 3:37Speaker 3: can't take anything that's not really serious, and that's really
- 3:40Speaker 3: unfortunate because that kind of blocks people from coming in,
- 3:44Speaker 3: and that's what we're there for. We're there for those
- 3:45Speaker 3: urgent care kinds of things that you don't want to
- 3:48Speaker 3: wait or can't wait, or you have to work on Monday,
- 3:50Speaker 3: and you know, all the variables of what happens but
- 3:53Speaker 3: please please don't hesitate to call. That's what we're there for.
- 3:55Speaker 1: It's a really good day too. To set up that
- 3:57Speaker 1: regular appointment as well. You can learn more online the
- 3:59Speaker 1: web check out vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com.
- 4:02Speaker 1: The telephone number six so eight three one eight sixty
- 4:05Speaker 1: seven hundred. That's three one eight sixty seven hundred mentioned
- 4:08Speaker 1: open weekends. Open every day of the week from nine
- 4:10Speaker 1: am until five pm except for Thursdays. And don't forget
- 4:13Speaker 1: as well your first office visit. It is free for
- 4:15Speaker 1: the office visit. Obviously, testing and other things are there
- 4:18Speaker 1: is a fee associated.
- 4:19Speaker 2: Cool thing too.
- 4:20Speaker 1: I mentioned the website checkout vet dot com transparent pricing.
- 4:23Speaker 1: You can see the average costs for things, so you
- 4:26Speaker 1: have a good idea. You're an informed pet owners. As
- 4:29Speaker 1: you take your pet in for car, you understand what
- 4:32Speaker 1: the kind of a ballpark of what that is. Obviously,
- 4:34Speaker 1: every pet is unique, every situation is unique, so there's
- 4:36Speaker 1: going to be variables, but it's a really good peace
- 4:39Speaker 1: of mind. Speaking of variables, I know over the years
- 4:42Speaker 1: we have learned for humans that good oral hygiene, good
- 4:46Speaker 1: dental care, not only does it look good, not only
- 4:50Speaker 1: do you feel good, not only does it reduce the
- 4:53Speaker 1: issues with your teeth, but it actually affects health overall.
- 4:56Speaker 1: Do we see the same in paths that good teeth
- 4:58Speaker 1: generally equate to an overall better healthier pet.
- 5:02Speaker 3: Oh. Absolutely, And I think many times people underestimate the
- 5:06Speaker 3: importance of dental health. They think it's just about them
- 5:08Speaker 3: having bad breath, and it really it's about organ health
- 5:11Speaker 3: as well. Their hearts aren't healthy, their kidneys and their
- 5:13Speaker 3: livers aren't healthy. They're just not healthy pets. If they
- 5:16Speaker 3: have diseased teeth in their mouth, most pets will continue
- 5:19Speaker 3: eating despite that, but it doesn't mean that they're comfortable.
- 5:22Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that they feel good. If it's painful
- 5:25Speaker 3: for them to eat, if they're not feeling good, if
- 5:27Speaker 3: they've got infection. Every time they chew, bacteria sets up
- 5:29Speaker 3: a bacterial shower into their bloodstream, and that it seeds
- 5:32Speaker 3: down in the organs. Those are all really unhealthy conditions
- 5:35Speaker 3: for our pets. So it's not just about bad breath.
- 5:38Speaker 3: It is really about oral health. And there's a lot
- 5:40Speaker 3: of things that you can do to improve your pets
- 5:41Speaker 3: oral health. The most important thing is to start young
- 5:44Speaker 3: with toothbrushing and with good dental kinds of treats. We
- 5:48Speaker 3: see a lot of good ones on the market. Hill's
- 5:50Speaker 3: TD makes a dog food. It's a prescription, but you
- 5:53Speaker 3: can feed it as treats. It's large kibbles that are
- 5:57Speaker 3: meant to not shatter when the dog by into them
- 6:00Speaker 3: and bites down on them, but they kind of squeegee
- 6:02Speaker 3: the teeth off, the tartar off the teeth. They're sort
- 6:05Speaker 3: of made like a shredded weed or a trisket that
- 6:07Speaker 3: the fibers are all lined up in a certain direction.
- 6:10Speaker 3: That's called a double screw extrusion process. It's pretty cool.
- 6:13Speaker 3: So you can use those as treats for your dog
- 6:15Speaker 3: to keep their teeth healthy. You can teach them to
- 6:16Speaker 3: let their teeth be brushed. There's a lot of great
- 6:19Speaker 3: oral health products on the market. BOHC is the organization,
- 6:22Speaker 3: the veterinary organization that certifies products, So be sure you're
- 6:27Speaker 3: looking at those labels for that certification so that you're
- 6:29Speaker 3: picking the right ones.
- 6:30Speaker 1: Does diet plate like the type of food that they're eating,
- 6:32Speaker 1: Is that effect that as well?
- 6:34Speaker 3: Oh yeah, And of course dry food is always best
- 6:35Speaker 3: for the dogs and the cats from their dental perspective.
- 6:38Speaker 3: There may be other health conditions that we don't want
- 6:40Speaker 3: to use dry food because of, but that's always the
- 6:43Speaker 3: healthiest and again you know there's good certification. They put
- 6:47Speaker 3: sometimes sodium methyl hexate into the kibble of some of
- 6:50Speaker 3: the food, so if you see that on the label,
- 6:52Speaker 3: don't let that scare you. That's in Crest and Coldgate
- 6:54Speaker 3: toothpaste too, so that it's those little sparkles that help
- 6:57Speaker 3: to polish your teeth. So there's a lot of things
- 6:59Speaker 3: that the pet food industry is done to improve the
- 7:02Speaker 3: quality of treats and the quality of food so that
- 7:05Speaker 3: your pet has the best oral health that we can
- 7:07Speaker 3: provide them.
- 7:08Speaker 1: Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer, of course, Doctor
- 7:10Speaker 1: Greer Veterinarian Veterinarian of the Year with the Westminster Kennel Club.
- 7:13Speaker 2: Of course.
- 7:14Speaker 1: You can learn more about doctor Greer and everybody at
- 7:16Speaker 1: a checkout Veterinarian. What makes it so unique? Online checkout
- 7:19Speaker 1: vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. You can
- 7:21Speaker 1: also request an appointment right at the website or pick
- 7:24Speaker 1: up phone call the office six oh eight three one
- 7:26Speaker 1: eight sixty seven hundred. That's three one eight sixty seven hundred.
- 7:30Speaker 1: I say off, it's called the clinic is probably the
- 7:33Speaker 1: better term for it.
- 7:33Speaker 2: Again.
- 7:34Speaker 1: That's three one eight sixty seven hundred the clinic right
- 7:36Speaker 1: in sun Prairie at Prairie Leaks Drive. And I mentioned
- 7:39Speaker 1: that website checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com.
- 7:44Speaker 1: Cats are We've touched on this and cats are are.
- 7:47Speaker 1: They're just amazing creatures, great pets, great companions. But they're
- 7:52Speaker 1: a little bit different. And when we were talking about
- 7:54Speaker 1: oral health, I think a lot of times I think
- 7:57Speaker 1: you had mentioned on a previous show too, cats sometimes,
- 8:00Speaker 1: because for instinctual reasons, sometimes will hide or conceal if
- 8:04Speaker 1: they're in pain or they've got some issue. Is the
- 8:06Speaker 1: same true with oral health as well, That they may
- 8:09Speaker 1: not be obvious signs that's something's wrong, but maybe little
- 8:12Speaker 1: clues that something's not right for your cat.
- 8:15Speaker 3: Yeah, you might notice that they're chewing their food differently,
- 8:17Speaker 3: or dropping food, or you're finding pieces of kimble partly
- 8:20Speaker 3: broken up in the bowl. So there's some hints there
- 8:23Speaker 3: as well. But like I said, usually cats won't stop
- 8:27Speaker 3: eating because of dental health. They usually somehow manage to
- 8:29Speaker 3: do it anyway. So don't wait until your cat is
- 8:32Speaker 3: in such bad shape that you're concerned about.
- 8:34Speaker 2: That.
- 8:34Speaker 3: If your cat looks like they're losing weight, not eating well,
- 8:36Speaker 3: anything is different about any of their behaviors, that's the
- 8:39Speaker 3: time to come in and have an exam done, have
- 8:42Speaker 3: some blood work done again, maybe some imaging, X rays, ultrasound,
- 8:44Speaker 3: depending on what the symptoms are. But please don't wait.
- 8:48Speaker 3: There's some great older diseases that we see in cats
- 8:51Speaker 3: that are really manageable. If we diagnose some kidney failure,
- 8:55Speaker 3: cats can live two to three years with kidney disease.
- 8:57Speaker 3: If they're managed appropriately thyroid disease, they can live longer,
- 9:00Speaker 3: and there's some really great treatments on the market for those.
- 9:03Speaker 3: So we have some great things that we can do. Diabetes,
- 9:05Speaker 3: oh my gosh, there's big changes in treating diabetic cats.
- 9:08Speaker 3: Now there's an oral medication from two different companies, so
- 9:12Speaker 3: it's no longer the curse of having to do two
- 9:14Speaker 3: injections of insulin to day. So if you're cat's losing weight,
- 9:18Speaker 3: not doing well, drinking more than usual, urinating more than usual,
- 9:21Speaker 3: anything that's changed, don't wait. Come in while we still
- 9:25Speaker 3: have something we can do. Don't wait until their light
- 9:27Speaker 3: is a feather and really, you know, in very tough
- 9:29Speaker 3: condition because those are hard to turn around. But if
- 9:31Speaker 3: you come at the first signs of things that are different,
- 9:34Speaker 3: urinating in appropriately, drinking water differently, eating differently, sleeping more,
- 9:39Speaker 3: anything that doesn't seem right, or sleeping less. Sometimes the
- 9:42Speaker 3: hyperthyroid cats are.
- 9:43Speaker 2: Wooh wooho all the time.
- 9:45Speaker 3: So if you notice some of those things, please don't wait.
- 9:48Speaker 3: Let's get some diagnostics done and get a handle on
- 9:50Speaker 3: this so that we can manage your pet's health. Cats
- 9:53Speaker 3: rarely get cancer. They do sometimes, but rarely. Most of
- 9:56Speaker 3: the diseases we see in older cats are metabolic and
- 9:58Speaker 3: we can manage those.
- 10:00Speaker 2: Fantastic.
- 10:00Speaker 1: There's always you know, you always have such great information
- 10:02Speaker 1: and great insight. Is I think that's one too for
- 10:05Speaker 1: for pet owners, is you know if you can if
- 10:07Speaker 1: you're noticing these things that we talk about kind of
- 10:09Speaker 1: preventive stuff and early early treatment of things that are
- 10:13Speaker 1: you know, and for humans we think about pre diabetes
- 10:15Speaker 1: and stuff and really being able to write the course
- 10:18Speaker 1: and I'm good to see it stuff in the in
- 10:19Speaker 1: the in the in the pet world as well. We
- 10:22Speaker 1: mentioned too as we talked about a little bit about
- 10:24Speaker 1: dental and oral health, what as a vat when you're
- 10:26Speaker 1: looking at we'll start off with dogs. What is kind
- 10:29Speaker 1: of like an oral exam for a It sounds like
- 10:32Speaker 1: a high school test. But when you're when you're doing
- 10:35Speaker 1: the exam, what are you looking for with with dogs teeth?
- 10:37Speaker 1: And what are some signs I think for for pet
- 10:39Speaker 1: owners that hey, maybe this is this is something that
- 10:42Speaker 1: that's just not right, Like how do you know your
- 10:44Speaker 1: dog's teeth are clean?
- 10:45Speaker 3: Right? And there's a special little light we can use
- 10:48Speaker 3: that will help us show up tartar as a bright
- 10:50Speaker 3: orange color, so unless you're red green colorblind, you'll be
- 10:53Speaker 3: able to see that. So there's a light we can
- 10:55Speaker 3: look for any signs of gum recession. We can look
- 10:57Speaker 3: for loose teeth, We can look for fractured teeth. We
- 11:00Speaker 3: frequently see fractured teeth and dogs the upper biggest premolar,
- 11:05Speaker 3: which really looks like a molar, very frequently fractures when
- 11:08Speaker 3: dogs chew on things that are too hard. If we
- 11:10Speaker 3: give them antlers or bones and some of those things
- 11:12Speaker 3: that we think are good for their teeth, they frequently
- 11:14Speaker 3: will fracture that tooth and then if that ends up
- 11:17Speaker 3: being infected and abscessing and needing to be extracted. Then
- 11:19Speaker 3: that's a whole different kind of thing. So we typically
- 11:22Speaker 3: will do a pretty complete oral exam. Some dogs will
- 11:25Speaker 3: let and cats will let us open their mouth and
- 11:27Speaker 3: take a look. Some just let us look along the
- 11:29Speaker 3: lips and again. You know, if you feel like you
- 11:32Speaker 3: want to learn how to brush your dog's teeth, don't
- 11:35Speaker 3: hesitate to come in ask your veterinary professional, your vet
- 11:37Speaker 3: tech how to do that. You don't have to open
- 11:39Speaker 3: the dog's mouth to brush their teeth. You just need
- 11:42Speaker 3: to slide the toothbrush along the outer arcade of the teeth,
- 11:46Speaker 3: and the same with cats, so you can put on
- 11:48Speaker 3: a finger brush, you can get a regular toothbrush. And
- 11:51Speaker 3: dogs don't have flat molars like you and I do.
- 11:53Speaker 3: Dogs are carnivores. Cats are carnivores. They have pointy molars.
- 11:56Speaker 3: We have flat molars because we chew meat and vegetable
- 12:00Speaker 3: if we're omnivores, so at least we're evolved to be omnivorous,
- 12:04Speaker 3: whether that's your decision or not.
- 12:05Speaker 2: Yeah, but if.
- 12:06Speaker 3: You're looking at your dog's teeth, they don't have a
- 12:09Speaker 3: flat surface, so you don't have to open their mouth
- 12:11Speaker 3: and try and brush that. You just have to slide
- 12:13Speaker 3: the brush in along the side and start off with
- 12:15Speaker 3: just water. Don't start with anything fancy. Start off with
- 12:18Speaker 3: a finger toothbrush and some water. Get your pet used
- 12:20Speaker 3: to that. Really start when they're young, because then they're
- 12:23Speaker 3: going to accept it much more readily than if you
- 12:24Speaker 3: wait until they're older. And then once you've got them
- 12:27Speaker 3: used to the feel of the brush and the mechanism
- 12:30Speaker 3: of it, then you can start adding toothpaste. And there's
- 12:31Speaker 3: some really great ones on the market that have enzymes
- 12:33Speaker 3: that help to break down the tartar.
- 12:35Speaker 2: So it's not just go to the.
- 12:37Speaker 3: Store and buy kids toothpaste. Please get a veterinary toothpaste
- 12:40Speaker 3: that's designed for it. And they make them flavored so
- 12:42Speaker 3: that dogs like them. They tell you that they taste
- 12:44Speaker 3: like seafood or chicken or beef. I've tasted them. I
- 12:48Speaker 3: don't think they taste like beef. I think they taste sweet.
- 12:51Speaker 3: But the dogs will still accept them and appreciate them.
- 12:54Speaker 3: Dogs don't like flavored toothpastes that are minty, and dogs
- 12:57Speaker 3: don't like foaming toothpaste. They swallow it and that'll set
- 13:00Speaker 3: their stomach. So the veterinary toothpastes are designed specifically for
- 13:03Speaker 3: those reasons. Is they don't do.
- 13:05Speaker 1: Those things dogging this morning with doctor Marty Greer of
- 13:07Speaker 1: Checkout Veterinary the website checkout vet dot com.
- 13:10Speaker 2: That's checkout vet dot com.
- 13:11Speaker 1: One last thing you were mentioning, you know, starting out,
- 13:14Speaker 1: maybe you just water on your finger to get your
- 13:16Speaker 1: dogs to it. I remember when Homer, our Chihuahua, was
- 13:19Speaker 1: a little guy in puppy school, and I remember them saying,
- 13:23Speaker 1: get your dog used to you know, lift up their gums. Allow,
- 13:27Speaker 1: not as a playful thing, but let them know that
- 13:29Speaker 1: it's okay to have your check Is that good guidance
- 13:32Speaker 1: to like just kind of equate your kind of almost
- 13:35Speaker 1: like teach your dog that that's just part of the relationship,
- 13:38Speaker 1: is that that people are going to have to check
- 13:40Speaker 1: your teeth and don't don't think they're playing with you
- 13:43Speaker 1: or that they're you know, anything like that.
- 13:44Speaker 3: Yeah, you want to teach them those things early, that
- 13:47Speaker 3: when you look at their teeth, that there's a reason
- 13:49Speaker 3: for it. When you touch their feet, do their nails,
- 13:51Speaker 3: there's a reason when you look in their ears, you know,
- 13:53Speaker 3: just get them accustomed to all those handling techniques. There's
- 13:56Speaker 3: a lot of good information out there on fear free
- 13:58Speaker 3: and sofia yen some information on low stress. So if
- 14:02Speaker 3: you're looking at some guidance on how to do those things,
- 14:04Speaker 3: those are the places to take a look.
- 14:05Speaker 1: Is.
- 14:05Speaker 3: There's great information online for you to start looking at.
- 14:08Speaker 3: So get their pet, your pet used to those things,
- 14:10Speaker 3: so that it's not foreign to them the first time
- 14:13Speaker 3: they go to the veterinary clinic and somebody does those
- 14:15Speaker 3: things to them. You don't want it to feel to
- 14:17Speaker 3: them like you're stressing them or you're trying to dominate them.
- 14:20Speaker 3: You want to just make it really great and then
- 14:22Speaker 3: give them a piece of cheese. Cheese is good for
- 14:24Speaker 3: their teeth. So give them a piece of cheese when
- 14:25Speaker 3: you get done, and say who you did great? You know,
- 14:27Speaker 3: make it make it fun that they're interested in it
- 14:30Speaker 3: and that you can get them to cooperate.
- 14:32Speaker 1: I remember a friend of mine in high school and
- 14:34Speaker 1: middle school. She had a bishon and and she's she
- 14:38Speaker 1: has a treat ever, so often give her a piece
- 14:40Speaker 1: of of just like craft.
- 14:41Speaker 2: She's that little dog who just a party tricker, Like,
- 14:47Speaker 2: oh my goodness, those folks, they do love that stuff.
- 14:50Speaker 4: Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of course, doctor
- 14:53Speaker 4: Greer comes to us from Checkout Veterinary the website checkout
- 14:56Speaker 4: vet dot com.
- 14:56Speaker 2: That's checkout vet dot com.
- 14:58Speaker 1: As we're talking about die another thing, we talk a
- 15:00Speaker 1: little bit about weight, uh with the doctor. We will
- 15:03Speaker 1: do that next as ask the experts with check Out
- 15:05Speaker 1: Veterinary continues right here on thirteen ten double U I
- 15:08Speaker 1: b A eight fifty five thirteen ten dou wui b
- 15:14Speaker 1: A and ask the experts hanging out with doctor Marty
- 15:16Speaker 1: Greer of Checkout Veterinary the website checkout vet dot com.
- 15:20Speaker 1: That's checkout vet dot com. Telephone number six oh weeight
- 15:24Speaker 1: three one eight sixty seven hundred. That's three one eight
- 15:27Speaker 1: sixty seven hundred. And also schedule an appointment question appointment
- 15:30Speaker 1: right online at checkout vet dot com. Open every day
- 15:33Speaker 1: nine until five nine am until five pm except for Thursdays.
- 15:36Speaker 1: Can all those details. I'm at checkout vet dot com.
- 15:39Speaker 1: Great day to make that appointment in doctor. When we
- 15:41Speaker 1: were talking about dental health, talked a bit about food
- 15:44Speaker 1: and I know and they will probably get way into
- 15:48Speaker 1: overall weight and those type of things with your pets.
- 15:51Speaker 1: But one of the nice things about having a pet
- 15:54Speaker 1: is you are able to control a bit of their diet.
- 15:58Speaker 1: Now it can be very hard. They're very much if
- 16:00Speaker 1: you live, they know how to play the games. But
- 16:02Speaker 1: you can control that. Are there some signs that a
- 16:05Speaker 1: pet is overweight? I think you know, if you've got
- 16:08Speaker 1: to I think like a dog or a cat, it's
- 16:10Speaker 1: unless their bellies hanging down. It sometimes can be hard.
- 16:14Speaker 1: Are there things pet owners can be looking forward to say? Okay,
- 16:16Speaker 1: this may be something obviously, or vet can definitely help
- 16:18Speaker 1: you to, oh.
- 16:19Speaker 3: Right, and you know, check out and check in veterinary.
- 16:22Speaker 3: We're happy to have you come in, pop your pet
- 16:24Speaker 3: on the scale and just see what their weight is.
- 16:26Speaker 3: So if you're trying to get weight on them, get
- 16:27Speaker 3: weight off of them. Usually it's getting weight off. We're
- 16:29Speaker 3: happy to help you with just giving you a number.
- 16:32Speaker 3: If you want to weigh your pet at home, you
- 16:33Speaker 3: can stand on the bathroom scale and then hold the
- 16:35Speaker 3: pet and then put the pet down and see what
- 16:37Speaker 3: the difference is, because many times the scales aren't very accurate.
- 16:40Speaker 3: If you just try to put all four feet of
- 16:41Speaker 3: the pet on the scale, So as long as you
- 16:43Speaker 3: and the pet don't top out the three hundred pounds
- 16:45Speaker 3: limit under scale.
- 16:47Speaker 2: Should be okay, okay.
- 16:48Speaker 3: So probably the easiest way for people to assess their
- 16:51Speaker 3: pets weight is to make a fist with their hand
- 16:54Speaker 3: and with their opposite hand, feel the back of their
- 16:56Speaker 3: hand just above where you'd wear your watch or right knuckles.
- 17:00Speaker 3: You should feel the ribs just feel like the back
- 17:03Speaker 3: of your hand. If you rotate your hand so that
- 17:05Speaker 3: your knuckles are straight up and you feel that that
- 17:07Speaker 3: dog is too skinny, and if you roll your hand
- 17:10Speaker 3: over and you feel the ball of your hand where
- 17:13Speaker 3: it's real soft, that if your pets ribs feel like that,
- 17:16Speaker 3: your pet's too fat. So those are some useful things
- 17:19Speaker 3: because just looking at them, especially if they're a breed
- 17:21Speaker 3: with a heavy coat, it can be really difficult to tell.
- 17:24Speaker 3: So that's probably your best way. So again, the back
- 17:26Speaker 3: of your hand is what the ribs should feel like.
- 17:28Speaker 3: The knuckles are too thin and the ball of your
- 17:30Speaker 3: hand is too chubby, so those are those are some tools.
- 17:34Speaker 3: Typically we'll also want to try to keep the pets
- 17:36Speaker 3: weight approximately where it was at the time that they
- 17:38Speaker 3: were about eight to ten months old, so you can
- 17:41Speaker 3: look back at the veterinary records if they were spaded
- 17:43Speaker 3: that are neoted at that age category, that kind of
- 17:45Speaker 3: thing that can be helpful. Now, I they're spaded at
- 17:47Speaker 3: eight weeks, that's not going to give you the information
- 17:49Speaker 3: you need. But those are some useful tools. And pets
- 17:52Speaker 3: typically will gain about twenty five percent if they don't
- 17:55Speaker 3: reduce their caloric intake at the time of span neutering,
- 17:58Speaker 3: and many people aren't aware of that. So when they
- 18:00Speaker 3: come in for span it or I just hand him
- 18:02Speaker 3: a hand out and say, cut your pets intake by
- 18:04Speaker 3: twenty five percent. That may mean switching from puppy food
- 18:06Speaker 3: to adult food. That may be cutting back the quantity.
- 18:09Speaker 3: So make sure that you're using a measuring cup when
- 18:11Speaker 3: you're measuring your pets food, so that you know exactly
- 18:13Speaker 3: how much you're feeding. I had a client that called
- 18:15Speaker 3: a couple of years ago and he said, my puppy
- 18:17Speaker 3: seems like maybe he's eating too much. And I said, well,
- 18:19Speaker 3: how much you're feeding? And he goes a cup. I said, well,
- 18:21Speaker 3: how big is the company said, you know, the McDonald's
- 18:23Speaker 3: super sized cup. Okay, that is not a measuring cup, folks,
- 18:27Speaker 3: So that's like sixteen cups. So make sure that you're
- 18:30Speaker 3: using some kind of a measuring cup and that you're
- 18:33Speaker 3: using it level, don't cheat and put a little extra
- 18:35Speaker 3: heap on the top or throw a little extra handful in,
- 18:38Speaker 3: because that's not good for your pet.
- 18:39Speaker 4: They give you those eyes though, and they're like, oh,
- 18:41Speaker 4: they know exactly how to so good at it. They
- 18:44Speaker 4: sure are talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer. Of course,
- 18:47Speaker 4: Doctor Greer comes to us from checkout Veterinary. Head out
- 18:50Speaker 4: over the website this morning.
- 18:51Speaker 2: Learn more.
- 18:51Speaker 1: Checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Dan o'donald,
- 18:55Speaker 1: the show comes your way. Next chance to win one
- 18:57Speaker 1: thousand dollars here on thirteen ten WIBI