Latest / Back In The Closet - Two Crazy Cat Ladies / C.A.T.S. Series: “S” Is for Stress with Dr. Randy Aronson

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C.A.T.S. Series: “S” Is for Stress with Dr. Randy Aronson · Back In The Closet - Two Crazy Cat Ladies

0:00
Before we start this awesome episode, we got to give a shout
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out to our friends and sponsors at Pet Greens.
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Yeah, and honestly, it's really an important part of their
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OK, so now let's get to the podcast.
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With wine, always with wine. I'm Jay, I'm Adrian, and
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together we are. There's 2 crazy cat.
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Ladies, I'm. Going to cut you I.
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Think I just peed. Buckle up.
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We're back in the closet. Welcome to another episode of
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Back in the Closet with the 2 Crazy Cat ladies.
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We are super excited and a little sad because this is we
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are joined today again by Doctor Randy Arison Dockty Dockty
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Dockty start over Randy the pet vet to to finish off our four
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part series or his four part series of CATS and today being
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the S Thank you Doctor Randy for joining us again.
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So great to be back and I, I apologize to our listeners for
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my voice a little bit. It's the end of a week of having
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the crud, we call it here in Tucson and just recovering.
1:38
So I'll do my best to muddle through this.
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Hey, you sound great. You sound great.
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You sound fantastic. Great to see you guys.
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Oh, so good to see you let should we start with a little
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recap of of the series? How do you want to?
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Sure, sure. So for our listeners and for
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those who haven't, I can't believe it.
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They haven't listened to this this podcast before.
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We've done a series on cats. The mnemonic CATS CATSC stand
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stands for complete nutrition and microbiome, A for activity,
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T for teeth, and today's S stands for stressors.
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And you know, when most people think about stressing cats, they
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picture like a frightening cat under a couch or hissing at the
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dog. But the truth is stress in our
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cats is often really silent, and it affects their bodies every
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single day. Indoor cats live in a world, you
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know, we've completely designed for them.
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So the lighting, the chemicals, the foods, the routines, and
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when we think we've created a safe environment, many of those
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things can quietly trigger stress responses in their
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bodies. So tonight we're going to
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explore what stress really means for cats, the hidden stressors
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many indoor cats live with, how stress shows up in their health,
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and most importantly, what we can do to help our cats feel
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calmer, healthier, and more at home in our homes.
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Yeah, I love that. I love that.
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Yeah. When we think, just like you
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said, Doctor Randy, when we think of stress, we we think of
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ourselves, right. Like, oh, you know, we're in a,
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we're in a stressful environment.
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Such as, you know, we've been up since 5:00 AM this morning.
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We have had literally one minute in between meetings and in
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between, you know, sessions and movies that we're that we're
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doing today, right. So it's like, oh, like for me,
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that would be like, oh, I'm stressed because I'm busy,
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right? But when it comes to our cats,
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there's a lot of other things and actually ourselves as well.
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But when it comes to our our cats, we always say, you know,
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you've got your, you've got your environmental stressors, but you
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also have your nutritional stressors.
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And then there's the emotional stressors, right?
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Did not mean to shoot some balloons in our screen here, but
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I did. It agrees with me.
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So, so yeah. And I, when we first heard your
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cat series presentation in Seattle, we were just like our
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jaws were just like we were listening to you like it just it
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was amazing to hear you talk about all the different things
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that our cats struggle with that creates stress in their bodies
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and then how that manifests as disease too.
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So let's talk about what is stress in in cats.
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Well, you know, it's stress is is, you know, can come in many,
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many different ways and there are lots of hidden stressors in
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cats worlds like environmental stressors, you know, things like
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plastics and micro plastics. You know, we worry about those
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kinds of things in water balls and plastic toys P fast, you
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know, which are household chemicals in, you know, stain
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resistant furniture, waterproof fabrics, nonstick coatings,
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carpeting and furniture off gassing.
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You know, people don't realize that a lot of new carpeting has
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formaldehyde and it comes off and guess who's right on it all
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the time is our our feline friends.
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Many of the adhesives that are used in carpeting can also cause
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a problem. Then there are things like air
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fresheners and cleansers, you know, like essential oil
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diffusers or scented candles or plug in fragrance products.
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So, you know, cats live really close to the ground, they groom
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constantly and they have very small body sizes.
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That means even lower level of environmental chemicals can
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accumulate much quicker over time.
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Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna do you think
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and have you seen in your own clinic where cats seem more
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sensitive to these things, right?
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Like, and none of these things are awesome for humans, right.
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But as you mentioned, they have smaller bodies.
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They're, you know, do you think that they how do they respond to
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these stressors? Yeah, what do you see?
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Yeah, I, I think, I think they're much more sensitive to
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human effect. I mean, honestly, I think we
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don't give them credit for picking up the things that we
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see. And, you know, people say, well,
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like, well, what kind of things do you think of in the clinic
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when you think about stress? Well, recurrent cystitis is a
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big one for me that I think about a lot.
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You know, where is that coming from?
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You know, there's we can talk about for microbiome and we can
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talk about allergies, but I think a lot of these things that
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these guys are our guys are exposed to can really set them
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off. Chronic vomiting and soft
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stools. I mean, GI disease can
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definitely be affected by a lot of these.
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These things we've talked about, you know, unexplained grooming
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or hair loss. I mean, many, many times we
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don't always have a reason for that and maybe the reasons right
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here or even behavioral changes like hiding or aggression.
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So I think that's those are some things that we see medically
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that easily could be linked to some of these stressors.
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Yeah, it's, it's very interesting that you bring up
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cystitis and, and in our, in our presentation last year, we were
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talking about all the idiopathic right and which kills me, but
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they call them idiopathic ailments that our, that our
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kiddies deal with. And now there's like lists of
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like over 30 different pretty common, unfortunately,
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idiopathic diseases, if you will, that our cats deal with
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one of them, one of the most most common being cystitis and
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all the studies, right? Like so that, So for those
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listening and don't know what idiopathic means, it basically
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means no known cause, right? So they don't know where it
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comes and, and really when we're looking at all of these, they
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could relate. They could.
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And many of the studies, especially with cystitis link
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back to some type of stressor. Now we deal with, and you
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probably get this as well in your clinic, but we have a lot
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of people that reach out to us and they're like, you know, my
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cat had a blockage. My cat, you know, had all of
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these different urinary issues, reoccurring urinary issues,
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maybe was even diagnosed with cystitis, but has no idea how to
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get to the root of it. And we're talking stress.
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And they're like, no, they're completely chill.
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Do you get that in your practice where you're like, no, my cat's
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not stressed out. They're they're fine.
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Do you coach them into like understanding that it might not
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just be you might not be looking for the right signs or how do
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you how do you talk to your, to your clients that come in with
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these kind of cases? Well, no, I think that's a
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really, really good point. So, you know, you know, me, I
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take a little bit different approach than some veterinarians
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on on some of these things. And so, you know, the stress
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part of it for me is always a piece of the picture.
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You know, I also would look at microbiome.
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I'd also look at, you know, potential allergens and things
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that might be setting them off, you know, so there's some pieces
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that I would look at, you know, but I, I think that that all
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kind of fits into a picture where we really have to be the
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detective and the investigator on this.
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And, and it does open up our, our pet parents eyes.
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Many times when I talk about stressors, they go like, well,
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you know, like I do really, really well on.
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I don't have any fragrance in the house and I don't have any
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carpeting. And then I say, well, you know,
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there are some lifestyle stressors that maybe you didn't
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think about. Like, you know, a lot of
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boredom, indoor boredom. I mean, you know, long hours
9:23
being alone. You know, you, you're sitting
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here telling me you're at work for 12 hours.
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Your poor Kitty doesn't get any interaction in that period of
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time, So there's and there's little environmental variation
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when that goes on or, you know, lack of the hunting play thing,
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you know, where there's no outlet for those predatory
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instincts. Multi cat tension, you know, you
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know, you me, we have multi cats and and as much as we love them
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all, sometimes, you know, there are, you know, there are
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interactions that just don't work real well for all of them
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all the time, you know, suitable, you know, like the
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territorial conflicts or resource guarding around food or
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toys. And then, you know, also they're
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unpredictable routines, you know, like your irregular
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feeding times where you know, someone's not home, you know,
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but and their job calls them out for different times.
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And that's that feeding schedule gets changed or sudden changes
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in, in just lifestyle, you know, so this could all show up as,
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you know, as clinical problems, you know, digestive issues,
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urinary problems, over grooming. We talked about behavioral
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changes, lower immunity. So all of that can really affect
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our our kids. Yeah, well, and you think about
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like the, excuse me, the the inflammation too that is that's
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created in our bodies as well when we're, you know, under
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stress, the inflammation in the body which triggers so many
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different. Right.
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Like how, you know, we know from so much that's coming out now
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how much chronic stress really contributes to disease patterns
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for humans. Do you see that same
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correlation? I mean, we're talking about so
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many things that are, you know, how do you, how do you change
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your work schedule? How do you, you know, do you,
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how do you, how do you get rid of carpet in your house?
11:13
You know, like a lot of things feel like, you know,
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overwhelming that, right? It's, it's very overwhelming.
11:20
You know, when we when we first learned about fragrances, it was
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like a devastating event in our home because Jade was so.
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Because of me, I was like, no, I can't stop.
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No, I can't stop the good smells in the house.
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That's not fair. Do I don't think it's the actual
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studies around this for our cats cause cats are hard to study,
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but do you feel like chronic stress I can impact them the
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same way that it's impacting us humans?
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Oh, no question, no question, you know, because you know,
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this, we talk about inflammation and we talk about stress and
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obviously this week goes right back to the adrenal gland and
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the release of cortisol and all that excess flight or fight
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cortisol can really, you know, something has to happen with it,
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you know, So whether it, it's, you know, leading to diabetes,
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whether it's leading to pain and discomfort, muscle weakness,
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whether it's leading to adrenal problems themselves, you know,
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Addison's or Cushing's disease, all of these things can happen.
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And, and it's very, very similar.
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I mean, I think the human correlate is right there.
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And I think cats are, are really like, I hate to say, like the,
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the bird in the Canary cage, you know, in a mine, you know,
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they're, they can really often tell us, wow, we better look at
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some of this stuff, you know, for example, you know, the cat
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that I have that has chronic over grooming and, and skin
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problems. And we do, we do our BDI allergy
12:58
test and find out that environmentally there's mold in
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the house. And we have the mold inspector
13:04
go out to the homes in Tucson, you know, which is just as dry
13:08
as it is in Las Vegas. And you say, well, I mean, come
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on, mold in Las Vegas, That's ridiculous.
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And every single time it's in that environmental test and it's
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positive, they find it in the house, you know, And so, you
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know, we're exposed to it and our cats are exposed to it.
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Now, cats tend to get a lot more exposure because a lot of times
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that molds underneath the sink or along the baseboards or
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coming from the shower and, you know, they're right in it, you
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know? So, you know, these are things
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that we have to take care of to to get our cats body stabilized.
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To get our environment. No, that just.
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Uh oh. Light bulb.
13:50
There's a light bulb moving. Going on I can.
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Do that, I can do that. Go on over there.
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Now I'm thinking so we we had our house break in 2023. 24. 24
14:02
oh, it's 26. We had our, our shower was
14:05
leaking. It leaked down into our, it's,
14:08
it's an old, it's a 30 year old house, 30 year old shower and
14:11
we're tearing it up. There was black mold everywhere,
14:15
everywhere. And now I'm thinking we have,
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we've had cats for almost 30 years.
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Sure, in the past few years we've had inner cat behavioral
14:28
issues. We've had cats peeing.
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Oh, what's where We got to get one of those VDI tests.
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Yeah, we also need to like test the test the house like we need
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to get a mold inspector out here to to use.
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The house, let me tell you, that is probably the single best
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thing you guys could do. And I tell people, don't get a
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mold remediator, OK? Remediator means that they're
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going to come out and try to sell you something.
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Oh, we need to tear this apart or tear that apart, which may be
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the case. You want a mold inspector first.
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They have nothing to sell you. They're just going to inspect
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the entire house and find it. And if it's there and it's so
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many times it's hidden, guys, you know, like it's, it's hidden
15:14
around the HVAC unit, let's say, or in the furnace or the water
15:18
heater or underneath the sink that we don't even think about.
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I've been blown away by, you know, we use Tucson.
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It's called Tucson Mold Inspectors.
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And there's a woman here named Alex and she's found this in so
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many different places that I would have never even thought
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of. You know, I'm even the the leak
15:38
that has gotten underneath the floor that eventually dries up,
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but still the mold is underneath the floorboards or, you know, or
15:45
the brick or the tile. And you know, the mold inspector
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is number one in that situation. And that's why I would start for
15:53
sure. Wow.
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OK, so we'll have a little checklist.
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For talking about our own right. No.
16:00
So back-to-back to these back to these kind of hidden stressors,
16:04
yes, environment, the environmental, the the
16:08
chemicals, the. The things that we can can
16:11
always control, right? Like so if we're renting an
16:14
apartment, right, you know, there's, you know, there's not,
16:17
or renting a house or something there, there might not be a
16:20
whole lot that we can do about, you know, some spots of mold in
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the house. But the things that we can for
16:26
sure control today, the things that we can do today that can
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help reduce the environmental stressors in our cats.
16:35
What would you say would be like, say, the top three or
16:39
something? Well, let me give you some
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ideas. I mean, these are definitely
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actionable items that our listeners can do today and
16:48
really affect the change for themselves and for their cats.
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One like reduce the household toxins.
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OK, Use unscented cleaners. Avoid plug in fragrances,
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stainless steel or ceramic bowls.
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No plastic, please, because even in clear plastic, it leeches
17:07
color. And so it's something to be
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considered, you know, to be considered, you know, improve
17:13
lighting and air quality. You know, these are things that
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you can definitely do, like make sure there's some natural
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daylight exposure for our kitties.
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I mean, this is really important and air filtration, I mean, if
17:24
we're worried about how stuffs mites or or other types of
17:29
things, using HEPA filters or air filtration can be really
17:32
easy and not expensive. You know, you can go to Home
17:35
Depot or Lowe's and get yourself a HEPA filter and especially
17:39
with the cats are spending most of their time and it'll make a
17:42
big difference. Another thing that people don't
17:45
think about is avoiding constant artificial light at night.
17:48
You know, a lot of people leave on things like plant lights,
17:52
let's say, or other types things that are cats.
17:56
You know, that's sometimes a very active time for them.
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They don't need that artificial light to affect them, you know,
18:04
providing, like, safe or quiet spaces.
18:07
I love this idea, you know, elevating resting areas, cat
18:10
trees. And I think someone commented
18:12
that the cat trees, you know, are often carpeted.
18:15
You know, that may be a problem. I don't know.
18:17
You know, it's something to think about.
18:20
No, no death, you know, pet greens.
18:23
You know, here's the thing that both of us agree on, you know,
18:27
you know, that you can bring some of the outside to the
18:30
inside and make this a safe environment for them and make it
18:33
more comfortable with pet greens and, and, you know, catnip, you
18:36
know, fresh catnip, that kind of thing.
18:38
Rotating toys in to keep, you know, keep a novelty involved or
18:44
puzzle feeders or wand toys are great for in, you know, helping
18:48
with that enrichment hunting play thing and making sure it
18:53
like try to, you know, do as much predictable routines as
18:56
possible, you know, like constant feeding times if it's
18:59
possible, regular play sessions, if it's possible, you know, and
19:03
again, within reason, don't you know, upend your life to do
19:07
these things. But it's just something to think
19:08
about. And then my big one, as you guys
19:12
know, is fresh species appropriate diet.
19:16
You know, we want that high quality keto type diet to really
19:21
make a difference for for our pets, you know, make sure that
19:24
it's moisture rich kind of food, make sure it really supports the
19:28
gut microbiome. I just did the most wonderful
19:31
podcast with Emily Stein from Teeth.
19:35
Oh my God, she's so brilliant. You know, and you know, we, we
19:39
forget that the oral microbiome has such a big effect on the
19:44
regular microbiome in the body. And studies show that, you know,
19:49
even in humans, 40 some percent of brushing and and using
19:54
mouthwash doesn't cover the health of her mouth.
19:58
If we can add that protectant 30, you know, for our cats,
20:03
we're getting that microbiome. Really affected and really make
20:06
a big difference in it. You can see the the calculus and
20:10
the tartar disappear over time with it in the water or you know
20:14
a lick pad or something like that.
20:16
So I love that idea. Yeah, Yeah.
20:20
Here's a question for you because we've talked about this
20:24
with a few other veterinarians in in their clinics and we have
20:30
been. So we've been in pet nutrition
20:31
for over 20 years now and we have see, I have personally seen
20:36
this both on the dog side and now on the cat side more so.
20:42
And maybe it's just because I'm more in tune with, with cat
20:45
people, but I, I, I feel like I see it more on the cat side.
20:50
This is when a cat is dealing with reoccurring health issues
20:58
and never able to get to the bottom of it, but the owner is
21:05
clearly a very high anxiety, high stressed person.
21:09
Do you see a correlation between your customers or your clients?
21:14
Meaning the cats or or the dogs and their owners?
21:19
Do you see a correlation? Yeah.
21:21
No question. You know, it's I try to keep my
21:26
level of anxiety and and whatnot in my home down, but I'll tell
21:31
you with an 18 year old and a 14 year old, that sometimes could
21:35
be really difficult. And my poor cats, Batman and
21:38
Flash, they pick up on it all the time.
21:41
You know, these are two very sensitive Devin Rex's that just
21:45
know when things are just not right.
21:48
And you know, I mean, I think the the easiest thing that
21:52
people can see if they're really looking for some proof on this
21:55
is what happens when you're sick.
21:57
Tell me your cats don't just hang out and want to be all over
22:02
you and, and, and checking you out and, and being there.
22:06
They know, they know how to, they pick this up.
22:09
And so all by all means. And, and so, you know, my
22:13
prescription for a lot of my clients is 2 glasses of wine for
22:17
you and a good play time for your Kitty.
22:19
You know, I mean, sometimes I, I'm, I'm, I'm being facetious,
22:24
but, but I'm really not. And they think that, you know,
22:27
I'm, I'm really being facetious, but I'm really not.
22:29
I'm really being honest with them.
22:31
I'm like, OK, maybe Dynax is a good idea here.
22:33
I don't know, you know. Doctor Randy, I want you as my
22:36
vet so, so that you can prescribe me wine.
22:40
I, I just said before this, I was like, man, after today, like
22:43
when this is done, we're actually done, which is great.
22:46
We're actually going to be ending early, no meetings.
22:48
Earlier. Right.
22:49
No meetings after this. And I was like, I really just
22:52
want some wine. I really just want real wine.
22:56
Yeah, we gave it for six months, but so do you have?
22:58
I know you did that. And how's it going with that?
23:00
Is everything OK? It's great until a day like this
23:03
and then all I want is just a glass of wine.
23:05
But I would like to point out we could not handle a day like
23:07
this. It's true, had we had drinks
23:09
last night. Correct.
23:11
And that's true. We have to remember that too.
23:13
You know, I'm looking at just just for a second at the
23:15
comments and Monica is on there saying, you know, Oh my God,
23:20
this is resonating so hard right now.
23:22
My stress has been massive lately and suddenly my 11 year
23:26
old cat's having diarrhea. OK, yeah, so Monica, I mean,
23:31
obviously whatever you can do to help yourself, please, but in
23:35
your cat situation, you know, get some more fiber into that
23:38
cat's diet. Make sure we're not doing the
23:42
harmful kibbles that we've we've we've always you all of us on
23:45
this podcast have talked about staying away from even looking
23:49
at, you know, some goat key for for a probiotic to really help
23:53
out with that bow. Lots of other things we can do,
23:56
but just some ideas, you know, because a lot of times, you
24:00
know, you can't deal, you can't help the stress.
24:03
I mean, you know, look at our world.
24:05
I mean, how could you? You know, all you have to do is
24:07
turn the news on and Oh my God, you'll go through the roof and
24:10
stress level. Well, then I'll just say like #1
24:13
rule for all of us, if we want to help our cats, the first
24:16
thing that one of the first things that we really need to do
24:18
is help ourselves, right? And that's what that's, you
24:21
know, why we're it's actually one of the main reasons why we
24:24
decided to stop alcohol for six months is to see, will that
24:27
bring our stress levels down and will our cats start getting
24:29
along better and not have as many issues?
24:32
But turn off the news. Rule number one with the news is
24:36
it's it's not bringing, if it's not bringing anything positive
24:40
into your into your life And and if there's nothing that can be
24:43
done except for stress about it, then why then why bring that on
24:47
yourself, right. So yeah.
24:50
When I first met Andrew Weil here in Tucson and he wrote one
24:54
of his best books, one of the first prescriptions in that book
24:58
was go 8 weeks without watching the news and see what happens, 8
25:02
weeks and it's, you know, it's not easy because you're getting
25:05
bombarded now all the time. Cell phones and everything else
25:09
is coming at you. It's tough.
25:13
Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah, I I do love, I live, love
25:17
music. Bringing some levity.
25:18
I said, well, you ain't going to call me out like that.
25:23
Not just yeah, I call it myself out too.
25:26
So. I have another question and then
25:27
I see there's a question from Aaron here that says, are there
25:29
any plants that you know of that help with mold?
25:32
That's a Rita. That's.
25:34
A good question. Rita absolutely no.
25:37
I should, Aaron told. Us before I'm making a note of
25:39
that and I'm I'm going to put that in our book if we've got.
25:42
Yeah, I would love to know because I don't know of
25:45
anything. I mean, obviously I love the
25:48
idea of plants for, you know, for filtering air and giving us,
25:51
you know, oxygen and taking care of the CO2 and and that type of
25:55
thing. But I don't know of anything off
25:58
the top of my head that I can answer that would be 100%.
26:01
So what's that? I want to say the snake plant is
26:06
which is is something that you don't you still want to keep
26:09
away from your kitties, right? You don't want your cat eating
26:12
them. I have, I have snake plants in
26:14
my arm. I have them up on a shelf so the
26:16
cats can't get to them, but I do water them and they can get up
26:19
to them. Our cats won't eat, like won't
26:22
eat them or touch them because spider because they know that
26:25
spider plants. OK, Tara, thank you.
26:28
And I, I, I still, I'm, I'm pinking my question, I I still
26:32
have to ask you. But Monica also said I took them
26:33
in all panels, done wet food only.
26:36
Right. Biome probiotic?
26:39
Wondering if Elm? Can help.
26:41
Or pumpkin? Yeah, both of those, I think.
26:43
Slippery Elm and pumpkin, wouldn't you say?
26:45
That it could be. And if I was, and if I was
26:50
looking at adding pumpkin, I would make sure that I spike it
26:54
with what I really love is pectasol, which is apple citrus
26:59
pectin that's not flavored. OK.
27:02
They make a pectasol that is apple that is citrus flavored,
27:05
which I actually take every day. Great for drawing toxin out of
27:09
your body. But the unflavored cats will
27:11
tolerate do really well. Or even psyllium, you know, a
27:15
little bit of psyllium or inulin in that pumpkin.
27:18
Really good way to go with the slippery Elm.
27:20
I I definitely agree with that. I.
27:23
Love that. I didn't know that.
27:25
I love how I learned from you every time.
27:27
Every time. Never fails.
27:29
And I learned from you guys too, you know, so it's, it works both
27:32
ways. And your listeners, I mean God,
27:34
some of their questions are so wonderful.
27:36
I know we learned so much. From the community, Community is
27:39
just, Yep, it is just a brain trust, yes.
27:43
OK, you're. OK.
27:44
My, my question is, you know that I love that you listed so
27:48
many things that we could do like today, tonight, removing
27:51
plugins, getting rid of all those things for, for those of
27:57
us that maybe do have very high stress lifestyles or that can't,
28:02
cannot commit to regular mealtimes or some of these
28:05
things. Do you have any like resiliency
28:09
tips like for for humans and for our beautiful cats of these are
28:15
things that even though we can't have routine mealtimes, we have
28:19
AB and C like you're building resilience, you're helping your
28:22
little one to know that, hey, we're in this situation together
28:25
and these are things that can help, you know, kind of take
28:29
that stress off or. Sure.
28:32
Build resilience. That's a good.
28:34
Question that's a, that's a good, that's a really good
28:36
question. And I think that it is important
28:39
to add little changes into what you're doing because you can't
28:44
always be 100% on feeding at 8:00 in the morning or, you
28:49
know, or playing at 10 AMI mean it doesn't, you know, life
28:52
doesn't work that way. So I think building some of
28:54
those small little changes in are really important.
28:58
But again, providing some of those hunt play games, you know,
29:02
or puzzles or things that cats can stay busy by themselves with
29:07
that don't count on you and I to provide really makes it a lot
29:11
more comfortable for them. You know, really makes it a lot
29:14
more, you know, it takes your mind off of what's going on just
29:18
like it would for you and I. So I think that's that's a
29:22
really good way to to go as far as as as some things that you
29:26
know, you might want to look at doing obviously.
29:29
I know someone said someone told or I read it.
29:32
I don't know where I hear things but someone had said if you
29:35
can't do regular maybe it was our cat behaviors.
29:40
If you can't do the scheduled feeding times then do something
29:45
with your cat before you feed them every time.
29:48
So and and for her she said play play with your cat even if it's
29:53
only 2 to 5 minutes. If you're going to feed them,
29:56
like you are still going to feed them, they're going to eat or
29:58
they die, right? So you're going to feed them.
30:01
If you can't, well, I mean, you know, it's sustained life.
30:05
It's so if you, if you can't, like if your schedule changes
30:08
all the time and you just can't always be on time, then try
30:13
picking up that wand toy while you're warming up their food
30:16
because hopefully you're feeding them species appropriate.
30:18
But or you know, or even if you're not before you put the
30:23
food down, bring out a wand toy and play with them.
30:26
And then they know that, right, This is that one they get to go
30:29
through that, that pray sequence, right?
30:32
So they get to hunt, stop, chase, kill, and then.
30:36
Catch, kill. Eat.
30:37
That's right. Hunt, catch, kill, eat right.
30:40
So so it's do that, which is super enriching form and one of
30:45
the best ways to reduce stress is exercise, right?
30:47
We all know that for our cats and ourselves and and then feed
30:51
them and that. So I think that might be a.
30:54
Like having an activity before the actual meal time, so they're
30:56
not stressing about meal time. They know as soon as that
30:59
activity happens that food is coming.
31:01
So it'll be a yeah, yeah, maybe Another quick question from
31:06
Monica. She said giving him pro pectin.
31:09
Is that similar? Most time when people talk about
31:13
pro pectin, they're talking about almost like a KO pectate
31:17
product, Kalin and pectin, which people will use for diarrhea and
31:22
dogs and cats. I will tell you I absolutely
31:25
hate that product. I don't think it works.
31:28
It's it was a mainstay in veterinary practices forever.
31:32
Veterinarians with prescribe it and believe it or not, very
31:37
small amounts of Pepto Bismol is a lot safer and a lot easier.
31:43
And now people worry about Pepto Bismol because some of it has
31:47
salicylates, which are, you know, aspirin type compound.
31:50
But in very, very small amounts, it can actually be an incredible
31:54
anti-inflammatory for cats bowel.
31:57
So I'd I'd rather see that than the I usually when people say
32:01
Propec and it usually means the Kalin pectin product which I
32:05
don't like at all. So when you say very, very small
32:08
amounts, because I'm thinking about people grabbing their
32:10
Pepto Bismol now and doing what they think is a small amount,
32:15
what what do you think as a veterinarian by a very small
32:18
amount? Yeah, I mean, I'd be like a lick
32:20
or one or two drops. I mean, I'm talking about a
32:23
small amount that you know, and, and, and you can't continue to
32:27
use it. It's not something that you can
32:29
use three or four times a day. Knowing that if you do use that
32:33
like little drop or two or a lick, their stools can get dark
32:38
because that's part of the the process of that bismuth changing
32:42
the stool to black. They're not bleeding internally.
32:45
So don't worry about that. But yeah, you, you can do that.
32:49
Now. A lot of veterinarians will tell
32:50
you you shouldn't touch that product again because of the
32:53
salicylates. I'm just talking about like a
32:56
one time small little amount if it's if the diarrhea is really
33:00
explosive and we get, you know, those try Trichomonas cats that
33:03
just are blowing out stool and you know, something has to be
33:08
done besides all the other good stuff that we've talked about
33:10
doing, you know, as far as getting that microbiome fixed
33:14
and and looking at the teeth product and doing the fiber.
33:19
So sometimes we we have to resort resort to that.
33:21
But yes. Yeah, I would.
33:23
I mean honestly I would stick to that.
33:25
I would try the pumpkin and slippery element, other things
33:27
first, marshmallow root with these things prior to, Yeah,
33:31
prior to to going any, any chemical route if possible.
33:36
Right. I know we have to wrap up, but I
33:38
have one more question to you. Go with your.
33:40
OK, I'm going with I have a very sensitive Kitty.
33:44
I do my best but struggle and she came to me stress.
33:47
Any tips for this kind of Kitty? And I think that there's a lot
33:49
of us with cats that are like, why are they so jumpy?
33:52
You don't think we've had them since they were babies?
33:55
Why are they all so high strung? Do you have any tips for that?
34:00
Like practical tips that we can do to help them calm down?
34:03
Or is this just a simple like let's go start looking at
34:06
calming formulas? No, excuse me.
34:10
No, I mean, I, you know, look, let's let's not joke, joke
34:14
around. I mean, there are kitties just
34:16
like there are people where they're just going to be
34:19
different stress levels. I mean, their anxiety levels are
34:22
going to be way different. But you know, things like
34:25
eliminating the hot meats in their diet, meaning like Chinese
34:28
wise chicken, lamb and venison, eliminating any of the simple
34:32
carbs in their diet. You know, where we're talking
34:34
about rice, white potatoes, soy, corn and wheat, all good things
34:38
to, to help bring that, that stress level down or the
34:41
inflammation level down. And then, you know, of course,
34:44
I'm a big proponent again, of checking the microbiome and and
34:48
really, really making sure it's balanced because a lot of those
34:51
kitties come to us where mom got antibiotics when it was pregnant
34:55
or, you know, over vaccinated or whatever reason.
35:01
You know, it really has changed that that microbiome.
35:04
And we know there's that gut brain connection that can really
35:06
make a big difference if we affect that.
35:08
So I think those things, but also, you know, just in
35:11
response, I mean, you're going to get a cat that's going to be
35:15
that. You know, it's just like people,
35:16
you know, you, we all know them. You know, a lot of people like
35:20
to say that I can be in that cut.
35:21
Yeah, exactly. I'm pointing to myself also.
35:25
Gee, Dad. Yep, that's why we're such good
35:27
achievers, kid 'cause, you know, we keep on getting out there
35:30
plugging, you know, so it's important.
35:33
Yeah. OK.
35:34
I know we're out of time, but I have one last question.
35:36
Sure. I know that in your practice you
35:39
do fecal microbiome transplants, FMTS with your clients.
35:44
When it comes to stress and behavior, specifically anxiety
35:49
type behaviors, have you seen performing or or giving FMTS to
35:57
cats? Have you seen behavioral changes
36:00
in in these ways in like positive way?
36:04
Absolutely, absolutely. Because there is that gut brain
36:08
connection. The vagus nerve comes right from
36:10
their intestine to their brain. And if we can affect those tiny
36:14
little bugs in their bowel where they're all balanced, then that
36:18
vagus nerve is not going to be on high alert, you know,
36:21
basically constantly stimulating brain function.
36:23
So there's no question, no question that that would make a
36:27
difference. And, you know, I just want to
36:29
remind people that the environment that we create for
36:31
our cats is their entire world, you know, so when we improve
36:35
that environment, we improve their health.
36:38
So all the things that we had talked about tonight, people can
36:41
look at and make those, you know, make little changes.
36:43
You know, you don't I, I tell people, you don't throw the baby
36:47
out with the bathwater here. You don't like just get rid of
36:50
everything that we've done and start over again.
36:52
That's not the goal. They'll goal is small little
36:55
changes to affect the change. Yeah, great words of wisdom.
36:59
Totally agree. Yes, thank you.
37:01
Thank. You would you be able to give us
37:03
a quick for anyone that's just joining would you be able to do
37:05
just a quick wrap up. I loved this presentation so
37:08
much in Seattle. Just so chock full of very how
37:13
everything is connected and so when that is unfamiliar with the
37:17
cats, can we just do a? Absolute.
37:20
Wrap up of the topics that we've covered.
37:22
Absolutely, but we're also going to have to find the three of us
37:25
something that we can talk about so we can continue these
37:27
conversations. So, but you know, what we've
37:32
been talking about is the demonic cats.
37:34
So see, as we've talked about stands for complete nutrition
37:38
and microbiome, and we're talking about species
37:42
appropriate foods, keto based diets that are high quality
37:46
protein without the, you know, the the kibbles involved,
37:50
please, you know, and microbiome to really, really check that and
37:55
balance that in our cats. A is for activity.
37:58
We we talked so much about different activities that we can
38:01
institute. And if people haven't hidden
38:04
here that podcast, go back and and listen to that because
38:07
that's really, really important. Tea is teeth.
38:10
And, you know, we talk about how that's such a silent disease in
38:15
our cats. They don't want to show us, but
38:17
it can be so bad and and even deadly, you know, and we've been
38:22
able to avoid that complete mouth extraction with all the
38:26
other things we've talked about sometimes in our cats and stress
38:29
and asses for stress that we I think really well covered today.
38:33
And there's so many different things that when when our our
38:35
cat parents can institute. So I think we really have given
38:39
them something to go off of and really work on and, and I'm
38:43
going to miss not having these monthly meetings.
38:46
So we, we, you and I, we, the three of us need to talk and
38:49
figure out where we're going to go with this.
38:50
But we need to do more, that's for sure.
38:52
Yeah, 100 percent, 1000%. We will absolutely have you
38:56
back. You're like everyone's favorite.
38:58
So yeah, that is a promise. Thank you so much and thank you
39:00
so much for going through this entire series.
39:03
After we saw you in in Seattle, I reached out and I was like,
39:07
hey, would you do a whole series on our our podcast?
39:10
And that's a lot like this is like.
39:12
Like you're a busy man. He's a very busy man.
39:14
Like he is practice. He is a like in practice every
39:18
day. He is has a family, has all
39:21
kinds of things going on. Does I mean, I see you on social
39:24
media interviewing with other people in clips, like literally
39:28
every day. You're like, my algorithm knows
39:31
that I love you. So I see you all the time and
39:33
I'm like, man, he's real busy. I love your algorithm, by the
39:36
way. So I'm glad that it loves me
39:38
because it's, there's a mutual obviously, I'm so enamored with
39:42
what you guys have done. And you know, all of you know,
39:45
people don't realize and if you don't realize what kind of
39:48
research these two ladies are, you're missing something because
39:52
they are a real tribute to our cat world and our feline
39:56
population. So I love you guys and I'm I'm
39:59
so happy to be able to do it. I'll always make time for you
40:01
guys. You know that.
40:02
So let's make sure we follow up and and do some more.
40:07
Doctor Randy, thank you so much and thank you everyone who
40:10
joined us for this entire series.
40:12
If you missed any episodes, they are all on YouTube, Spotify,
40:16
Apple and all the places where you listen to podcasts.
40:19
They're also because your interviews are so fantastic, we
40:21
also have a blog on each one of them on our website,
40:23
docrazycatladies.com, and I'll be dropping this one with that
40:26
amazing list of the things that we can start doing today.
40:31
Yeah, that is going to start changing.
40:33
So much and if you need to reach, if you want to reach out
40:35
to Doctor Randy, link is in the description here.
40:37
We love you all so much. Randy, thank you so much.
40:39
What's up? Guys, keep on writing.