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Short Paws: Toxic Plant Safety & Aging Cat Nutrition Advice · Paws Between Us - Pet Stories, Welfare and Building A Bond

• 0:00
  Welcome to Paws Between Us, your regular dose of positive pet news.
• 0:04
  Every other week, we bring you a short, uplifting episode packed with
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  the latest feel-good stories and research from the world of pets.
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  So take a moment to tune out from all the negative news dominating the headlines
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  and help us shine a light on the good, celebrating the joy that pets bring
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  to our lives and showing inspiring changes making their lives better too.
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  So settle in for a short pause and let's spread some positivity together.
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  Hey, hello. Hello. Short pause time.
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  Short pause time. How you doing? Yeah, good.
• 0:35
  I am well, thank you. Good, good.
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  I haven't spotted as much positive pet news in the headlines
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  this past few weeks. Maybe everyone's taking a break over
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  the summer. Yeah, I wondered that.
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  Yeah. I mean, of course there are lots of positive things happening
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  for pets. Um, globally, I'm sure, and but not all of them
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  make the headlines. So if you have a story to share,
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  do tell us, do get in touch. Yeah, I was
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  the same, like, um, I haven't really seen anything particularly innovative
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  or like you say anything positive particularly. There's nothing negative out
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  there, but I think, yeah, everyone's probably on summer holidays and winding down
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  for summer holidays. Um, but so yeah, what's caught your
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  your eyes, Sasha, is there anything out there that you've read recently that would be
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  useful for people to know about? Yeah. I mean, I really want to give a
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  pause up to someone here in the UK who has launched
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  a petition on change.org urging the government to
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  require plant suppliers to clearly label whether plants
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  are toxic to dogs and cats. An easy fix. It's just a bit of writing
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  on a label to protect pets. And the reason this person is
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  calling for this is, um, Her 18-month-old
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  Chihuahua Cooper nearly died from eating a hosta plant,
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  a common garden plant sold widely in UK shops, but it's really
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  toxic to pets. I'm trying to visualise what a hosta
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  plant looks like and I can't. I've got 2. Oh, you have?
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  Okay, so you'll be very familiar with them then. Yeah. Are they
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  in your garden or are they in the house? They're in plant pots in the
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  garden. But this is the thing, my cats can't reach them and do not eat
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  plants. Yeah, okay. So we've taken a bit of a judgement on that, but yeah.
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  Yeah, yeah. So, um, the person
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  who's calling for the, the change, um, with her dog, that the dog became
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  seriously ill, um, after ingesting the plant and the toxins didn't actually show up on
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  blood tests, which meant that vets struggled to diagnose the issue quickly.
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  Um, and then the dog eventually needed emergency gut and intestinal
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  surgery. Um,
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  and yeah, I mean, clearly there's a financial toll,
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  there's an emotional impact, you know, something you and I are very passionate about around
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  emotional impact of, um,
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  caring for pets and when they're poorly, like how,
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  you know, it's really, really upsetting and very stressful. So yeah,
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  it'll be great to see this change. Um, I hadn't
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  realised that, um, other household plants and flowers that
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  are poisonous to pets are lilies, daffodils, and tulips. So I knew about lilies,
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  but I didn't know about daffodils and tulips. We just need to be a bit
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  more aware of what's in our homes and gardens. I think we, we have talked
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  about poisoning before, and we have said that there is an animal poison line,
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  so that's great if you need advice on these things.
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  Um, and yeah, we've not, I don't think we've talked specifically
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  about plants and there is a whole list on the Cats Protection website. You can
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  download a booklet or you can just have a look through their guidance,
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  but it'd be so much simpler for there to be an icon
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  or a little bit of text on a label like she's suggesting.
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  Yeah, exactly. Just a little push for simple life-saving labelling reform.
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  Um, but yeah, I just thought it's great that she's pushing
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  for this because not everyone is aware of of the dangers of
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  everyday plants in UK homes and gardens. It's something that
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  sounds relatively simple to do. And so I
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  would say, well done, let's push for this. And, um, yeah, it would
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  be great, great to see it. Yeah, I agree. Couldn't it? Easy, simple steps.
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  And I'm always at the garden centre picking up a plant and then come home
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  and go, James will go, is this poisonous? And I'm like, oh, I don't know,
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  better Google. Yeah, exactly. And, um,
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  a neighbour of mine recently had a new kitten and they've got some wonderful plants
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  in their home and they've had to get rid of them all because, you know,
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  it was great that they started to think about those things and was researching the
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  different plants, but there was a question mark for them, which was like,
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  is this toxic or not? Not sure. So it would be good to have a
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  bit more information and support just on the label. Simple as
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  that. Simple. Yeah. Well, we'll look at that petition. So that's on change.org,
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  did you say? Change.org. Yeah. Okay. Brilliant. So what about you,
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  Nat? There's a couple of things I'm going to talk about today. I'll come onto
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  the sort of more poignant thing in a moment, but the first thing I found
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  was a little bit of research and there's a bit of a theme and it
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  probably all ties in with what I was gonna talk about today, but it was
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  International Cat Day yesterday, Saturday the 8th.
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  So we're gonna be doing a few little cat things. And what
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  I found was a study, some research that, um, the Waltham
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  Petcare Sciences Institute had carried out with the Royal Canin.
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  Don't know if it's Royal Canin or Royal Canin, but anyway. I never know either.
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  I know. So this study
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  was about looking at senior cat nutrition.
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  'Cause apparently there's quite, as cats get older, they struggle a lot with
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  urinary tract diseases. And one of the problems, common problems with older cats is
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  kidney failure. And as you sort of,
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  animals age, they tend to lose a bit of weight. So they
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  did a study looking at 134 healthy cats actually
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  aged over 7. I mean, I can't believe 7's aged
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  or senior, because both my cats are going to be 7 soon. Doesn't sound very
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  old. No, I say middle-aged now. Although cats,
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  there is a thing about pets. Yeah, there are pets living longer, so maybe they'll
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  need to readjust that. Yeah, middle-aged is better, I think.
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  Middle-aged cats. Um, anyway, so it's quite an
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  understudied group apparently, which is again sad. So hopefully with
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  research this will kind of nudge the gap a bit. But anyway, so they looked
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  at like what recommendations they could improve for ageing cats, right? So Basically
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  very quickly, what they found was that most calories were consumed
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  from an all-dry diet. Okay.
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  They also found that cats drunk significantly less water on an
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  all-wet diet. So that makes sense. And, but still
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  had a higher overall water intake. So they
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  were, they drank less, but overall had more
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  water intake on a wet diet. So their guidelines
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  basically said after kind of them looking at all this research and kind of finding
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  out how cats generally naturally were fed and were eating
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  and drinking, that cats over 7 years old,
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  they recommend should have several small meals a day using a combination
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  of wet and dry, which should satisfy an
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  ageing cat's grazing behaviour, balance the calorie intake, and help support
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  urinary tract health benefits. So yeah,
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  so I think that's just a little bit of a tip and I just,
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  I think there's probably more research to be done, but kind of knowing that I
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  think is just a lovely little insight into learning
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  more about what would benefit an older cat. Because if there's less research done
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  on it, then people aren't going to know actually what's going to be, what's going
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  to help their health the best. So the
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  fact that this is being done and people are actually paying attention to our older
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  generational cats. And dogs is good. So the Wolf and
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  Pet Care Institute does a lot of research and is like,
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  their mission is to build a better world for pets. I've only just come across
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  them, so I'm gonna do a little bit more looking into what they're up to
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  and how they're supporting our animals as they
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  go through their life stages. Yeah. Yeah.
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  I mean, that would fit as well what you've been talking about to me off
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  the podcast about feeding your cats that mix of wet and
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  dry and trying to get that balance.
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  Yeah. So yeah, it's tough. Yeah. But it's good to know the
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  research supports and actually knowing that a little bit more helps you to be a
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  bit more confident with knowing maybe what would work and what, you know,
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  scientifically will support cats' wellbeing.
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  So yeah, it's good to kind of get a little bit of the science behind
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  things. And I love how International Cat Day is about celebrating cats,
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  but it's also learning more about how to keep them happy, healthy,
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  and safe. So it seems like there's lots of resources out there to
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  look into. And I think as part of the celebration, I also saw that there's
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  a kind of cat film festival, which sounds cool. As someone
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  who loves watching films and going to the cinema, sounds like there's a number
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  of screenings and I don't think it's just on the day. I think it's over
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  a period of time. Yeah. I think the main thing for International
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  Cat Day is think cat and the Yeah. The CAT
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  stands for things. So like the C is for cat-friendly ways to interact
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  and care for your cat. So we've heard this before. Kitty City said
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  it, sort of be cat-led, like think about their perspective and think about their needs.
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  A is for annual checkups to make sure they're happy and healthy.
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  T is for tips and advice to help care for your cat through all the
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  stages of their life. And we've just done a little bit on older cats.
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  So there's the starting point.
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  Indeed. So yeah, happy International Cat Day, or should
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  I say happy belated International Cat Day for all the cat lovers and
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  cat mums and dads that are listening.
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  And did you say you had something else that caught your eye? The only other
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  thing I was going to talk about is piecing together
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  some of the things we've been talking about over the last few months on the
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  podcast, and we've mentioned this a while ago, and it came because I
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  saw that, uh, a famous radio DJ's dog
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  passed away and the sort of devastation
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  that causes for people. And we've talked about
• 10:08
  it a few times. I think the recognition that the loss of a pet
• 10:12
  is quite devastating and can really affect people.
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  Animals are a family member and are well-loved and
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  adored by all, and it can be a really difficult time. And particularly
• 10:23
  if you've got a poorly pet and, you know, that time is coming,
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  it's It's just awful. And I think I just wanted to,
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  without getting too deep and getting too many tears involved,
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  is just try and give people a little bit of a sort of heads up
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  and just sort of like let them know that grief is normal.
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  Don't feel guilty, don't feel silly about it.
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  It's absolutely, you know, expected because
• 10:48
  of these animals and how much love they bring to your lives. But also to
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  know that there's help out there. And I was just going to give a few
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  little kind of insights into kind of my experience and what I would suggest
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  people think about. But first of all, like what I was going to say is,
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  so if you, if you have experienced a loss of a pet, there are helplines
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  out there and people trained and ready to listen and give you some supportive
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  advice. So in terms of International Cat Day,
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  so thinking about cats specifically, Cats Protection do
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  a Pause to Listen grief support service. And if you Google them,
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  you'll find their number online and you can get in touch anytime. They're open Monday
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  to Friday, except bank holidays. And if you're busy, you can do
• 11:32
  a callback service and they will call you. And it's, you know, they've, they can
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  provide a sympathetic ear and just get, you know, give you some,
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  some listening advice and stuff. There's also a
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  grief support line on Blue Cross who will talk to you about any loss of
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  any animal. And again, if you, if you Google the Blue Cross Uh, grief line,
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  they are also available for you to talk to. Um, but yeah,
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  so it's just a little bit of just saying, you know,
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  we think of people who are going through these difficult times. And if you are,
• 12:02
  have recently lost a pet, we hear you. We know what it's like.
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  Uh, we've all been there and it's, it's very difficult and we, we understand and
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  validate all your feelings. Um,
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  and yeah, we're going to talk a little bit more about this, I think,
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  with an expert in the coming months, and we'll get somebody on to
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  give us a proper podcast episode on it and help us prepare. Um, 'cause one
• 12:23
  of the things I'm, although my Murray and Weaver are only
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  6, I've been through the loss of Diaz and Roscoe
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  before, and I'm dreading losing
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  Murray or Weaver. I know it's part of the, the circle
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  of life. And I've said this a few times to friends that like,
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  although the loss is really, really hard.
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  And devastating. I would not give up the years of
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  love and fun and giggles and just joy for those
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  difficult weeks that you have when the grief hits you.
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  So, you know, it is worth it. Their lives with you is worth
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  it, but it is so hard. And I am currently
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  worrying. I don't, it doesn't bother me every day, but it flashes through my
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  mind occasionally. Like, what do I do if one of them dies before the other,
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  which is very likely. And I'm trying to prepare myself about
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  how I'm going to, what I'm going to do,
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  how I'm going to manage that so that when it happens, I'm not panicked
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  and I'm not fretting. And I'm not like in an
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  emotional state where I haven't made a decision. I'm kind of preparing myself
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  a little bit to know what to do. So when it comes, I'm a little
• 13:35
  bit more comfortable and prepared, and I don't want
• 13:39
  to dwell on it too much. At all, because that's not what life's about,
• 13:42
  thinking about the end. But, um, because of them being
• 13:46
  so close together, the two, Murray and Weaver, are so close,
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  it worries me. So I'm going to try and sort of do some thinking,
• 13:54
  get some expert advice, talk to some behaviorists, and do some research
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  to figure out what's the best way to manage that.
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  Um, so I would say to people a little bit, think about as well whether
• 14:05
  you want like the cremation. Whether you want a burial,
• 14:09
  just to sort of like, so when it happens, you're not kind of dumbfounded
• 14:13
  by all this decision. So just don't, don't think about it too much, but I
• 14:17
  would suggest just have a little idea about what you think works for you and
• 14:21
  be, be a little prepared. What about you,
• 14:24
  Sash? How, how are you? What do you think about this? Yeah, I mean,
• 14:28
  what a huge topic. And like you say, it's quite
• 14:31
  a, quite a sensitive emotional one. And,
• 14:35
  Yeah, thank you for sharing, I suppose is the first thing to say. So you've
• 14:39
  been very open there, very honest, Nat, about some of your concerns
• 14:43
  and what you, you know, have been through, but also just,
• 14:47
  yeah, really good of you to share those, those things with others who might
• 14:52
  be also going through this right now. I mean, I,
• 14:55
  in a way, feel that I've started to grieve already
• 14:59
  a little bit, and I know that that sounds quite negative,
• 15:03
  but as Betty is ageing,
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  I'm very conscious that,
• 15:10
  yeah, she's getting older and she won't be here forever.
• 15:14
  And so, it does make me feel a little bit sad to think that,
• 15:20
  yeah, Betty's lifespan is shorter than mine and we're not
• 15:23
  going to grow older together.
• 15:27
  Although I'm, you know, we're both getting older, but we're not going to
• 15:31
  see through the next 10, 20 years together.
• 15:36
  So that's, yeah, that's quite a sad thing for me
• 15:39
  to get my head round. And I'm very
• 15:43
  focused though on what I can do to make her life happy
• 15:47
  and comfortable while she's still alive. And as
• 15:51
  she is getting older, she is struggling with things a lot more, which we've spoke
• 15:56
  about in the podcast. So I want to just
• 15:59
  help her with those, those things like her incontinence
• 16:04
  and her struggling to walk and the fact that she tires easily.
• 16:07
  And, you know, she needs lots of love and care and really good nutritious
• 16:12
  food. Sometimes I think, oh, maybe it's okay to give
• 16:16
  her that extra treat because why not? She's getting older.
• 16:19
  She should be able to enjoy the last few years of her life.
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  Eating wonderful, lovely foods. Of course, nothing that's
• 16:26
  toxic, but just things that she really enjoys.
• 16:30
  So, I've been trying to think about the moments we can enjoy
• 16:34
  together now. And yeah, but it is very much
• 16:38
  in the back of my mind. And I haven't
• 16:41
  thought about what I'll do when the time comes. So, it's good for you to
• 16:45
  share those, those things. I know lots of people And moving
• 16:49
  towards having a vet coming to the home if your
• 16:53
  pet doesn't pass away in their sleep.
• 16:56
  Um, and when you know that the time comes, like, how are you gonna deal
• 17:00
  with that? And vets will come to the home and assist with that.
• 17:04
  And your pet is then in a familiar,
• 17:07
  calm surrounding environment that they're, you know,
• 17:11
  they're just, they're used to, they're comfortable with. I, I love
• 17:15
  the fact that there's more support services out there
• 17:19
  for pet parents, that counselling or therapy has become
• 17:23
  more of the norm for people that are bereaving the loss of
• 17:27
  a pet. And I do follow on socials the,
• 17:31
  I think it's the, um, Blue Cross Bereavement
• 17:35
  Support Group that is on Facebook.
• 17:38
  Yeah. Um, I follow those 'cause I just
• 17:43
  think what they do is, is, is wonderful. I think it's great that there's lots
• 17:45
  of support out there and people shouldn't feel ashamed shamed to say,
• 17:49
  you know, I'm upset that I've lost a pet.
• 17:53
  And I think we've talked before, haven't we, on other podcasts about other countries
• 17:57
  that are introducing initiatives and laws for,
• 18:01
  um, pet parents that are grieving and allowances in the
• 18:04
  workplace because not all workplaces are understanding when it comes
• 18:08
  to people that might need to take time out to grieve the loss
• 18:13
  of a pet. Yeah. I really want to kind of just see a little bit
• 18:16
  more of compassion and understanding for people who have animals in their
• 18:20
  lives in all aspects. So yeah,
• 18:23
  that kind of the fact, I think it was Italy, they've like got
• 18:28
  the compassionate leave if your animal passes away. Just kind of understanding
• 18:32
  that like some of us don't have kids and,
• 18:36
  or even if we do, we've got a beloved animal in the house. And when
• 18:38
  that's gone, it's a massive change to the dynamics in the household.
• 18:42
  You miss them terribly and you're grieving for them
• 18:46
  and you go through those stages like you would Um, maybe another family member.
• 18:50
  So yeah, needs to be recognised a
• 18:53
  little bit more. Well, I hope that information's helped everybody and just made people think
• 18:57
  a little bit. Um, hopefully kind of, yeah, it's a difficult time, but I
• 19:00
  think a little bit of preparation and thought about what your,
• 19:05
  um, values are around it and what you want for your pet once they have
• 19:09
  passed away will help you deal with the situation when it arises.
• 19:12
  That would be my advice, but good luck to everybody.
• 19:15
  Our thoughts are with you. We know it's a difficult time and,
• 19:19
  you know, it can be very, very hard, but like we say,
• 19:22
  think of the love of the animal. Think of all the great times. Think of
• 19:25
  the joy that you've, they've brought to you and remember them fondly. Think about those
• 19:29
  good days. That's what I always did. Yeah. Wise words to
• 19:32
  end on. Sending anyone that's going through this right now, a big
• 19:36
  virtual hug from Nat and I on the Paws Between
• 19:40
  Us podcast. And, uh, yeah, just take care.
• 19:45
  See you next time. See you next time, Nat. Bye.