Pet Poison Risks: A Conversation with Dr. Renee Schmid of Pet Poison Helpline

In this episode of Ask the Vet, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus welcomes Dr. Renee Schmid, Director of Veterinary Medicine and Senior Veterinary Toxicologist at Pet Poison Helpline, to discuss poisonings and toxin exposures in pets.

Topics include:

• What veterinary toxicologists do
• How Pet Poison Helpline works — and when you should call
• Trending toxin exposures and emerging concerns
• Red-flag symptoms pet owners should never ignore
• How new toxin alerts are prepared and shared with veterinarians and pet owners
• Practical tips to help prevent poisonings

 Also on this month's show:

• Trending animal story about Splash, a small-clawed Asian otter helping law enforcement with underwater search and recovery
• Animal news, including how an endangered white rhino with a life-threatening parasitic eye infection was saved
• Pet Health Listener Q&A: Why a dog may skip or hop for a few steps while walking; what a sudden bald patch in cats may indicate; and what to do if your dog tears off a dewclaw

Do you have a pet question for Dr. Hohenhaus? Email askthevet@amcny.org to have your question answered on Ask the Vet's Listener Q&A.

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Transcript

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We want to remind our listeners that this program is for informational and educational purposes only, and not intended to substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis and treatment. The Animal Medical Center does not recommend or endorse any products or services advertised by Sirius XM. Welcome to Ask the Vet with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. This is the place to talk about your pets and get advice for the top veterinarian from the Animal Medical Center in NYC. Hear from the leading authorities on animals and ask your questions. Now here's your host, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. Hello everyone and welcome to Ask the Vet, the podcast for people who love their pets and want the latest in pet health and animal news. I'm your host, I'm Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, and a senior veterinarian and director of pet health information here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City. It's pet poison prevention month, and today we're going to focus on a topic that can send even the calmest pet and owner into a panic. Poisonings and toxin exposures. From chocolate and xylitol to medications, household products and common plants. Our pets have an extraordinary talent for finding trouble and eating it. Knowing what poses a risk. What to do if you suspect an exposure, and how to prevent a crisis before it happens can make all the difference between a well, pet and one who's at the shores of an animal medical center. I'm delighted today to be joined by Doctor Renee Schmid, director of veterinary medicine and senior veterinary toxicologist at the Pet Poison Helpline, and she's managed thousands of poisoning cases, which makes her a great resource for all of us here. The folks at the Pet Poison Helpline have their finger on the pulse of poisonings, and they're always like one step ahead of what we see commonly. And so this is going to be breaking news about pet poisonings. And I'm looking forward very much to this conversation. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center is the only level one veterinary trauma center in New York City, and it has 115 years of being the very best place for your pet. Now, if you need advice on keeping your pet healthy, I'm here to help. Just send me your questions to ask the vet email, which is very cleverly ask the vet at amcny.org, and I'll answer your question on next month's show. And now it's time for the trending animal of the month. It's time for the internet's most talked about animal. In Florida, a small clawed Asian otter named splash is making national headlines for an unexpected job. He's helping law enforcement with underwater search and recovery. Splash works alongside a veteran handler, Michael Hadsell, who has more than four decades of canine search and rescue experience. Now, dogs are really good at tracking scent on land, but underwater searches present unique challenges. Scent behaves differently beneath the surface of the water, and visibility can be extremely limited. So Hadsell was looking for a better way to handle cases that were water recoveries and turn to an animal naturally built for the job. Otters are strong, agile swimmers with highly sensitive whiskers and a keen sense of smell. And of course, the reason that splash is the trending animal of the month is because I saw him on the internet and he's so cute that I had to then read the story about what he was doing. So his cuteness factor is really high. After Mr. Hadsell did a lot of research and specialized training, use of positive reinforcement, and plenty of salmon splash learned to detect human remains and send a signal to his handler. When K-9 teams identify a scent near a shoreline, splash enters the water with his handler close behind. Because the visibility is so poor underwater. Splash wears a little harness so that he and his handler can stay connected while he searches. And I bet he'd be even cuter than his picture if he's wearing that little harness. I didn't see a picture of him in the harness in one early cold case. Splash led investigators to a specific area at the bottom of a lake, and there the researchers discovered a clay brick that was later matched to the victim's fatal injury, providing a long awaited closure for the family. But I mean, what a big score for splash. So today, splash assists on cases across the country, working under strict safety guidelines to protect his health in varying water conditions. When he's off duty. He spends his time playing and training always ready for the next call. What a great I mean oh just a wonderful way to help people with a really wonderful animal. And now it's my pleasure to introduce today's guest doctor Renee Schmid. Doctor Schmid is the director of veterinary medicine and a senior veterinary toxicologist for the pet Poison helpline. She's a diplomat of both the American Board of Toxicology and the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology. During her time at Pet Poison Helpline. Doctor Schmid has managed thousands of cases involving animal poisonings. In addition, she's presented on a wide range of toxins at state, regional and national conferences as well as IT colleges of veterinary medicine. She's authored scientific book chapters and numerous peer reviewed articles on toxins and poisoning therapy. And she also serves as a peer reviewer for veterinary medical journals. Welcome to ask the Vet, Doctor Schmid, so thankful that you were able to join today. Well, thank you so much. I'm really grateful to be here. This is such an important topic because one never knows what pets are going to find intriguing and get into. But before we talk about that, I always like to find out what kind of pets my guests have. So can you talk about the ones you have? Yeah. So currently I think our household pet population changes frequently, but currently we have, one dog. She is an Australian shepherd mix. We have two cats, and we have a fish around the house somewhere and a horse out back. And, in years past, we've had goats and chickens and, a few hamsters along the way. Yeah. I think anybody that's ever had children has hamsters or the like along the way. I think so too. And okay, full disclosure, have you ever been embarrassed by what your pet got into? Yes, I have. There are a couple of them. One? One day, the day before Easter, one year. She brought up a headless rabbit that she had. Oh. And I thought that, I thought the timing was a little bit wrong for that. And then, there have been a few times when I'm not sure what it is that she got into. She vomited some type of varmint up, and, And we didn't quite figure out what they were. No. Well, I was I had a plant in a room that I had a pregnant foster cat in, and she, the cat, ultimately have seven kittens. And so she wasn't jumping up on anything. And so I wasn't focused on the plant. And then, of course, I had a mama cat and seven kittens in this room, and I wasn't focused on the plant then either. And then I came home one day and the mama cat didn't look quite right. And then the plant had sort of been mowed down. And of course, that plant made her sick. And so now that plant moves out of the room and we have foster cats because it does not mix well with the cats. But it's so easy to forget you have a bottle of medicine here or a plant there because it's it's part of your home landscape. And then all of a sudden the pet's eating it and you're in the e.R. Absolutely. So I don't think that most people, even if they have pets, actually have ever met a real live veterinary toxicologist because you're not someone that you would see in a clinic. So talk about what it is that you do. Yeah. So I'm a veterinarian first and foremost. And I had additional schooling, this additional training that then allowed me to become afforded specialist meaning that is what I have really focused my career on is just toxicology. And toxicology is the study of poisonings. Things that can make us sick, things that can kill us. And so I am really focused on clinical toxicology, meaning my job every day is to help veterinarians on the what I call the front lines. So veterinarians in the clinics and in the hospitals to help them determine is whatever this animal got into going to be problematic for them? And if it is, what are this kind of the step by step treatments that we need to do? And I think that's really important for us in veterinary medicine, because as veterinarians, we often don't see a lot of poisoning cases in our clinics, depending on where we're at and geographically. And so someone may a veterinarian may only see 2 or 3 toxin exposures a year. And so they may really not be able to have that great understanding of what's going to happen and what treatment needs are necessary. Now, when you get into a place like New York City and emergency and specialty facilities where they may have a toxin exposure, you know, every few minutes come in the door, we can still help them because each animal I always like to say they don't read the book. And so we help to, we hope to read that for them and help to decipher what needs to be done for these pets. So you're right about something every minute. There was an admission already today at the Animal Medical Center for a dog that ate mushrooms, which I. There was no more detail than that, but mushrooms, chocolate and coffee and eggs. So that dog just helped himself to the whole pantry and now is somewhere having his stomach pumped, I'm sure. It's just they are fascinating in their ability to thwart cabinets and locks. So, you know, most pets don't get poisoned. So I don't know how many people have heard of Pet Poison Helpline. And they might not know how it works. So first of all, how can people find you? And maybe they should have your number on their refrigerator or something? And then what happens when they call you? Yeah. You bet. So you can find us on the website pet Poison helpline.com. We're also on pretty much every social media, outlet that there is. And so you can certainly like us there and you can find out more information on our, on our sites. You can call us at 1-855-764-7661. And I agree with you. It's a great number to have, on your refrigerator and your junk drawer or someplace that's kind of handy or plug it into your phone. Now, nobody wants to call us. We wish that we didn't have to be in business, but humans are humans, and animals are animals. The the most conscientious pet owners going to leave something out? The most curious of pet is going to get into it. And so we're there for them. So what happens as far as the process goes is that, Pet Parent will give us a call and they will let us know. Kind of the story we want to hear. What happened, what did they get into, how much if we know, what type of medication or product it was, we'll want to know some information about the pet, including, you know, is it a dog? Is it a cat is a different species. We we helped 28 different species last year. So, it's not just the dogs and cats that get into things. And then we'll want to know how how can we calculate a dose by knowing how much they weigh and what they got into. And then that really helps us to decide, is this a problem or not? Because while the animal maybe shouldn't have gotten into it, maybe they didn't get into enough where it's actually problematic and we need to treat it. And then depending on what we find from that, we can either give some information or recommendations to treat at home. The reality is, there's very little that we can do for pets at home, especially if they get into something that's potentially going to cause serious concerns. So we may be making that recommendation to go into the veterinarian. And then when that pet goes into the veterinarian, the veterinarian can call us with that case number. And then we will talk with them. We really get into the nitty gritty with them a little bit more of, a lot more specifics of what we expect to see, the timing of it, and very specific treatment recommendations for that particular pet. Yeah, and these are really specific for the listeners that it will say, give this amount of this and something else of that and make the vomit the pet vomit or don't make the pet vomit. And we get a printout that then gets filed in the record so we can refer back to it. So the, the folks at Pet Poison Hotline are incredibly helpful to us so that we can do our job here and get your pet back to you. So when a pet owner calls that number, and I realize this is a fraught moment for the pet owner, but if you have your wits about you when your cat is just eaten a bottle of medication, what should you have at hand that's going to make it possible for you to do what you need to do in order to give good advice? So ideally, we'd like to know what it is they got into. And it's more important than just saying they got into a green block of bait. So they may have gotten into mouse or rat poison, and the block may be a certain color, but unfortunately that doesn't tell us what that active ingredient is. And so ideally we would know what the is on the package information. What brand is it? What is the name of the product? What is that active ingredient or what is the medication? Was the prescription ideally, how much could they have gotten into? And when they chew that bottle of medication and they chew up the the label, the prescription label or the front packaging label, sometimes we have to encourage people to go back, call the pharmacy. What is it that you that that you picked up? What's the milligram strength of that particular medication or the concentration of that medication? How? When's the last time you refilled it? How often do you usually take it? How many were in there to begin with so that we can form some type of a, estimate at least to know maybe they got into chocolate. What type of chocolate? Chocolate isn't just chocolate. There's all sorts of different types of chocolate, and the different types make a different system as far as how, potent or how much theobromine might be in there, where we can start to see poisonings and then we want to know how long ago did it happen, how long ago was this? So that we have an idea as to can we do types of decontamination? Meaning would vomiting be helpful when activated charcoal be helpful in this case? Should we have started to see symptoms or are we about to see who is the worst yet to come? And so those are all things that we really like to try and have an idea on. And just as you said it, these are panicky moments. You know, we're scared and we're nervous, but the more information we can have, the better we can treat that pet. So, this is Pet Poison Awareness Month, and one of the things that Pet Poison Helpline does during the month of March is they release their top ten poisonings or whatever poisonings you're going to release. And I love that list because there's always something new on there. So talk about what you're seeing right now that's going to come out on the list. You bet. So I think we have some of the mainstays that are on the list pretty much every year. The main one being chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate? What animal doesn't love chocolate either? And then we have grapes and raisins, onions and garlic brome. Methylene, which is an ingredient in rat and mouse poisons, as well as, go for bait as well. Xylitol, ibuprofen, vitamin D3 supplements, marijuana and THC, products, anticoagulant rodenticides. So these are, rat and mouse baits that have active ingredients that cause bleeding disorders to occur. And then this year, acetaminophen made our our top ten. So they came in at number ten. And I think that there's a little bit of combination of people are using it maybe a little bit more frequently. We see it in a lot of cold and flu medications as well. And we've started to notice that a few, veterinarians are recommending it in very specific cases. And so are these animals getting into overdoses, because of that, or are our pet owners giving acetaminophen because they see that their pet is painful, their veterinarian is closed, and so they just do something to try to help get them along. So I think that, that AMC is using acetaminophen more. But to our listeners out there, please do not tinker with the dose, because there were some drugs that they really don't have a lot of wiggle room in dosing. And although acetaminophen for you or me, the bottle will say, you know, take 1 or 2 tablets 3 or 4 times a day. We don't really have that kind of wiggle room in our canine patients. And zero acetaminophen. None should ever be given to a cat. But just don't tinker with the dose of these things because you think, well, if I can take two, my pet can take two as well, and it doesn't work that way. So it's a good drug when used properly, but a whole self adjustment is a bad idea on some of these particular drugs. I periodically record what we see. Chocolate and marijuana are always on AMC's top topless, too. And then our human medications are really high on our list as well. A lot of a lot of pets who knock over meds and then kind of hang with us detoxing for a few days. They can be really tough. Yeah. For sure. So if you look at our categories, foods make up the most number of calls we receive. But human medications come in a very, very close second. They're almost they're almost identical within just a couple of percentage points. And that human medication includes over-the-counter and prescription medications. And you bring up such a great point in human medicine. It's take this for every adult. And adults come in all different sizes. And unfortunately for animals, we really have to dose them on a much more specific scale. And so it isn't a one size fits all for animals, as it may seem to be more so in humans. So what? You know, we've talked about the usual suspects, which yours are kind of the same as ours. What surprised you lately? So the biggest surprises that I had were two of them from 2025 that we started to see, one of them is acrylamide. We're finding acrylamide in my grain gel masks. And this is not something that typically is listed as an ingredient on the label. It is usually something that we're finding as we're doing testing these animals are ingesting gel masks. They're developing neurologic signs. So they're having body tremors and seizures. And they just didn't fit a kind of nontoxic gel mask. And so we were able to submit several of these masks off for testing. And they they were able to come back with, with agreeance of our suspicion is that these these gel masks actually contained acrylamide. And there's several different thoughts as to why this might occur. It could be poor manufacturing, issues. It could be that the often one of the ingredients is polyacrylamide. And this is where acrylamide gets polymerized or just kind of goes through different processes. And so perhaps it wasn't a complete or a pure product. It could be contaminated. And there's a lot of different other reasons why we could see that. And so that's been really interesting. Something that pet poison helplines have been able to be at the forefront of identifying this as being an issue and finding treatments to try and help these animals. We've unfortunately seen fatalities, with exposures to these. And then the other one that's been really surprising is, Apoquel or actually what are called Jak inhibitors. It's a class of medication that Apoquel is in. But there's other products to like generally for a veterinary medicine. But then there's also many human, human medications that are in the same class. And these animals, unfortunately, when they get into a large amount or finding that they're developing, heart changes. So cardiovascular changes, they're developing liver failure and kidney failure, we're seeing ocular changes. So pressures in the eyes of these guys that can develop glaucoma or even uveitis with low intraocular pressures. So it's been extremely interesting. A very a very busy last year or so with acrylamide and apple quill or Jak inhibitors and learning how to really find the most effective therapies for these, poisonings. So first, I don't think I even know what acrylamide is. You know, it's a chemical that is used at a lot of, well, in, in different cold packs, but in a lot of different packaging materials. There's acrylamide. There's actually is an extremely low doses in some foods like potato chips and things like that. They're certainly what are considered to be safe levels that can be in, in different areas. What we're finding with these gel masks, however, is that the acrylamide amounts, this chemical amount that is present in there is really at high doses. And so that and then we have our small pets being exposed to that. It just really sets up for a tremendous, negative storm. So, the apoquel thing, apoquel name is oclacitinib and ends in IB. And if you are a human, cancer patient, you might be on one of these drugs. And they all kind of end in that same ending. So imatinib is a Jak inhibitor. And, sorafenib is a different kind of inhibitor. So if you're taking a medication that ends in that IB name and your pet gets into it, those are ones cause for concern because they fit into this category that, we're worried about from these allergy medications, which seem like they should be really safe. And, and mostly they are really safe until you eat a whole bottle of them. And then it's a problem. Exactly, exactly. And that's what I always like to point out. It isn't the medication that is that is the problem. It's the overdose of the medication. So when that animal takes a therapeutic dose, we we did a lot of studies on that because that is what we started seeing issues with first. But we don't have an issue with APA. And we have a lot of toxicologists with their pets that are on it, is that unfortunately, these animals are getting into extremely large overdoses of the medication, so we don't want to stop using it. It's been life saving for many pets. It's improved their quality of life significantly when no other allergy medication has been helpful. It's just we want to make sure that we are educating pet owners to make sure that this medication needs to be kept up and out of reach. And like you said, even though it seems like a seemingly benign allergy medication, it has fatal consequences when they get into a large amount. The other thing for people to keep in mind is there there have been. Cats should have gotten into too much a and gotten very sick from it. And apoquel is labeled for dogs now, it doesn't mean it might not help itchy cats. But we don't know as much about that medicine in cats and how it behaves because it's originally a medication for dogs, and so you won't find warnings about it in cats because that it's not it's not widely studied in cats because it's really technically a dog medication. But sometimes veterinarians have so few drugs to work with that we have to switch between species. And that makes us all always worry and monitor pets very carefully when we're changing species. Yeah. So and I and I do like to just point out because there is a lot of reports or people talking about it in cats. And I always just like to stress that it isn't only a cat issue. The the toxic dose or the area of concern is very similar between dogs and cats. And so cats certainly are smaller than our Labradors or some of the larger dogs. But any any animal that gets into these medications, can certainly be extremely problematic. I mean, I guess I would say if I came home and found my pet had eaten a bottle of anything, I would be calling my friends at the Pet Poison helpline and and it would be worth every dime that I spent to do that for them, just to say, oh no, this isn't a problem. Because I suspect you say that a lot. Yes, yes, for sure. And, you know, it's it's not just about identifying or giving information for treatment. It's providing that peace of mind. This may not be an issue if they get into it, but it also might be extremely damaging. And one of the worst things that we can do with potential poisonings is wait and see. So taking that wait and see approach to see if they develop any type of symptoms or to see if they get worse or better, can be extremely detrimental to that pet. Excellent advice. So I heard paintballs can be a problem for dogs. Now, we don't do a lot of paintballing here in New York City, but I think there are some places where it's much more common. Is that true? It is. And so paintballs, depending on the amount they get into, can actually cause a fluid shift where it causes an electrolyte imbalances. And then we see a spike in sodium. And with that spike in sodium, we can see swelling as fluid developing called cerebral edema. And then we see neurologic signs so they can have a difficulty walking. We can see body tremors and seizures developing. Why would anyone want to eat a paintball? I mean I get why would a dog want to eat a bottle of a pickle? Because it's it's chewable and tasty. It's made to be tasty, I get that. But a paint ball, it just looks like a paintball. Yeah. You know, I always, when when I hear people say that. And I agree with you completely. And I remember the case that we had of a dog who ingested 200 cephalexin capsules. And I just think the smell of the cephalexin capsule itself is terrible. Who would want to, you know, what? What animal would want to do that? But, you know, and then animals, if you think about the things, they ingest it kind of. So you kind of have to it makes a little bit of sense. But, yeah, it would be nice if they were a little bit more discriminant eaters. So if I call you up and say my pets eating 200 paintballs, what do you do to figure out that that is or isn't okay for the pet? You bet. So we take the information, including the weight of the pets, and we do calculations to decide is this amount that they got into going to be problematic or not? And if it is, then we go to the next and make the recommendations for the next step. If it is not, then something that we can discuss monitoring and give give you an idea as to what signs, what symptoms to look for at home, just in case the estimation wasn't correct. As far as what you thought the pet could have gotten into. So if I'm a pet owner, And I'm really busy, and maybe I don't quite want to call you. What kinds of things are a red flag? Do not ignore warning. Any neurologic sign is a huge one. So if they are just really maybe more sleepy now, what I call kind of dull and depressed, they are having a difficult time walking. They seem to just, not be able to maneuver those back legs like they normally do. They're having body tremors, meaning they're shaking, their body is shaking and they're not able to stop it. They're not shaking because they're nervous. They're not able to control what those that shakiness that's happening. Seizures for sure, in any of those. And even that kind of dull and depressed mentation, it could be because it's a neurologic issue, or it could be it's a heart issue. Maybe their blood pressure is low. Maybe their heart rate is low. It's a continued vomiting. So if they are vomiting numerous times, and especially if we don't know, why did they just, you know, did they get into the trash? Did they just ingest like, my dog, you know, or something from outside? Anything like that? Those are signs that we just we really need to not, not wait on those anymore and be seen right away. So how do you decide when you start seeing weird new things like the migraine mask story? How do you decide, that you're going to alert pet owners and veterinarians so that we to know what you're starting to see? You bet. One of the things that's really important for us is not to be fear based. We don't want to create fear and panic. We want to create education and awareness. And so we will start to see our our veterinarians, our toxicologists will start to see kind of trends. Gosh, I just had a call about this yesterday. Somebody else had a call about this last week and someone else just had, you know, just saw this. And so we all collaborate and talk together. And to say this was really odd, this is not something that I've seen before. And so then we start to think, okay, now we're seeing this is this is happening a little bit more frequently. Now we're going to start looking into this and diving a little bit deeper. And once we're able to say yes, we have this issue, then we can start to take it out to the public. The migraine mask is a great example. We weren't able to really do significant warnings until we had those test results. We think this is what's happening. We think this is what's there. But we needed those test results to say, yes, that's what's going on. So then we can send that out to the public and to the veterinarians to say, you know, alert, be aware. This is what we're starting to find. So we're almost out of time here, but I want to give you a chance to say, what didn't I ask you that you think every pet owner should understand about poison prevention? Well, I think, a couple of things. One is a toddler proof your house. And that's kind of how I say baby proof, toddler proof your house. If you don't think your pet can get into it, they probably can try to store medications really up far and out of reach behind a closed door would be ideal. Don't keep your medications next to the pet's medication. It's very common to mistakenly give the wrong medication. Keep your pet's medication separately. Don't medicate your pet with another pet nearby in case that falls out of the mouth and the other one scoops in and intakes it. And then I just I don't think I can reiterate enough. Don't take the wait and see approach. Talk with your veterinarian, call pet poison helpline. There are a lot of resources available out there for you. Waiting until we see clinical signs or symptoms developing in these pets. One can be more stressful on the pet, can be a higher financial burden to you, but also it could potentially be fatal for them. That is a great set of information. And our conversation on I always love talking to toxicologists because they know such really interesting things. And I just want to remind our listeners that if your pet has been exposed to something you're worried about, even if they're not acting sick, call Pet Poison Helpline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that number is 1-855-764-7661. There is a consultation fee, but these experts are so important in helping you decide to go to the ER. And they help us veterinarians so much. When that pet gets here to the emergency room, we couldn't live without them. If you want to learn more about veterinary toxicology, Doctor Schmid will be leading a Usdan Institute webinar on Wednesday, April 22nd at 6 p.m. on zoom. And the webinar is free as we are. Webinars always are, but registration is required so we can send you the zoom link and all you need to do is go to www.amcny.org/events and you can sign up and hear her give more great advice. I know that keeping your pet healthy is important to you, and with that, I hope you'll reach out to me. If you have a question about your pets health, and I'll respond to your question on next month's Acid Vet podcast, you just need to email me at Ask the Vet at amcny.org. We have a short break coming up, but stay tuned because there are lots of great animal news stories when we return. We're back with Dr. Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back everyone. It's ask the vet and it's time for our animal news. It's time for animal headlines, the biggest animal news from across the world. Now, I love this story because I've been lucky enough to see these wonderful creatures in person. And I'm talking about the giant tortoises of the Galapagos, the giant tortoises have returned to Floriana Island for the first time in 150 years. Conservation has recently released 158 juvenile tortoises bred in captivity and and selected specifically for their genetic links to the island's original population, which was driven to extinction. What's really fascinating about these tortoises is that each island has their own set of tortoises, who have evolved just a little bit differently than the other islands. And if you were a Galapagos tortoise expert, you could look at a tortoise and say, oh, this one is from Floriana, but this one is from San Cristobal. I'm not that good with those tortoises. But it's really interesting the the differences that have evolved in these various tortoise populations. So this reintroduction of tortoises to Floriana is part of a long term effort to restore that island's ecosystem. Giant tortoises play an important role in shaping vegetation and dispersing seeds as they eat vegetation, and then put the seeds out the other end as they walk around. That helps to spread the seeds about, so officials plan to release as many as 700 tortoises over time. The Galapagos were designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1978 for their extraordinary biodiversity, and this release marks an important step towards reviving that unique environment and never, ever turned down an opportunity to go there. It is just a magical place. Our second story is about a team of animal behaviorists. These behaviors have partnered with the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society to help save an endangered white rhino. Suffering from a life threatening parasitic eye infection. The rhino needed repeated medications, but full sedation each time for these treatments would have been too risky for the massive animal. So instead, the team developed a creative plan. They trained the rhino to voluntarily enter a small chute, allowing the team to carefully medicate and flush the infected eye. Some people called this Rinpoche ridiculous, but with patience and positive reinforcement. It worked. The infection cleared and the rhinos vision was saved. And as the team aptly put it, it's essential that we save all of them because the white rhino is very close to extinction. Our third story is a little bit closer to home because it's about a household cat, and scientists say that pet cats may unlock clues about cancer, including certain forms of breast cancer in humans. An international team led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, England, studied about a thousand genes linked to 13 different types of feline cancer and found many of the same genes that drive cancer in cats are also present in people, suggesting that these two species share key biologic pathways that impact cancer. One area of focus is triple negative breast cancer. This is a really aggressive subtype that accounts for about 15% of cases in humans. Cats develop this form quite frequently, giving researchers valuable insights into how this cancer grows and spreads. Because cats share our homes and our environments, scientists study them say they may also reveal clues about environmental cancer risks. The researchers behind this study hope that the findings will improve treatment option for pets, and also help cancer research in people. And now it's time for questions from our listeners. Our first question is from Pam B in Connecticut. Pam asks my two year old have a niece. Seems fine most of the time, but when she's running, she'll suddenly skip or hold up a back leg for a few steps and then go right back to normal. Should I be worried? Well, Pam, if what you're describing is something really common, I see it every day walking the streets of New York and you see a dog on a leash. Walk a few steps, hop a few steps and walk a few more. And that probably means that the dog has a kneecap that pops out of place, and then they hop a little bit till it pops back into place, and then they resume walking normally. Not being a surgeon, I don't have a good set of answers for you on when you should fix these, but I know that these kneecaps are pop out in small. Dogs can be fixed surgically so that the kneecap stays in place and the dog doesn't hop so much and so I would say that your veterinarian is the first place to start about addressing whether or not this loose kneecap is something that needs to be repaired or not. But it's not a great emergency. Unless your dog can't walk at all. And then, of course, it becomes much more urgent. So I hope you're having these, gets better soon. Our next question is from Susan S. Susan's question is, my long haired cat has developed a bald patch on one side of her back. We're also finding more fur than usual around the house clumps. Not just normal shedding, and the area seems to be getting larger. She's otherwise acting completely normal, and we haven't seen any scratching or fighting with our other cat. Is this something that can resolve on its own, or should we schedule a veterinary visit? So, Susan, you don't say how old your cat is, but if it was a young cat, I would be more worried about something that was infectious, like maybe ringworm, or skin infection with the bacteria. Older cats are prone to overactive thyroid, and some of those cats, when they're overactive thyroid makes them a little bit crazy. They'll rip out hair, or over groom, leaving, leading to a bald patch on their back. So I do think it's time for you to seek out the advice of a veterinarian and see if we can't get this hair loss situation to resolve. But there's a number of things your veterinarian will want to investigate. And our last question today is from Amanda in Manhattan. The question is my lab caught has do claw on something and rip the entire nail off. I applied pressure and bandaged it and the bleeding has stopped. Other than keeping it clean, is there anything else I need to do? So I'm just sitting here grimacing. Because, the thought of a nail being ripped off is just awful. Yeah. Katie's quivering. I can see her. She. She doesn't like this either. But you've done all the right things. Stop the bleeding, keep it clean, and it's going to take a while for that nail to grow back. And that do claws are going to be very sensitive. Well, while the the pink fleshy tissue that the nail usually covers up is exposed. Right. That's going to be really sore. So just think about when you're taking the dog out. If you're going to do something, whether or not you should protect that foot with a boot of some sort. And, you know, we've had so much snow here in New York. I've seen so many new kinds of dog boots lately. Once ago, all the way up to, like, their knees. So this dog might need a little boot to protect that naked tissue. That's where the nail used to be. But other than that, you've done everything just right. And now it's time for a short break. And when we come back, we'll have important information from AMC's Usdan Institute. We're back with Dr. Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back to our last segment of today's Ask the Vet, where we share important information from AMC's Usdan Institute. Now, I know for a fact that many pet owners assume parasites are a summer problem, or only a risk for pets who travel or go hiking. But that's absolutely not true in New York City and other urban environments. Ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes can be present year round, and that brings up the risk for heart room disease, Lyme disease, and flea allergy dermatitis. Because in the because it's important to think about these diseases. Because they're far easier to prevent than to treat. At AMC, we recommend year round parasite prevention for all dogs and appropriate prevention for cats as well. If you're not certain your pet is fully protected. Now is a good time to review their infectious disease prevention plan with your veterinarian. Now, if you're thinking about adopting a dog, or maybe you already have one, you're not going to want to miss a special upcoming webinar on Wednesday, March 25th at 6 p.m., AMC board certified veterinary behaviorist Doctor Vanessa Spano and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Maddie Messina will lead a discussion on meeting your dog's needs. The webinar is free, but registration is required. And if you want to sign up, just go to www.amcny.org/events. I want to make a special thank you to Doctor Renee Schmid from Pet Poison Helpline for joining me today, and for sharing her expertise on a topic important to all of us. We really appreciate the work she and her team do every day to help keep pets safe. Don't forget, if you want to ask about your pets health or well-being, I'm here to help. Just email me at asks the vet at amcny.org, and I'll answer your question on next month. As a Vet program, the Ask the Vet podcast is available on the serious app across all major platforms and also on AMC's website. All of this is thanks to AMC's long standing partnership with Sirius XM. Don't forget to follow us on social media on Facebook. It's the Animal Medical Center and on X, formerly Twitter and Instagram it's @amcny. Be great if you could take a moment to give the Ask the Vet podcast a review and be sure to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Next month we have another great guest lined up. Doctor Leilani Alvarez, head of AMC's Integrative and Rehabilitative Medicine service, will join me for a conversation about exercise, therapy and mobility and the important role they play in helping pets stay active, comfortable and their very best. Thanks, everyone for listening and we'll see you next month.