Be the Pioneer: Paving the way for Veterinary Physical Therapy (Dr. Laurie McCauley)

Pioneering Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

In this episode of Vet Life Reimagined, we are joined by Dr. Laurie McCauley, a pioneer in Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. McCauley shares her inspiring journey from general practice to becoming one of the first certified specialists in her field. She discusses some of her past career challenges including her initial unsupported interest in acupuncture, and how she established the first rehab clinic for pets with innovative treatments like the underwater treadmill. Dr. McCauley also opens up about her late diagnosis of autism at age 56 and the importance of understanding neurodiversity within veterinary medicine. The episode highlights the significance of perseverance, the impact of empowered learning, and advocating for women in veterinary leadership roles.

Resources:

• Episode on YouTube
• Optimum Pet Vitality & Dr. McCauley’s courses
• American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation
• Academy of Physical Rehabilitation Veterinary Technicians
• Canine Rehabilitation Institute
• Peter Attia’s The Drive podcast
• Hannah Gadsby, comedian

Follow Dr. Laurie on:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Subscribe to Dr. Laurie's Newsletter

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Laurie McCauley
01:38 Early Aspirations and Challenges
03:02 Navigating Veterinary School and Early Career
07:32 Pioneering Veterinary Sports Medicine
10:48 Creating the First Rehab Clinic
14:08 Innovations in Animal Rehabilitation
23:54 Board Certification and Teaching
27:29 The Joy of Teaching and Making a Difference
27:57 Teaching Veterinary Technicians and Expanding Education
28:46 Balancing Work and Personal Life
29:26 Starting Fresh in North Carolina
30:44 Empowering Pet Parents Through Education
32:41 Addressing the Veterinary Shortage
34:28 Global Impact of Online Courses
35:49 Adopting and Rehabilitating Dogs
43:14 The Importance of Exercise for Longevity
45:09 Diagnosed with Autism at 56
52:06 Gratitude and Final Thoughts 

Transcript

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Laurie McCauley: [00:00:00] Which was a big line in the sand, which was devastating, right? Because I was in the best practice around and yet because I followed my heart, it changed the world.

Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined, where we discover the possibilities of a life in veterinary medicine. Our guest, Dr. Laurie McCauley, opens several areas of possibilities in vet med by sharing her personal journey. She shows that sometimes when you follow the unpaved path, you get to do the paving into something hugely impactful.

She started in general practice and found a niche that was unsupported by a boss initially, so she followed her own path and was one of the pioneers. of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. She was one of the first classes to become board certified in the specialty and absolutely loves what she does, both in a rehab practice in North Carolina and also enjoys teaching.

She owns all of her Optimum Pet Vitality, her education platform for veterinary professionals and pet [00:01:00] owners. She has brand new courses coming out as this episode is being published. So check out the show notes below for resources because we talk about quite a few things you might want to explore from this episode.

Because it follows Laurie's timeline towards the end, I asked Laurie to share about when she was diagnosed with autism at the age of 56 and how sharing her experiences is allowing many others in veterinary medicine to relate and understand what it means for them in the profession. We know that there's a significant percentage of veterinary medicine that is neurodiverse and it is a growing conversation for our profession.

So it is my honor to share my conversation with Dr. Laurie McCauley.

 When did you know you wanted to get into veterinary medicine? 

Laurie McCauley: So I grew up, I'm a lot older than you, in a time where women doctors wasn't a huge thing.

And I can remember being like seven years old. And my mom saying, Lori, you're smart. You either need to be a [00:02:00] doctor or a lawyer. And me thinking, Oh my gosh, lawyers say, you know, there was like no rainbow. It was black or white. You had to be one or the other. And I'm thinking lawyers spend way too much time in the library.

I don't want to spend that much time in the library. I'll be a doctor. And then as I got older, I went, Hmm, I don't like people as much as I like animals. I think I'll be an animal doctor. And then I went, And volunteered, like on my 15th birthday, you were, you had to wait till you were 15 to be able to volunteer somewhere.

And I went to an animal hospital and said, can I volunteer? And I started and like, they gave me the worst jobs, you know, picking up poop and, you know, doing all these things. And I love, love, loved it. And from that day on, I'm like. It's my gift. It's what I have to do. 

Megan Sprinkle: Most of us started there cleaning up poop and kennels and all of that.

So, it sounds like you, you realized pretty early on that this was going to be your path and [00:03:00] you are working towards vet school. So I know you had a really unique, you were very open and willing to share this, that when you were going to apply that school, you actually got put on the wait list.

I think that's always good for us to remember and share those things that, I mean, this is a competitive career to get into. And so no matter how smart you are, sometimes you get put on a wait list. And so what was that like getting that news? And then obviously you did go to vet school.

So what was that kind of overcoming that? 

Laurie McCauley: Uh, well getting on the wait list. I mean, that was like the first, you know, at least it was, it wasn't a no, which was like really exciting. and of course it was disappointment. And the, you know, the big thing I want to share with other people is that now I'm board certified, right.

In sports medicine and rehab. but you can get there even being in the place where you, get put on a wait list. I mean, I went to vet school with someone who it took seven tries to [00:04:00] get into vet school. And, you know, he had a PhD in three different things. Cause he was staying in school because student loans, you know, started six months after you graduate.

So he stayed in school and kept getting degrees until he got into vet school. And it's, you know, it's worth it. If it's what you love, it's what you truly love. You put everything toward it and you just go for it. You follow your dream. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yep, I've interviewed some of those very people that it took quite a few tries to actually get into vet school and they're doing absolutely amazing things now.

So you never would have guessed that that's kind of how they started. So again, I do appreciate you sharing that because I think it's a good realization that. It's hard work and effort and persistence sometimes to get to where we want to go. And so when you were going into vet school, you mentioned that you, volunteered at small animal clinics.

Did you have in your mind that that's what you were going to do going in? Did that stay the same? So you stayed. 

Laurie McCauley: So to get into vet school, we had to have [00:05:00] 400 hours of large animal and I did my time. I rode around with the dairy vet and the equine vet and I, every day made me realize small animals where I belonged.

Megan Sprinkle: And also you did mention that when, you were going through school, women doctors were not as prevalent as they are today. So when you went into your vet school class, how many women, men kind of ratio for you? It 

Laurie McCauley: was about 10%, maybe nine or 10 percent women. Yeah. Yeah. So to see it now, right.

It's a total flip. Yeah. But that was, you know, that was, let's see, I graduated vet school in 92. So that was late eighties. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. 

Laurie McCauley: It was Colorado. So it was cowboy country. 

Megan Sprinkle: So not only was it a bunch of men, there were a bunch of cowboys. 

Laurie McCauley: Which were 

great. 

Don't get me wrong. The cowboys were amazing. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. I think I, you know, [00:06:00] really thinking about it, that's really not that long to have a complete shift in a gender population in a profession. So I think it's always interesting to kind of step back and think about that and how much can change over really a short period of time.

which hopefully it can be really encouraging to, it means that as much as we love this profession, just think of all the things that we can continue to do when we do get together and really. put forth effort to, to make things even better going forward. 

Laurie McCauley: One thing I would say is I want all the women out there to think about, don't just be a employee think about if you want to own a business, and taking managerial roles or, taking leadership roles because as corporations are buying things up, I worry that.

The salary difference, male, female will not become equal. 

Megan Sprinkle: No, that's a very good point. And I've, I've had conversations [00:07:00] too, about looking at with large organizations still, we still have opportunities to change this, but a lot of times it is white men who are at the top. The tippy top of the bigger corporations, and the more that we can get women in leadership, I think the more that we have that opportunity to have a voice, have advocates, and really, I think, empower other women to do the same thing, uh, to be able to speak up and, and be at the table.

Laurie McCauley: Absolutely. 

Megan Sprinkle: And you also, so you said definitely I was small animal and I think your first job after you graduated was in a general practice as well. So what was your experience like, from vet school into your first job as a veterinarian?

Laurie McCauley: So I, had confidence. So I was able to walk into, when I graduated, this will also give you an idea, the first job offer I got was for $28, [00:08:00] 000. Right. Right. and I was able to walk into a practice that had six doctors and was willing to do a, a bonus system. So a commission, right? This was in the very beginning of that.

And I was able to produce enough to make 40, 000 my first year. So that's a huge discrepancy. But I walked into a place where I was working 60 to 80 hours a week, but I wanted, I said, I can't do an internship because of my family structure, my husband at the time could not move. so we had to be in a specific area and I put my whole heart into it.

I said, I want to learn everything I can. I want to take out of it as much as I can. And I did, I learned a ton. I did things like a persistent right aortic arch surgery on a six week old German shepherd puppy. And I did, you know, a intercostal tacking of a GDV dog and the other vets were like, You did that?

This is my first year out. Will [00:09:00] you show me how you did that? I'm like, yeah, we did one in school and now we can blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. so I took the bull by the horns and just went with it. and then from there went burnout, right? As we hit. So it was my first burnout. And then I went into a practice that was more rural and the pendulum swung the other way.

So now I was in a place where I went home crying, cried myself to sleep multiple times where people were like, doc, if you can't fix them for 50 bucks, I'm going to take them out to the field and shoot them. Cause the bullets only 5 cents. And I cried myself to sleep and said, I can't do that. And then I went into a practice that was somewhere in the middle and realized at that point I had, let's see, I had a practice that I was going to buy, and then that didn't work out, because the land was contaminated.

So always check that kind of stuff before you walk into that situation. And then I went into the Cadillac practice. And that's the one I was telling you about. We had. Again, this was in late nineties, [00:10:00] 97, 96, 97, where we had Color Flow Doppler. We had endoscopy. We had the best anesthetics, all certified technicians in a time where we were the only clinic around.

And this is in the Chicago area that had all certified technicians. And I had my Premonition of the strong, strong feeling in my heart. I had to learn acupuncture and I went to my boss and said, I want to learn acupuncture. And he said, I don't believe in it. I won't give you the time off. I won't pay for it.

And if you do it, I won't refer to you, which was a big line in the sand, which was devastating, right? Because I was in the best practice around. And yet, because I followed my heart, it changed the world. I left the practice. I got certified in acupuncture. My sister in law who trains dogs, police dogs said, we have all these police dogs.

And, you know, they have an [00:11:00] injury, they have surgery, the surgeries say they're fine. The x rays look fine, but they never get back to where they need to be. If you're going to learn acupuncture, will you learn physical therapy? I thought, Oh, it's just one more course. Sure. And then I realized there wasn't, there was nothing.

So there was Bob Taylor in Colorado. So if you remember the TV show, emergency vets, he had a PT on staff. That would teach vet techs how to do like Easton, right. And, , he had just left. So, uh, let's see, Mary Lester came in and she was doing a little bit of work with him. And, I went in, I spent a couple of months at Bob's place, you know, life happens the way it happens.

I had a six month old son and I wanted to go work with him and do some research. And his practice was literally five minutes away from my mom. So my mom was able to watch my son while I worked all day and I took all the information I could get and went back to Chicago and created the first rehab clinic ever.[00:12:00] 

Megan Sprinkle: That is so exciting. And I, I want back up just a little bit cause you talked about that you, had it in your heart to learn acupuncture. And I think when we were talking a little while ago, you also mentioned that something happened to you personally that might've. Aligned with that as well.

So, cause you had a, uh, an accident and had to undergo some PT . Do you mind sharing that and how maybe that may have connected you with some of the things that were going on on the human side that you eventually were able to bring over to the animal side? 

Laurie McCauley: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. At the same time, right?

Because sometimes you don't act fast enough and to me, God says, hello, you need to follow this path. And I was putting my dogs out at three in the morning in the dark and I slipped in my boom, boom, boom, boom, boom down the stairs and hurt my back. And I went to my chiropractor and they couldn't fix me. So I went to an orthopedic guy and he sent me to a physical therapist.

And it [00:13:00] was like literally like a light bulb went off, like, Oh my God, this is what we're missing. And I kept seeing pictures of my clients or my patients that I was treating and going, wait, you get rid of the pain and you do this and you do that. And then you strengthen it. So it doesn't happen again. I can do this with this patient and that with that patient.

So at that time I was like, okay, this is amazing. We're going to take this into the animal world. And I had that new son. So I'm like, okay, what am I going to do? And I had to make a decision. And this is pertinent to you as well. I said, I can't be a good mom. Be a good general doctor and take on this whole new thing that I really feel needs to happen, right?

Because it, it's just amazing what we can do with these animals. And I had to put aside the general doctor. Couldn't give, give up my kids. Right. I love, love, love my kids. , and I gave up general practice, which was so hard to think I would never do surgery again. I would never help, you know, that [00:14:00] diabetic or the liver failure and stuff like that.

No. It was also nice to say, I never have to do anal glands again. And right. I don't have to do any more dentals, but still, it took me down a road where I started created the first underwater treadmill for dogs and everything was exciting. You know, after six years of general practice in the beginning, it was like, Oh, this is so exciting.

And then it went to one really good case a week, and then one really good case a month. And then it's like, okay, vomiting cats, diarrhea dogs, right? Just the spays and neuters and spays and neuters and spays and neuters. And it was like, I can move into something where every case challenges my brain. And it was, and still, I, every case now I will admit when I had a four doctor practice in Chicago, I hope none of my clients hear me say this.

I refuse to see cruciates because I'm like, I have done way too many of those. [00:15:00] My associates can do those. I'm just going to handle the really cool stuff. And if you have something that you can't figure out, send it to me because that's my absolute favorite. 

Megan Sprinkle: I am glad you pointed that out because sometimes, when I do interview people who are in a really good place in their career and they look back, it's also still important to realize that Even though it worked out really, really well, and you're glad you went that way in the moment, it was still hard to kind of give up the identity of general practitioner because, and this still happens today.

This is, you know, one part of why I have this podcast is understanding that. Just because you, you think that a career supposed to look a certain way does not mean it should be your personal identity. Being able to see the opportunities and embrace them. And it's not always easy. Often, most of the time, it's not, there's going to be some challenges with it.

It is important to be able to be open to those [00:16:00] opportunities and, and lean into them because just like you are sharing is it ended up being. an amazing opportunity for you that you continue to enjoy to this day. And so just wanted to highlight that again, because, like you said, you were already having.

That moment of, okay, I'm giving up this meaning. I'm, I'm changing this. And then you were doing something that really no one had really done before. And so what was that like leaning into something that you couldn't go and replicate something someone had done. You were probably having to make a lot of it up as you went and learning about business and, and rehab at the same time.

So what was that like for you? 

Laurie McCauley: It was crazy. You know, I, I started saying, okay, well, I have a new baby. I'm going to work three days a week, no more than six hours a day. I brought my bike to work so that I could like ride it at lunchtime. And [00:17:00] literally from the get go, I never rode my bike. Never, ever, ever.

and within a year I was back to working 60 to 80 hours and hiring people. And you know, in the beginning, I answered the phones, I swept the floor, I did all of that. And then I couldn't handle that. And it just exploded because we just had such amazing results. You know, and like you said, I made up a lot of stuff I did, but it was fascinating, right?

I could say, you know, things like tail work. let's see, I was, I think I was in practice two years when they had the first international symposium in sports medicine and, I think they called it rehab at the time in Corvallis, where there was some sports medicine doctors came in and I don't know, there was a hundred, 150 veterinarians that wanted to learn about it, and I brought in a video of the underwater treadmill with a dog that was paralyzed and just dragging their back legs. And I said, look at this cool thing I found. If we do tail work and you come about a third of the way down the tail and you rub on [00:18:00] top, all of a sudden the dog starts taking steps.

So now we know it's called central pattern generators and dogs and cats and mice have it. Humans don't, which is why humans have a hard time walking once they're paralyzed, but finding that that was like, oh my God, people watch that video again and again and again. And when I went to the first company and said, I want an underwater treadmill for dogs, they literally laughed at me and they said, okay.

You could have this, you can buy this, but nobody's going to spend money to put a dog in the water on a treadmill, you know, and then what, 10 years later they were selling more for dogs than they were for humans. But we literally, there was, there was no boxes. We took and we said, how do we do this for a dog?

And we took a concrete cup like this and a concrete cup like this and made a pool and I got a hold of the zoo in Chicago and found out what kind of glass to use so we can have a glass. And then I took a security system and put a camera in there with a [00:19:00] box on it so no one could could knock it and then put a monitor hanging from the ceiling so that the person could be in the pool.

Oh, and then the treadmill was on a jet ski lift. So you would crank it down and I put jets on the front. So if I had an athlete, I could have more resistance, right? So I had to have all of this in my head before we built it. It was, I had a pool company come in. It was 10 inch concrete all around. We had to think about what angle to get dogs that were having trouble walking to come up.

So it wouldn't be too high, too steep of an angle yet. We could sit them on it and dry them, right? What's the perfect angle. If you're standing up, so you're not bending over. And we created that. I mean, to think that all of that came together to create the first underwater treadmill, I look back at it and go, it couldn't have come from me because it's way too smart, right?

It's just, and it worked, you know, to take these dogs that were paralyzed and, um, in physical therapy, they have something [00:20:00] called carry over, right? So they would walk in the water. And then we would get them on land. And because , 

they're kinesthetically learning this pattern again. And then when we take them onto land, they're able to take steps and then it may falter, but we continue to do that. And then they can continue to do the tail work. Outside of the water, it was just amazing. And I just, I, you know, it warmed my heart so much.

There is nothing, well, paralyzed dogs, getting them walking again and athletes. I've had cases where the people are like, he's knocking bars. He's really slow. And I work on them. And the next day they're like, Oh my God, he won every single came in first place, every single event he competed in. Right. How can you not say that what you're doing is just like so good for the dogs and it just fills my cup, fills my heart.

Megan Sprinkle: And I love the range too, that you just mentioned everything from, you know, when I think [00:21:00] about the down dog, you've a little dachshund or something, right? That's IVDD. And, but then also these amazing athlete dogs too, all of them are benefiting from this. And, you know, I hadn't thought I hadn't remembered this until you were talking that when I was in my last year at vet school, Auburn university rebuilt their small animal clinic.

And so like my last two rotations were actually in the new hospital which was really hard to learn your, your last use, but it's okay. You're you're like, I see the end of the tunnel. We're good. I, but one of my last rotations was working with the orthopedic group and the brand new hospital. They had built this underwater pool.

And so there was Opportunity for water therapy. And actually my patient that I helped with was one of the first patients that got to use these underwater resources. And so that was 10 years ago. which is, [00:22:00] really exciting that, as quickly as you developing the first underwater treadmill, like it really must've caught on that there's a lot of benefit in these resources.

And just like the way you were talking about how quickly you can see sometimes the, the changes, I think is also really helpful, especially in pet care, because, you know, some pet owners, we've got shorter lifespans with our pets and. When a pet owner wants to do everything they can, the quicker that they can see results, I think the better that, you know, they get excited and they're, they're more into it.

And so, I mean, not everything can be that quick. I understand that, but it is wonderful to be able to have tools that can work pretty quickly. 

Laurie McCauley: Oh, absolutely. And clients love it. We used to have, a DM day every Friday. I had multiple clients that their dogs had degenerative myelopathy and we had our exam rooms, but we also [00:23:00] had their big pool area where we had two underwater treadmills and a ramp and some other stuff.

And so what we would do on those days is we would work on the patients, right? Cause at that time we had what, four doctors, four techs. so we could work on multiple patients at a time and the clients could talk to each other. Oh, this is a stage that your dog is at. My dog is here and don't worry, we can do this and blah, blah.

And it was such great camaraderie between the clients and they gave each other hope, which I think is important too. 

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, people need to write that one down. That is so good. Like that's when you can start building a community around things that, you know, if you study the entrepreneurship and social media, all that, like, that's a big thing is forming that community and a good community, right?

A supportive one. and then, so, I mean, you're doing all of this before there was really even a board certification yet. And so, What was the evolution of realizing that this is not [00:24:00] only really wonderful for pets, but that this could be an entire specialty where we can have a board certification in it because you, you did become one of the first who got board certified.

So what was that like? 

Laurie McCauley: It was amazing. You know, you think about the people who do like traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, chiropractic, all of that stuff, they've been trying for 30 years to get a board certification in something in holistic medicine. And I started the first clinic in 98. And see, I was board certified in 2014, and it was probably 2 or 3 years in, so I wasn't the first group.

I still had to take the test and do all that stuff, but, you know, to think that from 98 to say, 2011, 2012. It went from nothing to a board certification. And now in the, you know, they, with the equine world and the canine world, you get board certified in one. And I think Kim Henneman is like the only person that I know of that is board certified in both.

[00:25:00] but it's unbelievable to go from nothing to a board certification in like 12 to 14 years. It's crazy, crazy, but it's because it works, right? And there's a ton of research and we keep doing more research and I was just at the board specialty meeting a couple months ago and now there's a lot more in the equine world.

Right? But in the canine world, there's less than 120 of us who are board certified in canine sports medicine and rehabilitation in the world. and that means that there's so much that we know that we can teach others that even if you don't get board certified, it's like, you know, you can have a board certified radiologist, but that doesn't mean your general practitioner can't look at a fractured bone on an x ray and say, there's a problem, right?

There's things that I think that the general practitioner should be able to do, learn. And, and grow from, even if they don't want to follow the path that I took. And that's why I teach my literally my [00:26:00] motto, what I live by is empowering people, optimizing pets. 

Megan Sprinkle: So even though you started with, you don't really like people so much, you go work with animals, you still came back to the, there is something very special about people and empowering them to do wonderful things as well, which it does, you know, you mentioned teaching.

And so you served for 13 or 14 years as the main instructor for teaching canine rehab and sports medicine. 

Laurie McCauley: Not the only one. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yes, one of, how, I guess, because you were one of the original ones to start, you had the first clinic. Was that how they reached out to you?

And so the 

Laurie McCauley: first conference where I presented information on the underwater treadmill. Jan Van Dyke and Chris Zink had started putting together Canine Rehab Institute. At the same time, Rob Taylor, Dave Levine, and Daryl Millis had started to put together the Tennessee program. And I had talked to, like I said, I had done my research [00:27:00] with Bob and decided not to work with them.

And then when Jan and Chris came to me and said, Hey, you know, you have an interest. I said, well, let me see what your program is like. And that was January. And by March, I was teaching like, I don't know, four days in a row. And then it just grew from there. So you think about teaching for eight hour days or nine hour days.

It's a lot of, a lot of information to put together in an organized, consistent way, but I love teaching. and I love, love, love that look of when someone learns how to do something right, you, you, you take the person and you say, do this and they do it. And they, they see that what they did made the dog better.

That look of surprise and shock and awe and, feeling the goodness inside of them is just, there's nothing like that. So anyone who's ever taught somebody something and felt that knows exactly what I'm talking about. And it's, again, it just fills my cup. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. And do you also teach [00:28:00] veterinary technicians?

I don't know if there's a VTS in sports medicine, but, um, there is. Oh, okay. 

Laurie McCauley: Yeah. And when I taught the rehab certification course for the first, I don't know, probably 10 years, I was the one who taught the whole technician group. All of it. And then we started to split it up and have a PT help me. And then I stepped out and the PTs took over, and they do a great job and lots of different groups.

You know, there's, there's Tennessee, there's North Carolina. Pedro has one up at the healing Oasis, obviously canine rehab Institute that I taught for. and I know I'm missing one or two. Chi Institute I think has a rehab certification program. So it's, it's growing by leaps and bounds. 

Megan Sprinkle: and so were you at the time you mentioned sometimes teaching eight hour days, and then you were running your practice, which I think got up to about 21 people staff wise. And so that's a lot [00:29:00] to do. That's a lot of work. And you, you know, going back to, when you were even starting to think about starting the business, you were like, well, you know, I have my family and I, and this is a new project that I really want to lean in on.

So did it get too much or like, Oh, what, what happened, between that and then your next step? 

Laurie McCauley: Again, you know, you burn out. And you say, okay, what can I do different? And I ended up, getting divorced, leaving everything in Chicago and starting under the radar in North Carolina, where I literally have a practice where every single one of my clients has my personal cell phone number and they're all handpicked.

They're creme de la creme clients. They use it appropriately, but I don't even have a website. I won't accept a client unless it's referred from somebody that knows me. and knows how I work because I say things to clients like I may not be the right vet for you. Right? If you need someone who is on time all the time, [00:30:00] find somebody else because my promises are, I've never promised to be on time, but I always promise that when I'm with you, you have a hundred percent of my attention and I will do everything I can to help your animal, right?

Because I have some clients who drive six hours. I have clients who drive from Texas. So like two days to come see me. Now it's once a year. Thank God. But you know, it's, you know, I, I'm not going to say, Oh, you're 15 minutes is up. And my, appointments aren't, they aren't short and they're not inexpensive yet.

When you look at it, I can usually get done in one appointment. What other clinicians take five or six appointments to get through. So if you understand that, the other thing, again, my clients laugh at me. I say, I am going to teach you everything I can so that you can do as much of this work at home.

So I don't have to see you as much. See, that's that introvert coming back, but I'm doing it so that I have that time set aside so I can help somebody else. [00:31:00] And they all laugh. And yet they're like, I want to be part of the team. I want to do as much as I can. I want to learn as much as I can. So it, for me, it works out really well.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Not only are you able to empower other people in vet med by teaching them, you're also empowering the pet parents who I do believe, especially more and more today, want to be involved with the care of their pet and, including the, the medical side of things. So the more that they feel like they can be a part of things, I think, the more, excited that there'll be.

And I also want to acknowledge it's good to understand yourself. It's good to set those expectations up at the front. And you're able to really make sure that the clients that you choose to work with fit those things, because I think that also helps in. Us enjoying our job, knowing ourselves, being upfront and being able to, work with the people that fit So I think [00:32:00] that's a good place to be. 

Laurie McCauley: Well, and the teaching, since I'm not teaching the rehab certification course anymore, I started Optimum Pet Vitality, which is my teaching platform where I started with Courses for the veterinarians and then had such an outcry from my pet parent clients and everything that we started making classes for the pet parents as well.

And everyone who's taking the courses adore them. They love them. They're it's like I'm sitting across from them, you know, saying in my Laurie speak, right? I want to train you. I want to teach you as much as you can so you can help your dog at home so that you don't have to go to the vet as much. Yeah. and certainly with the vet shortage that we have right now, and I know we've got a dozen new schools coming, but it's going to take time to get those schools up and running and get people to come in and come through before we don't have people waiting weeks to be able to get in to see the vet, the more they can do at home, you know, they don't [00:33:00] have the time to go to the vet.

You know, they, they can do things now. So I just, I love teaching. 

Megan Sprinkle: . Well, and then, I know there's a lot of debate and conversation about the veterinary shortage.

I can completely believe that some people who have the argument of, well, the veterinarians that are coming into the field, they don't want to work 80 hours a week. okay. That's not a bad thing, but, but it does mean that you need more people to cover need of care. and because if you don't, you do burn people out.

And the last thing we want is driving people out of the profession. We need them to find what allows them to thrive and is excited to come to work every day. Whether that is, I enjoy being a general practitioner as long as it's 40 hours a week, or, that they have the opportunities like this to lean into new things that keep them excited and keep their minds active and wanting to come to work every [00:34:00] single day.

, and sometimes, you know, when you do get really excited, you work more than 40 hours a week because you just love it so much. but you've got to find your balance of what is working for you and keeping The profession and excited. So I'm glad that you were able to find those things. You realize that you love teaching so much that you're able to do online courses, which really just exponentially increases the impact that you're able to give back.

Laurie McCauley: I am so thrilled. I mean, we have a huge, group of people from the United States that follow us on OptumPet Vitality, but the second largest group is from Australia. So, you know, it's and when I was in general practice and working at, at TOPS, the, the first rehab clinic, we literally, I had interns from 17 different countries.

So for me to know that, I am somehow in some small way helping dogs in Poland and China and Russia and, of course, Canada and [00:35:00] Mexico, Brazil and all these different places is just so amazing, right, that we can be bringing this to dogs all around the world. 

Megan Sprinkle: That is really cool.

And I just had this connection. So I interviewed, uh, Charlotte Talbert, back in 2022 when she was going through her rehab residency and she was in North Carolina. did that cross with you? Do you know Charlotte? I'll have to go back and see which practice it was, but I was just like, Oh, she was in North Carolina too.

Laurie McCauley: I didn't know. We need more people in North Carolina. Cause like I said, I'm under the radar and it's paradise. So if there's veterinarians out there who want to do rehab and they're like, Oh, I don't know if I'm to North Carolina, we need good people here. 

Megan Sprinkle: It is a wonderful area. , and , not only are you involved with this in a, , Professional sense. You also have adopted a lot of dogs that have become very talented as well. And so I love those stories you were sharing. Do you mind [00:36:00] sharing one of the personal stories of adopting?

Laurie McCauley: So, when I started OPV, I started with a laser course. And at the time I adopted, I went, I had a older golden retriever who had had an osteosarcoma and because I'm a rehab vet, we did a partial amputation and we had a prosthetic and they said, if you don't do chemo. You have him for four to six months, right?

And if you do do chemo, you may get maybe for like a year. And he had pus coming out of his incision. And I said, I cannot, my gut is screaming. Do not do chemo on this poor dog and kill his immune system when he has pus coming out. And that's all I knew. We did diet, we did Chinese herbs. So cooling diet from traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs with we changed in the beginning every week and then every month.

And we ended up having him for 43 months before it came back, which is amazing. and for those vets who are out there who [00:37:00] have patients with osteosarcoma, just so you know, if you get an infection, those dogs actually live longer. So I always jokingly say, rub a little dirt in there right now, obviously we can't really do that, but science shows that the dogs that get an infection, we increase tumor necrosis factor alpha, which helps kill the tumor, right?

So infections are good. Osteosarcoma dogs. Anyway, so I had this older dog, and I'm like, I need another dog for him to play with. And at one of the humane societies that we had stopped at, there was a 12 year old English setter. And I thought, that's perfect, right? Who's going to adopt a 12 year old? A rehab mom would be perfect.

But I was on my way to a vacation. So on the way back from the vacation, I said, okay, we're going to stop and get him. And of course he was adopted. Okay, great. And I happened to be walking by a dog who was screaming like, you think he was killing, but he was just running back and forth. And I [00:38:00] laughingly said, that's my kind of dog, that tenacious, that joy for life.

I just loved it. And I'm like, okay, but I'm looking for an older dog. I don't want a puppy. He's a young dog. And then I walked by a cage where there was a mama with like eight babies and one of them was dragging its back legs. And you know, to me, that's like, they're going to put that puppy to sleep and I can't do that.

So I went up and I said, Hey, I see this puppy. I know you don't know me. I promise you I'm a vet. I can show you my license. I won't charge you anything, please. Can I just work on this puppy and see if I can get him to use his back legs so he's adoptable. Took me about two hours, we got him up and walking, which was amazing.

We did acupuncture and worked on his spine and stimulated his muscles. And I loved it. And while I'm working on him, somebody comes in to adopt that little black dog that was screaming. And I'm like, Oh, this is perfect. I get to see he's happy. He's adopted. Needless to say, if you live with your parents, you [00:39:00] need both parents approval to bring a dog home.

And he got one parent's approval and the other one said, no. So he left in a huff and this dog while I'm working on the puppy is running around and I'm like losing my heart to him Needless to say puppy was walking. I brought Sid home and you know, I know better but things happen for a reason I look at this dog and I say you have a long back You have straight shoulders and straight knees and you run like the wind Iliopsoas issues back issues shoulder issues and cruciate issues. I'm a rehab vet.

I cannot let that happen to you. So I put together an exercise program for him to help stabilize the knees, the back, the front legs, the neck, everything. And then I shared it with some of my friends. And one of them, uh, the ones who actually did the exercises are like, Oh my God, Laurie, this is amazing. One of them who had agility dogs took her agility dogs and was doing the exercises and said, Oh my God, [00:40:00] Lori, I thought my dog was strong.

I had no idea what she was capable of 10. So we started at like 9. I think it took a year, year and a half of doing these exercises. She was the seventh fastest Sheltie in Bad Dog Agility for her height. So when you think about all the Shelties that are running Agility that are in this group, you know, the other in the top ten are like four, five, six, and here's this ten year old who's the seventh fastest dog.

And she's like, Lori, you have to share this. You can't just contain this. And so that became on the the professional side, it's, optimum geriatric exercises because it's all the stabilizers, right? I want to prevent knee injuries, back injuries. And then on the, pet parent side, we call it core and more right.

Strengthening your core and more, foundational exercises for your dog. But those are like for your general practitioner, if you had just those 24 exercises, that would be all you would need. [00:41:00] to help a ton of dogs not have cruciate injuries or back injuries or shoulder injuries. And then for the, the pet parents doing those exercises.

And again, remember I taught rehab. So I don't teach just like, this is how you do the exercise. It's, Your biomechanics, the dog's biomechanics, what it looks like if they're fatigued, what it looks like if they're overheating, when to stop, when to start, when not to do it. If the dog does this, take them to the vet.

All of those things in one course. So I guess that's like a shameless plug, but it really is an amazing course for people and the people who've taken it are so thankful for it. Oh, and I can tell you, I have a, one of my clients who does the exercises and she does other exercises too, has literally taken pictures and said, Lori, the look of my border Collie is different.

She's different at the start line. I can see changes in her building her muscle. And she's taken not one, but two of her dogs [00:42:00] to EO, so the European Open, two years in a row. So, just cool stuff. Things that I'm proud of. 

Megan Sprinkle: As you should be. And I, I love it. The more that I think we can also get this as more standard.

For dogs, because I mean, back to what you were saying, you were tired of cruciates, right? I mean, it is so prevalent and some of it is also on the nutritional side. We just have so many obese dogs on top of it. but, you know, mixing the nutrition component along with these exercises could be such a game changer.

I know it doesn't require some effort on the part of, you know, the humans side of things, but If we really do want our dogs to live as long as possible, understanding them from that point of view, which should not be a foreign concept. We talk about it in human medicine all the time.

Our human health, right? Talk about, you know, eating well and exercising and all of that. We are really seeing a lot of focus on [00:43:00] that, especially in the human side.

And we are in in animals too, but, , really starting to bring in some of these, showing people that they are so doable.

You can learn how to do these at home. We can increase the human animal bond in that way too, . 

Laurie McCauley: Right. And like, I, I lecture on and love the whole idea behind geriatrics and longevity. And one of the podcasts I follow is Peter Attia, the drive, who is just, you know, one of the Stanford doctors and one of the, he says, and he's had many, many specialists on there, the most important thing we can do for longevity, even over proper eating is exercise.

And it's not just go for a walk. Literally it's three different kinds. And again, this is from human research, but it is the endurance work, right? So you're walking, running, swimming, but you also have to do your strengthening exercises. So in humans, that's your weights and things like that. And that would be the equivalent of what we teach in the exercise courses and then proprioception and balance.

Right. So that, you know, for humans doing things that are working on the brain. So [00:44:00] you decrease neurodegenerative changes and working on balance to decrease fall risk is huge. Now we don't have as much fall risk in dogs, but we certainly do see more and more cognitive dysfunction in dogs. And we can decrease that by doing exercises and teaching them new things.

So I think it's super important. 

Megan Sprinkle: Very good point. Yeah. And, it goes back to, you have a specific course for geriatrics , I've interviewed several people who are more in the. Older senior pets and even end of life being able to know how to do some of these exercises and, and things with them, I think could also be an, a value add to what they do every day as well.

So more tools in that toolkit. I'm all about that. Oh goodness. This time is just flown. So very last thing, cause I want to tease it and you, you said that, you know, this could be an entire episode. So I would love to come back to this, but this is becoming a very big [00:45:00] topic right now, especially in veterinary medicine.

you mentioned that at age 56. So a lot of this has been done, you know, All exciting. And you get diagnosed with autism. And so first of all, how did you get diagnosed? Like what happened that led you to get the diagnosis? And then just like high level, cause we're just, we're teasing this. So people get excited about continuing this conversation.

How have you seen that play? With veterinary medicine, because you, you've given talks on this. You, you see people react and really relate to this. So I'd love to kind of get high level, your, your perspective and how that's kind of come to play in your life as well as career. 

Laurie McCauley: So short version, because I know we don't have a lot of time, I listened to a podcast with Hannah Gadsby, who has autism and is a comedian.

And she went and said, because of autism, I blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, each one I went, wait, my brain works like that. My brain works [00:46:00] like that. My brain works like that. And I wrote it all down. And then I went to my therapist and said. Do I have to worry about this? Is this something right?

Cause I, I don't know. I know nothing about it. And she said, I don't think so, but let me ask you some questions. And here's some places that you can take tests online. And I went through and every single one said, you, they can't say you are autistic, but you know, you're, it's a high priority.

And thank God. I also saw the things that said, you know, when they took 11 Yale math Olympiads. So the top of the top math people, seven of them were when tested were autistic, and I, I tell people, I thank God when I got tested, they said, yes, you are autistic and you're in the 97th percentile for intelligence for women, your age, because when you hear those words, if my father was still alive now, again, He was from a different time period.

He would have said, Oh, you're, you are autistic. Therefore you're retarded. Right. Which [00:47:00] was crushing for me. And it wasn't until people said, Lori, it's because your brain works differently, that you were able to step out of the general practice and see things that other people don't see. I can watch a dog and say, he's going to tear his cruciate.

Or. You know, I, I worry because his triceps are weak on the left side and he's, you know, we have to take care of his shoulder and stuff like that. I see things differently yet because I could teach, I can see things and teach other people to see things. That can help the dogs, which is always my goal. so I was asked to be keynote speaker for the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

And again, I was drawn to, this is what you have to teach at it. And I'm like, holy crap, I like, can't deal with this myself at the time. How can I teach people about it? And are they going to laugh at me? You know, are they going to think less of me? And I'm like, okay, God, if you say I have to teach on it, I'm going to teach on it.

And I, I did tons into hours and hours and hours of research. I read every [00:48:00] research article I could about it. Things like women are different than men and how, um, how we show up. And I was vulnerable and I lectured for the HVMA for 350 people. And I knew I was in the right crowd when I put up and it was on neurodiversity.

So it was autism and ADHD, a slide that said, if you think you are neurodiverse, here's a whole bunch of tests that you can take online. And I swear at least 80 percent of the people pick up their phone and took a picture of that slide. And afterwards, at least a dozen people came to me with tears in their eyes saying, Oh, my God, I thought I was alone.

I didn't realize. I think this is who I am. thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We need to share this more. And then, you know, the rest of the conference, I probably had another 50 people of 350 people at the conference, right? Come and say, thank you. I really appreciate it. my technician or my spouse or somebody like that, I think is neurodiverse.

[00:49:00] And now I understand how their brain works better and how to communicate better and how to work better together and have a better relationship. And that made me realize, you know, one of the things they say is people who are neurodiverse are much more drawn to animals than to people, right?

And then when we look at it, I think we have a much higher percentage of neurodiverse people in veterinary medicine than into the general population, which again, when you look at the research, 20 percent of the average population is neurodiverse, whether they know it or not. , I think about the average surgeon, right?

Our stereotype surgeon is they have no bedside manner, but they're brilliant. They're great in the operating room, but if they have a problem, they may throw something or be mean to somebody or something like that, which goes right into neurodiverse, right? I mean, and, and don't get me wrong. I know a lot of surgeons who are not, and are the sweetest people in the world and are still amazing.

But when you look at that, I can tell you from my [00:50:00] personal journey, Knowing that I am autistic and understanding how my brain works allows me grace when I say something or do something and realize, oh, I shouldn't have done that or I shouldn't do that because somebody else is going to feel this. And when I work with someone who's neurodiverse, I can say, if I say it this way, they're going to take it wrong because they're going to think X, Y, Z.

But if I say it this way, I'm bringing out their areas of opportunity, not telling them they're doing something wrong, because if I tell them they're doing something wrong, they're going to get defensive and it's going to be a clash rather than working together smoothly. So I think really people need to understand this more.

To help the culture in the vet hospitals and vet clinics. I think it'll be huge for people. 

Megan Sprinkle: I agree. I think I've always been an advocate of self awareness. And so not only is it [00:51:00] important, I think, for us to understand ourselves so that we can better interact. But also understand what that means. So even if you're not neurodiverse, you can do the exact same thing.

You're still being self aware, but you're also understanding how to interact with the other people around you. And if we don't know how to interact with the people around us, it makes life really hard. It really does. Um, cause we're, we're constantly surrounded by people and when we are able to do that, we build better relationships.

We have better rewarding lives. And I just think that's so important. And so I. Absolutely agree. I think this is such a great conversation again, especially because it impacts our industry so much. So hopefully I can have you back on and we can dive in a little bit deeper and allow you to share more of what you've learned The conversations are definitely starting. I think people are more interested, but there's a lot more conversations that I think we need to have around it.

So again, teaser for a future [00:52:00] episode. Uh, love to hear other people's thoughts about it and just to end, cause I love ending on this. What is something that you are just very grateful for? Just the first thing that kind of comes to your mind. 

Laurie McCauley: I am somebody who reads historical books and biographies and things like that.

And I am so grateful. I can almost any day say, thank God I have a house, a roof over my head. I have a refrigerator. I'm never without food. I have property. I don't live in, you know, I know a lot of people love the city, but I'm on five and a half acres with flowers. I have two pigs, three chickens, two dogs, two cats.

I have a wonderful spouse that I adore. , we just got married a couple months ago and it is, I live a very blessed life. Every day I get to go to work. I don't have to go to work. Um, I, I am so, so blessed in so many ways. [00:53:00] So everything. 

Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your podcast app, subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn, where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn, on the website at vetlifereimagined.

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