Longevity Medicine For Pets is Here: What to know (Dr. Kevin Toman)

Longevity medicine is one of the fastest-growing conversations in veterinary medicine — and it's moving beyond research labs and drug development into general practice. But what does it actually look like for the pets in your waiting room today?

Dr. Kevin Toman is a companion animal veterinarian with 40+ years of experience and eight practices built from the ground up. Now through his telehealth consulting practice, he's helping pet owners across the country build long-term longevity plans for their senior pets — and he believes this may be the biggest opportunity in veterinary medicine for the next decade.

In this episode, we cover: 

• What longevity science looks like in general practice right now
• The Dog Aging Project, Loyal, and what's coming next for prescription longevity drugs 
• How integrative medicine fits into a senior pet longevity plan
• Kevin's vision for a dedicated senior pet longevity clinic
• Why independent practice ownership still matters — and what he'd do differently

Resources:
🎙️ Vet Life Reimagined is hosted by Dr. Megan Sprinkle. 

📬 Podcast club guide + key takeaways: Sprinkle of Wisdom Substack 

📹 Video episode on YouTube

🔗 Learn more about Dr. Kevin Toman and his work: Website

Transcript

Kevin Toman: [00:00:00] There are million, probably billions, with a B, billions of dollars that are being poured into the longevity science component. And admittedly, 99.9% of that is human. And so right now, schmos like me are looking at trying to to understand human longevity science and see what we can apply safely to the patients in our care.

Megan Sprinkle: Longevity medicine is one of the hottest topics in veterinary medicine right now. But while the research and the drug companies are making headlines, what's being done in general practice. You've probably heard of the dog Aging project. Maybe you've seen loyals ads around drug development to extend dog's lifespan.

Longevity medicine is having a moment in veterinary medicine, but while one is research and the other is drug development, there is a quieter and equally important conversation happening at the practice level. What does longevity science actually look like in general practice today? That's where Dr. Kevin Toman comes in. Kevin is a companion animal veterinarian with [00:01:00] over 40 years of experience, eight practices built from the ground up, and a deep conviction that we can extend the average pet's life if we start early and think holistically.

His interest in longevity didn't come from a trend. It came from watching senior pets lose their owners and being placed back into shelters, and from a per. And from a personal health scare in his forties that led him into integrative medicine. Now through his telehealth consulting practice, Kevin works with pet owners across the country, including in places where specialty care is hard to find, to build long-term relate.

To build long-term longevity plans for older pets, centered on diagnostics, dental care, integrative therapies, and emerging prescription longevity drugs. In this conversation, we talk about what longevity science looks like in practice right now, what his dream Senior Pet Longevity Clinic would look like, and why he believes this may be the biggest opportunity in veterinary medicine for the next decade.[00:02:00] 

Let's get to the conversation with Dr. Kevin Toman.

 When did you know that you were interested in veterinary medicine as a career?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: from grade school on, I knew that I wanted to be a veterinarian, and this was back in, gosh, I, shudder at, saying this, but it was back in the late sixties, early seventies of the preceding century.

And so. Uh, it's been a long time, long journey, but it's, it's been quite a ride in within veterinary medicine.

Megan Sprinkle: Well, fascinating. So how did you know, did you grow up around animals or is there anything

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I,

Megan Sprinkle: remember from

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I did, you know, I grew up back in Illinois farmland, and so large animals and small animals were both part of of my environment back then. And so, like many veterinarians from that generation anyway. I started out in, a mixed animal practice doing both large and small animal work.

And over time, gradually evolved more towards the small. Picked up some emergency work along the way and, and the rest was history. So I ended up [00:03:00] as kind of a, small animal practice with, uh, an emphasis on surgery.

Megan Sprinkle: Exciting. So you said Illinois, and I know you went to vet school in California at

uc, 

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: So what got you to California?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: My family back then, we were very much a traditional family. My folks were both in education and so they started out as high school, teachers. And then my father ended up teaching at the university out here. And as families did back then, we went along for the ride.

Megan Sprinkle: Uc Davis is definitely, known as a very good school, so that's. Speaks volumes to him. That was probably a big promotion. So exciting opportunity for the family. you mentioned you, you started maybe more large ended up mixed and then small animal. going back to vet school? you went into vet school thinking you would do large and that evolved over vet school or more like after you got in practice,

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: After I got into practice, I was practicing in a rural area in, in Northern California, kind of the gold rush country for those of you [00:04:00] familiar with it and found that, uh, you know, my large animal work and, and I, I was fascinated by it. There's a lot of beef cattle. Back then, and those families were just simply salt of the earth.

I loved my interactions with them, but there were times when I would be busy all day long and see two appointments because they were separated by 75 or a hundred miles, literally. And so it was just a very inefficient way to practice and those same families wanted more and more small animal work.

And so I read the writing on the wall and opened a little brick and mortar clinic and away we went.

Megan Sprinkle: opening up a clinic is also a journey in itself. So what was it like opening up a practice and building that from scratch?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Well, , I've always been a little bit of an entrepreneur, I would confide in you that, uh, through my 40 plus years of veterinary practice, I have built from the ground up and then sold eight different veterinary practices through, Northern California into Colorado and then back again to California.

[00:05:00] And so, you never think you're as smart as you. What's the best way to phrase this? When you get out of veterinary school, you think you're God's gift to the world and, you know, so, so I was convinced that I knew everything I needed to know to open up a, a successful small animal practice.

And the reality is that, you know, I was book smart, but perhaps practice dumb. I, uh, learned an awful lot from some senior technicians that I hired along the way. I learned an awful lot about business along the way. there were countless mistakes and if your listeners can avoid a few of those, uh, more power to them.

 But the reality is that, you know, especially in business, there are some lessons to be learned. And you know, I think that over time I, grew better , at treating the patients in my care and I also grew better at taking care of their pet parents.

I mean, I'm, I'm very much a relationship guy. Maybe not the world's best veterinarian, but I, I pride myself on my relationship skills and that was something that I [00:06:00] learned along the way.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and that's gonna be super important too when you, talk about going into telehealth. 'cause I think being able to

build relationships in a long distance fashion is also very. Very important. but no, I remember you talking about that. Like you were the vet who came into the exam room and sat on the floor and, spoke, with the pet owner in a family-like kind of way, right?

Like there is that something special about your, your family veterinarian, where you watch the pet's life, 

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Yeah, I mean I was fortunate in that again, I practiced in some fairly, fairly rural areas and so I was kind of the defacto emergency clinic back in, in the day. but I was able to. See pets grow from puppy or kitten hood all the way through adulthood and then eventually, you know, into the next generation.

many of the pet parents and I became close friends and, and that was very rewarding to me.

Megan Sprinkle: One of the things you also said when we were chatting before is that. [00:07:00] One of the things you miss most, even now when you kind of look back is having a team and you miss the laughter. And, and yes, there were tears sometimes, but you miss that team, bonding. So, what did you enjoy most about building a really good team that enjoyed working together and any that you look back and kind of say, Hey, you know, this is what I learned through my time building all these practices.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I, I would say that I learned how to become a better boss over many years in veterinary clinics. yeah. And that is an acquired skill. I mean, you know, again, you come out of veterinary school and, and you think you have one skill set, but if you can't work with other people, then it's gonna be hard for you to be successful, whatever path of veterinary medicine you choose.

And so over time, I, um. We developed a little bit of a reputation within the, areas that I have practiced in. And so we were able to attract very [00:08:00] good, team members, you know, top quality technicians, the very best, receptionists around and, great office manager.

And so we really tried to be a practice of excellence, you know, and we, We had an open book policy. the lowest technician, the lowest CSR, was able to look at our practice income. And, , we set practice goals, we set individual goals for each team member.

we had daily rounds, and so we really did everything we could to build a team atmosphere of excellence and, we were in the hunt for perfection. And I don't know if we ever achieved it. We were in the hunt.

Megan Sprinkle: also going back, you. were talking about watching the pet's full life from puppy to kitten into the senior years, and also had moments of reflecting on just speaking of perfection, right? Like, are there other ways of doing things? and you mentioned two kind of big moments that really made you think a little bit different about at least the medicine component.

You mind sharing that kind of [00:09:00] transition and, and those. Few stories that really moved you into looking for other things.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Well professionally, because I was in kind of a general practice, and we grew to be fairly large practices in these areas. we had a number of older clients, older pet parents, and so, things happen in, in cycles in veterinary medicine, you may not see a blocked kitty for three months, and then on one Saturday you see four of 'em.

And so for whatever reason we saw. A number of older pets that were being orphaned, quote unquote, as their pet parents died. You know, these were little poodles or little chihuahuas, or schnauzers or whatever the case may be, that had a single pet parent, a single older mom, most cases. And as these older moms died, these small pets, these aged pets were essentially being put up for adoption again, being run through a shelter.

And that just killed me. I mean, geez. That's, that's a horrible thing, to think about for an older individual, whether you walk on two [00:10:00] legs or four being run through a, a shelter setting or a hospice setting, and then trying to be rehomed and, find a new family. And so that really kind of set the table for me.

I have always loved the, the challenges and the interactions with older pets. You know, the, the cancer cases, the chronic pain, the heart issues that accompany, geriatric care. And so I realized that there was a real need, a real opportunity to make a difference for some of these older pets, and that kind of prompted my interest in longevity science.

Megan Sprinkle: And then I think you said at the same time you went through a little bit of a health scare. I, I say little. Um, health scare.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: in the day, but yeah. So yeah, you know, you, you, I was 43 or 44 at that point in time and, and, um. Uh, got diagnosed with a little bit of a high creatinine at, one, this routine blood draw. And so went through all the diagnostics and, was told by a local, internal medicine doc that I had multiple [00:11:00] myeloma, which really meant back then as time to start digging a hole.

And I was of course that, uh, scared the heck outta me and, There were, a lot of reflection that went on, but I also referred self-referred down to the Mayo Clinic and jumped through a bunch of diagnostic hoops and found out that that was not the case, that I did not have myeloma.

But I did have a precursor called monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance. And, you know, it's a little worrisome when folks start using the phrase unknown significance around your own health. But, it is a benign condition with a relatively small, annual incidence of transferring into myeloma.

And so as every one of us would do, you hit the books, try to figure out how you can stop that, malignant transformation from occurring. And I found that there was no pharmaceutical that could do so. But interestingly, there was an herb, curcumin, that had been proven to help slow or, or sometimes even stop that progression from mgus into multiple myeloma.

And [00:12:00] so that was really what prompted my interest in herbal therapy or integrative medicine. Started with myself and then I generalized that to my patients.

Megan Sprinkle: curcumin or other people may recognize this, a turmeric, we've been using it in foods for a long time. We've embraced different opportunities through nutrition, and then you, said you got focused really in, on senior pets and looking a little bit into your work, there's three kind of conditions that it seems like you highlight most frequently, and that's HCM, cancer and chronic pain. Is that what you saw more frequently?

What, why these three did you kind of really hone in on when you were thinking about taking care of senior pets?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I'm gonna answer your question just one second, but I do wanna address the curcumin and turmeric that you'd spoken about because there the unfortunately people conflate or confuse turmeric with curcumin. In the whole of a turmeric plant.

There is only three to 4% of active [00:13:00] ingredients, and those are the curcuminoids. And so when you and I, take turmeric, just average turmeric, we're getting no biological benefit from it whatsoever because, curcuminoids across the spectrum are very poorly absorbed. And so if you're into herbal therapy or into curcumin for its health benefits.

Please. One of the things you wanna do is to study like hell on the bioavailability of the curcumin products that you're taking. Turmeric is a really no health benefit because the very low concentration of, of curcuminoids in there and their poor bioavailability. So you really need to concentrate that up.

Alright, I'll stand down off my little curcumin bandwagon here and say that, One of the things that, that I would tell you is the very interesting part about my little practice at this point from a telemedicine, for those of you who don't know, I run a, a consulting business center around the care of older pets or how best to, improve their longevity.

And we could talk much more about that, [00:14:00] but. The thing that is most interesting to me is the fact that I get calls, I get emails from the weirdest places. You know, I'm located out here on the coast of California and I know you're back east, where good veterinary care and, oncology specialists or, or ortho specialists are relatively easy to find.

But that's not necessarily the case in the middle of. Missouri or the middle of, of Montana, the middle of Maine, places that I have lived. And it's very rewarding for me to be able to help those pets with cancer or help those pets with chronic pain or help those kitties with HCM where local veterinary care is hard to find, especially local specialty care is very difficult to find.

And so it's very rewarding to me to, to do that. And when you ask why those particular diseases, well, Like, Willie Sutton said about, you know, robbing banks, that's where the money is, you know, but, that's when you have an older pet. Those are the diseases that you see.

you see chronic [00:15:00] pain, you see cancer, you see, dental disease is another big flyer for me. And, there are limitations to being in a tele consulting business. You know, I can't snatch that that infected carnassial tooth, but the reality is I can point the folks to places that can help them.

Megan Sprinkle: Mm. When you said dental, that also. Reminded me as humans we tend to. Make decisions or have behavior changes when there's a pain point. So when there's a disease, we start to get desperate. We'll do more research and things like that. But like when it comes to dental health, that's really important from a preventative standpoint.

And I. I definitely believe that with good dental care, we could probably, add a lot of years onto pet's life.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: And so let me address that. I'm gonna sneak a word in here and say that it, I, to the best of my knowledge, it is not documented on in veterinary medicine, but in on the human side, they showed [00:16:00] that with significant periodontal disease, you experienced a typical, decline in lifespan by up to 15%. And so if you extrapolate that to our pets, that can be up to a year or two and you know, and that's one thing that.

you found another area where Kevin likes to climb on a soapbox of some type because, , I sell rapamycin. I sell a prescription longevity drug to the clients that, that are within my purview, that has been proven to increase lifespan by up to 14%. And so many people, Dr.

Megan. Call or email saying, I want this drug. And then you talk to 'em about their pet's health history and it's this little, you know, a 12-year-old poodle who's never had a dental. And it's sometimes, you know, people want the easy answer. They want the pill or the injection. And really what they need to do is understand that, you know, at at least as.

As we think we understand at this point, the link between infection and the link between chronic inflammation, aging and death is pretty significant. So listen, maybe we ought [00:17:00] to take a better shot at just doing the simple stuff, cleaning your, 12-year-old poodle's teeth before we start reaching for the stars with, with prescription longevity drugs.

Megan Sprinkle: So is that the conversation that you tend to have with them sometimes is backing them up?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, because I listen. And, and perhaps, I mean this is, will fly two ways amongst your listeners, but I'm very much a traditional veterinarian in that I believe strongly in the benefits of diagnostics. And I told you the other day, one of the things that kills me about my veterinary education is that back in 1986, I graduated from US Davis, I think one of the best schools around. And I mean, hell, we, we had zero dental training. I'd never took a dental class at uc Davis. And so I look back at my early career and think about how many pets I failed to help because I didn't know the benefits of taking dental X-rays, you know?

so, yeah, I mean, I'm. I'm a [00:18:00] diagnostic and dental procedure heavy guy. You know, if he threw me back into a brick and mortar clinic, that's what I would hang my hat on because I believe that test results and, and dentals can buy you an awful lot of time with the pets we know and love.

Now, onto that, I would superpose the use of integrative therapy and prescription longevity drugs and acupuncture and, and ways of therapy and a bunch of different things because I think that they all add to our pet's health. But you gotta start with the basics. And to me that the basics are diagnostics and dental care for many of the pets, especially the small pets in our practices.

Megan Sprinkle: you know, correct me if I, I've got this wrong, but to me it seems that you were also maybe earlier to embrace some of the options that are available for pets in, in your practice. 

And when you have a conviction, when it's maybe not the most popular thought or decision, how do you handle that? So for you, , going back to some of those [00:19:00] moments and you started looking more into things, What was that journey like of looking at all these options, seeing the potential benefits, wanting to try things that you weren't seeing people interested in trying and, and they might have even disagreed with some of these things.

Like how did you handle that?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Well, gosh, another little Kevin rant is coming here, uh, because I I told you the other day, uh, and I think I created some angst on your part that I think. Private veterinary practice right now, uh, in, in large part is broken, it's broken by virtue of the, the corporate, intrusion into veterinary practice and the limitations that it places. In direct answer to your question.

the reason I was able to. Perhaps add curcumin products or add rapamycin or add acupuncture or laser therapy into my patient care is because I was the one who was making the decisions. I was the one who was willing to invest in that [00:20:00] $25,000 laser machine and hope that it paid off. and I was the one who, you know, after.

doing ACL repair or whatever the case may be, was able to say, Hey, your pet needs this herb or this, laser therapy or this acupuncture In an effort to speed and maximize their healing. And I think some of that has been lost along the way with the formularies that are mandated by some of the corporate entities within veterinary practice.

And so my heart goes out to the younger veterinary, generation here because the two reasons I got into veterinary practice, I think when I look back on it, were independence. as a practice owner, if I didn't wanna work that day, I didn't work Now. Let's take that with a grain of salt.

But, you know, I fired, you know, clients from the practice if they abuse my kids, my, you know, my, my techs, my receptionists. I didn't have any, second thoughts about that, nor did I have second thoughts about trying to bring the very best in science backed and evidence backed medicine.

Regards to whether that was a steroid injection or [00:21:00] acupuncture. so the fact that I was an independent veterinarian and, practice owner back then, gave me the latitude to try those things. And then. Pet parents, you know, I think they're, in general, they're receptive to what works, so, especially in some of the the smaller areas that I, I worked in, word of mouth counts.

And if Joe Schmo, had a dog that was healed with, with laser therapy, all of a sudden all Joe Schmoe's neighbors learn about laser therapy. And, and so one thing leads to the next.

Megan Sprinkle: yeah, the, ability to make, just go and make a decision is helpful. , And if that's something you feel strongly about, maybe practice ownership is the direction you wanna go. And so learn all you can where you are and, build those skills and work towards getting there.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I think there are tremendous opportunities. I mean, listen, I understand if I was coming out of school. The dollars associated with a corporate job. You know, the fact maybe there's some loan [00:22:00] forgiveness or a little bonus thrown in.

All those things are good, but I think that there are tremendous opportunities. In fact, I would suggest to you that the largest opportunities in small animal practice right now are centered around, true private practices. Not corporate entities, but the, practices that defy that corporate model where you can in fact build those relationships.

You can in fact book on 45 minute or hour appointments for orthopedics or derm or whatever you choose to, and really take the time pet parents are looking. For one family doctor, and if you know, if there are young veterinarians you know, out there, sure, get the money while you can get the training while you can, but don't completely eliminate the thought of practicing by yourself, because I think that's where the rewards are.

I think over the longer term, you can make more money than in a corporate practice, and you can have a lot more fun doing it.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, that ownership aspect of it. It, right? That's a very different than being a, an employee model, [00:23:00] but also a whole nother group of responsibilities and things

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Yeah, 

Megan Sprinkle: to 

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: there's, some pains associated with it for sure.

Megan Sprinkle: Exactly. , There's pros and cons. You gotta find the, the pros you like the best and the cons you can handle. So, I definitely agree that there's a lot of opportunities still out there. There's still very strong practices of all different sizes, and there are pet parent who will shop around until they find the vet that they really like , and want to stay with. And so, find your spot.

And talking about practice and, and I, you mentioned you built several, I think you said eight, eight different

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: across your career and, and sold them. Is that the time that you decided to go into telehealth 

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: those cons of practice ownership added up for me. full disclosure, you know, I built a fairly large, a 25 person, 30 person practice, from scratch along the California coast. And [00:24:00] the offer that I was made by, by one of the corporate acquirers was just too good to pass up.

You know, it really translated into eight or 10 years of work in the clinic. That was the equivalent, and I was. I think 60 at that point in time. So why not take that, it was the proverbial offer that was too good to pass up. But, I love being in California, but the reality is there's some regulations around veterinary practice.

Ownership and, premises and things like that, that just became, somewhat onerous. and so I chose to go ahead and just start, start a little practice. You know, I thought, well, how big can a little telecons consulting practice go? You know, because I am very much a relationship builder, and it's nice to build that relationship, whether it be with somebody from California in my backyard or somebody in

Washington or Wisconsin or wherever, because there are these pe that kind of slip through the cracks from traditional veterinary care. you know, as a 66-year-old, , the luxury of developing my own schedule and [00:25:00] perhaps, uh, not having as many restrictions on my business would, they were very appealing.

And so. I've started this little telecons consulting business as a side hustle, and it's grown to the point where really I could be busy seven days a week if I chose.

Megan Sprinkle: And when we were going back to thinking about senior pets longevity, these are. we're hearing them a lot right now. I think some of that is that our pets are living longer. I think some of that is that pet owners are more and more seeing their pets, not only family, but like even. Sometimes they love them, more than family, the human family. Uh, so people really, really care about their pets. They really want them to have not just quantity of life, but quality of life too.

And that 'cause those are the things that they're really gonna see on a day-to-day basis. and then, like I said, longevity seems to be the hot thing right now and. Um, in different companies opening up and marketing and all of that. I'm sure. I'm preparing your, your podium [00:26:00] for you to go on.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: She says.

Megan Sprinkle: Yes. No, no, no. This is good because, you know, since this is what, uh, a lot of people are, are interested in and talking about, what have you seen as kind of over time when we're thinking about this topic, how has that changed and how have you embraced that? Um, seeing the, the best benefit for pets under your care?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Well, I think I, I would add to the. list of your motivations . But, uh, the fact, you know, again, I'm 66 and I'm kind of at the tail end of the baby boomer generation, but the reality is that mortality, it's a lot closer for me than it is for a young girl like you.

And so, you know, there's this huge, Mushroom cloud of baby boomers out there, and they're all looking around and thinking, well, gosh, you know, all of a sudden the end is a little bit more clearly in sight, you know, than the beginning used to be. And, you know, so what can we do for our own [00:27:00] health? that's really, I think where the conversation begins for many pet parents and then it's not too much of a jump to look over at the cat that's sitting on the sofa or the dog who's sleeping at your feet to think, well, what can we do for their health as well? so, you know, I think there's increasing motivation on the part of many of these pet parents to really look at alternatives as their pets age.

I think that you're right. I, I think that pets are, in general, living longer, whether that be to, you know, the diets that you're so intimately involved in, or, better technical care, you know, the dental care that we've spoken about, the ability to do A MRI or a CT on these pets and, and really learn about, the plumbing inside. And so I think that veterinary care is a component to the increasing lifespan of pets. But the reality is also this, the average veterinarian, is, you know, booking on, on the 20 minute interval and. we, veterinarians are hell on wheels when it comes to dealing with abscesses and cuts and vaccines and spays [00:28:00] and neuter.

But it's very difficult sometimes to sit down and really develop a plan, not so much for the next two months or three months, but sometimes for two years or three years, or five years or 10 years, That's the luxury that I have, in this little teleconsult practice is, that I do have that luxury of time.

so on the one hand, I would tell you veterinarians, there's a tremendous opportunity. I think one of the things that if there are entrepreneurs amongst your listeners, I think there's a tremendous opportunity for veterinary longevity, clinics, so to speak, where you are centered around, just longevity science for pets,

And you have the force plates to look at lame pets objectively. And you have the dental care as a specialty T and you have, you know, I mean, here are ways that a person could segment a very successful practice in certain areas of the country centered specifically around longevity care.

And you know, at this point I'm kind of an N of 1. I don't think there [00:29:00] are an awful lot of veterinarians that are, are concentrating on longevity science, but I invite every one of you into the field because I think it'd be very rewarding for you.

Megan Sprinkle: maybe they're not all using that term, but I'm starting to see more and more veterinarians that I speak to that are leaning more into preventative health, but I, I think, we we're still trained to. Find disease, right? the disease and treat the disease. And, and so thinking about it more from the preventative side, and maybe as we kind of come back to, you know, the goals of education, we won't get too deep into this. We've had conversations with people who, are really focused on. Education and rethinking on what does a, a brand new graduate really need to look like?

What are

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: likely gonna be doing? And that may not be exactly how we've been training. but there are great opportunities and I, I think maybe, pet parents are more open to thinking, more preventative. I [00:30:00] think we're finally getting that. That mindset more. And maybe that's it. I didn't stop to think about it.

You know, the baby boomers, there's a large population of baby boomers. A lot of them are still pet parents too. And so, maybe that does help, open up, oh, you know, it's not just about go to the vet when there's something wrong. There really is something to that preventative health.

And I, I think even the like Gen Z. Generation is gonna be thinking more that way too. Uh, heard a great person who focuses on gen intelligence is her tagline. the intelligence of the different generations, and she described Gen Z as being the generation that through a very important part of their development process went through COVID, and COVID was this time when was a health scare. So health was one of the most important things that was kind of talked about and focused on. And so then themselves also [00:31:00] have potentially this mindset of preventative and, and keeping myself healthy. so all the more that I, I just continue to see this as being a trend in a direction. Any comments there before I throw a, a hypothetical

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: gonna be quiet for a change.

Megan Sprinkle: so I have a hypothetical question and you kinda started going down it, and so I'm really curious if you could build your dream longevity practice like brick and mortar. like today, what would that look like?

What would you include? what would be some of the first things that you would, implement into that practice?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: All right, well. A shameless plug. And, and that is that the thing that deters me most about opening a bricks and mortar longevity practice is the thought that I'd be the veterinarian running it seven days a week. And so if you have listeners who are interested in, thinking about this, you know, in some of the bigger cities and throughout the country, let me know.

I mean, I, you and I can partner on this because I think there is tremendous opportunity and, I just don't wanna be the, the old [00:32:00] fart in the clinic seven days a week. so with that being said, I think that for the demographic pets you and I are, thinking about, If we were to, serve clients most perfectly, these would be office visits that were centered, you know, probably around an hour long, initial session building the relationship, you know, for somebody like me that's what it comes down to first.

But from a scientific perspective, you have to look at the, at the care of these older pets. I mean, it'd be nice to be pretty good with an ultrasound machine. With ultrasound probe would be pretty good, to, you know, have, at least a tech team that was just hell on wheels with dental care.

I mean, you know, that they, knew their way around a, patient's mouth, it would be nice to have the, the force plates or a way to go ahead and look at orthopedic discomfort objectively. these are things that, Many veterinary clinics just simply don't have, I will say that veterinarians of my age, you know, I'd spay a kitty in the morning and I'd plate to dog's tibia in the afternoon. You know, I mean, [00:33:00] that was very common for me in these, some of these areas. And I think, veterinary practices these days have a tendency to refer some of the cases and.

I understand referring to, veterinarians who are better than you and me, the gps of the world. But the reality is, I also think that many of these practices, many pet parents are looking for that family doctor. They don't want to go to three different places or four different places to get the very, very best care of their pets.

And so for those little entrepreneurs amongst you, t ry to figure out a way to keep those pet parents in your practice, as opposed to referring them. Build that specialty network if you need to, but have a quality veterinary care right there in in your own building. And you'll do just fine.

Megan Sprinkle: I think we do have some pretty good entrepreneurs out there as well. And again, even if

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Send them my way, doc. Send them my way.

Megan Sprinkle: I, by all means, I love to connect people. So, that's why I thought that question would be interesting, just hypothetical. If One, I, I was just curious like today what that would look [00:34:00] like, but I think there are people who would love to do that and so starting that spark of ideas flowing. and uh, by all means, we'll, we'll send people your way. so when you think about where we are today with longevity science, what excites you the most?

Like where do you think is the, the biggest opportunities, and especially for other people in veterinary medicine, where would you direct them to start really focusing in if they want to make the biggest impact for their patients?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I think that the next decade is going to, be one of tremendous, increase in knowledge around longevity science. And again, I think it's centered, to be honest with you about all us old, you know, old humans. You know, they're, they're getting old and afraid of dying. And so, you know, there's this theory and, uh, amongst some folks that, you know, if you and I can live for the next 10 years or 15 years that science will be such that you can live indefinitely beyond that point. [00:35:00] Now, I don't know. That's a pretty optimistic thought. But this thought of critical mass where scientific knowledge will catch up to the point where you can live indefinitely if you can just survive until that time, you know, there might be some BS associated with that.

But I, I think that the underlying point is true, and that is that. there are million, probably billions, with a b, billions of dollars that are being poured into the longevity science component. And admittedly, 99.9% of that is human. and so right now, schmos like me are looking at trying to, to understand

human longevity science and see what we can apply safely to the patients in our care. But I hope that longer term, you know, there'll be more dog studies. the dog aging project, of course is the, is the big fish. but other projects that use. Interventions with, a placebo arm, a blinded study so that you and I can really attach some significance to it.

The difficulty, Dr. Megan, is this for right now, and that is you and I are, very good at [00:36:00] measuring liver inflammation with ALT and you know, measuring kidney function with urinary protein or, or whatever the case may be. There is no one longevity marker in either humans or in pets to say that the interventions that you are using, whether it be herbal therapy or you know, the rapamycin and I, ESP, or whatever the case may be, are really making a benefit.

And people talk about telomere length and people talk about biological clocks, methylation clocks, but the reality is. That we have a long way to go before we understand, any metric that you and I can use to measure longevity if we can achieve some semblance of, everybody agreeing on that one metric, then all of a sudden, I think that will really open the door to scientific study at that point because then we, we have something to measure against.

And right now you have, you know, 200 people going in, in 300 different directions. And it would be nice if, those 200 people [00:37:00] instead went on one or two different directions, and were able to concentrate their work.

Megan Sprinkle: Yes, I, I have been in conversations about like, what can we measure? And right now the best things that we have are longevity studies. studies, which means they take years look at trends and things like that. And it would be much nicer if we could just have markers and measures that we could do quickly. I think you're right. Like once we have that, I think the amount of research that we can do and the information that we can gather from it would accelerate. But well, what else keeps you excited these days? What do you enjoy talking about and make sure that we get to talk about together?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: I am passionate about my little, my little project, and all the different ways that you and I can intervene to help our pets live longer, because I think without, without bullshit, I think that you and I can add 20 to 25% to our average pet's life if we start early and incorporate that dental care and maybe raise a question or two [00:38:00] about why this vaccine is being used and whether that's really appropriate for the pets in our care.

And, you know, and think about do the diets. That, that you're so intimately involved with, or, uh, you know, and, and take a kind of a global, a truly holistic, set of care of these younger to middle aged patients. And I think we can really, bend the curve for those patients. I, I honestly believe that and so it's a fascinating time for me. You know, I really enjoy that I'm able to build the relationships that I, that I wanna build and, and fix the occasional. You know, pet, even if it is via modem or via a computer screen, instead of laying my hands on them. And so it's a, it's an exciting time.

Megan Sprinkle: Speaking about relationships and going back to the story you said about watching senior dogs lose their pet parent,, and then these poor senior dogs get put into shelters. And I, I've interviewed people where they specifically focus on senior pet. Shelters and they, [00:39:00] um, it's a very different approach. Like you have to prepare people of these senior dogs may have health conditions that they have to take care of, and they're, they're not gonna have as many years. But just since that was also something that really struck you. Have, have you done anything specifically there or, anything else there that you've kind of come back to, to try to improve that scenario?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Well, I've adopted a couple of these older pets, you know, a little cavalier King Charles named Phoebe comes to mind and, and so, Yeah, because it's, it's difficult. I mean, if you, if you're really in veterinary medicine, because for the love of pets, and I think most of us are, it's hard to, see an older pet go through that, you know, younger pets, of course, are more resilient, but some of these older, pets have a difficult time adjusting to that change.

And so, there are a couple of shelters that I, I work closely with Throughout California that, that, again, are centered around the care of older pets. And, that resonates with me. So listen, you guys, if, if, if you have listeners that are in that, that game, let [00:40:00] me know. I'll help you. I, I will help you guys financially or products or whatever I can do because we're all in this together,

Megan Sprinkle: that's another thing I think that's so fun about being in this profession is we do have so many people who care greatly, about people, about pets, and I'm seeing more and more collaborations and partnerships, which are really exciting. I, I think that's where we can go far is if you go together, Excited to see people work together to hopefully move the needle when it comes to, again, quantitative of life is great, but it's, it's not great if it's not quality of life too. So there's a lot that we can do together to work on both aspects of taking care of pets.

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: Yeah, absolutely.

Megan Sprinkle: yeah. Well, my last question, I always like to end on this one, is what is something you're very grateful for right now?

kevin_1_03-19-2026_090053: gosh, there are several different things. I mean, the reality is that I, Hmm. You're gonna put me on the spot. I'm grateful for, for a new romance. I You went through a [00:41:00] divorce recently and, I have a new romance in my life, and it's nice to hear the words. I love you. I'm grateful for my little puppy, Annabelle.

Who? Uh. When she's not destroying things can actually be a very good dog. And, you know, I'm, I'm grateful for, for people like you, Dr. Megan, that, look to build the veterinary world. You know, you're, you're trying to improve the veterinary world one little bit at a time, and my hat goes off to you.

You're, you're the next generation of veterinarian and I look forward to seeing what you can do throughout your career.

Megan Sprinkle: Dr. Kevin Toman has a distinct voice, witty, deeply experienced, and genuinely passionate. If the conversation has piqued your curiosity about longevity medicine, I hope you'll continue to explore whether you're a general practitioner looking to incorporate more preventative and longevity focused care, or an entrepreneur wondering if a senior pet Longevity clinic might be your next chapter.

Kevin has welcomed further conversation if you're interested [00:42:00] in his telehealth consulting practice, collaborating on a longevity clinic concept or supporting senior pet shelters in your area. Links to connect with Dr. Kevin are in the show notes. For a full summary of the key takeaways from today's episode and ways to apply them to your own practicing career.

Head over to the Sprinkle of Wisdom Substack for the podcast Club guide. If you want to support the podcast, make sure you're subscribed and share it with someone in veterinary medicine who you think might appreciate it. Until next time, keep re-imagining what's possible in veterinary life.