I Interviewed 23 VMX Attendees

Welcome to another episode of Questions With Crocker! This week is a special episode as Dr. Crocker visited VMX (Veterinary Meeting & Expo) and interviewed a whopping 23 attendees! From veterinarians, to dermatologists, to technicians, the interviews swing far and wide on the veterinary medicine pendulum.

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Transcript

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[MUSIC] What's your name and what do you do for living? My name is Andy Rook and I am a veterinarian. You are and you do like a little bit of online social media stuff. I do, I do some social media and I like to write and make videos and tell stories and just I don't know, I love being about. Make us laugh, make us laugh, we love that. So if you had one piece of advice for pet owners, what would it be? I'll tell you this from my own life in all seriousness is don't wait until behavior problems get bad enough that you feel like you have to deal with it. Get on behavior problems early because once this behavior is becoming grain, there's so much harder to fix. And so anyway, just from personal experience, I have waited too long to intervene in behavior problems and it would become much bigger deal than it should have been. I think everybody, if you're having behavior issues, go ahead, don't wait until it's bad. Get on it, talk to your vet about it, intervene, get it figured out. He's saying that because we both have naughty dogs and we tell funny stories about them. I have a naughty dog. I should have worked on her. Even veterinarians have them, so thank you so much. Oh, it's my pleasure. What is your name and what do you do for living? My name is Dr. Jessica Harris and I am a veterinarian, specifically a mom with a DVM. And I work on Dr. Julie Buzzbees' Toe Grips team. I am the veterinary relations manager. Love this. We love Toe Grips. They're great for senior pets. You guys should check them out. In regards to pets, we are giving tips. So what is one tip that you really want pet owners to know? I would say don't forget about the cognitive stimulation. The physical stimulation, like walks, plane is really important, but so is keeping their brain active. It helps delay things like canine cognitive dysfunction, other diseases that we've seen in our seniors. So definitely keep their brains going. Yeah, we love those senior dogs and Toe Grips helped my senior labs so much. So I appreciate everything you guys do. Oh, thank you. Thanks so much for sharing. What's your name and what do you do for living? My name is Dr. Molly Brinkman and I'm a small animal veterinarian. She also has a great social media, which is hilarious. Dr. Molly says you guys should check that out. We are talking pet owners. What is one piece of advice that you want them to know? If your dog or your cat is limping, they are in pain. Yes, shocking. So go see your veterinarian and when they tell you they need pain meds, you say yes, I will give them and I will give all of them. Yes, yes, I love it. Great. What's your name and what do you do for living? I'm Dr. Nicole Bruno and I'm a small animal veterinarian. And you also are the founder of BlendVet. I am my DoD. I be training in VetMed. So important. We love it. Yeah. Now we're telling pet owners what is one tip or trick you want them to know and from veterinarians that they need to brush their dogs teeth every day. Even their cats, if they'll let you, but if not, you're going to have to pay for a dental every year. Yes. Yes. So true. Thank you so much. You're welcome. What is your name and what do you do for living? My name is Ashley and I'm a licensed veterinary technician. And you work for veterinary emergency group. So we are telling pet owners what is one thing you really want them to know? Well, I actually just found out that Menoxidil is toxic to cats. Okay, so what exactly is that? So Menoxidil is actually a really popular hair growth supplement that a lot of women and men use. They can use it as a topical oil and apparently if you rub your head on your pillow and your cat then lays on your pillow, it can actually be very toxic. So that is terrifying. So you're glad we're telling pet owners about that. So much. So much. So proflo. What is your name and what do you do for living? So I'm Dr. Cassie Fleming and I'm a house call veterinarian and also staff veterinarian for vet folio where we do a lot of continuing education. She has a great podcast and you should definitely take it out. I appreciate that. So we are giving a tip to pet owners. So what is one thing you really want pet owners to know? Well, I have been known to be a blood work veterinarian. I love running wellness blood work on all of my patients even when they're very young. And I've picked up on some pretty serious things going on even in young dogs. So our dogs and our cats, they don't always tell us what's going on outwardly. And we can get a lot of information from just running even like a simple blood panel. And even if everything comes back normal, sometimes we can watch those values trend over time. If something's going up or something's going down abnormally, then when something does actually go wrong, we have so much data to draw on to know what's normal for your pet that it allows us to really make good targeted recommendations. And we're not kind of starting from square one just when your pet gets sick. So important because pets can't tell us how they feel internally. So I always hope people were checking out the internal after we check out the external when they get an exam. I love it. Thank you. Absolutely. Tell us what your name is and what you do for living. I'm Dr. Lindsey Botser and I am a small animal veterinarian. You also do a little bit of social media. I do YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Yes. Pet ownership follow her. So we're talking about what is the one thing that you want pet owners to know as a veterinarian? One thing I would tell you guys is that when you get that Christmas puppy or any puppy, bring it in within 72 hours because you have to make sure it's healthy and your vet's going to help you do that. And bring a poop sample too so we can check for parasites. Always a must in the first couple of days. Thanks so much. Can you tell me your name and what you do for living? My name is Zantia. I'm an emergency and critical care veterinary technician. So Zantia and Tunisia love it so much. We are telling pet owners what is one thing you really want them to know? So veterinary technicians are the people that are with your pet the majority of the time that they're in the hospital. So when you call for updates and where the one's telling you about them, we really do actually know what's going on. 100%. When people call it's really funny because I will tell them like let's do a tech update because you have seen the pet most recently and are doing a majority of the work once they're hospitalized. So we appreciate you and thank you so much. What is your name and what are you for living? My name is Walter Brown. I'm a registered veterinary technologist specializing in emergency and critical care. So you do all the things for all the pets? Yes, all the things for all the pets. Love it. So we're here to tell pet owners what is the one thing you want them to know? Oh man, realistic expectations. So a lot of time in veterinary medicine, we understand that pet owners come in and they have these expectations and we understand your expectations maybe what your expectations are. But we have to set realistic expectations about what we can do at veterinary professionals for your pet in order to make sure we have the best outcome for your pet. So again, setting those really realistic expectations is one of the biggest things that I think we should do in veterinary medicine. And making that work for your budget? Yes, absolutely. Because again, we want to make sure that we actually give them that that standard of care, whether it be gold standard or whether it be the care that you can afford. But we want to make sure we set those expectations so that we can provide that care for your pet. So we can get them home back to you as you're a companion animal. So we work with you as a teammate and I think that's great advice. Thank you. That is great. That is great advice. So again, being that person to help you all out and then you remember, expectation is the biggest part about veterinary medicine that's setting those expectations. And we want to help you all out. So again, setting those expectations, what we want to do. I love it. Thank you so much. What is your name and what is your occupation? My name is Maria Paraz. I am the medical director for Boyton Beach for Veterinary Emergency Group. You are. We love veg. We both work there and it's amazing. So we are giving tips for pet owners. So what is one thing you really want pet owners to know as the person who's in charge of a veterinary ER? One of the most common things that we see your babies in here for are things that we have around the house and can be toxic to your babies like grapes, chocolate, onions. So just keep an eye for those and if you do happen to have a medical emergency, just come on over. Yeah, and you can also give us a call if you want to know if you should bring them in. If you have a naughty dog like me, you know exactly where the closest veg is and you take them in frequently and it works out well because I already worked there. So thanks so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. What is your name and what do you do for living? My name is Talentine and I'm the medical director of Veg Miami. Yes, and we are in Florida now and it is actually really humid and not fun. I'll be honest, so but we are at the conference and we are sharing with pet owners. What is one thing you really want pet owners to know as an emergency veterinarian? Absolutely. I think it's really important to save up because you never know when there's going to be an emergency and whenever you're going to need, your pets going to need care. And so always have yourselves a little saving account in case they need something. Yes, and we're happy to help with other options for payment but having little emergency fun if you have a pet is very, very important. So thanks so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. So introduce yourself and say what you do for living, please. Sure. My name is Dr. Kevin Kelly. I'm the medical director for Clearwater of Veg. So we are at a conference. We are around amazing people who love pets, but we want to let pet owners know what they really need to know just to like take it to the next level. So what is one tip or thing that you want pet owners to know? Before you try to treat your pet with one of your medications, pick up the phone in callus. We can let you know if it's safe or not. Although you may see something online, you don't know who posted that and I'd really rather you not create a problem. How'd rather be able to help your animal and said. And you can call a veg and you can talk to a doctor and we will definitely give you that information because we would prefer to give you the right information than have you end up in the ER because you gave the wrong medication. Yes, exactly. We don't want anybody feeling guilty about hurting their own animal when they're trying to help them. Yes, absolutely. Love that. Thanks so much. Can you introduce yourself and tell me what you do for living? My name is Dr. Anna Foster and I am an emergency veterinarian. Yes. And we adore you. I want to know if you could tell pet owners one thing that they really need to take to heart for their pets, what would it be? My biggest piece of advice is to train your pets. It could be the simplest thing from teaching your dog how to sit or for me, I taught my cat how to sit and how to high five and a few other things. Dance, which is really fun. But ultimately what it helps with is different husbandry things that you want to do at home. So if you're trying to clip your dogs nails, if you're trying to clean their ears, brush their teeth, that's going to prevent a lot of veterinary issues later on. So train your pet. And it makes it easier when we go to do diagnostics on them or when they come into the hospital to not be as stressed if they're used to having their feet handled, their ears, their mouths, everything. So thank you so much. That was a great tip. Thank you. So what is your name and what do you do for living? Dr. Joya Griffin, a veterinary dermatologist. And we are here to conference and we are learning, but we want to tell pet owners what is one important thing you really want them to know as a veterinary dermatologist. Not all pets have chicken allergy. Fact. It's a good one. Fact is from the expert herself. So thank you so much. You're welcome. So please tell us your name and what you do for living. My name is Melissa and I'm currently in school to get my LVT license and right now I'm a veterinary assistant at Vetch. Yes. We love our entire team and our support team members. Y'all are amazing. So if you had to tell pet owners like one thing you really want them to know, what is that one thing? I think I would tell people to cherish your pets and love every single moment that you can get with them. That's it really doesn't last as long as you want it to. Yeah. No. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Please tell me who you are and what you do for living. My name is Dr. Garrett Packtinger and I'm a board certified emergency and critical care specialist. So so smart so much school and so much experience. So tell me what do we really want pet owners to know as veterinarians? What is the one thing you want them to really take home? One of the more common issues that I see in the yards pets that get into food that is just not theirs. Certainly they don't love variety and so they they stick to their dog food. Some people food may be can be okay but the biggest issue that I see are pets that get into foods that are just not safe or healthy. Now for us rapes, raisins, fun little treats, right? It can actually cause kidney failure in dogs. So the bottom line is try to feed them their own food and if if you need to feed them people food, please contact your veterinarian first. The last thing we want is a serious problem when we're trying to be nice for our pets and give them a treat. Yeah, especially in the weekends when your pets are not open yet to come see us. Yeah. So it always happens. All the emergency is on the weekend, right? Always, always. Thank you so much. I've rejected. Tell me what your name is and what you do for living. Hi, I'm Adi Reinhardt. I'm a veterinarian and I am also the CEO of MentorBet. We do mentorship for veterinary professionals. Yes, amazing program and technicians too, right? Magnuschichu, yep. Love it. So y'all should check that out. But also, we are helping pet owners just do a better job at taking care of their pets. So what is one piece of advice that you would give pet owners for their pets? So I would say anytime there is an eye issue, get your pet to the vet quickly. Because I think eye issues can be dangerous and can lead to blindness sometimes. And so if you see redness in the eye or any pain in the eye, squinting, that's the time to call your veterinarian. It is. Yeah, even working emergency, I will tell people like don't mess around with eyes, especially if it looks cloudy or blue at all. Come in right away because eyes will go bad very quickly. So love that so much. Anything else? You have to go conference? Yeah, it's going great. Well, being here. Okay. Thanks so much. Thank you. Who are you and what do you do for living? My name is Dr. Kate Baker. I'm a board certified clinical pathologist. I love it. So you look at things microscopically for us veterinarians and tell us what's going on. That's correct. So very cool. You also do a lot of education, which I love. We're educating pet owners. So what is one thing that you want pet owners to know? Well, I as a clinical pathologist and the person that your vet is sending your their cytology into. So when they say we need to submit the cytology to a pathologist, say yes. Yes, she knows way more than us. And that mask, we want to know exactly what it is so we can know what to do. And this is the person who's going to tell us. So thank you for all you do. And thanks for that tip. What is your name and what do you do for living? My name is Nia and I'm a fourth year vet student at North Carolina. Yes. And we're excited because you're going to go into emergency medicine with. Yes. So we are telling pet owners what is one thing you really want them to know? One thing I want pet owners to know is that you should definitely get pet insurance. Investing in it will help you when those things happen that you cannot plan for. Do you see a lot of things in the yard that are helped when they have pet insurance? Everything in the yard. Form bodies, hit by cars, trauma, everything. Hemo abdomen. All the things all the time. Thank you so much, Nia. Anytime. Who are you and what do you do for living? I'm Dr. Indio Woods. I'm a relief veterinarian in Houston, Texas. And how long have you been out of school? Almost two years. Amazing. It feels like you were a student just the other day. Absolutely. Are you loving it? I absolutely love it. Yes. Yes. We love being veterinarians. It is well worth it if you make good choices. So if you had the pet owners one piece of advice, what would it be? Dental treats are not the only thing you should do for your pets or all health. You definitely should be brushing at least once a day, doing some water additives and just being very active in your pets or all health. I love that. It is very cool that you can add something to their water that helps reduce bacteria and plaque, which is amazing. And the early dental cleanings, the best thing you can do. Yes. You can not get everything off of the toothbrush. We have to get dental cleanings. So, I appreciate it. Same thing. Yes. All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. For name and what do you do for living? My name is Dr. Will Baker and I'm an emergency veterinarian. Like me. Yay! So we are here at a conference and we're telling pet owners what is one thing that you want them to know as an emergency veterinarian? I would like for all pet owners to know where their closest emergency veterinarian is. So that way when you have a puppy or I guess really any dog that eats a bunch of gum that has xylitol in it, you can bring them to the vet that can make them throw up. Yes. As quick as possible because if not, it can actually kill your pet if they ingest it. So great tip. Thanks so much. Please tell us your name and what you do for living. Hi. My name is Guthring. I'm one of the ER Veteranors' Abedge. One thing I would like to tell the pet owners is please, please, please, please, please, leave the equal are on. Oh my. Please because if not, they come in to see us at the ER and they've ripped open their stitches and it costs way more than the original surgery, right? Okay. Well thank you for everything you do and for sharing that. What is your name and what do you do for living? I am Dr. Chelsea Rivera. I actually just left the military so I'm basically part-time full-time relief. I'm going to be branching into in-home euthanasia soon and yeah, that's my life right now. And who do you have with you today? This is Sakura. She is a psychiatric service dog that I'm getting her some additional exposure to a whole bunch of stuff. Well she is beautiful and there's like six dogs in the vicinity at a vet conference which is not totally unheard of. So okay if you had one piece of advice for pet owners, what would it be? Well, February is coming up which is pet dental health months so make sure that you are getting your teeth pet checked. Ever your pet's teeth checked? Yeah, it's been a long day. I get it. So with every visit that you have and then please please please save up for dentals because the longer you wait to get them done, the more expensive they are. Yes. And why are dentals so expensive compared to even what we get done at our dentist? Well, I mean first of all, we pay out a pocket for our pet's care usually. So a lot of times human dentistry is getting you know covered by insurance and everything so we don't really see the cost. Additionally, pets have to go under anesthesia for dental cleaning because they don't tolerate having their gums poked and prodded at very well. So yeah, but you know that's so get all the same things that we get done every time we go to the dentist. So polishing, probing, exploring, all that sort of stuff. These introduce yourself and say what you do for living. Hi, I'm Dr. Julie Vesby and I'm a home schooling mom. I'm also an accidental entrepreneur and a veterinarian and you are the creator of tow grip. So what you love, you're also a super supportive mom with a DBM, which is appreciated and you have a lot of things going on. But what I really want to know is in everything you've experienced, what is one really great tip that we can get pet owners is veterinarians. I think it's the fact that you are your dog's voice. Dogs don't have their own voice. You're with your dog. You're sleeping in the same bed with your dog. Probably you have your hands on your dog all kind, you know, all day long and that's actually really important to be intentional about noticing things, early detection of changes advocating with your dog and being a part of the healthcare team. Obviously your veterinarian is also a really critical part. You guys are working together, but I think sometimes pet parents kind of diminish their role and think like I just call and transport, but you actually the information that you can share with your vet about what you notice, what you observe is really, really key and important and you're important. Yes, and in all settings, the history, what they see at home helps us with diagnosing and treating. So love that. We're a team with you with pet owners and thanks so much for sharing.