Rescue, Reinvention, & Healing: A Conversation with Dr. Meredith Cronin

What happens when you follow your passion, even when it takes an unexpected turn? In this inspiring episode, I visit with Dr. Meredith Cronin, a former orthopedic surgery PA turned veterinarian, who found her true calling in holistic pet care, acupuncture, and in-home euthanasia.

Dr. Meredith shares her powerful story of leaving human medicine, returning to vet school, and how a rescue pup named Dobby changed the way she approaches healing. Whether you're an animal lover, someone considering a major career shift, or just in need of a reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself—this episode is for you.

✨ What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ How Meredith left a thriving career to pursue her true passion in veterinary medicine.
✅ The power of acupuncture & holistic healing for pets.
✅ The importance of gentle, compassionate in-home euthanasia.
✅ Why traditional medicine & alternative therapies work better together.
✅ Dobby’s journey: How one rescue dog changed everything.

Key Moments:

Dobby’s Story. The heartbreaking rescue of a three-legged pup and how he changed Meredith’s approach to healing.

Discovering Holistic Pet Care. How acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbs have transformed the lives of animals.

The Importance of In-Home Euthanasia. How providing compassionate end-of-life care helps both pets and families.

Navigating Veterinary School Later in Life. The challenges and rewards of pursuing a passion-driven career shift.

Blending Alternative & Traditional Medicine. Why combining holistic therapies with Western veterinary practices leads to better outcomes.

Wildlife Conservation & Travel. Meredith’s passion for working with animals around the world, including her dream to return to Africa to work with gorillas.

Final Thoughts & Inspiration – The importance of saying yes to new opportunities and trusting your journey.

Where to Connect – 
www.Meredithdvm.com
https://www.facebook.com/meredith.cronin.3
https://www.instagram.com/dr.meredith.dvm/ 

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Transcript

[00:01:29] Meredith Cronin: Hi.

[00:01:30] Penny Fitzgerald: Hi, how are you?

[00:01:36] It's playtime for Dobby, huh?

[00:01:38] He's so sweet. I'm good.

[00:01:40] So, good morning. Sorry. That's okay. It's Dobby's playtime and I'm cutting into it. 

[00:01:48] Meredith Cronin: It's always his playtime. Yep. I work so that I can keep him in the lifestyle he has become accustomed to. That discussion on a regular basis. 

[00:01:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. It's his world [00:02:00] and we're just living in it. Oh my gosh. Okay. So let's back up a second because I know Dobby. Well, I don't know him, but I know of him. But, um, my audience may be not aware. So tell us a little bit about him and you and how you two are connected and such. 

[00:02:19] Meredith Cronin: Hi, I'm Meredith. I'm originally from New York. I worked in orthopedic surgery at Mount Sinai hospital in New York for a really long time.

[00:02:33] Um, at some point decided I wanted to go to veterinary school. I needed more. So, I sold my home, um, left my career and went to veterinary school. Um, I met Dobby when I was over at Louisiana State University. I was doing my clinical rotations there. And he was an abuse case that came in. [00:03:00] So, he's a rescue that was found by Last Chance Arkansas.

[00:03:04] Um, he was 17 pounds when they brought him in to us. had burns all over his body. He was missing three of his paws and he had such a strong energy, such a strong spirit, loved people and was just the ultimate fighter. Wow. Um, since then he has three prosthetics. This is him with his prosthetics. I don't know if you could see that. 

[00:03:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, so cute. 

[00:03:40] Meredith Cronin: So he wears them when he's outside, when he's able to, if not, he has a wagon that I cart him around in. And, um, 

[00:03:53] Penny Fitzgerald: he's thriving clearly. 

[00:03:57] Meredith Cronin: He's the sweetest boy. [00:04:00] Um, he's actually what got me involved in, so sorry, let me back up.

[00:04:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:04:07] Meredith Cronin: I do in home euthanasia and acupuncture. And in 

[00:04:14] Penny Fitzgerald: for pets,

[00:04:17] just making that clear. 

[00:04:20] Meredith Cronin: He's actually what got me involved in acupuncture. Really? He was on so many medications. I mean, he was on 1200 milligrams of gabapentin a day. He was taking trazodone. He was taking tramadol, a whole bunch of other things. And I went to Chi Institute, um, up in Reddick by Ocala. Okay.

[00:04:46] They specialize in Chinese medicine. They do acupuncture, herbs, you name it, they do it. And I've been able to start him on herbs and pull him [00:05:00] off of his medications. Um, traditional Chinese veterinary medicine is very much broken down into not what you're presenting so much physically, but your tongue, your pulse.

[00:05:16] Your personality and Dobby's kind of like, I am, he's a very fiery personality. He has two speeds, go, go, go, go, go, or we're done. Um, and those kinds of personalities typically don't do well with needles. So something that can supplement it and starting them on traditional Chinese herbs. It's almost like giving them a low dose of acupuncture every day.

[00:05:49] Yeah. 

[00:05:50] Penny Fitzgerald: So herbs like, like dried herbs that you grow or how do you source this kind of stuff? [00:06:00] 

[00:06:00] Meredith Cronin: From China. Okay. So the Qi Institute, this is what his family's been doing for thousands of years. Wow. 

[00:06:07] Audio Only - All Participants: And he's, 

[00:06:08] Meredith Cronin: he's brilliant. And I've just seen such an incredible change in Dobby. Because when I first met him, it was okay.

[00:06:20] He has infections. Is he going to survive his infections? Okay. Um, the only medicine that he can take is something that causes cancer in humans. Um, will he do well with this medication? And if he does. Will it clear his infections? So it was constantly, is he going to eat? Is he going to be aggressive towards people?

[00:06:47] Is he going to be aggressive towards other dogs? Is he going to get an infection? It was always the what if game. So, I wanted a different way of treating him. [00:07:00] LSU, I took an integrative medicine course. They taught you, they gave you a baseline introduction about Herbs and acupuncture and all that good stuff, and it just kind of stuck.

[00:07:15] And with that, I mean, that's, I love doing that. It's so much fun and you can make such a difference in these pets. And I also do in home euthanasia because I just remember what it was like each time I've had to put an animal down. And Fluffy doesn't like to go to the vet, they associate the vet with strange smells, loud people, dogs that are scared, um, and it's just a very literally cold clinical environment for them.

[00:07:54] And, um, some of the stories that I've heard as well as some of the animals [00:08:00] I've put down, it's, it's very abrupt. Um, my last dog, it was one injection. That was it. And it was very, it's, it's traumatizing. It's traumatizing. Mm-hmm . Family. It's traumatizing to the animal. And I knew that there had to be a better way.

[00:08:21] Um, I worked in corporate veterinary medicine for a while, and it's just not for me because I couldn't do the things that I did when I was involved in human medicine, and it was. Yes, medicine is a business. It's helping the patient, it's helping the families. And if I can make it easier for patients and easier for families, I mean, euthanizing an animal is a gut wrenching decision to have to make. Oh, am I doing it too [00:09:00] early? Am I doing it too late? Am I making them suffer? Can I spend more time with them?

[00:09:06] And then it's, Is everybody in the family on the same page? 

[00:09:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:09:12] Meredith Cronin: Because if they're not, I mean, I've had plenty of phone calls where I've had to say to people, Okay, I just want to reiterate back to you what I'm hearing. You're telling me your cat is 12 years old, which is young for a cat. It's eating, drinking, urinating, defecating, playing, and was just diagnosed with mild kidney disease.

[00:09:37] It's Not moderate, not severe, not renal failure, but mild. Yes, I can't put your cat down. It's not your time. It's not their time. But my vet called at some point. I said, at some point, yes, but not now. It's not their time. And you get the phone calls [00:10:00] afterwards when they have time to reflect on that. And I've gotten calls of, thank you so much.

[00:10:05] Anyone else would have just taken my money and would have euthanized Fluffy. 

[00:10:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, my gosh. 

[00:10:10] Meredith Cronin: Um, it's unfortunately it's true. A lot of the times 

[00:10:15] Penny Fitzgerald: it's sad 

[00:10:16] Meredith Cronin: if you have family members who are conflicted. I had 1 gentleman who called me and after hearing everything that was going on, I said, is everybody in the household on the same page?

[00:10:28] He said, well, my son, I said, we, we can't do this. Now you're going to hate you. And I can't have that happen. 

[00:10:38] Audio Only - All Participants: Yeah. 

[00:10:39] Meredith Cronin: Have your son spend some time with your dog. Your son, keep a calendar. Are they eating the same? Are they drinking the same? Do they have the same activity level? How are they able? Are they able to walk?

[00:10:56] Can they relieve themselves outside with some [00:11:00] dignity? Or are they incontinent? And look at their quality of life? And he said to me, he's like, you're right. And thank you. I can't have my son hate me. And it's, yeah. It's a process, and I walked him through my process because it's a little bit different. Um, I don't like needles.

[00:11:26] I don't know anyone who likes getting shots, injections. Mm hmm. Animals certainly don't like it, so I look at it as though if I can give them an oral medicine in some smelly treats that they like or just Squirt a little bit of medicine in their cheek pouch, just a little bit more comfortable, a little bit sedated.

[00:11:51] It's a much nicer experience for them. And I don't believe there's any reason to start [00:12:00] an IV or to go in the muscle, unless you absolutely have to, because that's painful. Reason why they can't just have. an insulin syringe and just get a tiny little pinch just under the skin. It may take a few minutes more, but it's, it's more humane.

[00:12:20] Mm hmm. Wow. And it's nicer for the whole family. And if they can't explain it to the kids, I'll explain it to the kids that this is a medication that's just for animals. They don't make it for humans. You can't give it to humans. And people can't get this medicine in any way, shape, or form. And it takes some of the scariness and the, oh my gosh, what's happening, out of the equation.

[00:12:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, 

[00:12:54] Meredith Cronin: you say to them, do you think your dog is in pain? [00:13:00] Do you think he's suffering? The kids, the kids get it. 

[00:13:05] Audio Only - All Participants: Yeah, 

[00:13:06] Meredith Cronin: I leave it up to them and the parents if they want to be in the room, if they want to walk in and out of the room and I give them a bunch of resources to use because it's so hard to process this.

[00:13:20] Audio Only - All Participants: Oh, yeah. 

[00:13:21] Meredith Cronin: Um, there are hotlines you can call. There are websites you can go to, chat rooms you can go to, books that I encourage parents to read first before they introduce it to their children, but it makes it a lot easier and so much easier for the other animals that are in the house because when they go to the vet, they just see Fluffy leaving the house.

[00:13:51] Yeah. 

[00:13:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. 

[00:13:56] Meredith Cronin: And yesterday I had a case [00:14:00] where I said to them, the dog was very apprehensive with me. It did not like that I was checking on his brother. Um, and we kept him where he could see Uhhuh , that he couldn't get to me. Uhhuh because he was very overprotective of his His. Oh yeah. And afterwards. I said to them, I said, why don't we bring him in?

[00:14:28] He'll be fine with me now. I'm not touching his brother. He'll be fine. But he needs to see he needs to understand it. 

[00:14:36] Audio Only - All Participants: Yeah. 

[00:14:37] Meredith Cronin: Just see fluffy leave the house and not come back. 

[00:14:40] Audio Only - All Participants: Uh huh. 

[00:14:42] Meredith Cronin: It was the sweetest thing. His brother at this point was all tucked in in a blanket. I was helping him out. And he just kept checking him out.

[00:14:52] Kept going under the blanket. Kept trying to pull the blanket away and see. And just, it's a process for animals [00:15:00] too. 

[00:15:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Wow. That's such a caring way to handle that. Wow, I have so many questions and I'm, I'm a little bit clumped right now 

[00:15:15] Meredith Cronin: to go through, but there's a reason why you can't make it as easy on everybody as possible for the other animals for the dog.

[00:15:28] Who's going through this. 

[00:15:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. Just even introducing a new pet to the family is a process and it's, you can see how they're, they're family, you know, they have to process things too. Wow. Okay. So, questions. I'm sorry. I'm like, so.

[00:15:52] Let me go back to, um, way back, you were in human medicine, you were in, in [00:16:00] orthopedic, you were an orthopedic surgeon, is that? 

[00:16:04] Meredith Cronin: PA and orthopedic surgery. 

[00:16:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, okay. 

[00:16:08] Meredith Cronin: I would go back and forth from the office to the OR, um, I would see patients in the office, treating them in the office, and my, attending my boss.

[00:16:20] Um, he was the chair of the department and then he actually became the president of the hospital and he, he's brilliant. I loved working with him, but after X amount of years after well over a decade, you're like, okay, I need a little bit more. Okay, I wasn't married. I don't have kids and it's just me. So I didn't want to be 10 years down the road and say, what if.

[00:16:54] Going to veterinary school when you're 40 is difficult enough. And everybody thought I was crazy. [00:17:00] They're like, wait, I'm sorry. You're selling your home to pay for school. You're going back to school. A great career that you love and that's lucrative. And it was. Yeah. I don't want to be 10 years down the road and say, what if, and I wanted to be able to do more.

[00:17:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Good for you. You know, I think that is what holds people back from chasing dreams is that fear and you overcame it and did it good for you. 

[00:17:35] Meredith Cronin: It didn't occur to me. I mean, everyone that I worked with was so supportive. I mean, when I told my, I told my boss about it right from the get go, because. I'm not one to keep secrets.

[00:17:47] I don't pull any punches. And when I told him that I finally got into veterinary school, he's like, that's great. Congratulations, the light start to go. And he said, [00:18:00] oh, no, oh, no, that's horrible. No, no, no, not for you, but that's horrible. And it was. Dr. Flato, don't worry about it. I figured out who I thought would be a good fit for you as a replacement.

[00:18:16] I've been training them. Don't worry about anything. Oh, 

[00:18:19] Penny Fitzgerald: wow. You had an exit plan. 

[00:18:22] Meredith Cronin: He said to me, he said, how long do I have? And I said, a year, he said, okay, I can work with that.

[00:18:32] Penny Fitzgerald: That's good. Wow. You thought of that. That's that I'm sure he was very appreciative of, of that. And just that such a big transition to move from New York. And then you, you went to LSU. 

[00:18:45] Meredith Cronin: Um, I did my didactic portion at Ross and St. Kitts. Oh, I loved it because I grew up split between New York and the West Indies.

[00:18:58] So it really, [00:19:00] so it really wasn't that much of a transition for me. The big was, Hey, you're going to school with people 15 years younger than you are. And it's. A whole different way of. learning now. Um, everything's online. Everything is very different. So a lot of adjusting. 

[00:19:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Now I have more questions.

[00:19:30] So St. Kitts, were you in a military family? How 

[00:19:33] Meredith Cronin: did you get, how were you back and forth 

[00:19:36] Penny Fitzgerald: like that? 

[00:19:36] Meredith Cronin: My grandparents built a home in Jamaica when I was, before I was born, actually. So I was with my mom in New York. A lot of the times I was with It's over there a lot. 

[00:19:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Wow. That's so cool. To, to be island hopping.

[00:19:55] It's 

[00:19:57] Meredith Cronin: so different because you [00:20:00] see the kids in New York who are, they don't realize everything that they have. Yeah. And they don't realize that, no, not everybody wears shoes all the time. 

[00:20:14] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:20:16] Meredith Cronin: That there's some places where kids have schools for, you have shoes for school, for church, and the rest of the time you're running around barefoot.

[00:20:26] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:20:28] Meredith Cronin: And it's, it's a very different way of thinking and I was fortunate to have experienced that because most kids grow up with their little bubble and don't realize that how fortunate they are. 

[00:20:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, yeah. Or how anybody else moves through the world, you know, how any of that. So, so when you say New York, you mean the city, New York City, 

[00:20:52] Meredith Cronin: I lived about 25 minutes outside the city.

[00:20:56] Okay. When I was older, [00:21:00] I lived at the beach. So that was about 45 minutes outside the city. Okay. 

[00:21:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Yeah. So you, it was a lot of, um, 

[00:21:11] Meredith Cronin: very different. 

[00:21:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, for sure. Wow. Okay. So then LSU and, um, veterinary school, and then I want to talk a little bit too about how, how you found Chinese medicine or, um, more ancient, um, medicine and remedies and such.

[00:21:29] So how did you kind of discover that? Was that all through Dobby? 

[00:21:34] Meredith Cronin: So part of that was because of Dobby, and that was something I had always been interested in, but Louisiana State, they have an integrative medicine course, and it exposes you to everything. 

[00:21:48] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:21:50] Meredith Cronin: So there are some things I went into, and I was like, Hmm, that's a bit pokey.

[00:21:56] And tried it on myself, and I'm [00:22:00] like, Hey, wow, this actually works. Okay. I'm seeing the difference in the pets, but is this more from the owner's perspective, or does this actually work? 

[00:22:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. 

[00:22:12] Meredith Cronin: Try it on yourself and see if it works. 

[00:22:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So, okay. Give me an example of that. What kind of stuff did you do? 

[00:22:17] Meredith Cronin: Um, acupuncture.

[00:22:20] I'm like my dog, not so much. Um, he does amazing with herbs. I do better with herbs, even something like, um, I actually ran into one of my, my old professors at a conference not too long ago. And I said to her, I said, you know, the PEMF mats that you were talking about, the pulsatile electromagnetic radiofrequency mats.

[00:22:47] At first, I thought it was, yeah, okay, let Fluffy sit on the mat and get his, all the woo woo stuff. 

[00:22:57] Penny Fitzgerald: If it makes you feel better. [00:23:00] 

[00:23:00] Meredith Cronin: And I was having something done to me and somebody put me on one of these mats, but for humans, not for dogs, obviously. Uh huh. And I, when I got up, I said to him like, wow. She said, what?

[00:23:15] I said, I've been on and off crutches since I'm seven. I've had five ankle surgeries and this is the first time in my life I don't have any pain. 

[00:23:26] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:23:28] Meredith Cronin: Okay, this works. Great. Let's get a mat for the dog. Let's incorporate the mat into what I'm doing because it makes sense. And if it helps them, absolutely.

[00:23:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So what, um, what is the mat? What does that, is it light frequency? Is it a vibration? What, how does that work? 

[00:23:52] Meredith Cronin: They have copper coils in them and it's. Uh, the science behind it [00:24:00] is going to take a lot to play. Oh, 

[00:24:01] Penny Fitzgerald: that's okay. No, I'm, that would be right over my head anyway, so it's copper. So it's like a copper, you know, I had a friend of the family growing up that wore a copper bracelet and necklace all the time because they had heard that it does something.

[00:24:19] Meredith Cronin: That I don't know of, so I can't really, but the frequencies that this thing puts out, I love it. The dog loves it. So it's this, it's a mat and I use it on him every day now and I sit on the mat with him. 

[00:24:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:24:39] Meredith Cronin: Great. 

[00:24:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, everything's energy, so it makes sense once you realize that everything's energy.

[00:24:48] Yeah, that well, and back then this was, this was 50 years ago, so I'm dating myself here, but this, um, the only thing that we knew for sure was that it would [00:25:00] turn his neck and wrist green. 

[00:25:03] Meredith Cronin: But these are coils inside of it. 

[00:25:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, this is more, this is different. 

[00:25:09] Meredith Cronin: Electromagnetic radio frequencies that are 

[00:25:12] Penny Fitzgerald: working.

[00:25:13] Meredith Cronin: And if you can do that, do the acupuncture with it. Biggest bang for your buck. Or do laser with it. Um, there are some dogs that don't do well with needles. They do better with laser. There's no reason why you can't hit the same acupuncture points that way. 

[00:25:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So you've studied acupuncture and, um, these different types of medicines, 

[00:25:39] Meredith Cronin: um, 

[00:25:39] Penny Fitzgerald: alongside what you, you know, the traditional stuff.

[00:25:43] Nice. 

[00:25:45] Meredith Cronin: It's just a different way of looking at things. 

[00:25:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, absolutely. And who's to say, um, I mean, we get so caught up in the way it's always been or what we've experienced before. And so we assume that that's the only way or the [00:26:00] best way. 

[00:26:01] Meredith Cronin: This actually takes both of them and incorporates it. So it's 

[00:26:04] Penny Fitzgerald: great 

[00:26:05] Meredith Cronin: on Western medicine because there are some things you flat out need antibiotics for.

[00:26:11] There's things where you need injections for it, but this is something that can help supplement. It's not something that's going to cure cancer. It'll give them a better quality of life. 

[00:26:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. That's a really great way to look at it. Yeah. It's not either or. 

[00:26:30] Meredith Cronin: Exactly. 

[00:26:30] Penny Fitzgerald: I love it. Love it. 

[00:26:32] Meredith Cronin: It works and you go with it.

[00:26:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So how did you make your way to Florida? 

[00:26:38] Meredith Cronin: Um, I'm a New York Jew. It was inevitable that I end up here. Um, all of my family's in Boca, where they belong. It's, that's not a good fit for me. I grew up lifeguarding, surfing, I played volleyball, and the Gulf Coast is a better [00:27:00] fit. Um, before I was here, I was in Texas, and that was, that was different.

[00:27:09] It was a great experience, but it wasn't a good fit for me. It wasn't home. It wasn't where I belonged. 

[00:27:15] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:27:17] Meredith Cronin: And living in Venice, Sarasota, right around there. Uh huh. It's a much better fit. 

[00:27:23] Penny Fitzgerald: That's cool. 

[00:27:25] Meredith Cronin: It was quite an introduction though. I mean, we moved down here a couple of days before a mountain hit.

[00:27:31] Penny Fitzgerald: That's right. I forgot that. That's right. You came down in October. Oh, 

[00:27:37] Meredith Cronin: and 

[00:27:42] Penny Fitzgerald: you stayed. Yay. 

[00:27:44] Meredith Cronin: Well, I lived in Long Beach in New York. And when we went through Sandy, it was the same thing. Everything that everybody pitched in pulled together as a community, and there are some [00:28:00] incredible people that I met when we were helping out in Venice, helping out in Sarasota, um, Dobby is also a therapy dog.

[00:28:08] So, I was able to bring him with me to a lot of those where the linemen were, where the, um, where the emergency workers were, were the. We're the firemen, the cops, the ambulances, everything. And it just, after that kind of a whirlwind of experience, who doesn't love being around a happy dog? I mean, it's impossible to be angry or upset or sad when that face is literally in your face.

[00:28:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. And to see him, what he's been through and how happy he is. Fantastic. Yeah, oh, wow, 

[00:28:56] Meredith Cronin: well, when they see him in his wagon, they don't [00:29:00] notice that he doesn't have paws They just think he's a spoiled brat, which he is, but they think, oh, spoiled little fluffy whose mom is schlepping him along everywhere.

[00:29:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, 

[00:29:15] Meredith Cronin: which 

[00:29:16] Penny Fitzgerald: is not uncommon to see here, 

[00:29:19] Meredith Cronin: but when we were in Texas, there was a wheelchair basketball team and one of the guys from the team I met at a street fair and he said, what's with your dog? And I showed him Dobby's card. I showed him his prosthetics 

[00:29:39] Penny Fitzgerald: and 

[00:29:40] Meredith Cronin: he's like, can you bring him to one of our basketball games?

[00:29:44] There are a couple of guys on the team that would love it. And it would help them and I figured, well, he already goes to hospitals, nursing homes, things like that. Absolutely. Like, he does better in hospitals with people who are [00:30:00] recovering from hip surgery, knee surgery or amputees because they're like him.

[00:30:07] So we show up to the wheelchair basketball team game and I'm putting his legs on me. He starts to fight me a little bit until he realizes, hey, this is. Something I may be interested in. There are a whole lot of people here. 

[00:30:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh huh. New friends. 

[00:30:26] Meredith Cronin: And I put his legs on him and he just takes off running around because he's scarily enough learned how to run in his legs.

[00:30:35] Wow. And the guys on the team at first were. Who the hell brought a dog here? And then they look at his legs and they were like, Oh my God, you're like us. You're like, wow. And he's looking at their prosthetics and he's looking at their wheelchairs and their wagons and everything. And he keeps bouncing back and forth between them and me.

[00:30:57] And he's like, these [00:31:00] are his people. 

[00:31:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:31:01] Meredith Cronin: Wow. 

[00:31:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. 

[00:31:04] Meredith Cronin: It was a good fit. 

[00:31:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. That is, I can, I'm getting goosebumps. Just, I can picture it. I can picture it happening. 

[00:31:12] Meredith Cronin: Yeah. So there's a team, I think in Tampa. Um, I have to reach out to them when things settle down a little bit and find out when their games are and if I can bring him to a game.

[00:31:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, that's neat. 

[00:31:25] Meredith Cronin: Yeah. 

[00:31:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Ah, so helpful for everybody and I bet Dobby was just in heaven. 

[00:31:31] Meredith Cronin: Because he doesn't know that he's different from other dogs. He just gets upset when he sees other dogs playing and he can't play with them. He gets targeted a lot because he's different, because he's injured, they look at him as easy prey.

[00:31:50] Audio Only - All Participants: Oh, wow. 

[00:31:52] Meredith Cronin: It's safer to keep him away from a lot of other dogs. 

[00:31:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh huh. Wow. Wow. I hadn't. [00:32:00] Hadn't taken that next thought, you know, that that would be a thing, but it makes sense. 

[00:32:06] Meredith Cronin: Dogs look at him, they check out his legs, even if he doesn't have it on, 

[00:32:10] Audio Only - All Participants: to 

[00:32:11] Meredith Cronin: growl at. Sometimes there are a couple of dogs that have actually gone for him since we've moved down here.

[00:32:18] And I'm like, okay, you're becoming reactive. We need to stop this. 

[00:32:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. Yeah. It's I'm sure it's just a constant, um, learning, learning curve of everything. 

[00:32:34] Meredith Cronin: Like kids in school, kids are, kids can be mean, they can be mean and any kid that grew up with glasses or braces or. Something different. 

[00:32:47] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:32:48] Meredith Cronin: Yeah.

[00:32:48] Picked on 

[00:32:49] Penny Fitzgerald: same thing. Wow. Wow. Okay. So what, what is next for you and Dobby? What have you got on your [00:33:00] horizon or your, what are you looking forward to? 

[00:33:02] Meredith Cronin: Um, well, I just opened up my practice down here in about Christmas or so. 

[00:33:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:33:11] Meredith Cronin: So getting that up off the ground has been a whirlwind of an experience. A lot more than what I expected because there are a ton of books out there and there are a lot of Facebook groups where people are incredibly helpful, like veterinarians who actually help each other, which isn't something I was used to in the corporate world.

[00:33:36] Audio Only - All Participants: Oh, wow. 

[00:33:37] Meredith Cronin: Coming from human medicine, it's something that I expected because the environment that I was in was very much you work together as a team, you help each other out. It, it was definitely a bit of an adjustment, but going into in home euthanasia and acupuncture, I've met some of the [00:34:00] nicest, most genuine, helpful people.

[00:34:04] And just. Good kind people and they help each other out and it's amazing to see. Um, but I miss traveling. 

[00:34:19] Audio Only - All Participants: Yeah. 

[00:34:20] Meredith Cronin: Yeah. Fortunately, my mom's over on the East Coast. She's over in Boca. And he went from disliking all animals, she, she does not like animals, tolerating Dobby to now when she comes to visit, he climbs into bed with her and sleeps with her.

[00:34:44] Penny Fitzgerald: That's how it happens. 

[00:34:47] Meredith Cronin: You can't post that on Google though.

[00:34:53] Um, but I'd love to be able to go back to Africa and [00:35:00] volunteer and work with the gorillas. I mean, some of the places that I've been to over there are incredible and not too long ago, I took a trip to Rwanda, Uganda and Congo and just seeing them in their natural environment is amazing. And if I can go over there and volunteer and help out in whatever capacity, yes.

[00:35:25] Wow. We say no, and I can just go over there and see them again. Absolutely. 

[00:35:32] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:35:34] Meredith Cronin: It's amazing. 

[00:35:35] Penny Fitzgerald: So how again, more questions. So, so you've been to Africa. Um, what were these like Peace Corps kind of trips or like, because you said you, did you volunteer there before in a veteran veterinarian capacity? 

[00:35:55] Meredith Cronin: It's one of those, I get six weeks vacation a year, I'm gonna use it, [00:36:00] and I don't like to stay inside my bubble.

[00:36:03] Okay. I found myself taking trips to Ethiopia, and to Namibia, and Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo. In hindsight, not the smartest trip to take by myself. 

[00:36:18] Penny Fitzgerald: As a beautiful blonde woman, 

[00:36:25] Meredith Cronin: some incredible people and a little bit of a political revolution broke out when I was in Congo. Oh, wow. People who I had met in Rwanda, they had lost their family in the genocide and hesitate to take me in and just good people.

[00:36:46] And it's, it's amazing to see the animals in their natural, in their natural habitat. 

[00:36:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So really veterinarian medicine kind of was [00:37:00] a natural extension. If you put it, put all your worlds together. It was a good fit. Okay. It's coming together.

[00:37:11] Meredith Cronin: Make this short. I don't know. That's right. I'll never say what if. 

[00:37:15] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. That is so fantastic. Because a lot of people get to the end of their life in our, in X, you know, they do. They wonder what if I would have tried that or, oh my gosh, I, you know, I missed time with my friends or missed time with traveling and doing the fun things that they want, would love to do, but just didn't get around to it.

[00:37:37] Meredith Cronin: I don't ever want to have those regrets. 

[00:37:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, good for you. 

[00:37:42] Meredith Cronin: Most of it. 

[00:37:43] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So where else have you been? What other, where else have you traveled? 

[00:37:49] Meredith Cronin: Um, oh wow. Um, I've been all over most of South America, um, quite a chunk of Central America. [00:38:00] all over Europe, a good piece of Asia. Um, a good chunk of Africa. 

[00:38:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah.

[00:38:10] Where haven't you been that you would love to go? 

[00:38:15] Meredith Cronin: I would love to go back to Tibet. I would love to go back to Rwanda and Uganda. Um, South Africa. I keep going back there. I've been to South Africa at least a dozen times. Wow. Um, I don't handle cold well and anyone who's traveled with me. We'll completely agree to that, but I want to go to Antarctica.

[00:38:44] Audio Only - All Participants: Oh, 

[00:38:45] Meredith Cronin: that would be incredible. Um, I've been to Iceland and Finland, but it was 1 of those. I show up and I'm, I have a heated vest, uh, heated socks [00:39:00] and people are looking at me like I'm insane and I'm like, well, I love you too. I'm crazy and I'll think of them like, well, do you want to hear me complaining about the cold or we go and do stuff?

[00:39:15] Penny Fitzgerald: So. You figure out what works for you. Yeah. How does you staying warm hurt them? 

[00:39:19] Meredith Cronin: And I think it was Finland when, um, I had the hand warmers. Yeah. I took a bunch of them. I stuffed them in my pants. I threw them in the bed at night. Yeah. And she's like, what are you doing? Staying warm. Sharing a bed with me. I'm old. This way, I'm not going to complain.

[00:39:46] Penny Fitzgerald: That's right. It sounds like a perfectly smart and, you know, actually brilliant thing to do. 

[00:39:52] Meredith Cronin: Um, I would love to go to Antarctica. I haven't been to Japan yet.pretty much anywhere in Africa. [00:40:00] I want to go to Togo.

[00:40:01] I was only there for a quick layover. 

[00:40:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, 

[00:40:06] Meredith Cronin: people there are amazing. 

[00:40:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm 

[00:40:08] Meredith Cronin: hmm. I'd love to go back 

[00:40:10] Penny Fitzgerald: fantastic 

[00:40:11] Meredith Cronin: and the kind of people you meet when you travel, uh huh, they're like minded people and I had met people in South Africa and next thing I know I'm taking a trip to India and they're on the trip with me Like hey, we can travel the same way.

[00:40:33] Let's go when I went to Namibia it was tent, sleeping bag, a lot of backpacking. 

[00:40:42] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:40:43] Meredith Cronin: There who you're like, okay, where are we going to next? Because these are the kind of people you can travel with. And the locals that you meet are amazing. I mean, in Tibet, it was, they don't [00:41:00] have anything. They have nothing there.

[00:41:03] And they're inviting you into their homes and giving you yak butter tea, which is disgusting. It's like, it's. Salt, but my gosh, these people have, and they're sharing that with you in Madagascar. They don't have four walls and a roof. It's, they may be missing a wall or you'll have 15 family members sleeping on the dirt floor because that's what they have.

[00:41:34] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:41:36] Meredith Cronin: Good, kind people. And it opens up your eyes. 

[00:41:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, that's just fascinating because, like you said, we're in a bubble. We don't realize what other people, 

[00:41:49] Meredith Cronin: how they 

[00:41:50] Penny Fitzgerald: live, how they move through the world. But when you, when you meet them, when you spend some time with people who are. Different than you, [00:42:00] it really, I mean, it makes the world smaller.

[00:42:04] We're all connected. 

[00:42:07] Meredith Cronin: And fortunately, my grandparents exposing me to the West Indies when I was a kid, that, that led to all of this. 

[00:42:16] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:42:18] Meredith Cronin: Because it's, you see the kids walking around barefoot. And in Jamaica, we weren't in Negril or Portland or, um, Kingston or a tourist spot wasn't Montego Bay. It was, we're out in Portland and it's a tiny little parish.

[00:42:39] It's got its nickname for the newly wed or the nearly dead. It's a little country town and we don't get tourists there. It's all locals. And it's just, it's nice. 

[00:42:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:42:55] Meredith Cronin: So, I was very much an outsider in [00:43:00] appearances, but didn't know it. 

[00:43:05] Audio Only - All Participants: That's, wow. 

[00:43:06] Meredith Cronin: Me and the other kids. 

[00:43:07] Audio Only - All Participants: Uh huh. 

[00:43:09] Meredith Cronin: They treated me exactly the same.

[00:43:13] Penny Fitzgerald: That's amazing. And what, what a great way to live. I mean, being able to experience other cultures and soak it all in and realize that we're all connected. That's amazing. Yeah. I grew up in such a small town in Iowa and all we saw was. People exactly like us are almost exactly like us, you know, so it's just 

[00:43:42] Meredith Cronin: hurting about that.

[00:43:43] There's something warm about that. 

[00:43:44] Penny Fitzgerald: It is. Yeah, it was a wonderful way to grow up very warm and safe. But I guess the thing I'm grateful for is that I didn't. I mean, there are a lot of people who stayed and they're [00:44:00] wonderful people. But it, it just, it's easy to get afraid of what you don't know or of who you don't know.

[00:44:09] And I don't ever want to feel that way. I don't want to feel like, well, don't go into that neighborhood because that's not a safe place to be. Well, how do you, what makes it not safe? Cause you're different. Cause they're different. 

[00:44:22] Meredith Cronin: I used to work on an ambulance in the South Bronx and in Jamaica, Queens, hated that she's sitting there and she's like.

[00:44:31] Where did I go wrong? Where did I go wrong? What is my little white Jewish daughter doing in these neighborhoods? And I'm like, this is where I'm gonna learn. This is where I'm gonna see the most, where I'm gonna do the most, where I'm gonna be the most exposed to everything. 

[00:44:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And probably do the most good where people really need help.

[00:44:56] Wow, 

[00:44:57] Meredith Cronin: that's where you can make a difference. I mean, yeah, you can make a [00:45:00] difference in some cushy neighborhood. But if this is where you're going to learn, and this is where you're going to be able to help the most. 

[00:45:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. That's great. So fascinating. I feel like I could just ask you questions for hours. We'll save some for the next episode. Okay. So I, um. In my podcast, I like to ask my guests at the end, um, something completely off topic and fun, which is what's your what's your favorite cocktail or glass of wine? What kind of beverage would you enjoy the most? 

[00:45:38] Meredith Cronin: I don't drink. I don't drink. I don't drink coffee.

[00:45:43] It's not a religious or health thing or anything. It's. It's just not a me thing. Okay. Favorite drink, but you can only have it in very, very small quantities, like probably two sips and [00:46:00] you're done. 

[00:46:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah? 

[00:46:02] Meredith Cronin: Tab, like the old. Oh, the old style tab! Zinc, horrible. Yes! Loaded with saccharin.

[00:46:10] Yeah, is that 

[00:46:10] Penny Fitzgerald: still available? 

[00:46:14] Meredith Cronin: It's available overseas. I don't know if it's okay. 

[00:46:18] Penny Fitzgerald: I, I remember that from like high school and back in the day we used to enjoy that as well. 

[00:46:25] Meredith Cronin: Love it. She used to, she used to drink it and they, yeah, so that's probably okay. here anymore, but favorite drink, if you want to call it that.

[00:46:38] Okay. Okay. All right. Or Ting from Jamaica. And that's loaded with a ton of sugar and you will be bouncing off the walls. Tab with caffeine and I don't do well with caffeine. Like normally, so me on caffeine or on a lot of sugar. It's kind of [00:47:00] like if you let a five year old eat all of their Halloween.

[00:47:04] Bouncing off the walls and become obnoxious. 

[00:47:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And then get feel miserable a few minutes later. Yeah. That's not worth it. So what's this Jamaican thing? What's it? It's their tea. Like they're sweetened tea. 

[00:47:18] Meredith Cronin: T I N G. Oh, it's a grapefruit drink. 

[00:47:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm not a sugar person either. If I eat any like real sugar.

[00:47:30] Now I feel miserable a few minutes later too. 

[00:47:35] Meredith Cronin: My mom and my grandparents were the type where it was, you don't have soda, you have milk, you have water. Um, soda was for birthdays, special occasion, 

[00:47:46] Penny Fitzgerald: All right. So tell me about a favorite memory. Like, either with girlfriends or with some of your new friends that you met on your travels. What's, what's a really favorite memory or what do you like to do when you're talking with friends? 

[00:47:59] Meredith Cronin: [00:48:00] Um, my friends from New York, I, I miss them. I really, they're not, they're not friends, they're family.

[00:48:07] I loved playing volleyball with them. I miss it because it was, Very back. It was very much a laid back beachy town and the people who you find on the volleyball courts. They're there. All day long, and they become your family. It's everyone from there. Nobody cares. Nobody cares how old you are in your 20s.

[00:48:33] You're in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. There are probably a few players in their 70s and it's just. It's family. I mean, everybody would bike to each other's houses. 

[00:48:46] Audio Only - All Participants: Wow. 

[00:48:48] Meredith Cronin: You don't have that here. I'm sure you do have that here. I just haven't found it yet. Uh huh. But it was like when you were a little kid and you knew where your friends were because [00:49:00] you'd see a bunch of bicycles in the front yard.

[00:49:03] Yeah. That's how it was. 

[00:49:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, 

[00:49:06] Meredith Cronin: old school and homey. If that. Yeah, 

[00:49:09] Penny Fitzgerald: it sure does. Yeah, they're the family you that you choose 

[00:49:13] Meredith Cronin: exactly. 

[00:49:14] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Um, have you played pickleball down here? 

[00:49:21] Meredith Cronin: I have not. Um, I grew up as a tennis player. Uh huh. I don't quite know what to do with pickleball. I'm done. Yeah.

[00:49:32] But. Uh huh. 

[00:49:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. My husband and I keep saying we need to learn because everyone around us, not everyone, but almost so many people, a lot of my college friends, um, that they don't live here, but you know, wherever they are, they're finding pickleball communities. And The way you described your community of volleyball players and neighbors sounds very much like the [00:50:00] people, the clusters of pickleball communities that I'm hearing about.

[00:50:04] So, yeah, a lot of our neighbors, they, they meet up 3 times a week. To play pickleball and just chat and have fun and 

[00:50:13] Meredith Cronin: let's learn 

[00:50:15] Penny Fitzgerald: great. Yeah, this grandma's a little slow. So I got to start somewhere. Sounds good.

[00:50:28] Meredith Cronin: I have a racket to get or otherwise I'll show up with a tennis racket and people will look at me very strange. 

[00:50:34] Penny Fitzgerald: That's all right. I'm sure they'll help. They'll help us out. Oh, gosh. Okay. So

[00:50:40] Where would you like people to find you or like if they want to learn more or, um, 

[00:50:47] Meredith Cronin: Um, they can just go on my website.

[00:50:50] They can call me, they can email me, or they can go on my website. 

[00:50:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. What's your website now included in my show notes too. So people can look there if they don't, if they don't have a pen and paper [00:51:00] handy. 

[00:51:00] Meredith Cronin: Um, www. meredith, M E R E D I T H, D as in doctor, V as in veterinary, M as in medicine. com, 

[00:51:12] Penny Fitzgerald: 

[00:51:12] Meredith Cronin: Email me ask at Meredith DVM. com. 

[00:51:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, cool. Very good. Well, I will include those in the show notes and stuff so people can find you and, um, and they can follow you on Instagram to look at Dobby. 

[00:51:29] Meredith Cronin: I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for teaching me about Instagram. Um, I'm old school.

[00:51:37] I joined Facebook because years ago, a friend of mine said to me, she's like, that's it. I'm making an account for you. And I'm like, go ahead. Sure. Why not? You have photographs that I'm in. Go ahead and make an account and that's. That was kind of my take on social media. Um, your workshops are phenomenal and [00:52:00] is now I figured out Instagram.

[00:52:02] I'm not crazy about it, but I use it. 

[00:52:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, thank you so much for that. Yeah, it's just, it's a great way to stay in touch with your friends from across the world. And to, you know, to get people aware of what, well, and people want to see Dobby. They want to keep up with his journey. 

[00:52:23] Meredith Cronin: My Facebook, I should make a separate Facebook account for him.

[00:52:29] He's all over mine. So 

[00:52:31] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah, that works. That works. He's such a doll.

[00:52:35] this has been such a great time, Meredith. I appreciate your time spending with me and answering all my questions. 

[00:52:41] Meredith Cronin: Absolutely. 

[00:52:44] Penny Fitzgerald: And I will see you again very soon. If you need anything, let me know. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Sounds good. Thanks 

[00:52:52] Meredith. And, um, give Dobby a squeeze for, from auntie Penny and we'll see you again soon.

[00:52:59] Meredith Cronin: [00:53:00] Bye. 

[00:53:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:53:00] Audio Only - All Participants: Bye.