Paws, Reflect & Heal with Dr. Randy

Understanding Your Cat: Behavior and Care with Dr. Gabe Benitez

• Dr. Randy Pet Vet • Episode 21

Share episode

In this episode of 'Paws, Reflect and Heal', Dr. Gabe Benitez and I discuss the importance of feline health, covering topics such as cat behavior, the significance of regular veterinary visits, common health issues in cats, and tips for reducing stress during vet visits. We also delve into the importance of health and wellness exams, vaccination versus titer testing, the role of lab work, gastrointestinal issues, diet and nutrition, and cancer awareness in cats. The conversation emphasizes the need for proactive care and understanding of feline health to ensure a long and healthy life for our cats.

Key Takeaways
- Regular vet visits are crucial for early detection of health issues.
- Cats are independent and can often hide their pain.
- Indoor cats generally live longer than outdoor cats.
- Understanding cat behavior can improve their health and well-being.
- Diet plays a significant role in a cat's health.
- Gastrointestinal issues are common in cats and should be monitored.
- Vaccination and titer testing are both important for disease prevention.
- Lab work can help catch health issues before they become serious.
- Reducing stress during vet visits is essential for cat health.
- Awareness of cancer in cats is increasing, and early detection is key.

----------

Send your questions to AskMe@drrandypetvet.com so Dr. Randy can answer them in future episodes!

If you'd like to schedule a telemedicine appointment with me, please send an email to info@pawstucson.com. Make sure to note your telephone number and a brief description of the issue you're having. Someone from my office will respond to your email to schedule an appointment.

Connect with me on my website, social media pages, and all podcast platforms!

Products and Resources I Recommend
Microbiome Testing
Animal Biome - Gut Microbiome Health Test

Nutrition
K9 Natural

Feline Natural

Just for Dogs
Farmers Dog

Other...

SPEAKER_01:

I do see a lot of osteoarthritis in my cats that people have no idea is going on. And then when you question them, they go, yeah, you know, now I think about it, they're not really getting up on the cat tree as much. They're a little more hesitant to come up on the bed. And exactly what Dr. Gabe said, um, cats they really don't like to show their signs. Hey everybody, welcome to Pause, Reflect, and Heal with Dr. Randy, uh, Dr. Randy PetFett. Um, we're really excited today because we're gonna talk about a subject that um doesn't get talked about on our podcast quite as like as much as I'd like, uh, and that's our cats, all of our feline owners. Um, if you see this or hear this, make sure you pass it on to your other friends who have cats because um I've got kind of one of my favorite people and one of the best cat people in Tucson, Arizona, maybe you know, ever, uh Dr. Gabe Benitez with me. And um he's got a few cats of his own at home, but I'll let him tell you a little bit about himself while we're getting started here.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, uh my name's Gabe Benitez. Uh been a vet since 2016, graduated from UC Davis. Uh before that, I started working in clinic um here in town, Broadway Animal Hospital, when I was 18, 19. Was a vet assistant up until leaving till vet school. Um during that time, I for about eight, nine years, ran my own like individual nonprofit for uh rescuing kittens, bottle feeding, finding homes, and stuff like that. Um subsequently I have quite a few leftover little guys from that that didn't get adopted.

SPEAKER_01:

So um tell tell our listeners how many left how many people are at your house? How many felines are are resonating res uh are in residence with you now?

SPEAKER_02:

So far 16. 16 all of them, most of them pretty up there in age. Yeah. Um since it's been so long since I take up taken in a little one. But yeah, it's it's it's interesting living with all of them. Um definitely lots of different personalities, and we'll get to that with cats in general in a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Sounds good. Good, good. And you know, we um we're very fortunate here in Tucson because we were able to open up uh feline focus, which uh is right there. And uh this is a cat-only practice where we don't have any dogs present at all. Uh actually, we make a really big point of like not even bringing dog odors into the area if we can. Um and it's just been a godsend. I mean, that that new area has really been fun, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's helped a lot. Big difference with cats that we've seen on the other side where everything was mixed together. They weren't um very cooperative, but coming here, you know, with the benefit of um pre-medications, they seem to love it a lot. A lot of it uh exploring, they like the big windows, seeing the birds outside definitely facilitates um getting a good exam and stuff done for them. So definitely a good, good thing that's happened.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we're excited. So we do things like um warming towels uh in that room, scratching posts. Uh, we do have feel away, which we'll talk a little bit about, which is a wonderful pheromone spray that you also could utilize at home. Um, and I think it's really uh, like you said, I think it's really it's amazing to see kind of the difference. I think I have ongoing cat clients who have come, and they're their cats are definitely different. I mean, they're definitely more laid back and more comfortable, and uh it's very exciting for us to be able to have that. So so thank you for all the help on getting that going and and being a part of it. So so so um, you know, we we should talk a little bit about cats themselves and kind of how they're different and and what they're one of the things that you know people ask is like, you know, uh how many cats are there in the United States? And I think they've now recorded like over 90 million cat cats. And in our world, and we'll talk a little bit about this, but in our world, our practice, which is a very busy practice, sees about 80% dogs and about 20% cats. And there are a number of reasons why that happens, and we're gonna probably talk about that a little bit too. But you know, the most common um specific breed is uh domestic shorthair, um, which basically is kind of like a more of a mixed breed and a Heinz 57 little guy that um usually yeah, tabby-ish kind of thing. Yeah, but then we have like Persians and and um Maincoons every now and then. Yeah, maincoons and seven raxes and and I guess ragdolls now picking up in in so we have a lot of breeds that are uh that are now out there and people really like um their cats for individual reasons. Gabe, why do you think um people have cats versus dogs? I mean, now some of us have both, but like what do you think people a lot of times people fall in two categories they're dog people or they're cat people?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it depends on I think on living area. Um cats definitely can be totally indoors, you know, bathroom inside, food and water, that sort of thing. Um they do benefit from seeing stuff outside even if they're they're only indoors, but maybe a little bit better that way, um, as long as they're not, you know, any underlying medical issues causing inappropriate urination, defecation, things like that. Um otherwise, they I mean they have quite a variation in um personalities. Um same thing you get with dogs, um, but I tend to find them to be a little bit more cuddly, snuggly, like climb on you, want to, you know, love on you. As always, there's the outliers that don't, and they won't even see you. Sure. Um, but yeah, just a little bit more cuddly and I don't know. Dogs I see usually, and this is my own personal bias, of course, um, you know, being outside, running, walking, that sort of thing, um, which is great and would be good for my belly. Yeah. Um, but uh maybe not as adaptable to being indoor only, so apartment living stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you know, I think also the they're you know, they're they're basic independence, you know, cats are a very independent animals. And so even though um they're you know, my cats will come and and love you and and be on you and stuff like that, one of our cats, Flash, um, has to be on her terms, you know. If if I move her or want to do something with her, she gets really upset and takes off. But um, our other cat, Batman, is is is really cool about that, and he just kind of hangs out. But you know, that independence is what a lot of people seek. And I think people that you know basically like travel or do some things. I mean, there are positions in with cats that, you know, with automatic feeders and waterers, you you could leave for a day or two and really not be in a situation where you have to worry about boarding them or have somebody watching them. Or so um one of the things you mentioned too, which I love is you know, cats really do like exposure to fresh air and sunlight. And there is a huge problem with outdoor cats, especially in our area, because the predators are so intense. I mean, we've got hawks and owls and coyotes and uh and other other wild cats, uh, but we do have people here that do like you know, um outdoor cat areas where they'll all be screened in, and and then I have some clients that actually teach them how to walk on a leash.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and that's definitely like a good comp like a you know compromise of both feeding what they need, um, but also keeping them safe is going to be one of the bigger important things. And um to add on to like the problems with the predators and things like that is just infectious diseases between outdoor kitties, keeping people safe and fighting and for sure keeping population down also a good thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. No, so I mean I think I saw a statistic uh recently that um indoor cats uh live on average 12 to 15 years, outdoor two to five years. And it's all about exactly what Dr. Gabe said. It's infectious diseases and predators and things that are that are not great for them in the in the wild. And certainly in our area, that's really tough. Um so yeah, so I mean that those are kind of some cool things. Um what um, you know, I think let's talk a little bit about um you know the the the statistic about how we don't see as many cats in our in our in our practices. And uh there are definite reasons that um that would happen. I mean, that we you know we could look at to basically talk about that. I think maybe one of them is maybe uh also um is what you know the kind of misunderstanding um of owners on getting their cat to the veterinarian. Like, you know, basically um we should talk a little bit about kind of why I think there's less likelihood that a cat owner would come to the veterinarian unless there's really an issue.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Um beginning, kind of like what you're leading into is that they hide a lot. Um they don't show signs of pain, even with um, you know, if say it's just older kitty, um arthritis. You know, both species experience it. Um partially I think they're able to hide it better because they're generally smaller than you know bigger dogs, especially gray Danes, they'll go down quicker um due to arthritis compared to little chihuahuas and cats. Um but they're good at hiding it even if they're super duper painful. Um kitties with dental disease, they can have awful dental disease and they'll still eat and crunch all that dry yummy food um uh without a problem. So without, you know, having any sort of uh you know, veterinary training where you go and you look and open things up and feel things and kind of do range of motion, it's really hard to tell. It's easy to miss. Yeah. Um, which I don't blame pet owners because they don't, you know, they don't work in the vet field and sure. Um they don't know to go looking for these things and um sometimes it's just they wait to not they, the owner, but they, the pet, wait to show signs until it's really bad.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it gets difficult to kind of and and that you know, and as our practice is very proactive, we want to make sure that um some of these things get caught because early on it it's an easy fix. Later on, it may not be. Um and I think you know, there's there's obviously some hesitance on cat owners, the cost of the pet visit, the stress of getting their cat that we'll talk a little bit about, maybe some tips on helping people to do that, getting their cat to the veterinarian. But you know, because we do uh integrative medicine and I do a lot of rehab here, I do see a lot of osteoarthritis in my cats that people have no idea is going on. And then when you question them, they go, Yeah, you know, now I think about it, they're not really getting up on the cat tree as much. They're a little more hesitant to come up on the bed. And exactly what Dr. Gabe said, um, cats they really don't like to show their signs. You know, I always tell people they show that they're sick in the wild, they get eaten. And um and they've retained some of this, you know, in the home situation. Um, but you know, one of the things that I really tell my cat owners, and I'd really like to implore on people who are listening to this podcast, is once yearly vet visit is really a good idea. And when they get into their senior years, when they're, you know, let's say maybe you know 10 or or or so, twice a year is even more important because one year for them is what, five to us a lot of times. And we don't want to miss it. I mean, like Dr. Gabe said, you know, the biggest cause, for example, of urinary tract infection could be dental disease. And if we get it early, we can avoid that, or or even complications with other organs. So uh it does become much more important to kind of get to see them.

SPEAKER_02:

You bet, and there's different steps, even if we can't fix it, there's management things we can do to get it to slow down or at least make them more comfortable while whatever's going on is going on.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. What do you think um the number one thing that maybe you see, let's say, older cats for is? Do you have a feel? Or are there a couple big ones for you?

SPEAKER_02:

Honestly, usually drink you know, kidney problems, things like that, a lot of kidneys tend to be overweight, so diabetes not as often, but do you see that? Um, but honestly, a lot of GI stuff, a lot of throwing up, a lot of throwing up that's gone on for a while that's gotten worse over time.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, yeah. And I'll and and as we're talking about this, I mean, these are definite things that if we can get on top of that, because one of the really bad complications that we're seeing now as veterinarians, that really, I, you know, kind of I don't even remember seeing it when I was younger. Maybe I was just missing it. But when these chronic GI cases go on, we get a disease called small bowel lymphoma in our cats. And it's devastating. I mean, it's a cancer that lines the lining of the bowel. Um, we definitely think that there's some relationship to inflammation and chronic irritation. Um, but you know, uh it, you know, our cats will present losing weight, not eating, um, you know, vomiting or having diarrhea, like Dr. Gabe said. And catching some of these things early on, this is the goal of being proactive. Um, we we just don't want our animals to be, you know, perfect. We want them to um have a great health span, not just a lifespan. And so we want to make them as comfortable as possible. And your veterinarian really can pick up a lot of these things, as Dr. Gabe said, that that maybe not some of us are not trained to do. Um so really encourage you to look at that uh as much as you possibly can. Um when we talk about some of this, Dr. Gabe, I think uh a big hesitancy is the actual getting to the veterinarian. Let's talk a little bit about how we could possibly help, you know, uh getting them here, you know, because that's tough. First of all, you know, you know and I know, I have lots of clients who who call and say, I can't get to the visit today, my cat, I can't find it. Yeah, exactly. So they they definitely hide and they definitely know how to do that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So I think part of it has to be just getting them habituated, used to uh everything that happens on the day where they're supposed to come in, because that way they're not able to pick up, oh, this is something different, this is something new, also not be afraid of it. Um so things like leaving the carrier out, putting treats in the carrier, um, not necessarily using carrier crates as like you know, punish punishment or anything like that. But that way they're used to it, it's a normal thing, able to get them inside, um, and just yeah, just make it easier for them and not like a stressful event. But animals in general are really good at associating negative things with other things. Um so if the only time the carrier comes out is when they come in and get shots and get blood draw and then go home, then they kind of stick with that and they don't want that to happen. Um there are things on our end that we do to try to make that better for them as well. Um so it's a team effort uh for sure. But leaving the carrier out, that's a good start. Um Katie Apeasement pheromones can definitely be a thing that you can uh have as a spray um that you can put in the carrier, and then also in the car, just so it's a nice, um easy, gentle thing to add on to what we're doing. Um I warn people it's not usually the end-all be-all, but it's multi- uh sorry, it's a part of our big multimodal plan to get them a little bit calmer. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Um and then just I think you hit a lot of the good, you know, good th good things. And I I think um when I wanted to just back up a little bit on on these appeasing pheromones. Um pheromones are what kitties kind of pick up when they're young. Actually, it's it's a chemical that they pick up when they're suckling mom, I believe. That's what the company started to do. Um the one that's most common is called phylloway, and we use a ton of it. We use diffusers in our cat rooms, we spray the warming towels with it, but that's a great thing uh to spray on the towel in the carrier, around the carrier, but like Dr. Gabe said, also in the car. And it's not something that's toxic. Um, you won't even really know it's there. I mean, it's not something we pick up on, but they definitely know, uh, and it really helps. And and there are some cats that we know just you know, just have had some bad experiences doing the veteran visit. Um, there's uh an organization called Fear Free. Uh, we all get certified in that uh if you're interested in doing that, and and we are as a as feline focused practice is. Um, and there's a recommendation there for a lot of times, sometimes some um anti-anxiety type medication. One of them we use is called GABAPentin, which is most people know as a pain medicine. It works really well to knock down the anxiety level in our cats, and we often have our owners try that and give it uh the night before, but also a couple hours before the cat comes. So, you know, that I think that's really, really helpful. Um, one of the things I I saw also mentioned was smart scheduling for owners with cats. You know, try to find a cat-only practice. Uh do it on a time of the day when you know uh that you know maybe the kitty's kind of gonna be sleeping or kind of ri relaxing or something like that, so you're not kind of troubling them. Um so yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And I mean the other thing kind of going on that scheduling is start planning ahead. If you know your little one, despite everything you do, still doesn't like to come in and would rather go hide, you know, under the bed or something like that, um, maybe feed them a treat in the front of the house, but then start to slowly close doors and kind of do things like that. So at least they don't have the ability to get to the point which causes more stress because then you're trying to fish them out from under the bed and grabbing a leg and kind of pulling type of thing. So minimizing access to those little escape routes can help too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And also um your attitude as an own as a pet parent. Uh, you know, our cats are very sensitive to our emotional condition. And if you're sitting there being totally stressed out and and concerned and worried, uh your cat's gonna pick up on that for sure. So I think you know that's that's probably something that would be worth thinking about too. Um and then also maybe after the vet visit, really kind of rewarding your kitty, you know, when you get home. I mean, yeah, maybe their favorite food for a little bit, or hey, this wasn't so bad, and this is you know kind of what what you know you you do afterwards. I think all of that is like Dr. Gabe said, is part of the multimodal plan of making it more comfortable uh from getting them to the veterinarian.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and that can include using philaway also for the path next few days after. And for some kitties, especially that have stress-related bladder inflammation, using the gabapentin for a few days after the appointment as well, just to make sure we kind of keep things calm and reintroduce them back into the house in a nice, sure, less anxious way.

SPEAKER_01:

Um so we probably should talk a little bit about um health and wellness. And um uh the first thing I think um we we can talk about is um, you know, what is the what is the normal exam look like, Dr. Gabe, for for a kitty?

SPEAKER_02:

Usually pretty similar between cats and dogs. It depends on the doctor doing the thing. Um I generally do mine on the floor, it's easy, it's less stressful for them. Um and just kind of going from one end to the other, looking at nose, eyes, mouth, um, lip checking lymph nodes, listening to lungs, heart, gently touching belly, making sure we don't feel anything abnormal, um getting pulses, and then all the way to the rear end looking because every now and then okay, we'll have anal gland issues and we check back there as well. Um and then usually pretty minimize how many stressful things, if there's anything that we see that really annoys them or have in their chart that really annoys them, maybe we do that last. Um, like ear temperature can definitely not be a favorite of them. It's a little bit better tolerated than the old way.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. Yeah, we we really focus on the ear temperature if we can. Yeah, it's much easier than that rectal thermometer.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and then whatever you know services we kind of go for are the most important depending on stress level.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And we you know we do a very good job here, and our technicians are so good at this of really assessing the stress of the cat. And uh, you know, we'll have times when we would like to obtain some lab work or some blood work, let's say. If the cat's too stressed, we just we just call it off. I mean, it's not something that we often And we're not going to push them to do that. It's only going to make their experience worse and coming back, you know, harder and harder, obviously, for them. So I think we're really good at that. One of the things that comes up in the yearly examination is vaccines. And you know, you know me, I'm a huge fan of titers. Maybe we should talk a little bit about that versus the vaccination and kind of your thoughts on where that's at.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it I, you know, still close, you know, close to training from school, so I still usually go more towards the vaccines. Right. Um, and then just generally do kind of for sure if it's legal issues, you recommend that. Um for rabies in particular, in the Pima County, we don't have to worry about that. And then it depends on exposure on what exactly is what we would need to protect them against. So, in particular, you know, rabies, we have had some um rabbit animals fly into the house, so I still recommend it. But if we end up not doing it, that's okay. We just have to be more careful about it. Um, especially if you know the patient's reactive and potentially bites people at home or something like that. Sure. Um upper respiratory, you know, I think is fair, you know, to consider as core and getting that on board, especially if you have multiple cats at home, or depends on what you're bringing in, if you're doing rescue, if you adopt a lot, sure. Um, you foster things like that, or if you have an indoor-outdoor kitty, that changes the game a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

And I was gonna mention one of the things that pet owners um that I've seen uh cat owners forget is having an open window with a screen, and we have an outdoor cat that's now coming there and sneezing through that screen, boom, there's your contamination. So uh, you know, there are definitely multiple reasons to make sure we consider that they're up to date and and and they're well vaccinated. Um you know, I lean a little bit more on the integrative side to doing vaccine titers. Um for people that uh that don't know that I've had a couple questions on my email uh about that versus vaccines. Um titers are a measure of protection uh for the cat to see if they um are protected against the upper respiratory combination or rabies. And you know, um like Dr. Gabe said, it depends on the animal's exposure, uh it depends on their lifestyle, um, obviously it depends on you know the veterinarian's assessment on what's necessary, and I'm certainly not against vaccines. I you know, we use them all the time, uh, but I do do a lot of titers, which is a blood test. Um and again, that's a little bit of a problem too, because then you have to do have to get blood to assess them versus giving a vaccine, which uh in our hands could probably be a lot easier than the blood draw for sure.

SPEAKER_02:

So and I mean I think the biggest thing is kind of either way, trying to make sure that they're protected amongst uh against these common um infectious diseases and potentially fatal diseases. So either titering or boostering.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Let's talk a little bit about um the idea of of lab work and blood monitoring for our cats. Kind of talk a little bit about your thoughts as far as where that sits in the schema of what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think definitely very important. Again, exposure has a lot to do with it. Um taking your typical indoor-only kitty. Um for sure as they get older looking for subtle things that changes, uh sorry, excuse me, subtle things that change on lab work, that can indicate one of the more common things that we see is kidney disease. Um, there are points that we can step in, unfortunately not to cure, but to slow down and help manage those things. Um so getting before things get bad enough to make somebody want to come in, doing lab work helps us catch them at that point before anything major shows up, like vomiting, diarrhea, severe weight loss, where it's gonna be a lot harder to catch up and potentially manage at that point. Um Yeah, so definitely very important for that for kidney disease, hyperthyroidism we can sometimes catch, um, or at least hints of it coming on. Uh otherwise, good screening things are now more important usually for the indoor, outdoor, or more exposed kitties that live with either freelan leukemia, freelan immune deficiency, gats, or you foster a lot, is those infectious disease screenings, along with the CBC and making sure that we don't have any obvious anemia, any obvious elevation in white cells. So all definitely important for sure as kiddos get older, doing that twice a year, like you're saying.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I think, you know, um the thing that I've tried to impress upon my clients a lot is um the thing that Dr. Gabe mentioned, and that is trending. Uh, you know, we love to look at, you know, when we have lab work, let's say when they're younger and now we're pursuing a little bit older lab work. Um, you know, their kidney enzymes may still be normal, but if they were averaging, let's say, a creatinine of one, which is their main kidney enzyme, and that's been repeated a number of times, and all of a sudden it's at 1.9, that's a little bit of a red flag, like, yeah, you know, we better look at this a little bit and make sure that um we're not heading in that direction. And like Dr. Gabe said, there are things that we can do and step in, probably not to stop the eventuality of kidney disease, but also to slow down the progression and maybe the symptomatology and symptoms of it. Um, and the other thing that you know that I do a lot of in kiddies is I look at something called a pro-BNP, which is a heart enzyme. Um, our cardiologist here in Tucson um really likes those for because what pro-B does is indicating whether the heart muscle is being stretched more than it needs to be. And there could definitely be reasons for why that happens. Um but Dr. Gabe's right, also, hyperthyroidism, big one when the thyroid starts to jump up. Uh, you know, you know, again, not something that we can stop, but something that we can kind of slow down and head off and and obviously uh decrease the bad signs of severe weight loss and and you know, eventually, you know, inappetence and and whatever else comes with that. So muscle mass loss, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So and kind of to add on to the your comment about BNP, kitties have frequently sneaky heart disease. Yeah, they have a thickened heart, you know, on x-rays you can't tell. During an exam, they may or may not have a murmur and have very thickened heart walls. So getting a BNP is also really important for that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Um, you mentioned earlier about um gastrointestinal or GI issues in cats. Um kind of talk a little bit about what you see, you know, most commonly and kind of your thoughts on that a little bit if you could.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, usually it's a lot of either vomiting or diarrhea. Um some of the history might have been, okay, he's always had problems with hairballs or something like that, or on and off diarrhea off and on. Um but what we usually catch is when they start to have other signs like weight loss, or the vomiting diarrhea is getting a lot worse, a lot more frequent, or inappetence starts to set in.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure.

SPEAKER_02:

Um sorry, what was the other thing?

SPEAKER_01:

No, we just talked about a little bit about maybe making that diagnosis, like what do we, you know, kind of what kind of things can we look for to help the owner in that situation?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so other than that, those are gonna be the most presenting signs, but honestly, subtle weight changes to are gonna be key, and then that's one because a lot of people don't have scales that they can use at home. Sure. Um, so that'll be a good, you know, once a year every six months, whatever we feel, getting that um weight in too, looking at that trend.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, which can lead to unfortunately a a lot of different things that we might do to try to figure out.

SPEAKER_01:

Um Yeah, people don't realize sometimes the armor and material and the the amount of things that we can do, um, you know, some of them very non-invasive, um, to kind of figure out, you know, why is this cat chronically vomiting? And yeah, I mean, I remember my first um one of my best cat uh practitioners at my vet school would say vomiting in a cat is hair balls until proven otherwise. But, you know, as Dr. Gabe said, when it continues to go on and there's no obvious hairball produced, which doesn't always have to be the case, even if they could still have hairball problems and and and not produce hair, but um, you know, obviously we worry about the consequences of weight loss and electrolyte changes and some of the things that can happen from that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and progression to things like you're saying earlier, the lymphoma.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is kind of cool because um I used to do a lot of endoscopy or or fiber optics in cats, and I still do, um, but we can actually do a blood test now for that, and it's pretty diagnostic, it's pretty cool. VDI is a laboratory that we use, and uh it's pretty spot on on how it gives us an answer. One of the things that I do a lot of is look at their microbiome. Um, and people, that's a big catch word in the human world, but microbiome is the is the all of the good and bad bacteria and yeast and fungus that are in their bowel. And we actually have a company uh called Animal Biome that we can test that and see if it's really out of out of whack. I mean, they we call that a dysbiosis. Uh, this can often lead to something called leaky gut syndrome in our cats, and again, we'll present as weight loss and and complications, uh, but it can be corrected with supplementation versus medicine a lot of times. The other thing um that I do a little bit of and and we're kind of like um you know looking at more and more is sometimes uh what we call food sensitivity tests. So sometimes we get into a situation where we're dealing with cat allergies, uh, but also it could be expressed as a gastrointestinal disease. And there are a couple companies that we can actually look at. Um uh one is Nutriscan, which is a swab type kit that our owners can get online and actually swab the inside of their kitty's mouth and see, you know, is there anything in their normal food that we should be avoiding? It's not a hundred percent, but it gives us a little bit of something to go on. More specifically, this company we mentioned earlier, VDI, makes a blood allergy test for cats, and it's pretty spot on. I mean, the thing that was amazing, I don't think I've even shared this with you, probably, but I had a kitty uh a couple weeks ago that's had chronic um face itching and and foot licking and scratching, and it's been on all kinds of medication, including steroids, and and really nothing has gotten it well. And so we decided to run this VDI test on this cat, and one of the things that it came back sensitive to environmentally was mold.

unknown:

Huh.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So we told the owner, and the owner went and had one of the mold like remediation companies come out and look. They found mold in her house in three places.

SPEAKER_02:

No way.

SPEAKER_01:

So she was exposed to it, and her kitties were exposed to it. And you know, whether that's the number one reason why this cat had a problem, but if it's there, it's certainly something you want to eliminate. Yeah, so it's kind of like why we look at some of these things. It's it's been very, very interesting to kind of have a little bit of add-ons to some of the normal diagnostics that we can do.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I think um, let's see, is there anything else health and wellness-wise you can think of um that we didn't touch?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I think, I mean, there's a lot of stuff we can definitely go over, but I think it's gonna be a little bit much to try to hit everything up at once. Um but I think getting them in and doing the wellness stuff, getting them in, even just the exam, if we don't even think about blood work, there's a lot we can find by listening, touching, you know, that sort of thing, and talking to people. Um, you know, the things that we don't notice in the clinic, the jump less jumping up and down, um, is definitely something important to know that we've been able to help with a little bit of pain medications.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And there's and there's some newer medications out there that we've been using with great help, um, newer ideas of monoclonal antibody products and stuff like that that seem to really be helping our kiddies. So it's really exciting. I what's really exciting for me is having that cat that the owner really didn't know had a problem, and then palpating the animal, feeling the animal, and seeing where the animal's pain is, and whether we x-ray or do anything besides that, um, but then talking about either some supplements to help moisten the joints or uh give them some anti-inflammatory effect like omega-3s, uh, some of the joint supplements, but then some of these other medications that are not going to affect their liver and kidney terribly, uh, but may help. Um, and then the owner coming back in three to six months saying, oh my god, this is like a completely different animal. And it makes that's thrilling for us. I mean, it's one of the most satisfying things when as a veterinarian you could pick up something that the owner didn't quite know about, maybe became aware of after we talked about it, but then really improve with some of the things we've done. Yeah, yeah. Um, here's a big one that we always get, and I'm sure we can talk about there's a lot of different answers to this question is where do I feed my cat?

SPEAKER_02:

Ooh, okay. So I'm pretty basic.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, because honestly, take seeing a lot of different people and different um, you know, kind of financial situations. The biggest thing is, you know, making sure whatever you're feeding is nutritionally complete. Usually the easiest for me to do that is looking for what's called an AFCO statement. And I'll say this for diet's been formulated to meet whatever life stage we're doing. And that's gonna be one of my biggest minimum requirements. Um, even if it's like a homemade diet, trying to see if you can get something that's you know at least been um formulated by a uh veterinary nutritionist or something like that, so that we can make sure that we're getting all the macro micro macronutrients and micronutrients um into them. Otherwise, it it it kind of depends on how they tolerate stuff. Um dry food, it's a love or hate type of relationship, right? Sure, sure. Um it can be you know very carby, very hard on the body. Um but for me in my case, it works out great just because how can you do like yeah, 16 cats?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean 16 cans of the case. And we're talking well, and we're also talking about you know the expense. I mean, you're absolutely right. It gets ridiculous. And um I I I totally agree with Dr. Gabe. Um I tend to see a lot of second and third opinions, so I have a little bit more selection in kind of what I'm looking at some of the times with some of the diseases we're dealing with or some of the maladies. Um and I tell people that there's a food hierarchy for all of us. You know, fresh whole food is definitely number one. But what like Dr. Gabe said, um, I've been doing this for 43 years, and I couldn't balance my cat's diet properly. When you're talking about calcium levels, vitamin D levels, um, these are very, very important. So there are a lot of references out there that you can look at cat diets that have been formulated by veterinary nutritionalists. If you want to do fresh old food, you certainly can do that. Um, second down for me is usually I like um freeze-dried products a lot. And the reason I like that is I'm really I get scared about raw food in Tucson. We have 110-degree days. I don't know if this has been refrigerated properly, I don't know if it's been handled properly. Um, so freeze-dried for a lot of my kitties is a great way to go because I am eliminating some of the carbs or the inflammation, but they're also getting a formulated veterinary diet. And then down from there is, you know, like Dr. Gabe said, the better dry foods that are that are well formulated. Um, they're out there, they're compounded well. Um we also have prescription diets. I'm not a huge fan of prescription diets, but we do use them a lot. I know you we you use them a lot, and they're very effective. I mean, there's a lot of research that goes into those foods. Um so um so you realize that that hierarchy, you could pick where you fall in that. You know, if you're that cat owner that has one cat, loves to cook for your animal, you know, look at look at you know, creating some diet with what you normally do. Um, I tell people like, you know, Gabe mentioned this, that you know, canned food is like 65% water. And so you're spending a lot of money. I'd rather add that water to freeze-dried product than than get than buying it in a can. But you know, it really depends. You know, I have kidney cats that come in and people say, Well, you know, I'd love to feed him this, but he's gonna only eat Caesar. Yeah, you know, or he's only gonna eat, you know, this product. And you know my answer is that's what he eats. Yeah, I mean, you gotta feed them what they're gonna eat. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

And unfortunately, cats are very specific about that. Big time, big time. It's a texture thing, it's a smell thing. Sometimes it doesn't smell like anything if it's a prescription food and they don't like it, or sometimes it's too stinky and they don't like it. I've been told that. Yeah, yeah. Um, and it it all comes down to treating the patient, treating the individual. Um, and sometimes it's you know, it's not all a blanket thing, so some do better on dry, some like it better, some do better on canned.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And you gotta go with you gotta go with what they're gonna go with. I mean it's exactly it's uh uh you know, like you all of us here on the veterinarian can be as didactic as possible. We we gotta have this, or we don't want this in their diet. Uh but there are usually ways around uh that, and you know, uh there's supplementation that can be done and stuff like that. So um, you know, I think that's really important. Um one thing we didn't mention was cancer. And and um, you know, I know all of our experience in the veterin is that, you know, and you've been around long enough, not as long as me yet, but but you know, the thing is is that you know, when I first started in practice, I mean it was kind of a rarity. And now it's not the case.

SPEAKER_02:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

I think the statistics in cats are that one in five cats at the age of ten will develop cancer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, kind of your same thought or yeah, I mean I don't see it a whole bunch, but it's still out there, in particular more like the GI lymphoma type of things, which you know, with chronic inflammation, either from diet or dysbiosis or in you know, allergies and things like that, I can see that. And as time goes on, you know, we're able to make these guys live a lot longer, have them live a lot longer comfortable, so that you know it's bound to come up. Sure. Um, and then just being able to do more diagnostics and more of the regular wellness stuff, the BDI panel hasn't been around for very long, has it? No, not at all.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, yeah, a few years.

SPEAKER_02:

And other than that, it's always been you know, biopsies, FNAs, and stuff like that. So yeah, we do see it a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

Um No, that's good. No, I mean that you said it all. I mean that's uh and you know, and then we, you know, obviously there are specific veterinary oncologists that deal with certain types of cancer. Some of us, a lot of times I get a lot of you know, questions from owners, you know, I want to be more holistic. I don't really want to be invasive and do this surgery, or I don't want to do this. And there are other options. I mean, we do things like ozone therapy. Um, you know, Dr. Gabe talked about balancing the biome, very important uh with the um with the uh GI disease, especially lymphoma cats. Um so there are lots of options out there, you just got to keep them open. And you know, I want to tell our listeners you could always address your questions to me through my website, uh drandypetvet.com. Um anything that you want to address to Dr. Gabe, I'll I'll definitely make sure he gets it. Um but I you know I want you to know that there's definitely help out there. And and and as I asked before, if you are a cat owner uh and you're seeing this, recommend us to your to your other cat friends because they're this kind of information is really important. We're just talking about a lot of basics, but really we want to make sure we are proactive with our kitties and stuff like that. Um, is there anything you we missed? I mean, we covered a lot of subjects. Anything else you could think about that you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_02:

I think that's a good start.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think we did really well, and um I I can't thank you enough. Yeah, no problem. Thank you for the time. And I promised you it wasn't it was gonna be harmless, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, I'm still alive and made it.

SPEAKER_01:

It was easy, it was easy. But I think you know, you've gotten some really, really good information. Like I said, we'll follow up on uh with our newsletter uh that's on my site uh with specific questions I'll answer for you. Um but please reach out to us, subscribe uh to the streaming services for the podcast. It really helps us. Uh but thanks for listening today, and uh I hope you have a great, great day with your all your kitties. And whether it's one or 16, uh, you know, hopefully they'll they'll stay healthy. We wish you the best, and thanks for listening to Pause Reflex. And heal today. Thank you.