Episode 28: Jasmine Jasudavicius.

Jasmine is an MMA fighter and is currently the #13 ranked UFC Flyweight. 
In this engaging conversation, Jasmine and I discuss various topics ranging from wildlife volunteering experiences to the intricacies of cat behavior and genetics. We delve into the importance of spaying and neutering pets, Jasmine's unexpected journey into mixed martial arts, and the emotional connections we form with our pets. The discussion highlights the challenges and joys of animal care and the personal stories that shape our relationships with animals.
You can follow Jasmine on Instagram at @jasminejasudavicius.

First, if you haven't watched my film and live in Canada (or have one of those VPN things), you can watch it here:

https://youtu.be/oMUx3yuyznc?si=oagpg7bGnpbuyXlJ

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @drcliffworldwidevet.com and on Twitter at @drcliff_vet
Listener questions, episode suggestions, or if you have a good idea for a guest, email me at dr.redford@vet905.com
Additional information can be found at drcliff.ca

Transcript

Dr. Cliff Redford (00:08)

Welcome to the show.

Jasmine (00:10)

Great to be on it.

Dr. Cliff Redford (00:11)

How fun was the shades of hope, eh? Volunteering with the wildlife.

Jasmine (00:15)

that was so cool. I'm like so thankful that you let me join that.

Dr. Cliff Redford (00:20)

I was, I was a little surprised you wanted to go when, when we were talking, I was like, I want this, I want this woman on my podcast. We could talk about her cat. And then you're like, I got to ask you questions about, that crazy wildlife place. so when I offered, when I offered you to come by and get a tour, didn't think you'd, Accept it and also then come and, and get your hands in there and, get down and dirty. was kind of fun.

Jasmine (00:41)

actually accept it.

Yeah, well, it was so cool. I'd like it. Let me even fix that wing a little bit. So that was really cool for me.

Dr. Cliff Redford (00:55)

Yeah, that's fine. mean, surgery for those listening, we did a, humeral pin. So a broken upper wing, like the main bone between the elbow and the shoulder. and it was a nice fracture to deal with cause it was open. So we didn't have to go looking for the bone. Although that ligament was all wrapped around that, you know, was trying to figure out the 3d, how it was supposed to line up. was like doing those weird puzzles that you gotta find. gotta like stick your tongue out of the left side and turn it clockwise while you.

stare up at the sky, like there's always, when you stand on one foot, of course. But it was helpful having you place that pin and then, you know, having another set of hands is useful. And as you see, I mean, while there's some technicalities behind surgery, it's not rocket science. You know, it's like building a deck, I think.

Jasmine (01:30)

Yeah.

think it's one of those like if I was in there alone I would be completely lost but because you obviously have so much experience and have seen so many different things you're just like easy like you're able to like MacGyver things that most people would be so lost without like in that same situation

Dr. Cliff Redford (02:13)

I didn't think you were old enough to know the MacGyver term. You do know that comes from a TV show, right? Okay. The original, not the, not the new crappy one with the good looking guy. The original one. yeah, but I mean, the reality is, is yes, if you're in there by yourself, you would have been, you would have been pretty shocked and, and, and not sure what to do, but it's because you're frightened. You know, you're worried about the animal and.

Jasmine (02:25)

Exactly.

Dr. Cliff Redford (02:41)

And you see the blood and whatnot, even a fighter like you, you know, think it's blood on an animal. It's a big dish issue, but, but like, again, it wasn't technically difficult, right? Like I was able to show you on the X-rays, depending on which bone is broken, which joint the, the, pin can exit from or which direction the pin should exit from. And you were able to pick them out and, know, it's sort of just.

Jasmine (02:52)

That's right.

Dr. Cliff Redford (03:07)

Not even anatomy, but almost just physics. You can just look at it and figure things out. I'm fixing, I'm trying to replace the little door latch on my front door of my house right now. And that thing's taking me an hour. Whereas, you know, some farmer Joe could just be like, dude, dude, dude. That's what I'm doing is I'm going online. It's like farmer Joe.com. Here's how you fix the door. So, once you do it a couple of times, it's not, it's not too difficult.

Jasmine (03:19)

Fix a wig, no problem.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (03:35)

and everyone's doing well. The, the ring build goal that we pinned is doing well. the big issue with them is avoiding infection. Their bones seem to get infected very, very easily, and break down very, easily. And then, what else? the beaver. That was crazy. Hey, like,

Jasmine (03:52)

beaver

can't believe that that beaver was still walking around in fine with the arrow through him.

Dr. Cliff Redford (04:02)

Yeah. Yeah. So, he had gotten shot and by, with this little BS sort of, boy scout arrow, this plastic Canadian tire arrow kind of thing. the guy had been practicing for a couple of weeks on, on how to shoot. So he could, I guess, humanely kill this beaver and, he missed and this thing bounced off or went through the scapula went through the shoulder blade.

And this thing's walking around, going for a swim. mean, these animals are way tougher than we are, it's pretty nuts. So did you go home and tell everyone you found your second career after you becoming a state champion? Yeah.

Jasmine (04:41)

yeah.

Pretty much all leading up, I was like telling everyone like, guess what I'm doing this week. so everyone already knew what I was doing. And then afterwards, like, so how was it? like, I loved every minute of it. It's so funny.

Dr. Cliff Redford (04:56)

Ha ha ha.

It's a pretty, it's a pretty cool place. mean, I wish I could say we set it up so the swan would go for a walk right in front of you when you arrived. But, whenever I have like non animal rescue type, well, even the animal rescue type of people that come there, but definitely like people outside of the vet industry when they show up and an animal just comes walking, some wild animals just comes walking past you. People are like, what the, this is like a Disney, Disney.

Jasmine (05:11)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (05:32)

show or something they're just they're just here to say hi

Jasmine (05:36)

Yeah, that was so wild like within five minutes of being there just walking this giant swan just a walk prancing through like what?

Dr. Cliff Redford (05:46)

Yeah, yeah, take your turn merge into traffic and merge into traffic. Excellent. Excellent. So, you know, originally when I was reaching out to you before you asked about coming to shades of hope, I figured we could talk about your little kitty cat Lucy. I kind of wanted, I wanted this, this, this show to, take people from other industry, other cool jobs, I guess, if you want to call it that or other, walks of life and

and show that, you know, this animals and the love of wildlife and the love of pets kind of brings us all together. And that's how you and I sort of started chit chatting. think I sort of harassed you on some DM or something. And who knows maybe. So you have a little calico cat, a little orange, black, orange, brown, and white cat named Lucy, right? And, and, and how old does she, tell me about her.

Jasmine (06:25)

I think it's the other way around.

Yep.

So she isn't a year yet, she is like only about like six months old and she is wild. That's what I wanted to ask you. What is it with orange cats? Why are they crazy?

Dr. Cliff Redford (06:56)

We don't know. we don't know it. we have a thing. So they're called calico's if they're three colors, and they're always female, which I can explain in a bit if you're interested, but, we have a thing in the vet industry called a calico catitude and, and they're, they're just, they're spicy. They're spicy and, and, and they're quick to, they're quick to hiss and paw. they're really cool. I like them.

Jasmine (07:07)

Yes, please.

Yep.

Dr. Cliff Redford (07:26)

but they make much better pets than patients. Yeah, they're really tricky. even the orange cats, like just orange and white, like the orange tabbies, those are mostly male, probably about 75 % male, but they seem quirky. I find the male orange, they're goofy. They're the type of cat that kind of walks up and just knocks your...

Jasmine (07:30)

I can imagine.

whatever over, yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (07:56)

Your water dish over. Yeah. Knocks knocks your, your glass of tea over just to just go, man, how's it going? I'm going to knock this over, clean it up. And then they just walk away.

Jasmine (08:05)

Yeah. Yeah. Like looking at you too. Like as if it was your fault for leaving that glass there or something.

Dr. Cliff Redford (08:12)

That's right. Yeah. It's more like you dummy, you know, I'm going to do this. Why do you, why do you call me over? you know, that's, so I don't know why, I don't know why they're, they're spicy, but they, they are. I mean, redheads in real life, right? Redhead humans are supposed to have a fire in them. So the same sort of thing. I mean, and as far as the color, I'm going to sort of simplify this, the whole three color thing, having to be female.

Jasmine (08:18)

Yeah.

It's so funny.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (08:42)

So cats are like us, females are double X chromosome, males are XY chromosome, right? The genetics. Stop me if any of this stuff is new to you. And the color genetics is on the X chromosome. Now, the only, there's only room for two colors on an X chromosome. So, because they've got other genetic markers they got to worry about, right?

at like the attitude maybe, so if they have more than two colors and there's really only three for cats, they must have two X chromosomes because they could only have, they could only be two colors. Yeah. Yeah. So, so what you'll find is, you know, if you have a, a calico female, one of her X chromosomes might be orange, white, and the other one is.

Jasmine (09:23)

two colors.

Dr. Cliff Redford (09:38)

Brown white or brown orange or maybe just double brown or something. And then her kittens, most of the females will be, not all of them because it depends. get an X from the father, but most of the, females will be calico and then the males will be usually two of the three. Yeah. cause they have one X chromosome and then one Y chromosome, right? so that's the, that's the situation.

Jasmine (09:42)

Yeah.

What?

interesting.

Dr. Cliff Redford (10:07)

Did you know that cats, a litter of cats can have more than one father? Yeah, yeah. So female cats are, they like to get around. They like to get around. They are what is called obligate ovulates. So they are, they ovulate, ovulate, they drop eggs through, they are obligated or they require breeding to drop eggs.

Jasmine (10:14)

Really?

Dr. Cliff Redford (10:35)

So when a female is in heat, the ovum, the egg is on the ovary, but doesn't drop into the uterus to get fertilized until they're mated with by the male. And it's the action of the male mating that causes the eggs to drop and not all the eggs are dropped. So a female can be in heat. Maybe she's got 10 eggs.

Jasmine (10:51)

interest.

that causes.

Dr. Cliff Redford (11:05)

And the first male she meets up, you know, the, alpha, the, the really, the guy she really likes, she might give them six eggs. Obviously she has no control, but, then the second time she'll still be in heat for a day or two, although less sort of, let's say excited, less horny basically. And then, she'll have maybe another guy will be like, all right, well, you know, maybe there's still an opportunity.

Jasmine (11:32)

Finish the job.

Dr. Cliff Redford (11:33)

I'll finish the job and so yeah, you can have two or three fathers of one litter. So you can actually have kittens from the same litter be only half siblings, essentially.

Jasmine (11:44)

So will that say if like one was long hair and one was short hair, would some of the kittens potentially be long hair? That's so interesting.

Dr. Cliff Redford (11:53)

Absolutely. yeah. And so, yeah, people will, people will come to us and they'll be like, Hey, you know, my cat got out and I saw, you know, unfortunately she was out for a day or two. hadn't got her fixed yet and she escaped. And that's one of the things that happens is they get into heat and then they want to go find a boyfriend. They need it. They need it to actually stop the heat cycle. They need to be bred or at least stimulated.

Jasmine (12:13)

Partner,

Dr. Cliff Redford (12:21)

to stop that heat cycle. Cause they got to drop those eggs. Right. And so they'll escape and then, you know, the owner will say, Lucy came back and now she's, know, nine weeks later, she's got these eight kittens. But they don't look anything like her or the father. And I'm like, well, which one's the father? Well, there's this long haired black cat that's running around. I'm like, yeah, but is there also another cat like maybe a short hair, short haired tabby brown tabby, because a couple of these.

Jasmine (12:25)

Huh.

Dr. Cliff Redford (12:50)

Yeah. And I say, okay, well, there you go. Which father did they take it, take it after? And then they usually call her a dirty name and you you hussy, you know, something like that. Something a little bit nastier than that, depending on, depending on the person. but yeah, it's a pretty interesting, biology. and it's sort of, it's an adaptive survival of the fittest, like maybe the second.

Jasmine (13:02)

you

Dr. Cliff Redford (13:19)

male has better genetics. so his genetics can, his, his kittens will, you know, nurse better and be healthier, be stronger. yeah. So it's a lot of animals are like that. Like, yeah, a lot of animals will, will breed repetitively. Some, some will breed just to, what's the word like to, to protect their young. like dolphins.

Jasmine (13:27)

be stronger. Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (13:47)

Everyone talks about dolphins being monogamous. They're not a female dolphin will mate. I'm making this up. have no idea, but like say 15, 20 times. Now they, they'll only have one, one baby dolphin, which I think is called a calf. they'll only have one baby dolphin, but the reason they do that is the males will kill the baby dolphins of other male dolphins.

Jasmine (13:58)

Mm-hmm.

so they have to be monog- it's not like a choice that they're monogamous, they're like, the offspring will die if I don't.

Dr. Cliff Redford (14:16)

No, no, no. No, no, it's the opposite. So the female will mate with, let's say there's 20 male dolphins. She'll mate with all 20 of them. And then when the, when the one dolphin calf comes out, the, all those 20 males go, well, I bred with her. So I don't, that might be my, that might be my kids. So I'm not going to kill it just in case. So yeah, she's, she's a, she's a good girl. She's just totally doing it to protect her offspring.

Jasmine (14:24)

Yeah.

I see, I see.

Yeah, interesting.

Dr. Cliff Redford (14:45)

Yeah, there you go. That's how it is. It's kind of crazy. anyways, such is the interest of the animal kingdom that we get onto these topics. So Lucy's about six months old. Are you getting her fixed?

Jasmine (15:01)

I think that I'm going to, like you said, to wait until she was older so all her hormones kind of get through her body and everything. But I play with the idea of letting her have a litter just so she can experience being a mother and having babies and everything. But at the same time, then I have kittens. So it's like, how selfish do I want to be a little bit?

Dr. Cliff Redford (15:20)

Yeah.

Yeah, the, the big issue is population, right? Like, I hate to put it down or on your, your desire. And that's a very common sort of thought with both dogs and cats being a cat grandma is a lot easier than being a dog grandma. The puppies are, are, are a lot of work. Whereas the, kittens mom takes care of it. You generally don't have to do anything for the birthing cycle. cause all cats are basically the same size and the same shape. Whereas.

Jasmine (15:31)

So.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah

Dr. Cliff Redford (16:00)

with certain breeds of dogs like bulldogs, example, you better plan on a C-section on the caesarean because their heads are so big and their butts are so small that the puppies get stuck. So breeders will actually schedule the C-section a couple of days before their due date. But the issue is population. Even if you find homes for all of those kittens, let's say your Lucy has

Jasmine (16:08)

Really?

yeah.

Wow.

Dr. Cliff Redford (16:30)

five and it's usually a pretty small litter on their first one, regardless of age. Let's say she has five, you need to find homes for maybe four of them. Maybe you keep one. and you know, the reality is that's four homes that now won't go and take other kittens because population control or overpopulation is the number one reason animals are euthanized, in North America. It's such a big issue. Now, if you decide not to breed her,

Jasmine (16:46)

That's true.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (17:00)

Definitely get her spayed before she's a year old because that'll be her second heat. She's probably coming close to or maybe already had a heat now. But you generally, the first one, which in cats and dogs occurs around six months old, it is what we call a silent heat. Although there's hormonal changes. If you were to do blood tests to check the progesterone and the estrogen, you would see changes.

They generally don't have any physical symptoms. There's no swelling of the vulva. There's no discharge. There's no attitude. Well, she's got an attitude. There's no attitude intensity. You know, that sort of thing. So we call it a silent heat. So it's not a real heat. So let's say the real heat occurs at a year old. every six months. The issue is, is cats and dogs can develop breast cancer and they get it.

Jasmine (17:37)

Heh.

Dr. Cliff Redford (17:57)

There's a couple of factors, but the largest factor is if they are spayed too late. yeah. So essentially mother nature never anticipated Lucy to not get pregnant. You know what I mean? So, so those massive hormonal changes, that occur with every single heat every six months sets up, way down the road. like you could spare at say two years old, she's now had.

Jasmine (18:03)

okay.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (18:25)

Approximately three heats and at 10 she might be 20 25 times more likely to vet to develop breast cancer or mammary cancer. Yeah, so With male cats and dogs the timing is not important. Although there are some cancers associated with male dogs and and male cats Specific to them not being neutered if you neuter them at eight years old at 10, they're fine

they're not going to develop those particular cancers but the females it's more of an issue so think about it yeah think about it if you're not

Jasmine (18:58)

Okay, yeah. Well, I was on the fence, so I'm gonna get her fixed. Like I was... Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (19:03)

That pushed, that pushed you over. Good. Good. I did my job. I did my job. You can come and help. You could come scrub in. You could do that if you don't, you just can't freak out. it's a little different. Yeah, it is. It's a little different too at my animal hospital versus wildlife. you know, it's, it's a hundred percent sterile. Like if you're, if you're scrubbing in.

Jasmine (19:13)

Alright.

I made me.

Dr. Cliff Redford (19:31)

You're scrubbing in, you'll be wearing a gown, cap, mask, obviously gloves like we did. It's in this sterile room. full shaving, triple prep. you know, three layers of closure for the abdominal closure. It's a big, it's a big deal. She gets a lot of the sort of anti-anxiety pre-med drugs that people get. Have you ever had surgery yourself? Yeah. Was it a sports injury?

Jasmine (19:37)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yes.

It went null in my appendix, so yeah. I was, it's like the summer going into grade nine, so completely ruined in my summer, but.

Dr. Cliff Redford (20:03)

wow, how long ago was that?

quite a while. no. So quite a while ago. So they probably didn't have the same wicked, awesome drug protocols that they have these days.

You just go to sleep. wake up, with me, like I had my cruise ship repaired. Jesus. Probably nine or 10 years ago. was a judo injury. and it was, it was a fun experience. It was fine. Like it was, you know, smooth, but the same surgeon replaced my hip three and a half years ago. I have a metal hip total hip replacement.

Jasmine (20:25)

Pretty much.

Dr. Cliff Redford (20:48)

from various sports, judo, ultra-marathoning, a little bit of genetics. And I'm due to have my other one done probably this summer coming up. Maybe we'll see. But it was like being teleported into another dimension. It was the most amazing experience. It was so smooth. I remembered all of it. Like not the surgery, but I remember the...

Jasmine (21:03)

Really?

Dr. Cliff Redford (21:16)

prepping and the nerve block, but there was no pain and I was flirting with the nurse who I remember being very attractive. She may not have like, it might have been the drugs. Who knows? But yeah, it was, it was, it was quite a, an enjoyable experience as far as getting the drugs. So, I'm not, I'm not too nervous when the second one comes around.

Jasmine (21:34)

that sounds cool.

Yeah, I was looking forward to it a little bit.

Dr. Cliff Redford (21:43)

Yeah, a little bit, a little bit. And I mean, now my metal hip is my good hip, like the flexibility is so good and the mobility so much. It's so much, it's become the stronger leg because of it. So it'll be nice. It'll be nice to, to have that other good, other good side. But, so you've done all this fighting and you've had no, no real injuries.

Jasmine (21:49)

Yeah.

make sense.

No, you know, knock on wood that I'll continue on with no injuries. But yeah, nothing, nothing crazy. I mean, of course you get the bumps and bruises. I broke my arm before, but not like a bad break. was just like, my arm hurts for a couple of days. I should probably go get this checked out and then I get it checked out and it's broken. But but nothing.

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (22:36)

My little terrier is trying to pick a fight with my big labradoodle. She's like, what's going on? That's all right. I do my podcasts in front of a studio dog. Just ignore them. So you didn't have to get a veterinarian to put a pin up into your arm to fix it. Thank goodness. Maybe next time I could do that. It wouldn't be as good though.

Jasmine (22:41)

nice. Yeah.

Perfect.

No, not this one. Maybe next one.

Dr. Cliff Redford (23:04)

human surgeons are better. And then you, you started pretty late in in mixed martial arts, right? Like you must have had a sports background or wrestling background, something what's your what's your story?

Jasmine (23:18)

So like I was always active playing sports and everything but it was all like whatever the school offered like that's what I would play. I didn't play anything like outside of school. would like go home and play outside with my friends. Like that's about it. Played a lot of cops and robbers. Had a bunch of kids in my blog so it was sweet. But yeah once school was done I kind of played like pick up soccer with my friends.

and then discovered martial arts. was around 26 years old when I discovered martial arts and then just jumped ahead first and then here we are.

Dr. Cliff Redford (24:01)

my goodness. When was, how long into it was your first amateur match? Let's say.

Jasmine (24:07)

I think within like six months I had my first amateur fight. I, I, I asked right away. was like, when I saw people like it was Chris and Jason Sago, former UFC fighter, Jason Sago. He, I was watching him do practice and they were sparring and I'm like, let's, want to do this. Like, let me try. And they're like, you're not just like sparring going from like nothing, pretty much just sparring and

So then after practice he did some like moving around with me and he's like, okay, you're not too bad. Like you should train. So then I just started training more and my initial goal was just like to take one fight. I just want to see what it's like to fight one time and then, you know, we'll reassess from there. And I took my very first amateur fight and I was like, I love this so much. I loved everything about it.

Dr. Cliff Redford (24:44)

Yeah.

Jasmine (25:04)

the nerves, the overcoming them, everything about fighting I loved. so I just continued on with smaller goals. Take another fight, take a fight for an amateur title, take one pro fight, making small goals on the way. then now it's like, okay, we're here at the UFC thinking about my, I think, eighth fight in the UFC.

The time has went by so fast.

Dr. Cliff Redford (25:40)

How long ago was your first match, your amateur match?

Jasmine (25:43)

like I think it'd be eight years ago, seven and a half, eight years.

Dr. Cliff Redford (25:47)

So seven, eight years, you're now top 15 in the UFC and realistically, you know, maybe a title shot in the next couple of years. it's, it should be close, right? If, things continue to do well, like, are we able, have you decided if you're going to do that fight in February?

Jasmine (26:09)

I can't announce anything, but I'm sure if you look online, you'll be able to find out. Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (26:12)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You'll able to figure something out. Maybe something's coming soon. Yeah. I mean, that would be a huge, that could be a huge step up, right? But I mean, so you, you were asking to spar, you weren't a martial arts student. You were just hanging out with your buddies and, and they were probably showing off and you're like, Hey, I want to, I want to jump in there.

Jasmine (26:35)

pretty mad.

That's actually, yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (26:43)

Pretty much. That's crazy. mean, like in the judo world, judo is a, yes, it's a martial arts, but it's a sport, right? Like no one does judo without competing. It'd be like doing wrestling without trying to compete or at least, you know, at least sparring and wrestling. I don't think you call it that, right? Your role with the guy. But, you know, to, jump in in six months is not unusual, but you're not getting hit in the head. You're not getting punched. There's no striking.

Jasmine (26:51)

Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Cliff Redford (27:12)

and even at that level of judo, regardless of age or gender, there's no arm bars for the first couple of years, or at least first couple of belts, that sort of thing. so it's just air quotes, just throws, you know, just slams onto the ground. But, yeah, so you're, you're a cowgirl. You jump right into it. Yeah. There you go. And that's, that's the best way to get to the, wildlife rehab places too. just say, Hey, can I.

Jasmine (27:32)

jump right in head first. That's the best way to learn.

Dr. Cliff Redford (27:41)

Can I come? Let me just do this. How hard can it be? Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing. Now, so you weren't planning on being a mixed martial artist as a career. What was your career sort of goals prior to that first day sparring?

Jasmine (28:04)

So it's funny that you ask because when I was like very young, I remember thinking, like what do I actually want to be when I grow up? And then I was like, a veterinary. I want to be a vet. But then after owning some pets and having to experience putting them down and all that, I'm like, I can't do it. won't be able to be a vet because, you know, I can't.

Dr. Cliff Redford (28:16)

Woo!

Jasmine (28:31)

I won't be able to put down any animals. Now that I'm older and I understand the quality of life and what they would be if they, you know what I mean? How their life would be if it doesn't make sense. I understand it now more, but when I was a kid, that's what made me like not want to be a vet. So then I was just like, okay, next, do I want to do? then.

I'm like thinking I would love to just be a professional athlete. Like I don't care what sport anything I want to be a professional athlete. But I wasn't like really doing anything. It's like I was a kid when I was thinking of this. And then I remember watching like the NBA draft and I was like 21 at the time. Just watching it with my friends. And then they got a guy and then they said, so and so he's

21 years old. He's the oldest one on the draft or something like that. just like, and I remember thinking like, huh, well, I guess my life about being a professional athlete is gone. And I kind of like laughed to myself because I didn't really like try for it or anything. I just was like, darn, like, you know, and then, you know, 20 years later, 15 years later, whatever it was, I'm like, hey, guess what, professional athlete.

Dr. Cliff Redford (29:55)

Look at that. You're doing well. You're winning a performance of the night and yeah, kicking ass. That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah, that's so much fun. So what back to Lucy, cause this is a vet talk show after all. Though I find this fascinating. really like talks about mixed martial arts and, also people that just kind of, regardless of what it is, people that, that

Jasmine (30:05)

Thank you.

Dr. Cliff Redford (30:21)

that step up to a new challenge and try something and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Right.

Jasmine (30:27)

Exactly, just trying something, putting all your eggs in one basket and just like trying.

Dr. Cliff Redford (30:32)

Yeah, yeah, way more. It's way more romantic than than playing the the safe card, right? The going the easy route. What what made you wanted to get Lucy? Like, was it a impulse decision or?

Jasmine (30:46)

And so I had a cat from when I was around six to, I think she lived till I was 32. She lived a very, very long, good life. When she was younger, she would go outside a little bit, but not that much. She was kind of a little bit timid to go outside.

had this cat all my life, even when I was in school and away from school, then she would be sitting at the window waiting for me and she'd sleep beside me every night. so when I ended up losing her on Christmas Eve, it was a sad Christmas. But yeah, it was just like she had no teeth left in her mouth and she was just at that point.

And then so I didn't have a cat for, I think probably like two or three years because I was just so sad. know like I'm not getting a cat. I can't get attached to another cat. It's too hard. And then Chris, my fiance, his daughter wanted a cat. And one of our family friends was like,

we have this random cat that's been coming up on our porch and just living on our porch the last couple of days. I called the Humane Society and they said that she has a chip, but they called the owner and the owner said, I moved away. It was like a student that came, got a cat, then went back home and just left it. So then I was like, okay, I have to think this cat in. And then...

Dr. Cliff Redford (32:28)

Hmm.

Jasmine (32:39)

So then we ended up getting her. Her name was Honey. And she was like wild. She would come home with like, she was less than a year old. She would come home with a rabbit the same size that she had already killed. Leave it on my, the front porch and then come in and sleep for like three days straight.

And then she would leave, she'd be gone for a couple of days, come back with dead animals, leave like their head and guts right by the door. Like she was just wild. Bring mice and birds in the house. She kept us on our toes. But she ended up, I don't know exactly like how it happened, but she came home and she was like, like breathing like, like with her mouth.

Open and like you could tell she was having trouble breathing so bring her to the van and they Check check to see if something was like in our airways or they checked they did a whole bunch of tests and they figured out that her Like airway there was something that was closing it off So it's just I don't know if there was like a hole in it and I was causing it to close or What it they kind of like couldn't really figure it out. They said we could do a

a huge surgery, but it would be like, I think it was like $8,000. And that was like a, we'll see what happens from there. And it was, and they were just saying that she wasn't doing great. And they kind of just like recommended that we put her down and she wasn't very old at the time. We had only had her for probably maybe a year and a half, two years full. Like we only had her for probably a year and a half, but she was only about

Dr. Cliff Redford (34:06)

Hmm.

Jasmine (34:26)

like two, maybe two and a half years old. And so it was like heartbreaking to lose her. Finally, I had another cat that I was like warming up to again, and then I lose her again. So then I took a little bit of time. And then I'm like, okay, I was able to have honey and now I can emotionally attach to another cat. So then I started like thinking about it. Then I was like,

I'm to start looking for a cat. we went to this one. I just looked on Kijiji and we went to this one farm and it was like this really nice family that lived on a farm and had a litter of kittens. And there was like mostly black and white ones and she was the only calico one. So like you were saying with the XY things, she was the only calico in the bunch. I was like, OK, let's get her.

Dr. Cliff Redford (35:21)

special let's get her let's get it that's beautiful yeah it sounds like that honey probably like broke some ribs and resulted in getting air in the the in the chest cavity crushing the lungs up like a pneumothorax maybe

Jasmine (35:36)

It was weird because she, the vet said she didn't have any other like trauma. There was no broken bones, no broken ribs. They said it was so weird that it would just cause like her, I think it was her, whatever the airway to just kind of like collapse.

Dr. Cliff Redford (35:57)

Yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, it's a, it's a tough life for outdoor cats. The average, the average outdoor cat, we're going to say lives, but it's, it's more like lives as your pet. Cause maybe they run off and find a new family, but most of time they, they don't make it. They disappear and it's cause they got hurt. But the average lifespan of an outdoor cat, something like three years, it's super short. Yeah.

Jasmine (36:03)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Three years. Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (36:25)

Yeah. And it's just, it's a hard life, you know, it's, it's a hard life. And, you know, back to, know, the, mammary cancer in senior cats, if they're not spayed, mother nature also never expected a cat to live 15 years, you know, never, never expected a dog to live 12 years or 15 years. And, and so it's one of the reasons why we see so many.

Jasmine (36:40)

Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (36:50)

heart disease and cancer and kidney failure and cast, which is the number one disease in cats as they age is because they're living longer. You know, all the medicine that we have, it's the same as, as you and I, right? Like we're probably going to die of either heart disease or cancer. And 200 years ago, 300 years ago, it didn't really happen or, or we all died of either a heart attack at 52.

Jasmine (36:59)

Makes sense

Dr. Cliff Redford (37:19)

or we got bit by a cat when we were 10 years old, it got infected and we died from that, you know, cause there's no antibiotics. So, cat bites are nasty. they are like, biological warfare, the type of bacteria that they have. But, yeah, it's a hard life for an outdoor cat. So Lucy's indoors, right? Yeah. Good. Good. Good. She's going to live, she'll live much longer and much happier and, she won't kill all those animals and leave body parts that you're,

Jasmine (37:25)

Yes.

Yeah, she's indoors right now.

I know, I was lying.

Dr. Cliff Redford (37:49)

I hear future stepdaughters. We're not really sure why cats do that. Some people are like, they're bringing us a present. Yeah. Or it might be a warning. We're not really sure. You know, it might just be like, Hey, just so you know, this is, this is what I can do. Ms. Darst choke queen. Yeah. Challenge accepted. Yeah. I mean, put another, put another 20, 30 pounds on a cat.

Jasmine (38:00)

Yeah.

I can do this.

Yeah, challenge accepted.

you

Dr. Cliff Redford (38:18)

Make them 40 pounds and that would be a pretty it'd be pretty even match against a UFC fighter. I think for sure They got a lot of weapons, but they got a lot of weapons. That's fantastic Well, maybe maybe after now that you've we did have to do a few euthanasias that as shades of hope as I had warned you prior Because you know, I didn't know exactly how sensitive you would be

Jasmine (38:39)

Yeah, dad, yeah.

Dr. Cliff Redford (38:44)

People can be surprised at how often we have to say goodbye to wild animals. At least the ones, I'm going to say the ones I see and it's not that I'm a bad veterinarian, it's that I see the really bad cases when they come to the states.

Jasmine (38:54)

I was just going to say, it's like you're dealing with like a wildlife animal coming in in an emergency situation.

Dr. Cliff Redford (39:03)

Yeah. And also, and also the ones that come to shades to shades of hope that are healthy. They're just, you know, maybe they've lost weight or they've lost their mothers or their orphans. They're not going to waste my time having me take a look at it. they know how to better care for the, the baby squirrels than I do. So I only see the surgical cases basically and the eye cases, of course, always the eye cases. but, yeah, you never know. It's never too late.

Jasmine (39:22)

yeah some real yeah yeah

Dr. Cliff Redford (39:33)

You know, you got another 10 years maybe in the UFC and then you can be the, the, former champion now, Dr. Jasmine. I know, I know a lot of people who have gone to vet school, in their late thirties, early forties, mid forties. Yeah. It's never too late. You never know, you know, you know, you can handle the euthanasia. There you go.

Jasmine (39:43)

I would love that.

Well, okay, good, good, good.

Yeah, that was my only good turn and now I know I can.

Dr. Cliff Redford (40:00)

There you go, there you go. This has been a lot of fun. We're going to have to do this regularly. I always run out of time. I can't do the Joe Rogan three hour talk. think we go pretty crazy anyways. Who's going to listen that long? what, I guess you can't talk about what's coming up. I mean, it's just more training and trying to kick ass. How can the listeners find out about you? Like what's the easiest way to follow you?

Jasmine (40:21)

Yeah.

Probably Instagram is when I'm on most Jasmine Jazz Divisias, you know, just match those letters and something will come up.

Dr. Cliff Redford (40:31)

you

It's something I'll come up. I'll do a link on the, on the bottom of the, of the description. Jasmine, this has been a blast. I'm so glad I got to know you. I'm so glad that you came over to Shades and seriously, we could, we could deal with Lucy's spay at any time now. Seven, eight months old is very, very common. So you could come and volunteer for the day and scrub in and you can get your hands on your little cat's uterus before I take it out.

Jasmine (40:55)

Okay.

I would love that. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much.

Dr. Cliff Redford (41:04)

You'll hold it up for like, look at these little things. It's a tiny little thing, but yeah, yeah. Just don't get mad at me if the scar shows up or something. Not my fault. Yeah. Cool. Excellent. Thank you very much, Jasmine.

Jasmine (41:17)

Alright, fair.

Thank you, the pleasure was mine. Always great chatting with you and getting some knowledge from you. I really, really appreciate this.

Dr. Cliff Redford (41:29)

So much fun, I appreciate it, thanks.

Jasmine (41:31)

Okay, have a good one. Nice chatting. Bye.

Dr. Cliff Redford (41:33)

All right, bye bye.