(Community Matters 179) Meet Wendell And a Health Checklist for Your Pets this Spring

In the latest Wiggly Tail update, we catch up with Jessica Gilbert from the Humane Society of South Central Michigan featuring Wendell, a big young dog with a fluffy coat and a lot of love to give. 

Jessica also offers some spring health tips for pets to help keep them safe from heartworm, ticks and fleas. 

The Humane Society's Whisker Mixer Silent Auction will take place on May 7 at Squirrel Hollow Golf Course, tickets go on sale soon. And later this summer, they are hosting the Mutt Market and Family Fun Fest on August 22 from 10:00 - 3:00 PM. 

For more information or to get tickets for the Whisker Mixer, give the Humane Society a call at (269) 963-1796. 

Episode Resources

Humane Society of South Central Michigan Website

Wendall on Petfinder

Follow HSSCM on Substack

More Wiggly Tail episodes

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

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Transcript

Pet Spotlight Wendell At The Shelter

Richard Piet 0:02

I'm Richard Pyatt. This is Community Matters. Happy to be with you weekly at 95.3 FM. But we're with you every day at Battle Creekpodcast.com. And would also point out if you're looking for Community Matters in podcast form, you now can go to your favorite podcast hosting authority, Apple Podcast Spotify, one of those. Type in Community Matters Calhoun County, and you'll find us. And you can subscribe there. You'll get a little alert when new episodes come available, like this one. Our Wigglytail update every month or so with the Humane Society of South Central Michigan. Jessica Gilbert is here, executive director at HSSCM. Hello, Jessica. Hello. It's nice to see you. Good to be with you. Welcome back. We usually in these segments do a couple of things. One, introduce you to a pet of the month of sorts, one who stands up as the example of adoptable pets at the Humane Society. And we also try to provide you a little bit of education about what really is an ongoing and dare I say never-ending process of caring for animals without homes. And that is the focus of the Humane Society in Battle Creek. And I might just say a sanctuary of sorts where animals are well cared for who otherwise don't have a home. So this month we're talking about Wendell. Wendell is a dog, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Yes, he is a male malinoi healer mix. He's a fairly hairy dog. He has long hair. Uh, so that will be the first thing that you would notice about him. So if you like a long-haired dog that and you don't mind brushing it, and maybe a couple times a year grooming just to kind of keep that hair uh down, especially during those shedding times of the year, he's a big hairy boy.

Richard Piet 2:10

Yeah, I was just gonna say this sounds like it could be a big dog, and he is, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Yes, he's definitely a big dog. He was born last June, so he's not quite a year old. He's kind of at his adolescent stage, which is good because he can learn things, but he might require a little bit of patience because you know he can still be kind of wild.

Richard Piet 2:32

Um still has a little bit of energy in there.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yes, he does. He would do best with a fenced-in yard where he can run around, but he should also go for daily walks. It's a good idea to take him out for a walk to spend one-on-one time with him. And uh he definitely is smart. I think we've talked about four on the floor before, where you get your dog to have all four feet on the floor before you go out the door. It's just kind of an opportunity to be calm and not yank on the leash so much. And Wendell actually knows how to sit before going out the door, which is super helpful. So I think that's gonna be a great fit. He does love to go on walks with our volunteers, and even though he's very big, he would like to be a lap dog, he wants to be really close to you.

Richard Piet 3:21

I saw some reel in the last week of a great dane jumping up on uh somebody in an easy chair and just laying down like they were a lap dog, but you know what great Danes are like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah, the biggest dogs that want to do the most cuddling.

Richard Piet 3:38

Well, Wendell isn't as big as a Great Dane, but uh he is sizable, shall we say. So uh bear that in mind. Does he uh mix well with other dogs and maybe cats? What do we know about that?

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Um, he should probably adapt to a dog-friendly cat um as long as there's a proper introduction. He'd do okay with a female dog um if we were able to do a good match with that, but he'd also be great being an only dog. He may adjust to going in play groups, but I think he just really wants most of the attention in your house. So um that's something to keep in mind.

Richard Piet 4:18

A friend of mine would accuse him of being a Leo. Richard is a Leo, hence uh I've heard this before from this person.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

This battle fair.

Richard Piet 4:29

Yes. All right, so uh Wendell, have a look. Battlecreekpodcast.com. We'll have a photo there, and you can uh click through to uh the uh listing for him as well as the application for the Humane Society and learn a little bit about Wendell. We're thinking about kids like maybe older kids. What's your thought here?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Just because of his size and his age, probably a little bit older. Um, I could see him knocking over a whole line of toddlers with not paying attention to it.

Heartworm Tests And Prevention Basics

Richard Piet 5:00

So you get the picture. That's quite a visual you created there. Okay, so you get the idea. Wendell is a little sizable and full of life, so check him out. Battlecreekpodcast.com. Click through to the Pain Society for more information. Well, we've had some warm weather, and uh, this has been giving us some perspective about springtime and warmer weather and things that we should know as uh the caregivers of our pets, namely things like heartworm treatments.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Yes, absolutely. So I actually caught a mosquito inside the house last night. So they are already out. And if you're one of those folks who say, you know, I don't, my dog only goes out briefly, my cat never goes out, they have no exposure to mosquitoes. That's not true because the mosquitoes are inside. I think it actually came inside when we went out to see um why there was a strong skunk smell on our front porch. And uh we have a nice little visitor who um came up, was surprised by the motion light, and hose off the front door and then went away. So um, but yes, it is that time of year for skunks and for uh flea, tick, and heartworm preventative. You should get your dog heartworm tested every year. And right now, Lyme disease is a bigger issue, so it's a good idea when they're doing the heartworm test to do a Lyme test as well. Heartworm testing is done through uh blood draw, so you have to go to a veterinarian to do that. And as a matter of fact, you can only get heartworm preventative from a veterinarian's uh prescription. So you need to see your veterinarian every year to get that heartworm medication prescription. You can get it filled other places. I know that TUI or some of the other places offer if you have a prescription, they can fill that for you. And they do charge different rates, so it's worth taking a look around. I think Amazon even offers that now, but you do need a prescription from a veterinarian to get your heartworm preventative. And heartworm isn't something like uh a parasite like roundworms or whipworms. Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes. So if there's a mosquito that is heartworm positive around your house, maybe your neighbors have dogs that are not up to date on heartworm and they have heartworm disease. The mosquito flies from the next door over to your house, takes a nice uh little snack on your dog or cat, all of a sudden they have heartworms. So it's really important to keep your dogs and cats on heartworm preventative during the warmer months when there are more mosquitoes. But right now they're also just starting to recommend that it's a year-round thing. So definitely something to keep uh attention on. And that is separate. You can get your heartworm, flea and tick all in one, but they are also separate. So if you get flea and tick medication, make sure you're taking a look and identifying if it has heartworm preventative in it as well. You definitely want all of those.

Richard Piet 8:16

So this is a question that some may have if we're not familiar. Is heartworm actually a worm?

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Yes, it is. So when the mosquitoes bite, they have the the small little bits in like a microphalaria, which is like a tiny, tiny worm. But if heartworm is in animals and it has the chance to grow in cats or dogs, it can get very big and it goes into the heart and can break off and go into the lungs. So it's possible that I I remember growing up, our veterinarian had one of the animal hearts in a jar and it had all the worms in it. It looks like spaghetti. So you may have seen that at your own vet clinic. It's kind of gross. So, yes, the worms do grow into full-size worms. And I think dogs and cats can have up to a hundred of them in there, which can kill them if untreated. Um, the treatment for dogs for um being heartworm positive is much harder on animals. Uh, you have to keep your dog quiet during the the whole time of the treatment so they can't run around. They have to be just kept really quiet, and uh, it's also really expensive. So it's much less expensive to keep your dog on heartworm preventative year-round than it is to treat your dog for heartworm, and it's much safer. Now, for cats, again, cats can get heartworm, but there is no treatment for heartworm. There's only preventative for cats. If your cat gets heartworm, often the first sign that they have it is their death. It is a sudden death. So heartworm disease can be a deadly disease for dogs, but there is treatment. There is no treatment for cats.

Richard Piet 10:05

That's really interesting. So uh depending on the type of animal, you may have an option or you may not.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yes, absolutely. And you really don't want to get to the point where you missed your heartworm preventative because you just didn't have the opportunity to take your animal to the vet, and uh you find out that they are ill and they have to be treated. That's really hard on them. And older dogs may not survive the treatment either. It's definitely hard on them. So it's a great time of year to make your appointment to go to the vet. They have to be tested once a year, and then they get a year prescription for it. Um, it's a really good idea to just keep your dogs and cats on the heartworm preventative year-round.

Ticks Fleas And Safer Vet Advice

Richard Piet 10:50

Yeah, that's a lot of good information there. And you can see how some folks might follow the line of thinking that mosquitoes aren't around when it's cold, so I don't need to really worry about it in those times of the year. But like you pointed out, this is only March, and you've already seen mosquitoes, so might as well just keep them on it.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yes, absolutely. And uh, I just read an article that says that it is going to be another bad year for ticks, even though you would think that the colds that we would have would have taken care of them. They have been hiding in the leaf litter and they just can't wait to come out and have a blood snack. So um that is something that, you know, while you're getting your your heartworm preventative, talk to your vet and see what is the best bet for flea and tick prevention as well. Um, it's easier to just get it all done at the same time. I know that there is a cost to it. Um, some folks think, well, I'll just, you know, go to the grocery store and get something over the counter, but it's a really good idea to talk to your veterinarian to see what is the best thing for your animals. And definitely take a look online if you have those flea collars on your cat, the hearts products. That's not a good choice.

Richard Piet 12:04

Really?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah, it's much easier for animals to wind up with seizures with some of these over-the-counter things, especially if they're overapplied or applied too quickly in a certain amount of time. So, this is something that it's just easier. You're going to the vet, anyways, once a year, hopefully. It's required by law for your dogs to have rabies vaccines. And so uh only veterinarians can provide a rabies vaccine. Do your animal's wellness visit once a year, get your rabies vaccine, get your heartworm preventative, talk to them about flea and tick. And you don't have to worry about these things. You wouldn't have to worry about, you know, having your animal have a bad disease. You won't have to worry about having a terrible infestation of fleas. It's just better for you, better for the pet. Make that vet appointment today if you haven't done it.

Richard Piet 12:58

You made a comment somewhere in there about the notion of having your pets inside for the cats, right? My cat doesn't go out, don't have to worry about this as much. I got a story for you about that. I had a cat, an indoor cat, who one night was laying next to me up on the back of the couch, so his face was in front of mine. And while he sat there all sphinxy with his paws out, all of a sudden, right above his eye, out came a flea. Yes. And I grabbed it. But I was as shocked as anyone else who has indoor-only cats. What the heck? There's fleas in here. It can happen, and it does.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Absolutely. Um, you know, you can bring in fleas yourself. If you have dogs, they can bring in fleas. Um, it's actually pretty surprisingly easy to do. Uh, and certainly if you're a gardener, you like spending uh time outdoors, you're gonna get ticks on you. It's almost impossible not to. You can bring those inside too. So your animals will have exposure even if they're inside.

Humane Society Updates And Events

Richard Piet 14:02

So that is a false sense of security. If you think that because your pet does not go out, that they're not at risk for fleas and ticks. Guess what? We go out. So we might bring them in, but there could be other ways too, as you've pointed out. So uh bear that in mind and uh talk with your vet. Good information. One of the things that you might have noticed in the last couple of minutes is the Humane Society, Jessica here every month telling us about things that are useful to know. You actually undertake several modes of communication as it relates to this kind of information, including now a Substack.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Yes, uh, we have started a Substack. And if you are on Substack, you can find us at HSSCM, uh, which is short for our name, Humane Society, South Central Michigan, HSSCM. And yeah, we've got all kinds of articles that we are putting up there. Uh, you can have them emailed straight to your inbox. You can see what is the latest. We try to get the word out in a number of different ways for our shelter. We would like to meet people where they are. So we do print newsletters still. Uh, if you want to be on our mailing list for a print newsletter, if you're not currently receiving it, you can just give us a call and we we can add you to our mailing list. That comes out twice a year. We are on Facebook. We have three accounts: one for the Humane Society, one for our training, canine Training Institute, uh, and one for our Curtis Whitaker Bark Park, which is free and open to the public here at the shelter. We are on TikTok, we are on Instagram, we are everywhere.

Richard Piet 15:45

And I've said this before, I'll say it again. One of my favorite things that you do is the pup dates, which uh show an animal which had been a resident of the Humane Society, and then fast forward to where they are now, and uh a little bit of a story about how they've done since they left. My favorite was the cat that was renamed, her new name is Miss Kitty Yum Yum. And so as I read that, I uh truly did LOL. I I really did laugh out loud when I read that because that was pretty good. But it's always fun to see the results of all the work you do and the happy endings that happen when people match up with pets looking for homes from the Humane Society. And uh it's always nice to see those pup dates. So watch for those and all the other info and look for the Humane Society South Central Michigan Substack if you're so inclined to be there. It's a thing now, isn't it? Uh, Substack is becoming pretty popular for folks to uh share content, and so why shouldn't we?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Absolutely. Uh, it's a great way to get more information, and it's a lot of fun to follow.

Richard Piet 17:00

There's also events. We'll be talking more about events in the coming weeks, but uh just to prepare folks, you do have some fun things planned.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

We do. It's almost summertime, and so we have two summer events. Our whisker mixer uh silent auction is May 7th at Squirrel Hollow, a new place for us this year, and it's actually hosted by Squirrel Hollow. We are so thankful for their support. Tickets will be going on sale in just a couple weeks. But if you absolutely need a ticket and you already know that you are going to go ahead and book, you can go ahead and give us a call now. We actually just sold tickets this morning. So I think this one's gonna be really popular just because of the wonderful place that it's gonna be. And boy, we got the menu uh last night, and it looks amazing. So uh tickets are$50 a person and it's gonna be a lot of fun. Uh, we also have our August 22nd Mutt Market and Family Fun Fest uh here at the shelter, and it's a craft fair. We've got a lot of crafters who have already signed up. We still have room for more, but it's gonna be a really great craft fair, plus, it's a lot of fun for dogs and kids. We do dog and kid crafts. Dogs last year were painting, doing paw paintings. It was fantastic. We also have the search and rescue folks coming back to do demonstrations. And that whole day is free here at the shelter from 10 until three. It's just so much fun. I mean, we are always looking for more fun, free things to do in our community. This is great for families, dogs, and kids. What more could you ask for?

Richard Piet 18:39

What was that market date?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

August 22nd.

Richard Piet 18:43

All right. And how many whisker mixer tickets did you say?

SPEAKER_01 18:46

We'll have around 80 whisker mixer tickets. We've already sold eight. We invitations will be going out in April. But again, if you are absolutely sure that you want to be there, you wouldn't miss it for anything. Go ahead and give us a call and you can reserve your tickets over the phone. We'll add you to the list.

Richard Piet 19:02

Tell them the number.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Uh our phone number is 269-963-1796.

Richard Piet 19:09

963-1796. Whisker mixer May 7th, Mutt Market, August 22nd. All right. Boy, lots to talk about from the Humane Society of South Central Michigan on our Wigglytail update, roughly, monthly. That's a joke, at it roughly. Uh and we do that here on Community Manners. Jessica Gilbert, thank you. Thank you.