Abby Smyers: Navigating A Pet’s Cancer Diagnosis, The Joy of Animal Rescue & More

00:00:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're listening to In the Vets Office with doctor Josie Horchak.

00:00:17
Speaker 2: All right, welcome to in the Vets Office.

00:00:19
Speaker 3: I am your host, doctor Josie, and as always, we have the lovely Shannon.

00:00:23
Speaker 2: Here is her co host.

00:00:24
Speaker 4: Hello. How are you? I'm great?

00:00:26
Speaker 2: How are you? I'm good.

00:00:27
Speaker 5: How's the Vets Office been lately? Any exciting things going on?

00:00:31
Speaker 2: Or yeah?

00:00:32
Speaker 3: Actually this week I had a great case. I had a lady come in just to kind of paint the picture. She's probably seventy years old, like an older woman, very Southern, thick Southern accent. You can tell she's definitely like smoked cigarette or two in her.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: Day, yep.

00:00:46
Speaker 3: And I walk in and she's like, doctor Josie, I need you to give my dog a Mamma Graham. And I'm like, oh no, Mamma Graham. I was like, ma'am, I'm so sorry. We don't do those here. And she starts busting out laughing. She's like, I know, I know, but I do need you to do a titty check. And I'm like, okay, all right. I'm like, I love my job. I love my job. I'm like, what do you mean by a titty check? She's like, well, you know, they're swollen, they're bigger. Just something's going on. And we know what's going on, girl o lord and her dog was only ten months old, so I'm thinking maybe she's about to go into her first heat cycle, right, and so you know, I do my thing, get on the ground, do a full exam, and lo and behold, her breast tissue is extremely engorgedus like, very very thick. It is not just her going into a heat cycle. And I'm like, you know what, can I borrow her for one second and come back in And she's.

00:01:39
Speaker 2: Like absolutely, I want to do a titty check.

00:01:41
Speaker 3: I want to do a titty check. And we take her back to the treatment area. I stick an ultrasound probe on her belly and there are eight heart beats. Oh wow, she's very pregnant. She is very pregnant. I go back in the room and I say, is there any chance she's been in contact knowing full and well she has, has she been in contact with an intact to me out? And she says no, well yes, actually you know her brother who's also ten months her litter mate, and he's not neutered yet. And I was like, wow, Oh, she's pregnant with her brother's puppies. And it really made me think. You know a lot of owners and it's no fault of their own. Don't realize that once they hit six months of age, like they can make babies, and yeah, you don't think about it when.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: They're with their brother.

00:02:21
Speaker 4: You think they're like they're like you.

00:02:23
Speaker 2: Know humans, You're like, oh, they're with their the siblings, they're.

00:02:25
Speaker 3: Fine, right exactly. But the case, no, mother nature took over. No, and the titty check ended up being a pregnancy check, and she is gonna have puppies.

00:02:36
Speaker 4: We'll see. What was this.

00:02:37
Speaker 5: Woman's reaction when you were like, you're about to have eight puppies.

00:02:41
Speaker 2: Oh, her jaw was on the floor, hands on the bench. She was like, oh my god.

00:02:46
Speaker 3: I was like, I'm so sorry, Like, please do not pass out in this hospital.

00:02:49
Speaker 5: So wait, does she have the puppies though, Like, does she have more than one?

00:02:53
Speaker 3: She has just the brother and sister from the same litter. Okay, so she bought brother and sister. Yep, Okay, yep, you bought two puppies at the same time, a boy and a girl, and neither one had been neutered or Spain.

00:03:04
Speaker 2: Yet two for ten special. She got the two for ten special.

00:03:08
Speaker 5: Exactly buy two puppies and you get eight exactly one of them.

00:03:13
Speaker 4: That's wow.

00:03:14
Speaker 2: Never a dull moment, y'all, Never a dull moment.

00:03:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's like something you just don't think about. Like we bought German shepherd puppies my mom did when we were in kindergarten and they were brother and sister, and I don't think we ever thought about, no, you know, the possibility of them. Yeah, I'm making babies, not making fun of her in the slightest You would never even think of it. And then it just, yeah, happened. So yeah, that was our case of the week. All right, on to some listener questions.

00:03:38
Speaker 4: Hello, well, my dog loves to swim all the time and he just keeps getting air infections.

00:03:44
Speaker 2: I don't know what to do about it, so please help. This is a great question.

00:03:48
Speaker 3: We see this all the time in the summer, and really usually it tends to be in dogs with those big, long, floppy ears. Yeah, they'll get moisture trapped inside their ear canals and then it starts this vicious cycle of getting ear infections. And so what I tell owners is you want to buy an ear cleaner. All ear cleaners are not made equal. Definitely get the medicated one from your veterinarian, the ones on Amazon and Chewy. There are some crazy ear cleaners out there that probably won't do much of anything or can make things worse. Right, and then I recommend every single time without fail, after they go swimming or you give them a bath, probably like thirty two minutes to an hour after, I recommend washing out their ear canals. And I think that people are surprised when they hear that because they're like, wait, we don't want moisture trapped in their ears, but now you're telling me to like dump ear cleaning solution into their ear canals. But there's different drying ingredients like salicylic acid and ingredients like that that get down into deeper parts of the ear canal and get that moisture out. So it's really really important if your dog loves to swim clean their ears out every single time.

00:04:51
Speaker 5: I did not know that because we are dog coas. She's always in the pond whenever she gets a chance, and she definitely she doesn't have like the big floppy ears, but she's always got just like uncomfortableness after So yeah, you should be actually rinsing them out technically after they swim, yes, every single time. Interesting and don't buy, like kids, your phones for them to swim with him?

00:05:10
Speaker 3: Now your plugs, No, your plugs. And people are always saying, well, how do I clean their ears? And there's really no exact science to it. I flop that ear over and I pour the cleaning solution into their ear canal until you see it pooling.

00:05:24
Speaker 2: There's really two separate parts to their ear.

00:05:26
Speaker 3: It takes like a hard ninety degree turn way deep down in the canal, and you want it to trickle all the way down there, so just dump it on in.

00:05:33
Speaker 4: All right.

00:05:34
Speaker 2: Yeah that's good to know.

00:05:35
Speaker 5: And I mean, yeah, you'd think like you wouldn't want to put more liquid in there, but it's actually, yep, the solution, Yep, exactly, solution is the solution. Okay, all right, do we have any more questions?

00:05:45
Speaker 2: Hey, doctor Josie. So I just got a new puppy.

00:05:48
Speaker 4: He's really energetic. I love running and I really want to start taking him on runs with me. How old does he need to be before I start taking him on runs? Thanks?

00:05:58
Speaker 3: Puppy owners Love to ask this question, and I think we get like maybe a little scared because you read things online. And so if your puppies out running around the yard, you're going for walks like that is great.

00:06:09
Speaker 2: We want them to be active.

00:06:10
Speaker 3: Now, if you're like a marathon runner, and yeah, clock and miles on concrete and pavement, that's where we need to be careful. Sort of a rule of thumb is most dogs growth plates close around twelve months of age. Now, the bigger the dog, the later that can be. It can be all the way up to like eighteen months, even twenty four months, and really big, like giant breed dogs, so like your Bernise Mountain dogs, your Great Danes. Granted those dogs are not probably running marathons, so they get any sat Bernards exactly going on a five k exactly. But if you have like a Vishla or a wimern or or a Pointer, those kinds of dogs that are great running buddies, I say, wait until they're year of age and then you can really you know, from there, don't put them into a twenty six miler, but from there they can start running with you and they should be perfectly fine.

00:06:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, because I think you probably in your mind, you think like, oh, the more exercise the better for puppies. That'll like tire them out, and you know they're they have so much rambunctious energy. But yeah, he'd probably have to be careful. And there's just breeds that are like made for running and not. Like we had a German Shepherd. I used to love running with her, but I was always so scared too, just because they're notorious for having hit problems. So I never would like run further than you know, a mile.

00:07:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think you're so right, Like a lot of it is you know your dog better than anyone and just watching them and they're going to tell you, like when they're tired. You're gonna know when they don't want to be going another mile. Like you really have to be kind of in tune with how they're feeling and so yeah, if they're limping, if they're kind of holding back, if they're not, if they don't seem super interested in it, it's not about you, it's about them, So go finish the rest of your miles and let them hang out on the couch.

00:07:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's why I had a French bulldog Boston Terrior mix because I was like, she is not going to want to run marathons with me. Okay, she's not built for this, and neither am. I knew she's lucky to get around the block.

00:07:52
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. I didn't buy her thinking we are going to run together.

00:07:55
Speaker 1: I love that.

00:07:57
Speaker 5: All right. Well, I'm so excited about our special guest on the show today. I feel like she has such an interesting story with her pet journey. So who's coming up?

00:08:06
Speaker 3: Yes, we have Abbi Smiers in the Vets office today. She is one of my very dear friends and also the wife of Dan Smiers from Dan and Shay. She has really dedicated the last decade of her life to dog rescues. She works at Wags and Walks here at Nashville. She's been very involved with Proverbs, which is another dog rescue here, and is really just an advocate for all animals, whether it's the birds in the trees, the deers in the yard. She's just always looking out for all of them and is just such a kind and loving soul. So I'm excited to have her in. She also has four rescue dogs herself, and I get to help take care of them.

00:08:44
Speaker 4: So today's episode would be.

00:08:45
Speaker 2: Great, awesome. Let's welcome Abbie Spiers.

00:08:52
Speaker 3: Welcome to in the vet's office. Abby Smiers. I'm so excited to have you here.

00:08:56
Speaker 1: So happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

00:08:58
Speaker 3: You're welcome Anne Today, as everyone knows, perfect, she sat right on cue. This podcast is biod and she brought with her the lovely Macaroni.

00:09:09
Speaker 4: This is Macaroni. She's so good, Yes, Macaroni, we call her mac.

00:09:13
Speaker 1: She has the best ear. She's just perfect in every way. Yeah, one ear crazy, straight up, one ear down. You actually have a tattoo of her little years.

00:09:21
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:09:23
Speaker 4: My friend Andrew drew it for me and then I got it tattooed because I love her ears so much.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: It's so cute.

00:09:28
Speaker 3: So we have a lot of ground to cover today. Before we dive in, I have to tell one of my favorite stories about you.

00:09:35
Speaker 1: Abby.

00:09:35
Speaker 3: And I really like to walk our dogs together. And I think it was last summer whatever, last year. Sometime you text me about twenty minutes before we're supposed to go on our walk and you're like, I'm so sorry, I'm not gonna be able to come over. Here's why, And you send me a picture and it's this tiny newborn baby deer.

00:09:51
Speaker 4: The cutest thing that's ever existed. It was so cute.

00:09:54
Speaker 2: It was so cute.

00:09:55
Speaker 3: And I call you and I'm like, whatever you do, do not come on this walk.

00:09:59
Speaker 2: You must stand vigil over this deer.

00:10:02
Speaker 1: It did not need any saving. And I learned, Yeah, but I thought I needed saving.

00:10:06
Speaker 3: But you stayed in your house all day, yeah, watching this baby deer.

00:10:09
Speaker 1: Yes, because I was so concerned something was gonna happen to it. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. Yeah, I also am so I love deer. I think they're just really magical.

00:10:18
Speaker 3: And Abby has a water bowl out you guys in her front yard for deer.

00:10:23
Speaker 4: We're in a drought.

00:10:25
Speaker 2: We're in a drought.

00:10:25
Speaker 4: We're in a drought.

00:10:26
Speaker 1: How are they gonna find?

00:10:27
Speaker 3: And honestly, the last night, one of the last times I was over your ring doorball camera, your outdoor camera picked up a deer drinking out of the water bowl.

00:10:35
Speaker 1: You were the first person to ever see them because they never use it. They just like look at it and consider drinking it and never do. And then finally my hard work paid off.

00:10:44
Speaker 3: I was kind of like laughing at you in my head, I'm like yeah, right, like is gonna drink out of this bowl?

00:10:48
Speaker 2: And then sure enough it did.

00:10:50
Speaker 3: Okay, anyways, back to the baby deer and you're like, what do I do?

00:10:53
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't know. They don't teach usice in bed school.

00:10:55
Speaker 1: Also, I'm recognizing that we're gonna be talking about animals, and I'm like automatically using this like.

00:10:59
Speaker 4: Way your voice and when I'm talking to animals, and so like.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: Ah, it's oh, I love it. So you called the wildlife person.

00:11:10
Speaker 1: I did because I had never been around a baby deer. I love them, but I and it was I don't know. It was just in a very strange spot where our house was situated. There wasn't anywhere for the mom to really go, so I didn't know why I would have left the baby there. It was a very weird spot to leave it, and so I thought it was abandoned. But lo and behold called a wonderful wild deer wildlife rehab. Her her name is Deborah. I have her contact now in my phone and it has her birthday, so I always know when her birthday is.

00:11:41
Speaker 4: Too. Talked to her again, but I know when her birthday is.

00:11:45
Speaker 1: And it says like what age too, that's amazing, but love her and she told me so. Now that everyone knows this about baby deer, if they are laying still, which this one was completely silent and with their head down, they're doing exactly by nature what they were born to do. So when they're born, they are born odorless and silent, and mom is obviously not so she leaves to go feed, and they are protected because predators cannot find them. I mean, my dogs had no idea that it was there the whole day I did.

00:12:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, of course.

00:12:19
Speaker 4: I first set a camera standing watch doll i U star Ferbo.

00:12:23
Speaker 1: Camera and moved it from the dog's room and so I could like watch them outside.

00:12:27
Speaker 2: I got an update like every forty five minutes. It was amazing and it was so cute.

00:12:31
Speaker 3: And so then later that evening, you're happy, you let your dogs out.

00:12:37
Speaker 2: This is when it goes down. You let your dogs out into the front yard.

00:12:40
Speaker 1: Yep, to use the restroom. They had no idea the deer was there. The deer was on the sideyard.

00:12:45
Speaker 4: No big deal.

00:12:46
Speaker 1: I have been watching this thing all day.

00:12:49
Speaker 3: Like basically my own child. And it's mother, Yeah, it was its mother. And then and then you found out that it had.

00:12:55
Speaker 2: A clearly do not trust free.

00:12:58
Speaker 1: Yes, Mom came flying of nowhere, truly out of nowhere.

00:13:02
Speaker 2: Jumps in your dog, jumps your massive fence.

00:13:07
Speaker 3: You guys, this is caught on her camera at her front house, like security footage. You're out there, and then all of a sudden, you can see Dan come running outside.

00:13:17
Speaker 1: Well, I was in the living room and I could hear.

00:13:20
Speaker 4: Him yelling no, no, no, and.

00:13:22
Speaker 1: I thought the dogs were going after something because they've been known to chase a bunny or and he I can just hear him screaming. I look out the window and I see the mom in the front yard chasing the dogs. He's chasing the deer and it's.

00:13:36
Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's the funniest.

00:13:38
Speaker 3: It was like he kind of already looks like Vince Palm and he's a Steelers fan.

00:13:43
Speaker 2: He was like going left, fake and right. The deer's like juking him. It's like steps on ghosts.

00:13:48
Speaker 1: At one point, the deer stepped on ghosts. So then I of course called Josie. I'm like, cause he's gonna be okay. But yeah, and so Dan. But the funniest thing is, I'm like what was your And that's what everyone wanted to know when they saw the video, like were you going after the dogs? Are you going after the deer? He was just like one or the other because he at one point dives, takes a fall, He took the hot mess.

00:14:12
Speaker 3: Took one for the team, and I just want to say he won dog Dad of the Century for me.

00:14:16
Speaker 2: It was amazing. I'm gonna have to post this video so everyone can see.

00:14:20
Speaker 4: But also I'm like, how rude that I protected your.

00:14:23
Speaker 3: Child all day and then you're try and attack my own. I know all that to say, if you ever find a baby deer.

00:14:28
Speaker 2: And just leave it alone, leave it alone alone, go about your wife, your dogs inside.

00:14:32
Speaker 4: And keep your dogs inside.

00:14:34
Speaker 3: Mac so Abby and I first met because she's super duper involved here in the dog rescue community. How did you get involved? Like have you always been involved in dog rescue? How did that come to be?

00:14:44
Speaker 1: So it's been ten years almost exactly. I was working at Warner Music Nashville, which is right down the road from us, and someone was cooing in the hallway and I was like, what's out there? And there was this puppy and my coworker, Rebecca was fostering this little puppy named Kathy, Sweet Kathy. And I don't know what it was about this dog.

00:15:09
Speaker 4: I just had.

00:15:11
Speaker 1: I guess had rescue dogs growing up. My dad rescued a couple of dogs, but I just wasn't super well versed in the rescue world, and my mom had had Little be Shawn's. I had a lab at the time that I got from a breeder, and I just didn't really know anything. But this fairal brown dog just stole my heart. And I Textan was like, should we get this dog?

00:15:32
Speaker 4: He was like, bring her home?

00:15:34
Speaker 1: And so brought her home that day and as a foster, and two days later we text the organization and said we were going to keep her. But it was actually the very first ever Pimp and Joy Week that the Bobby Bones Show has done with Amy and honoring her mom, and so it was like the very first one ever. There were signs all over Nashville about Pimp and Joy and so we when we adopted this dog, I was like, I think we need to name her Joy. We did this amazing thing, We rescued a dog, and so that is Joy and Joy, I always say, is just the reason that I am who I am and what I do because from there I got involved with the rescue that she was at Proverbs twelve ten animal Rescue here locally. They're a wonderful organization, that right, I got Biggie from Yeah, sweet big, Yeah, They're wonderful, And so I just started volunteering.

00:16:26
Speaker 4: And then from there Dan and I.

00:16:27
Speaker 1: Probably fostered about forty dogs, and I just really fell in love with rescue and rescue animals. And now we have four and I would have a hundred more if I could. But they I five years ago, I guess it was met our friend Catherine, and she was also just rescue girly, and so we hit it off very quickly, and when she wanted to start Wags and Walks, I was like fully in support because even Levon, who's the director of Proverbs, will tell you there is a lot of room for rescue in Glastown. There is especially in the South exactly, and just extreme overpopulation here and we just don't and as Nashville grows, that problem grows, and we're not really fixing the problem with spey and neuter or anything like that.

00:17:14
Speaker 2: So there's just going to be.

00:17:16
Speaker 1: A lot more dogs and a lot more people, and so when Catherine started WAGS, I just wanted to be involved. Catherine's one of those people where you're like, she's gonna do something amazing no matter what it is, and we're just all really lucky that.

00:17:29
Speaker 4: It's dog related.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: And so I've been helping her for the last five years, and then I started doing development for her. I do development partnership consulting and then as well as run her development committee.

00:17:43
Speaker 4: Which you are on.

00:17:46
Speaker 1: What you're aware of it because you are a member of it, yes, And so it's just been it's just a huge part of my life advocating for it. I always say I never want to judge anyone or make anyone feel bad or wrong for however they choose to get a dog. As long as you were taking care of that animal, that's all I care about. But if I can just talk about my experience in rescue and with rescue animals and advocate for them and just even just showing whether you get it from a republe breeder or hopefully rescue, just show the level of care that I give my animals, so that they want to care for their animal in the same way. That's more my goal and I always wanted to just it was something I felt like was an uphill battle. For the ten years that I've been in rescue in New York, in LA, in major cities Austin, rescue is just what you do. It's cool, it's fun, like there's these huge rescues, and it just was never that in Nashville, and I just felt like there was, as weird as that sounds, there was a market for rescue, and yeah, because it wasn't It was more an educational thing. People just didn't think to rescue, and once we could get them to and educate them too, you can see how amazing it is.

00:19:04
Speaker 4: And I think that we're doing that with Wax Oh for sure. Exciting, absolutely because they're awesome and Mac, you're being so good she is, She's like, see, rescues are perfect, you ow, Q we are.

00:19:25
Speaker 3: One of the things that we had bonded about at the beginning was we both had dogs from breeders.

00:19:32
Speaker 4: Yes we did.

00:19:32
Speaker 3: You had Miller, your lab and I had Luca, my great Dane. And it's not to knock like there are some amazing breeders out there that do a really good job. And it's like you said, it's no judgment on those that decide to get dogs from breeders, But I think once you had a rescue dog, like it really changes your perspective.

00:19:50
Speaker 4: It does.

00:19:50
Speaker 1: My situation with Miller ended up being really unfortunate. I did so much research and it's not even a knock on the breeder.

00:19:58
Speaker 4: They're a really, really reputable reader.

00:20:00
Speaker 1: But he was just never really well and he ended up passing really young, and it was obviously devastating.

00:20:07
Speaker 4: But outside of.

00:20:08
Speaker 1: That, you know, I started getting involved with rescues, starting with Joy, and it just I don't know, there is there's just this Yeah, I don't know.

00:20:16
Speaker 3: I feel like they just look at connections. Yeah, like I know you saved me, they do, they know, yeah.

00:20:21
Speaker 1: That's Miller was the best dog, so sweet, ten out of ten, good boy. But I just don't feel like he ever needed me.

00:20:28
Speaker 2: He was a trust fund baby.

00:20:30
Speaker 1: He was These dogs need.

00:20:33
Speaker 3: Me, yeah, I mean yeah, exactly, this close to death truly, if you think about it, like they wouldn't probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't.

00:20:40
Speaker 1: And I think they feel that way still every time I.

00:20:42
Speaker 4: Ve you house, Yeah, exactly make it.

00:20:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so true. I mean I just think it like really changes your perspective. And I don't know if it makes us like gives us.

00:20:54
Speaker 2: Like a martyr complex or something.

00:20:55
Speaker 3: I don't know, but I just feel like even more attached to them, and just the thought of the life.

00:21:00
Speaker 2: I lived before.

00:21:00
Speaker 3: And it's true and Oakley, like when my Shepherd was on about to be ethanized.

00:21:04
Speaker 4: You just think about it and it really just and he's so gorgeous.

00:21:08
Speaker 3: Changes the way you think about things. Yes, he's a good boy. He hasn't come to the podcast yet. Well, just the little guys.

00:21:13
Speaker 1: Well, he needs to be with his friends here. Yeah, I know his hair can mix in.

00:21:17
Speaker 3: With all the other the other dog care I know our prayer podcast set up. We've got dog hair just everywhere at this point.

00:21:23
Speaker 4: It's like my house. It's fine, exactly.

00:21:27
Speaker 3: Okay, so you've got your four dogs, yes, currently give us the rundown of each one.

00:21:31
Speaker 4: Okay.

00:21:31
Speaker 1: So I touched on Joy a little bit. Yeah, we're going to circle back to circle back to her. I know we're going to talk about her a lot to Yeah, but so I'll keep her breathe. Yeah, but she was number one name during Pimp and Joy Week more than anything. Yes, she used to be Kathy. She was Faral Mama, but she was not the Faroh mama. Born to a Farah mama, she was one of nine puppies and she they just all are kind of inherently. I keep in touch with some of her siblings, and they're just all inherently little nervous, shy born to the wilderness dogs.

00:22:08
Speaker 3: She's truly one of the most innately shy dodgs I've ever met.

00:22:11
Speaker 1: But she is also the best dog in the world is She is so obedient and sweet and lovely. Yes, she is just a little hesitant, yeah, of everything, understandably so, but she could not be sweeter. And she is the best thing in the entire world. I love her so much. And then after that, we were fostering this dog, Natchez was his name. He was found dodging cars on Natchez Trace, hence the name, and he actually was our very first foster dog. And in that time of fostering him, he was so funny. When I was volunteering at Proverbs, he was brought in off the streets acting so scared, hiding in the back of a crate like shivering. So of course they told me he didn't have a foster. So I called Dan. I was like, can we foster our first dog? And he said sure. And that's one thing about Dan if he will never tell me no. People al was like, oh is Dan like, won't let you get any more dogs? I'm like, no, I have to make a dog.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Dan's the problem.

00:23:16
Speaker 4: Dan always says yes.

00:23:18
Speaker 1: So I get this little Natchez dog hit a sweater because it was winter, and we go home and he is an absolute terror, like in the best way.

00:23:28
Speaker 2: He's like, I'm so shy, he's so sweet.

00:23:30
Speaker 1: But I was like, you duped me, and I instantly fell in love with him.

00:23:34
Speaker 2: Is that chief?

00:23:35
Speaker 4: That is now chief?

00:23:36
Speaker 2: Oh my god?

00:23:36
Speaker 4: Oh?

00:23:37
Speaker 1: And then over that like foster time was actually when Miller got sick and died, okay, And I had already been like, I don't know how I'm going to give this dog up.

00:23:45
Speaker 4: I love him.

00:23:46
Speaker 1: But Dan had just started his career. We were traveling so much. Anyone who like knows the country music start, I mean, artists are gone. He was gone like two hundred and fifty days a year. And so I was like, there's just no world in which we can have three dogs. And as a single mother has a single mother and obviously not the way that I ever anticipated anything happening. But Miller unexpectedly passed and I remember calling Levon the director, just bawling and saying, Miller passed away.

00:24:18
Speaker 4: But also, I have to keep Natchez because I can't get rid of another dog. And he became Chief, and him and Dan are like pretty tight.

00:24:26
Speaker 1: They are so tight. Yeah, and he is absolutely hilarious. He's so opinionated and so bossy. And we had no idea by giving him the name Chief. He was named after the Kansas City chiefs, but he just fully embraced that personality. He was like, I am I am Chief.

00:24:41
Speaker 3: If one of his siblings like kind of walks by her, looks at him, heried hook.

00:24:45
Speaker 4: Like grimlin like Chief.

00:24:47
Speaker 1: If anyone knows the like mister, I think it's mister Bubb's Instagram account. He's like a little Chihuahua mix brown thing that is really really growlly. They are the same, yea, the same thing, are separated at birth. And then right before Dan and I got married, we were asked to foster a dog and I said no because we were about to get married. I was planning a wedding and it was a lot. And then they know that I'm a sucker. So they sent me a photo of this dog. It's just that this is what he looks like. And he looked I don't know, he looked maybe like a fifty pound husky mix of sorts. But what got me was he was gray. His whole neck and chest were gray, even though he was an all white dog, because he had been chained outside. And so I, again being me, I said, okay, we'll take him and we'll figure it out with the wedding. Or I think I said I need him moved before my wedding.

00:25:47
Speaker 4: And so he came.

00:25:48
Speaker 1: We go to pick him up, and they brought out an eleven pound dog to us, and I was like, this is not the right dog.

00:25:53
Speaker 2: I was going to say when you said fifty, I was like, did you mean fifteen?

00:25:56
Speaker 1: Yes, well he looked big in this photo. And then bring him out They're like, no, this is They were calling him ghost Pepper, and so they were like this is ghost Pepper. I'm like, no, this is a big like I'm picking up a big dog and this was ghost Pepper. And so we brought him home and he is now a ghost. But even though I protested getting a dog before our wedding. Dan was in charge of getting their outfits for the wedding, and we were still fostering Ghost, and we did our engagement photos and Chief and Joy were in the engagement photos.

00:26:27
Speaker 4: Ghost was not. He was just our foster dog.

00:26:29
Speaker 1: And then their outfits showed up in the mail and there was a dress for Joy and two tuxedos. I was like, Dan, did you get Ghost a tuxedo? And he said yes, I did. I said, okay, well, Ghost is in our wedding photos, then we're obviously keeping him.

00:26:42
Speaker 4: He was like, that was one thousand percent my plan. So he was in the wedding.

00:26:48
Speaker 1: He did not leave after that then.

00:26:51
Speaker 4: And he's really obsessed with you.

00:26:53
Speaker 1: Oh yes, gho, Ghost, say his mom. He cares about nothing in this world but me. Yeah, truly, it's we will talk about what is happening with Joy here shortly. But all the other dogs, when Joy was at the vet all day, they were all acting weird.

00:27:09
Speaker 4: Ghost could not care.

00:27:11
Speaker 1: Less because he cares just as long as I'm there, He's either going to be in my closet or be in my lap.

00:27:16
Speaker 4: Otherwise.

00:27:17
Speaker 3: I feel like every woman owner deserves that kind of thing.

00:27:20
Speaker 1: I mean, it is unconditional, it's unconditional and loves me.

00:27:23
Speaker 4: He does.

00:27:24
Speaker 2: He's a mom's boy, he does.

00:27:26
Speaker 3: I always make fun of not make fun but like I'm like the moms that have boy sons and they're just like obsessed with They're like, okay, that's crazy, but like I kind of get it.

00:27:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm mind to get it. No, he loves me more than anything. And now we joke.

00:27:38
Speaker 1: I'll always say to a ghost, I'm like, your dad didn't even want.

00:27:42
Speaker 4: To keep you. He's like, that is not He's like.

00:27:44
Speaker 2: I bought the tuxedo.

00:27:45
Speaker 4: Okay, I can't let him know that it was me. No, he loves me too much. Yeah, Frank, it's heart well.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: Noisy okay, okay, yeah you kick well. Noisy over here is like is it time to talk about me?

00:27:57
Speaker 4: Like hello?

00:28:00
Speaker 1: Then a couple of years later came this one. Oh also though the ghost thing back to ghost really quick. The gray from his chain. He just to like talk about rescue and how awful things can be sometimes. This little thing that I thought was not that it is ever okay to chain up a dog, but a dog being chained in someone's front yard also led me to believe this was a bigger dog. Why anyone would have a heavy chain on a dog, but let alone. And he was eleven pounds and he's probably he's healthy now, so he's probably eighteen. But he was just this emaciated eleven pound little thing.

00:28:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean a chain probably weighed more than him a thousand percent. Yeah, it was awful, harol.

00:28:41
Speaker 1: It took us like two months to get to shampoo that gray.

00:28:44
Speaker 4: Out of him.

00:28:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, just some of the shape that these pets come into the rescue and is just it makes you question humanity.

00:28:51
Speaker 4: It does, true.

00:28:55
Speaker 2: That's a Roney's That was amazing.

00:29:00
Speaker 4: She was like, what is that figure?

00:29:03
Speaker 3: We are back? Mac just saw a strange man behind the set. I may have peed myself a little. That was a very loud.

00:29:11
Speaker 1: Bar and the anti I mean just like, no, I'm just gonna lay down, she says, And I'm good I.

00:29:16
Speaker 4: Saved you all here. You're welcome than you for be on guard. While Mac came into the picture as if another foster fail.

00:29:26
Speaker 2: Of course, Taylor's oldest time.

00:29:28
Speaker 1: Yes, she I hadn't fostered in a minute, and so they asked Proverbs asked if I wanted to come pick out a puppy to foster, and I said sure, and I actually went to pick up a completely different dog and she was sitting there and they're like, well, she needs one too, So I was like, I kind of like this one.

00:29:44
Speaker 4: And so she came home.

00:29:47
Speaker 1: She did have the ear like that when she was really little, and it was the cutest thing.

00:29:52
Speaker 4: That's the one.

00:29:53
Speaker 1: Be one straight up. It's the cutest ear in the whole world. And so when she was really really little they were doing that. I was like, this dog and I knew right away I was gonna have a hard time.

00:30:06
Speaker 4: But you don't know if it's going to stay like that. No, you have no ise.

00:30:08
Speaker 1: So the fact that it did well and it went down for a minute. I went to the gym one day and came back.

00:30:15
Speaker 4: In the ear was down.

00:30:15
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, sad, and then lo and behold. A couple weeks later, back up and it has never never gone away.

00:30:22
Speaker 2: It doesn't really.

00:30:23
Speaker 1: Make sense either. The ear is so thick and so heavy. There's just no world in which it should stand up.

00:30:28
Speaker 4: No, but all accounts, she is the most special dog.

00:30:33
Speaker 1: So this one was definitely my choice. I couldn't live without her.

00:30:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's your girl.

00:30:40
Speaker 4: I love her so much, and she is just one of a kind in every way.

00:30:45
Speaker 3: It really is one of the I'm not sure I've ever met another dog like her in my life.

00:30:49
Speaker 1: Everything about her, she has like a weird, funny gait when she.

00:30:52
Speaker 4: Walks, the ear eternal puppy.

00:30:55
Speaker 1: Yes, she's now five, but everyone who meets her thinks she's six months old. Still. Yeah, acts like a puppy, looks like a puppy.

00:31:02
Speaker 4: She's perfect.

00:31:03
Speaker 1: Yes, we love her. We love her tremendously.

00:31:06
Speaker 3: So last time at least's Joy. Yes, and you've kind of already told us a little bit about her.

00:31:11
Speaker 4: I didn't know her name was Kathy. That's a fun fact for me today. Not a great name.

00:31:15
Speaker 3: Joy is much better. Yes, And recently, you guys have been through a bit of a healthy journey. Do you want to walk us through what's happened?

00:31:24
Speaker 1: Yes, And you can chime in if I miss make any mistakes, as you've been right there with us. And I was on a walk with Mac and Joy and it was interesting because early in the walk, Mac being Mac pulled pretty hard when Joy was peeing and she yelped, and so I made sure everything was good.

00:31:49
Speaker 4: Everyone was good.

00:31:49
Speaker 1: We walked, and towards the end of the walk, I was like, oh my gosh, there is a huge mass on her backside and right to the left of her tail, And of course I immediate called you and I got her into the vet the next day, and I would have thought it was a hernia, possibly as a non vet, because it happened right after Mac pulled a swelling ye something from that initial poll. I took her in the next morning and a different vet did a little sample, did an ultrasound and didn't see anything. Nothing about it looked very strange and so well, I shouldn't say that. Everyone thought it looked strange, but nothing was coming up.

00:32:37
Speaker 4: So we went home.

00:32:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, and for listeners, what we will often do if there's a new growth and I think it's really interesting too, for you to be like, hey, it looked like.

00:32:46
Speaker 2: It literally just popped up.

00:32:48
Speaker 3: A lot of times they can, you know, new bumps on our dogs can slowly grow, but there are times when it quite literally will pop up overnight.

00:32:57
Speaker 1: I started to like second guess myself a little bit, being like, would I really not see this? But anyone who knows me knows. I am with these dogs one hundred percent of my life, and I just don't think I would have not noticed something like that. I'm so hyper aware of them, and Dan hadn't noticed anything. And even I have Sweetbrook who comes to my house to trim their nails every three weeks, and she when I saw her the next time, she was like, no, that was not there. So I was like, okay, this really I am not I'm like this did this was not here, And so initially it was just potentially a hematoma. I was told to put a warm compress on it a few times a day and then go from there. And when Josie got back in town, she was like, it's weird that it hasn't gone down at all. I'm gonna come over and get my own sample. So she was coming over already to go on a walk where I did not find a baby deer.

00:33:52
Speaker 4: So we did indeed go successful.

00:33:54
Speaker 1: Well, we did indeed go on the walk, and so she came over and got samples herself, and then from there it kind.

00:34:02
Speaker 4: Of yally spirals escalated.

00:34:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, whenever we get a sample from a new growth, it's called doing an aspiration. So a fine needle aspirt, and it can be really difficult sometimes to get an answer. We call it an F and A because we're taking such a tiny needle. We're sticking it into a growth, so it's a really small sample size and some growths will exfoliate cells really easily and we can look under the microscope and be like, oh, yeah, this is definitely what this is, and others can be really difficult. And in Joy's case, her sample did not exfoliate cells very well. No, I did not, so in looking under the microscope, it was a lot of red blood cells, which is like okay if we hit a blood vessel, and then there was some a couple questionable cells where I was like, m I think we should have the pathol just look at this. Yeah, So then we sent it off to the pathologists.

00:34:52
Speaker 1: Yes, and then it unfortunately came back with what is indicative of sarcoma, which I know a lot about now, so I can say this too, asking Josie, but is a soft tissue cancer. And what is interesting about this whole scenario with Joy has been that it came up out of nowhere. We immediately got her into surgery. Josie referred me to this incredible surgeon. His name is doctor Powinski. We love you, doctor Powinski, and we love sharks.

00:35:26
Speaker 4: He loves sharks. I've learned this like the animal sharks, sharks.

00:35:32
Speaker 1: Since Joy has been recovering, she has different sets of pajamas and I sent her in with shark pajamas the other day and he was like, wait, did you guys do that for me? And I was like what, And he wears sharks on his surgical yes, and so he thought I knew that, but I didn't. But now I will always put her pajamas for him. But he has just been so wonderful, So thank you for that recommendation.

00:35:57
Speaker 2: And never on this podcast thought we'd be saying we love.

00:35:59
Speaker 1: Sharks sharks, but yes, he has just been wonderful. And he removed the mass. Originally, this has probably been what three weeks a month now in a lot yea while. It's gone by very quickly, but so we he removed the mass. It's in a really tricky spot, like I said, to the left of her tail, so the incision was pretty big. He got surrounding tissue as well, and then sent it off And again back to this kind of being a weird situation, this sarcoma is more likely than not a grade one or a grade two tumor, and so they would we would just move on like he would remove it. We'd get clean margins and then just keep an eye on it from there. But unfortunately, Joyce came back as a grade three, which is more likely to spread, more likely to come back, YadA YadA, all of the sad, horrible things that I'm not gonna get into because I'm emotionally drained.

00:36:56
Speaker 4: But all the bad stuff.

00:36:58
Speaker 1: And so the option from there were not.

00:37:01
Speaker 3: To interrupt you yas for listeners because other people are maybe in the same situation.

00:37:06
Speaker 4: As I want YadA YadA.

00:37:07
Speaker 3: No, no, no, you can YadA YadA, I want you to. I just think that for other listeners out there, when you find a new growth on your dog, like exactly what Abby did, is like the path that I would recommend, so you get an as for it to maybe potentially get an idea of what's going on, and then from there, even if you don't get an answer, hopefully you do. I recommend going into surgery, taking it off, and sending it out for biopsy, because that's going to tell us exactly what it is did we get it all and what do we need to do going forward?

00:37:35
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and to touch on that too, I remember sitting there for that first surgery and doctor Pointski being like, you know, there is a chance that we'll send this off and it'll be absolutely nothing. And he wasn't saying that to like get my hopes up. He was saying that, like, this surgery is expensive. I'm like I said to him, I said, if you told me that payment was my left arm, but or my right arm, my dominant one, that's fine too, like both arms, but I would save her.

00:38:03
Speaker 4: I would have given him both arms.

00:38:05
Speaker 1: So I told him, please, we will do whatever is necessary for do not worry. And so but unfortunately it came back worst case scenario, which was highly unlikely. And so after that first surgery and we got the pathology report back on the mass itself, knowing that it was grade three and he did not in that initial thing, we did not get clean margins, and so the options were radiation, which found out does not happen in Nashville. You got to travel somewhere from that, and it's also really hard on a dog, especially a nervous dog like Joy. Another option is to just watch it and do nothing, which is obviously not an option in our household. And then the third was a second surgery where they would kind of just do the same thing but try to get better margins, and he felt very confident that he could do that with a second surgery, so in having faith and trust in him and doctor Josie, we sent her back in and thankfully we just got news that he did get clean margins, so he was able to get everything this go around. The soft issue he sent back in came back with no cancer, so that was step one in all of this and obviously really great news. Since then, it we're just having a really hard time keeping her incision closed because it's in a really tricky spot. Every time she sits or stands, or peas or or does anything a dog does, even without extra activity, she is putting a lot of tension on it. So we have now gone to treating it as an open wound, which smells awesome.

00:39:50
Speaker 2: It's really it's a challenge.

00:39:52
Speaker 4: It really smells.

00:39:55
Speaker 3: I will say to silver lining in this whole thing has been her Jammy.

00:39:58
Speaker 4: Oh, her jammys are the best we've got.

00:40:00
Speaker 1: Strawberry Jami Sharks Lamas yeah, and diverse to match. I mean it's wonderful, it's really really good. So yeah, the jammys are great. We're going in for bandage changes and working on it, and then once we can get this little thing to heal up, we will head for chemo.

00:40:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, we'll do chemotherapy.

00:40:22
Speaker 3: We've got an amazing oncology team here in Nashville, and the biggest part with her condition is where the primary tumor was is clean now clean with margins, and so that is going to give her a great prognosis.

00:40:36
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And again I'm learning about zarcoma, so with that grade three tumor, it's just the reason we know that there isn't any spread in terms of visible tumors because we've done X rays, but they're still about I don't know what it's like forty or fifty percent chance of microscopic spread because of the grade of her original mass. So well, that's why we're going. I know a lot of people are wondering why. Yeah, I'm going to get because I've shared this on Instagram. Yes, if we've removed it with surgery, why are we still doing chemo? And that is why we are still doing.

00:41:09
Speaker 2: Just in case there's any little spread.

00:41:11
Speaker 1: Just to be safe. And I've also learned that chemo and dogs is quite easy.

00:41:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really good point.

00:41:18
Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, chemotherapy and humans, we really target every rapidly dividing cell in the body, and humans it can be really taxing on them. And dogs we definitely prioritize their quality of life a little bit more so. Although yes it's effective, we're not like they're not down and out. They tend to be, you know, solve their appetite and their tails wagging like they're very much.

00:41:41
Speaker 1: They don't lose their hair for the most part. So yeah, I've heard and I know that. I mean, you've talked to Joyce Oncologist more than I have. I actually have not talked to her, but I've heard she's wonderful, amazing. Yes, doctor Powinski said she's wonderful as well.

00:41:57
Speaker 4: But doctor Lucas, Lucas, way to meet you.

00:42:00
Speaker 3: I for me, this has been and I haven't really shared this with you, but this has been like a really great reminder for me and like just made me develop even more empathy for owners and my clients and that so often I'm calling people and giving them bad news and all.

00:42:24
Speaker 2: Just not that I'm.

00:42:25
Speaker 3: Cold hearted, but I'm a little bit desensitized where I'm like, Okay, this is what it is, this is what we need to do next. Like I'm very like, of course empathized greatly, but this is what we need to do to take care of this. And then I hang up the phone and I don't hear from them again until the next step. And so being with you throughout this is just like reminded me that when I hang up the phone, all the flood of emotions that is happening on the other end, and like how deeply attached we are to.

00:42:50
Speaker 4: Our animals and when I like to.

00:42:53
Speaker 3: Think about it, yeah, I mean, it's just you know, it has just reminded me.

00:42:58
Speaker 1: And I have a lot of empathy for you for having to be that person because I know, and I'm so grateful to you for walking with us through all of that, because it has been so helpful and because I know it's not I've been a hot mess and that's not super.

00:43:14
Speaker 4: Fun beautifully true. I don't know about that, but anyway, thank you.

00:43:19
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. It's been something. But I'm I'm optimistic and positive and I will do everything I can for her. But I know we've talked about this, and I was talking to her surgeon about it too the other day. It's just I think with it being Joy, I would I don't want anything ever it happened to any of my dogs, But it's just this heightened thing of she is such a part, like she is the.

00:43:44
Speaker 4: Reason I am who I am.

00:43:46
Speaker 1: She's why I'm in rescue, She's why I have become.

00:43:49
Speaker 2: A decade of Yeah, I am your purpose.

00:43:52
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm just the dog girl to so many people, and that is why.

00:43:57
Speaker 2: Right, it's all her.

00:43:58
Speaker 1: I am absolutely yes, She's been a huge part, a big part of my life.

00:44:03
Speaker 4: You too, Mac, don't.

00:44:05
Speaker 3: Worry like I want to. Mac is like almost half asleep at this point.

00:44:10
Speaker 4: She's so funny because she can be.

00:44:12
Speaker 1: So so exuberant and then just so chill, so.

00:44:15
Speaker 4: Chill, and you've just got the dirtiest face. Figure.

00:44:20
Speaker 3: Well, I know Joy is going to do great, and she's in the best of hands. I mean, she's got a medical tea. She has a whole medical bigger than most humans ever.

00:44:28
Speaker 4: Get.

00:44:28
Speaker 1: I got someone else you the other day, like, is she seeing just like her normal bet for this I was like, oh no, she has multiple bets on colleges, the surgeon.

00:44:39
Speaker 3: I've got my friend. Yeah, I mean this is this goes nationwide.

00:44:46
Speaker 4: She's a fancy girl pretty much.

00:44:48
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, on a brighter note, we always like to end this podcast with is there anything that you do at home when you're in the quiet of your home and people aren't watching, Like funny silly with your animals?

00:44:59
Speaker 4: I know thousands of things.

00:45:02
Speaker 1: So one thing that I think is very funny that Dan does is he says he needs to get them soft goods and also, we don't have any rules in our house with our dogs. Sorry trainers listening. They run the house. That is just you just pay the mortgage exactly. It is one thousand percent their house. So they are already on soft goods. They are on couch, bed, chair, whatever else. But he doesn't think that's soft enough for them. So then when it's time for us to like watch TV, he gets out all the soft goods. So there are blankets, pillows. I mean, it's just covered in soft goods. And I know a lot Like we were on the road last weekend and he was like, do they need soft goods?

00:45:45
Speaker 4: And they're fine? They're sitting on the couch for like one minute, They're going to be okay, Dan, all of the soft goods we have after dinnertry and they are so accustomed to it they know, like the second I'm putting down my fork to finish Mimi, because they know they get their treat as soon as I'm done eating, So after dinner treat, they go straight to the cabinet after dinner, night cap. There's so many I'm dying.

00:46:09
Speaker 3: I need you to send me a picture of them having soft good will that soft goods.

00:46:12
Speaker 1: Time, so many soft goods. That is so many.

00:46:15
Speaker 3: Soft good I have said at once, I will say it again. I want to come back as one of your dogs in my next night, living the dream we'd love to do. You have send me pictures. You're like, is it okay for me to feed them this? And their bowl is like a healthy little mix of dog food, strawberries, a blueberry and apple slice, a carrot. I'm like, oh my god, it's amazing.

00:46:34
Speaker 4: They do get banana time as well.

00:46:35
Speaker 6: With Dan when he's making a smoothie banana time, he gives up half of his banana for a smoothie because the other half goes to the dogs and he slices it up and spreads almond butter on each individual slice of banana.

00:46:49
Speaker 4: I don't know who do you think the bigger sucker is? You were Dan? Oh, that's a great like who's the disciplinarian more so than.

00:46:55
Speaker 1: They definitely respect me more than I think, because just inherently because I'm the one that's always around. I mean their mama, Yes, and we It's just it's like hilarious to watch us walk around the house because it's just me and then like my little train of like dogs.

00:47:14
Speaker 4: Just running around at all times.

00:47:15
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:47:16
Speaker 4: It's really it's really wonderful.

00:47:18
Speaker 2: And it's nice with him being on the road so often and traveling.

00:47:20
Speaker 1: You've got your crew, got my buddies, and you guys get to go too sometimes.

00:47:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, how do they do when they're on tour?

00:47:26
Speaker 1: They actually do great. They're really good. Chief and Joy I've done it for so long. And Max pretty adaptable, and so his ghost he's just like he's like.

00:47:34
Speaker 4: As long as my mom's there, he's like, give me a soft good and my mom and I'm good, that's good. My mom rite up my blank.

00:47:41
Speaker 2: So they just hang on the bus like, can you just do it?

00:47:43
Speaker 4: Okay?

00:47:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, we will walk around like if we're somewhere nice, like there's always, you know, a.

00:47:48
Speaker 4: River right near the arena wherever you are.

00:47:50
Speaker 1: We'll go on a walk and hang and then during the show they just chill.

00:47:55
Speaker 2: I'm coming back as one of your dogs, like to have you. That is amazing.

00:47:59
Speaker 1: We would feel on.

00:48:01
Speaker 2: I'll be a cha I might bite, but you know.

00:48:03
Speaker 4: I love a chiwa.

00:48:04
Speaker 2: I do got a soft spot.

00:48:05
Speaker 3: Well, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for sharing your story with Joy. I know I will be falling along because I am very much invested in vested, but all the listeners as well. And if you don't fall abby, you should because watching her and her dogs.

00:48:19
Speaker 4: Is mostly just dogs that I am sharing about Joy. Yeah.

00:48:22
Speaker 2: Maybe sharks now too, so I do like the ocean.

00:48:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, very fair.

00:48:26
Speaker 2: Well, I love you very much, Thank you for coming on.

00:48:29
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. You're welcome.

00:48:31
Speaker 1: Bye.

00:48:33
Speaker 4: Did we nail it? We did it.

00:48:39
Speaker 5: All right, What a great conversation with Abbi Smyers. And we will definitely be keeping Joy in our prayers and just keeping up with her journey and seeing how they're doing.

00:48:49
Speaker 2: Unfortunate but I'm glad that they have you. Yeah, all the good vibes for Joy.

00:48:54
Speaker 3: It's so I mean, we touched on it in the interview, but it's so important to catch things early. So yeah, anytime I'm your pets have a new lumper bump like that, just getting them into your vet because it is a time sensitive situation and the fact that Abby caught it so quickly, really you know, hopefully means that Joy will have a much better prognosis.

00:49:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, and as a testament to the owner that she is too, because she's obviously someone who really pays close attention to her animals, hundreds everything so really really awesome just to hear her. And if you follow Abby on social media, you will be able to keep up with all their adorable rescues because they are so daring cute.

00:49:29
Speaker 3: Yes, at Abby Smeiers on Instagram. Her dogs are adorable. All of her content is amazing, So give her a follow for sure.

00:49:37
Speaker 2: All Right.

00:49:37
Speaker 5: One of my favorite parts of the show always we are heading into paw and Order this week.

00:49:44
Speaker 1: All right.

00:49:44
Speaker 3: For paw and Order this week, number one is I would not forget to run an annual fecal on my dog. I feel like so often we think about annual blood work or an annual your analysis and their vaccines that oftentimes the fecal will kind of get overlooked.

00:50:00
Speaker 2: But this time of year it always makes me.

00:50:02
Speaker 3: I just always remember how important it is, and we just see so many GI parasites. I actually just had a dog the other day throw up an entire worm. We're doing a wellness examine. This dog is totally healthy and I'm like touching his belly, listening to his heart, and all of a sudden, it's throws up an entire worm comes out.

00:50:18
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh big.

00:50:19
Speaker 3: It was like probably this no for those who can't see, like six inches, maybe like pretty big, a long round worm.

00:50:25
Speaker 2: You see.

00:50:25
Speaker 5: People like the thing now is the parasite clids that like humans are doing. He was like, I am doing my own parasite cleans everyone.

00:50:31
Speaker 2: I'll show you humans.

00:50:33
Speaker 4: Oh.

00:50:34
Speaker 2: The owner was like green in the face.

00:50:36
Speaker 4: I'm like, it's.

00:50:36
Speaker 3: Okay, You're like I have had you know, he knows that my face explode on my face, sir, A worm is nothing nothing.

00:50:45
Speaker 4: Once again, I love my job.

00:50:46
Speaker 3: I love my job, but yeah, I know it sounds it is disgusting, But GI parasites are really easy to take care of, and if they're not taking care of, they can cause long term effects.

00:50:55
Speaker 4: So run an annual fecal I think people.

00:50:57
Speaker 5: Like I know me as a dog owner, when you go to the vet and they're like, we're going to have to do a fecal test, you just dread it because you're like, I have to go home and I have to put this poop in a cup and then return it back to the vet. I think that's why people don't overlook it. They overlook it because they're.

00:51:12
Speaker 4: Like, I don't want to do this, Yeah, yeah, you got it, you got us poo.

00:51:16
Speaker 3: Or just if you're going in for your dog's annual, just no, and just pick it up preemptively, bring it in a little baggy and just bring it with you.

00:51:22
Speaker 5: Okay, So you can do that. It's not going to like absolutely affect the sample.

00:51:25
Speaker 3: As long as it's like within the last twelve to twenty four hours, you're good to go. My French bulldog always vets office walk in every single time she'd poop in the vet's office.

00:51:35
Speaker 2: And I don't know why.

00:51:36
Speaker 5: She was not a poop in the house kind of dog, but she was like here's my fucal sample.

00:51:40
Speaker 2: That's a good girl. That's the kind of patient we need, right in the front, giving me a sample right off the bat.

00:51:46
Speaker 4: Yep, for sure.

00:51:47
Speaker 3: Okay, number two, I would not forget to ask my vet if what my pet has is zoonautic zoonotic means? Can a human can track this disease from their animal? Hey, if your pet has a cough, if it has a skin rash, if it has a tummy ache. I think it's always a great idea to be like, hey, can I get this? Can my cat get this?

00:52:08
Speaker 2: Children get it?

00:52:09
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:52:09
Speaker 2: Can you're the ones that are gonna be touching it?

00:52:11
Speaker 4: Yep?

00:52:12
Speaker 2: Exactly.

00:52:12
Speaker 3: And I actually I had a case a few weeks ago where this cat came in and he was super itchy and had lesions all over his face and I'm looking at him. I'm like, you know, this could be bacterial. I'm not entirely sure what's going on. And I look at the owner and she has this like perfectly circular lesion on her arm and I was like, does that itch?

00:52:32
Speaker 2: And she was like, yeah, it really itches.

00:52:33
Speaker 3: And I was like, you know, I'm not a human doctor, but I'm pretty sure that's ringworm. Yeah, and cats carry ringworm, and I'm pretty sure your cat probably gave it to you, so and lo and Beholdy ended up testing him and he did have ringworm, and the owner got better. But it's just h Yeah, just good to know if you can contract it from your animal. Most of the time, no, but in the instances you can, it's good to know.

00:52:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.

00:52:55
Speaker 5: Ringworm with horses is always something like that is a little more obvious on them. And I've had so many friends of mine that have just not paid attention and ended up with that ringworm.

00:53:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so interesting ringworm. Like ten of us could be in a room handling a cat with ringworm, and seven of us wouldn't get it. But then there's the three like people, some people, for whatever reason, are so susceptible to it.

00:53:17
Speaker 2: I always get it. You always get I just look at him and I get it.

00:53:20
Speaker 4: I'm like ding it, Okay.

00:53:24
Speaker 3: Number three, I would not say my pet isn't in pain when it's limping, and this isn't no fault at all to owners, but a lot of times would I'll see it is. A dog will come in it's limping, and they'll be like, yeah, but like, you know, he's not in pain.

00:53:36
Speaker 4: He's doing fine, And I'm.

00:53:38
Speaker 3: Like, actually, my job as a veterinarian is to detect when animals are in pain, because they can't tell us, so I have to be an advocate for them. Obviously, limping is a pretty clear indication that something's uncomfortable. And so even though your pet might still be eating and drinking normally wanting to go for a run. I know my dog would go running on three legs if he had to, Like he would never say no to a walk. That doesn't mean that they're not in pain and in discomfort, and so it's something to be like take pretty seriously.

00:54:04
Speaker 5: And they're people pleasers dogs are, so they're like, Okay, I'll suck it up and we'll just go for our walk because they want to be with you.

00:54:11
Speaker 2: Exactly.

00:54:12
Speaker 5: I think of that too, Like if I sprain my ankle, I can still eat and go to work and you know, get ready for the day.

00:54:16
Speaker 2: But it doesn't mean I should be walking around.

00:54:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, and doesn't mean you don't need some mighty profile to get through your deaths, some painkillers okay.

00:54:22
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.

00:54:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, So yeah, that's good to know because I think too. There's a lot of dogs that go a little hard sometimes when they're playing fetch and stuff, and like we've had that happen where one of our dogs had like sprained her foot and so she'd be fine, but then when she'd play, she'd start limping a little bit.

00:54:38
Speaker 2: And you know, at the.

00:54:39
Speaker 5: Beginning we were like, oh, she'll be fine, but no, she needed she needed a little anti inflammatory.

00:54:44
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly. Yeah, So just you know, keeping an eye on them. And it's not always about eating and drinking and want to go do things. I mean, it's all the other signs too, So for sure important to know.

00:54:54
Speaker 5: Awesome, Well, it was so great to have Abbie Smiers on the show today and for everyone listening, don't forget you guys can rate and review.

00:55:00
Speaker 2: Wherever you guys listen to podcasts.

00:55:02
Speaker 3: And feel free as always to reach out. My Instagram handle is at doctor Josie Vett. Feel free to submit your questions, any feedback comments you have.

00:55:11
Speaker 2: We want to hear it all.

00:55:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks for joining us in the Vet's Office.