MacKenzie Porter & Willa Bean: Preparing Your Dog for a New Baby, Willa’s Near Fatal GI Issues & More

00:00:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're listening to In the Vets Office with.

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Speaker 2: Doctor Josie Horshak.

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Speaker 3: Hey everyone, and welcome to in the Vets Office. I am your host, doctor Josie, and I am joined here by my co host Shannon Ella, who some of you may know from Canadian country music radio.

00:00:26
Speaker 2: And this is our very first episode.

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Speaker 3: We are excited to be here and we're going to dive right in to Case of the Week. Case of the Week is going to be where I read tell stories of some of the craziest things that I have seen while practicing as a veterinarian.

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Speaker 2: So things that you know, you just walk into your vet's office thinking it's like a normal day. We don't know what's going on behind closed doors. So now Place of the Week is always interesting.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot going on in the trenches, if you will, Okay, the case for this week is one of my favorite patients. He was one of my first that I took care of right out of school. His name was Hondo, and he was a big old hound and he loved to get into stuff. I mean he would eat anything and everything, and so it wasn't not that uncommon for him to be coming in for X rays to figure out what he had eaten this time. Oh, he's one of those, okay, and so erey are it's a normal Monday. Hondo's in the hospital because he's throwing up. He's eaten something he shouldn't have. The mom and the daughter had brought him in and lo and behold. My nurses call me and they say, okay, yep, Hondo's X rays are up. Come take a look. And I am staring at it. I'm like, are you Is.

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Speaker 2: This what I think it is?

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Speaker 3: And there are symbols all throughout his stomach. Hondo ate a tambourine. Oh wow, a whole tambourine. And so I go back into the room and I said, does anyone play the tambourine in your house? And the little daughter I think she was like ten maybe, and she was like, oh my god, I've been looking everywhere for my tambourine.

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Speaker 2: Like why do you ask? I'm like, well, it's in Hondo's stomach like he was still in yes, like in his stomach around in two halves, okay, at least probably, Like how did he swallow an entire tamburine? I have one of those in my house for my son? Yeah, like, that's a still plastic one. Yep, as a parent, did not ever think of a dog eating that. Yeah they I didn't either.

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Speaker 3: Really, Hondo has just exceeded all expectations in that regard.

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Speaker 2: So not just shoes to watch out for, like remote controls, tambourines, keep your tambourines up, people, you know what. He lives in Nashville, though he's into the music. That's probably the music. So he's like, all I do is listen to music. I'm just trying to join in.

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Speaker 3: Just jingling as he walks by. But it was great. We went in and we got it out. I definitely played it just a little like ding ding as it came out of the stomach, you have to. And he went on to a totally normal life.

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Speaker 2: He did great. Hondo's very lucky he has you. Yeah, well, hopefully he stays out of the vet's office for a while. Yeah, no more surgery.

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Speaker 3: He's not welcome in the vet's office anymore. So that was Yeah, that's our case of the week, And now we can jump right into our listener Q and A's We had some really good questions submitted this week, so we'll jump into number one.

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Speaker 4: Hi doctor Josie, why do dogs like to eat their eyeboogers?

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Speaker 2: This repulses me. I think it's gross. Yeah, it is gross, And how do they do it?

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Speaker 3: Also, I don't I guess maybe they're eating their like siblings.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I'm like, how do they lick them off their own eyes?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: I mean Also, I know some owners pick their dogs eyebookers and feed them to them. I know that because people have told me, and I may have done it once or twice of my dog.

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Speaker 2: I don't have Goosebumps's not good ones.

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Speaker 3: There is no They don't teach you this in bet school guys, so I have no medical background or scientific research on this. My thought would be that maybe they're like kind of salty and they like the salty taste of them.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say they're probably salty. You know your eye, your tears are a little salty, so it's probably yeah. I mean. Also, I think it's sweet. Like our dogs used to do that, they'd clean each other's for them, Yes, and you know what, I'd rather them do it than me have to do it exactly, So, I'm like, you want to eat each other's eyeboogers? Go for it. I just don't like to think about it. Yeah, it is gross, I agree, But hey, you know what pets do? Yeah?

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Speaker 5: You do?

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Speaker 2: You do? You do? You?

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Speaker 1: All?

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Speaker 2: Right? Number two on our questions, what's.

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Speaker 5: The best way to find a really good dog sitter? I've had really horrible luck with dogsitters. The stories I could tell you who I won't. But what's the first course of action I should take to find a really exceptional dog sitter.

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Speaker 2: I want to hear those stories. I know I won't. Maybe we should have her on, Maybe we should. I want to know these stories. But it's a great question.

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Speaker 3: It's a really good question, and I have heard some absolute horror stories. I actually had a friend the other day tell me that she found a pet sitter on Rover. The pet sitter came in, took off all of her clothes. They had a furbo, a furbo camera, and so they were able to see through the furbo that the pet sitter took off all her clothes and then proceeded to lay on the couch butt naked and eatable of cereal for like the.

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Speaker 2: Whole time she was there, was just naked. Feel like, I'm not questioning your pet care, but just your overall, if you're a newnist, just like be up from about it. Yeah, you kind of have to put that into resume, Like I'm probably going to be nude at your house. Yeah, I'm probably not going to hire you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. So Yeah, I've heard so many horror stories. I guess I would say if you're going to go on rover or wag and find a pet sitter that way, have them come over for a meet and greet beforehand, do a couple like however many you need to do to feel comfortable, ask them for references. I know personally, I like never want to make someone feel like put out or like be annoying, But when it comes to watching your pets, like don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions and have them comfortable times if you need to. The other really really great place to look is your vets office. So a lot of my nurses will pet sit, a lot of my receptionists will pet sit, and then you know that they have the background, they have the training, and they have reliable jobs.

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Speaker 2: That's a really great place to look for a pet sitter.

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Speaker 3: Last, but not least, here in Nashville, we've got some like really awesome privately owned.

00:05:57
Speaker 2: Pet sitting companies.

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Speaker 3: Yes, they have like ten to twenty pet sitters on staff. They're all vetted and they've done background checks. So wherever you live, I would google like private pet sitting business because you can find some really great ones that way.

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Speaker 2: That's how we found ours. We found one of ours through that and then realized that she had sat for Abby Smyers and like Abby and Dan of Dan and Shay and just being able to like call friends and be like, hey, are they They seem great to us, but are they as good as we thought? And knowing that they are, but references from friends and family members or your vet, yes are always great because it is they're your children. Can leave with theay ones.

00:06:34
Speaker 3: God, No, I'm like, listen, you need to tuck my syah in around eight thirty.

00:06:38
Speaker 2: You need to ask her how her day was. She likes to have a pillow like manicure and pedicur at six. It's very serious business. Yes, okay, let's hit up our last question.

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Speaker 4: Hi, doctor Josie. I wanted to know why my dog and I have two dogs. Why my older dog likes to peet in his bed. He's already gone out but he likes to pee in his bed sometimes and I don't know why.

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Speaker 2: Oh, I was like me, He's like, don't talk about me.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of reasons dogs will potty where they're not supposed to potty. They can have urinary tract infections, it can be a behavioral thing, it can be kidney disease. This one specifically makes me think of them potentially having incontinence.

00:07:26
Speaker 2: So as dogs get a little.

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Speaker 3: Bit older, they can develop incontinence where typically they're laying down, they're in their bed, or they're like laying on in their usual spot, and they get up and there's like a little puddle of urine and they don't know, like they have no idea that they're going to the bathroom. And so just with him being a little bit older and going in his bed, that's really one of the first things that comes to mind. But I do recommend, like, of course, we want to rule out a urinary tract infection, make sure his kidneys are normal. If all of that comes back normal, he probably has incontinents and we can get them on medication and they do great.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my older dog, God rests Phoebe. She when she hit like twelve. It wasn't all the time. It got worse as she got older, but she would get in these deep sleeps in the day and I'd walk home and be like, oh, man, so I just got a waterproof pad that like went under so that I wasn't constantly washing the dogbed. Yeah, and you know what, like when she was a puppy, if she had been doing that, I would be like, Okay, we're potty training. But when they get older, it's just like they can't help it. And she didn't have a uti, it was just ye control. Yes, honestly, we can see it in our younger dogs too. Really, it's spade females. We've come to find that that estrogen or lack thereof because their spade makes them prone to incontinence. So typically, like are a lot of times it can be like a four or five year old female that's been spaded, And definitely talk to you about it because there's some great medications out there that can get it completely under control. So and if it's a female that's had puppies, I don't know if it's similar to women that I've had children, but just leave her alone, Okay, Yeah, I don't know if there's any similarly by sneezes. Yeah, we're jumping around. Just let her go. Oh that's funny.

00:09:01
Speaker 3: All right, great, well those are some great questions today's episode. I'm super excited for We both share her as a mutual friend. That's actually how we met.

00:09:09
Speaker 2: I know, yes, I don't even realize Mackenzie Porter. Yeah yeah, so churls night and I go was like horse girl, Vet, I love you already.

00:09:17
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, we definitely bonded right away. So today we're going to have the beautiful and incredibly talented Mackenzie Porter in the Vets Office. Not only is she our friend, but you also probably know her from her lead role on the Netflix series The Travelers or her booming music career. Her and Dustin Lynch spent many weeks in the number one spot on country music radio for their song Thinking About You.

00:09:41
Speaker 2: I still love that song too. I'm super excited to have her on today. Coming up next, Mackenzie Porter with Doctor Josie. Welcome to in the Vets Office, Mackenzie Porter. I know.

00:09:55
Speaker 3: Colligannurferdi is Mac this entire episode And for listeners out there that can't see us, we are twinning today. We came pretty much in the exact same outfit, and this was not planned.

00:10:06
Speaker 5: I know.

00:10:07
Speaker 6: This means we're good friends. We're on the same waveleg exactly.

00:10:10
Speaker 3: So we got your intro out of the way, and now we need to get to the real star of the show. Here we have on this podcast, we call it b YOD Bring your Own Dog. So tell us a little bit about miss Willa, this little.

00:10:22
Speaker 6: Beast, we call her the beast. She her name's Willa. Her name's Willa Bean okay.

00:10:28
Speaker 1: Porter Ethridge.

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Speaker 2: She has the full name Willa Bean Porter Ethri.

00:10:32
Speaker 1: Yes, a star, a.

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Speaker 6: Star, and she is almost five year old multi poo poo, which is like very uncole like.

00:10:40
Speaker 1: I remember my husband when I was like, we're getting a multi poo poo.

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Speaker 6: He's like any other dog, any other Like there's no there's nothing cool about that dog.

00:10:46
Speaker 1: And now he's obsessed with her.

00:10:47
Speaker 2: So we're here. She's like palling at me. A multi poo poo. So we've got a Maltese and a poodle, yeah, or a double poodle.

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Speaker 6: I think she was like bred a multipoo, uh huh, and then a multie been made with another.

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Speaker 1: Poodle, maybe with another heard the poo poo.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: Yes, okay, I love that. And how old is Willebane?

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Speaker 6: So she's almost five August she'll be five almost five. Love that.

00:11:10
Speaker 3: And you have recently announced that you are expecting a baby girl?

00:11:15
Speaker 2: Do you think that she knows?

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Speaker 6: So it's funny, like I feel like the very beginning, I was like she has to know because she kept kind of cuddling my tummy and like wanting to be near me.

00:11:27
Speaker 1: And now I don't know.

00:11:28
Speaker 6: Like it's you know, it's hard to say, like she definitely smells my tummy a lot, okay, because I feel like you, I mean, dogs obviously can sense that kind of thing. I think she's I wouldn't say she's the sharpest tool in the shed, but she is very cuddly, improtective of me. Like even the other day Jake was like tickling me or I can't remember, he wasn't tickling me, Like he went to grabb me for a hug or something, and she would start barking at him.

00:11:49
Speaker 1: So she's more protective. And I think that's since the pregnancy.

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Speaker 3: I hear a lot of women say that that they become more protective when they're pregnant. So you're not the first time.

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Speaker 6: She's kind of the most like beauty. I love that so much, like that a dog can just sense like a new family member. Yeah, I don't know that.

00:12:07
Speaker 1: They're just they're so aware.

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Speaker 2: How do you think she'll do when you bring the baby home?

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Speaker 6: So we we always talk about this, like, I think she loves kids. We have neighbors that have kids, so I feel really confident about that. We've also just been like, we have to make sure we give her attention. Still, yes, but I think it'll be fine, Like we're gonna do the whole like let the baby lay in the blanket and then let her smell the blanket and then introduce her to the baby.

00:12:31
Speaker 1: But I feel like she'll be totally fine.

00:12:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.

00:12:33
Speaker 3: I mean, I know her, so I think so. But I do think that's really important for listeners out there. If you know you're gonna want a family, exposing your dog and getting them desensitized and socialized with kids is so important because yeah, I mean, it's gonna be a huge part of your life. And I will be interested to hear your feedback on the age old question of do you love your human children more than your fur children? Because I'm convinced I won't.

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Speaker 1: I mean too that makes me like cry.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, being like i've her, people would be like, oh, you won't even care what your dog anymore, And I'm.

00:13:03
Speaker 1: Like that breaks my heart right now.

00:13:05
Speaker 2: It's not possible.

00:13:06
Speaker 6: It's not I mean, I think, you know, we have enough love to go around, and I'm sure like there will be times where it's annoying if she's barking, the baby wakes up or whatever, or like taking her out and we're just kind of like swamped will be a challenge, But I just don't think I could love her, no, any of us.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so either. So you know, you're a musician, you're on tour a lot. Has she gone on tour with you? And how does she do?

00:13:32
Speaker 6: She does so well. I'm like so impressed with her. I like' just a proud mom. She does so well. So we her big tour was we did like.

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Speaker 1: A run with Dan and Shay and you know, I feel like those guys are like dog people too, totally.

00:13:47
Speaker 6: So it was amphitheaters and she loved it and like everybody loved her backstage and of course like when the show's going her sound check that's.

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Speaker 1: Like loud and scary for her.

00:13:56
Speaker 6: But we would just saw her back on the bus and she was fine. She was totally fine, and she flown. She's a really good traveler. She loves car rides. So I think because we did that, like very early on in her life, that she's pretty used to that.

00:14:09
Speaker 2: She's such a like an entertainer's dog.

00:14:11
Speaker 1: She is, for sure, Yeah, she is.

00:14:12
Speaker 6: And she loves music and she loves like I mean, she is in Jake's studio with him recording every single day, and that's just her life.

00:14:18
Speaker 1: She's a studio pup.

00:14:19
Speaker 3: So Max's husband, Jake is also a very talented musician. Have either you or Jake written a song about her?

00:14:26
Speaker 6: Or we definitely have written like joke songs, Yeah, like nothing's making.

00:14:31
Speaker 2: My record like at home that you'll sing to her.

00:14:34
Speaker 1: Yes, she's a theme song.

00:14:36
Speaker 2: Will you maybe give us one little hint of what that sounds like?

00:14:39
Speaker 1: Do you remember the show Pepraham? Yeah? Do you remember it?

00:14:43
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:14:44
Speaker 1: So her theme song is will le Me, will le Be. She's stio coover seventh grade willa bean. It's like a million is amazing. She's like ready for her walk.

00:14:55
Speaker 2: She's like who that's so cute. It's actually so funny.

00:14:58
Speaker 3: Like I would love to do an episode of just like crazy that people say at home to their animals when no one's listening or watching, because I know what I say, and it's.

00:15:07
Speaker 1: You seem like very similar tiktoks where it's like what.

00:15:10
Speaker 6: Your dog's name is? And then like how you got to like what you actually call your dogs? Yes, and like the progression of like nicknames. So sly, that's funny.

00:15:18
Speaker 2: I love it. When we had first met, I think Willa was just kind of starting to have some of her gi issues. And I know that this has been a long journey that you guys have been on as far as her tummy issues. Do you mind kind of just giving us like a recap of of what you guys have been through totally?

00:15:48
Speaker 6: So she the first, like I guess this would be like the first like two and a half years of her life, no issues at all, just like healthy and everything was totally fine. And then we moved. That was kind of when we started hanging out a lot, you know. Yeah, we moved into a new house and one night Jake came home, I was out of town, and she had like thrown up had diarrhea. There was blood in the diarrhea, like all over our bedroom, all over the walls, like it was crazy, like she had gone in the shower, our bed, the walls. It was like a murder scene in there.

00:16:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he it's really hairy, very scary.

00:16:23
Speaker 6: And I didn't know at the time, like if dogs have like blood in their stool, it's a lot more normal than like a human. Yeah, it's not as scary, but we didn't know that.

00:16:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:16:33
Speaker 1: So that was the first.

00:16:34
Speaker 6: Like indication of anything wrong with her. So that night, Jake took her into emergency and he told me the other day, so I was asking him just to remind me, and he stayed there till five in the morning with her shuvet in the parking lot.

00:16:48
Speaker 2: Was this in the ice storm?

00:16:49
Speaker 6: This was this had to be a little bit before the ice storm. Okay, this was the first incident.

00:16:55
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:16:55
Speaker 6: And at that point it was just like, you know what you and I've talked about, like probably has right tummy issues, Let's put her on mechanitis al yep. So we did that and that did help for like a little bit.

00:17:07
Speaker 3: She wants to like I am for those of you who cannot see. I've been holding her paw that she's sitting on her mom's lab and I'm holding her.

00:17:13
Speaker 2: Paw in the middle of it.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: Loves the attention.

00:17:15
Speaker 2: She knows she's a star.

00:17:18
Speaker 6: And so you know, we kind of thought that was maybe just like a one off. Yeah, and I think like poodle and usually it is yeah and poodle like you, I think you told me this, Like, poodle breeds have a lot of tummy issues.

00:17:31
Speaker 3: Right, Yes, they can be like all of our I call them dudes, all of our like doodle mixes, can have really sensitive tummies, and so we can see from time to time them having gi upset. Willi's case is much more extreme extreme for sure.

00:17:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's kind of how it started.

00:17:48
Speaker 6: And then the metronizle it did help for a bit, and then we didn't take her off, but we kept her on it for a while, and then slowly things started to get worse again. And then it was like a series of switching foods and trying like we tried like alligator protein and like ostrich protein, like all these different things that we were trying to do to like see if she was allergic or whatever.

00:18:10
Speaker 1: Nothing was working.

00:18:11
Speaker 6: Now this was probably you know, a month or two months of trial and error. And at that point, this was a snowstorm that I was telling you about probably two years ago.

00:18:22
Speaker 1: It was like.

00:18:22
Speaker 6: Nashville shuts down, the roads are all ice ice. And I was sitting on the couch one day. She was not doing well.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: Lost.

00:18:31
Speaker 6: I mean, now she's like thirteen pounds the time, she's trowbably seven, right, and we were going into the vet regularly, yeah, just like trying to figure it out.

00:18:37
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:18:39
Speaker 6: And I remember waking up that morning and being like, I think she's gonna die because she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink. She smelled so bad, like you could almost smell her eating her muscle or something.

00:18:50
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, like wasting away almost, Yeah.

00:18:53
Speaker 6: And she couldn't hold like any bowels in, like it was like we had diapers on or it was so bad. So I remember saying to Jake, like, we have to drive out to emergency, even on these roads. I had a little car at the time, Like, I don't care if this.

00:19:06
Speaker 1: Is yeah daughter.

00:19:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, And so we drove out there and that night she stayed for two nights out in an emergency. They put her on an ivy and I think they even maybe put her under I can't remember exactly, but put her on IVY because she was so dehydrated. And at that point it was like, hey, we got to add an additional medicine of steroid.

00:19:27
Speaker 1: So we did that.

00:19:28
Speaker 6: The steroid worked for a while and then again stop working, stopped working. The last thing that we ended up adding was cyclist worm, which is IMMANI supressing because I guess her body was like, yeah, fighting itself.

00:19:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I remember we had X rays.

00:19:44
Speaker 6: You remember I was over at your house and I showed you that and it was just like, what is going on going on in her little you know, intestines kind of So this is all over like six months and just so frustrating. I'm on the road, you know, we can't get her.

00:20:00
Speaker 1: To be healthy. We're wondering like is she eating something? Is she allergic? Something? Like why isn't of this medicine working.

00:20:06
Speaker 3: I remember a lot of phone calls with you being like, I feel so bad, I'm gone, I'm traveling. Jake's at home dealing with this. She's so sick, and partially we thought, you know, is this stress related too? Because you are gone in and out, So it's like you can really guilt trip yourself into feeling responsible and bad about it.

00:20:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and just like.

00:20:28
Speaker 6: You know, we've talked so much about Like in my head, I was like, well, what's what's the answer, Like there should be one answer, like what's wrong with her?

00:20:35
Speaker 1: And how do we fix it?

00:20:36
Speaker 2: Right?

00:20:36
Speaker 6: And they're just there wasn't and there's still isn't necessarily a full answer. She has been She did do a scope. They went inside and like scoped her YEP, said like her intestines were basically like flaking apart, just like so sensitive, and diagnosed her with irritable bowel disease.

00:20:56
Speaker 3: Yes, inflammatory bowel disease, Yeah exactly, yeah IBD. So and there's like a wide range of IBD and cats and dogs, and in her case it's i'd say, pretty significant. And so that's how we have her on these steroid and amino suppressive medications because essentially their GI tract is just so inflamed and almost like it's attacking itself that those medications say, hey, calm down and keep that inflammation at bay. One thing that I know we have talked about is being a vet. I see so much GI upset every single day. I see dogs of vomiting and diarrhea, and owners want answers right away.

00:21:33
Speaker 2: They are just like, why is this happening? And we will run tests.

00:21:37
Speaker 3: And a really hard thing for me is I'll run tests and I'll come in and I'll say, I still don't know why this is happening. But we run those tests to say, we can rule out a lot of bad things. So the blood work can rule out kidney disease, liver disease, the X rays can rule out that they've eaten something that they shouldn't have. So although the tests may not always give us the answer, I can at least tell us what it's not a lot of the times, and GI disease is so ambiguous and there's so many different things that can cause it that a lot of times, if they're not getting better and Willa's case, we really have to cast a very wide net to figure out what's going on. And it can take time, and it requires patience on the owner's end. You guys have been I feel like we're so patient with it, but it can be hard when you're your fergile is sick.

00:22:19
Speaker 2: It can be really stressful. It's expensive, it's very expensive. The work up.

00:22:24
Speaker 3: There's this misconception that vets just want to run tests and make money, but the reality is that sometimes we have to run a bunch.

00:22:29
Speaker 2: Of tests in order to to get to the bottom of it.

00:22:32
Speaker 6: So totally, and I think that's like medical with humans too, Like you have to, yeah, say it's not all these things before you can yeah, before you can you know, rule them out. And I think rule out those common things, all the common things that it most of the time is exactly which it wasn't for her, which which it was frustrating for us and you know, scary, and I've kept failing like what are we missing? Yeah, or like that I was like a crappy dog mom, yeah, you know, because I feel like she is from a breeder and I thought maybe that would have less issues.

00:23:06
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe.

00:23:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's crazy how I hear that all the time, dog owners being like what am I doing wrong? Like I feel like a crabby dog parent. And it is a lot of times just out.

00:23:17
Speaker 2: Of our hands. It is just the way it is. So and it's the same with humans too.

00:23:21
Speaker 1: Total.

00:23:22
Speaker 3: So no, nothing you did wrong and of anything, like you the way you and Jake candled it was really amazing. In fact, one thing that I took away from it is there's such a stigma with veterinarians and veterinary staff that when the husband brings the dog in, we're always like, oh God, here we go, because we'll be like, what prevention is your pet on? And they're always like, I don't know. Let me ask my wife, what's your dog eat? I don't know, let me ask my wife. We're like, why did you even send him in the first place. But Jake has like totally broken the mold for me. He is like the best dog dad. Not that you're not an amazing dog mom, but he like stepped up in such a big way.

00:23:55
Speaker 1: He really did.

00:23:56
Speaker 6: He loves her so much, he loves animals so much, and he's home more than I'm home, right, So she has been. She's a very high maintenance dog and like on such a specific schedule and has to come in all the time. And he yeah, it's like it's kind of cool now that I'm like having a baby, yea, to see to have seen him be a.

00:24:16
Speaker 1: Bit of a dad already.

00:24:18
Speaker 2: Yeah to her and like have.

00:24:19
Speaker 6: Have this routine and responsibility. And I mean he literally texts me this morning because he had to go early. And he's like, did you give her her medicine? And I'm like, yes, I'm not completely incapable.

00:24:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he is.

00:24:30
Speaker 6: He's really good and he's taken the charge and the lead on a lot of her medical stuff. Yeah.

00:24:35
Speaker 3: I love that, and I feel like you got such a good one, and it translates over to how he will be a dad.

00:24:40
Speaker 2: I'm sure.

00:24:41
Speaker 3: Even the other day we were out Mackenzie and ire at brunch and you ordered a mocktail and he was like to the waiter, please make sure this is a mocktail because she is pregnant.

00:24:50
Speaker 1: I felled over you. I told him after, I'm like, you don't need to do that. Every time.

00:24:54
Speaker 2: I loved it so much. I just feel like he's a gem and he has broken the the husbands stigma for me. So tell him thanks that.

00:25:03
Speaker 6: Will I will definitely he I think like the one thing that you know, this journey with her, like when you get a dog, When we got a dog, just completely like I grew up on a ranch with a ton of animals, but we never had like an inside animal.

00:25:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like we had.

00:25:18
Speaker 6: Outside dogs, and I never had like taken care of a dog. Or anything really you know, another living thing. And I think, like I just didn't expect to have a dog that like had so many issues. But it really has like taught us as a couple to like how to take care of something and like how to keep on schedule and how to keep like I don't know, it's kind of prepped us for I think.

00:25:44
Speaker 2: Having a baby.

00:25:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's probably.

00:25:46
Speaker 6: Gonna be like eighteen million times harder, but it has put us like on the right kind of road.

00:25:51
Speaker 3: It teaches you how to be a partnership. You're like working together to take care of this thing that you love, and it can be really challenging, but that's amazing.

00:25:58
Speaker 2: I love that. And I do hear so many people that are like, you know, I grew up with outdoor dogs or on a farm, Like I never had this creature that I'm tucking into bed at night and and that you.

00:26:08
Speaker 6: Love so much, Like it is as a child, Like we always say, you know that the whole process with her and even now monthly like our doggie bills are insane, but like she is the one thing in our life that brings us the most joy.

00:26:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like why would we Yeah, why skimp on that? Yeah, and unconditional love. Yeah, they're just the best. What else am I going to have my money on?

00:26:28
Speaker 1: Totally? And it's like, if why do we work so hard if we can't spend on.

00:26:31
Speaker 3: The things exactly? Some people like design her bags. I like to spend my money on my Dog's just the way it is. So now Willa is back to baseline. Based on what I know, it sounds like she's doing very well. We've got her on she's still on medications, but on the lowest dose for her, which is a very low dose. And so you know now that she's doing great and back to her normal self. What are like some fun quirky things that Willa does?

00:26:54
Speaker 6: Okay, my favorite thing that she does. I brought a toy to see if she'll do it. She's like very distracted by you, but if she me to hold it, yes, if you can squeak it, it's like in the head. Okay, she should and that helps to embarrass me, but she should lick her lips every time you speak it.

00:27:10
Speaker 2: Okay, ready, Willa, did she do it? Oh my god? Every time I squeak this toy, she's licking her lips every time. Go come, Come, Come.

00:27:23
Speaker 1: That is so and then she's also like another thing that I think is so.

00:27:29
Speaker 6: Sweet is she loves to shower.

00:27:32
Speaker 1: Yes, so if I'm in the shower or Jake's in.

00:27:34
Speaker 6: The shower, she will stand at the door and she will cry until you open the door. She'll walk straight into the stream, put her little head in the water, and she's like a human takes a shower with us. And sometimes I'm like, it's probably like too hot in here, too warm, so I'll kind of push her to the corner of the shower right back into the water.

00:27:51
Speaker 1: I just feel like.

00:27:52
Speaker 2: That's like scared of very unusual, right, Yes, she's scared of like the beach or lakes or anything.

00:27:58
Speaker 1: But a shower.

00:27:59
Speaker 2: She loves a shower, he loves I feel like I can see Jake like being naked holding her in the shower, like literally, Yeah, they are a sight to be seen that it's hilarious.

00:28:08
Speaker 6: She's a little sweetheart and has has been a lot, but she's also just it's so good to see her now herself again.

00:28:15
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:28:15
Speaker 3: I mean she's really filled out, She's been on some weight, and you know, even when she wasn't feeling good, she still was her peppy self. But even now, more than ever, she seems super spunky and happy and and ready to go before baby Athridge comes.

00:28:28
Speaker 1: I know, I know she'll be a good little sister. She will for sure, or a big sister.

00:28:32
Speaker 3: Yes, well, thank you so much for coming in today. We loved having you. Yeah yeah, and miss Willa, you are the star of the show.

00:28:38
Speaker 1: Thank you for being my like person. I'd get to text and be like, is this okay with my dog?

00:28:43
Speaker 6: Like?

00:28:43
Speaker 1: Is this normal? What should I do? You've been amazing, So you're so welcome.

00:28:47
Speaker 2: I'm honored. That was Mackenzie Porter, who we both know and love, and I am so glad that you got to have her be a part of this because both of us being friends of hers. Obviously you are her dog's vet. But I have heard so many stories about Willa throughout the years of what she's gone through. And so if you want to follow Mackenzie Porter on Instagram because probably when this episode is out, I believe she'll probably be a new mom, which is very exciting. But you can also keep up with Willa on her Instagram because she always posts the most adorable photos and videos and updates of her Yes, she does, She's so cute and she's wild, but she is like I feel like Mackenzie got a little bit of an intro into being a parent because Willa is like her baby.

00:29:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, she's gonna be She's gonna being a mom will be smoothie.

00:29:41
Speaker 2: Oh yes, smooth Saalely. She's been through a lot with Willa. She has, Yes, you guys have clearly, as you guys talked about, had a lot of work to do with Willa.

00:29:48
Speaker 1: Yes. All right.

00:29:50
Speaker 2: Next up, we're going to dive right into Paw and Order.

00:29:55
Speaker 3: This is a segment where as a veterinarian, I tell you what I would definitely not with my pets at home. In this particular Pall and Order, we're going to really focus on things that our pets like to eat that we probably aren't thinking about on an everyday basis. Number one, they love to eat dirty socks and dirty underwear, so make sure you put them in your hamper. That extra second is going to save you money and heartbreak, because if they do eat your socks and underwear, nine times out of ten, I have to go in and get them out surgically, and that's not fun for anyone. I've also had taken out some panties before where they don't belong to your significant other, and that's a very awkward conversation.

00:30:35
Speaker 2: We'll save that for a case of the week. But it's better for everyone.

00:30:39
Speaker 3: So just put them up, keep them high, and your pets will thank you, and so will I. I would also never leave my medications or weed or any kind of drug paraphernalia unattended.

00:30:50
Speaker 2: Dogs love weed brownies, so do cats and cats and cats they're like cat this is delicious.

00:30:57
Speaker 3: And I have so many pets that come in just completely. We call it stony baloney. They're so stoned and it's we make light of it, but it's really not funny because they are super duper sick. They're like urinating on themselves. It can't keep their head up.

00:31:09
Speaker 2: So although you may love to indulge in it, keep it far and away from your animals. Yes, definitely.

00:31:15
Speaker 3: I would also never leave the door to my garage open. Dogs love when shield viper fluid. I don't remember exactly why. I think it's sweet.

00:31:24
Speaker 2: I think that's what it is.

00:31:26
Speaker 3: But if they ingest when shield viper fluid, it is like nine one one emergency. If they're not hospitalized right away. It is almost always fatal.

00:31:35
Speaker 2: No way. Yeah, I never would have thought of that. That's crazy. They also like rat poison, So if you ever had, I do know because growing up on a horse farm we have all those boxes and like catch our dogs with their noses in it all the time, and I'm like, no ip rap, bait and poison. Keep that ad Number four.

00:31:50
Speaker 3: I would never leave my bathroom trash can fold or just out in the open, like, keep it under your sink if you can. Dogs really love used tampon.

00:32:00
Speaker 2: It is so gross. It's gross.

00:32:03
Speaker 3: Then it's even more gross when we have to go in and get them out a couple, you know, a week later. So yeah, keep that trash can up and away.

00:32:11
Speaker 1: Yes.

00:32:12
Speaker 3: Number five, Last, but not least, I would never ever ever leave my hair ties or dental floss unattended around cats.

00:32:19
Speaker 2: Cats love string. They have like an affinity for it. Oh yeah. I had actually one of my patients we were taking an X ray of its knee and had torn its like acl ligament, and it moved right at the last second, and so we accidentally got a little bit of its stomach on the x ray and it was full of hair ties.

00:32:35
Speaker 3: I think when we went to take them out. I think it was forty eight to two hair ties. What, yes, just an incident finding just chilling in its stomach.

00:32:42
Speaker 2: He's like my knee also away. Oh my gosh.

00:32:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.

00:32:47
Speaker 2: Our cat is crazy and he choose through every cord in our home. How he has lived to tell the tale blows my mind. But he just like gnaws through it. He chows through, like any of my shoelaces. If I leave my shoes on the ground and he's around, he's just like, yeah, I'm gonna sever that for you. I'm like tweaking over here. I no, yeah, he's I know, we have to. We have literally kitty prooved our whole house because he is they do have nine lives. Maybe I need to bring up over see if he has forty two. I know we should just take an X ray's like seventeen electrical cord, no kidding, And we should probably add on there as far as our case of the week, when if you have tambourines laying around, yeah, those two you know what, I didn't even think about that. Hundstle instruments. Keep them up, Yeah, just in case Marocas tambourines. You just never know exactly. You can never be too safe. But this episode was so fun. I feel like we got to learn a lot and we got to also find out some really fun information from Mackenzie Porter, who of course we both love.

00:33:40
Speaker 3: Yes, and if any of you have any questions about your pets, feel free to click the link in the show notes.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: You can leave me a voice message there.

00:33:47
Speaker 3: It's also in the link in my Instagram bio and you can always DM me at doctor Josie Vett. Please give us a like anywhere you listen to your podcasts and subscribe.

00:33:55
Speaker 2: Awesome. We will see you next time in the vet's office with Doctor

00:33:58
Speaker 1: Josie Ships to boost fast