The big thing I love about today’s guest is how she stresses the power of our relationships with our dogs.
Dr. Julie Buzby has been an integrative veterinarian for nearly 20 years. She earned her certification from the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association in 1998 and from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society in 2002.
She blends traditional Western medicine with alternative therapies and creates out-of-the-box tools for pet guardians to understand and improve their dogs’ health and quality of life.
She invented ToeGrips, synthetic sheaths that cover the dogs’ toenails and assist with traction and mobility.
The blog on ToeGrips.com is an incredible resource for all pet guardians, but especially for us pet guardians whose companion animals are entering or have entered the senior stage.
Today, she guides us through the concerns we need to have as guardians of senior dogs and how to recognize the more telling signs that something might be wrong.
Make sure you stay tuned to the end for a special discount code from Dr. Buzby.
What to listen for
0:20 Dr. Buzby’s passion for veterinary and holistic medicine
4:12 How ToeGrips can help your dog move around the house
9:31 The signs we need to watch for in our senior dogs
18:18 Changes we can make around the house to help our senior dogs
25:45 The factors that affect a dog’s longevity
32:19 How to maintain our dogs’ dignity in their golden years
Where to find Dr. Buzby
Your discount codes
Dr. Buzby’s Tip-to-Tail Health Scan: Use code ONELAST
Angela
Welcome to One Last Network and the Art of Knowing Your Dog Tip to Tail.
The big thing I love about today’s guest is how she stresses the power of our relationships with our dogs.
Dr. Julie Buzby has been an integrative veterinarian for nearly 20 years. She earned her certification from the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association in 1998 and from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society in 2002.
She blends traditional Western medicine with alternative therapies and creates out-of-the-box tools for pet guardians to understand and improve their dogs’ health and quality of life.
She invented ToeGrips, synthetic sheaths that cover the dogs’ toenails and assist with traction and mobility.
The blog on ToeGrips.com is an incredible resource for all pet guardians, but especially for us pet guardians whose companion animals are entering or have entered the senior stage.
Today, she guides us through the concerns we need to have as guardians of senior dogs and how to recognize the more telling signs that something might be wrong.
Make sure you stay tuned to the end for a special discount code from Dr. Buzby.
Hello, Dr. Julie Buzby. How are you today?
Julie
I’m great. Thanks for having me.
Angela
Oh, I’m so happy to have you. Why don’t you start by telling us who you are and, of course, all about ToeGrips.
Julie
Okay, I am a veterinarian, I’ve wanted to be I wanted to be a vet from the age of like three years old. That was my whole passion and dream in life. And I was very blessed to take a fairly linear path to get there. I graduated in 1997, from Kansas State University, which means I’ve been a vet for a very long time. I realized by working for horse vets during veterinary school, they did chiropractic and acupuncture as a part of their practice. And I got to be the one to hold the horses and see these beautiful animals respond to alternative modalities and hear the stories of the writers and trainers about how that they how they responded in ways that were different than conventional medical therapy. And I thought I want that I want those tools for my toolbox to help my patients as much as possible. So immediately after graduation, I did certification in chiropractic. And then a few years later, I got certified in acupuncture. So although I owned a practice, and it was 95%, traditional medicine and surgery, like your regular vet practice, holistic medicine was always a part of it. And then I sold that practice and moved to South Carolina where I live now. And now I practice exclusively holistic medicine. But I do say that I’m an integrative practitioner, because it’s not like I’ve thrown out all the regular Western stuff, I still prescribe regular medication. And there’s times where I’ll recommend surgery, like, for example, a TPLO for a cruciate, but it’s nice to have kind of this full spectrum of options for my patients. So that’s kind of my veterinary career in a nutshell.
Angela
What kind of an impact do you see on the animals in the difference between holistic medicine and traditional?
Julie
Well, I think, in general, I’m so thankful for traditional medicine, I mean, don’t get me wrong, we save a lot of lives, human and veterinary with it. But often, traditional medicine is used as a crisis modality. And it seems just as a general rule of thumb, that often traditional medicine is like band-aiding symptoms, or maybe managing symptoms. And with alternative therapies, right down to the root of kind of what traditional Chinese veterinary medicine is, the way that you assess the patient and the way that you kind of put together the prescription for therapies, you’re more looking at the root cause of the problem. And I really appreciate, I appreciate that approach. But as I said, I use them in combination to kind of achieve results all around the spectrum.
Angela
Is there more opportunity to be proactive with your dog’s health care with holistic medicine than it is in more traditional medicine?
Julie
I think so. I mean, in traditional medicine, like if your dog is healthy, you’re not seeking out veterinary care. I mean, obviously, you should absolutely be going to the veterinarian on a regular basis for that physical exam. I think that is absolutely so critical, because your dog can’t speak for himself. So I’m not negating that by any means. I think that’s really important. And your veterinarian is such a critical part of your dog’s health care team. But I think holistic medicine even if the dogs perfectly healthy, there’s a lot that we still talk about, from nutrition to even certain types of exercise, supplements, things that can be beneficial even for a dog that on the surface looks perfectly healthy and happy.
Angela
What are ToeGrips and how did they fit into the whole scheme of what you do?
Julie
So being certified in chiropractic and acupuncture at this point in my career, most of my patients or senior patients or dogs with special needs, they’re coming to me for mobility management, pain management. And so through all these modalities that we just talked about, I felt like I could do a pretty decent job of helping many of these patients. And it was a great joy to be able to, you know, have kind of an extensive toolbox to work from and work in coordination with maybe the regular vet if that wasn’t me, so a regular vet with what they’re doing, and then me doing chiropractic and acupuncture, maybe a rehab that and there was this team of people, but none of us could solve the problem of the dogs slipping on the floor, which — we’re in the Coast Beaufort, South Carolina. Nobody has shag carpet, you know everybody’s got beautiful hardwood Travertin, fancy laminates, vinyls.
And so this was a real issue young dogs, although they might slip, they can compensate, they have the muscle tone, the balance the neurologic function to compensate for it, older dogs and dogs with special needs. It’s really scary for them. And it’s also takes a really dramatic physical toll on their body. And so I would tell people to line their floors with yoga mats and carpets. And that honestly worked. I mean, that does the trick. The problem is many of these dogs are what we call Yin deficient, they’re running hot, and they like to go lie on the cold hard floors. That’s just kind of a senior dog pattern that we see. And then they have to get up off of those floors. And so ToeGrips are traction that travels, there are little nonslip nail grips that go on the tips of the dog’s nails that give them the traction that they need. So a dog’s natural mechanism for traction is to engage the nails like soccer cleats. And so that’s why dogs don’t slip on carpet or grass or ground. But hard nails can’t grip hard floors. And so the ToeGrips just changed that for them. It’s just something so minor. And that’s the beauty of them is that they’re so minimal and minimally obtrusive. But they give grip to the nail tips so that they can grab and give the dog the traction, they need to get up off the floors and to walk on those floors.
Angela
Absolutely brilliant. Is there something particularly special for you about working with senior dogs and special needs dogs?
Julie
My heart will always be with senior dogs. Basically, obviously, all dogs … I told you I wanted to be a vet from the age of three like I’m the kid who’s, you know, every picture that we have of a family vacation, I was always with the pigeons, with the cats, with the stray dog like my hearts for all the animals. But senior dogs over the years, I’ve just heard so many stories from their families about these dogs who’ve been with them 10, 13, 15, 17 years and have been there through the loss of of child, a nasty divorce. You know, some life trauma, and this dog was their bedrock through this time. And I just look at these senior dogs as like heroes of the family like the unsung silent heroes, how much strength and love unconditional love that they provide to the humans, for years through these cycles of life are these major milestones of life. And they’ve they’ve been a backbone for the family. So I just love them.
Angela
That’s absolutely beautiful. What are some of the most common health concerns that we should be aware of as our dog’s age?
Julie
So many of them are going to be under the surface. So if we think about the iceberg, and the tip of the iceberg maybe being 10% of what the whole iceberg is, that might be what you’re seeing, like, oh, you know, is he slowing down? Is he moving slower, slower? Might there be arthritis, but there’s a lot of other things that are issues for senior dogs ranging from kidney disease to heart disease. And that’s where that visit with a veterinarian which should be annual when dogs are younger and needs to move to two times a year as they start to move into senior status and bloodwork and your analysis so that we can look at those things that are not in that 10% tip of the iceberg. So unfortunately, just like with people, as the body ages, age is not a disease in and of itself. But there’s the these degenerative processes that happen in various organ systems. And if we catch them early, there’s a lot more that we can do about them to slow progression or to manage. So it’s important to be aware and to be on the lookout working in tandem with your veterinarian.
Angela
We might think we know the signs that we should be looking for. What are the signs that pet guardians do look for versus what are the signs that we should be looking for?
Julie
Good question. So often I have a client say to me, my dog’s not in pain because he’s not yelling. He’s not vocalizing, he’s not … they don’t say yelling. You know, howling, crying, crying is what they typically say. But that is rarely a sign. I mean, these poor dogs are mostly stoic suffer. So yes, vocalization could be a sign. And many people think of that first, but that’s definitely not high on my list of how pain or discomfort actually manifests.
I think the things they need to be looking for are changes, basically changes in anything, changes in appetite. Are they eating less? Changes in gait, changes in posture? Are they holding their body differently? Are they holding their ears differently? Are their facial expression different? Changes in engagement with the family. Are they isolating themselves more? Self licking over a painful joint is something that we sometimes see, self licking in an area. And then a more objective one, which maybe people don’t think about is looking at respiratory rate. So when the dog’s lying there, we want to see a respiratory rate of less than 30 breaths in a minute. And you can just watch this as a calm dog at rest. So not a dog has just come in from playing outside. So just your dog lying on the floor, super chill. You can watch the rise and fall of the chest, you could count for 30 seconds. And you wouldn’t want to count more than 15 in 30 seconds because ultimately we’re saying 30 breaths in a minute. So you can do the math and take you know, 15 seconds or sorry, 30 seconds times two. And the goal is less than 30 breaths in a minute when you start to see above 30, or certainly 35. That’s an indicator of something worth calling your vet. I don’t know what, at this point, but it’s worth calling your vet.
Angela
That’s incredible advice. Thank you. We’re not vets, obviously. How do we be more in tune with what our dog is doing?
Julie
Yes. So I promised your listeners that we didn’t coordinate this as an infomercial, because we haven’t talked about this at all. I do offer a course, which is called 10 Touches That Could Save Your Dog’s Life. And I’ve been a vet for what, like 24 years. And this might be the thing that I’m most proud of and thankful to have had the opportunity to create and bring to the world. Because it just teaches people at home, like you said, you’re not a vet. And that’s true. We all have our areas of expertise, I happen to have pumped my entire life into veterinary medicine. And that’s what that’s like what I eat and breathe and read and think about and dream about. So there are things that I know that the average person wouldn’t, and it should be that way of just like there are things about computers that I have no clue about, and someone who that’s their profession, they do know.
That said, you are the person who’s with your dog all the time, you know, the vet might see your dog once a year, twice a year, if there’s issues a few times a year, the vets not seeing your dog every day, many hours a day, not seeing your dog eat not seeing your dog, move around, not walking your dog not sleeping with the dog in bed. I mean, there’s just you’re just there you are the sentinel, you’re like the, you’re the voice of your dog, because you’re the person who’s with them all the time, and the vet is not that person. So there has to be some conduit between the dog and the vet. And that’s, that’s you, that’s the pet parent. So in the course 10 Touches That Could Save Your Dog’s Life, I basically walk people through a 10-step just like self exam, that concept is like women doing self breast exams like self exam, where we look at the eyes, we look at the ears, we look at the, we touch the legs, we touch the stomach, we do heart rate and respiratory rate, we do all these things. And it takes less than five minutes. And it becomes a pattern that you just do once a week. So that you know what normal is.
I was really surprised when I went to what’s called the money museum in Kansas City with my kids. They said that it’s actually the Secret Service, which is the branch of government that assesses and like they’re the ones in charge of counterfeit money in the U.S. But they said they don’t train them at all by looking at counterfeit money. They train them by looking at real money over and over and over again and looking at all the nuances of the real money so that when they see a counterfeit, it just jumps right out at them. And that’s what I want for pet parents. I want them to know, every nuanced inch of their dog so that when that lump pops up, or when there’s this odor, or when there’s this inflammation in the gum, they’re like, oh, that’s different. I know that’s different. And they can be just it’s an early detection thing. They can be quick about communicating clearly with their veterinarian what they’re seeing, and I think that’s a win-win for everybody.
Angela
And they find that on your website.
Julie
ToeGrips.com is where they can find ToeGrips. We also have a joint supplement our course and then we also have a free ebook for people who are going through the process of wondering when it is time. I just want to throw that out there because that is a free resource. And all that is toegrips.com. If you click “shop now” and scroll down that page, you’ll see all of our collection of products.
Angela
And your the blog on your website is an incredible resource for pet guardians like me who have entered their dog’s senior years, isn’t it?
Julie
I’m really proud of the blog. So that’s a team effort of like 10 veterinarians working on that together. We’re the only blog that I know of that has veterinary writers, veterinary editors, a veterinarian who’s doing the photography on that blog, veterinary proofreaders. Like it is vetted, as they say, like that as well. So there is some, you know, there’s a lot of misinformation out there on Dr. Google. And as a veterinarian, it’s this massive source of frustration. So we said, all right, what are we going to do about this? We’re going to put out good information that is 1,000% researched, and backed by solid veterinary medicine. And so there’s a team that makes sure that happens.
Angela
Unbelievable. I am an obsessive note taker. Is that something you would recommend somebody doing in conjunction with the 10 touches?
Julie
Journal, you’ve got a journal that because it would give you a really clear picture of and you know, for most of us, it’s hard to remember, it’s hard to remember. And we can deceive ourselves into thinking like, oh, yeah, what was that there? I think it was there. So for sure, just journaling, we actually have a journal that goes with it that we have not brought to production yet, but that’s in the works. But I think just grabbing a journal, you know, any TJ Maxx or wherever and taking notes every week, on the basics, it can just be quick and dirty, I think is wise.
Angela
What are changes we need to make to our home care with our dogs as far as nutrition or exercise or, you know, just little things we can do around the house to keep them happy and healthy as they as they get older?
Julie
I’m a huge believer in use it or lose it. So I really think those walks are so important for dogs physically and psychologically and just such an important part of the bond they have with their people. So don’t give them up even if they end up getting shorter. And even if it gets to the point that the dog physically really can’t walk. I would say consider a stroller or a wagon so you can still get out. I think it’s so good for dogs to be out, getting their sense of smell stimulated in th world. So walks are key.
In the home, I like nightlights for senior pets, I think it can make a really big difference for dogs especially that are up in the night. It’s not uncommon for senior dogs … actually, I think the most recent stat I read was by the age of like 15 or so 60 some percent of dogs have some degree of doggy dementia, it’s pretty common actually. And that number you know starts younger and then the number just increases with age. So I think nightlights can be really helpful for those dogs because one of the symptoms of that is asleep sleep wake disturbance and their cycle that they’re up more at night. Along those lines, if you have stairs in your home, I think taping something bright or reflective on the front of the step can make a difference because I think dogs can have a depth perception issue. And steps can be tricky. Not just because physically steps are a … you know they require a physical, physicality that as dogs age maybe they don’t have the hind end strength or the balance to do it. But before that, just even if they’re physically able steps can be tricky because of the depth perception. And so if we just put a line of tape on the front of each stair, it seems to really provide these dogs like a guide rail, if you will, and be very helpful. I’m also a big believer in steps and ramps, I always tell my clients like jumping up isn’t the end of the world. But jumping down often is how my patients get injured, jumping down and landing with all that force of the front, front end up into the shoulders and the neck. So especially for my dogs with cervical disc disease, I just do not ever want them jumping at all, but especially jumping down so I love ramps and steps. And then of course, flooring. We talked about the ToeGrips is my favorite solution. But you have to prevent these guys from slipping.
Angela
Ramps and steps for the car too, yeah?
Julie
Absolutely.
Angela
I know that. I’m 52 and I have not been kind to my body. And it my knees sound like you’re crinkling bubble wrap when I go upstairs. Is that something that we should pay attention to in our in our dogs as well when they’re moving around? And hearing clicks and, and bubble wrap?
Julie
Clicks are not normal, please see your vets. Yes.
Angela
Gotcha. Um, what other changes can we make as far as nutrition is concerned? Or do we need to make changes?
Julie
That is such a tough question. I felt so much more confident answering that five to 10 years ago. The world of nutrition has really seen some big changes. Most recently, the whole thing with DCM heart disease in green free diets. I used to feed my dogs grain free diets. I don’t anymore because I do believe that’s a real phenomenon. And I’ve talked to enough cardiologists and vets and seen enough cases personally that I’m not taking that risk. So nutrition is honestly a challenge for me if I can admit a weakness here and tell you that I don’t feel like I have a great answer to the question.
Do nutritional needs change for senior dogs? Not in the same way they do that when that, when they’re puppies, you know puppies going into adulthood. That’s a change in nutrition. When they’re spayed or neutered, that’s a change. In calories, we need less calories because metabolism slows as they’re seniors. We don’t necessarily need to feed a senior foods specifically, I’m going to defer to everybody’s individual veterinarian for the best food for that pet. Because if they have some underlying health issue, we talked about renal disease, we talked about heart disease, et cetera, they may need to be on a prescription diet. If they don’t need to be on a prescription diet, then feeding a high quality diet, like I said that your veterinarian approves of is where I’m at.
Angela
You mentioned that you have a supplement on your website. Are supplements and vitamins important?
Julie
I love supplements because for the most part, they are a super safe way to provide a dog a benefit. So if a dog’s eating a balanced diet, which not every diet out there is actually a balanced diet, some of them are not. So this is where your veterinarian is, needs to be involved. Because you should at least say this is what I’m feeding. Is this okay with you. I think that’s important. If your dog’s eating a balanced diet, which if it’s sold by any of the major manufacturers, it probably is or I should say it is vital, I don’t think vitamins and minerals are necessary to supplement because that’s all been balanced. It’s actually way easier than for us as people we I think we’ve got an easier chance of eating an unbalanced diet because we can choose, you know, I can eat cans of Spaghettios every day for the rest of my life that would be a terribly unbalanced diet.
Angela
That sounds good.
Julie
You’re funny. But for a dog I mean if they’re eating a dog food, it’s it’s basically already balanced for trace minerals and vitamins etc. And I’m not averse to using some human foods as well as like a not as the mainstay of the diet. Unless you’re home cooking. That’s fine by me just get a balanced diet, a board-certified nutritionist can help you formulate a balanced diet and you can home cook for your dog too. That’s great and they will make sure it has the vitamins and the trace minerals. But for senior dogs, I think every senior dog and even dogs starting to move into the 5-, 6-, 7-year-old range. I think they should be in a joint supplement. I’m a I think there’s absolutely every possible benefit and no downside to that except for money. I mean generally good joint supplements aren’t cheap, but if we can protect those joints for as long as possible. I really think we save money in the long run and obviously most importantly, keep our pets comfortable for us. long as possible, and often comfort and quality of life are hand in hand.
Angela
When you talk about dogs you’ve seen that are 15 and 17 years old, that seems so aspirational to me. I would count every day past 12 as amazing and magical if I get there. How do we keep our dogs happy and healthy as long as possible? And that’s a really big question to ask, I know, but is it more breed specific to see a dog live that long? Or is it care or combination?
Julie
I do think it’s a combination, my oldest patient was a 21-year-old Jack Russell. As you know, as a lover of big white dogs, the smaller breeds tend to live longer than the larger breeds. You know, toy breeds are gonna live longer than giant breeds. That’s just genetics. And so I think square one in longevity is genetics. You know, we know that for people too, like, there’s this family line where everybody loves to be 100. Right? It’s, it’s a genetic thing. But we absolutely have a hand, I think there’s just seeing my patients over more than two decades, I absolutely believe that the quality of care that these pets receive, also can play a role. You can’t alter the genetics. But I think you can sort of do the best you can within the genetic window and you know, make a little extension, you know, if there’s a range, you can hit the high end of the genetic Windows range for for that age of the dog.
So we talked about nutrition, I think that’s key balanced nutrition. We talked about exercise, one of the simple things people don’t realize, this is one of my favorites, because it’s free and sort of easy, depending on how you look at it is keeping your dog in a healthy body condition, a healthy weight. And it’s one of the 10 touches that I talk about in the course. It was several years ago now that Purina actually did a landmark study of dogs from I think there were Labs and they separated them into two categories. One they kept like lean to where the average American might have said, like, oh, that dogs a little skinny, not that they were seeing their ribs, but they were lean. And the other dogs they let look like the average American dog, which the majority of American dogs statistically, I’m not just saying that, like, statistically, the majority of American dogs are overweight or obese. The lean dogs live two years longer. The lean dogs had also an almost two-year or longer extension of when those dogs started to have health problems, be it, you know, endocrine issues, joint issues, osteoarthritis. So that was I think we sort of already know that from human medicine. And you could I think it’s common sense to some degree, but to see it in a paper, it was a big, big study, well-done study. And it’s like I said, a landmark study that we now use to tell people keep your dogs lean, you want your dog to live longer, keep your dog lean. So calories in and calories burned. That’s the way we do that.
Angela
When an older dog is approaching the arthritis stages of their lives, it isn’t that easy to keep them moving, though, is it?
Julie
It’s not. And there are there are some ways to get a dog moving that even a dog who has joint issues can enjoy like swimming, for example. And many rehab facilities have a pool that they use for dogs who need weight loss, like they’re not there for any specific rehab purpose. It’s for weight loss purposes, just like swimming is a great exercise to burn calories and people. And that’s a nice exercise because it’s gentle on the joints. And so many dogs dependent on breed really enjoy swimming. But we can modify the calories in that case, to help with slow weight loss. It should always be slow and controlled. And your veterinarian can help you with that.
We can actually do a mathematical formula that says this is your dog’s weight. Now, this is your dog’s body condition. This is where we want to end up this is your dog’s activity level. So this is how many kilo calories he needs to eat every day. And we do that and then we kind of adjust up or down based on what reality tells us once we try that for a while but we can make it actually very scientific. And there’s … we don’t want the dog to be hungry and miserable. So there’s things we can feed in the meantime, to kind of fill them up like green beans are one of my favorite, like just canned green beans without sodium. Using those to bulk up the diet so that the dog’s stomach feels full but there’s not really a calorie burden with them.
And so your veterinarian will have all kinds of tricks like this, to help your dog eat the calories they need not be starving, not act like they’re starving and yet get to the body condition score they need to be. But it’s a really important part of longevity. That’s, like I said, maybe difficult, depending on how you look at it, maybe easy, because it’s never easy for any of us to diet. But it’s … I mean, I think it’s simple. It’s really the cost is minimal. And we know that the results are proven.
Angela
We had Dr. Dennis Wormold from Australia on a few weeks ago to talk about doggy dementia and keeping your dog’s mentally stimulated. And thinking back to that episode, and all of the things you’re saying, and I am not a mother of human children. But it does … it’s … there’s so many parallels to me in raising a child and then caring for aged parents. Do you see the parallels there too, with caring for your dog?
Julie
Absolutely. I am a mother of eight children. So I can I can tell you unequivocally that there are parallels.
Angela
You have eight human children?
Julie
I do.
Angela
Are you super human? You’re brave.
Julie
Yes, I look crazy. My life is definitely an adventure.
Angela
No wonder it was so hard to get you scheduled. As the time goes on, and we get closer to that moment where we’re getting ready to say goodbye and the signs are there with the incontinence and, and other you know, end of life stages, what can we do to maintain our dog’s dignity and comfort?
Julie
Hmm, that’s such a good question. Because I think dignity is so important. For dogs, I don’t think that’s anthropomorphic. I really do think when a dog is eating, and they are maybe defecating is a better example and they like fall down in it. I think that, I don’t think they like that. I mean, I think that affects them. Or when they’re slipping and sliding, standing at a food bowl, and they can’t just keep themselves upright during a meal. I think that affects them. I think dignity is super, a super important concept and not one that’s commonly talked about.
What can we do? I think the common sense answer is keep them comfortable, physically and emotionally. Keep them involved. So dogs are pack animals, they’re social animals, they want to be involved in the family activity. That’s one of the signs that something’s gone wrong is that if they’re isolating themselves, off on a dog bed while the family’s participating in activity and that’s not normal for the dog. That’s a red flag. So keeping them involved, maybe being creative about how you have to do so like I said, I gave the example earlier of walking and using a stroller or wagon if the dog can no longer walk themselves, but that can be so good for their spirits to be outside doing that. Keeping them clean, taking care of their physical needs. You mentioned incontinence, that’s a real concern in terms of making sure they don’t get urine scald on the hind end, keeping them clean, keeping them groomed. We see it more so in cats than dogs, but an older cat or a sick cat, one of the signs is they stopped grooming themselves. So obviously dogs don’t groom themselves like cats do but I think keeping them clean, hygienic, I think that’s part of the whole dignity factor.
And then I think relationships, so if there’s people in their life, when we’re getting towards the end, if there’s people in their life that are, people that are special to them, and vice versa. I think making sure that they get time with those people is really important before … I think that’s important for the people and also for the dog to set up those playdates for lack of a better word. We talked about the parallelism for kids, that they get time with the people that are in their life.
Angela
That’s a lovely thought. Dr. Julie, what is one last piece of advice you can give our listeners about caring for their senior dogs
Julie
I really believe that mobility is a senior dog’s greatest asset. So I think being proactive in keeping your dogs mobile, which may start with something as simple as a joint supplement, and it may progress to the point that you’re on maybe some sort of a non steroidal anti inflammatory medication from your vet, maybe you’re getting acupuncture, maybe you’re working with a rehab practitioner and the underwater treadmill. But I think maintaining your dog’s mobility for as long as possible, is really important to them physically and psychologically, and really worth putting in the effort and potentially the finances to preserve.
Angela
That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Julie
My pleasure. God bless you and all of your listeners.
Angela
Thank you.
A few weeks ago, Bella’s nose turned scaly, red and raw.
I took a picture and hit the ol’ reverse image search on Google.
You can imagine the hits I got. It’s CANCER. Cancer, cancer, cancer.
I posted it on a Facebook group. Lupus. That looks like a sign of canine lupus.
This was on a Sunday afternoon. My heart leaped into my throat and I thought, “holy shit, my dog is dying.”
I fired off a panicked email to my vet office. Marianne, the vet tech we’ve known since Shep was still around, called me right away Monday morning.
Yes, we should get Bella in right away so the doctor can look at her nose.
But oh Angela, you did what?
Never ever ask Dr. Google.
Marianne gently scolded me, as she should have. I deserved it. After 20 years of Maremma mamahood and of that 15 working in websites, search engine optimization and the world of Google, I should freakin’ know better.
Dr. Google is the devil. You could search for torn dew claw or matted fur and probably come back with some kind of cancer that is going to take your dog long before you’re ready.
It’s good to be cautious. It’s good to be curious. It’s good to want to know what’s going on with your dog’s health.
But it’s also important to take what you learn from Dr. Google with a whole box of salt, not just the proverbial grain.
Dr. Buzby’s blog at toegrips.com/blog is probably one of the best resources you will find on the Googletubez. I’ve been receiving her newsletter for a lot longer than this podcast has been around and I’ve been learning lots about all the things I need to know as Bella approaches her double-digit birthday next March.
And Dr. Buzby has so kindly given us a discount code for her masterclass, The Tip-to-Tail Health Scan. As she mentioned, it’s a self-paced online course during which she guides us through a hands-on health assessment we can do at home.
We get lifetime access to 13 video demonstrations, PDFs, how-to guides and all kinds of printables to help us understand how our dogs are aging.
It’s $99 but with the discount code ONELAST, all one word, no spaces, you can get 15 per cent off. The code is good until Dec. 31, 2023.
I’ve already used my code and I can’t wait to start diving into the content.
Next week, Courtney Bryston of CM Bryson Photography in Atlanta, Georgia, takes over the mic and interviews her wife, Renee Ussery, about the Rescue Ranch, a rescue they founded to assist medically fragile Boston terriers, pugs, French bulldogs and a few barnyard friends.
Until then …
