Speaking of Pets Podcast

08/20/2026

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🥥 Coconut oil
🌿 Alfalfa powder
🥚 Eggshell calcium
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🍗 Poultry fat

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08/19/2026

Think your senior cat is healthy? Think again…
First of all, “senior” in cats refers to cats aged >12 years old. A study just completed at The University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Veterinary Medicine (Herrera K, JAVMA 2026) involving 129 cats and running from 2022-2024 found some interesting conclusions about senior cats’ health. The study was based on cats that were reported to be in good health by their owners and were evaluated via owner questionnaires, veterinary examinations and diagnostic testing.
Get ready for some startling results!
All 129 cats (100%) had dental disease and 77.8% (63 out of 81) had orthopedic disease. In fact, a former study found evidence of joint disease in senior cats with no former report of any symptoms. When diagnostic tests such as urinalysis, complete blood count, blood pressure, and serum chemistries were run, chronic kidney disease (61.3 %, 49 out of 80), hypertension (54 out of 56, 96.4%), and hyperthyroidism (64.7%, 11 of 17) were diagnosed yet owners reported no symptoms in their felines. Increased urination can be associated with kidney disease yet 75.6% of cats had no owner-reported changes in observation of any increased use of the litter box (or outside the litter box).
A few reasons can explain why cats go undiagnosed with the above problems—
1. Cats are good at hiding when they don’t feel well and owners fail to notice symptoms.
2. It is a fact that cats are presented for veterinary care less frequently than dogs for various reasons such as transport issues, unable to find the cat the day of the appointment (has happened to all of us!), financial constraints, etc.
Changes in activity level, vocalizing more than normal, urinating or defecating outside the litter box, changes in appetite, increased thirst, and weight loss despite eating well can all be clues to underlying disease such as kidney disease, osteoarthritis, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, dental disease, and cognitive dysfunction.
Cat life expectancy has increased in the United States in recent years due to better veterinary care, nutrition improvements, and owner education. But we still have a ways to go! To keep your senior cat healthy-be observant, note any changes to their regular routine, see your veterinarian twice/year for a physical examination and blood work. If caught early, many of the above diseases can be addressed and thereby keeping your senior cat feeling great during their “old age”!

08/19/2026

Join us today talking with Dr. Katherine P***k, Humane World for Animals and their mission to end animal abuse both locally and globally. What YOU can do to help! She's a personal hero of mine!
Alice Jeromin SLA Video Productions Janet Novotny King

Speaking of Pets episode 127 featuring Dr. Katherine P***k, DVM, MP...

08/16/2026

Eli is very sad today. Her life depends on volunteers to come help build an enclosure for her because she has vision issues and cannot be released to the wild as required by October 1. If we don’t have a pen built for her,she will need to be euthanized. This was the weekend we had posted for Help and sadly today we have none. Three members of our team are here working but we need at least 10 more! If you can spare a few hours today this is very urgent. 78440 McKay rd Romeo

Thank you
The DAWG team

08/11/2026

What is “immunotherapy” for allergies?
“Immunotherapy” is the current word that is refers to “desensitization” or “hyposensitization”. It means giving small amounts of what you or your pet is allergic to resulting in blocking antibodies that inhibit reactions to those allergens. Of all the allergy treatments, it is the only therapy that can actually result in a cure and not just treat the symptoms.
So how does your environmentally allergic pet start immunotherapy? It starts with finding out what your pet is allergic to either via a serum (blood) test or intradermal skin test. Most intradermal skin testing is performed by veterinary dermatologists whereas any veterinarian can employ the serum tests. Once it is determined what environmental allergies your pet has, and importantly the results of the skin or serum tests must correlate with the time of the year the pet is affected, immunotherapy can be created. In other words, it has to make sense! This is because either test can show false positives (and negatives) and declare a pet allergic to something he/she is not. So the results of the testing need to be compared to the time of the year the pet has symptoms. For example if a pet is having symptoms all year long, there is a possibility of house dust mite allergy. If the pet is only itchy in the fall when ragweed is predominant, the test results should just reflect fall allergies and not year round allergies. Make sense?! It needs to or else the 70% success rate of immunotherapy will not be achieved.
Once the pet’s allergies have been determined, your veterinarian or allergy company will make up the immunotherapy solution containing the specific allergens. Immunotherapy can be administered as a weekly under the skin injection, twice daily oral drops, or daily application via a cream on the ear flap. Your doctor will determine which method is right for you and your pet. Immunotherapy can take up to 4-6 months to become effective and like with any allergies that ebb and flow, your pet may need occasional adjunct medications to get them through a flareup.
Immunotherapy is my favorite method of treatment for pet allergies as it is “natural” in that it is not a drug that needs to have routine lab work performed, is safe, economical, and as mentioned above, provides a chance to “cure” what is felt to be a genetic disease. Ask your veterinarian or veterinary dermatologist if immunotherapy is right for your pet!

08/05/2026

Dr. Kelly Fishman, pet mobility expert, gives us tips on exercising pets in hot weather, supplements for arthritis/mobility, and recognizing signs of arthritis EARLY in pets. Alice JerominJanet Novotny KingMyos Pet Products

08/03/2026

It was great meeting Dr. Brad Ryan and Grandma Joy at Woven Words bookstore Saturday in Bath, Ohio for their book signing, "Grandma Joy and Me, A Journey of Healing, One National Park at a Time"! Shows there's no age limit for what you can accomplish! The book is personally written by Brad, a lovely and endearing read. They will be guests on the podcast soon!! Alice Jeromin Janet Novotny KingSLA Video Productions Simon & Schuster

07/29/2026

https://youtu.be/iZlU2tVVy4A?si=l54D7S4rp5jmyMDA
The risk of screwworm in our pets, coyote tapeworm in our pets, and what about cryptosporidiosis?! Dr. Christopher Lee provides valuable info to protect our pets (and us!)! Dr. Lee is informative and entertaining...we love him! Alice JerominJanet Novotny KingDr. Tim's Pet FoodSLA Video ProductionsLincoln Memorial UniversityThe Country Critter Journal

Dr. Alice Jeromin and Janet Novotny King welcome back parasitology ...