June 4, 2025 • 38 mins
This week on In The Vet’s Office, Dr. Josie Horchak is joined by reality TV favorite Victoria Fuller for a chat about life with her fur family. Victoria opens up about her diva Tortie cat, Miss Ma’am, who’s been staging a bathroom rebellion. Dr. Josie gets to the bottom of what might be causing the litterbox boycott, from texture preferences to feline stress—and yes, cat Prozac is on the table.
Victoria also shares about her father/son Labrador duo Buxton & Cash. She spills the story of how she has a doggie dating app to thank for Cash and his siblings. While the entire litter found loving homes, one adopter took in three siblings—and now they're in behavioral chaos.
Dr. Josie explains why bringing home littermates is rarely a good idea and offers tips for untangling bad habits. Plus, hear about Buxton’s recent ACL surgery and why Dr. Josie warns that a second tear might be looming. In this week’s "Case of the Week," Dr. Josie shares the wild (and dangerous) tale of a dog who ate raw bread dough. And don't miss her "Paw & Order" list—the top things she’d never do with her own pets.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, you're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor
Josie Horchak. All right, everyone, welcome back to in the
Vets Office. I am your host, doctor Josie, and this
week we have a very special guest. You may know
her from her appearances on the Bachelor and Bachelor in
(00:27):
Paradise I think, yeah, okay, yeah, both, and from being
a social media guru. But the real reason she is
here today is because she is the mom to two
adorable dogs, Cash and Buxton. Yay, Welcome to in the
Vet's Office. Victoria Fuller, thank you, thank you for having me.
So happy you're here. I know, I'm so excited. We've
been like talking about doing this, so I'm glad that
(00:48):
we like got it on the books. Yes, and this
is like just a podcast for primarily everyone that listens
is doc Moms. Okay, I love that crazy cat Moms too.
Of course. I know I was gonna say, do we
like dabbling cats? I have one? Yeah? Do you? Yeah?
I didn't know that. Yeah, she's crazy. What's her name,
miss ma'am? Miss ma'am? And it like fits her perfectly.
(01:08):
That is amazing. Miss Yeah. How old is she? She's
two and she's a Tordie and oh and she they
say about, yeah, the attitude tortitude four to two, I know,
miss ma'am. Yeah, and how does the dogs do with her?
They well, so she really loves Buxton, which is my
oldest one. He's nine, and then uh, she loves him
(01:32):
because she like attacks him. But Cash is one, so
he like will chase after her and is like She's
like no, yeah, she she likes it, I think because
she'll be like, ah, look at me, and then she
like wave her little tail face yes, and then she'll
like run or he'll like pin her down and she'll
start crying. Great, what hands chaos. One of my favorite
(01:52):
things to watch on the internet is when cats do
the little pop pop pop, which little pause, yes, and
there their claws aren't out usually I know love that.
Does she throw mittens at them? Oh she's yeah, she's
like the old one too, pun for sure. She's it
like makes her tougher, I think, yeah, Like she's probably
tougher than most cats because she can like get away
quick and like she fights them and they're both like
(02:15):
pretty big labs, like seventy pounds, eighty pounds, So she
wants to know she does on I one thing that
with torties being a veterinarian is we know, like if
I see a torty on my schedule, I'm like, I'm
getting my ass kicked. Like they yes, wait, okay, I
(02:36):
need to know about this. They will be They're like
definitely are feistiest okay, patience, Yes, like I would take
a rottweiler trying to like come get me over a
to spicy torty. Yeah, what's up with that? Why do
you think they're like that? I don't know what it is.
I think it's like maybe just their genetics. Really, yeah,
but it's those like female torties and calicos. Okay. I
was wondering because so the tourties are only girls only girls. Oh,
(03:01):
I don't know. I was just like very confused by
her demeanor because I always had tabbies. Oh and they're
so sweet male tabbies. Yeah, the sweetest cats, the sweetest
kind of like her olden retriever cat. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And I'd never been around the toy before. And she
is definitely like she has I need to ask you
like actual questions, like maybe we laugh at it. No,
(03:23):
she has like she has behavioral issues, and I was
wondering if that's normal, Like what she Okay, this is
really bad? Does she pee outside the litter box? Yes?
I had a feeling. How did you know you're like
the do like the animal whisper? Do I have telepathy?
Like I'm really good at my job? Okay? So she
(03:47):
peees outside the letter watches she being like on your stuff?
So okay, she was going into one specific room and
kind of like made that her new litter box so
much so that I had to literally dispose of the
mattress by a new one. So I got all new
furniture in there, and then she still did it. She
did it again, So now I've kept the door closed,
but she's doing it in other spots. Now is it
pee and poop or just pe? Just p Nine times
(04:10):
out of ten it's a stress response that or. And
the other thing is they can be like really particular
about the kind of you're tearing up, like who knows
not suse you're about. Like literally these cats that I
see live on a silver platter. They are like trust
fun baby cats and they have nothing to be stressed about.
But cats are just your cats. Yeah, So if a
(04:32):
stress which we can talk about and then be The
other thing is sometimes they're really particular about their litter box,
like where it is, it has changed locations, if there's
a lid on it, the type of litter like, they
can be super particular. Okay, that makes sense. I mean
she I think with the litter box situation, if it's
even like remotely dirty, she doesn't like it. Yes, they
(04:53):
some are like, you need to clean it every single
time I go. So I got like a self regulating one,
and it's it's I mean, it's helped a little bit,
but I think I'm still finding spot finding it happened. Yeah,
she might be like she honestly might not like the
self regulating one. Oh cash. She might not like the
(05:13):
self regulating one, but she also wants it clean, so
she might be like, Mom, you just have to like
put in the hard work. Oh wow. Uh huh. The
other thing too, is like I know, like you can
just be on the mastress. Yeah, okay. The other option
is you could always like add in another litter box,
like just throw in like a basic one. Okay. And
the other thing is, while we're on this, they did
(05:35):
a study in cats. They studied all these cats and
the different kinds of litter, and they found that non clumping,
unscented litter is like the best litter that cats tend
to like the most. So I would get it back
of that, get like just a basic pan, like a
basic okay, I want and see how that goes for you. Okay,
thank you. And if that doesn't work, it's cash. Yeah,
(05:56):
I was gonna say, because I think maybe it was
happening a lot when I was trying, and so I
was the classic. Yeah, I was gone, and so she
was spending like we would have somebody come over for
like a couple hours a day, but it wasn't enough
because she like felt alone. I think, yeah, it's classic,
like people will bring their cat in the cat's pee
and orm like, have you traveled? Are you doing construction?
(06:18):
Have you had visitors? They don't like it's something where
there It causes them, right, stress anxiety. The other thing
is there's a product called feel Away. Have you heard
of this? You can get it. It's like a plugin
that you plug into the wall and it sounds crazy,
but it releases pheromones, oh, to help reduce stressing cats.
It's okay, seeing okay, we can't smell it, but they can. Well,
(06:39):
then I'll definitely look at that because she's I mean, yeah,
it's bad and cat pee smells so bad. Oh it's awful.
It's like that ammonious smell. It's so oh my gosh,
it's so Yes, pungent, it's the best word for it. Yes, yeah,
it's so interesting. There was another question I had for
you actually about her go ahead. Oh so she she
(07:01):
One of the doctors we talked to was talking about
possibly putting her on prozac. Yes, that's another option. Yeah,
I know, there's like this whole first, try the feel away, first,
try the other litter box, and then the reality is,
like you travel, I'm sure, just because you're running all
around and you're single and living the dream, and so
(07:21):
you can't just stay home with your cat keep her happy.
I mean you could, that would be insane, you could,
but and so you have to live your life. And
if she's just kind of like a naturally anxious gal,
we do put them on prozac and it can make
a huge difference. And I know there's like the stigmas,
like I'm drugging my cat, but but they're happier. It's
a happier life for that exactly. I think I might
need to we might need to talk about that after
(07:44):
definitely after this. We have a lot to do today.
We do really do honestly. The prozac though, like they're
still themselves. They're not like zombies. They're just like a
little less on edge. Okay, I love that. Yeah, like
I'm on anxietyments. I love it exactly right. I was like,
is she too young? Like, okay, well I would, I
would think about it. And only thing is you just
(08:05):
have to do once you do do it every single day,
I know. Because that, Yeah, I want to like mess
with her like chemical and ballads in her little people,
my god, little tiny peanut head. And he's the smallest
dose of prozac in the world. Oh yeah, it's like
teeny tiny. It's adorable, and think about it, and they do.
I have a dog that, one of my dogs upstairs
is on prozac really and it's changed his life really. Okay,
(08:28):
so what was he doing? Sorry, Like how was he before? Now?
It was like kind of neurotic. He's a German shepherd,
so they are bred to be like working dogs. And
I do as much work with him as I can.
But also, like I have a life too, and so
he would get like hyper fixated on toys or balls
or like paste the backyard. And it's just like helped
(08:50):
take the edge off. Wow. Yeah, really meld him. Like
and he's still himself, right, but just like a little less.
He seems happier, so much happier. Okay, I love this.
This is giving me the confidence, you know. I actually
I go through with it because it kind of felt weird. Yeah,
people do. We talk about all the time in the
clinic and owners are like, you're gonna put my pet
on prozac? Like what right? And when you first hear
(09:10):
it does sound crazy, but I see it so often
where it like changes their lives. Okay, So I love this.
Thank you so welcome. This is so helpful in that's
office and in the therapist's office. Yeah yeah, okay, it's surpost. Yeah,
it's a one stop shop. Yes, of course. One thing
I was thinking about when I was like prepping for
(09:30):
this podcast is I can't whose season were you want
to The Bachelor Peters. I haven't watched it so long,
but there was one season where one of the contestants
was a dog mom, like that was her job. You
know how they put your job. Oh yeah, they like
say you're this age and like this is your role
and people are like sale, serve this, and it was like,
dog mom, I wish they would do that for mine.
(09:51):
I was like, I wonder if they did classic. I
love that. What do you know what yours was? I
think mine was just medical sales. Okay, yeah, but yeah,
is like that is my full time. And I think
she brought her dog with her. Oh I know that's
really sweet. Can you imagine let me do that. You
were chipped? Seriously, it's like a service animal. Yeah, exactly.
(10:14):
Oh I should have advocated for that. Now we know.
Now we know. Okay, Well, before we dive into all
things about your dogs, we're going to do a case
of the week, okay, and this is where I just
kind of talk about things I anything I've experienced in
the trenches, if you will. And not too long ago,
I had a client call me and I know he
won't care if I say his name, and it was actually,
(10:35):
do you know Bobby Bones? I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,
he calls me. It's nine o'clock at night. Actually, I
think his wife called me and she's like, hey, just
want to let you know our dog, Eller just ate
a whole loaf of sour dough bread dough, like raw dough. Oh,
the raw dough. She's like, we had it out on
(10:55):
the counter, we were getting ready to put it in
the oven. She's eaten the whole thing, like, just you know,
it's probably not a big deal, like it's just bread.
And I was like, actually, it's a really big deal
and people don't know this, and I feel like sour
dough is so trendy right now. Oh my god, have
you noticed that? Everyone? Wait, I need you to fish
a story because now I'm freaking out. Do you make
sour dough? No? But we'll get to that. Okay, So
(11:17):
it's a big deal because what happens is if dogs
eat raw sour dough dough okay, dough, Okay, it gets
into their just the dough, not the bread and salt
and also not great, but the dough goes into their stomach.
The stomach is warm and there's acid in there, so
the dough will cook and expand. Yes, the ease ferments.
The bread will expand to the point where like the
(11:39):
stomach bloats and it can flip on itself and it
can be life threatening. The other crazy thing is that
the yeast as it's cooking releases alcohol or ethanol, and
that gets absorbed into the bloodstream and the dogs get
drunk and they're drunk, but not just like drunk, like
like white girl wasted at Sidy break. I mean their
stomach pumped alcohol is being drunk. No, you're kidding either.
(12:02):
Stomach pump yes, well, I mean they don't get their
stomach stuck. But I'm saying, like, no, that's how up.
Oh all that to say, don't let them get the dough. Wait,
that's such a good thing to know because most people
probably would just like he said, think that it's just
a normal no big deal. But like, I wonder what
(12:23):
made him thing to reach out because that is kind
of crazy. You probably like saved his dog's life. So
what did you end up doing? So I was like, hey,
we need to make her vomit. You can get her
hydrogen peroxide. She took some, didn't want to throw up.
I'm like, oh, man, like nine thirty at night, my
BRA's off at this point, I don't want to have
to get out of bed. So but I have a
medication that I can inject that can make them throw up. Yes.
(12:46):
So I was like, all right, I'll come over, and
as I'm pulling into their driveway, she throws up and
throws up the whole loaf of all. You know, but
you had to get out of it and I had
to put a braw back on. It's terrible. But no,
she was fine and like, we're not doing really fine. Well,
thank god I know they called you because that could
have been really really bad. I mean, so, did your
(13:07):
dogs eat toward dough? Yeah, so cash That's why I
was he gets into everything. But he jumped up on
the counter and ate a whole loaf of sour dough bread.
But it was cooked, okay, but he ate the entire thing.
They're like all They're huge, it's a lot literally no crumbs.
I was like, not a crumb left behind, and like
not even because it was in a bag because I
(13:28):
got it from the bakery. He ate the bag too. Oh.
And I was just like, I hope did he have
diarrhea or anything? Yeah, he did a little bit, not
inside the house, thank god. Yeah. But I was like, oh, yes,
so nothing worse, Just like what the diarrhea in the house,
Oh my god, awful. And I've dealt with that it's
like especially dogs. Oh, it's awful because it's like human sized.
(13:48):
It's so gross. But I had a great tane and
she had diarya multiple times. But one time right before
I met my husband, and I was getting ready to
move in like two days, and this rug had been
through it, Like I was, I'm with this rug, yeah,
and she took a huge diarrhea on the rug and
I was like, I don't have it in me to
clean this. So I got a box cutter and I
cut out a square in the rug. I did, and
(14:10):
I threw out a ginormous square part of the carpet.
And I just met my husband and so we were dating,
like newly dating, and he came over to pick me
up to go on a date, and he was like,
why does your rug have like a whole square out
of it? And I was like, well, I murdered somebody
I dog diarrhea, and I didn't want to clean it up. Yeah,
So I cut it out and he came back for
(14:31):
more and he still married me. So I don't know
what that sounds about him, but no, I love that.
Actually I wouldn't even think to do that, but it's
honestly kind of get have wits end I the fox anyway.
So yeah, dealing with human sized diarrhea in the house
is no fun. I know. I know it. Well, it's
the price we pay with big dog, I know. And
(14:52):
like you feel bad because their little tummies obviously hurt
so bad that they can't hold it to go out.
But you're also like, what on the rug? Don't make
it to like the hard ones, the tile, it's the
white carpet every time. Really, I just threw mine away
actually not just but like when I when he did that,
because he went and I was just like, I can't.
I can't even like vacuum, you know whatever, clean it up,
(15:16):
like the such a mess, that's just it. I cannot.
So I just throw it away. It's fine and that's
that and that's that. Okay. So tell me about bucks
(15:38):
AND's oldest. Buckson's the oldest. He's just her nine, and
he is the father to Cash, the father to Cash,
the father to Cash. Who's the mother? So the mother
is this beautiful black lab that lives in Cincinnati and
we met on a pet dating app. I know, I
(16:00):
can't close my mouth, isn't that my job? I did
not know this existed. I know what is it called.
It's called pet meatly Okay. It was like the hinge
of yees. Yeah, hinge. We'll go with hinge because tenders
like it's like a rayah for yet it's rayah for dogs.
So yeah, yeah, I got on there and I found
(16:22):
like a cute little dog and it was really sweet.
And we drove to Cincinnati four hours a web and
let them we met that. Yeah, we met at a
dog park and we like let them, you know, sniff
each other, and we took get to know each other,
take her on a day of course. Yeah, true gentlemen,
a true gentleman. And they did their business within like
(16:44):
ten minutes. Okay, it happened at the dog park, Yes,
it did. Scene of the crime. It was like very quick, okay.
And we had tried it before and so I knew
it was like coming because she was in heat. Yes,
she was in heat. And and he hooked yep, which
is like a crazy experience and we don't even have
(17:05):
to get into it, but like we had to hold
them for like ten minutes in place, so they weren't
like ripping. Yes, they look kind of crazy. Oh my gosh,
it was just yeah, Wow. Luckily, Buckson's like a very
good boy, so he just like laid down and it
was fine. And then after that, I think it's like
two months for dogs, sixty days yeah, yeah, and she
(17:27):
had ten puppies. Yeah. Oh, I mean it was her
first little black Labs. You can get a random yellow RBS.
Oh it was. It was all the colors, okay, yeah,
and like the apricot color too. No, so like fox
red maybe everyone. No, we didn't have those. We had
charcoal and yellow, okay, black and chocolate. Oh, I knows.
(17:51):
It was so crazy. But it was only one black
boy and that was Cash and that's the one. You
were like, I want another black boy. Yeah. So this
was a year ago. Yeah, so it was a year ago,
and we did it specifically because I'm kind of like
one of those people who's like plans ahead and like
I can already I already know that I'm going to
be devastated when he passes and he is getting like
(18:13):
a little bit older, and so anyways, I was just
like I always knew I wanted to do it. That's
why I like didn't snip them or anything. And yeah,
it took the first time that we did it and
then we gave it. We like had a family litter
so it wasn't like we were doing it to like breed.
It was just we kept it in our family. So
(18:34):
my brother has one, my sister has one, my assistant
has one, and like we handed them off to friends
so we know who everybody has and like three homes.
Oh they all have amazing homes. Wow. Yeah, you know
they say that if you take any of them, like
the brothers and sisters still together, because they say having
littermates together can be dicey. Oh it's bad. Yeah, So
(18:56):
she kept three of them okay with the mom okay,
and she's having like troubles right now with one of
them and they are with a trainer. But they said
it was like bad anxiety they for whatever. It's like,
do you have sisters, Yeah, it's like literally sometimes you
(19:17):
hate each other, you know. So I think like they
really struggle with that, and obviously they can't talk about
their feelings, so they just have some issues. Wait, this
is so sweet and sad, I know. So we really
recommend like even at Wags and Walks where we do
a lot of like adoptions, we'll get litter mates that
come in and we won't let people take wowes. Yeah,
that makes a lot of sense because I feel like too.
(19:38):
They also whenever we go home and I bring cash
back to play with, like my sister's dog, they are
like going at it and they're too boy crazy. Yeah,
they're nuts. So I couldn't imagine having three of them
and she Yeah, so she's having like major issues right
now with that. And we're like doing the whole training thing.
But like, what do you suggest for something like that
(20:01):
if you have the lettermates, Yeah, lots of training, Like
you're going to need a trainer. Yeah, you might even
need to like send them to a trainer as well.
And also it depends on what the issues are. So
it's only one of them too that's acting up. And
they said she has really bad anxiety. I mean the
first case, you know, maybe even like thinking about rehoming. Yeah,
that's what she was saying. She was like, I don't
(20:22):
know if I can, Well, she can't keep her if
she doesn't like get it under control because she's kind
of like being very mean to the other biting that.
You don't want that. Yeah. I had a client that
had three dogs and the one dog would come in
all the time with bite wounds and it's other sibling
just constantly beating him up to the point where it's like,
we can't keep doing this, right, I can't you may Yeah,
(20:43):
I'm like, We've got to figure something out here. So,
and rehoming is obviously awful because you are giving to
someone else, but at the end of the day, like
that's it might be the only option. Okay, Well, then
I need to think about this with her because I've
entr this episode. I'm going too because I have to.
We have to figure it out, and I need to
(21:03):
know who the dog is going to go to. Yeah,
oh no, you have to ensure it's like a good
person and probably even like get it in writing that
if they ever want to rehome her that I could
you get first like right of refusal. Okay, yeah, I
didn't even know you could do that. Yeah, I'm gonna
do like a little written contract. Okay, I'm learning so much.
(21:24):
And how is Bucks? And when you brought cash home?
Was he like what the hell have you done? Like
why is this puppy here? Or was he like pretty
yeah he had so he had kind of had behavioral
issues at first, Okay, which is crazy because I bring
him everywhere with me. He like comes on the plane,
he's like the chillest dog ever. He was to come
in here, he would just like lay down. But he
(21:45):
he was so mad at me, like cold shoulder. Yeah,
like he was being he was acting really naughty, like
he would run out of the house and then like
not come back, but then like bark at me. And
he's never like barked at me. And I was like,
he's like giving you the middle finger. Yeah, it was
so crazy, And now he's sort of just accepted the
Cash isn't leaving, He's accepted defeat. It's really funny dogs,
(22:07):
Like I feel like the first eight weeks they're like, oh,
so mad, but then they end up like warming up
to them. Yeah, he's definitely like could do without him.
He's not like super excited that he's there. Pesky little
I was gonna say brother, but little son, little son,
He's like, what's the he doing here? But it's weird
(22:27):
with Cash, like they kind of like fight over me
and I don't know, like Cash is more territorial of me,
so he like like bite Bucks And if Buxton comes
close to me, You're like, what's happening? Yeah, like what
is that. That's just them being like resource guarding, Like
you were there, there, you were there, mother, and you
(22:51):
wear the hand that feeds them. Yeah okay, Like yeah,
so I would just try to like not put yourself
in the situation where like obviously this is hard because
you live with them, but like try not to be
in the middle of them too much if you can.
And if you see that happening, like just getting up
and walking away, I don't do that, You're probably like no,
let's talk about it, or I'll be like no, cash,
(23:13):
I go to kiss Bucks and so he feels love,
which also you know he loved to but I try
to just like neutralize the situation and like just get up,
don't speak a word, just walk away. We're doing it
all wrong for you. And well, you know what, Oh god,
that's hilarious. Jason and I Jason Tartick was on this
(23:36):
podcast and we were talking about he has a new
dog who's wild. Oh really and just like how much
you learn. He went and saw Nikki, who's a trainer
who's amazing. I can send you her in boost too,
and he was like, I have realized that as a
pet owner, I have done everything wrong. Oh, Like it's
crazy how and they don't teach me training in that school.
(23:57):
I'm like, take everything I say with a grain of salt.
But you're around it all the time for sure, have
like seen it and like that. Yeah, so that's helpful. Yeah.
Are they both still intact? They are okay, so that
too could be a little Yeah. It's like it's weird
because Cash definitely knows that Bucksin' is the dominant one
because he's got like I don't know, you could just
(24:19):
tell he's like bigger, yeah, thicker. So I feel like
Cash knows not to like mess with Buxton too much,
but he also knows he's like quicker than littler. So
it's like I got yah. Yeah he runs away. Yeah. Literally,
that's how it goes with them. And it's just like
they're I mean, they're great dogs though, they really are,
and they're so sweet. I'm like obsessed with do you
(24:42):
you don't? Do you have a favorite? That's so mean
to just ask, No, it's not. It's so I I
think I go like in and out of which one
I like more? But right now I like Cash more.
I just want him to be a better dog. You're
like you're just crazy. Yeah, but Buckston's like my soul dog. Yes,
(25:02):
you know, so yeah, he's I mean he's been around
through everything, like every breakup, like everything everything, and so
I love him. I'm just like more interested in Cash
right now, yeah, because cash is all that following me
around everywhere. Buckson's like, all right, I'll be on the
couch by Yeah, exactly. I get that. I definitely get
(25:23):
that you have a favorite. We have three dogs, and
it's the same for me, Like it kind of just
depends on the situation. Yeah, sometimes like oh, we're going
to go for a hike Oakley, my German shepherd, exactly,
I want to lay and rot in my bed. Then
my little fat and then just like good snuggles would
be saya. So yeah, really, I mean it's just like totally,
(25:43):
like you said, it varies. I'm sure people with human
children probably feel the same way. I feel like they
have to, right. Definitely, you don't just have You don't
just love them all equally like you do in a sense,
but like you you gravitate towards one in a certain
situation depending on what's going on. Yeeah, say, we love
them all equally, we know you're lying. We know you're lying.
Tell us exactly that's the truth. Because I know I'm
(26:06):
gonna have favorites. Oh yeah, I'll just be honest, not
to them, but like behind the scenes, behind their backs. Yeah,
it's blessome. And when you travel, what do you do?
They stay with somebody? Like how does that work? Yeah?
So I like to keep them at home because they're
used to that. But I have somebody who comes over
and watches them. Typically it's like either my assistant or
(26:30):
like a dog watcher person who i've my friend's cousin,
so perfect. Yeah, I'm like, okay, but if you know
anybody too, Yeah, I have some people Okay, cool, but
I love I'm like such a proponent of leaving them
in the home, okay, having someone come stay. I feel
like I'm doing little things just because I feel like
boarding can go. Like I see so many dogs and
(26:52):
if it's the only option you have, like of course,
like it's not the end of the world, but so
many come back from boarding with like kemel cough or
they like gor You're like, just stuff happens, so you
can keep them in their natural environment. I find that
like tends to be better okay for sure. So I'm
doing it right. You're doing it right perfect, Thank you,
without a doubt. Thank you. Do you have any is
(27:14):
there like any funny stories with them, anything you do
behind closed doors? Let me think I feel I would
just say that the fact that they're just like very well,
we go to the dog park every day, so they're
very very active. Like Buckson's nine, but you wouldn't even
think he was because he's still very active. He tours
ACL over the summer, so he had to get surgery.
(27:36):
He did hears ACL. Yeah, so we had to get surgery.
But he's like fully back at it and like you know,
lumping around. That's a sad recovery process. It was horrible. Yeah,
it was that horrible to witness. You're just you feel
so bad because they don't know what's going on and
like they're trying to, you know, get around still and
(27:58):
like he would try to. We have stairs, so it
was so hard because he would like want to come upstairs,
but he couldn't. You can't, Yeah, yeah, I'm like, literally,
you can't. Is there anything worse than dropping your pet
off for surgery? And I'm saying that as a veterinarian
that receives your pets every day. But I took my
little biggie into the veterinary dentist to have a big
(28:19):
procedure done because I can do I can do a dentistry.
But he had like a I try not to like
operate or do surgery on my own animals. And leaving him,
I was like, I have such a new like appreciation
for my clients. When they leave their pets here, it's
so sad. It's so sad, like I promise I'm coming back, yes,
and they like don't know what's going on. They're getting
(28:40):
all this stuff hooked up to them. When I have them,
I'm like someone's like random pet and I'm like kissing
them on the forehead. I'm like, I love you. I
love you so much. I know you don't know who
I am, but I still want you to be happy here.
It's so sad, so sweet, Buss And now you see
(29:00):
is like pretty much back to normal Buxton Postop. Yeah,
he's pretty much back to normal. And we just like
got off on a tange. I was like kissing no, no,
but yeah, we don't. There's something like crazy other than
the fact that they just like really really like love me,
and I thought that like getting one would help with
the other and it hasn't, and now they're just both idea. Yeah,
(29:20):
they're both just obsessed with me and it's it's sweet,
but it's also like, okay, I got stuff to do,
Like there's only one of me. Literally, do you when
you are dating someone, are they accepting of like another
guy coming around? Yeah? They are. I think they gravitude
towards men. They like like male energy. Yeah, that's good.
(29:41):
Is that like typical? Yeah? They Okay, it depends on
the dog, but that's not uncommon. Like my dogs, I
feed them, I bathe him. I and my husband they're
like he's the best thing and the whole world. They
love that. The male energy what that is? Yeah, they
must just be like, I don't know, just like a
different energy. Yeah exactly. That's good though, because there are
(30:01):
some dogs where the husband or the boyfriend that they'll
be they'll like try to like bite them when they're
kissing or hugging their significant other. Oh my gosh, yeah,
held go south. That's so crazy. No, they're like more
obsessed with the guy than than me. It's a good traders,
but that's okay. We'll take it exactly any worse I know.
(30:24):
I know, well, think, god, he's not like biting Oh no,
imagine that that would be tough to date. Yeah, I
would have to just send him off. Sorry, my massive
dogs are biting you. Will be biting you, and miss
ma'am and miss ma'am will also be peeing on you. Yeah, come,
Dave Victoria. Yeah, welcome that larious. Okay, we're gonna jump
(31:00):
into paw and order. And this is the part where
I tell you three things that as alinarian, as a veterinarian,
I would not do, and I kind of tailored them
to labs. Okay, yay. So the first of which is
I wouldn't forget to clean their ears after they go swimming, Okay,
because labs get ear infections all the time. They can
(31:22):
like look at the win the wrong way and they
get an ear infection, really and they love to swim
because that's what they're a bread for. And so what
happens is they swim and moisture gets trapped in those
ear canals and that will develop into an ear infection.
So you take ear cleaner, and it seems counterintuitive, you
flip that ear over and actually pour the solution into
the ear canal. You're like, wait, I didn't want I
(31:44):
don't want the ear canal to get wet. Why am
I pouring this in there? But it has all these
like drying ingredients in it. Okay, that's good to know. Yes,
And you don't want to buy ear cleaner just like
any random air cleaner, they are not all made equal. Okay.
I definitely want to get one from your vet. Okay,
we definitely have a lot of it around the house
just because yeah, because you made labs. Yeah, do you
(32:06):
do they get your infections? Buxton does all the time.
I mean he could like get a bath and he's
getting in your infection. So even a bath, after a bath,
I would clean their ears Okay, anytime they get wet.
Okay it rains, yes, seriously, they get them so easily
they do. It's those big floppy years cute though, they
are so cute worth it? Okay number two I wrote
(32:30):
this one without even knowing that we were going to
talk about this. But I would not spay my big dog.
So labs and Goldens and shepherds Spain or neuter until
after twelve months of age. If you're going to do
it and the reason being is there's new studies coming
out that show if we wait longer to do that,
they're much less likely to tear their acls. Are you serious?
(32:55):
Isn't that interesting? Obviously that's wild. I know, I know
the first study that ever came out was just with
golden retrievers, and then they just published another study that
was specifically laborador retrievers. So it must be something like
developmentally exactly they think it, Yeah, exactly makes sense and
better joint health and skeletal health. Right, clearly. I think
(33:19):
Buxton is a good case that it may still happen. Yeah,
but the like he was a little bit less at
that point, yeah exactly, so he was. I mean he's
an older gentleman, right, so it's distinguished investigated man exactly,
So it could have happened sooner. Yeah. I feel like
it probably would have because the people that I told,
like I'd put on my Instagram and everybody was like,
(33:40):
oh my gosh, this this happened to me. I was
like shocked at how many people's dogs acls had torn huns.
It's crazy. Yeah, I mean if you think about it,
like an activity that we all do with our dogs
is fetch or there they stopped short exactly, That's exactly
what happened. We were throwing the ball, he stopped short
and it just like popped, and immediately after he was
like limping. Yep. So he's an athlete. But of course
(34:04):
he will get back out there. Yes you will. But yeah, no,
there's like nowhorse feeling. It's really sad, you know. And
we did talk about how awful the recovery is, but
for all of you listening, like, definitely, don't let that
deter you from getting the surgery, because they have to.
The alternative is they get terrible arthritis in their knees
and then they walk around can be for the rest
of their life. I tried to go a couple months
(34:26):
without doing it because it seemed to be like healing
on and off, but like once it's torn, I guess
it doesn't actually ever heal. It's like you have to
just get it like repaired. And that was like interesting
for me because I could tell there was like some
days where he was in a lot of paid in
other days where he was totally fine. Yeah, it waxes
and wanes. It's really interesting. It was so weird, and
so I opted not to get surgery initially, and then
(34:50):
I was just like, Okay, I can't do this anymore
because he wasn't even able to go up the stairs
at that point. But it literally after the surgery, he
was like running around again, so much better, much better,
like nothing ever happened. A really interesting thing about that
surgery too, is in humans, because people tear their acls
all the time, is we actually like rebuild that ligament.
In humans and dogs we don't do that. They don't, right,
(35:13):
That's what they told me. Yeah, we actually just changed
the angle of the joint. Yes, we cut through the bone.
I thought that was so crazy. It's crazy. So you've
done that before, like you've had to do that surgery. Well,
I so as a general practitioner, I can do any
surgery that I feel comfortable with that is like a
major orthopedic procedure, so I refer those out to orthopedic surgeons.
(35:36):
I have had it done though in my dog, so
you know, oh I know, yeah, this was my great Dane.
She'd got both of them done. I was like, this
is a nightmare. At the same time, not at the
same time. They happened within like six months of each other,
and they say, I hate to tell you this, but
they say that if one terror is the likelihood of
the other tearing is like very high. I know, Oh great, six.
(36:01):
Hopefully that does not happen. We're gonna knock on so much.
We're knocking on one, but just a fi Oh gosh,
it's terrible. Okay, last on the list. I wouldn't let
their nails, especially their dew claws, get too long. Do
you guys have due claws? Sometimes they don't are born
without dew claws. I think they are like those little
thumb nails. Yeah, make sure we keep those cut short,
(36:25):
because I can't tell you how many times I see
dogs get them snagged or their nails rip off and
they bleed. It's like a crime scene. And if your
dog is ever bleeding because it's snagged its nail or
you've cut them back too short, a really good hack
is that you can use corn starch or baking flour
and put that on the nail and that will help
it to like clot and stop bleeding. Okay, that's good
(36:46):
to know. I'm like, way too scared to do it,
So every time we go to the bed, I just
have it done smart. Yeah, And they have black nails
right back. Nails are really hard. Yeah, you can't really
see it, so I don't. I don't deal with it.
That's fair. Yeah, white nails fine because you can see
what's happening. What's happening under there? Yeah no not, there's
absolutely not. I'm not confident they are like snagged their
(37:06):
do claws on it. No, no they haven't. Yeah, they
haven't snagged or anything. But yeah, when I texted you
this morning, I was like, looking at Cash's arm, this
is like huge abscess. You know, we'll see that. I know,
I'm I want you to look at it. Cash is here,
he will be getting an exam. It's like, while I'm there,
this is great. Just two and one. Yes, this is perfect.
(37:28):
I'll take a look. We'll figure out what's going on. Okay,
cool squared away. Thank you so appreciated. Thanks for coming
on today. Gosh, of course this was so fun. Appreciate it.
I feel like I learned so much, and like I
thought I know a lot because I constantly am googling.
But obviously you divorce. It's perfect. I love we can
talk about dogs and learn something. Oh, thank you so much.
(37:50):
You're welcome and for everyone listening. Please be sure to
rate reviews, subscribe, and as always, if you have any questions,
you can DM me at doctor Josie Vett on Instagram
and we will see you next week. Hey,
Yeah, you're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor
Josie Horchak. All right, everyone, welcome back to in the
Vets Office. I am your host, doctor Josie, and this
week we have a very special guest. You may know
her from her appearances on the Bachelor and Bachelor in
(00:27):
Paradise I think, yeah, okay, yeah, both, and from being
a social media guru. But the real reason she is
here today is because she is the mom to two
adorable dogs, Cash and Buxton. Yay, Welcome to in the
Vet's Office. Victoria Fuller, thank you, thank you for having me.
So happy you're here. I know, I'm so excited. We've
been like talking about doing this, so I'm glad that
(00:48):
we like got it on the books. Yes, and this
is like just a podcast for primarily everyone that listens
is doc Moms. Okay, I love that crazy cat Moms too.
Of course. I know I was gonna say, do we
like dabbling cats? I have one? Yeah? Do you? Yeah?
I didn't know that. Yeah, she's crazy. What's her name,
miss ma'am? Miss ma'am? And it like fits her perfectly.
(01:08):
That is amazing. Miss Yeah. How old is she? She's
two and she's a Tordie and oh and she they
say about, yeah, the attitude tortitude four to two, I know,
miss ma'am. Yeah, and how does the dogs do with her?
They well, so she really loves Buxton, which is my
oldest one. He's nine, and then uh, she loves him
(01:32):
because she like attacks him. But Cash is one, so
he like will chase after her and is like She's
like no, yeah, she she likes it, I think because
she'll be like, ah, look at me, and then she
like wave her little tail face yes, and then she'll
like run or he'll like pin her down and she'll
start crying. Great, what hands chaos. One of my favorite
(01:52):
things to watch on the internet is when cats do
the little pop pop pop, which little pause, yes, and
there their claws aren't out usually I know love that.
Does she throw mittens at them? Oh she's yeah, she's
like the old one too, pun for sure. She's it
like makes her tougher, I think, yeah, Like she's probably
tougher than most cats because she can like get away
quick and like she fights them and they're both like
(02:15):
pretty big labs, like seventy pounds, eighty pounds, So she
wants to know she does on I one thing that
with torties being a veterinarian is we know, like if
I see a torty on my schedule, I'm like, I'm
getting my ass kicked. Like they yes, wait, okay, I
(02:36):
need to know about this. They will be They're like
definitely are feistiest okay, patience, Yes, like I would take
a rottweiler trying to like come get me over a
to spicy torty. Yeah, what's up with that? Why do
you think they're like that? I don't know what it is.
I think it's like maybe just their genetics. Really, yeah,
but it's those like female torties and calicos. Okay. I
was wondering because so the tourties are only girls only girls. Oh,
(03:01):
I don't know. I was just like very confused by
her demeanor because I always had tabbies. Oh and they're
so sweet male tabbies. Yeah, the sweetest cats, the sweetest
kind of like her olden retriever cat. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And I'd never been around the toy before. And she
is definitely like she has I need to ask you
like actual questions, like maybe we laugh at it. No,
(03:23):
she has like she has behavioral issues, and I was
wondering if that's normal, Like what she Okay, this is
really bad? Does she pee outside the litter box? Yes?
I had a feeling. How did you know you're like
the do like the animal whisper? Do I have telepathy?
Like I'm really good at my job? Okay? So she
(03:47):
peees outside the letter watches she being like on your stuff?
So okay, she was going into one specific room and
kind of like made that her new litter box so
much so that I had to literally dispose of the
mattress by a new one. So I got all new
furniture in there, and then she still did it. She
did it again, So now I've kept the door closed,
but she's doing it in other spots. Now is it
pee and poop or just pe? Just p Nine times
(04:10):
out of ten it's a stress response that or. And
the other thing is they can be like really particular
about the kind of you're tearing up, like who knows
not suse you're about. Like literally these cats that I
see live on a silver platter. They are like trust
fun baby cats and they have nothing to be stressed about.
But cats are just your cats. Yeah, So if a
(04:32):
stress which we can talk about and then be The
other thing is sometimes they're really particular about their litter box,
like where it is, it has changed locations, if there's
a lid on it, the type of litter like, they
can be super particular. Okay, that makes sense. I mean
she I think with the litter box situation, if it's
even like remotely dirty, she doesn't like it. Yes, they
(04:53):
some are like, you need to clean it every single
time I go. So I got like a self regulating one,
and it's it's I mean, it's helped a little bit,
but I think I'm still finding spot finding it happened. Yeah,
she might be like she honestly might not like the
self regulating one. Oh cash. She might not like the
(05:13):
self regulating one, but she also wants it clean, so
she might be like, Mom, you just have to like
put in the hard work. Oh wow. Uh huh. The
other thing too, is like I know, like you can
just be on the mastress. Yeah, okay. The other option
is you could always like add in another litter box,
like just throw in like a basic one. Okay. And
the other thing is, while we're on this, they did
(05:35):
a study in cats. They studied all these cats and
the different kinds of litter, and they found that non clumping,
unscented litter is like the best litter that cats tend
to like the most. So I would get it back
of that, get like just a basic pan, like a
basic okay, I want and see how that goes for you. Okay,
thank you. And if that doesn't work, it's cash. Yeah,
(05:56):
I was gonna say, because I think maybe it was
happening a lot when I was trying, and so I
was the classic. Yeah, I was gone, and so she
was spending like we would have somebody come over for
like a couple hours a day, but it wasn't enough
because she like felt alone. I think, yeah, it's classic,
like people will bring their cat in the cat's pee
and orm like, have you traveled? Are you doing construction?
(06:18):
Have you had visitors? They don't like it's something where
there It causes them, right, stress anxiety. The other thing
is there's a product called feel Away. Have you heard
of this? You can get it. It's like a plugin
that you plug into the wall and it sounds crazy,
but it releases pheromones, oh, to help reduce stressing cats.
It's okay, seeing okay, we can't smell it, but they can. Well,
(06:39):
then I'll definitely look at that because she's I mean, yeah,
it's bad and cat pee smells so bad. Oh it's awful.
It's like that ammonious smell. It's so oh my gosh,
it's so Yes, pungent, it's the best word for it. Yes, yeah,
it's so interesting. There was another question I had for
you actually about her go ahead. Oh so she she
(07:01):
One of the doctors we talked to was talking about
possibly putting her on prozac. Yes, that's another option. Yeah,
I know, there's like this whole first, try the feel away, first,
try the other litter box, and then the reality is,
like you travel, I'm sure, just because you're running all
around and you're single and living the dream, and so
(07:21):
you can't just stay home with your cat keep her happy.
I mean you could, that would be insane, you could,
but and so you have to live your life. And
if she's just kind of like a naturally anxious gal,
we do put them on prozac and it can make
a huge difference. And I know there's like the stigmas,
like I'm drugging my cat, but but they're happier. It's
a happier life for that exactly. I think I might
need to we might need to talk about that after
(07:44):
definitely after this. We have a lot to do today.
We do really do honestly. The prozac though, like they're
still themselves. They're not like zombies. They're just like a
little less on edge. Okay, I love that. Yeah, like
I'm on anxietyments. I love it exactly right. I was like,
is she too young? Like, okay, well I would, I
would think about it. And only thing is you just
(08:05):
have to do once you do do it every single day,
I know. Because that, Yeah, I want to like mess
with her like chemical and ballads in her little people,
my god, little tiny peanut head. And he's the smallest
dose of prozac in the world. Oh yeah, it's like
teeny tiny. It's adorable, and think about it, and they do.
I have a dog that, one of my dogs upstairs
is on prozac really and it's changed his life really. Okay,
(08:28):
so what was he doing? Sorry, Like how was he before? Now?
It was like kind of neurotic. He's a German shepherd,
so they are bred to be like working dogs. And
I do as much work with him as I can.
But also, like I have a life too, and so
he would get like hyper fixated on toys or balls
or like paste the backyard. And it's just like helped
(08:50):
take the edge off. Wow. Yeah, really meld him. Like
and he's still himself, right, but just like a little less.
He seems happier, so much happier. Okay, I love this.
This is giving me the confidence, you know. I actually
I go through with it because it kind of felt weird. Yeah,
people do. We talk about all the time in the
clinic and owners are like, you're gonna put my pet
on prozac? Like what right? And when you first hear
(09:10):
it does sound crazy, but I see it so often
where it like changes their lives. Okay, So I love this.
Thank you so welcome. This is so helpful in that's
office and in the therapist's office. Yeah yeah, okay, it's surpost. Yeah,
it's a one stop shop. Yes, of course. One thing
I was thinking about when I was like prepping for
(09:30):
this podcast is I can't whose season were you want
to The Bachelor Peters. I haven't watched it so long,
but there was one season where one of the contestants
was a dog mom, like that was her job. You
know how they put your job. Oh yeah, they like
say you're this age and like this is your role
and people are like sale, serve this, and it was like,
dog mom, I wish they would do that for mine.
(09:51):
I was like, I wonder if they did classic. I
love that. What do you know what yours was? I
think mine was just medical sales. Okay, yeah, but yeah,
is like that is my full time. And I think
she brought her dog with her. Oh I know that's
really sweet. Can you imagine let me do that. You
were chipped? Seriously, it's like a service animal. Yeah, exactly.
(10:14):
Oh I should have advocated for that. Now we know.
Now we know. Okay, Well, before we dive into all
things about your dogs, we're going to do a case
of the week, okay, and this is where I just
kind of talk about things I anything I've experienced in
the trenches, if you will. And not too long ago,
I had a client call me and I know he
won't care if I say his name, and it was actually,
(10:35):
do you know Bobby Bones? I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,
he calls me. It's nine o'clock at night. Actually, I
think his wife called me and she's like, hey, just
want to let you know our dog, Eller just ate
a whole loaf of sour dough bread dough, like raw dough. Oh,
the raw dough. She's like, we had it out on
(10:55):
the counter, we were getting ready to put it in
the oven. She's eaten the whole thing, like, just you know,
it's probably not a big deal, like it's just bread.
And I was like, actually, it's a really big deal
and people don't know this, and I feel like sour
dough is so trendy right now. Oh my god, have
you noticed that? Everyone? Wait, I need you to fish
a story because now I'm freaking out. Do you make
sour dough? No? But we'll get to that. Okay, So
(11:17):
it's a big deal because what happens is if dogs
eat raw sour dough dough okay, dough, Okay, it gets
into their just the dough, not the bread and salt
and also not great, but the dough goes into their stomach.
The stomach is warm and there's acid in there, so
the dough will cook and expand. Yes, the ease ferments.
The bread will expand to the point where like the
(11:39):
stomach bloats and it can flip on itself and it
can be life threatening. The other crazy thing is that
the yeast as it's cooking releases alcohol or ethanol, and
that gets absorbed into the bloodstream and the dogs get
drunk and they're drunk, but not just like drunk, like
like white girl wasted at Sidy break. I mean their
stomach pumped alcohol is being drunk. No, you're kidding either.
(12:02):
Stomach pump yes, well, I mean they don't get their
stomach stuck. But I'm saying, like, no, that's how up.
Oh all that to say, don't let them get the dough. Wait,
that's such a good thing to know because most people
probably would just like he said, think that it's just
a normal no big deal. But like, I wonder what
(12:23):
made him thing to reach out because that is kind
of crazy. You probably like saved his dog's life. So
what did you end up doing? So I was like, hey,
we need to make her vomit. You can get her
hydrogen peroxide. She took some, didn't want to throw up.
I'm like, oh, man, like nine thirty at night, my
BRA's off at this point, I don't want to have
to get out of bed. So but I have a
medication that I can inject that can make them throw up. Yes.
(12:46):
So I was like, all right, I'll come over, and
as I'm pulling into their driveway, she throws up and
throws up the whole loaf of all. You know, but
you had to get out of it and I had
to put a braw back on. It's terrible. But no,
she was fine and like, we're not doing really fine. Well,
thank god I know they called you because that could
have been really really bad. I mean, so, did your
(13:07):
dogs eat toward dough? Yeah, so cash That's why I
was he gets into everything. But he jumped up on
the counter and ate a whole loaf of sour dough bread.
But it was cooked, okay, but he ate the entire thing.
They're like all They're huge, it's a lot literally no crumbs.
I was like, not a crumb left behind, and like
not even because it was in a bag because I
(13:28):
got it from the bakery. He ate the bag too. Oh.
And I was just like, I hope did he have
diarrhea or anything? Yeah, he did a little bit, not
inside the house, thank god. Yeah. But I was like, oh, yes,
so nothing worse, Just like what the diarrhea in the house,
Oh my god, awful. And I've dealt with that it's
like especially dogs. Oh, it's awful because it's like human sized.
(13:48):
It's so gross. But I had a great tane and
she had diarya multiple times. But one time right before
I met my husband, and I was getting ready to
move in like two days, and this rug had been
through it, Like I was, I'm with this rug, yeah,
and she took a huge diarrhea on the rug and
I was like, I don't have it in me to
clean this. So I got a box cutter and I
cut out a square in the rug. I did, and
(14:10):
I threw out a ginormous square part of the carpet.
And I just met my husband and so we were dating,
like newly dating, and he came over to pick me
up to go on a date, and he was like,
why does your rug have like a whole square out
of it? And I was like, well, I murdered somebody
I dog diarrhea, and I didn't want to clean it up. Yeah,
So I cut it out and he came back for
(14:31):
more and he still married me. So I don't know
what that sounds about him, but no, I love that.
Actually I wouldn't even think to do that, but it's
honestly kind of get have wits end I the fox anyway.
So yeah, dealing with human sized diarrhea in the house
is no fun. I know. I know it. Well, it's
the price we pay with big dog, I know. And
(14:52):
like you feel bad because their little tummies obviously hurt
so bad that they can't hold it to go out.
But you're also like, what on the rug? Don't make
it to like the hard ones, the tile, it's the
white carpet every time. Really, I just threw mine away
actually not just but like when I when he did that,
because he went and I was just like, I can't.
I can't even like vacuum, you know whatever, clean it up,
(15:16):
like the such a mess, that's just it. I cannot.
So I just throw it away. It's fine and that's
that and that's that. Okay. So tell me about bucks
(15:38):
AND's oldest. Buckson's the oldest. He's just her nine, and
he is the father to Cash, the father to Cash,
the father to Cash. Who's the mother? So the mother
is this beautiful black lab that lives in Cincinnati and
we met on a pet dating app. I know, I
(16:00):
can't close my mouth, isn't that my job? I did
not know this existed. I know what is it called.
It's called pet meatly Okay. It was like the hinge
of yees. Yeah, hinge. We'll go with hinge because tenders
like it's like a rayah for yet it's rayah for dogs.
So yeah, yeah, I got on there and I found
(16:22):
like a cute little dog and it was really sweet.
And we drove to Cincinnati four hours a web and
let them we met that. Yeah, we met at a
dog park and we like let them, you know, sniff
each other, and we took get to know each other,
take her on a day of course. Yeah, true gentlemen,
a true gentleman. And they did their business within like
(16:44):
ten minutes. Okay, it happened at the dog park, Yes,
it did. Scene of the crime. It was like very quick, okay.
And we had tried it before and so I knew
it was like coming because she was in heat. Yes,
she was in heat. And and he hooked yep, which
is like a crazy experience and we don't even have
(17:05):
to get into it, but like we had to hold
them for like ten minutes in place, so they weren't
like ripping. Yes, they look kind of crazy. Oh my gosh,
it was just yeah, Wow. Luckily, Buckson's like a very
good boy, so he just like laid down and it
was fine. And then after that, I think it's like
two months for dogs, sixty days yeah, yeah, and she
(17:27):
had ten puppies. Yeah. Oh, I mean it was her
first little black Labs. You can get a random yellow RBS.
Oh it was. It was all the colors, okay, yeah,
and like the apricot color too. No, so like fox
red maybe everyone. No, we didn't have those. We had
charcoal and yellow, okay, black and chocolate. Oh, I knows.
(17:51):
It was so crazy. But it was only one black
boy and that was Cash and that's the one. You
were like, I want another black boy. Yeah. So this
was a year ago. Yeah, so it was a year ago,
and we did it specifically because I'm kind of like
one of those people who's like plans ahead and like
I can already I already know that I'm going to
be devastated when he passes and he is getting like
(18:13):
a little bit older, and so anyways, I was just
like I always knew I wanted to do it. That's
why I like didn't snip them or anything. And yeah,
it took the first time that we did it and
then we gave it. We like had a family litter
so it wasn't like we were doing it to like breed.
It was just we kept it in our family. So
(18:34):
my brother has one, my sister has one, my assistant
has one, and like we handed them off to friends
so we know who everybody has and like three homes.
Oh they all have amazing homes. Wow. Yeah, you know
they say that if you take any of them, like
the brothers and sisters still together, because they say having
littermates together can be dicey. Oh it's bad. Yeah, So
(18:56):
she kept three of them okay with the mom okay,
and she's having like troubles right now with one of
them and they are with a trainer. But they said
it was like bad anxiety they for whatever. It's like,
do you have sisters, Yeah, it's like literally sometimes you
(19:17):
hate each other, you know. So I think like they
really struggle with that, and obviously they can't talk about
their feelings, so they just have some issues. Wait, this
is so sweet and sad, I know. So we really
recommend like even at Wags and Walks where we do
a lot of like adoptions, we'll get litter mates that
come in and we won't let people take wowes. Yeah,
that makes a lot of sense because I feel like too.
(19:38):
They also whenever we go home and I bring cash
back to play with, like my sister's dog, they are
like going at it and they're too boy crazy. Yeah,
they're nuts. So I couldn't imagine having three of them
and she Yeah, so she's having like major issues right
now with that. And we're like doing the whole training thing.
But like, what do you suggest for something like that
(20:01):
if you have the lettermates, Yeah, lots of training, Like
you're going to need a trainer. Yeah, you might even
need to like send them to a trainer as well.
And also it depends on what the issues are. So
it's only one of them too that's acting up. And
they said she has really bad anxiety. I mean the
first case, you know, maybe even like thinking about rehoming. Yeah,
that's what she was saying. She was like, I don't
(20:22):
know if I can, Well, she can't keep her if
she doesn't like get it under control because she's kind
of like being very mean to the other biting that.
You don't want that. Yeah. I had a client that
had three dogs and the one dog would come in
all the time with bite wounds and it's other sibling
just constantly beating him up to the point where it's like,
we can't keep doing this, right, I can't you may Yeah,
(20:43):
I'm like, We've got to figure something out here. So,
and rehoming is obviously awful because you are giving to
someone else, but at the end of the day, like
that's it might be the only option. Okay, Well, then
I need to think about this with her because I've
entr this episode. I'm going too because I have to.
We have to figure it out, and I need to
(21:03):
know who the dog is going to go to. Yeah,
oh no, you have to ensure it's like a good
person and probably even like get it in writing that
if they ever want to rehome her that I could
you get first like right of refusal. Okay, yeah, I
didn't even know you could do that. Yeah, I'm gonna
do like a little written contract. Okay, I'm learning so much.
(21:24):
And how is Bucks? And when you brought cash home?
Was he like what the hell have you done? Like
why is this puppy here? Or was he like pretty
yeah he had so he had kind of had behavioral
issues at first, Okay, which is crazy because I bring
him everywhere with me. He like comes on the plane,
he's like the chillest dog ever. He was to come
in here, he would just like lay down. But he
(21:45):
he was so mad at me, like cold shoulder. Yeah,
like he was being he was acting really naughty, like
he would run out of the house and then like
not come back, but then like bark at me. And
he's never like barked at me. And I was like,
he's like giving you the middle finger. Yeah, it was
so crazy, And now he's sort of just accepted the
Cash isn't leaving, He's accepted defeat. It's really funny dogs,
(22:07):
Like I feel like the first eight weeks they're like, oh,
so mad, but then they end up like warming up
to them. Yeah, he's definitely like could do without him.
He's not like super excited that he's there. Pesky little
I was gonna say brother, but little son, little son,
He's like, what's the he doing here? But it's weird
(22:27):
with Cash, like they kind of like fight over me
and I don't know, like Cash is more territorial of me,
so he like like bite Bucks And if Buxton comes
close to me, You're like, what's happening? Yeah, like what
is that. That's just them being like resource guarding, Like
you were there, there, you were there, mother, and you
(22:51):
wear the hand that feeds them. Yeah okay, Like yeah,
so I would just try to like not put yourself
in the situation where like obviously this is hard because
you live with them, but like try not to be
in the middle of them too much if you can.
And if you see that happening, like just getting up
and walking away, I don't do that, You're probably like no,
let's talk about it, or I'll be like no, cash,
(23:13):
I go to kiss Bucks and so he feels love,
which also you know he loved to but I try
to just like neutralize the situation and like just get up,
don't speak a word, just walk away. We're doing it
all wrong for you. And well, you know what, Oh god,
that's hilarious. Jason and I Jason Tartick was on this
(23:36):
podcast and we were talking about he has a new
dog who's wild. Oh really and just like how much
you learn. He went and saw Nikki, who's a trainer
who's amazing. I can send you her in boost too,
and he was like, I have realized that as a
pet owner, I have done everything wrong. Oh, Like it's
crazy how and they don't teach me training in that school.
(23:57):
I'm like, take everything I say with a grain of salt.
But you're around it all the time for sure, have
like seen it and like that. Yeah, so that's helpful. Yeah.
Are they both still intact? They are okay, so that
too could be a little Yeah. It's like it's weird
because Cash definitely knows that Bucksin' is the dominant one
because he's got like I don't know, you could just
(24:19):
tell he's like bigger, yeah, thicker. So I feel like
Cash knows not to like mess with Buxton too much,
but he also knows he's like quicker than littler. So
it's like I got yah. Yeah he runs away. Yeah. Literally,
that's how it goes with them. And it's just like
they're I mean, they're great dogs though, they really are,
and they're so sweet. I'm like obsessed with do you
(24:42):
you don't? Do you have a favorite? That's so mean
to just ask, No, it's not. It's so I I
think I go like in and out of which one
I like more? But right now I like Cash more.
I just want him to be a better dog. You're
like you're just crazy. Yeah, but Buckston's like my soul dog. Yes,
(25:02):
you know, so yeah, he's I mean he's been around
through everything, like every breakup, like everything everything, and so
I love him. I'm just like more interested in Cash
right now, yeah, because cash is all that following me
around everywhere. Buckson's like, all right, I'll be on the
couch by Yeah, exactly. I get that. I definitely get
(25:23):
that you have a favorite. We have three dogs, and
it's the same for me, Like it kind of just
depends on the situation. Yeah, sometimes like oh, we're going
to go for a hike Oakley, my German shepherd, exactly,
I want to lay and rot in my bed. Then
my little fat and then just like good snuggles would
be saya. So yeah, really, I mean it's just like totally,
(25:43):
like you said, it varies. I'm sure people with human
children probably feel the same way. I feel like they
have to, right. Definitely, you don't just have You don't
just love them all equally like you do in a sense,
but like you you gravitate towards one in a certain
situation depending on what's going on. Yeeah, say, we love
them all equally, we know you're lying. We know you're lying.
Tell us exactly that's the truth. Because I know I'm
(26:06):
gonna have favorites. Oh yeah, I'll just be honest, not
to them, but like behind the scenes, behind their backs. Yeah,
it's blessome. And when you travel, what do you do?
They stay with somebody? Like how does that work? Yeah?
So I like to keep them at home because they're
used to that. But I have somebody who comes over
and watches them. Typically it's like either my assistant or
(26:30):
like a dog watcher person who i've my friend's cousin,
so perfect. Yeah, I'm like, okay, but if you know
anybody too, Yeah, I have some people Okay, cool, but
I love I'm like such a proponent of leaving them
in the home, okay, having someone come stay. I feel
like I'm doing little things just because I feel like
boarding can go. Like I see so many dogs and
(26:52):
if it's the only option you have, like of course,
like it's not the end of the world, but so
many come back from boarding with like kemel cough or
they like gor You're like, just stuff happens, so you
can keep them in their natural environment. I find that
like tends to be better okay for sure. So I'm
doing it right. You're doing it right perfect, Thank you,
without a doubt. Thank you. Do you have any is
(27:14):
there like any funny stories with them, anything you do
behind closed doors? Let me think I feel I would
just say that the fact that they're just like very well,
we go to the dog park every day, so they're
very very active. Like Buckson's nine, but you wouldn't even
think he was because he's still very active. He tours
ACL over the summer, so he had to get surgery.
(27:36):
He did hears ACL. Yeah, so we had to get surgery.
But he's like fully back at it and like you know,
lumping around. That's a sad recovery process. It was horrible. Yeah,
it was that horrible to witness. You're just you feel
so bad because they don't know what's going on and
like they're trying to, you know, get around still and
(27:58):
like he would try to. We have stairs, so it
was so hard because he would like want to come upstairs,
but he couldn't. You can't, Yeah, yeah, I'm like, literally,
you can't. Is there anything worse than dropping your pet
off for surgery? And I'm saying that as a veterinarian
that receives your pets every day. But I took my
little biggie into the veterinary dentist to have a big
(28:19):
procedure done because I can do I can do a dentistry.
But he had like a I try not to like
operate or do surgery on my own animals. And leaving him,
I was like, I have such a new like appreciation
for my clients. When they leave their pets here, it's
so sad. It's so sad, like I promise I'm coming back, yes,
and they like don't know what's going on. They're getting
(28:40):
all this stuff hooked up to them. When I have them,
I'm like someone's like random pet and I'm like kissing
them on the forehead. I'm like, I love you. I
love you so much. I know you don't know who
I am, but I still want you to be happy here.
It's so sad, so sweet, Buss And now you see
(29:00):
is like pretty much back to normal Buxton Postop. Yeah,
he's pretty much back to normal. And we just like
got off on a tange. I was like kissing no, no,
but yeah, we don't. There's something like crazy other than
the fact that they just like really really like love me,
and I thought that like getting one would help with
the other and it hasn't, and now they're just both idea. Yeah,
(29:20):
they're both just obsessed with me and it's it's sweet,
but it's also like, okay, I got stuff to do,
Like there's only one of me. Literally, do you when
you are dating someone, are they accepting of like another
guy coming around? Yeah? They are. I think they gravitude
towards men. They like like male energy. Yeah, that's good.
(29:41):
Is that like typical? Yeah? They Okay, it depends on
the dog, but that's not uncommon. Like my dogs, I
feed them, I bathe him. I and my husband they're
like he's the best thing and the whole world. They
love that. The male energy what that is? Yeah, they
must just be like, I don't know, just like a
different energy. Yeah exactly. That's good though, because there are
(30:01):
some dogs where the husband or the boyfriend that they'll
be they'll like try to like bite them when they're
kissing or hugging their significant other. Oh my gosh, yeah,
held go south. That's so crazy. No, they're like more
obsessed with the guy than than me. It's a good traders,
but that's okay. We'll take it exactly any worse I know.
(30:24):
I know, well, think, god, he's not like biting Oh no,
imagine that that would be tough to date. Yeah, I
would have to just send him off. Sorry, my massive
dogs are biting you. Will be biting you, and miss
ma'am and miss ma'am will also be peeing on you. Yeah, come,
Dave Victoria. Yeah, welcome that larious. Okay, we're gonna jump
(31:00):
into paw and order. And this is the part where
I tell you three things that as alinarian, as a veterinarian,
I would not do, and I kind of tailored them
to labs. Okay, yay. So the first of which is
I wouldn't forget to clean their ears after they go swimming, Okay,
because labs get ear infections all the time. They can
(31:22):
like look at the win the wrong way and they
get an ear infection, really and they love to swim
because that's what they're a bread for. And so what
happens is they swim and moisture gets trapped in those
ear canals and that will develop into an ear infection.
So you take ear cleaner, and it seems counterintuitive, you
flip that ear over and actually pour the solution into
the ear canal. You're like, wait, I didn't want I
(31:44):
don't want the ear canal to get wet. Why am
I pouring this in there? But it has all these
like drying ingredients in it. Okay, that's good to know. Yes,
And you don't want to buy ear cleaner just like
any random air cleaner, they are not all made equal. Okay.
I definitely want to get one from your vet. Okay,
we definitely have a lot of it around the house
just because yeah, because you made labs. Yeah, do you
(32:06):
do they get your infections? Buxton does all the time.
I mean he could like get a bath and he's
getting in your infection. So even a bath, after a bath,
I would clean their ears Okay, anytime they get wet.
Okay it rains, yes, seriously, they get them so easily
they do. It's those big floppy years cute though, they
are so cute worth it? Okay number two I wrote
(32:30):
this one without even knowing that we were going to
talk about this. But I would not spay my big dog.
So labs and Goldens and shepherds Spain or neuter until
after twelve months of age. If you're going to do
it and the reason being is there's new studies coming
out that show if we wait longer to do that,
they're much less likely to tear their acls. Are you serious?
(32:55):
Isn't that interesting? Obviously that's wild. I know, I know
the first study that ever came out was just with
golden retrievers, and then they just published another study that
was specifically laborador retrievers. So it must be something like
developmentally exactly they think it, Yeah, exactly makes sense and
better joint health and skeletal health. Right, clearly. I think
(33:19):
Buxton is a good case that it may still happen. Yeah,
but the like he was a little bit less at
that point, yeah exactly, so he was. I mean he's
an older gentleman, right, so it's distinguished investigated man exactly,
So it could have happened sooner. Yeah. I feel like
it probably would have because the people that I told,
like I'd put on my Instagram and everybody was like,
(33:40):
oh my gosh, this this happened to me. I was
like shocked at how many people's dogs acls had torn huns.
It's crazy. Yeah, I mean if you think about it,
like an activity that we all do with our dogs
is fetch or there they stopped short exactly, That's exactly
what happened. We were throwing the ball, he stopped short
and it just like popped, and immediately after he was
like limping. Yep. So he's an athlete. But of course
(34:04):
he will get back out there. Yes you will. But yeah, no,
there's like nowhorse feeling. It's really sad, you know. And
we did talk about how awful the recovery is, but
for all of you listening, like, definitely, don't let that
deter you from getting the surgery, because they have to.
The alternative is they get terrible arthritis in their knees
and then they walk around can be for the rest
of their life. I tried to go a couple months
(34:26):
without doing it because it seemed to be like healing
on and off, but like once it's torn, I guess
it doesn't actually ever heal. It's like you have to
just get it like repaired. And that was like interesting
for me because I could tell there was like some
days where he was in a lot of paid in
other days where he was totally fine. Yeah, it waxes
and wanes. It's really interesting. It was so weird, and
so I opted not to get surgery initially, and then
(34:50):
I was just like, Okay, I can't do this anymore
because he wasn't even able to go up the stairs
at that point. But it literally after the surgery, he
was like running around again, so much better, much better,
like nothing ever happened. A really interesting thing about that
surgery too, is in humans, because people tear their acls
all the time, is we actually like rebuild that ligament.
In humans and dogs we don't do that. They don't, right,
(35:13):
That's what they told me. Yeah, we actually just changed
the angle of the joint. Yes, we cut through the bone.
I thought that was so crazy. It's crazy. So you've
done that before, like you've had to do that surgery. Well,
I so as a general practitioner, I can do any
surgery that I feel comfortable with that is like a
major orthopedic procedure, so I refer those out to orthopedic surgeons.
(35:36):
I have had it done though in my dog, so
you know, oh I know, yeah, this was my great Dane.
She'd got both of them done. I was like, this
is a nightmare. At the same time, not at the
same time. They happened within like six months of each other,
and they say, I hate to tell you this, but
they say that if one terror is the likelihood of
the other tearing is like very high. I know, Oh great, six.
(36:01):
Hopefully that does not happen. We're gonna knock on so much.
We're knocking on one, but just a fi Oh gosh,
it's terrible. Okay, last on the list. I wouldn't let
their nails, especially their dew claws, get too long. Do
you guys have due claws? Sometimes they don't are born
without dew claws. I think they are like those little
thumb nails. Yeah, make sure we keep those cut short,
(36:25):
because I can't tell you how many times I see
dogs get them snagged or their nails rip off and
they bleed. It's like a crime scene. And if your
dog is ever bleeding because it's snagged its nail or
you've cut them back too short, a really good hack
is that you can use corn starch or baking flour
and put that on the nail and that will help
it to like clot and stop bleeding. Okay, that's good
(36:46):
to know. I'm like, way too scared to do it,
So every time we go to the bed, I just
have it done smart. Yeah, And they have black nails
right back. Nails are really hard. Yeah, you can't really
see it, so I don't. I don't deal with it.
That's fair. Yeah, white nails fine because you can see
what's happening. What's happening under there? Yeah no not, there's
absolutely not. I'm not confident they are like snagged their
(37:06):
do claws on it. No, no they haven't. Yeah, they
haven't snagged or anything. But yeah, when I texted you
this morning, I was like, looking at Cash's arm, this
is like huge abscess. You know, we'll see that. I know,
I'm I want you to look at it. Cash is here,
he will be getting an exam. It's like, while I'm there,
this is great. Just two and one. Yes, this is perfect.
(37:28):
I'll take a look. We'll figure out what's going on. Okay,
cool squared away. Thank you so appreciated. Thanks for coming
on today. Gosh, of course this was so fun. Appreciate it.
I feel like I learned so much, and like I
thought I know a lot because I constantly am googling.
But obviously you divorce. It's perfect. I love we can
talk about dogs and learn something. Oh, thank you so much.
(37:50):
You're welcome and for everyone listening. Please be sure to
rate reviews, subscribe, and as always, if you have any questions,
you can DM me at doctor Josie Vett on Instagram
and we will see you next week. Hey,
Host
Josie Horchak
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