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July 14, 2024 21 mins

Join me as we delve into the fascinating world of pet wellness and longevity with the renowned Dr. Randy Aronson. Dr. Aronson's groundbreaking approach combines traditional Western medicine with holistic practices, setting him apart as a true trailblazer in the field. Get ready to uncover actionable tips that will not only enhance your life but also uplift the well-being of your beloved pets. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that promises to inspire and empower both you and your furry companions.


Featured Guest: Randy Aronson, VMD, CCRT, CVA

www.drrandypetvet.com

email: andy@drrandypetvet.com

520-666-7714

P.AW.S. Veterinary Center, 300 E. River Rd, 

Tucson, AZ 85704

520-888-7297


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Theresa Cesare (00:06):
Hey guys.
Welcome to Heart to Talk thepodcast.
I am the host and creatorTheresa Cesare My intention for
this podcast is to deliver toyou wisdom, inspiration, and
consciousness.
Through solo episodes andconversations amongst insightful
people.
It is my greatest honor to bringto you talks that come from the.

(00:32):
Amazing listeners.
Welcome to another powerfulepisode of heart to talk.
If you are a pet owner andenthusiast, you're going to love
this episode and today's guest.
I have the honor and privilegeof hosting a groundbreaking
figure and true visionary inveterinary medicine.
Dr.
Randy Aronson.
Dr.
Aronson's innovative approachseamlessly blends Western

(00:55):
medical practices with holisticmodalities, making him a true
pioneer in the field.
For this episode, we will bediscussing pet wellness and
longevity, learning how we canenhance the quality of life of
our cherished pets and petparents.
Get ready to be inspired withthe amazing.
Dr.
Randy Aronson, Thanks, Teresa.
I'm so excited to be here.

(01:15):
Thank you for having me.
And it's always wonderful totalk, especially to listeners
like yours, because they're somotivated to improve their life.
And, we do that throughimproving the health of pets.
And it's an amazing, symbiosisbecause our pets, you know, are
our family and, this is reallyevolved into a, such an exciting

(01:37):
area for me, a real passion.
Can you introduce the audience,like what it means to be an
integrative vet?
And what sets you apart from atraditional vet?
Sure.
So let me tell this with a sidestory if I could.
I graduated from, a veryprestigious veterinary school
back East University,Pennsylvania, spent a year doing
an internship, which is a lot ofveterinarians don't do.

(01:58):
Went to a place called theanimal medical center, which is
the largest veterinary hospitalin the world.
Spent a year there and then cameto Tucson and, I started my
practice.
And I found through practicethat I was doing really well and
I had all the Western knowledge,but you know, there was
something missing Teresa.
And it really came to me about10 years into practice.

(02:19):
It took that long.
Some people, you know, have toget hit over the head a few
times.
And what I found was that Iwasn't really achieving
wellness.
I was putting out fires all thetime, medicine, You know,
surgery and don't get me wrong.
I was doing a really good jobwith it, but it just wasn't what
I really expected my life to be.
And so along comes Dr.

(02:39):
Andrew Weil, who is a pioneer inhuman integrative medicine in
Tucson.
And I start reading his books,start finding out a lot about
his background, which is verysimilar to mine.
He came from Philadelphia andblah, blah, blah.
Anyway.
Uh, I decided I was going to addChinese herbs into my practice.
So I went to Albuquerque, whichwas the, there were no

(03:02):
veterinary programs at all.
So this was a human program.
And I found out when I got therethat I couldn't just add herbs.
I had to add the paradigm ofChinese medicine, which is
completely different thanWestern medicine.
So what integrative medicinebasically is, is the best of all
of Western medicine.
So we, we do x rays, we doultrasound, we do surgery, we do

(03:25):
all kinds of advanced things,but then adding, uh, many
complementary therapies.
So I do acupuncture, Chineseherbology, rehabilitation
medicine.
We have a full rehab set upwhere our pets can walk in water
without the weight of theirjoints.
Laser, pulsed electric magnetictherapy.
ozone therapy, prolozone, and itjust goes on and on.

(03:47):
But Teresa, what it has done isjust expanded what I can offer
my pet parents, but even betterimproving the lives of the pets
and then improving the parentslives at the same time.
Wow.
That is so inspiring.
And thank you for sharing thatbackstory.
So when you initially went intoveterinary medicine, you weren't
thinking you were going to gothis path.

(04:08):
But along the way, the pathfound you and that's just so
incredible.
Thank you for sharing that.
Sure.
Can you tell us what yourmission is?
So my mission, after 43 years ofbeing a veterinarian is to
educate the public to understandthat the body has an incredible

(04:29):
ability to heal itself You justhave to give it the right tools
and that doesn't always mean amedicine after a medicine or
Surgery or all of the otherwestern modalities.
Don't get me wrong We don't wedon't throw the baby out with
the bath water.
So to speak.
I mean we use a lot of westernmedicine but the body It just
has occurred to me and it hasevolved on a day to day basis.

(04:52):
Every day I'm learning.
And, you know, even at, at myage, I'm still so jazzed and
excited about what I'm doing andhelping animals.
But the mission is really toeducate the public.
Because veterinarians are veryslow to grab this and as you
mentioned, when I was in vetschool, when I was in practice,
there were no integrativeprograms.

(05:13):
There still are very few, theremay be a club at a veterinary
school and I've spoken to anumber of the veterinary
schools, but there really stillis no program.
And so, what integrativeveterinarians have been doing is
really getting the word out sopeople can understand they can
The dog and cat's lives andreally make a positive change.

(05:34):
That is so incredible.
Let's talk more about the petwellness and how you help
improve their quality of life.
And that in turn helps the petparents, right?
It goes hand in hand.
Tell us about that.
So, I have a mnemonic that I usein my talks and on my website.
And it's called P.
E.
T.
S.
Very, very applicable.
P.
E.
T.
S.
P.
E.
T.
S.
stands for Proper Nutrition andMicrobiome, Exercise, Training

(05:59):
and Socialization, and StressReduction.
And so these four monikers arebasically the way that I can
improve, a client's, a petparent, a pet's life by just
using these things and reallyworking on, number one is really
what we call foundationalmedicine.
I get so many cases, Teresa,that come to me that are second

(06:21):
and third opinions.
They've done everything, and youknow, you know the definition of
insanity.
It's trying, you know, the samething and expecting a different
result.
And it doesn't happen.
And then all of a sudden, wetalk about, Oh, let's look at
your pet's diet.
You know, you're feeding toomany carbohydrates in that diet.
You're using all of thisprocessed food.
Just as a sidebar, People eatabout 54 percent of their diet

(06:45):
is processed food.
Pets, it's at 89%.
Because these kibbles are highlyheat processed and air
processed, and they really causea lot of problems.
So getting to the bottom line ofthat Pets moniker, I can really
start to improve an animal'shealth just by working on what
we call foundations.
I love that.
And you think about listenersout there that you think it's

(07:06):
January 1, everyone's on thisdiet.
Well, think about bringing yourpet along on the journey of a
path to wellness.
And it seems like that's whatyou offer.
And I don't think a lot ofpeople think of it that way.
I mean, I think people are nowwaking up to that, that, wow, my
diet is affecting my health.
And I can't tell you, I feellike nine times out of 10.
Everyone I talk to their pet hassome sort of form of like cancer

(07:28):
or overweight.
It's just interesting.
I do see that rising Oh my god.
Yeah, I mean, the the crude factagain that I use a lot of my
seminars and keynotes is thatpets are living About two thirds
of their normal lifespan.
That's what we're seeing Forexample, the golden retriever,
you know a very popular breed.
I love these dogs And, theiraverage lifespan when I first

(07:52):
started was about 12 years, andnow it's at seven.
And because they're so prone tocancer, and they're so prone to
the genetics of what they'regetting.
But, um, as you mentioned, weaffect this through what we call
epigenetics.
And what that means, very fancyword, but all it means is that
what you eat, what you do as faras exercise, what you do as far

(08:14):
as stress reduction, uh, allaffects your genes.
And it can definitely improvetheir life.
And in fact, one study, there'scalled the Dog Aging Project,
which I love.
And they looked at 50, 000 dogs.
And they found that if theycalorie restrict these dogs, and
that doesn't mean starving them,it just means go looking at the
simple carbs that these dogs areeating.

(08:36):
Look at, at the junky commercialpet foods that they're eating.
They can improve their lives andget an average of two plus years
longevity just by doing that.
Wow.
That is so incredible.
What are three simple tips oraction steps that listeners can
do today to improve the qualityof life of their pets and
support longevity yeah.

(08:57):
So food is number one.
absolutely.
Number one, if they look at thisvery closely, there's a food
hierarchy.
Fresh whole food is the top.
Second down is basically raw.
I use a lot of freeze dried rawbecause I'm a little concerned
about some raw products.
And then the third down iscomplex carb dry foods.
and then that doesn't mentionany of the regular over the

(09:18):
counter type diets.
So, um, food is number one.
I would mention, A great bookthat's out there called The
Forever Dog, written by anotherintegrative veterinarian who I
love, Dr.
Karen Becker.
And it talks about the scienceof just what I'm telling you.
And that is the proper ways offeeding and lowering carb loads
and making sure that we'regetting quality protein in our

(09:40):
dogs.
Exercise.
So many animals, especially dogsand cats.
People don't understand this.
Your cat just shouldn't layaround all day in your house.
There are laser pointers.
There are cat toys.
There are catnip things.
There are things to keep yourcat exercise.
Spending 30 minutes exercising,your cat would be.
Phenomenal.
And in dogs, you know, a lot ofour dogs get a walk a day or

(10:02):
maybe two walks a day.
Some big dogs require up toeight miles of exercise a day.
And so we're seeing all of thesebehavioral problems in dogs
because, they're basicallybored.
they want to have a job.
They want to get some exercise.
And so, exercise and then stressreduction.
What I mentioned in there is.
Really look at yoursurroundings.

(10:24):
I mean, air fresheners,carpeting has formaldehyde in
it.
our dogs are showing 30 timesthe amount of roundup in their
bodies at post mortem atveterinary schools because
everybody sprays for weeds.
The dogs go out and walk, theylick their paws and boom,
they've got roundup in theirsystem by phosphate.
So those are three things.

(10:44):
Immediately you could do tochange.
Wow.
Thank you so much for those.
Sure.
So how can we find you?
We can of course, connect withyou, become a patient, bring our
dog or our dogs can be apatient, I should say.
But yes, how can this audienceget in touch with you?
Yeah.
My, real passion around this, asyou know, is we've just built a
brand new website and it's,drrandy drrandypetvet.

(11:09):
com.
And now we are doing our ownpodcasts, which has been, as you
know, is a real challenge togetting into that world.
And we're doing video and audioat the same time, which then
makes it even more difficultsometimes.
so, Definitely that website, myphone number's on there.
I welcome questions, people thatlisten to the show.
If they have specific questions,I can't always answer all of

(11:30):
them, but I try to get to themas much as possible.
And then I get a hundred emailsa day.
So it's, it gets a little bitoverbearing and I'm still
working, you know, which Ireally love because I'm still
practicing my craft and.
Learning every day more and moreabout what we're talking about
and how to improve these lives.
So the drrandypetvet.
com is definitely the bestplace.

(11:51):
There's a phone number in therealso.
and, and I'd welcome any, anyfeedback through your site or
anything else.
I'd be more than happy.
You know, I'm really looking toget out and speak.
For example, Raytheon has had meto speak to their, some of their
executives.
And the reason why they did thatis because I'm not a missile
maker, but they want to know fortheir lifestyle, their worker's

(12:11):
lifestyle and their employee'slifestyle, how can we improve
that?
And then this is the topic thatreally kind of hits home.
So that's, that's kind of whatI'm looking to do.
And that's the easiest way toreach me.
That is so inspiring.
I will drop all your informationlisteners.
It'll be all in the show notes.
It so powerful in the officepracticing, but to be able to
expand your message and theawareness by the lectures and

(12:35):
your podcast as well, would youlike to talk a little bit more
about when someone tunes in orfollow subscribes, what can they
expect to hear?
So the first episode isobviously what is integrative
medicine, just like you and Idiscussed, but it expanded that
version of it.
I had Dr.
Brian Cabin on, who is anintegrative MD.
And we talked about thesimilarities between veterinary

(12:57):
medicine and human medicine.
In fact, we often go out andtalk together because we're
doing the same things.
You know, our companion animalslive with us.
They pick up our emotionalproblems.
They pick up our stress.
And you know, people like youare so helpful because you're
working on the spirit and, and,and basically positive
affirmations.

(13:18):
These also transfer to our dogsand cats, you know, people don't
realize, but it, Definitelyworks.
So, those are really importantthings.
I've had, a world famous dogtrainer on, I've had, Dr.
Andrew Wiles is going to be onshortly.
I have coming up next week, Dr.
Gary Richter, another integratedveterinarian.
He's in California.
Groundbreaking has a couple ofwonderful books.

(13:39):
I don't know about you, but.
I've been always told I reallyneed to write and I'm not a
great writer.
I'm definitely a, a vocalperson.
I'm auditory.
And so, looking at that a littlebit, but, he's going to be
great.
So those kinds of things arekind of what people can see and
then get holding me throughthere because I do do
telemedicine cases where I'll doconferences, I just conferred
with a lady in Caracas,Venezuela.

(14:01):
it's really exciting to be ableto share these things.
even if it has to be over thephone, I love that you're so
accessible.
and so many levels with thepodcast, you're willing to go
out and lecture.
You're a dynamic speaker.
I mean, just coming on, being aguest, you're just so natural
and in flow.
What a talent, what a gift tothis world.
And to our pets, who we all loveso much.

(14:26):
So before we pivot to thoseending questions that I am so
excited to ask you, are thereany other important mentions
that we want to like, let thisaudience know or that you feel
should be, shared?
I just want to reiterate thefact that we can affect the
quality of our pets life and bydoing so we can live happier,
healthier lives, too.
And it's really a doable thing.

(14:48):
I used to think that this wasnot approachable, that this was
not something we couldaccomplish.
We can do this.
that's what I want to leave yourlisteners with is we can really
affect the change.
Don't let anybody tell you thatyou can't, you walk into a
veterinary practice and youknow, veterinarians like MDs a
lot of times they're numbersdriven, they're, double blind
study driven but our bodies andour animals bodies don't listen

(15:10):
to those numbers, we've beat theodds in so many different
situations.
So I want them to be veryoptimistic, even what the
prognosis or the treatments arekind of bleak.
Don't let that affect you.
I love that.
And it's so true.
I think we forget that they feelus, the vibration of us, our
energies.
And just like when I make achange, do something impactful,

(15:32):
powerful, whether it's my dietmindset, it does.
And it influences you become aninfluencer.
In just your immediatesurroundings, your family, your
workplace.
You notice that a lot of timesthe pets reflect the owner, is
that kind of a thing?
Oh my God.
So much to, even to the pointwhere I see dogs or cats coming

(15:52):
in with skin conditions that theowner has.
You know, for GI conditions, Imean, so many GI imbalances,
there's so much, inflammatorybowel disease in people.
This is what we call dysbiosis.
All of these things that lead tolike Crohn's disease and bowel
cancer.
I see pets, they have the samething and their owners come in
and they're like, The hardestpart, Teresa, like you're

(16:13):
mentioning, is speaking to anowner who is overweight and
talking about obesity in theirpet because that's a real thing
for us.
We see probably almost 60percent of our dogs are
overweight and our cats probablyapproaching 40 percent of that.
Listeners share this episodewith anyone, you know, that
loves their pet.
You know, sometimes it's goingto take that for the.

(16:35):
Individual to maybe change andif that's going to get, if
that's going to get you there,great.
Oh no, whatever it takes as faras I'm concerned, whatever it
takes.
Oh, that's just so you'reamazing.
I love it.
All right.
We're going to pivot into thoseending questions, Dr.
Aronson.
So the first one, do you have afavorite affirmation or mantra
that you use to stay motivated,empowered in all that you do?

(16:57):
Yes, definitely.
So I would say that thisactually came off of your list,
believe it or not.
So I love that.
There are a lot of things that Ikind of use, but, this one
really struck home to me today.
And that is I am committed to mygoals and that is why I am
unstoppable.
so many people told me that Ican't do this, that, it's going
to be too expensive to have awebsite or to go out and, to get

(17:20):
hired and start to be a speaker,you really have to get known and
really have to have a lot ofcontent.
Well, you know, there's only oneway of doing that.
That's starting it.
So yeah, I love thataffirmation.
And my mantra, I've been doingtranscendental meditation for
almost 50 years.
So I have a mantra through that.
And I use that a lot.
That that's how I focus onmantra because that's what I do

(17:43):
in my meditation.
Well, whatever you're doing isworking because you like, don't
age.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate that.
I was like, you're like amazing.
I'm like, like Benjamin buttonaging and reverse.
So yeah, you know what you'retalking about?
You practice what you preach.
That's for sure.
And I think that is what setsyou apart as well.

(18:03):
Like you're out there, butyou're.
You're the living example ofwhat you are.
Well, and it's, but you know,and I have to tell you, it's
people like you that help that.
I mean, when just us knowingeach other and, and the
interaction and whatnot, wedon't specifically have to
mention how that happened, but,we can, we can, our kids are
going out together.
It's really exciting to see theenergy there and, the respect

(18:26):
that both are our son anddaughter have for each other.
I just honor this connection somuch.
I love it.
And I love the affirmation youpick cause that's one of my
favorites So the next one.
What is your favorite quote?
You're going to love this.
This is probably one that youprobably haven't heard somebody
say before, but, I like, thisquote.
It is, it is better to burn outthan to fade away.
And that was from Neil Young.

(18:47):
He also says in that song, it isbetter to burn out than rust.
And, you know, rusting takes avery long time for oxidation and
whatnot.
And so, that's why I like tomove full tilt, I don't really
want to stop.
I'm 71 years old.
I'm happy that I am.
I feel 50 quite honestly.
And, you know, people likeyourself and my kids, my wife,
keep me young.

(19:07):
And, passion, this passion,really keeps me going because,
it just drives me every day.
Passion does bring a glow.
Yeah, for sure.
I love that quote.
All right.
And what is your favorite book?
So, I don't get a chance to do alot of.
reading for myself, because I'malways reading, new things that

(19:28):
come out in veterinary medicine,especially, all the integrative
stuff.
I'm reading all of theintegrative stuff that's in
human medicine, because in someaspects, human medicine's very
much ahead of us.
And a lot of aspects, veterinarymedicine's actually ahead of
human medicine.
So my favorite book that justcame out, honestly, is, the book
that I really refer to, and Ishow my clients this, is I

(19:50):
mentioned Dr.
Karen Becker, there's a bookcalled The Forever Dog.
And if people want the sciencebehind what you and I have been
talking about, this Forever Dogbook really sums it up very,
very nicely.
I Mentioned that book because Ithink that's a great read for
your listeners and very easyand, it's impressive.
Wow.
Thanks for that.
And last question, What do youwant to be known for?

(20:12):
I would like to be known that Iaffected a change in people's
lives by educating pet parentson how to improve the longevity
and quality of their pet'slives.
And by doing so, then they livehappier, healthier lives.
And, then we are all insymbiosis at that point.

(20:32):
We're all together.
thank you so much for tuning into this
episode.
Please download, rate,subscribe, and share this
podcast.
Also, be sure to visit mytheresacesare.com to check out

(20:53):
my inspirational merch, connectto my social accounts, and much
more may you continue to befilled with wisdom, inspiration,
and consciousness.
Otherwise, friends, I will beback in two weeks for another
episode of Heart to.
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