Planning a Purrrfect Summer for Your Feline with Dr. Greer of Checkout Vet

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thirteen ten Wiba and ask the experts, brought to you
by Checkout Veterinary online checkout vet dot com. That's all
one word checkout vet dot com great place to start
to learn more about checkout Veterinary. You can see what
makes them so unique. A really cool design at checkout
Veterinary makes it very very easy for your pet and

(00:20):
very easy for you when it comes to treatment. And
don't forget your first exam that is free. All the
details online at checkout vet dot com. Super convenient to
get to as well. If you can hear our voice
this morning, you are near checkout Vet. They're right at
twenty seven to ten Prairie Lakes Drive, just off the
Interstate ro right on the highway there, so it's very
very convenient to get to. It's a fantastic day to

(00:41):
start that relationship at checkout vet. Speaking of a fantastic day,
today is July eleventh. It's National Kitten Day. So you
want to guess we're going to talk about doctor career.
I'll let you tell everybody what we're going to talk
about this morning. How you doing too, By the way,
I'm great.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
How about we talk about kittens.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
I think it'd be perfect. That would be perfect, and
every funny very perfect. Yeah, I love it, and I
as somebody with two kiddies of my own, they are
just amazing pets, great companions, but they do require special care.
And I think sometimes and I know we've talked about
this before, compared to caine eines get compared to dogs.

(01:20):
Sometimes the poor kiddies get overlooked, mostly because they don't
demand a lot when it comes to your attention if
they're not feeling well real quick. Sometimes I think people
forget this. Cats live a very long time, don't they
doctor greer they do.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
They typically live longer than dogs. So yes, they can
live to be well into their late teens. At one point,
I had a technician that was running out a seasion
for me on a dental cleaning on a cat, and
the cat was older than she was, and she was
a graduate of a veterinary technician program. Yeah, so the
cat was twenty two and she was twenty one, and
I'm like, oh my gosh, like this is just an

(01:56):
interesting combination. So yes, cats can live to be very old.
And if they are well cared for, well maintained, like
you change the oil and rotable fires, they can do
really well for a very long time. So I think
that's part of the problem is that people tend to
assume cats or self sufficient. They don't really need a lot,
And until the cat loses half of its body weight

(02:16):
when it's nineteen, I don't really notice that there's anything wrong.
They don't notice that they've changed their food or their
water consumption, or their urinary habits or some of the
other things, because it's so subtle, and cats just really
quiet about their illnesses. They don't announce it the way
a dog does. And dog comes up and stares you
in the face and says I'm sick, and the cat's like, oh, no,

(02:37):
I'm good, I'm fine.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
So yeah, I know with my dog, for example, if
I come home today and be like, oh, poor Homer,
are you okay? Right away, he'll get down and like, actually,
I haven't thought about it, but maybe maybe I'm not yet,
really right, Yeah, really important differentiations with we talk cats
and dogs. Of course, we do it each and every

(03:00):
week with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary. If you
haven't had a chance to learn more about Checkout Vet,
today is the day head on over to that website.
Checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. A
great day also to start the relationship, make an appointment
at checkout vet. Don't forget that first visit. It's free.
That exam is free. You can learn more online checkout
vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Of course,

(03:21):
as we've got doctor Greer here as well. If you've
got a question, love to have you join us this
morning six eight three two one thirteen ten. That's six
soh eight three two one thirteen ten. We'll get you
right on the air with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary.
Of course. Doctor Greer recognized as Veterinarian of the Year
from the Westminster Kennel Club. The other thing too, speaking
of kind of cats behavior, and you know, they seem

(03:42):
they're quite independent, and you know, cats like to they're thing.
And I also think sometimes we then forget that that
they really do need love, attention, play. They are very
much bonded to us. It's just a different type of relationship.
And I think sometimes people that have cats that may have,
you know, behavioral issues, tend to overlook the fact that

(04:04):
maybe they're not spending enough time doing those fun things
with their cats.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
I think so. And I think the other thing to
realize is that cats, when you have an older cat
and then you try to bring a young cat into
the household, that's that's often really difficult because cats are
kind of in their own social groups. They're different than
dogs in the way they interact. So I think if
people are thinking about getting a cat, in my humble opinion,
getting two at the same time is superior to getting one,

(04:32):
because an older cat doesn't adjust well to a young
cat coming into the household. But if you get two
at the same time, they grow up bonded. It doesn't
matter if they're male male, or male female or female male.
I don't care what the combination is. But you can
have a really good relationship in those cats, and they
are very social with each other, and then they tend
to be more social with other cats than if they're
raised alone. So I really encourage people if they're going

(04:55):
out to get a kitten, and you know, there's lots
of sources for kittens. There's breeders, of course, there's farms,
there's shelters, there's rescues, there's humane societies, there's lots of
places in the newspaper Craigslist, whatever, there's lots of places
to get kittens. And even if they're not littermates, if
you get them similar times and there are similar ages
and you raise them together, they are a bonded pair

(05:16):
and it really makes a big difference socially to that
cat in their their skills, not just with that other cat,
but there are social skills overall. So I think we
forget about those things and we think cats are aloof
and cats don't really need that interaction, and they actually
really do and they're really strusted if they don't have
those kinds of interactive relationships. So please place, please, if

(05:36):
you're getting a kid, and just go get to there.
They're small. You know, they eat twice as much they
you know they use much choice as much litter. But
are you're going to change the litter box anyway? You
might as well do it for two and for one.
So I think it's it's really good advice to have
that social relationship.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's funny this morning, with it being a National Kiddie Day,
I was I was going through photos of my cats
and there they seem to be two. And this is
just probably typical, or maybe just I tend to take
pictures of them, either them sleeping together, you know, just
snuggled up together, or a picture of them in action
where they're where they're wrestling. It seems to be if
they're spending time together, it's either their napping or they're

(06:13):
or they're playing. It's like they're in their entire life.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Right right, And that's how bonded these tears are. So
And when you get two kittens, you don't even need
to turn on the television or sit at a computer.
You just turn on the kittens. At night, you walk
in the door, you turn on the kittens and if
they go and they will entertain you for the entire evening.
And cats do like to play. There's you know, fishing toys,
and there's there's actually a company called Cat Dancer that
makes a wired toy with a little spinnything on it.

(06:39):
There's multiple variations in that. They're based out of Nina, Wisconsin,
so again you know you can get your stuff. There's
a cat litter box company that's based out of beaver Dam,
so we have some. There's Pioneer Pets that makes cat
litter and cat boxes that are in Mechwon, so we
have some really great cat based companies. Here we have
from pet food company that's the stop and great with

(07:00):
some of big companies that we can use for our
cat supplies and cat equipment and you know, all the
stuff that we need. But gosh, I mean, when you
think about how bonded your two cats are to each other,
can you imagine how different they would be if you
had only gotten one, how much different their social relationships
would be. So I encourage people not to go get
a new kitten when they have an elderly cat. In fact,

(07:22):
I have a current veterinary student with us.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh, doctor, do we lose Wait.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
For the yeah, wait for the old cat to go,
and then when the old cat has gone, and go
get two kitchens.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Great advice and guys and that. Yeah, that's something I
think a lot of folks are tempted to do and had,
of course really good advice to hold often and wait.
I want to ask you about you mentioned things like
litterbox and other things. I want to ask you a
little bit about that. One of the things too, I
do want to before we take a quick break here,
ask about, you know, check out veterinary in the way
that the clinic is set up. Obviously, I think a

(07:59):
lot a lot of especially folks with big dogs, that
what a great what a great environment. It is tend
to forget that when you bring your cat in. How
fantastic has that got to be to you know, because
moving cats around can be a bit of a struggle.
They are much stronger and quicker than the Having them
in that environment to check out vet's got to make

(08:21):
things a whole lot easier for everybody, including the kiddies.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh yeah, the cats are relaxed. I have pictures of
them slopped on the floor because they never came through
a waiting room. There was never a dog barking or
a dog that is lurching at the crate. It's really
comfortable and safe for the cat. So it's a great environment. Now,
we don't typically do our exams for the cats in
the garage bay. We have an exam room associated with
the garage that you would pull into the garage with

(08:45):
your car, take your cat out of the carrier carrier,
go directly from the garage into the exam room, never
stepping into a lobby waiting room in general area, and
then you're right into your own exam room. And then
the cats have the damn table. Of course, we're big
on the things make a kitten happy. When they come in.
We get out the chicken baby food, and we get
out the toys, and we want these paths of things

(09:06):
that they're at a restaurant and not at a veninary clinic.
It doesn't smell like dogs, it doesn't look like dogs,
it doesn't sell like dogs. And then they get little
you know, baby food and suros and all these really
fun little things. So we want to make it really
pleasant and enjoyable for your new kittens, your kittens, both
of them. When you come in.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Doctor you mentioned a sense of smell, and obviously with
dogs we always think about in all the stories of
how acute a dog's sense of smell is. Cats are
no slouches in that area, either, are they.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, they're not. They're really good. And their eyesight at
night is remarkable, so they don't see up close. They're
kind of dear sighted, so they don't see up close
really well. And that's one of the reasons people think
that when they pick up a piece of food or
they attack a mouse, that they pick it up and
they shake it before they eat it. We're kind of
suspicious that cats just want to make sure that it's
safe before they try to consume it. We're not really sure,

(09:58):
but they so they don't see near sight did really well.
But their their night vision is excellent because of course
when do they hunt, they hut at night. Cats are nocturnal,
and we sometimes forget that when we're trying to sleep
and the cats are you kittens are bouncing around at
They're all over our feet and they're you know, as
soon as you move under the cover as they see
your toes move and they you know, hop on your feet.
So keen who little challenge, just sleep with them. They

(10:20):
want to get up at four o'clock in the morning
and have breakfast, so their schedule may not necessarily meet
your schedule really well until you get them adjusted to
what your expectations are.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Great day to be looking at adding a couple of kiddies,
bringing kitties in if that's something you've been thinking about,
definitely start that journey, start that conversation. Of course, you
want to make sure that your your kiddies are getting
that proper care and a great data start a relationship
at checkout vet. You can learn more online the website
checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Tellfhen

(10:50):
number six oh eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
That's six O eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
Your cat, your your cat's your dog. They absolutely love
getting into checkout vett again. You can learn more online
check out vet dot com or and continue our conversation
with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinary. We will do
that next as Ask the Experts continues right here at
thirteen ten w ib A eight fifty three thirteen ten

(11:12):
wi b A and ask the Experts with doctor Marty
Greer of check Out veterinarya the website check out vet
dot com. That's check out vet dot com. And and
doctor when we were talking about a different products, you
mentioned kitty litter and cat boxes is an important obviously,
an important part of having a happy cat is having

(11:34):
a good clean litter box. There's different materials, different types
of things. I always heard the rumor that the story
that if you have two cats, you should have three
separate litter boxes. What is kind of the guidance on
on litterboxes for cats.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
I'm really glad you asked that. So, yes, it's typically
one litter box per cats plus as fare. So if
you have four cats, that's five boxes. It's always a
good idea to have that extra box in case the
boxes smelly or soil. The cat doesn't want to use
that particular type of litter or that location, so you
want to give them different locations. You want to give
them different substrates. So they make litter out of clay,

(12:09):
they make the clumping litters, they make corn cobs, they
make all kinds of different substrates. So if you have
a cat that's a little reluctant to use the litter box,
ask them what kind of litter they like best. By
putting it out in multiple boxes and letting them do
the voting with their feet, the one that they use
the most is the one that they like the best.
I also want to talk a little bit about the
feline healthcare that kittens. I like the kittens to all

(12:31):
be tested for leukemia and FIV before you bring them
into the household of an established cat or for getting
too new, and then we can do that testing at
checkout and check in. I also think that people need
to know that there are differences in cat vaccines, that
all cat vaccines are not created equal they do make
a rabies vaccine that's called pure vac. It's for cats
and it doesn't have an edge event in it, which

(12:52):
means the cats are less likely to have an adverse
reaction to the vaccine. If you're looking for a practice
that understands medicine, I want you to know that we
have those vaccines available and we use them most of
the time. Unless you ask for through ye vaccine, you're
going to get the one year pure Va vaccine, which
is less likely to cause an adverse event. There are
more reports th number of views ago that one in

(13:14):
ten thousand cats developed a tumor of the injection site.
So number one, we use the vaccine that doesn't cause that,
and number two we use the vaccine very low in
the leg so that there's less likely to have an
asers event that's not approachable. And then the other thing
I do a law of is I use the intrnasal
sea line vaccine instead of the injectable for the sea
line to stemper and pamikopedia. So I think that's an

(13:36):
important distinction as well. The cats take to the vaccines
the interrnaso's really well better than dogs do with the
internaso bodicella, and again it gives you better protection. It
gives you nice respiratory protection. The cats don't mind it.
It's not an injection. So we have lots of options
for people that are understanding that cats aren't small dogs
and that we have options for you. So I just

(13:57):
think it's important that people know that they have the
ability to ask those questions. So call your veterinary clinic
and say, are you feeling friendly? Can I give Gaba
penance to my cat before they come in if they're nervous?
Can you provide me with Gaba pennant? Do you use
feel Away, which is the spray that helps to reduce
their anxiety? Do you use the interrnasal vaccines? Do you
use the pure vax vaccine? So you can be an

(14:19):
educated head owner, give the call a call to your
clinic before you go in and make sure that they're
going to meet your needs and expectations before you get there.
Do you have a litter box for my cat if
you get there and the cat needs to use the
litter box? Or do I have to run home and
get home in time? So there's all these little things
that you may not think about. As a cat owner,
did you put a warm towel on the table before

(14:40):
my cat sat there or was it just on a
cold heart table? What are the things that you do
to make this event more pleasing to myself and my
cat doctor?

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Do we deal with people that have kind of the
feeling that because I have an indoor cat, that's some
of this stuff, like some of the vaccines, or maybe
some of the some of the preventative like flea in
and warming and those type of things not necessary because
I have an indoor CATM good question.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
My sister in law a number of years ago had
a dog and an indoor cat, and I think the
dog must have brought the fleas into the house and
that they didn't stay on the dog because the dog
has fleet prevent about it. But it was long enough
to get the flea into the house and the cat
ended up being the you know, the house the new
host for the fleas. So yes, even if your cat
is not going outside, they still have the ability to
have those parasites we have. Unfortunately, occasionally I have a

(15:31):
mouse in my house and I don't like to admit that,
but it's true. You know, it's Wisconsin and in the winter,
things move in, so there are times that mice move
into the basement and you may not be aware that
your cat went downstairs and had this wonderful hunting festival
with the mice in the basement. And they can get
parasites from that, especially if they're immunosuppressed because of diabetes
or steroids or something that they're on that affect their

(15:51):
immune system. So there's definitely things that cats can get.
Even if they're living in the house, they typically you know,
don't have as much of an exposure, but you know,
don't be naive to the fact that that's still a possibility.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
I think of one of the prime reasons one companionship.
But the one of the prime reasons we got cats was, uh,
when we were buying our house, there was a mouse
in our house that we saw and we said, you
know what, there's one really good way to keep them,
keep them at bay, and that is by having a
having a couple of cats. I wanted to ask you
to doctor about about about food and uh and nutrition

(16:24):
for your for your cat, and I know there's some
really really good products. What is I know we talk
with dogs, we talk about kibble a lot. What about
with cats, kibble wet food, What's what's better mixture of
the two. What do we see there?

Speaker 2 (16:37):
I typically only said my cats dry food because it's easy,
it's safe, you can leave it out that the canned
food can help if they have urinary tract infections or
other diseases that your veterinary may want them to increase
their food intake, like kidney failure. And we have lots
of really good prescription products. There are three companies that
make excellent ones. Those are going to be Hills Royal,
Canaan and Karina make excellent prescription diet and non prescription diet.

(17:01):
They make Careball diets. They make diets for indoor older
cats that help to reduce their caloric intake. We make
all kinds of diets for these cats, and so we
have limited imagen diets. There's actually a pet food that
Purina makes now and people may not be aware of
it called Live Clear, and it reduces the cats allergens
to the humans that are allergic to the cats. So

(17:22):
it's a pretty cool diet. And if you have cat
allergies and you have difficulty living with cats, you go
out to buy the Lives Clear cat food and it's
going to make it easier for you to live at
your cast lit fewer allergens than the environment. I think
that's really cool. But who knew that you could make
cat foods like that?

Speaker 1 (17:37):
That is very, very cool, and that's one of the
great things to doctor. And I always say on the
show about all the new things I learned talking with
you each and every week. And also it also enforces
the importance of regularly getting in with your pet to
see your vet because these type of conversations I know
at checkout Veterinary, these things are going on each and
every day. This education, this great, great interaction with vets

(17:59):
and your patent of course and you. And it's such
a great environment at checkout Vet. And I hope folks
get a chance to stop on in. I know you
love giving tours and like showing folks the clinic. It
is a beautiful clinic. Checkout vet also check in vet
of course got the clinic as well. And Marshall love
having guests, love having people visit. What a great day
to start that relationship. You can learn more online checkout

(18:20):
vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Don't forget
that first visit that exam. It is free to you.
And again that website. Checkout vet dot com doctor Greer,
it's always great talking with you. We'll do it all
again in a week and until then you take care.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
And we've got Figgie mccanna and she's got a chance
for you to win a thousand dollars next right here
on thirteen ten. Wuib I