Routine Pet Care (Squirt Returns) with Dr. Greer of CheckOut Veterinary

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey thirty four thirteen ten wib and ask the experts
with Checkout veterinaryan doctor Marty Greer, of course recognized by
the Westminster Kin Club as Veterinarian of the Year, and
you can learn more about doctor Greer. Learn more about
Checkout Veterinary. A lot of great information on their website.
Checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. Great

(00:22):
day to start that relationship at start that conversation again.
The website is very very intuitive, very very cool. As
far as understanding what makes checkout Veterinary so unique again,
head on over check out vet dot com. That's checkout
vet dot com. Doctor, how was your Christmas?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
It was great? Thank you. We delivered a litter of
puppies yesterday morning, Oh my goodness, it was awesome, and
then spent the rest of the day with our family,
So yeah, it was awesome.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Does it get any better for a veterinarian than having
a day where you start out delivering puppies and then
spending the rest day with family.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I mean it doesn't like that's that's the krim delachrum.
It's perfect, so very pleasant. We had a great time.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I want to ask you about that real quick when
it comes to deliver, generally, I would assume obviously, just
like with humans, there are obviously higher risk situations, but
generally puppies that type of thing. Do they need a
VET involved in that process or is that something just
in certain circumstances that may be necessary.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Most of the time, puppies are born at home without
any complications, but there are times and certain breeds that
put the dogs at higher risks, so then we do
schedule them. In this particular case, the puppies were going
to be really big, so we wanted to make sure
that they were all delivered safely. They were really important
litter to this breeder, so we wanted to make sure

(01:43):
that that happened. So it depends if there's one puppy,
if there's twelve puppies, if there are a certain breed
like French bulldogs, them real bulldogs, those kinds of things,
sim will schedulec the sections for them just because it's
safer for the dog. And then treguatary care has gotten
hard there and harder to get on an emergency basis,
so many of our clients are becoming a little more

(02:06):
proactive in how they deliver their puppies interesting.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Are there are there certain breeds that are a little
more I think you had mentioned there might be certain
breeds that are a little more prone to complications with delivery.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yes, in general, it's the break east tophalics, which are
the short face breeds that's going to be bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs.
Those dogs are at increased risk. Corgi's and Bernie's Mountain
dogs are also at increased risk. Bernie's Mountain dogs just
don't have good labors. Some Golden Retrievers are just kind
of lazy. So it really depends a lot on the dog.

(02:38):
But a lot of times the clients are aware of
what their previous litters have been like, and so they'll,
like I said, just proactively schedule something so that they
don't end up in trouble. We used to be able
to call twenty four hours a day and get into
an emergency clinic with a veterinarian. Then that that ship
has sailed at least for now, so hopefully it comes back.
But for instance, I did three emergency surgeries on Christmas Eve,

(03:04):
and that was primarily because the emergency clinic referral centers
just didn't have surgeons on so we became the other
alternative for them. So I did three surgeries on Christmas
Eve afternoon.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
That is that is amazing. Who's with you this week?
By the way, I hear a special guest in the background.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, that's wlirt. She's with me again today. She's a
little bit mad about being stuck in this box while
we were driving. She wants to us to get out
and run around, but not quite yet. Or we'll get
to that in a minute. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Talking this morning with doctor Marty Greer of Checkout Veterinarian,
the website checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com.
Me talking this week about keeping your pet healthy kind
of like an overall a pet owner, a pet caretaker.
Things you need to be aware of and think of
when it comes to I'm really keeping your pet healthy?
And I think doctor the big thing is not only
just kind of an overall thing. Is keeping your pet

(04:03):
healthy going to make them happier, but it also allows
them to be with you longer, doesn't it?

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Absolutely? And it kind of dovetails with what your previous
guest had discussed for developing relationships. One of the really
important things that you have going for you with a
veterinary clinic is getting to know the staff, the doctors
and having that relationship so that you trust us, we
trust you, we know what your expectations are, and so

(04:30):
I think that's really important and you sometimes miss that
if you just go to one of the vaccine clinics
that you can know the pop up vaccination clinics where
they have just you walk in, you get a vaccination,
you don't get a physical examination, you don't get a history,
you don't get to talk about nutrition and preventive care
and all those other things. So it's not just about
getting a shot. It's really about having the pre opt

(04:53):
to preemptive blood work done, the wellness visits where we
can get blood work done and make sure that delivering
kidneys are fine and the blood counts are okay, and
that they don't have lime disease or heartworm, they don't
have any intestinal parasites. You know, we have some challenges
with our pets that on the human side they don't have.
Our pets have more parasites, and we are doing a
really good job of preventing those with getting you in,

(05:14):
getting the blood work, finding out early on if there's
a problem with kidney function, liver function, thyroid, any of
those things, getting you on the appropriate heartworm preventive that
also do flea and tick or I'm sorry, they also
do intestinal parasite control and then the flea and tick
preventives to prevent lime disease antiplies necessarily you as some
of those other things. So I think it's really important

(05:37):
that you do that preventive care because we can definitely
improve quality of life and length of life with our
dogs and our cats if we're proactive.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Doctor agree. Is is some of that too as we
talk about of course the clinic checkout, veterinary the clinic
right and sun pray and prairie leaks drive really easy
to get to the Marshall Clinic. Obviously, this was a
vet that was that was retiring and and you were
able to step in and keep that keep that clinic
open and running and put some great vets out there

(06:10):
was part of is that kind of along those same
lines where it's kind of important to have that you
mentioned we talked about starting that relationship. If you've been
taking let's say you've got a dog that's that's in
the double digits, they've been going to that same clinic
for their entire lives. Having a change at that age
can be can be pretty scary for them. Keeping something
like that Marshall Clinic open and available to those to

(06:31):
those families into those pets, it's got to be a
great benefit as well to the overall health and well
being of the of those animals.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh yeah, yeah, because we've got your medical records, we've
got your history. We understand what the previous bloodwork looked like.
If there was some kind of a mask or something
that was removed, we know the history of that. We've
kept the receptionist and one of the veterinary assistants, so
we've got some continuity of death. And I think all
those things are really important. It's and it's close, it's handy,
it's we have a lot of clients that live right

(06:58):
in that community and they're very pleased that they don't
have to pack up and go to another clinic. And unfortunately,
right now, like I said a few minutes ago, in
veterinary medicine, we don't have the surplus of veterinarians and
veterinary staff we would like to have, so their practices
are simply not taking new clients. And so then you're
really frustrated by saying, well, my dog needs care, my

(07:20):
cat needs an appointment, and I can't get in. I'm
not really sure what to do about that. So that's
where that continuity of care can really be helpful, as
people are not now being sort of dispersed to different
veterinary clinics, but they're trying to have to trying to
find something. I actually was in the parking lot at
the grocery store this morning, and I have all three
clinic names on the outside of my vehicle, and a

(07:42):
gentleman came up to me and started to talk to me,
and he said I was going to a vet clinic
near where I was, and he said I got a
second dog, and even though I was an established client there,
they said they couldn't see my second dog because it
was a new patient. And he was really frustrated by
that because he was established and had been established their
friend members years. So those are limitations that are happening

(08:03):
in some veterinary clinics. But all four of our practices,
Marshall Veterinary Village and Lamira check In and check Out
in Son Prairie are all accepting new clients and that
way you can keep all your veterinary care under one roof.
Now check it and check in and check out our
sister clinics. We're two minutes apart, so in a lot
of cases people will go back and forth between those

(08:25):
two practices. But we share a computer system and we
share staff, so again you have that continuity of care.
And I think that's really important that you get to
know your veterinarian. You get to know the staff, and
when you call, they already know who you are. You
don't have to try and go through the whole dance
of this is who I am, and this is what's
important to me, and this is how I want my
pets care to go. Because everybody has their own idea

(08:49):
of how they want pets care to go, and I
think having that understanding and that underlying information is really important.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
One of the things I've loved is in talking with
you is is the openness and the availability. I think
for a lot of a lot of a lot of
pet people, they're they're saying, well, you know, I need
I need to I want to have that relationship and
I want to have that conversation. I want to get
to know my vet. I want to have a really
good open dialogue. And I also want my vet to
be available and that's one of the great things with

(09:17):
Checkout Veterinary and the clinics check out check in Marshall
Clinic as well as the clinic and Lamira. As we
talk with doctor Mardi Greer, they are there for you your pet.
They have they have a phenomenal I mentioned the website
checkout vet dot com. They have a great setup at
Checkout Veterinary. You can learn more online on that website
checkout vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. And
when we talk about kind of things you can do

(09:40):
to keep your pet healthy, obviously establishing a great relationship
with a vet. And I know one of the other
cool features of Checkout Veterinary that first visit that's free.
You get that free exam. Of course, if there are
if they are tests and other things, there are costs
that spelled out in black and white on the website
and of course you can talk to your vet as
well about those at checkout vet dot com. But one
of those those areas vaccines are really important. And I

(10:01):
know we've been seeing I know we had some stuff
in the news about canine distemper and and raccoons and dogs.
I guess I'd never thought about that. But what are
there that's a viral disease? Is there a vaccine for
that or what do pedal owners need to know their doctor?

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yes, there is a vaccine, and we've had a vaccine
for dissemper and canines for many, many years. It's one
of the first vaccines that was developed. So we have
that and most pets, most dogs should be vaccinated against
that several times as puppies. Every single puppy needs vaccinations.
I want people to be really clear about that because
we do have some vaccine hesitancy happening since COVID on

(10:41):
the human and the veterinary side. So every single puppy
needs vaccinations at least too and perhaps more than that,
depending on the age and their immunity. So, yes, we
do have a vaccine. Parvo and lepto Parvo's a virus
that causes vomiting and diarrhea. Leptosporosis is a bacterial disease
that causes kidney and liverpool. We have those also that

(11:03):
are contagious from raccoons and other wildlife, fox, coyote, those
kinds of things to our dog population. And so on
a regular basis, our pets need to be booster Most
pets we do on a three year interval once they're
past their fifteen months vaccination, so they get vaccinated two
to four times, those puppies again at fifteen to sixteen
months of age, and then every three years to keep

(11:24):
their immunity up because gosh, you know, dogs whot do
things that weally aren't appropriate in our world as humans.
They have little furry lips with big can nineteen underneath them,
and they go and they eat things in the yard
and roll around in things and drink things that you
would never think of as a human. So we want
to protect our pets against those bacterial diseases, those viral diseases,
and of course the parasite. So it's really important that

(11:46):
you keep that preventive care of to date.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
And of course reports of rabies vaccinations, I know most
I think just about it. Maybe it's even state law
requires that. But that's an important one as well, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yes, And a lot of people are a little relucted
to do rabies just like they are other vaccines. But
again that's given once as a puppy, once at fifteen
months of age, and then every three years after that.
For most pets. There is a one year cat vaccine.
That's a little bit safer for our cat friends because
they do have a tendency to be a little are
sensitive to vaccines. But rabies is required in some communities

(12:19):
for cats, not all. Rabies is required in every state
in every community in the country for dogs, so it's
very important that you keep that up to date. Now,
there was an exemption written in two thousand and four
by Governor Doyle for dogs that are suffering from certain
health conditions, but that is absolutely the rarest of occurrences.
I maybe write one of those letters a year. This

(12:42):
is not something that you should be going in and
asking regularly for your vet to do unless your dog
has a very severe reaction to vaccines. But yes, we
need to keep them up to date. And you know,
it's for our protection, not just the protection of the dogs.
Rabies is a big concern in we still have it
the United States, and a big concern in a lot
of developing countries. So rabies hasn't gone away. Rabies is

(13:05):
in our wildlife population, skunks, raccoons, other little fur recrutters
that are out in the yard that our dogs may
interact with. So we keep our dogs up to date
for vaccinations for rabies, to protect your family, yourself against rabies,
so that they're not bringing that into your household. And
then any body fluid saliva. Of course everybody thinks of

(13:27):
it as being a bite, but it can be any
kindy body, fluid saliva, blood you're in, any of those
things can trendmit rabies to humans. So very very important
that we keep our pets vaccinated. Don't just assume that
because your cat never goes outside that that's not going
to be the case. Bats carry rabies. Last week, my
daughter's father in law's house head a bat flying around

(13:49):
in it. So cats, even in the house can have
those exposures and bats.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I've lived in houses where bats can find they can
find their way in little tiny holes, in little tiny
ears that you don't even think about. And really important
doctor one thing too, as we talk about vaccines and
the importance of you know, having that conversation with your
vet and kind of understanding what these all are for
and why they're so important. Limes disease. There is a
vaccine for lines, isn't there? And I guess I don't know.

(14:15):
Is it overly common? Are there reasons why folks may
not get that, or what do we know about a
lime's disease vaccine?

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, and we do vaccinate a lot of dogs for
lime disease. We see a ton of lime disease in Wisconsin.
If you really want to see what's going on in
your neighborhood, you can go to a website called CAPSI
that's capc veetcapsi dot org and you can put in
your zip code and look at different diseases, including lime disease,
all the way down to the county that you live
in and see what the incident is. And I think

(14:44):
it's really a good idea for people to educate themselves
about what kind of incidents they have. Now, there are
people who vaccinate for lime disease because they want to
protect their dogs, and they still use a flee intick preventive.
Then there are people who don't vaccinate for it. But
there sometimes again reluctant to vaccinate for everything. But lime
vaccination only protects your dog against lime disease. It doesn't

(15:08):
protect against the other tickboard diseases like antaplasmosis and erlichia,
which we also commonly see in Wisconsin. So that's why
the flea and tick preventives are still important. Now there's
two categories of those. There's the well three, there's a collar,
there's an oral which you can give as a pill,
and then there's a topical. The topicals do a good
job of repelling the ticks and fleas. They're pretty effective,

(15:30):
but some pets are uncomfortable because of the reactions they
have on the surface of their skin from it. There
are the four oral medications. There's Pervecto, Credelio, necks Guard,
and Simperica. Those are all available as orals, and those
will prevent tick and fleas because they are picked up
in the bloodstream and as the tick and the flea

(15:51):
bites the dog, that will kill the little parasite and
they will fall off of your pet. And then there's
the collars. And pretty soon we're going to have another
category of drugs. But I can't really say too much
about it other than perhaps by next year you're going
to be hearing more information about this at your veterinary visit.
It'll be a whole new thing, so don't be surprised
if you hear about something different coming to market. But

(16:14):
it's important that we protect them both from the vaccination
and from the topical or oral or collar preventives, because
you don't want them bringing those parasites into your environment,
either into your yard, into your house. You don't want to,
you know, find I have found ticks on me that
I know. I've gotten from patients that the patient didn't
taste good, so the tick walked off the dog and

(16:36):
right on to me and on a nice home. So
that I really care for that much.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
No, I'll talk it this morning with doctor Marty Greer
of Checkout Veterinary. The website checkout vet dot com. That's
checkout vet dot com. Maybe you've got a new family
member in the in the house, maybe you're thinking for
the new year about starting a new relationship. It is
a great day to check out checkout Veterinary. You can
learn more online the website check out vet dot com.

(17:01):
That's checkout vet dot com. Clinic is very convenient in
every manner of that term. It's a convenient place to
get to right off the highway in sun Prairie on
Prairie Lakes drive, convenient in the design. Check out checkout
vet dot com and see what makes it so unique
with that drive through service. It's convenient as well, getting
into see your doctor, getting into see your vet with

(17:22):
your pet, and a great, great setting and a great
relationship can develop. You've got to make that appointment. You
can do it right online at checkout vet dot com
telphe number six so eight three one eight sixty seven hundred.
That's three one eight sixty seven hundred. We'll talk a
little bit more about keeping your pet healthy, things like
exercise and some of the other important things. Also their
diet as well. We'll talk with the doctor about that

(17:42):
next as ask the experts with Checkout Veterinary continues right
here on thirteen ten WI eight fifty three thirteen ten
Wi b A and ask the experts with check Out
Veterinaries doctor Mardy Greer. Of course, you can learn more
about checkout Veterinary their website checkout vet dot com. That's
checkout vet dot com. Don't forget they are open Monday
through Wednesday nine until five, and then Friday through Sunday

(18:04):
nine to five. I guess their open weekends. You say, well,
what about Thursdays? Well, the good thing is Monday through Friday.
At check in Veterinary the sister clinic of Checkout Veterinary.
Their open weekdays, so they've always got you and your
pet in mind when it comes to care and being
available for you. Again. You can learn more online check
out vet dot com. That's checkout vet dot com. The
Marshall Clinic as well, open Monday through Friday. Great details

(18:26):
again on the website. Checkout vet dot com and doctor
Greris we're talking Greers. We're talking this week about about
overall pet health and things you need to be thinking
about as a pet owner. I know sometimes it can
be hard for all of us to get that exercise.
Dogs especially can be quite encouraging to get exercise. And
it doesn't matter the time of the year, it's always

(18:46):
a good time to you know, obviously during a blizzard
you're not going to want to do this, but there's
always time and always ways to keep your pet engaged
and healthy and exercise, right yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, And they will encourage you to get out there
and walk, even on days that perhaps you'd be a
little bit reluctant because it's cold or dark or whatever.
Now in the rain. Ah yeah, some of them don't
really like that, but they're always looking at you. They
have that internal clock, and when you walk in the
door after work or when you get up in the morning,
they're looking at you like, okay, here we go. So

(19:16):
they get very excited about those walks, and they do
keep us active as pet owners. I think it's a
really good way to have those activities is you can
spend time with your dog and they get a chance
to get out and see the rest of the world,
sniff around, explore the neighborhood. It's really fun. But of
course they need to be someplace safe, so on leash

(19:36):
in your neighborhood. And then if you do use the
dog parks, then a lot of people like them, but
there are some risks that go with them, so you
have to be thoughtful about it. Be sure that you're
selecting the dog park, in the time of day that
you go to the dog park, when there is a
compatible group of dogs or yours to interact with. Little
baby puppies should not be at the dog park until
they're fully vaccinated, so we want to make sure that

(19:58):
we're being wise and safe about the dog park use.
But yeah, our pets are really good at getting us
to interact and getting us out there to get some exercise.
Because it's really easy just to you know, turn on
the TV and flap on the couch. But when those
brown eyes sernage like, okay, I've got the leash, let's go,
it's very encouraging. I'm sure your little guy doesn't take

(20:21):
very long walks because he's got.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
Little tiny legs, but he loves get Yeah, he does.
He does the same thing. It's like he loves to
make sure that he gets his time out. I always
think it's like for him, it's like his social media.
He's smelling everything, like checking out his posts and his
updates and things like that. But yeah, they are. They
are great no regards the dog. They love getting out
and having fun and just being just being around the

(20:43):
neighborhood is so great for him and doctor. Before we
wrap up this week, and this is a big one here,
and that's the importance of getting your pet in regularly
for an exam. Having that relationship and getting to know
a vet that that you communicate well with. That is
a big part as well. When it comes to a
healthy pet. Is really getting it in to see your veterinarian,
isn't it. Yes?

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you want that VCPR, that veterinary patient client relationship.
There are times that you can pick up the phone
and get some information over the phone for your pet,
but all the state laws are pretty specific about having
a relationship that the VET has to actually have seen
your pet recently enough to know what their medical condition is.
So don't give your vet a hard time as they say,

(21:24):
we have to see you before we can prescribe for you,
because that is state law in Wisconsin and every other state.
But keep that relationship, keep it good, and remember, be
really good to everybody on the staff, starting at the
reception team all the way back to the DA's the
veterinary assistance the VET text, be really good to everybody.
Don't just be nice at Christmas. Go in in the
summertime and drop off, you know, a pie that you baked,

(21:48):
or go in and have a little barbecue. Form Have
a good relationship with your vet clenty because that goes
a long way in your pet's care. When them understanding
you and you understanding them and what kind of care
that they can provide good for you. It's super important
that you keep that relationship.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
It's a good good time to start that relationship, start
that conversation. Don't forget your first visit at checkout vet.
That exam that'll be free to you and your pet.
You can learn more online checkout vet dot com. That's
checkout vet dot com. Great day to pick a phone,
give a call six O eight three one eight sixty
seven hundred. That's three one eight sixty seven hundred, Doctor Greer,
It's always great chatting with you, you and squirt. You guys,

(22:23):
have a great day. Thanks, take care. News comes your
way next right here on thirteen ten wid a