On today's episode of WNYC's new popup advice show, Tiffany Hanssen leads a conversation about pet care, with veterinarian Dr. Sabrina Geer. Listeners call in with their questions and experiences about the health and behavior of their animal companions.
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Tiffany Hansen: Welcome to Please Advise, a pop-up advice show here at WNYC. I'm Tiffany Hansen. During this hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, we're talking with experts, authors, advocates, and others to get their advice on all sorts of topics. Today's subject comes from a listener request that we got last week to talk about pets. We're digging in today to get you some advice about pet ownership. What do you need to know as you care for your pet? You can call us, you can text us, 212-433-9692.
Dog owners, cat owners, birds, reptiles. Maybe you've got a larger animal in your care. Presumably you're living outside of the city to do that. We'd love to hear from you as well. Maybe you've got some advice to share about how to be a good pet owner. You can call us, text us, 212-433-9692. To help us along with this, to get some of your questions answered, offer up some advice is Dr. Sabrina Geer. She is practicing veterinary medicine at Animal General on the Upper West Side. Full disclosure, she's my vet. Sabrina, you're not technically my vet. You are the vet to my two small dogs. Anyway, welcome, Dr. Geer.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Thank you so much for having me.
Tiffany Hansen: Before we dive in here on all the specifics when it comes to being a good and responsible pet owner here in New York City, let's just talk about what it's like to be a vet in this town. I'm presuming-- what? 90% of what you see are cats and dogs, right?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I actually see exclusively cats and dogs.
Tiffany Hansen: Really?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes.
Tiffany Hansen: Is that because there are vets who are only like turtle vets?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Exactly. When you go to veterinary school, you specialize in a type of animal, and the way it's broken down is small animal, typically dogs and cats, exotics, which is turtles, reptiles, birds, any specialty. Small pet who might be in your home. Equine, which is horses for sport or pets, but horses in general. Then food animal medicine, which is broken up into poultry, dairy, beef, and-
Tiffany Hansen: Pork.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: -goats.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Pork. There are some combinations in there of someone might do large animal medicine, not in a food production capacity.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. You've done equine, right?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I started out in equine, and I practiced equine for a while, and now I do only dogs and cats.
Tiffany Hansen: Since that's the case, I want to talk a little bit about the ideals-- zero in on dogs here a little bit, but like the ideal size for a dog in New York City. Is there such a thing? I do see-- now I'm going to get all the Great Dane callers, [chuckles] but I do see Great Danes, and I think, "How are you making that work?" I mean, they can make it work, right?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I think one of the most wonderful things about New York City is you can come here and be anybody. That applies to dogs too. You can make it work here however you want to make it work. It might not be-- Should you have a Great Dane in a studio apartment, will you feel a little bit cramped? You might, but everybody makes it work. You can go outside for long walks. I don't think that there is one single ideal pet, but I think there are many, many different types of perfect pets for all the different types of people we have in New York.
Tiffany Hansen: What is the best way to keep a big dog like that healthy in the city? Is it all exercise?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It really depends on the dog. There's so many different types of dog breeds, and some need lots of running, some are so happy to sit on your couch. It's very dependent on what type of dog. That's not to say that your mixed-breed dog might not be the perfect couch potato. It doesn't have to be exactly a certain breed. It could be a mixed-breed dog from--
Tiffany Hansen: It's like a temperament thing?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes, it's just like a person.
Tiffany Hansen: You are listening to Please Advise. It's a pop-up advice show here at WNYC. Today we're talking about pets, pet ownership. Are you looking for some advice? Maybe you have some advice to give, 212-433-9692. You can call us, you can text us at that number. Kat in West Orange. Hi, Kat. Welcome to the conversation.
Kat: Hi. Great, thank you so much. I'm calling really to advocate for training your pets, especially larger dogs. Because they are just so strong and often more so than what we realize. Some really key things that I have done with my own dog is recall, so making sure that they are responding to you, they're coming back to you when you call them, and also reactivity when it comes to maybe if they see a squirrel or another dog, and using a lot of positive reinforcement and positive training to be like, "Hey, I know you want to run after that thing, but I want to keep you safe and just come hang next to me."
Tiffany Hansen: Yes, Kat, thanks for that advice. Appreciate it. Being a responsible dog owner in New York City has a lot to do with keeping your dog safe, but also keeping other dogs safe, or other cats safe, or other animals safe.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Absolutely. We all have to keep it together here, right? [laughs]
Tiffany Hansen: Yes.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Kat makes a great point, which is, of course, training is super important. Behavioral issues can often come up with animals in the city, and training is wonderful. I also recommend for people, if training isn't cutting it, there are veterinary behaviorists. Folks who are veterinarians who have done specialty training in behavior medicine, and those folks are really excellent at helping when you need that extra layer of just training isn't helping me out enough. I have a dog or a cat with a specific behavioral issue, and seeing a veterinary behaviorist can be super helpful in navigating that and in medicating it additionally, if necessary.
Tiffany Hansen: That's what people should Google. It's like veterinary behaviorist.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Veterinary behaviorist. It is Google, so all sorts of things will come up. Specifically, you're looking for veterinarians who are licensed in behavior medicine.
Tiffany Hansen: Let's get to some texts here. "Is it okay that our two dogs are left home alone for eight hours a day for multiple days a week?"
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I think if they are managing fine, and they are content and they're quiet and happy when they're at home, I think that is fine.
Tiffany Hansen: This was a question that I had on my list, which is, what are they thinking when we're gone? What are they thinking--
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Wouldn't we all love to know?
Tiffany Hansen: Right. It's the secret life of pets.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Exactly.
Tiffany Hansen: Let's see here. "If you have a healthy adult male cat who's about 10 years old, never goes out, does he really need annual vaccinations?"
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It is such a great question. In thinking about vaccines, one of the most important diseases we're protecting against is rabies. Often people say, "How on earth is my animal going to be exposed to rabies inside my apartment? They're never going out. They don't walk out of the apartment door. They're not even going in the hallway." That is true. You do need exposure to another animal in order to contract rabies. The way to think about that, and, of course, I should also say it is required by law in New York, but--
Tiffany Hansen: Oh, interesting. Okay, I did not know that.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: The way to think about it is--
Tiffany Hansen: For all pets?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes, for all pets. Is it's a public health responsibility. Rabies is an invariably fatal disease, meaning if an animal contracts rabies, they will die. In order to eradicate the disease and to keep the disease under control, the best way to do that is for all animals to be vaccinated. In the event that circumstances changed, or you live in a place where the windows are open and a bat happened to fly in and bite an animal in the night and nobody knew. There are hypothetical, rare, but hypothetical possibilities for cats to contract rabies. It is really a matter of protecting them and protecting everybody.
Additionally, there are other vaccines depending on your cat. There is another vaccine that we administer annually, typically, that cats can be exposed to viruses just from our traffic in and out of the house. Definitely something, of course, always to talk to your vet about, "Is this really necessary at my cat's age, given his risk profile?" We always say, hey, listen yes, we think so, and we would do it. Of course, when you're thinking about your own pet, there is a tremendous amount of agency that their owners, or as we sometimes say, pet parents have in making those decisions.
Tiffany Hansen: I like that. I'm a pet parent.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: You are.
Tiffany Hansen: [chuckles] You know. Leah in Manhattan, welcome to Please Advise. Hi, Leah.
Leah: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I love talking about pets.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's the best.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. You have some advice you want to share?
Leah: I do. I have a 70-pound boxer. He's going to be 14 in January. He's had all the health issues you can imagine. The one piece of advice I always share is, as soon as you have even just a wellness check or an emergency with your pet, to always ask for the medical records from that veterinarian. I've had in the past had to take him in for late-night emergencies at a new location because they maybe didn't have staff to take care of them. The first thing they ask is what his medical history is, and if I have it ready, they can take care of him better that way. Sometimes you just don't want to have to wait too long for your vets to try to coordinate all of the records from all the places he's been. Yes, shout-out to Frank. I love my boy, and thanks so much for this show.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Oh, Frank.
Tiffany Hansen: You got it. Leah, thank you. Way to go, Frank. Judith in NoHo, you have a question?
Judith: Yes. Hi. I'd like some advice. I have a 14-year-old little dog who all of a sudden started limping, and they think it's probably a herniated disc, but without doing an MRI for an exorbitant amount of money, and an older dog, I've decided not to do that just for that information. My question is, she's on an anti-inflammatory and gabapentin. I'm just wondering how do I know if she's in pain? I just can't tell, and it's painful for me to not know how she's doing.
Tiffany Hansen: Sure, sure. Thank you, Judith. Sabrina, this was on my list of questions too, because animals can hide from us when they're in pain, or we might not pick up on when they're in pain.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: For sure, for sure. I'm so sorry that you're going through that. That's really difficult. I think you, of course, know your dog better than anyone, and I think one of the metrics that can be really helpful is, "Is my dog doing all of the things that she typically likes to do?" If you imagine your ideal day with her, whether that's just going out to get a coffee or going to the park or whatever, her regular level of activity is, places she typically is in the house, foods she typically likes to eat, is she exhibiting those behaviors normally? That can be a really good guidepost for, "Is she in pain and how much?"
Of course, these are all great questions for your vet, who will have seen her initially to diagnose this and can recheck her and say, "I think she's making good progress," or you can have a conversation about how she is at home and how she is in the office. That's so helpful for us as vets to know because, obviously, animals, when they come in, as you said, Tiffany, they particularly at the vet's office, often are hiding how they are.
Tiffany Hansen: Right. Although I will also add that, and you know this, my dog Dottie is a Yorkie mix, a little Yorkie mix. She is quite a diva. She's quite a diva. She's perfect.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Do not speak ill of Dottie, please.
Tiffany Hansen: She will act like you have done-
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's true.
Tiffany Hansen: -the most horrible thing to her, and then you will look at her and go, "I don't really see anything that would like--" Anyway.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's such a great point. This is why having an open conversation with your vet is so important, because you can say, "Oh yes, I stepped on Dottie's toe, and she screamed like I murdered her entire family." In fact, she's okay.
Tiffany Hansen: She's fine. A couple of great texts here we should get to. "How much do I need to worry about my dog getting into the trash from time to time, eating food that I would normally keep away from her? I know that there are some foods that are more dangerous for dogs than others." True. I would maybe tack onto this the difference between household trash and stuff that's hanging around on the street.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes. I would avoid that if at all possible. I know it's super hard, but if you can baby-proof your house for your dog. There are all kinds of things that stop toddlers from going into cabinets or garbage cans, and those things work to pretty much universally unless you have a true genius dog. There are some dogs that will chew through or fiddle through things, but keeping them out of the trash is important. We do see dogs that eat all kinds of crazy things.
Of course, there are a couple of key foods. Grapes, raisins, chocolate, coffee, onions, garlic, and additionally, we just don't think that much about what we put in the trash. You might be making a chicken and throw the string and the skewers in the garbage. Those are things that we don't want dogs or cats to be eating. To the extent that it's possible to keep them out of the trash, that is a great thing to do.
Tiffany Hansen: Then on the street you also have the added bonus of things like marijuana gummies. Our neighbor had a dog, her dog ate one of those. There's-
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It happens all the time.
Tiffany Hansen: -supers that are not supposed to put those poison things out for rats, rat poison, rodenticide. Those are more serious issues.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Exactly, exactly. We worry about overeating. Some, let's say, bacon fat or something might not be great, but that's a big difference. There's a big difference between that and eating something poisonous. A great thing to do if you suspect your dog might have eaten something is to call the ASPCA Poison Control helpline. For a small fee, they will open a case to you, and you can speak to a veterinary toxicologist, and you can say, "Hey, my dog ate this number of M&Ms," or, "My dog ate--" Sometimes you need to do this while you're on the way to the vet. It's a great thing to do if maybe you're uncertain if you need to go or not. They can help guide you in terms of is what your animal ate really something that requires attention?
Tiffany Hansen: Say that again. That was the--
Dr. Sabrina Geer: The ASPCA Poison Control helpline.
Tiffany Hansen: Okay. Speaking of food, we have a texter who says, "I make my food for my dogs. Are they missing any specific nutrients if I'm only using fresh food, meat and vegetables, and some carbs?"
Dr. Sabrina Geer: We could do a whole episode on animal diets alone. A couple of resources. Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine has a great blog about dog food called- I believe it's Petfoodology. That's a great resource. There is another website called balance.it, where they will formulate a balancer to help make rations complete. Like adding a vitamin for folks who want to home cook. Then Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine also has a-- you can do a consult with a veterinary nutritionist. That I believe also is for a fee.
If you have a dog with specialty dietary needs or specialty health conditions, that would be another resource to check out. Definitely, again, and I will sound like a broken record, a great thing to talk to your vet about, because, of course, diet is important, and there is just so much out there now in terms of choice and being able to have a candid conversation with someone who can say, "These are the things that are important to think about, and these are things that are less important."
Tiffany Hansen: How would you advise someone who is nervous to come and talk to you? Because I think some pet owners might feel a little reluctant.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Oh, that's interesting.
Tiffany Hansen: Because, for example, if I tell my vet that I'm giving my dog this food, they're going to say X, Y, and Z and be "mad" at me.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Right. Truly, there is no judgment. We do this-- Yes, we love animals, but we also love people. Being a veterinarian is as much about talking to the animal's human as it is about seeing the animal. We want to have those conversations with you. We want to have that partnership with you. We want the conversation to be open, and it makes for much better care both ways. Even if it's a question, if it's something you feel bashful about, if it's something you don't want to admit, or the other way, if there's something that you feel was wrong or missed, we want to be able to talk to you about that, and it should be an open and candid conversation.
Certainly do not feel bashful, because, as I say to people all the time, for example, I always ask everyone, "Do you brush your pet's teeth?" Then I say, "I don't ever brush any animal's teeth." You definitely should. It's a wonderful intervention. It's very helpful for them. I do not have time for that in my day. Absolutely no judgment.
Tiffany Hansen: No judgment. Yes. We're doing what we can.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: We're all just doing our best. We are all doing our best.
Tiffany Hansen: Okay, let's talk with Ryan in Bed-Stuy. Hi, Ryan.
Ryan: Hi. I'm calling in with a two-parter advice and question. Background is I actually worked at the dog daycare for about six or seven years. It was my first job, in fact. It's crazy. My partner was a dog walker for over 10 years before we both moved on to different things. From our professional dog experience, I just want to advise everyone out there who is thinking-- who either has a dog that's maybe like more pedigree dog or like maybe has more working-dog mutt blood in it like think Husky or Border Collie or Aussie, et cetera, et cetera.
They think really hard if they have the time for that dog because they need a lot of work, they need a lot of training, and cities are stressful, and it's hard to give a dog the attention they need. When dogs are stressed and when they're anxious, they have behavioral issues and that can lead to them biting people, and that can lead to your dog walker walking them down the street and then the dog bites the child or something, because the owner doesn't want them to wear muzzle or whatever. There's just like a lot of reckoning that I think a lot of New Yorkers need to do when they want the special dog.
Tiffany Hansen: Got it.
Ryan: They want the pretty-- whatever, they really need to think, "Can I have this dog in the city and take proper care of it and keep them safe and everyone else safe?"
Tiffany Hansen: You had a question?
Ryan: Yes. That brings me to my question, which is if you are bitten by a dog, what is the best way to, I guess like gently tell this owner and diffuse the situation, especially if they're being defensive, that they need to get their dog training, have them see behaviorist, possibly rehome the dog. I don't want to call the police, and then that leads to either the dog or the person possibly being hurt. I don't want a dog who is aggressive because they are in a bad home situation or they are not in the right environment, rather, to be euthanized-
Tiffany Hansen: Yes.
Ryan: -because I know that that's preventable.
Tiffany Hansen: Ryan, thanks for that. I think Ryan touches on a couple things here about aggressiveness and anxiety and aggressiveness. It has to do with maybe helping a dog who's aggressive specifically, and then maybe just some advice for owners who have an aggressive dog that's not just the usual, like barking at other dogs, but truly aggressive toward humans, even.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: This is another great reason to see a veterinary behaviorist and see your own regular general practitioner.
Tiffany Hansen: Do the behaviorists get to the bottom of it? In other words, like, "I have a dog who's biting people when I take him out," and they'll unwind where that's coming from.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Exactly. It's the closest we have to a dog psychiatrist.
Tiffany Hansen: Got it.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's someone who's saying your dog does this because of fear, or they're trying to guard their resources, or they have a really clear understanding of, to the extent possible, the reason behind the behavior and what the best interventions are. I would say, in those cases, this is a great place to stop by, see your general practitioner, talk to them about the options. "Is it appropriate for me to go see a behaviorist? How would you approach this?" Make sure there's no underlying medical issue first. Have that conversation and use your veterinarian to point you to resources that are appropriate.
Tiffany Hansen: I know that behaviorists are obviously working with the pet, but do they have some useful suggestions for owners who are, I would assume, who are dealing with this?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's amazing. I mean, I will receive the records when I send folks for consults with the behaviorist. You get many, many, many detailed pages back of interventions and things to do depending on the situation.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes, okay. You're listening to Please Advise. We're talking about pets and getting some advice here for pet owners. Also, if you have some advice to share, we'd love to hear from you as well. We're talking dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, whatever it is. How to be a good pet owner in New York City. If you got some advice, you need some advice, 212-433-9692. You can call us, you can text us at that number. We're talking with Dr. Sabrina Geer. She is practicing at Animal General in the Upper West Side. She's also my vet for my two dogs. Full disclosure. We're going to get back to more of your questions in just a moment. We're going to take a quick break. You are listening to WNYC. I'm Tiffany Hansen. Stick around.
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Tiffany Hansen: You're listening to Please Advise, a pop-up advice show here on WNYC. I'm Tiffany Hansen, and this hour we are talking pets. Are you looking for some advice about your pet? Maybe you have some advice to give, to share about being a good pet owner here in New York City. You can call us, 212-433-9692. You can also text us at that number. We're talking with Dr. Sabrina Gear. She is practicing veterinary medicine at Animal General on the Upper West Side. Sabrina, let's pivot to cats a little bit here. We're going to talk first with Whitney in Ridgewood. Hi, Whitney.
Whitney: Hey there. Thanks for taking my call. I have a 13-year-old Siamese cat. We've been together her whole life, and we recently had to get-- she had to get an extraction. One of her teeth was going bad. We got blood work to do it, and the blood work came back perfect. The vet was so surprised because she's 13. He said her cholesterol was perfect. He said her blood sugar was perfect. Every time we had gone to the vet for this extraction process, they kept saying she's fat. "Oh, she's fat."
She's 16 pounds now. I don't think she's ever been less than 14 pounds in her whole adult life. She's 20 inches long. She used to be indoor/outdoor. Now she's just indoor. She's less active. I don't think we're underfeeding her because we give her a half a can of grain-free wet food and two tablespoons of grain-free dry food a day. I don't think we can really reduce it less than that. I just wondered if her blood work is good, she's happy, does she need to lose weight?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Great question.
Tiffany Hansen: Chonky cat.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: She sounds wonderful. One thing I would say is ask your vet about special foods. There are a lot of great foods on the market that are specifically designed for cats to lose weight, and they can eat a larger volume with the correct number of calories because the foods are designed as such. The other thing I would say, not knowing her, specifically, but about cats generally, they do come in different shapes and sizes, and not every cat needs to be 10 pounds. We do have big cats and little cats. In general, obesity in cats can predispose them to diabetes just as--
Tiffany Hansen: It's good to get a handle on.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It is a great thing to talk to your vet about and say, "Is 16 pounds her normal weight? What's her ideal body weight, and how can we work to get there?" Because there are comorbidities that we think about that go along with obesity.
Tiffany Hansen: Another cat question here from a texter. "I have two cats, both female, around 15. They are on kidney formula food as recommended by the vet as they both have kidney issues that are typical for older cats. One of them has been urinating outside of the box, usually at night. I haven't changed the litter or the location of the box. I clean it first thing every day. Any suggestions for how to prevent this behavior?" I would add, like, "And what's behind that behavior?"
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Exactly. I fear I am redundant in my advice here of do go to your vet, because there are-- Even if you know she has a kidney issue, there could be something exacerbating what's going on. There could be a urinary tract infection. There are other things that can layer onto existing underlying disease. Anytime, and not specific to her again, but just anytime with an animal that something's different, it is worth that check-in. Even it is just sending an email to your vet and saying, "Hey, this is what's going on. Do you think I need to come in based on what you know about my animal?" Your vet absolutely can say, "Yes, I really do need to see you, or you know what? Do this based on what I know about your cat, and check in with me in two weeks."
Tiffany Hansen: Is this really a case of they're telling us something? Like you should pay attention to those behaviors.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's such a great point. Yes. Because animals hide things. They do. That's just how they operate. Some behavior change may be representative of something that is as simple as a cat being a cat and doing something different on a different day, but it could really be something medical that they're not demonstrating in a typical fashion.
Tiffany Hansen: Sabrina, let's bring in Dee in Manhattan. Hi, Dee.
Dee: Oh, hi. Thank you for this episode. I have a pug that I got as a rescue at six months. He's now 19 months. He loves dogs. He's very social with dogs, but is very tentative and shy with people. What is your recommendation to socialize more with people? Now I live in Manhattan, so he's good with my doorman, and they'll give him a little treat and whatnot. My sons come over occasionally. They live in the city, and at first he barks with them, but then settles down. Just trying to make him more social with humans.
Tiffany Hansen: What's his name?
Dee: His name is Lefty.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Lefty. [chuckles]
Tiffany Hansen: Lefty. I think we should start keeping a running tab of pet names. Okay, Dee. We're talking about Lefty and socializing with humans. I wonder, Sabrina, because I often run into pet dog-- When you're walking your dogs, you talk with other dog owners, and you will-- Some dog-- Like you'll meet a dog owner who says, "Oh, my dog really just loves people. Not interested in your dog." Or, "My dog only likes dogs, won't talk to people." Is some of what Lefty is exhibiting here just his own personal preference?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It may be. It may be. He may never come to truly be a people person. He may always be a dog's dog. This is a great place for some training. This is for sure something that a trainer and/or a behaviorist could help with. I would say for trainers, everybody has their own preferences and recommendations, but another great question for your vet, as we will often have trainers we've worked with locally who we can recommend.
Tiffany Hansen: All right, we're going to talk with Kathleen in the Rockaways. Hi, Kathleen.
Kathleen: Hi there. I want to give a bit of suggestion for looking at alternative therapies for your pets. I have a 90-pound black rare Pom mix named Zeke. A couple years ago, he was having episodic back pain that I would treat with medications, and he'd get better. I noticed over time, because he's 12 now, that he wouldn't greet me at the door when I came home from work. I was thinking, he's losing his hearing or something like that. I talked to the vet, and I took him in for acupuncture. After just three treatments, I came home from work, and he ran down the hallway in his tail, happy as a clam. It was really remarkable.
Tiffany Hansen: Oh, that sounds like a success story for you, Kathleen. Appreciate that call. There are a lot of "alternative medicine" options for pet owners. I mean, it's not just acupuncture. There's like-- I've seen videos, chiropractors for animals, and allergists. I don't know. I mean, there's-- This is not something that you come to a vet office for, though.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It can be. There are veterinarians who are licensed to practice acupuncture, and it can be a really, really valuable modality even in--
Tiffany Hansen: Have you seen success with it?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I have. I am not licensed myself to do it. There are great licensing programs, and I think it can be an important part of an approach.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. Another thing to ask your vet about, "Would it be useful if I did acupuncture?"
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes, or, "What could I think about?" Definitely always great to have a conversation with a human about it.
Tiffany Hansen: Let's see here. Oh, we got a little advice coming in on the texter who has their cats going outside of the litter box, and someone says, "Certified cat lady here. If your cat is old and starts going outside the box, get a senior litter box with lower entries." Another person chimed in and said also get a lower-entry litter box. There's a little bit of advice, maybe something to try.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I love those ideas, and I always love to get hints from pet owners because there is so much information out there. I definitely would say always see your vet first and make sure it's not a medical issue.
Tiffany Hansen: Not a medical issue. Speaking of all of the advice out there, Instagram, TikTok. There's a million ways in social media that we are being bombarded with how we can be better pet owners. How do you advise people when sifting through that kind of stuff?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Sure. I think it is-- Listen, it's really difficult. Everything is shiny and interesting and attractive, and we all have been sucked into scrolling and having ideas about things that we might have read in passing. It's happened to all of us. I do think it's really important when you have questions to talk to a human about them.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: We all spend a lot of time. Veterinarians do this because we love animals, we love people and we spend a lot of time educating ourselves and re-educating ourselves when we're in practice.
Tiffany Hansen: This, I think, gets it at a larger issue that I'm not sure you can speak to, but maybe which is sometimes when people turn to social media when they're struggling with a pet issue, and they know that having a pet is expensive, and going to the vet is expensive. I think just maybe acknowledging that and saying-- There are, you mentioned like the ASPCA. I know there are some lower-cost options for people who are struggling to really find and get, and they want to find the right care for their pet. Any advice on that?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: I would say it is really great if you can to get insurance for your pet when you get your pet, even if the insurance isn't helping with your annual wellness care, even if it's just to cover for emergency care or really big possible expenses that come up. That's a great way to not be in a position where you have to make a decision of, "Can I afford to send my dog to surgery that it needs?" Or, "My cat needs to be in the hospital for three days," and to be able to lessen that burden. I will say, without trending into economics, which is not what you're asking me to speak about. Everything is very expensive, and it's difficult--
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. Is preventative care helpful for someone who's trying--? I know, for example, that my dogs are predisposed to, because they're little tiny dogs, bad teeth.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes.
Tiffany Hansen: I am the crazy person that brushes their teeth and uses all the things to get them to have clean teeth.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's great, and it does help.
Tiffany Hansen: Is this an argument for preventative medicine, I guess?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It is another great opportunity to have that conversation with your vet, who should support you wherever you are in what works for you and your animal and your family. I am privileged to be able to treat all kinds of different animals from all kinds of different walks of life. There are times where you will say, "Okay, what are we able to do now? What does your animal really need? What can we put off six months or a year, or two years?"
Again, something that the Internet might tell you you need, you might not need. Definitely always worth having that conversation and not feeling, when you go into your vet, that you have to have a certain amount of money or you need to be able to afford to do things a certain way. It is okay to say, "Hey, this is my budget for today, and would you be able to give me an estimate for how much this vaccine is and that vaccine is, and let me break it up and think." Different practices handle this differently. Absolutely, it's something that people should be met with compassion because it's tough out there.
Tiffany Hansen: It's tough.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's tough out there.
Tiffany Hansen: Mary in Brooklyn, welcome to the conversation. Hi, Mary.
Mary: Hi there.
Tiffany Hansen: You had a question?
Mary: I had actually a piece of advice because what we did when our 10-year-old started pleading for a dog, and I was reluctant at first, I thought, "Oh, let's put a little notice on our neighborhood listserv and say, if you're going away, can you lend us your dog?" Because we want to know what this amounts to. The good part of it was this. We thought, "Oh, a Beagle is so cute. Let's get a Beagle." We took care of a Beagle, and the owner said, "Never let him off the leash. You will never see him again."
Then we interviewed a Dachshund who jumped in bed with us. I kicked him off, came back from taking my daughter to school, and the Beagle- or the Dachshund had got on the bed and taken a dump. This happened with another Dachshund because they were used to sleeping with their owners in the bed. We are definitely-- no, the dog is on the hearth rug, or we don't have a hearth, but the dog is on the rug. Just my advice is, see, if you think a dog's really cute, fine. They have a whole temperament. I'm piggybacking on the person who said the Australian shepherd or the dog who needs a lot of exercise, pay attention to that because a Pointer or a Sheepdog doesn't necessarily belong in New York City.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. Thanks, Mary. Appreciate that. How do people find the best breed for them? That's beyond, "That's so cute and fluffy, and I want it."
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Again, completely, we could do another whole hour about this. Definitely think about your lifestyle, do your research. Like our caller just said, that's a great way. Meet as many dogs as you possibly can. Talk to different owners, read and educate yourself about different dogs. If you have the opportunity to meet them or to host them, that's a wonderful way to go about it. Of course, talk to your vet.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. Just to circle back. We did get a texter who says, "Pet insurance is the real deal, especially as your pet ages." Another endorsement there for some pet insurance. You are listening to Please Advise. It's a pop-up advice show here at WNYC. We're talking pets. We're taking questions. If you're looking for advice about how to be a good pet owner here in New York City, or maybe you have some advice to give, you can call us, you can text us, 212-433-9692. We're talking with Dr. Sabrina Geer. She practices at Animal General here on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. We are going to get back to more of your texts and calls. We just have to step away and take a quick break. Don't go anywhere. I'm Tiffany Hansen. Glad you're with us.
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Tiffany Hansen: Glad you're with us here for Please Advise. It's a pop-up advice show from WNYC. I'm Tiffany Hansen. Glad for your company. Today, we're talking pets and pet ownership. Call us, text us if you're looking for advice. Have some advice to give. 212-433-9692. We're talking with Dr. Sabrina Geer. Sabrina, we have someone that I think you're going to like that we are going to talk to. Frania in Morningside Heights. Hi, Frania. Are you there? Frania.
Frania: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate the conversation. I'm really happy that you guys are talking about training and behavior and referring to professionals. I just wanted to point out that-- First, I should say, I'm an applied animal behaviorist. I have a master's in animal behavior. While I think it's great that we're talking about referring to vet behaviorists, we should know that that's limited. There are 100 vet behaviorists probably practicing in the United States. I think in New York, we may have like a handful of them, if even that many.
A lot of the times, we should know that behavior can be one of the top reasons for surrender to shelters. When we're talking about your cat not using the litter box or aggression or reactivity, we want to be able to say, "How can we get help sooner rather than later?" To look at a field that's basically unregulated. Unfortunately, except for veterinary, anyone can call themselves a behaviorist. Really, people should be looking for people who are appropriately educated when they're doing this or looking online because the Internet has so much bad stuff out there in addition to good.
If you look for verifiable, credentialed information from people who have university-level graduate degrees in this, specifically animal behavior, or who are writing about this stuff, who are appropriately educated, so you can find out how to stop your cat from not using the litter box. You rule out the medical. Then you say things like, "Can I take the top off the litter box? Can I make sure that the cat can get into it? Can I change the litter?" There's all kinds of steps that we can take before we consider surrender, which is one of the reasons our shelter is so overcrowded.
Yes, we do want to talk about veterinary behavior, but we want that behavior solution, that behavior modification, to be accessible to people, and we can get it. There's a lot of good information out there as long as we do some homework.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. Frania, you're just suggesting that because there is such a limited number of people that you could actually go see in person, you're advising folks to look online, look at the certifications of the person, and maybe ferret out some-- Just use an animal reference. Ferret out some good advice online.
Frania: Right. Make sure anybody that you're talking to, that you're contracting for services, that they have the appropriate education. Like I said, I have a master's in animal behavior. That's why I do this kind of work. I also have one in urban planning, but I don't talk about that one.
Tiffany Hansen: [chuckles] We'll use that for a different show. We'll use that for a different show. Frania, thank you so much for the call. We appreciate it. Sabrina, we got a text here about CBD. I wanted to ask you about this. "My dog is severely anxious. He was on a ton of medications in his previous home, and we would rather not have him on them because he's happy at home. Does CBD help?" I mean, I think that's the over-- Does CBD help?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It is totally pet dependent.
Tiffany Hansen: Oh, okay.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes. It seems sometimes it can be very helpful, but sometimes people say they feel it does absolutely nothing. I have not found it to be a magic bullet. If it is working in your home and you're using a safe product, that is great.
Tiffany Hansen: We've talked a lot about breeds. I'm wondering what you think about the adopt, don't shop debate.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yet another great idea for a much, much longer episode. One of the things I try to think about in this very fraught landscape is that overall, what we all want is for everyone to find the right animal for them. For a veteran dog owner, that might be walking into the ASPCA and coming out with any dog. For somebody who has young children at home and has never had an animal before, that might not be the approach that they would take. I think it is very, very circumstantial.
I am certain that your listeners have a great depth of opinions on this subject. I do think there are many valid perspectives on this from both sides, and I don't think I can credibly take one side or the other because there is so much nuance here and so much to discuss. What we all want is for everybody to have the right animal for them, and we want all the animals to have the right people for them, too.
Tiffany Hansen: What about, I guess, people who are trying to come at it with a bit of goodwill regardless, and they want to help animals who are in a shelter, and you don't know what you're going to get. I have a neighbor who thought she was getting one thing, and now that turns out-- she did the DNA test on it, and the dog that they said they thought was going to get to be about 30 pounds is now 80 pounds. Is it more a case of like, know where you are when you go into that process?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes, absolutely.
Tiffany Hansen: Let's see here. I have another texter who says, "There's a fantastic organization called PAWS NYC that offers help with pet food, pet care, and those with disabilities or general aging-related issues and vet care." Okay, so there's another option for someone who has to be very mindful of the budget when they're talking about the care for their pets. Another thing I want to ask before we wrap up here is about end-of-life care. I know you're going to say we could talk about this forever too, but I think that for some people it is just such a gut-wrenching decision when you have to make it. How can you involve your vet in this conversation in a way that is supportive for the pet and the human?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Absolutely. This is, I think, one of the most important parts of our job as vets and absolutely something that, for our listeners, you should feel very comfortable talking to your vet about. It's a difficult decision. It's often difficult to know when the right time is. It's a place where you really can count on your vet to-- and I'm borrowing this phrase from my wonderful medical director. To be the advocate for the animal where the animal's parent or owner may not be able to see clearly. Oftentimes, and I've been through this with my own animals, you have an old animal, and you're like the frog in boiling water. The decline is--
Tiffany Hansen: You've been with this animal for--
Dr. Sabrina Geer: For its whole life or half of its life. For ages. You're seeing a decline incrementally over time. To have your vet be able to come in and say, "I know where you are, I know how hard this is, I know everything you're going through. Let me speak for your cat or your dog in this instance, and let's have a conversation about what your animal needs, what you need, what your family needs, how we can do this." I think it's really important for people to know truly-- and this is not something that I just say to make people feel better. I really believe people are making a kind choice for their animals when they are able to let them go.
Tiffany Hansen: On the whole, do you think-- I don't know. Do you think people wait longer because they just don't want to say goodbye?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Of course. It breaks our hearts every time.
Tiffany Hansen: Does it break your heart every time?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Absolutely.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes. It must be hard.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: It's much harder for the people who are there. It's a privilege for us to be able to help people and help animals in that way.
Tiffany Hansen: How do you counsel young vets when it comes to that?
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Yes, I think-- Have you ever seen the movie Annie Hall?
Tiffany Hansen: Yes, of course.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: In the end of Annie Hall, there's a joke about a guy who says to his psychiatrist, "My brother thinks he's a chicken." The psychiatrist says, "Are you going to turn him in?" The guy says, "Yes, but I really need the eggs." The thing is, we all have had pets, and if we're lucky, we outlive our pets, and we all keep coming back for more.
Tiffany Hansen: Yes, right. We've been talking this hour with Dr. Sabrina Geer. She practices veterinary medicine at Animal General here in Manhattan. By the way of full disclosure, I will say she is also the vet for my fur family. My fur family.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Special shout-out to-
Tiffany Hansen: Special shout-out to-
Dr. Sabrina Geer: -Dottie and Bob.
Tiffany Hansen: -Dottie and Bob. Thanks so much to all of you as well for all of your calls and questions. Dr. Geer, really appreciate the time.
Dr. Sabrina Geer: Thank you so much for having me, Tiffany.
Tiffany Hansen: Note, tomorrow here on Please Advise, we're talking about art. Getting advice from award-winning art critic Jerry Saltz about how we can appreciate art, get the most out of our vibrant art scene here in New York City. You'll want to tune in for that. You've been listening to Please Advise. It's a pop-up advice show here at WNYC. I'm Tiffany Hansen. We're so glad you spent part of your afternoon with us. See you tomorrow.
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