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Ep. 10: Bob, Bobby, Bobcat
48 Plays3 months ago
Join Kel, Dr. G, and Dr. M as we spill the kibble on your submitted vet stories. In this episode we talk about dental playlists, mystery stains, and the cat with hands. This episode is for entertainment purposes only, please talk to your vet before following any advice heard on this show.
Interested in sharing your own clinic stories? Email us at spillthekibble@gmail.com.
TW-feces, animal surgery, claw trama
"Happy Boy Theme" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Common (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
nor listening to Spill the Kibble, the podcast where I read your submitted stories and have real veterinarians react to them. If you are interested in sharing your clinic story, email us at spill at spill the kibble.com.
00:00:19
Speaker
Please note that this show is not suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised. And with that, let's go to the show.
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Spill the Kibble. I'm Kel. I am Dr. G. And I'm Dr. M. And we're here to tell your clinic stories. But first, how are the doctors doing today?
Cultural References and Personal Stories
00:00:44
Speaker
I'm swell. I'm sweller. He'll always be my feller. knew you were going to say that. Shout out to anybody who likes Buffy. I thought you would have said you're swole, but this is good too.
00:00:56
Speaker
No, I went Buffy. Okay. I went Buffy the musical episode forever in our hearts. ah Speaking of musical, I was watching Jeopardy last night and I missed a clue and the answer was Gordon Lightfoot.
00:01:11
Speaker
a musician. It was about the song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And because it pained me to get something wrong, I had to learn all about Gordon Lightfoot today. And so I did a deep dive and bunch of listening. And I listened to that song and I saw that if you could read my mind was also by them.
00:01:26
Speaker
And I have like growing up a very distinct version. Many, many people have covered this song. Yes. Do you know the song? And are you thinking of the same version as me I have no idea what you're talking about. Press on. I'm lost.
00:01:43
Speaker
What genre is the song? Is it pop from the early aughts? Because we might know it then. Yeah. Is it from, did the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC cover it? Because maybe someone out on their own, but no, it didn't get that kind of love. And now at this point, I'm having a tough time finding the, um, Oh dear. so The one that was actually the one i was like, oh, okay. You can do it.
00:02:05
Speaker
Yeah. so I'm probably going to get the name wrong, but it's the version by Ultronate. Ultronate. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, finding that one took me to the only place that I could locate it. And it was from the Night at the Roxbury soundtrack.
00:02:21
Speaker
Oh. And let me tell you, every single track is a bop. Well, I mean, that's fair. Super fun, maybe want to dance, maybe maybe danced. In the early aughts, I only bought soundtracks to like every movie I saw because there were so many good songs. And there was a song Madonna did for Austin Powers that you could only get on that soundtrack. You couldn't get it anywhere else.
00:02:50
Speaker
Well, you know, they're going to be great songs because they have to pay to get the rights for all of them. so they're really, you know big production. They're going for it. You're going to kind of a best of. And yes, this song, I can't play it, but look it up for yourselves.
00:03:03
Speaker
It belongs on a Now This Is Music some somewhere before Now This Is Music 10 or a Jock Jams. um All very fun. But it got me thinking if you've ever had like a dance party at work.
Music in Daily Life and Professional Settings
00:03:15
Speaker
Have I had a dance party at work? I think I've had my own dance party. I don't know that I've- Dance partying on your own? Yes, dancing on my own. I don't know that I've convinced other people. Maybe, you know what? ah I take that back. I feel like when the s Sabrina Carpenter latest album and when- um Who's that?
00:03:35
Speaker
i' show I'll send it to you later. I'm just kidding. She's a goddess. And the Chapel Rhone, when that album came out, I'm pretty sure we jammed out to that back during like dentals. We were having a pretty great time going through the whole discography as we were extracting teeth. So doing like little dances in between the incisors.
00:03:54
Speaker
Is it universal that all dentistry teams love music? think while I well, do people hate music? i never met anyone that hates music. I've met people, not many, that don't care for it.
00:04:08
Speaker
That would be fine without it. While they're working? at writ large just music that's a whole nother thing we can't people we can't even get into it at least one of them is a lovely person um and i won't i won't call them out here but she knows who she is after that anytime i've ever worked with dentists i've worked at a couple of places with a board of dentists and i've worked the folks who focus exclusively on dentistry the dental arts and there's even in humans i think every dentist i've ever had has also been kind of a musician Okay.
00:04:40
Speaker
oh Yeah. Didn't our old dentist play the bassoon? Dr. M. Cal, I try to block him out of my memory as best I can. I try not to think on that man or the sins he committed, the crimes he committed against me. He didn't commit real crimes. Let's just say he might have been good at playing the bassoon, but he wasn't good at giving more drugs when needed.
00:05:06
Speaker
He didn't drug children nearly enough. Propyl analgesia, guys. It's so important. It's so important. Otherwise, you grow up with a fear of the dentist.
Fear-Free Movement in Dentistry vs. Veterinary Practice
00:05:18
Speaker
so That's a classic one.
00:05:21
Speaker
It is a pretty classic one. i think they're trying. I mean, to be fair, if pets could talk, I feel like a lot of them would say they have a fear of the vet's office, but we're trying to actively correct that. but I think dentists are kind of trying to do the same too. I think there's a wave in their world of more fear-free and like more...
00:05:41
Speaker
like, water drugs, more drugs, kind of like helping, helping get people over it. I used to take, a I used to take diazepam before I went, I'm pretty sure, just to like, chill me out. I'd make somebody drive me and I would just like, snooze.
00:05:58
Speaker
How do you feel about the dentist from Little Shop of Horrors? Hilarious. Terrifying. Absolutely unhinged. ah Hilarious, my favorite character. exactly what we're looking for.
00:06:11
Speaker
but I was trying to bring it back to musicals. Oh, sure. So dancing, dancing in the office, dancing on your own. Every time I've ever worked with the dentist, the team always loves music. So I'm all for that.
00:06:22
Speaker
So I've definitely, I've definitely jammed out, rocked and had fun in dental suites. I used to work overnights with exotics and ah parrots, love parrots love music.
00:06:35
Speaker
There's, there's no two ways about it. i love I love seeing a parrot, you know, just like nod into some metal music. Jamming out. This was, I distinctly remember I was playing um the Grey album, which was the fantastic mashup of Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' White Album.
00:06:53
Speaker
Again, if you haven't heard this, check it out. If either one of those two artists sounds good, and they're both are. Wow. Check out the Grey album. Anyway, parrots dancing, having a blast.
00:07:04
Speaker
Share stories with us. You dancing with pets. Pets dancing with you. Pets dancing with each other. Not you dancing with other people. but Cats and dogs. Horses. Getting along. horses dance. Dancing with wolves. We want it all.
00:07:24
Speaker
But yeah, i think I think dentistry in particular, because it's not sterile, there's more like DJing going on because you're not downed up and gloved in. So you can switch it up. That's right, you can you can drop it.
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah, you can skip a song if you get a stinker. I was watching some show yesterday, a medical comedy, we'll leave it undefined, and the surgeon dropped their hands below their waistline at the table. Where's the continuity people? Who's just sitting on the side saying, nope, that won't happen, that won't happen.
00:07:55
Speaker
it really boils my blood. you can tell her I'm dying. yeah ER and Grey's going to be a bit on the air too long for you to make that simple mistake. Right. Not me. No, them. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:08:07
Speaker
Them. I have not. As an actor. I've watched up until a certain point in Grey's and I don't remember catching a ton of mishaps. Probably some. It's usually related to sterility. Yeah.
00:08:18
Speaker
It's a tricky one. If you're not used to it, you don't really think about it if you don't spend your day to day thinking about where your elbows and your hands go. You just need one person to watch it before they publish it. A fact checker. fact checker.
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah. um Continuity per and advisor. So I would love that job. Get at me. if you're ever making anything fancy. We'll do that job. work in Hollywood. I'll let know if love the board. We're fun. We're cool. i listened to music for quite some time when I was in the OR, but then I got over it. So I started listening to true crime podcasts instead because I felt like it was more fitting. And then I didn't feel like you ever got to like a stinker part. You'd be like,
00:08:56
Speaker
we're done with the spay but like who done it you know what i mean uh i've done a couple podcasts and things in there but i don't know i i may have to pay attention too much if it's something i haven't heard before that's fair my my attention is easily stolen that's fair that's fair It reminds me when we were vet school and we were doing anatomy lab, sometimes I would stay up late and like go to the anatomy lab after hours to work on our cadaver dogs. And I would always put bones on on my iPad in the background because then I pretended like I was a squint and I was working to solve the case. So maybe that's just always been ingrained in me.
00:09:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm. That's fun. Yeah, but like that. Yeah, TV in the background's different. I don't know. It's just, you know, in the in the cadaver lab, it feels lower stakes than, um you know, over the over the actual patient.
00:09:47
Speaker
Like the lowest stakes? Not the lowest. You could really, know, you gotta be delicate. The lowest real tissue, yes. But still respected. Really, you know. I mean, of course, you could light anything on fire and it could all be worse, but...
Listener-Submitted Veterinary Stories
00:10:03
Speaker
Yes.
00:10:06
Speaker
every Every time. So we have some stories submitted to us. Hooray! The scrubs have been washed.
00:10:18
Speaker
The scrubs have been dried. And yeah, that stain is still there. It's time to spill the kibble. Oh no! Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that stain?
00:10:30
Speaker
What is it? And you've washed it enough, the color's gone. You're losing that clue. You know, the smell and the color are gone. It's just a mystery. I know what the stain is on all of mine. Do you know what the stain is on all of yours?
00:10:42
Speaker
Absolutely not. Really? Mystery stain? Really. I've never had a mystery stain. I always know what it is. Okay. Guess. Well, you step in cat vomit, so. I ain't washing my socks, though. So it's on my scrubs. It's on my scrubs.
00:10:56
Speaker
Is it blood? No. Is it anal gland? No. Is it poop? No. Come on, get out of the gutter, dude. Is it pus?
00:11:08
Speaker
No. Is it marker and pen? Are you a bad little petted marker boy? I can't be trusted with a marker. my God. No, it's not that.
00:11:19
Speaker
I was like, it was pen. I know it what it was. No, no, no, no. wasn't Is it diff quick? Nope. It's not. It's ultrasound gel. You have ultrasound gel stains all over you?
00:11:30
Speaker
All over my body. Does that stuff stain? It does. It's like greasy. I don't use enough of it because I don't ultrasound that much. I just do flash. going dry? Alcohol. Yeah.
00:11:47
Speaker
I've had it stained. Lots of scrubs. I always know what is. no It always just looks dark like you got grease on yourself. and Anyway, it's still there. We got stories? but Yes, please. Give me the story.
00:11:59
Speaker
do we give Give me the story. Okay. So we have two stories from a dear listener, Dr. R, from the Pacific Northwest, who submitted two up for us.
00:12:13
Speaker
Hi, Dr. R. Hi, Dr. Thank you. Yes, thank you She sent us one long one and then was like, oh, it's just listening to your episode, your most recent episode. Here's another one.
00:12:27
Speaker
Hey, all right. No, we have two. They're propagating. ah Which I love. I hope that episodes spark inspiration for others to be like, oh, I have a story kind of like that. Or, oh, that reminds me of a story that I heard or something. i don't know.
00:12:44
Speaker
Fair. Right. If you feel the spark, hey, if you feel the urge to send us your stories, please send them to spill, S-P-I-L-L, at spillthekibble.com.
00:12:58
Speaker
Call now. Call now. We're waiting. operators eyes sort waiting. Our emails are wide. oh Sorry. Sorry.
00:13:10
Speaker
so Sorry, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to cut you off before this gets weird.
00:13:17
Speaker
Dr. rr says, I have a story for
The Bobcat Misadventure
00:13:19
Speaker
you. It kind of spans both wildlife and domestic. Fun. We had a woman call while she was driving home from work and it's dark out.
00:13:30
Speaker
She stops because she sees a cat on the side of the road. She pulls over. and realizes the cat is still alive. So she picks the cat up and puts it in the backseat of her car.
00:13:43
Speaker
It was still alive, but unconscious, who and not responding to any, you know, stinking. Poked it with a stick, didn't move. Sounds safe for the moment.
00:13:58
Speaker
but huh Don't wake up, don't wake up. She takes the cat to a vet clinic and she brings it in and asks to get some help with this cat. And someone at this vet clinic, either a vet or a vet tech, I'm not sure, took a look at the cat and they were like, what do you think they said to this woman who brought in this cat that she found on the side of the road? That ain't no domestic short hair, baby.
00:14:26
Speaker
ah Either it's dead or it's not a cat. A raccoon? a wee fox? An ocelot? It's a baby bobcat. Okay, you're getting warmer. Let's dive back in.
00:14:38
Speaker
So they said, Ma'am, that is an adult bobcat. We don't take care of this here. Hey, bobcat. That's a robber bravo cat
00:14:55
Speaker
Bobcat cub is a bobby. Yeah. Juvenile's a Bob and a full-on's Robert. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Would I better at that? Okay, i like it. What's a sub-adult, though, called?
00:15:07
Speaker
Robbie. A Bobbert. Bobbert. but and Yeah, so what do you think about that? Crazy. um People who can't identify...
00:15:21
Speaker
What my 15-year-old niece could should not be picking them up from the wild. Here's the thing. It was dark and she was coming home from work. Maybe she has a really, maybe she had just pulled like a back-to-back crazy shift. We don't know what she saw.
00:15:38
Speaker
She's a good Samaritan. You're right. they shouldn't have They shouldn't have been driving. You're so right. but Nevertheless, handling likely un-rabies vaccinated mammals.
00:15:51
Speaker
I will say, now i'm I know I'm assuming, but we're in the Pacific Northwest. It sounds like this might be a white woman. And they are not afraid of any animal they find among the wild.
00:16:05
Speaker
This is true. Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. Okay, so... I caught a field mouse the other day. and did I release it into the wild? I did. But did I give it an entire bag of Cheez-Its that I scattered all over the place for it to give it a little starter home? i did. And ah a little pink hat from the gas station, $9.99. And I said, this is all you, baby. It's cold out there. Good luck.
00:16:28
Speaker
We must blame all the princess movies for telling us that we must befriend the animals or they will help us later in life. He's going to learn how to sew and I'm going to look beautiful at that ball.
00:16:41
Speaker
Carbo-loading this field mouse with Cheez-Its is one thing. The pink hat seems like it could make it a target. It was cute, though. And it was right next. i I dropped it off at a nature preserve that also has some sledding hills. So I thought that the hat would blend in with the other lost children's articles.
00:17:01
Speaker
You know what little pink hats on little guys get? What? They get bullies and they get hawks. Well, he's not wearing it. There's just some cheese that's in it. And also, he immediately diverted away from the hat and climbed up a tree. I didn't do wildlife. I'm just a white woman trying her best. Well, you did you did this one dirty.
00:17:23
Speaker
He's fine. It's fine, probably. He's so cute. I'll send you a picture later. He's so cute. Okay, so we put a We put a full Robert cat in the back of the vehicle. It was unconscious.
00:17:36
Speaker
So, And a that clinic. Yeah, no, I don't see the problem. It didn't wake up. Keep going. Somebody else's problem now. Let's keep going. So first of all, this woman has completely confused this adult male bobcat with a domestic cat.
00:17:51
Speaker
Problem number one. Oh, wait. Oh, wait would be very helpful in kind of imagining this. This clinic is turning her away and then tells her to bring it home and take it to pause in the morning, which I think is problem number two.
00:18:08
Speaker
This isn't our problem yet. Thoughts? they They told her to take it home? ah That's not okay. Okay. Also, it's kind of asking for a lawsuit, I feel, if that cat were to awaken and then attack her.
00:18:25
Speaker
yeah if that breaks bad, it could be it could be something. I don't think I'd risk that. I would i would figure it out. Let's continue. They don't give her a carrier. no They don't give her a box. No.
00:18:37
Speaker
They don't give her anything. They don't give her a clue. They just give her the bobcat back. Just raw? And she puts it in her car. Okay. Is it still is this still unconscious?
00:18:50
Speaker
Unknown. Oh, good. I don't know much about wildlife, but I would think Taking the bobcat out of the car and putting it back in without it being sedated and injured would not happen.
00:19:02
Speaker
So I'm going to assume, again, I'm assuming that it is still unconscious. Okay. So that we'll be able to move this body around. Okay. We're going operate under it's still unconscious. I'm a little upset at them for not trying to stabilize this beautiful creature.
00:19:17
Speaker
But safety first. And it sounds like they have a place where they know it should go instead. But, like, put it outside. If it wakes up, it's fine. If it stays asleep, call the people in the morning. It's not for that layperson to take home.
00:19:32
Speaker
Dr. M is clearly in a coma. It hasn't woken up for any of this. It's changed venues three times now. Well, maybe it went to a second location. Yeah, which you never do from crew driving. never do. This bobcat doesn't know what it's doing. Yeah. Rookie.
00:19:49
Speaker
So we continue. She drives home. and leaves it in her car, as she was told to do, uncontained. She goes into her house and goes to bed.
00:20:02
Speaker
What do you think happened? didn't get back in It'll pee and poop. It didn't get out, though. No, it didn't get out. It made it made it made everywhere. Um, I think I would cry and call animal control in the morning.
00:20:18
Speaker
In that order. Let's find out. Okay. She wakes up the next morning, and of course, there is a bobcat sitting in her front seat, just staring at her.
00:20:29
Speaker
It's still not quite well, but absolutely awake and alive. Now this woman is in the middle of a neighborhood. with this adult bobcat in her car.
00:20:42
Speaker
And so she calls the Department of Fish and Wildlife. She didn't cry, apparently. She might have a little. They wouldn't have told us, yeah. This is also, I think, prior to Dr. R being involved, so unreliable narrator, maybe?
00:20:57
Speaker
but Dr. R's a saint. She's not unreliable.
00:21:02
Speaker
I think Dr. R was given bad information by by the white woman. Quite. Quite quite. So helpful.
00:21:13
Speaker
um So she calls Department of Fish and Wildlife and whoever it was that answered her call tells her to just open her car door and let it go. No. In the middle of this neighborhood.
00:21:25
Speaker
No. And again, this is an adult bobcat. yeah Not healthy, but alert. But it's unhealthy. Well, it's not okay. There's still something wrong with it, for sure.
00:21:38
Speaker
What if it's rabid? Okay, it's not. Keep going. Could be, though. Could be. This is lawsuits all over the place. There have been a lot of failings along the way, yeah. I'd be contacting my lawyer. Too sweet. Okay, let's finish this note.
00:21:55
Speaker
Fortunately, the woman calls us, sends us a picture of the bobcat clearly in her car, So we tell her we're going to come help. Oh, God. Thank you. Hey, thank you. Thank you, Dr. The only appropriate response. Thanks for stepping up as the first one in this story other than the Good Samaritan.
00:22:14
Speaker
No offense, we weren't in the room when all these things happened. happened. i don't know you. You don't know me. Sorry, guys. Sorry to the OG people that helped. It didn't help. But it sounds bad from where we're sitting.
00:22:29
Speaker
So Dr. R says, i go down with one of my colleagues and our biologist. We drive down like 40 minutes and we have to sedate this cat in the car.
00:22:40
Speaker
I'm distracting it in one window and the other vet is using the opposite window to inject it with a pole syringe to sedate it. Kel, as a non-medical professional, how would distract a bobcat in a car? How do you distract a rubber car? Yeah, exactly. you were assigned that task, what would you do to distract that bobcat in that car?
00:23:04
Speaker
I have no idea. um My first thought. Don't think just Three, two, one. We need you. My thought was to just kind of like wave your arms around like you're trying to distract a toddler. That's one way. Make some peekaboo. I don't know.
00:23:24
Speaker
I usually go for a combination of clapping and shrill singing and then gyrating movements. Now, Kel, you know the difference between a domestic short hair and a bobcat, yes?
00:23:37
Speaker
Yes. and you But you do have a domestic short hair at home. Two of them. How would you distract that cat? A toy. Okay. But I don't know what a bobcat would play with. a dad You. It would play with you. Yeah. Your carcass. Yeah.
00:23:55
Speaker
A toy or your feet a treat. A yummy smelly treat. Yummy smelly treat. Great choice. We're bringing sea bones. Yeah, but I wouldn't want to open the window.
00:24:07
Speaker
just ah Just a smidgen. Okay, so someone's distracting on one side with... Dr. R is. Yeah, so Dr. R is wiggling their hands around like as though covered in steak, playing peek-a-bow as though ah distracting its odler.
00:24:25
Speaker
clapping and doing an Irish jig. Yeah, and the other vet is using pole syringe to sedate it. Okay, like a toddler.
00:24:34
Speaker
He went down and we did a little exam and some basic treatment in the back of our truck. He had a traumatic brain injury and an eye injury, but fortunately he made a full recovery and we were people yes we were able to get him healthy again and ended up releasing this cat back into the wild.
00:24:53
Speaker
Oh. It's amazing. Thank you, Dr. r Thank you, Dr. r Look at that. You're a rock star. We've got ah a problem, a weirdness, a little bit of medicine, and a positive outcome. That's incredible. Yeah, we love it I'd also thank you for doing the brief exam in your car and not this woman's car.
00:25:12
Speaker
Yeah. Have you ever had to do an exam inside of a car? have. It's not comfortable. No, it sucks. It might be better off because they needed to remove it from that vehicle anyway.
00:25:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And then some version of a truck probably. a Do you not have gurneys? We do. um I don't know. I don't know what's in their truck. They could.
00:25:36
Speaker
i don't know. When I worked at a vet clinic that had an ER, r so it was always like, got to go get the dog from the car, take the gurney with you. So I don't know. I guess I never saw anybody do that. You never saw anyone use a gurney the ER? r No, I never saw anybody treating a dog in a car.
00:25:52
Speaker
Gotcha. They always just pulled the gurney in. The tech would just be running with gurney in the parking lot. Yeah. um I did some real, like, during COVID, I did some real drive-through exams for um suspect kennel cough.
00:26:05
Speaker
That was like, hey, let's not even come inside. Like, I'm just going to come out. You're going to let your dog out the window. And we're going to hold the leash from inside our vehicle. We'll do the whole thing out here. And then you go back in. I'll bring your meds or no meds right back out to you.
00:26:21
Speaker
I mean, it's a beautiful day. is It was pretty streamlined. Drive-through veterinary practice. Mm-hmm. I'm here for it. Was some of that good and some of it like really annoying? Almost all of it was terrible.
00:26:34
Speaker
Oh, okay. You were just trying to be positive. I see. I see. I'm sorry. Yeah, that was, yeah, that was one where they got to be present. that That was one of the biggest parts. It was that when they couldn't be there, it wasted so much time.
00:26:47
Speaker
Yes. It takes so long much longer. and any clarification like, hey, doc, oh, by the way, can you check out that lump? What lump? Oh, it's on its side. What side? Yeah.
00:26:59
Speaker
And you know they're doing that stupid thing where they're like holding up their left thing. Yeah. Right. They've got a thumb and index finger with an L to the left. The opposite of that on the right, you're an antiomer. And they still don't know the answer. So you got to look at all of it. And it takes so much time.
00:27:15
Speaker
I see. and My favorite it is when I ask them to take a picture of a bump and I just get like a bizarro like. picture with them in the background looking disconcerted and and like ah just hair and just nothing and I'm like that's so close can we try spreading the hair? Shocking number of people doing selfies for those types of things. Or like it's out of focus and they're in focus. i't I don't know why they're always doing selfies.
00:27:40
Speaker
It's what's natural. It's what my body knows. I guess. We have another quick story from Dr. R. Yes please. Thank you Dr. Please thank you. And this is the one that was prompted by hearing another story from this Yes.
00:27:55
Speaker
Yes. Sick. Let her rip. Sick. So she says, this one's not mine. know. But the latest podcast made me think of it.
00:28:06
Speaker
I'll take it. A vet friend of mine told me this story. Wait, sorry. No. Okay. okay She worked in the ER and had a cat come in one time with very overgrown nails.
00:28:19
Speaker
It's so sad. it is so sad. i had one today. It was so sad The thought is, guys, nail maintenance is a part of pet care um for animal but for both dogs and cats. And if you can't do it yourself, please ask for help. But don't just not do it.
00:28:41
Speaker
Yeah. We get it It's scary. It doesn't always go great. It's stressful for them. You're anxious. It's gone poorly once before, maybe. You're scared they're going to get hurt. You're going to get hurt. You don't need to do it.
00:28:54
Speaker
Just, like, look. And if it ever, right, if you're ever approaching 180-degree loop, schedule something. We'll hook you up.
00:29:06
Speaker
yeah if it Yeah. If it curls all the way around and pokes in, that hurts. Yeah. That's what I had today. Double dewclaws curled all the way around and piercing into the paw. I know. Poor little Kit Kat.
00:29:18
Speaker
Do those cat toys that have like an emery board like in it, do those help at all? Totally. i love those things. Me too, because I feel like that's a good way to like at least get the front ones.
00:29:30
Speaker
Absolutely. And those grow faster. And yeah usually that's where your dupli is, which that one tends to be the one that goes the most 180 and directly into the the toe itself, I would argue. I'm sure it's possible, but I don't think I've ever seen a back paw curl into itself.
00:29:50
Speaker
Me neither, for whatever reason. Fun fact. so yeah, I think there's a handful of different brands um of those things. I don't know them off the dome, but I'm for it. feel like it's more new. There's some new ones, yeah. Like um a scratch board, a
Pet Care Challenges and Anecdotes
00:30:06
Speaker
scratch pad. Those have been around for a bit. You can like do yourself. Or the toy and an inside where the where they would hit the ball. It's got emery boards in Yep.
00:30:16
Speaker
Okay, so... To continue, ah they were grown into its paws. And so it was having quite a bit of trouble walking.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah. The nails were so bad the owner could hear it walking. Apparently this owner said that she took so long to bring the cat in because she didn't know its nails were the problem. Hmm.
00:30:40
Speaker
What do you guys think she thought the problem was? Old age? Arthritis? Yeah. You're way off. It had a rock in its shoe. You're way off. had a tumor on its toe.
00:30:53
Speaker
Anal gland issue. The foundation was settling. No, don't cut me off. I'm going to cut you off. Ghost. probably ghosts again. It's probably ghosts. She thought the cat just had fistfuls buttons on the ground.
00:31:06
Speaker
she thought the cat just had fist fulls of buttons And that's why it looked like that and why it was walking like that.
00:31:20
Speaker
Hey. Hey. No. Hey, no, she didn't. Somebody now, as a mandated reporter, I'm going to have to find out who's watching her back because there's something funky going on. No, she didn't think there were fistfuls of buttons. Yeah, that's idiots. The owner honestly believed her cat was holding fistfuls of buttons.
00:31:43
Speaker
but they never found But they never found a button, i have to imagine. He's hoarding those buttons like a champ. Nobody's getting these buttons. Day, night, I never stop.
00:31:55
Speaker
So here's the other thing. i have a question. Do you think that cat nails sound like buttons clink clanking all over the floor? Maybe they could. So she didn't think logically. She just thought, I've heard a button sound like that. It must be buttons. I've dropped a button.
00:32:14
Speaker
ah It reminds me of that weird like claymation where it was like the cat with hands. you remember that weird YouTube video that was like going around years ago? was like the cat was with human hands.
00:32:28
Speaker
I don't think I do remember that. I'm kind of glad I thought. Salad fingers? I remember salad fingers. Not salad fingers. I'll send it to you guys. He was a cool cat with some crazy hairs. lot We got a lot of homework this episode.
00:32:43
Speaker
I know a lot of cats. lot of cats on the internet, yeah. No, but like both stories, like women misunderstanding cat situations. Oh,
00:32:54
Speaker
But yeah, that's ah that's wild. um I don't know that I've ever experienced a pet having an issue with a button. You don't think they've swallowed a button though?
00:33:05
Speaker
Yeah, but that that's gonna pass, baby. I'm not worried about a swallowed button. What do you know a button's gonna pass, baby? and They're round. button's gonna pass? On a cat? Maybe not a cat, but- I've seen a cat come to start that on an almond. On an almond? On an almond? One single almond.
00:33:23
Speaker
That's just acid. That button's not going to pass. And don't be one. It's got holes, but no. ah You know what? I linked up cats with hands. Don't do it. I just got cutie patootie little cats with those fake little rubber hands. Did you did you spell it wrong? Because I'm getting horror. It's the cat with hands animated short film.
00:33:46
Speaker
dr this is This is dark labyrinth. It is a film. Like, love, death, and robots level disturbing. It reminds me of that mirror ah movie that you liked so much. Mirror Mask?
00:34:00
Speaker
Yeah. There's some Mirror Mask elements. Yeah. but yall i yeah like ah but and No, I've realized that I love surrealist art. It's my favorite kind of art. It's what I like.
00:34:17
Speaker
So yeah, I'm not surprised that I liked that. Whoa. with hands You never showed that to me before. i don't want to watch this before bed, but I'm not going to i'm not going to remember tomorrow. It's short film. Oh, it's because it's from 2001. You were a kid. I wouldn't have done that to you.
00:34:33
Speaker
Thank you. That's very kind. You are a ba-bae. Sweet little baboo. don't think it looks that bad. Catch my, I need something. I need to think about something else. what what what what Give me something else.
00:34:44
Speaker
Help me. Take out the. The. Yeah. and it Edit, edit. don't know. It still comes up weird. Nope, go to images, take out the, it's much better. that's so much better.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah. Hi, little guys. I do love it when people put those tiny little hands in front of their cat. Okay, I better now. They look like they're plotting to take over the world. They all do.
00:35:09
Speaker
One's doing heart signs. Okay. um This is a universal lesson. if you heat If it sounds like your pet is walking around with fistfuls of buttons, make the call. Schedule a visit yeah ah to your vet's office because we should probably check that out because if it is buttons, I want to see it. And if it's definitely not buttons, please let us trim their nails. Yeah, I'll go a step further to say, if you ever think your pet without opposable thumbs is holding stuff, I want to meet it.
00:35:37
Speaker
Right? And I'm probably going to find something wrong with it, because that don't happen. What about with cats with thumbs? Are those opposable or just for walks? I think... They could hold something for a moment, but they're not going to be walking around jangling buttons, coins, secrets. Okay, so you don't have any excuse not to get your cat checked out. He's holding anything. want to meet that cat. want to meet that cat. I want to meet that cat and congratulate it for its button collection, or...
00:36:06
Speaker
pull the nails out of its paw pads. Oh my gosh, sweet. Do you think the cat's trying to collect 365 buttons so that he can understand how time is passing not take it for granted? Dr. Em and I have the same TikTok algorithm because there's this girl who's like, I'm going to collect 365 buttons. So she was like, I'm gonna collect 365 buttons because I'm afraid that I'm not paying attention to how quickly time is passing and I just wanna be more aware of how limited time is so I make the most of it. And somebody was like, you have to explain that. What do you mean by just you're gonna have 365 buttons? Are you gonna count them every day? Are you gonna slowly add them to a jar? And she answered with, it actually doesn't have to make sense to anyone other than me for me to do it. That is powerful conviction.
00:36:55
Speaker
So take that in the 2026. It does not have to make sense to anyone but you. if I haven't explained myself to you. not even for a second. I don't have to explain. More follow questions. She's like, look, I haven't thought that deep about this. I'll figure it out. was go start collecting. Start today. Count your own buttons. Don't let your cat do it.
00:37:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I also would make an argument that um pets often do not wear friendship bracelets. So if you see one on a pet's arm, please check to see if a child left it there. Oh, no. We had one of those over the weekend of kids playing around, put ah put a friendship bracelet, tight little friendship bracelet on the dog's arm, and they didn't notice it for a day or so. and so Doing okay to now, but that's another one. They don't wear bracelets, and they don't collect butts. Get it checked out. Aww.
00:37:43
Speaker
Leave their paws alone. Oh my gosh. Well, unless you cut their nails, then you can touch them. Yeah, it's her. We did it. We did it, and... yeah we Hey, you know what?
00:37:57
Speaker
We just spilled the kibble. And it's giving fish and wildlife. Tilapia. Fresh fish. Thank you so much for listening.
00:38:10
Speaker
Please note that this podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Any medical advice heard on this show should be discussed with your animals care team. And a special thank you to our story submitters.
00:38:23
Speaker
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