Radio 2SM Breakfast Segment #20 with Kaye Browne

VET Talk Radio Podcasts

*** RADIO 2SM PET SEGMENT #20 WITH KAYE BROWNE ***
This week:
Finally – we can rest in peace WITH our much-loved pets! New laws in NSW mean it’s now legal to share our grave with our pet’s ashes.
And what puts a smile on lots of dogs’ faces? Rolling in poo! But why do dogs do it? And how to – hopefully – stop it!
PLUS:
Cats – so many secrets – and the biggest one – how they hide getting older. How to help ease their pains and enjoy senior status.
Also this week!
KB’s quick tip to help families train dogs NOT to over-react to knocks at the door.
00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson and Kaye Browne
00'09" - RIP With Our Pets
02'09" - Why Do Dogs Roll In Poo & How To Stop Them!
04'42" - Senior Cats - What Are They Hiding Health-Wise?
06'39" - KB'S 'Quick-Tips' - Stopping Dogs Barking At The Door!
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold Kaye, good morning.
KAYE: Good morning, Ronnie.
RON: Look, I know people who will actually want to do this. Finally, we can actually rest in peace with our much loved pets, New laws in NSW mean it is now legal to put your pets’ ashes in with your own. This is quite amazing for a lot of people.
KAYE: It is indeed. It has been a long time coming. There's been a lot of people actively pushing for this because let's face it, pets are now so much a part of our lives and the thought that people can now go to where their pet and their loved family member are either buried together or their ashes are mixed together and it's really, just part of the grieving process that people are allowed to do that so this has only just happened.
I've got a call, a contact from Dr Sam Kovac, who's one of the many vets that I'm lucky enough to know from Southern Cross Veterinary clinic. And he said, he's known for years that people have been sneaking ashes into coffins just because they want their much loved pet to actually rest in peace with their much loved mother or father, human, mother or father. But now it means it's legal and that makes it much easier for cemeteries and crematoria because there are a lot of people that that really want to have this happen.
And Sam actually mentioned that it's a particularly important thing for the homeless, who often don't have much, you know, certainty in their lives, and their pet is their only solid point of contact. Their reason for being, really, and he has a charity called Project Hope, which provides free medical treatments and checks and vaccinations.
And that's for people who are homeless and also for victims of domestic violence. So that's a pretty important charity. But they are going to be absolutely delighted as well, because it means that people don't have to fear being put in the ground and never having their pet join them ever, or their ashes of the pet or their remains so it can take a little bit of working out, but it's happening.
RON: Yeah, such an interesting development. Now I have a question for you. Why do dogs roll in poo their own? And there's another dog anybody. Is it kind of like Cologne for dogs or something? How, how do you, how do you stop them doing that?
KAYE: Au de poo fume!
RON: Au de poo fume. I love it.
KAYE: Yes, you know, experts have long pondered this particular thing, and I've actually pondered it myself on occasion when there's been a pong. As I looked up a bit of information as well. You know a dogs idea of a good smells different to ours. They like the smell of poo. They also like the smell of dead things. I have dogs that unfortunately rolled in a dead fish.
Ohh no. Yeah, that was nice coming home in the car. But yeah, they like dead things, they think the experts think it's covering up the dogs own smell or that they're bringing home proof of where they've been. A bit like a selfie or a postcard to tell the pack hey, guess what I smelt today? So it's pretty social media really, but, it is a bit tricky to stop them now if they're on-lead that's a bit easier, but if they're off-lead oh oh not good so you will get some hint that they're about to roll in too.
So I guess like a lot of things start early and train your dog to leave it, that's a good thing to train. And then if they don't touch or sniff or roll and the thing that they're being told to leave as they obey you they get a treat. So practise on something that's, you know, not too nasty to start off with and practise it and you know pretty soon dogs are smart.
They go hey, if I leave whatever that interesting thing is I actually get a treat and the other quick thing to remember is, in your own backyard, pick up the dogs poo every day.
RON: Exactly!
KAYE: If you spot a dead bird or a dead rodent, you know, pick that up as well, and after a bath, try and dry your pet off well so that they're not tempted to roll in anything something to dry themselves off. It's tempting for them to do that. We've all seen dogs wriggle on their back. Does your Bailey do that?.
RON: Yeah. Yes. I've gotta say, well at this time of year her hair or fur to be a little bit longer and that of course makes this whole problem a lot worse.
KAYE: It does indeed. Well, you know, gotta get the blow dryer out. Blow dry the hair instead of just doing your own gorgeous slot.
RON: You can only watch the dog a couple of times a day, you know. All right, now we were talking back there earlier about having your pet ashes interred with your own, which begs the question is, well, when we come to cats, I mean cats, they do the ageing process very well. They kind of hide getting older, but I'm assuming they need as much help as any other pet.
KAYE: They certainly do, and in fact, they're pretty darn sneaky at hiding things. You know, in the eyes and you see them slowly blinking, which means they really like you by the way you know, they will just quietly go about their business and perhaps you know little problems sneak up on you. So looking at cats, they can be considered a senior around about 10 or 11 years of age, which is when you need to take extra care to keep an eye on them to see what kind of physical or behavioural changes are happening.
For example is their weight changing?. Umm, you know getting are they getting fatter or thinner, are they having trouble jumping up or having problems eating whereas they used to gobble their food down. Are they having vision issues, especially at night time or hearing problems, and are they sleeping more or not grooming themselves? That's a real tell-tale sign. And are they getting a little bit confused, or perhaps going wandering and you know, sort of meowing when they never used to do that because cats get CCD, which is the equivalent of dementia in humans.
There's lots of little things that can be happening inside your cat, and really the only way to tell that is to make sure that you have a really good relationship with your vet. Because they are experts at detecting all these things that you know, if they're detected early like dental disease, arthritis, kidney issues, diabetes. You know, there's a lot that they can do to come up with a treatment plan with you to help your senior your cat live into his or her old age comfortably rather than in pain.
RON: Such a good idea look KB's a quick-tips, I think this is a really good idea. We're gonna start doing this. What's the tip for families whose dogs you know, if somebody knocks at the door, the dog goes absolutely ballistic. In fact, I know Jesse's dog actually almost rips the front door down. But how do you stop them doing that? Or what do you do to deal with sort of thing?
KAYE: This is a good one so you know that you well, perhaps you've scheduled a delivery, or perhaps you've got a friend coming over at a particular time, but your dog doesn't know that. So what happens when they get to the door? You get. WOOF WOOF WOOF!!! They go off, right? It's like Jessie's dog.
RON: Yeah.
KAYE: That’s like Jessies dog, not Bailey, though. Bailey's perfect. OK, what we need to do when they go off, WOO-WOO put them in place. You've been trained to go to their place or go to their crate and sit there and then calmly say to your visitor. Come inside. Don't look at the dog. Don't pat them. Don't have eye contact.
Just sit down and when they're calm, let them out of the crate or you know, let them off the place. And then when they come over and perhaps sniff you looking for attention, then you can gently pat them on the back or under the chin. And then stop.
And then the dog goes well. It's not such a scary monster after all, so they start nudging you for more attention, and it makes the dog think they're in charge. And this person that was at the door that they thought was scary was in fact, a potential source of really nice things like pats.
RON: Hmm. Alright. Well that, that that breaks down the issue to some degree of stopping the dog going crazy at the door, I think that will be a bit of good advice for just about everybody with the dog, quite frankly. Alright, Kaye. Thank you again for this week. Love your work and we'll talk to you again next week. Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold with our weekly pet segment.