359: Pet Behavior and Honing Your Pet First Aid Skills with Arden Moore
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What does it mean to understand animal behavior? As pet care professionals, we need to make sure we are communicating well to our clients and are prepared for emergencies. Arden Moore, author and radio host, joins the show to discuss confounding behaviors for both dogs and cats. She also dives into how to make sure we have a great first aid kit and how emergency preparedness is all a mental game. Arden gives her best tips for pilling cats and discusses the importance of being a poop-ologist.
Main topics:
Confounding behaviors
Mental game of preparedness
Misconceptions of first aid
Pilling Cats
Main takeaway: We can’t prepare for everything, but attention to detail, and the right resources, will set you up for success.
About our guest:
Arden grew up in a Brady Bunch-like family in a town called Crown Point located near Chicago in Northwest Indiana.
During her first year in high school, she cajoled the editor of the local weekly newspaper into hiring her to be a sports writer. As a corn-fed Hoosier, she valued her Midwest roots, but knew she needed to experience other places. Her insatiable curiosity led to spending the next 20 years chasing stories as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers in Indiana and Florida. This is where Arden honed her amazing interviewing and writing skills!
From there, she entered the publishing world at the family-owned Rodale Press. At Rodale, her “day job” was senior health writer for the book division, but she also moonlighted as a writer for their new magazine called Pets: Part of the Family.
That is where Arden realized that she could tap her love of writing and interviewing to help people become healthier, and to tout the power of her other lifelong passion, pets. Pets and people — that’s what Arden is all about.
Fast forward to today, and Arden has done just that, in her trademark edu-taining style. Today, Arden happily shares her home in Dallas with her wife, Julie, and their furry Brady Bunch of three cats, three dogs and an overworked vacuum cleaner.
Links:
Previously: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/240
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ardenmoore352
Dr. Justine Lee - https://drjustinelee.com
Cat Behavior: https://amzn.to/3POdgGq
Dog Behavior: https://amzn.to/3HYc5Ck
https://www.fearfreehappyhomes.com
The Lion in Your Living Room: https://amzn.to/3vb32qc
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
cat, dog, pet, vet, people, pet sitter, treats, client, bleeding, big, called, towel, gift, colin, poop, veterinarian, pet first aid, paw, tip, behavior
SPEAKERS
Collin, Arden Moore
Collin 00:00
Welcome to pet sitter confessional an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by tiger to pet and pet perennials. Why is animal behavior it's so hard to understand, or is it? And how do we make sure we are most prepared for the emergencies when we need to use PET first aid, and CPR. Today, we are super excited to have Arden more podcaster, radio host author and educator extraordinaire. Back on the show to dive into all things behavior and pet first aid and CPR from whether you should use Neosporin or how to kill a cat properly. Arden shares her best tips for taking care of those situations and why we should be paying attention more to the environment of the animals that we're caring for. Let's get started.
Arden Moore 00:49
Well, I wear a lot of collars in the pet world and my last name says it all more. But I am so happy to be on your show. Colin pets are the best for 20 years. Believe it or not. I was an investigative newspaper reporter when they were covering Real News. And then I went to the publishing world and wrote for Prevention Magazine and men's health. And I'm really dating myself now add another 20. And I love being in the pet world. I've been in the pet world since around 2000. And in many aspects from writing for Catster and dogster magazine to hosting that one but two shows I have the longest running pet podcasts on the planet. Just kind of pop those peas. It's called Oh behave and it's on pet life radio been on the air since 2007 with half a million listeners. And then in 2022 I got invited by talk radio to start a nationally syndicated pet radio weekly show called Art and mores four legged live show and it streams and it's also on YouTube just go to art and more YouTube channel. And then I've written over 27 pet books. And as you've mentioned, my big passion is saving pet lives and helping people do it. I'm a master instructor in pet first aid and CPR with Pet Pet first aid for you. And I'm also the Director of Education for a two day instructor training program with pro pet Harrell is the show over now I just did my whole bio.
Collin 02:24
Yep. And thanks for listening to us today. No.
Arden Moore 02:28
And I'm the proud pet parent to a free Brady Bunch that includes a paradox, Kona and Emma. And for cats, Casey, Rusty Mikey and Baxter.
Collin 02:40
And today we're going to be talking with you about animal behavior. Because you've recently have some new books that have come out around that topic. And it is one that many of us think we know, behavior, or maybe we have no experience. You know, I've recognized that as Megan and I have hired people into our company. There's a lot of ground that we have to cover with people who are pet parents but interested in doing more. And so yeah, and the fact that most of us started a pet care business without any experience or knowledge, we just love pets or we have a knack for it. Now all of a sudden, we've got to start learning the other things that go around this so that we're conducting safe good visits for the pets. So as far as the animal behavior goes, Arden just just that topic, I guess, but like many people are confused by it, because they don't quite get it. Where do you think that comes from?
Arden Moore 03:33
Well put yourself in the paws of your dog or your cat or as a pet sitter, you know you're going into a client's home. This is a this is a sentient being that has to be multilingual. They need to speak dog. If there's another if there's a cat, they need to understand cat, they need to do body language they need to speak English maybe you're speaking Spanish to I mean, you think about it, there is a lot required of a four or three Legger and it's communication and it's two way communication. So I love those T shirts where they say sits it sits it sits it and then in the mind in the bubble of the dog's brain is I'm going to wait till they say sit 17 times before I do it. So I think part of it is we don't realize that when it comes to communicating the clearest and best communicator is our the dogs and the cats and that really is because we cause canine confusion we cause feline frustration because we don't realize it's a two way conversation.
Collin 04:40
We don't and then we get caught up and many times we're bringing in a rushed Schedule A busy day other frustrations. We were trying to frantically go through things and we rush and I feel like a lot of times that this last and communication just happens from from our standpoint and I love how you started that conversation or that explanation with the the pets point of view and And really we need to take that step back and and recognize where they're where they're coming from. And
Arden Moore 05:08
that's, I mean, you guys as pet sitters are walking in, and you don't know if you're gonna get a sweet dog, or a Cujo, and a crate, or a cat that purrs, you know, like a Mack truck, or a cat that wants to shred you. And they smell our emotional state, their senses are so much better than us. That it is really important what you say, how you say it, and how you approach and and for your safety and for upping the communication of the cat and dog. So when I made a dog or cat for the first time, I never been down and put my face in their face and talk baby talk. Because especially dogs who are all about rank, I just became a buck private, in their mind. And for the cat, they're like, really, you don't know anything about cats I approach first. So I'm always pretty quiet, and let them have time to download. And taking a deep breath in for four seconds and letting it out for four seconds. I know it sounds like namaste and all that. But this is something I learned from first responders, it actually puts you in a calmer state, which makes you actually more welcoming to that dog or cat meeting you for the first time
Collin 06:26
and more present to be reading that body language to be paying attention. And I know that can be kind of off putting to some people, especially when you're meeting them for the first time with the pet parents there we want to we want to we want to appear warm and welcoming and gooey gooey down in their face petting them. But it's a great educational opportunity, I think to the pet parents.
Arden Moore 06:47
It is and it's and it is to do it in a non preachy way. But in a more, hey, we're in this together, you're handing over the reins of your most priceless asset to me, your dog, or your coolest asset your cat while you're working or going on vacation. And I want you to know I'm competent, I'm calm. And I'm going to be there for that pet. And I personally would rather have a person with your calmness, being a meet and greet than someone gushing over my dog or cat and forgetting to talk to the person forgetting to look around and forgetting to read the signals that that dog or cat is giving. So I think this is really a really important tip we can give all our professional pet sitters out there.
Collin 07:33
So when it comes to some specific dog behaviors that can be kind of confusing to people. Where do you where would you start?
Arden Moore 07:42
Let's go to the crotch crotch for 200 Please. Seriously, you know, a dog sticks their nose in your crotch and you're like, offended. And the dog is not meant to offend the dog is downloading you that nose is telling that dog? Have you been spayed or neutered? Don't worry, Colin, I'm not asking you. What did you have for breakfast? How healthy are you right now? What's your emotional state? And think about those superpowers that the nose of a dog or a cat has? Can you imagine if we had those superpowers? In electing officials, I don't care if you're red, green plaid, blue, whatever. No one could bluff. Yeah, and we'd get the straight skinny. But a dog is doing what a dog has been downloaded to do, which is to sniff the rear to see Friend or foe. And so we need to re channel that. So you know, in my book, The dog behavior answer book, we actually give some tips on how to make a proper introduction that works for both the dog and the person. And and so I'm just, you know, that's just one tip. I don't know if that helps you out?
Collin 08:57
Well, that's okay. Because again, we're doing this introduction in the context of being in people's homes. I've had this happen and the owner just freaks out. They're super apologetic, they're pulling the dog away and all of a sudden it's a bit frantic. And, again, we need to be in this mindset of, of, of educating opportunities and talking to
Arden Moore 09:14
owners. Yeah, redirect as say before the meet and greet, hey, a pet parent have like a few little pieces of one bite and swallow treats that your dog really likes. And so when I walk in the door and he goes from my crotch, why don't you redirect Kona and toss a treat away from you, Colin, and say, go get it. And then do another treat where he has to sit and get the treat. And then maybe teach them to shake a paw. So the dog is still getting to greet you. But now there's a payoff. And it's it's a treat. And there's less, you know, craziness, chaos
Collin 09:54
in that chaos because I know trying to manage these first meetings even second and subsequent meeting
Arden Moore 10:00
Your first impressions made a lot. And I think it's always good in a meet and greet. I'm the editor of the naps, Pezzini magazine. So I get the opportunity to talk with people like you professionally trained pet sitters all the time, and be able to share what they're saying. You know, I think there's a pre meet and greet, where you might have a quick call. I know Scott Black is former Pet Sitter of the year for pet sitter International. And he said, I have a nice conversation. I'm old school, and I have a conversation with that person. So when I walk in the door, we know what to expect. Yeah. And I think just taking that little time might be good for both the pet sitter and the pet parent, and especially the pet.
Collin 10:42
Yeah. Because again, you're managing a lot going on, you're trying to take in new information you're trying to write down, you're trying to see if this is going to be a good fit, while also handling a proper introduction to the dog and trying to understand what the client is doing. There's a lot of chaos. And if you without a plan, it just kind of you could walk out of these. I've certainly done that on days and gone. Really Holy moly. What just happened?
Arden Moore 11:07
Yes. Yeah. And everybody's home is different. You know, there's, there's people that are real, neat freaks. And there's people that you know, like to collect things. Yeah. And, you know, I watch the pet, I'm watching the pets vibes. And that tells me a lot. So I think you we use, you know, I jokingly have this cup that says, WAG more bark less. Well, I think what it means is we need to use our ears as much as we use our mouth. And pay attention with your eyes. Look, Listen, you know, and get some vibes, because that makes it a success for everything. I think what you all do, I mean, you're in the trenches. Being a professional pet sitter is a tough job. And I have total respect. And you're walking in a stranger's home. And you don't know how the pet is going to greet you when they're not there.
Collin 12:06
Yeah, and especially it could be again, we keep coming back to the first time, second time, third time, they're all going to be different. You don't know what happened in that home while you were away. The trash truck drove by the dogs are barking or neighbors were out doing something, you know, cleaning the driveway or whatever. And that's now triggered the dog. So kind of that what's that saying? You ever stepped in the same river twice? Sometimes you never, you never meet the same door, the same dog
Arden Moore 12:29
poop twice.
Collin 12:32
You mentioned ears of what are some things that we should be listening for?
Arden Moore 12:36
Thank you. Because maybe there's a ceiling fan that's making a screeching noise. Or maybe there is an like we feed community cats outside our home on a porch. And maybe the dog heard the cat at the food bowl, and wants to know what's going on. Or maybe there's one of the many you an Amazon or chewy.com delivery people coming up the steps. All of these are alerts to the ears of the dog and it causes a distraction. And so I'm trying to have dog ears I'm trying to in a meet and greet not only listen to the words of the client, but pay attention to the verbal cues that the dog or cat is, is is paying attention to so it's a big task, but it has a payoff, you know.
Collin 13:27
Yeah, and we're listening to the environmental sounds because a lot of pet owners will leave a fan on that that for for quote unquote, white noise for their pets. Well, if there's a screeching or clicking or clanking, I wouldn't want to be in a home for 24 hours a day listening to that.
Arden Moore 13:41
Now we do HDTV, because it's a conversational thing when we go out to dinner or something, because I don't want some loud screaming, you know, walking dead thing or rock star. So I try to mimic what is normally heard in our household was this conversation. And I think you made a good point. So the dog's ears and the cat's ears they hear so much better than us. And they they can't turn it off. So can you imagine you've been in a situation with no thumbs and you can't turn off the ceiling fan that squeaking that would drive me crazy.
Collin 14:16
You walk us through the confounding behavior for dogs. Cats can be a whole other enigma for many people. Because I think it's mostly because a lot of us don't have a lot of experience with them. Cat care is only now really becoming increasingly popular finally. And so there's a great opportunity there. But we're gonna be staring at a cat going. What, what? Ha.
Arden Moore 14:43
Well, I think is it this is a good time to be a cat. And I say that because there are more and more attention studies and behaviors being focused on the feline. The feline compared to the dog, they haven't really changed the DNA much. There's a book years ago called The Lion in your living room. And Colin, we do have a lion in our living room, we have not tweaked the genes of the DNA of a cat as much as we've done to domesticate the dog. So they are hunters. And they are always wary of being hunted. And the other thing is, they're not pleasers, they're negotiators. They're also really good at observing, and our behavior, you swear they have invisible watches on because when it is 458, and you're supposed to feed them at five o'clock, you almost see the wristwatch come out, and they're now now and they're leading you into the kitchen. They're very smart. But they also have feelings. They also need enrichment. And there are groups out there. I mean, can you imagine Colin, that one of the fastest growing things happening in the world of cats is adventure cats. Emily hall with kitty cat go is just turning the world on its axis. Because people are hiking, camping and doing things with their cats now in backpacks and other things and leashes, and there are cats that serve. And I have a cat that's a therapy cat. Casey's also a first aid cat. They want jobs like dogs do. Social media, cats and sinks. Oh my gosh, you just go to Instagram and see it. But there's cat cons. There's people out there like trap King Sterling Davis, and Nathan, the cat lady. There's cat dating apps. I'm not dating a cat, but people who have cats. But what I'm saying is there are cat only pet first aid, pet sitting practices. And I just think we are just realizing, people go to Cat vets.com. And they're gonna get a ton of veterinary backed information on cats, and fear free happy homes for both cats and dogs. So those are two good sites that I would highly recommend. But it is good to be a cat and the cat behavior answer book that I just wrote. It's in a q&a format. I mean, we do everything from Why does my cat insist on following me into the bathroom? We know that happens. And two, why do some cats purr and some rarely purr. And you know, there's all these things, quirky things to us, but to the cat, it's perfectly normal feline behavior. So I don't know I'm very glad to write both of these in the dog one, two, because I am both a student and a teacher. And I'm always learning from the very best in vetinary behavior, est and things like that with the Vanna White initials after their name. But my role is to give out good science backed information that helps the cat the dog and the human.
Collin 18:07
Right well, sometimes we've got to kind of like think of it as putting on our dog hat and our cat hat as we're going to interact because we need to remove some of our biases when we're from okay, my dog versus my cat. And again, obviously there's variation between these but going okay, I may need to interpret some things a little bit differently walking into this house with a cat I just came from seven dog visits I'm doing a cat visit now. I can't come in
Arden Moore 18:32
acting dog but I know you've been to seven dogs. So that's it. That's the other thing too
Collin 18:37
of recognizing that what we're bringing into their environment and how that impacts them.
Arden Moore 18:42
One of the best things because cats are all knows oriented. Is I also often recommend to the pet sitter asked the pet parent to have like a bath towel with the cats maybe a little the cat's hair on it designated not the towel that's been used to to dry off the dog or anything just the cat and have it ready because of the cat freaks out when you have to give medicine for example, in a client's home. There's different ways to do a towel wrapping we call it being a purrito but it has the cat's scent already on it so it is easy to grab. And I would do it just practice you know when you're there when they don't need medicine so they're downloading predictability and it's like a security blanket. And and just don't bring in a towel from another client's cat's house because that will happen. So the scent is really important obviously there's feel away those artificial pheromones and DAP for dogs adaptable, some work some don't. But just realize with the cat it's about the nose and they smell safety they feel safe. Have you
Collin 19:53
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Collin 20:17
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Arden Moore 21:03
Yeah. And I always tell people, the best place to give any pet in a multi pet household is in the bathroom, you have a confined space, it's cozy, you can hear a pill if it gets spit out on the floor. And you don't have to worry about the other pets grabbing it. Or the cat getting strategically under the king sized bed under the middle just under just beyond your finger reach they go to school for that, I swear. But if you get the bathroom set up with success with yummy things in, you know, they make those those pouches like churros of the liscio. So I don't know the brands, but a lot of pet sitters. Now, if it's safe to do so are crushing the little pill in a churro. And letting the kitty cat lick it off the off the counter, and they think they're getting a yummy. And it's an easy med administration. Yeah. And so having everything ready in the bathroom with treats and a towel, and then giving the medicine they're in a calm manner, makes your job far less taxing and builds the bond because now the cats like looking at you like you're the churro champion. And let's go get some treats from you know, Uncle Colin,
Collin 22:15
yeah, which we want that relationship. And that does take some communication ahead of time with some clients. And, you know, that's one of the reasons why we encourage our clients and encourage everybody to work with their clients to get to that point where it's not a new thing, or it's not an adverse kind of thing. Because what happens, we have a client who the only time the cat ever sees the towel come out is when it's getting its medication, there's nothing there's no interaction. But so this is the first cat that I've ever had, that we were doing this visit and they didn't tell us about this ahead of time. They said, Oh, we do the kitty burrito. We do that a lot. It's like okay, this cat was would go to a for almost a five on the fear scale when we went and brought the towel out. As soon as I touched the towel, that cat was underneath falling I mean just hit petrified of us because we touch the towel. And so those visits look very different. And now we're saying okay, hey, like this wasn't fun for us or the cat. More importantly, the cat. So here's, you know, you need to be doing this a little bit differently ahead of time. Here's try these different treats. We need to be making this a nice adventure for the cat and not a terrifying thing for them. Yeah, you
Arden Moore 23:26
could take that towel, Colin and put a little few pieces of kibble on the on the couch and be sitting away from it, let the cat come up on his own and get it in drop. And then you can put some little catnip run the towel around the floor, and just kind of improve the opportunity of that towels offerings. But yeah, I see how predictability and how good they are observing behavior. They have already connected the dots. Exactly. So yeah. And part of it, I, you guys have a tough job, because you have to diplomatically talk to humans, about why they're being dumber than that shit to their. Well, did I say that? No, but you know what I'm saying I know we all have good intentions. And it is very, you have to be very diplomatic as a professional pet sitter. But you also are there to help the pet feel safe at home, and also to have the peace of mind for the person leaving. And I salute you because that is quite a challenge.
Collin 24:34
And that does take that does take preparation. And I think one of the things that we need to be prepared for things like having a good it's not just conversations being equipped with knowledge but just the tools and things that we involve in our in our business. One of those is like a good first aid kit. So I know there's bunch of different options and things out there you can buy 10,000 Different varieties on Amazon and whatever. When you sit down and you look at supply So what are things that we need to have in a first aid kit going? Well, I
Arden Moore 25:04
think first of all, you should have a kit always in the car. And you should always have a kit at home. And I've got a kit in my pet for stay for you classes I really like because it's contains ingredients for people, dogs and cats. And it's waterproof. So to me, it's answering all that. But there are some things in a first aid kit that are big, no no's for dogs and cats. And one of them is the hand sanitizer. You know, during COVID, we're all getting the COVID germs off of us. But the skin on a dog in a cat is different than a person and you're actually causing dizziness, respiratory issues, cracks in the skin, and damage to the mucous membranes, just a warm washcloth, would a warm wet washcloth cleans a paw. Second, everybody in my classes take the hydrogen peroxide pledge. Can we raise our right paw? And we promise never to give to clean a wound using hydrogen peroxide on a cat or a dog? We think that bubbling action is awesome. It's killing the bad boys. Oh, no, no, no, no, we are actually destroying healthy tissue around the wound. So we're making it more open to infection. And think about it, Colin, this of all the organs if you're on Jeopardy, and you get asked this question, name the largest organ and a cat's body or dog the answer is what is the skin. So if the skin is getting pelted, you're you're also affecting the respiratory, their circulatory, their heart, their lungs, their livers. So good old plain old water to clean a wound. And to learn how to take a first day class and bandage a wound, monitor signs of shock fading gums, and calling ahead calling ahead on your phone to the Veterinary Clinic. These are great ways to increase the survivability of that dog or that cat. And so I just I hope that all the ER veterinarians that I'm so fortunate to be mentored by, they are like an a kick, please. The the only use of hydrogen peroxide on a dog or a cat and why it's in a kit is to induce vomiting when you definitely no, they got in and swallowed attacks and like maybe your pain meds. And the dog or cat is not vomiting and you're a distance from a vet clinic. And there's a lot of things that can happen when you got a toxin in your body. So you do need to have a vet on call like the poison control hotline, or your telehealth or a vet. But we show in our classes, the only safe way to give hydrogen peroxide and that's big to his little his little tooth pocket. In the syringe. So we're very scientific in our classes, but that was a good one. But obviously rolled gauze and you know, things that are safe for pets. We think we want to put burn cream on a dog or a cat. No, no, no. Unfortunately, that also is wrong because we will pick probably the wrong cream made for people not pets. And second, every EMT and paramedic I teach in my instructor training program will tell you, we have to scrape all that you just did and start over. So you're making the skin more open for infection. So cool water and a loose bandage. Monitor for shock is what the protocol is for us to get a pet with a burn to the vet.
Collin 28:41
Now I also see a lot of discussion around things like antibiotic ointments. Yeah, having those on hand. Is that Is that something we should have? Or are there special varieties? It doesn't matter? Yeah,
Arden Moore 28:51
you gotta read there's different label, there's different ingredients even in Neil scoring, you know, and there is a little controversy on that. There are some that a pet can tolerate. But some pets just like us have some allergies. So I'm more cautious. So I don't really reach for the Neil, when my pet has a cut or a wound, I use water and rents and, and Dual Advantage. And I so talk with your veterinarian, you know, look at the poison control hotline. You know, there is an association of critical care and emergency veterinarians get good information. Like to give you an example. I had, I'm going to ask you this is is our avocados toxic or not to dogs? Helen? Don't worry, it's okay. We're friendly.
Collin 29:47
Yeah, I know a lot of people. It's Yes, I would say yes, it
Arden Moore 29:51
is. Okay. So I I grew up as a newspaper reporter where if your mother told you she loved you, you say my editor told me check it out. So Alright, so I'm getting information from one veterinarian say toxic, another no just makes their stomach upset a little bit. So finally, finally, I reached the one expert that should know. And her name is Dr. Justine Lee. She is the only person in the United States of veterinarians who is board certified in critical care and emergency medicine. Wow, that hurts my brain. But she's also board certified in toxicology. And she has a great podcast called, er vet on pet life radio. So I asked her and she goes, I'm so glad you asked me because I'm tired of my colleagues tell him people misinformation? Here's the answer. Drumroll. Avocados are not toxic to dogs. However, some can have digestive upset. But the biggest danger is that slimy pit. So one tip that we included in the dog behavior answer book is this, if you have a dog, or a client's dog that loves to play fetch, or is a counter surfer in the kitchen, you better make sure that that pit is in a garbage can out of paws reach, because it can do a perfect slimy seal against the airway. And it's very difficult to try to dislodge. So in our classes, we actually show a method Dr. Lee show me on how to pop under the jaw line to break that seal to grab the avocado pit. But the bigger tip is this, if you have a client who has a dog that loves to play ball and fetch, make sure always the ball is bigger than their mouth. Because then there's less risk of it sealing the airway. So for the big ol labs that love it, you got to get a giant, a giant ball. And so that's a good safety tip that can prevent a trip to the ER.
Collin 31:49
And I think part of that is recognizing what our role is in that situation for dealing with the injury and what context we're in if maybe if we are doing big long adventure hikes where we're hiking to the mountain for six hours, and we're removed from everything, we need to be prepared for a little bit more intensive care out there versus if I have a minor scrape and a bruise and I'm three minutes from their vet. Right and going okay, how what am I doing in this situation? What's my role? How accessible do I have to other information, other help if I need it? And knowing that that's there's also the situation and context that we're dealing in as well?
Arden Moore 32:28
Yeah, so I have a whole program in my pet first aid for you where we incorporate how to be a mutt Guyver. What do you do when you don't have a first aid kit, the vet is far away, and you're out a distance. So you know, there's things what we're wearing and things around us that we can use to render aid on the scene and to stabilize and transport an injured dog or cat from the drawstrings of your hoodie, to making a water bowl out of a spare poop bag to using a little Aloe snapping from a tree to treat a minor bleed. There's there's a lot of things that we have that we have at our disposal that we don't realize, I mean, the silly thing like an Ikea bag that you get that was blue bags, I keep one in my car, I encourage all pet sitters to do the same cut along the side, leave the sides with the handles on it, roll it up and you have a makeshift Gurney that does not cause any friction across a rug or a carpet. Should you have to get a big dog out of the living room and into your car. And it cost $1
Collin 33:37
even even better, but things like that, again, recognizing what we're required to do. I know one thing that happens quite a bit, unfortunately are injuries to like the paws the pads, the toenails. What's what's a tip that you could give us we're out walking a dog we break a dog breaks the toenail slices pad on some broken glass. That was clear we didn't catch on the ground. What are we? Where are we going with them?
Arden Moore 34:01
Yeah, and those things bleed. And in our class I teach in bleeding about the gap. The G stands for gravity. A stands for artery and P stands for pressure. So any dog that has ripped a nail out or are caught a pad really badly and it's bleeding, they need to have that paw above the heart. Well, that means the dog isn't limping home if there's a lot of blood loss, because on a major bleed, like in our Terrier, and arteries infected oh my gosh count, they can die from bleeding out in five to seven minutes. So a big bleed the PA has to be above the heart. You need to put a little pressure on the artery that's between the heart and the injury and we teach that in our classes and you have to put pressure on that wound. Now I don't think you have a bar of soap handy but if you did, or styptic powder, you can put that on the nail to kind of help slow it down the bleeding. If you have a spare sack you know we always wash our whites x and one lands in the dryer word. The other goldsack, Kevin, I don't know. But I keep my sock orphans in my car. And I take them with me. So it could take that with a little shoelace or spare poop bag. And you can put a little wrap with the sock over the paw on the way, you know, to help with the pressure. So there's things that you can do. But always remember, gravity can be a friend and gravity can be a curse. So any kind of bleeding always have the injury above the heart. So leg injuries, paw injuries. Oh my gosh, we had this lab come in. Once I get mentored by Dr. Michael Sasso in Frisco, he's an ER and Critical Care vet. And the guy brought in a lab in his arms, who had yanked his nails out and he was spurting blood all over the lobby hitting people walls heads. And the thing is, Dr. Mike said, if you have a really bad injury, call ahead, please. So we know you're coming. And he goes, I would have let him in the back door. So he wouldn't have traumatized the entire lobby, that dogs bleed took that professional team 40 minutes to finally completely stopped bleeding. And they had to use silver nitrate. So some things are really bad. But your role in first aid is to stabilize render aid and get to the vet. So and always communicate to the vet. So don't ever underestimate a PA a nail or a leg blade because they can really cause a lot of blood loss.
Collin 36:35
Yeah, it's it is it can be quite shocking. And that brings up another aspect of this is that it's all of the head knowledge of what to do and exact situations and all of the extra socks and bags that we have in the trunk of our car. Don't do a whole lot of good if we're not mentally ready or mentally prepared. Yeah, for those for those situations. So how can we be more prepared for that, because I know that's a big one of, we tend to go through our days of going, I've experienced this with more people again, as we've hired of the lenses, the assumption of everything is awesome, and everything's great and sunshine. And then when something bad. something bad happens. And all of a sudden, it's a shock to our to our system. It is
Arden Moore 37:19
and I'm so glad we teach the mental game of first day, which I think is the most important skill set you can have. So I jokingly but importantly, say you all get permission to freak out later. No, that's really important if you know, and a lot of er people and people in first responders, they know that when things have stabilized, they can run up a mountain, they can scream in the shower, they can ever shot a fireball, whatever is their go to. But once things have been stabilized and handed over, you have to have a release. But you have to be in the now in the present moment. And so the first thing, getting permission to freak out later kinda is a game changer. The second thing is to control and be in the present moment, by taking a breath in holding it for four seconds, letting it out for four seconds, it actually chemically helps you get into the present moment. And like the other thing, very important be a first responder which means you look forward, left, right up down behind you. You listen, you smell you safely touch before you approach because you're gathering clues to help you be the best you can when the pet needs you the most.
Collin 38:40
And sometimes that information doesn't do us any good because it's not relevant to what we're doing and what our purpose is. But when we're relaying the story, to the ER vet to the pet parents, these clues start becoming really really important. Right? If you
Arden Moore 38:57
see a client's dog choke on a chicken leg, you say the timeout loud when they pass out. You say the timeout loud when they when you revive them with a rescue breath. And you're like why am I doing that? Because it'll lock in your brain when you see the vet or the client. Hey, I saw Kona pass out at 323. I did two one minutes of rescue breasts and I revived her at 325 No matter what if the pet acts like everything's hunky dory, you don't have X ray vision. Anytime a pet passes out that pet is your calling and you're transporting to the nearest Veterinary Clinic.
Collin 39:34
Right? Because all those clues add up to something they might not
Arden Moore 39:39
know we don't want to make a pet first aid scary. I don't think it's a superpower. I think if I can wave a wand, everybody who's in the pet industry. Everyone that has a pet should take a pet first aid class from any you know any competent person and it comes in a group and far too few do it. But it's one of the best If you can ever give a pet I had done CPR four times and save two pets lives. I've been in situations breaking up dog fights where there's been mouth injuries, puncture wounds, I've dealt with dogs that flipped off a surfboard and broke a leg. And I'm just grateful I was taught the skills on what to do and when to be able to get that pet to be taken safely to a veterinary clinic. So I, I just say I think it's one of the best things you can do for your pets and for those who are in the pet industry.
Collin 40:34
Our friends at Pet perennials make it easy to send a heartfelt condolence gift directly to someone with a broken heart. They have this wonderful direct consumer gift model that takes the effort off of us and ensures a thoughtful, personalized simply gift reaches your client or employee on your behalf. All gift packages include a handwritten card, colorful gift wrap and shipping fees across the US and Canada. They also offer an array of milestone gifts and greeting cards that can be sent to celebrate birthdays, get well wishes and welcome new or rescued pets. Additionally, there are gift choices in case you need to send a simply gift in memory of a special human client, or celebrate a pregnancy engagement or wedding of a pet lover. If you're interested register for a free business gift perks account to unlock the all inclusive discounted package prices. Since the service is used on an as needed basis, there are no monthly or annual obligations or minimum purchases. Learn more at Pet perennials.com and check out the business programs or register for a free gift perks account using the link in the show notes. And it's not all physical injuries. It's not injuries to legs and things like that. There's also things that we need to be monitoring and one of those is is the poop the the number twos that come out.
Arden Moore 41:46
You hand me a poop I hope and pay matter and we do need to know how they're eating and how they're processing what they eat. And poop doesn't bluff. And you become a poop ologists if you're a pet sitter and you need to know what are some of the normal poop should look like a Tootsie Roll, a big Tootsie Roll little Tootsie Roll, it should be brown log shape, slightly moist, the poop that we go out Oh, may look like dried out Milk Duds, the dog is dehydrated, something's going on. Or could be like a stinky chocolate milkshake. Diarrhea, every one of us has had constipation and diarrhea. But when it becomes chronic and that one and done, that's when you need to raise the alarm flags. So and if the cat or dog, you know if the litter pee is growing in size, it could be diabetes. If the cat is sitting in the litter box and just walking out, it could be a blockage. So being a pet detective at the time where they're peeing and pooping is it could actually save a client's pets life.
Collin 42:59
And not being afraid to have that conversation again, with the client of
Arden Moore 43:04
biologists I mean, really, it makes you happy. You're a parent, you've changed diapers, you know what I'm talking about?
Collin 43:13
Yeah. And what part is that? Actually very important is, as you mentioned, it's when it's when it's becomes chronic, where a lot of this becomes an issue. Well, how in the world do you know if it's chronic or not? Well, you're taking photos, right? You're making notes, sometimes I encourage somebody that I do is if I you know, if I'm taking care of a pet for over an extended period of time, I'll just have a little note on my phone, have little notes of things that I that I see. Maybe I'm not updating the client exactly about it. But I can know okay, this is the second day where the poop looked a little runny. Okay, now it's time to maybe start because that happened yesterday, just like you said, of calling out the time whenever the pet passed out versus revived. Okay, this is just a little environmental note that I'm taking, so that I can reference back to you. So whenever I'm talking to the vet, and they go, how long has this been happening? I don't have to go. I don't know.
Arden Moore 44:01
It's never like that. Ooh. Well, in I and I do say this, you know, think about veterinarians. They, they're trying to gather as much information as you can give them in a funnel. And it's sifting down to what could be the cause? And what is the more specific treatment. So we also train people in our first aid classes to just state the facts. We do know you love your pet, we do know we better save that pet if you're a veterinarian, but screaming given how you rescue this dog and blah, blah, blah, the clock is ticking, and every minute counts in a first aid situation. So stating the facts knowing you have permission to freak out later could just be the right approach to save that pets life. Right.
Collin 44:46
And being being aware of that right. You mentioned like the no cats we keep coming back to that because they are they're they're different for many people. And so being at being aware of when you're scooping, counting out the pee piles, you know looking at Add poop before you just mindlessly dump it into the bag. They all sound like little things. But
Arden Moore 45:05
the cat they used to kind of look at you when you came in the door and did that little trill? Not there? Yeah. Are they under the bed? Why are they under the bed, you know, what is changed, cat signs of change are much more subtle, less or more subtle than a dog's, obviously. But pay attention to any little changes, because cats are very habitual. And they like to sleep at 12 to two on the spot, and two to four at this spot. And if there's changing some things that you've noticed, take note of it. And I love that we live in a tech society where even I can figure out my smartphone, and, and be able to take notes. And I do think that clients love short videos, they liked the photos, sure, but there's something in there. You know, there's can't webcams and things like that where you can, you know, see what's going on, we have a lot of tools at our disposal now, to give really good care for a pet. And my veterinarian friends say this, a little short video that you can download and send us could be a game changer. So get in the habit, if you see a cat you think is coughing up a hairball it may be choking, or they may have something you know blocked in their airway, they can tell by the movement and the sound if that's if that's a choke, or is that a hairball. So I'm saying we really are lucky to have technology as our ally.
Collin 46:32
And not to just dismiss those things that are a little bit different today and go I don't know what anyway, move on. Note that write that down somewhere shoot that video, you mentioned that we were taking care of a dog who was actually recovering from a pretty intensive surgery. That was a it was an emergency situation for the dog and the pet parents were literally leaving like that same day to go on,
Arden Moore 46:51
and the stress that's in that environment.
Collin 46:54
So we were taking tons of videos, not just because we were taking videos initially because we want to send them to their their dog so they could see oh, she's standing look how she's walking, look at her energy back. Because if you don't quite get the same feeling over text or photo. It was also really helpful whenever we had some concerns that we had to take her back into the vet because now Oh, look at all this documentation that we have here was how she was walking on the first day. Here's her on the second day, the third day, and it helps that transmit that communication of information.
Arden Moore 47:24
And I'm so glad that you're doing that. And that's the one thing you know, pet sitters are the eyes and the ears of of care. And I'm so glad that you're doing that because that dogs a lucky dog.
Collin 47:37
Thank you. Thank you. She's, she's she's a very sweet dog. I want to touch on one more tip for for cats, because you brought it up earlier about killing it in a purrito. And first killing cats in how giving cats medication it's a little more, I think it'd be very frustrating for pet owners and for pet care professionals. So what are a couple of options that we have when it's now time to give medication to a cat.
Arden Moore 48:03
Um, I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV. But I found out from Dr. Elizabeth Koller and who is runs to Cat only clinics, one in Chico, California and one in Portland, Oregon. She is the past president of the American Association of feline practitioners, cat beds.com. There is a new medication out there. And they have found that cats over age 10, up to 90% of cats over age 10 have some form of pain of arthritis. And there is now a new medicine that is given quickly in a vet's office, and it's once a month. And it saves having to give injections and pills. And it helps with their pain and their joint mobility. And you're going to ask me the name of the medicine and I know it starts with an S. But I'm just saying talk to your veterinarian, and educate your pet parents because maybe there are medicines out there. And it's like it's not even a long visit they come in to the vet tech, they get the injection they go. So it is not a big hairy, long time at the at the vet. But more and more cat practices are in our education. And it's basically within the last year this came out and they're calling it a game changer. Because pain can make a cat irritated pain can impact their appetite. Pain can impact their outlook and can cause issues to other organs. So I'm just sharing some news, new news about a new pain method that may be less crazy for the dog for the cat, parent, the cat sitter and can be helpful to the cat. So that's number one. Number two, there are different types of toweling techniques that you can use and there are videos out there I have a bunch of videos on pet first aid for you. The ape SPCA have some cat that's dot com have some cat videos was, but you've set them up for success by being in a bathroom that's warm, cozy has good treats, and also has the a towel wrapping. And depending on the pill, you maybe can crush it without ruining its efficacy and put it in at a Charile where those liquid little treats that they licked up and don't even know. So there's no struggle. When it comes to injections. The side of the mouth is the best give a little squirt of tuna juice with no oil, tuna water as the first syringe I'm the cat on yeah, baby, I'll take a second hit. And that's the Yak that's the medicine Well, that wasn't fun, but I'm gonna follow it up with the chaser another tuna in water. And you're you're in you never make a big deal. You never apologize. And you and you never baby talk, you should make medicine as like, as as just as normal. It's just scratching a cat under a chin. And the more you can do that, I mean, my veterinarian shout out to Dr. Deborah Charles is the quickest injection giver I've ever seen. The cat is being petted and stimulated on the head, and it's already gotten two injections and doesn't even know it. So sometimes touching another part of the body, when you may have to do an insulin injection, it just diverts enough that the cat doesn't even realize what has happened. And fortunately, you know, needles insulin needles are pretty little, but just little techniques, you can do it, you guys can do it
Collin 51:26
well, and that's a great reminder of that stuff that we can do before we even need to give them medicine, we can spend some time during our visit, touching some of those common spots, getting them habituated getting them the treats, having that normalized for them so that when the time comes, it's not this big. Okay, you
Arden Moore 51:44
don't pull up the same music.
Collin 51:48
There's no Shopkins of confetti or anything like that. That's it's, it's about normalizing this
Arden Moore 51:54
practice, normal, whatever, whatever. And that is the best approach I have. I inherited a senior cat that had never let their nails be trimmed by a mere mortal other than being sedated. And Mikey now goes mani pedi time now, because I made it gradual and rewarding and calm. And you know, older kitties, they don't groom as well, and their nails can get really thick. And that can prevent them from being able to jump up on something. So check the kiddies nails is that they're really thick and all that they need to be trimmed so that they can grip and get up and get down easily.
Collin 52:36
Yeah. And it just because I know we have times where you're at a cat visit and you're like, Well, what do I What do I do with the rest of my time? It's kind of just over there. And these are things right, these it sounds so silly. Like you want me to just pet the cat a little bit on its neck and get used to that. Yeah, or get used to feeling its paws. Yeah, that all those help set that cat up for success, whether you care for that cat for the next 18 years, or somebody else has to take over care for that cat or go to a vet, you're making that life easier for that cat and you're making it having a better relationship with its pet owner. So the pet owner doesn't feel guilty when these things have to happen. It does they don't become hesitant to do these kind of interventions that the cat may need because they don't think the cat likes it.
Arden Moore 53:19
Well, I mean, and also a tip is we do really well about crate training our dogs and getting them to be transported in a car. There's a lot more adventure cats out there and cats that don't need to think that every time they're in a carrier, they're going to the veterinarian, I call it the three C's of terror, the carrier, the car and the clinic. So I'm saying if you can educate your pet parents to have a top loading cat carrier, because it's easier to drop a kitty in a towel from the top than squeezing them in the front door and leaving it out. Take out the doors or whatever. Put some nice bedding in there have little sunlight coming through tossin treats, get them acclimated, Mikey that's how we did it with our senior cat. He that's his little sleeping place now. And when you have to transport a cat in a carrier or a small dog in a carrier, never pick it up by the handle that rocking motion agitates the pet who's already scared and injured. Hug the carrier, place it in the floor of the backseat right behind the passenger back of the passenger front seat. And before the bench of the backseat. crash tests say that is the safest place to put a pet carrier. Hmm.
Collin 54:32
Again, thinking through all steps of those process and and and and putting that into practice. And, you know, there's a lot of steps that you just listen to. But I know many business owners who are solo go, why do I need policies and procedures I'm by myself I don't need these kinds of things do well, this is a great reminder for how do I transport a cat to the vet. I haven't had to do that in a couple years. I wrote those steps down. Here's the SOS and now you're Not having to relearn each time it's already lived out there for you. And then if you do bring somebody else on, you can give that to them. But it's their assault solidified for your business.
Arden Moore 55:10
Yeah, and I'm telling you, no pet should be in the passenger front seat. For many reasons, airbag, they're too cute and distractive. And, you know, you're not paying attention to the road. The back floor for the little guys in a carrier is the safest. And I you know, I've had a 90 pound dog that we had with a harness and back seat with the seat belt. And then in the back, if you have an SA SUV, you can put them in, you know, a big carrier. That's, you know, so there's different ways to transport but you should make that a fun game. Feed a cat in a car. Yeah, and a carrier in your garage. And then just lift hug the carrier, bring it back in the room, open the door and walk away and the cats like what what are you doing? Oh, that was Oh, that wasn't so bad. I'm gonna go back to grooming. Yeah. So you know, you got to outfox out for the feline. And do it by making things a little more rewarding and fun. I'm telling you, I love my cats and my dogs, they both bring a lot to the table. But you really have to pay attention to a cat. I'm fortunate because my cat Casey is an alum of San Diego Humane Society. He's a therapy pet and he's a first aid pet. And he lets anybody touch him. He's never been a stranger to a place where a person but my cat rusty got impacted like a lot of pets with separation anxiety, and isolation from COVID. So a stranger comes in the house and he dives under the under the couch. But we don't make a big deal of it now. And it's getting shorter and shorter that time where he pops his head out. And he's like, Oh, it's not stranger danger. These guys. They smell pretty good. And so we have to do it on their timetable. But realize pets, cats, dogs are just like siblings. Everybody in the same family from the same womb can have different personalities. And just don't make blanket assumptions.
Collin 57:14
Arden I really want to thank you for coming on the show today and giving us some great tips for looking listening and paying attention to the little behaviors so that we can catch on to those and for walking us through some first aid basics and paying attention. I know that you are the wordsmith and pun Maestro. And so you have a lot going on. And you're willing to give these books away, right? Yes, we do have some books that we want to give away. So we were going to be entering into a giveaway for some of your your new books remind us what the titles of those were.
Arden Moore 57:45
All right, we're gonna give away a signed copy of my newest book. It's called the dog behavior answer book, Understanding and communicating with your dog to build a strong, happy relationship. And we're going to give a book away called the cat behavior answer book and that is understanding how cats think, why they do what they do and how to strengthen our relationship with them. So we really do appreciate being on petsitter confessional. Colin and we would love to have two lucky winners.
Collin 58:15
Arden How can people follow along with the rest of your work? Catch your radio shows in your podcast?
Arden Moore 58:20
Thank you. My Facebook is Ardmore, that's easy. ardmore.com website, pet first aid the number for the letter U pet first day for you.com. And my two shows are old behave on pet life radio and art and mores four legged life a nationally syndicated radio show on four legged life.com. And finally, check me out on YouTube we got a great channel with over 500 videos of all kinds of helping and you just need to go to Ardmore channel on YouTube.
Collin 58:53
Yeah, you've got a quite a lot of lists or links to all of those it will be in the show notes for this episode and on our website so people can click to those and start getting the resources that they need. And as a thank you so much. I've really enjoyed today.
Arden Moore 59:11
I love you what you do Helen and you and Megan and thank you for being a Pets Best health ally as a professional pet sitter to so thank you I really appreciate this opportunity.
Collin 59:24
If you're interested in winning one of her books, here's what you need to do. Send an email to feedback at Pet Sitter confessional.com With your best dog walking or pet sitting tip that you want to share with other dog walkers and pet care professionals. We will both share these tips out on the next podcast but we will also from the people who enter and send this information and we will randomly select a winner one person will win the dog behavior answer book understanding and communicating your dog and building a strong and happy relationship. Another person will enter the cat behavior answer book, Understanding how cats think, why they do what they do and how to strengthen our relationships with them to be entered to win these books, you must send an email to feedback at Pet Sitter confessional by February 15 2023. Again, feedback at Pet Store confessional.com By February 15. With your best dog walking and pet care tip. We want to thank our sponsors today timed pet and pet perennials for making this show possible. And we've so, so thankful for you listening today. We can't tell you how much we appreciate it. It means so much every week you tuning in and sharing our episodes. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
