The Independent Vet with Dr. Beth Barrett

What's in the Shot, What an Alberta Pet Actually Needs, and Why the Fridge Reminder Keeps Coming Back Season 1 · Episode 15    Run time: about 30 minutes    Host: Michael Dargie    Featuring: Dr. Beth Barrett, DVM There's a reminder card on Michael's fridge. It has been there a while. It says his pet is due for vaccines, and every time he opens the door for the milk he thinks: didn't we just do that? This episode is Dr. Beth's answer to that card. She has been practising for 38 years, and she starts where she always does, by keeping it real. A vaccine gives the body a safe dose of a virus or bacteria that has been weakened or killed, so the immune system can get its workshop dusted off and in good repair, ready to make antibodies and cells the moment the real disease shows up. And the reason most people never see parvo? Vaccination. When nearly every dog around is protected, the virus runs out of places to go. That's herd immunity, and it is what keeps the puppies, the seniors and the sick pets safe when their own defences can't. Then the menu. Core vaccines are the ones every Alberta pet should have: distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and rabies for dogs; panleukopenia, herpesvirus, calicivirus and rabies for cats. Lifestyle vaccines depend on where and how the animal lives. Leptospirosis is her example. In 38 years of practice across B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, she has never seen a case, while it is far more common in Ontario and the Maritimes. Kennel cough is officially a lifestyle vaccine, but it spreads so easily at off-leash parks, groomers and classes that most of her patients get it anyway. The diseases themselves are not theoretical here. Dr. Beth has seen distemper, parvo and adenovirus in Alberta dogs, and panleukopenia that can wipe out an entire litter of barn kittens. Herpesvirus goes after a kitten's eyes; calicivirus goes after the mouth. Timing gets its own section. Puppies and kittens go back roughly a month apart, three times, because the body is efficient: give it one dose and it decides the threat was a one-off. Each booster tells the immune system this is real, keep the machinery oiled. Once the series and the one-year booster are done, Dr. Beth moves most adults to a three-year schedule, keeps kennel cough yearly, and keeps the exam every year no matter what. The best story in the episode belongs to an indoor cat. Dr. Beth found a bat under her son's bed. Her cat at the time was vaccinated for rabies. If she hadn't been, Dr. Beth says, they would have been saying goodbye, and her son would never have forgiven her. Which is why "my cat never goes outside" is this episode's Myth or Muzzle. From there it's the worries people bring into the exam room: the sleepy night after a shot (that's the immune system at work), the rare reactions (she hasn't seen a serious one in years), the feeling that it's too many, too often, and what to do when you're a year or two overdue and embarrassed to call. Her shorthand for that last one is two after 12. The throughline is prevention, built as a plan with your vet around how your pet lives. Or, in Dr. Beth's words: get glass insurance on your vehicle, and get vaccines on your dogs and cats. Chapters & Timestamps Provisional — built from the raw recording. Re-sync to the final-cut .srt before publishing (see producer flags). Time Segment 00:00 Cold open, disclaimer & welcome — the vaccine reminder card on Michael's fridge 01:21 What a vaccine is doing in there: dusting off the immune system's workshop 03:04 "We don't see these diseases anymore" — parvo, the 1970s and herd immunity 06:13 Core vs. lifestyle vaccines, leptospirosis, kennel cough and the Alberta picture 10:58 Why puppies and kittens go back three times 14:35 Adult pets: the three-year schedule, yearly kennel cough and the annual exam 17:41 The 14-year-old dog, the indoor cat and the bat under the bed 20:09 After the shot: what's normal and when to call 22:45 "Too many, too often?" Prevention, windshield insurance and one flat fee 26:12 Myth or Muzzle? — My cat never goes outside, so she doesn't need vaccines 27:14 Ask Dr. Beth — A year or two overdue and too embarrassed to call 29:56 Outro   Myth or Muzzle? (26:12) The claim: "My cat never goes outside, so she doesn't need vaccines." Verdict: MYTH BUSTED. Dr. Beth calls this a myth because of what she calls the bat factor. Bats get into houses, nobody sees them come in, and a cat cannot help going after one. It's prey, and the instinct wins. That is how Alberta ends up with reports of rabies-positive cats, including house cats, most years. It happened in her own home: a bat under her son's bed, and a cat who was protected because she had been vaccinated. Lower risk indoors is real. Zero risk is not, so the indoor cat still gets a plan, made with your vet. Ask Dr. Beth (27:14) The question (from the mailbag, read by Michael): "My dog is a year or two overdue for vaccines. I'm too embarrassed to call. Do we have to start all over?" Dr. Beth's answer, in short: Don't worry about calling. Nobody at the clinic is judging; everyone is living a busy life too. For an adult dog that had a good puppy series: vaccinate now, boost again next year, then go back to the three-year schedule. For a young dog that only got its first puppy shot and is now six months old: start the series over, one now, one in a month and one after that. Her rule of thumb is "two after 12": two vaccines in a row after 12 weeks of age. Bring or request the records from your previous clinic if you can. Clinics are generally good about sharing, even if you split time between, say, Sylvan Lake and Calgary. If getting the old records isn't going to happen, that's fine too: vaccinate now, again in a year, and carry on. Michael's takeaway: Vaccines are a plan you build with your vet around how your pet lives, and it's fine to ask every question you've got. Key Takeaways A vaccine is a practice run for the immune system. It gives the body a safe dose of a virus or bacteria that has been weakened (attenuated) or killed, so the immune system learns to recognize it and keeps the machinery ready to make antibodies and cells fast if the real disease shows up. We rarely see some of these diseases because vaccination worked. Parvo was disastrous in the 1970s before the vaccine. In places where animals aren't vaccinated, vets still see parvo, distemper and rabies. Your pet's vaccine protects the pets who can't protect themselves. With herd immunity, the more animals that are protected, the fewer chances a virus has to spread to puppies and kittens, seniors, and pets whose immune systems are busy with kidney disease, liver disease or another illness. Core vaccines are for every pet. In Alberta that means distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and rabies for dogs, and panleukopenia, herpesvirus, calicivirus and rabies for cats. Lifestyle vaccines depend on where your pet lives and goes. Leptospirosis is very rare in Alberta, and Dr. Beth has never seen a case, but it is much more common in Ontario and the Maritimes. A pet moving from there, or travelling there, may need a different plan. Ask your vet. Kennel cough is "lifestyle" on paper and close to core in practice. It is very contagious, and off-leash parks, groomers and classes are all places to pick it up. Unless your dog truly never meets other dogs, expect your vet to recommend it. These diseases are real in Alberta. Dr. Beth has seen distemper, parvo and adenovirus here. Panleukopenia can wipe out a whole litter of barn kittens, herpesvirus causes eye disease that can cost a kitten an eye, and calicivirus causes mouth sores and sometimes joint problems. The puppy and kitten series is about convincing the immune system. One dose gives a small spike that fades. Boosters about a month apart (anywhere in a three-to-six-week window) tell the body the threat is real. A heavy parasite load or a breed that responds poorly can blunt a dose, which is part of why there are three. After a solid series and the one-year booster, many core vaccines can move to every three years. At Barrett, distemper, parvo, panleukopenia and rabies are typically every three years and kennel cough is yearly, because respiratory infections don't build long-lasting immunity. Practices differ, so ask your vet how they schedule. The annual exam still happens every year. Fewer vaccines doesn't mean fewer check-ups. The exam is where your vet looks for everything else. Senior dogs and indoor cats still have exposure. An older dog may end up at a clinic, a groomer or a relative's house, and an aging immune system is more fragile. An indoor cat can still meet a bat. Lower risk is a conversation with your vet, not a skip. A sleepy evening after a vaccine is normal. It is the immune system busy making antibodies and cells; give it 24 hours. Serious reactions such as vomiting or a swollen muzzle are rare and usually show up quickly. Call your vet, get your pet seen if the vomiting continues, and tell your vet next time so they can plan ahead, sometimes with an antihistamine before the shot. Overdue usually doesn't mean starting over. An adult with a good puppy history can be vaccinated now and boosted next year. A young dog that missed most of the series starts again. Dr. Beth's shorthand: two after 12. Cost and hesitation are conversations, not reasons to skip. Talk to a vet who will build a limited, sensible schedule. Barrett uses one flat fee for the annual wellness exam and whichever vaccines you and Dr. Beth agree make sense, so nobody is choosing between a shot and $40. Prevention costs less than treating the disease. Resources Mentioned Barrett Veterinary Practice — barrettvet.ca · 403.860.5763 · [email protected] · @barrettveterinarypractice Your pet's previous vaccine records — Dr. Beth recommends requesting a copy from any clinic your pet has visited before.

Season 1 · Episode 14    Run time: about 22 minutes    Host: Michael Dargie    Featuring: Dr. Beth Barrett, DVM What's in the Candy Bowl, Who's Enjoying the Costume, and How to Survive the Doorbell   Halloween is Dr. Beth's birthday. Some would say that makes her a witch; she figures if the broom fits, she can own it. It also means she has spent a lot of October 31sts thinking about what ends up at dog-nose height by the front door. Michael is between dogs right now, but he remembers his own Halloweens as equal parts chaos, excitement and drama. So this episode is the pre-game: what in the candy bowl is dangerous and how much it takes, how to tell whether your pet is enjoying the costume or just tolerating you, and how to get through a night of doorbells without anyone bolting into the dark. Chocolate comes first, and Dr. Beth is clear that not all of it is equal: dark is worse than milk, a big dog can handle more than a small one, and she has seen more chocolate cases at Christmas than at Halloween. But the thing vets have in the back of their minds every time candy is out is xylitol, the artificial sweetener in sugar-free gum, some candy, and some peanut butter. She describes a Labrador carried into the clinic mid-seizure after a small bag of gum. Then the one nobody thinks about: the wrappers themselves, which mash together into a very effective plug. From there it's decorations (that fake spider web behaves like a rope inside an intestine), a day-in-the-life story about a dog named Belle, twelve chocolate chip muffins and a litter box lined with a plastic bag, and a kitten in a ballet tutu who was, in Dr. Beth's words, "kidbroke" and loved every minute of it. Costumes are fine for the pets who are into them. For the ones who aren't, the back bedroom with a bone is a perfectly good Halloween. The idea Dr. Beth keeps coming back to: we have to be their advocates. Plan ahead, respect the animal who wants no part of it, and remember that tired dogs, like tired kids, are good dogs. Chapters & Timestamps   Time Segment 00:00 Cold open, disclaimer & welcome — Halloween is Dr. Beth's birthday ("if the broom fits") 01:49 Chocolate: what's in it, dark vs. milk, and why the size of the dog matters 03:15 What happens next: getting it out fast, apomorphine and activated charcoal 06:04 Xylitol — the one vets worry about most 07:17 It's not just the candy: wrappers, fake cobwebs and obstructions 09:12 The bowl is empty and the dog looks guilty — Belle and the twelve muffins 11:27 Costumes: kidbroke pets, stress signs and Doctor Dog 13:12 Be their advocate: the back-bedroom-with-a-bone plan 14:21 Candles, glow sticks, and help for the pet who panics every year 16:18 Cat backpacks and why tired dogs are good dogs 18:55 Myth or Muzzle? — Any chocolate at all is an emergency 19:40 Ask Dr. Beth — Shredded wrappers all over the living room 20:48 Outro Myth or Muzzle? (18:55) The claim: "If a dog eats any chocolate at all, it's a life-threatening emergency." Verdict: MYTH BUSTED. (With a catch.) Dr. Beth calls this one a myth, because dose is the whole story. There is an amount of chocolate that will be toxic, and it depends on the size of the dog and the type of chocolate: her Lab Zip stealing a bite of her chocolate bar is not a problem, but an entire dark chocolate bar could be. The catch is that "not every case is an emergency" is not the same as "don't worry about it." Work out how much was there and how much you think the dog ate, call someone, and if it's a reasonable amount, get it out of them. Still worth paying attention to, every time. Ask Dr. Beth (19:40) The question (from the letter bag, read by Michael): "I woke up to shredded wrappers all over the living room. I have no idea how much my dog ate or when. What do I do?" Dr. Beth's answer, in short: Take them to the vet. Unknown amount and unknown timing means the vet decides, not you. The clinic will try to get rid of whatever is still in there, and may want an X-ray. If the dog is already vomiting on its own, that can be a sign of an obstruction. Get them seen. Bring the wrappers. Knowing what was eaten, and whether any of it was sugar-free with xylitol, tells the vet a lot more about what to worry about. Dr. Beth would rather deal with it early than go down the road to surgery later. Michael's takeaway: Halloween is a great night for parents and kids and a confusing one for pets. A little pre-planning covers most of it: exercise the dog (tired dogs are good dogs), and if you know they'll be stressed, give them somewhere to hide out. Plan for it. Key Takeaways Not all chocolate is equal, but avoid all of it. Dark chocolate is worse than milk, and the problem is the caffeine and theobromine inside it, both stimulants in a dog. The signs are panting, drooling, sometimes nausea, and a jittery dog that, as Dr. Beth puts it, looks like her on four cups of coffee. The size of the dog decides how worried to be. A big dog can manage more chocolate; a little dog can show toxicity signs on very little. There are chocolate calculators online to help you work out whether what your dog ate is likely to be a problem, and your vet can walk you through the math. Christmas is worse than Halloween. Dr. Beth has seen more chocolate toxicity at Christmas than at Halloween. The rule is the same for any time there's a lot of candy around the house. Getting it out fast is the goal. Chocolate vomits up easily, so the clinic will usually give an injection (apomorphine) that causes almost immediate vomiting, then activated charcoal to stop the rest from being absorbed. If an emergency clinic is within striking distance, go. Xylitol is the one vets think about every time candy is out. It's the sweetener in sugar-free gum and candy, and in some peanut butters. It is terribly toxic to dogs in small amounts: Dr. Beth remembers a Labrador arriving mid-seizure after a small bag of about ten pieces of gum. Check the label on your peanut butter before you use it to hide a pill. Raisins are a kidney hazard. Dogs will eat them, and they can cause severe kidney disease. Oatmeal raisin cookies are not for dogs. Sometimes the container is the problem. Wrappers smell like candy, kids drop them everywhere, and a wad of them mashed together makes a very effective plug in the intestine. Fake spider web is a surgical case waiting to happen. It acts like a rope inside the gut; the intestine bunches up over it or telescopes inside itself (an intussusception). Dr. Beth has done two obstruction surgeries in the last two weeks on dogs and cats that ate things they shouldn't. Cats especially love to chew it. If your pet is the type to get into decorations, decorate accordingly. Glow sticks and candles: cats first. Playful cats are drawn to little lights, and a chewed glow stick is a plastic foreign body plus whatever is inside it. Michael's household has switched to electric tea lights in the jack-o'-lanterns. Know your animal before the costume goes on. Some pets are "kidbroke," raised with little kids and happy to wear anything, like the black kitten who visited the clinic in a ballet tutu, or Dr. Beth's golden retriever who went as Doctor Dog in a lab coat and booties and wagged the whole way. If yours resists, salivates or pants when you put it on, that's your answer. Don't drag a dog down the street in a pumpkin costume that doesn't want to be there. Be their advocate. Strangers in masks, constant doorbells and a houseful of people are terrifying for some animals. They don't have to be part of it. A back bedroom with a bone to chew is a perfectly good Halloween, and it keeps a friendly dog from overwhelming the kids and a nervous cat from leaving through the window. For the pet who truly panics, talk to your vet ahead of time. There are medications for event stress, including an oral gel given a couple of hours before the doorbells start. Which one, and whether your pet needs it, is a conversation with your vet, not a Halloween-morning decision. Tired dogs are good dogs. Before the chaos starts, get the dog out for real exercise and give the cat a proper play session. Burning off the energy ahead of time is prevention, and prevention is the theme of the whole episode. Resources Mentioned Barrett Veterinary Practice — barrettvet.ca · 403.860.5763 · [email protected] · @barrettveterinarypractice Chocolate toxicity calculator:  Calgary Area After-hours emergency clinics: Alpine 24/7 Pet Hospital 5707 Macleod Trail SW, Calgary 403-212-4008 Website VCA CARE Centre 7140 12 Street SE, Calgary 403-520-8387 Website VCA Calgary North Animal Hospital 4204 4 Street NW, Calgary 403-277-0135 Website Paramount 24 Hour Animal Hospital 5111 Northland Drive NW, Unit 4110, Calgary 403-300-9111 Website Trinity Hills 24 Hour Pet Hospital 240 Na'a Plaza SW, Calgary 403-233-2888 Website Petzoic Vet Hospital 11501 Buffalo Run Blvd., Unit 101, Tsuut'ina 403-453-9111 Website Connect with The Independent Vet Website: barrettvet.ca Instagram: @barrettveterinarypractice Email: [email protected] Phone: 403.860.5763 Got a question for Dr. Beth? Send it in — it might be featured in a future Ask Dr. Beth segment. Disclaimer This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Always consult your veterinarian for medical advice specific to your pet.

Season 1 · Episode 13   Run time: 35 Minutes   Host: Michael Dargie   Featuring: Dr. Beth Barrett, DVM Michael is arthritic. It takes him about an hour every morning to get moving, and the first cold morning of the year is when he feels it most. He remembers his dogs doing the same thing: slower on frosty mornings, careful getting up. Like most of us, he figured they were just getting older. Dr. Beth sees arthritis every day, in dogs, cats and horses, and she wants to put a muzzle on "just getting older." The stiffness you're seeing is pain. Cold weather doesn't cause it, but it brings it out: less moving, less blood flow, more time curled up on a cold floor. Motion is lotion. Her number-one prescription isn't a drug. It's weight. Extra weight makes joints work harder and makes inflammation worse, and a leaner pet is cheaper to feed, moves more, and gets more out of every other treatment. She tells the story of a 39-kilo dog who came in for joint surgery and, a year later, weighed 19 kilos. That dog spent the next eight years spry and happy. From there it's the rest of the toolbox: shorter walks but more of them, a bed that stays padded, foam steps for the bed, marine omega-3s, the joint supplements she actually trusts, and the newer medications, including the monthly injections Librela for dogs and Solensia for cats. Dr. Beth's own dog Sprint went on it at 13 and was galloping around like a puppy within two months. Her line for every listener: "That wasn't old. That was pain." And cats. Mabel and Charlie get a mention, because cats have far more arthritis than anyone used to think. Chapters & Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Cold open, disclaimer & welcome — "I know nothing about this other than I am arthritic" 01:33 What osteoarthritis actually is 03:31 The first cold morning: why cold makes stiff joints stiffer 05:26 The number-one prescription: weight (and why fat is inflammatory) 09:19 Exercise, warmth & bedding: shorter walks, more of them 13:06 Cats get it too — and the stiffness owners file under "just old" 16:49 Omega-3s, joint supplements & teaching the bed steps 21:34 The medicine toolbox: multimodal pain control 26:06 Monoclonal antibodies: Librela, Solensia & Sprint 29:10 Myth or Muzzle? — He's not in pain, he's just old 31:44 Ask Dr. Beth — Can I just give him an Advil? 34:17 Outro Myth or Muzzle? (29:10) The claim: "He's not in pain, he's just old. Slowing down is normal — dogs get stiff, that's just what happens." Verdict: MUZZLE IT. Dr. Beth: she hears a version of this in the exam room constantly — "he's not painful, he's just stiff" — and her answer is that stiffness is pain. Think about how your own stiff morning feels; it's discomfort, and animals are simply more stoic about it than we are. The signs owners read as aging are the ones she reads as arthritis: a long stretch every time they get up, a pause before the stairs, a dog who used to jump into the back of the minivan and now stops and waits for a lift, a dog who hangs back on walks or seems less social. Her own dog Sprint taught her the lesson at 13, when a monthly injection turned "an older dog" back into one who galloped. She isn't promising puppies, and aging is real, but pain is a component in far more of these animals than anyone realizes, and it's one of the most manageable things she sees. She doesn't want her dogs living like that, and she has a big toolbox to make sure they don't. Ask Dr. Beth (31:44) The question (from a listener): "My dog is clearly stiff and I've got a bottle of Advil in the cupboard. Can I just give him one? He's a big dog." Dr. Beth's answer, in short: no — not ever. Ibuprofen (Advil) is a risky drug in a dog's stomach. Dogs are very sensitive to its gastrointestinal effects, and Dr. Beth has seen a dog die from perforated gastric ulcers caused by it. Size doesn't make it safe. A big dog is still a dog. Never give a cat acetaminophen (Tylenol). Cats lack the enzyme to break it down and it is lethal for them. Tylenol can be used in dogs at a vet-prescribed dose — but that's a decision for your vet, not the medicine cabinet. There are better, pet-specific options. Call the clinic and check before you give anything. Pain management doesn't have to be expensive. If budget is tight there are still things to try, and if you aren't getting the answers you want, pain specialists exist. Michael's takeaway: Go see your vet. Talk to your vet. And the bigger one, the thing that changed the game for him: he's had dogs that "just got old," and he didn't realize they were in pain. Rule that out before you accept the slowdown — there's a very good chance something can be done about it. Key Takeaways Stiffness is pain. The thing owners describe as "he's just stiff" is the thing vets call discomfort. Animals are stoic and adapt around it, so the slowdown gets mistaken for a personality change or plain old age. Cold doesn't cause arthritis — it reveals it. Warmth increases blood supply to joints. Cold means less movement, less circulation, and pets holing up inside. The arthritis was there in July too, hidden by warm muscles and long evenings. Weight loss is the number-one prescription. Ask any pain specialist for their top drug, Dr. Beth says, and the answer is weight loss. Even a 6 to 8 percent drop in body weight can produce a statistically significant reduction in pain. Fat is inflammatory tissue. It doesn't just load the joints; it produces inflammatory chemicals. Any disease ending in "-itis" is an inflammatory process, and reducing fat reduces inflammation. It's also the cheapest fix on the list, because you're feeding less. Shorter walks, more of them. A few ten-minute walks a day beats one heroic weekend hike. The goal is blood flow to the joints without leaving the dog struggling the next morning. "Does he warm out of it?" Worse after rest and better once moving is classic arthritis — it's one of the questions Dr. Beth asks before she even X-rays. Soft-tissue injuries do the opposite and get more painful the longer the animal goes. A bed that stays padded. No cold floors, and no cushy-looking bed that flattens so they can still feel their hip through it, like a sleeping bag on the ground. Memory foam can be good. Skip the plug-in heating pad — a sleeping dog can't tell you it's too hot — and look at body-heat-reflecting fabrics like Back on Track instead. Teach the steps. Jumping off a two-and-a-half-foot bed is hard on the elbows; jumping up is hard on the knees and hips. A foam step from the furniture store solves it, but dogs have to be taught to use it. Make it a game. Omega-3 means marine. Fish oil (or algae oil) is what works for joints. Flax, coconut and camelina oil don't convert well in animals, or in people. Arthritis needs a higher dose than puppy brain development does, and fish oil also softens the stomach side effects of anti-inflammatories, so there's really no reason not to use it. Be picky about joint supplements. Regulation is loose, and many products "may have been near a bottle of glucosamine" without containing much. Dr. Beth sticks to a couple she trusts. The evidence for supplements is thinner than for weight loss and lifestyle, but they can be part of the program. Multimodal pain control: aggregate the gains. When Dr. Beth graduated the answer was one pill. Now it's weight, oils, walk changes, bedding, supplements and medication layered together, because the cumulative benefit is far more effective than any single lever. The toolbox is bigger than it used to be. Anti-inflammatories like meloxicam, carprofen and Previcox remain the backbone where kidneys and liver allow. Gabapentin and pregabalin help with nerve pain, amantadine prevents pain wind-up, and low-dose ketamine can be given monthly for chronic pain. Monoclonal antibodies changed the game for older pets. Librela (dogs) and Solensia (cats) are monthly injections under the skin that block the nerve growth factor driving arthritic pain. They're an option for animals who can't take anti-inflammatories because of kidney problems. Run a two-week trial. If a short course of treatment visibly changes your pet in two weeks to a month, that wasn't aging — that was pain. Rule it out before you accept the slowdown. Cats have more arthritis than anyone thought. A study that X-rayed every cat through a clinic found a huge number of undiagnosed cases. Weight is a big driver: a barn cat hunting for its calories is far leaner than a house cat with food made easy. Resources Mentioned Barrett Veterinary Practice — barrettvet.ca · 403.860.5763 · [email protected] · @barrettveterinarypractice Omega-3 dosing for arthritic joints — Dr. Beth asked on air for this to go in the show notes: 100 to 150 mg/kg of combined EPA and DHA from a good-quality marine-source fish oil. Confirm the right dose for your pet with your veterinarian. (Pending Dr. Beth's sign-off — see producer flags.) Back on Track — Ceramic-fibre blankets, pads and wraps that reflect body heat back as far-infrared warmth. Dr. Beth's preferred alternative to a plug-in heating pad. (Web link pending — see producer flags.) Joint supplements Dr. Beth uses — Two named on air; the captions garbled both. Likely Dasuquin and 4CYTE, the Australian sport-horse supplement now used in dogs, cats and people. (Names to confirm — see producer flags.) Librela (bedinvetmab) for dogs · Solensia (frunevetmab) for cats — Monthly anti-nerve-growth-factor injections given at the clinic. (Web links pending — see producer flags.) Previous episodes referenced — Omega oils ("we've talked about those in the past"), weight and inflammation ("I've mentioned that in other chats"), and feline arthritis ("I may have mentioned this once before"). (Confirm which episodes — see producer flags.) Connect with The Independent Vet Website: barrettvet.ca Instagram: @barrettveterinarypractice Email: [email protected] Phone: 403.860.5763 Got a question for Dr. Beth? Send it in —

Swimming, Splashing & the Stuff Nobody Warns You About Season 1 · Episode 12 Run time: ~29 minutes Host: Michael Dargie Featuring: Dr. Beth Barrett, DVM Michael has spent a lot of summers with wet dogs. Billy, his Staffordshire-boxer cross, was built — as Michael puts it — like a torpedo with the buoyancy of a brick; he'd wade into the river happily and never once swim. Skaya the husky would fetch logs, actual floating logs, until somebody made her stop. And Heidi, the shepherd cross, spent an entire afternoon being quietly, methodically outwitted by a beaver. So when this conversation turned to dogs and water, Michael brought the stories, and Dr. Beth Barrett brought the clinical picture that explains every single one of them. The premise is simple and a little counterintuitive: water and dogs are pure summer magic, and the water is also exactly where a perfect day quietly goes sideways. Not in dramatic, horror-movie ways — in small, easy-to-miss ways that a prepared owner can head off completely. They start with the myth Michael believed his whole life: that every dog can swim. Plenty can't. Brick-built, barrel-chested, short-nosed dogs are dense with muscle, sit low, take on water through big open mouths, and struggle for air before they struggle to float — they end up bottom-down, top-up, paddling frantically and going nowhere. And it isn't only the breeds you'd expect. Dr. Beth spent hours in the water with Briar, a long, lean standard poodle with the textbook body for it, who simply never found the coordination. Her advice: let a dog tell you whether the water is their thing, and never over-face one that says no. From there it's the full swim-day picture. The fetch-till-they-drop dog has no off switch — Dr. Beth's own Zip and Saco would retrieve until they collapsed — which is why you have to be the brakes. Dogs overheat in water, especially as the season warms it up. And then two things most owners have never heard of: water intoxication, where a mouth held open around a ball or a log takes on so much water that it dilutes the body's sodium into a genuine, treatable-but-life-threatening emergency; and limber tail, the terrifying limp tail that sends people into a panic and is usually a few days of anti-inflammatories and rest. The back half is aftercare and Alberta. Rinsing the hot-spot and ear-infection risk off a dog as the water warms. Watching for blue-green algae — that oil-slick or spilled-green-paint look on the surface. Backcountry care when there's no garden hose and no vet down the road (Dr. Beth doesn't leave home without a bottle of Hibitane soap). River undercurrents and post-rain water levels that sweep dogs away. And the underwater hazards of northern "stick ponds," where a hard-charging retriever launches in and comes out with a gash up its chest. Plus the mailbag question Michael wrote himself, because it really happened: are beavers actually dangerous? Yes. Genuinely. And so, it turns out, is Florida. The throughline, as it so often is with Dr. Beth: your dog doesn't always know when to quit, so you have to be the sensible one. Be their advocate, read the day, and when in doubt, head home early. Chapters & Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Cold open, disclaimer & welcome 01:31 Can every dog swim? (Spoiler: no) 04:02 Teaching a dog to swim — and when not to push 05:30 The fetch-till-they-drop dog: you're the brakes 07:33 Water intoxication — when swimming makes a dog sick 10:27 Limber tail: the scary limp tail, explained 13:18 After the swim: rinsing, ears & blue-green algae 15:58 Backcountry care: no hose, no vet down the road 18:29 Hazards owners miss: hose games, currents & runoff 20:59 Myth or Muzzle? — Does my dog know when to stop? 21:47 Ask Dr. Beth — Are beavers actually dangerous? 25:17 Michael's takeaways, stick ponds & outro Myth or Muzzle? (20:59) The claim: "My dog knows his own limits — he'll stop swimming or fetching when he's had enough." Verdict: MUZZLE IT. Dr. Beth: it's dog-dependent, and drive is the deciding factor. A lower-drive dog will pace itself, be mindful, take things easy. A high-drive dog, left to its own devices, will retrieve until it collapses from exhaustion — it simply doesn't have the self-preservation instinct to stop when it should. As Dr. Beth puts it, if somebody kept throwing something, her dogs would not know when to quit. That's exactly why the owner has to be the limiting factor: the parent, the sensible one, the person who ends the day before the dog would. Ask Dr. Beth (21:47) The question (from Michael — and it really happened): "We had a shepherd cross named Heidi, high prey drive, and there was a beaver at the dam in Beaumont Park she loved to 'play' with. The beaver would let her get close, slap its tail, dive under, and pop up behind her. At first we thought it was cute. Are beavers actually dangerous to dogs?" Dr. Beth's answer, in short: yes — genuinely. Beavers have drowned dogs. A big one can grab a dog, pull it underwater, and hold it there. They're not small. Dr. Beth puts an adult beaver at roughly 40 to 50 pounds — a serious animal, and one that's completely at home in the water while your dog is not. The behaviour Michael describes isn't play. The beaver is using the dog's own prey drive against it — luring, diving, resurfacing just out of reach — to wear the dog out in deep water. Dr. Beth has never had one go after her own dogs, but she's heard enough stories to be genuinely cautious. When a beaver moved into the canal near her a couple of years ago, she changed where she walked her dogs until he moved on. Michael's takeaway: Water and dogs can be pure summer magic — but not every dog is a swimmer, the fetch-till-you-drop dog needs you to call the brakes, and that terrifying limp tail is usually nothing a little rest won't fix. Dry those ears, respect the backcountry, and when in doubt, head home early. Key Takeaways Not every dog can swim, and that's not a training problem. Dense, brick-built, barrel-chested dogs don't have the buoyancy for it. Short-nosed breeds already work hard for air, and big open mouths take on water. Those dogs end up bottom-down and top-up, paddling frantically without going anywhere. Body type isn't the whole story either. Briar the standard poodle had the ideal build and never found the coordination — even in a life jacket, with people holding her up. Some dogs just don't have it. Let the dog decide. Give them the opportunity, never force it. Plenty of dogs will happily wade, paddle the shallows, and cool off without ever swimming — and they get most of the benefit anyway. You are the off switch. High-drive dogs will retrieve until they collapse. They don't have the self-preservation instinct to stop, so the owner has to be the limiting factor. Dr. Beth is blunt about it: it's possible to kill your dog doing something they love. Dogs overheat in the water. Being wet is not the same as being cool, especially as summer warms the water itself. Heatstroke is still on the table on a swim day. Water intoxication is real, and it's an emergency. A dog swimming with its mouth open — around a ball, a log, a stick — ingests enough water to dilute its blood sodium. The kidneys can't clear it fast enough, and low sodium hits nervous and kidney function hard. Retrievers, small dogs, and lean dogs are most at risk. Know the signs. Bloating first (the stomach filling with water), then neurologic changes and vomiting. If a dog that's been swimming or retrieving starts behaving abnormally, get them seen — treatment means a sodium chloride solution and diuretics, not wait-and-see. The garden hose counts. Dogs that snap and bite at a hose spray — often little terrier types — take on a surprising amount of water. It looks like harmless fun; it's one of the main places water intoxication turns up. Limit the game. Limber tail looks catastrophic and usually isn't. Cold water constricts the blood vessels at the base of the tail while the tail is working hard as a rudder. The muscles inflame, the tail hangs limp, and it hurts — often badly. It responds within a few days to anti-inflammatories, warm compresses, and laser therapy. In Alberta it's a snow condition too, seen every winter in retrievers working with their tails down in the snow. Aftercare changes with the season. Cold spring water means watching for limber tail and towelling off so they don't get chilled. Warm mid-summer water means bacterial overgrowth — rinse them off, especially the neck where moisture sits, or you'll get hot spots, skin infections, and that unmistakable smell. Ear infections spike later in the summer for the same reason. Blue-green algae season is here. Look for an oil-slick sheen or what looks like green paint spilled on the surface. Keep the dog out entirely. If they were already in, get them out, don't let them lick their coat, and rinse them as thoroughly as you can. Pack for the backcountry. Dr. Beth doesn't go anywhere without a bottle of Hibitane soap — soaping a dog up mitigates skin trouble until you can get somewhere with water to rinse. A cotton ball or even a Kleenex wrapped around a finger clears water from ears; a proper ear cleaner is better, and diluted vinegar works in a pinch against yeast. Read the water itself. Undercurrents, rising levels after rain, and sweeping river corners packed with deadfall all sweep dogs away or trap them. "Stick ponds" with dead trees in and around them are worse: a hard-charging retriever launches in, hits a submerged tree, and comes out with a chest laceration that can be life-threatening — and still wants you to throw another bumper. Beavers are not a joke. A 40–50 lb adult can grab a dog and drown it, and the "play" behaviour is a deliberate wearing-down tactic. Give them a wide berth. Resources Mentioned Barrett Veterinary Practice — barrettvet.ca · 403.860.5763 · [email protected] · @barrettveterinaryprac

Season 1 · Episode 11   Run time: 26 Minutes   Host: Michael Dargie   Featuring: Dr. Beth Barrett, DVM Every so often a topic comes with a name so intimidating that people avoid talking about it altogether — and that, Dr. Beth Barrett says, is exactly the problem. Echinococcus multilocularis sounds like a spell from a fantasy novel (Michael gives it a heroic run and lands somewhere around "Alec-Kabam"), but most Albertans know it by its friendlier alias: the fox tapeworm. Here, it's really more of a coyote tapeworm. It's been in the headlines lately, and Dr. Beth wanted to get ahead of the worry rather than feed it. Her approach is the one she brings to everything: know your enemy, then make a plan. So this episode is a calm, thorough walk through what this parasite actually is, why Alberta has become a hotspot, and — most importantly — the handful of simple, inexpensive things that keep it away from your dog and your family. The short version, the one Dr. Beth keeps coming back to: this is rare, it's highly preventable, and you do not need to panic. The parasite itself is microscopic — a few millimetres, far too small to ever see. It lives quietly in coyotes and foxes, cycling through the mice they eat, and in those animals it causes no real trouble. The danger only appears when it lands somewhere it doesn't belong. Dogs can pick it up; people can too; and — good news for the cat households — cats appear to be spared. When it does land in the wrong host, the larval form settles into the liver and grows slowly, like a tumour, over five to fifteen years. Dr. Beth has seen it up close. She walks Michael through a case from her own practice: a four-kilogram acreage dog whose liver alone weighed 2.8 kilograms by the end — an abdomen so full of it that everything else was squished into one corner. And she connects it to the case that made the Alberta news, a woman whose suspected liver cancer turned out to be this parasite instead. That's the sobering part. The reassuring part is everything the back half of the episode is about: wash your hands, keep your dog clean, pick up the poop, and deworm on a schedule that fits your dog's life — with a product that actually contains praziquantel, because the pet-store dewormers (and the garlic, and the cayenne) won't touch it. Dr. Beth has already switched her own dogs to monthly. As she puts it, it's a slow-moving train — but it's a train you can see coming, and step off the tracks. Along the way: a name nobody can pronounce, a parasitologist on speed-dial in Guelph, a poop-roller named Saco, and a cat-caught mouse in the garage that explains exactly how easily this happens. Chapters & Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Cold open & disclaimer 00:33 Welcome back to The Independent Vet 01:02 A name that sounds like a spell — Echinococcus multilocularis 01:49 Why it's in the headlines, and why Alberta 02:44 Section 1: How big is this thing? (It's microscopic) 03:34 The natural hosts: coyotes and foxes 04:26 The life cycle: rodents, eggs, and the larval liver form 06:53 The wrong hosts: dogs do, people can, cats don't 07:38 Why it's serious in people — a 5-to-15-year slow burn 08:09 The Alberta news case: a liver mistaken for cancer 08:58 A more aggressive European strain arrives 09:37 A short history: Alaska, Manitoba (1928), Minnesota (1977) 10:30 2013 onward: the sharp uptick in Alberta 11:09 Section 2: Dr. Beth's case — the 4 kg dog with the 2.8 kg liver 11:44 Why city dogs are now at risk (up to 60% of urban coyotes) 12:59 Inside the surgery: an abdomen full of liver 13:37 Consulting the parasitologist — and a prediction 14:26 Section 3: Can people be tested? And how do we prevent it? 15:17 Step one: wash your hands 15:53 Deworming: praziquantel and Interceptor Plus 16:55 Why monthly matters now 18:04 What doesn't work: pet-store dewormers, garlic, cayenne 18:20 Pick up the poop; manage rollers and mouse-eaters 19:52 Saco, Zip, and the cat-caught mouse in the garage 20:16 "Like insurance for your car" 20:25 Other parasites on the radar: roundworms and hookworms 20:58 Reminders, and why we all forget 22:12 The slow-moving train 22:53 Myth or Muzzle? 23:29 Ask Dr. Beth — the on-leash city dog 24:58 Michael's takeaways 25:51 Outro Myth or Muzzle?  (22:53) The claim:  "If my dog looks perfectly healthy, there's no way it's carrying a dangerous tapeworm." Verdict: MUZZLE IT. Dr. Beth: dogs are canids, and they can carry this exactly the way a fox or coyote does — as an intestinal parasite quietly shedding eggs. A dog with the intestinal form usually shows no symptoms at all. So a healthy-looking dog tells you nothing about whether it's shedding, which is the whole reason prevention matters even when everything seems fine. Ask Dr. Beth  (23:29) The question:  "My dog's a total city dog. We walk on leash, and he's never caught a rodent in his life. Do I really need to deworm for this?" Dr. Beth's answer, in short: it comes down to lifestyle. A genuinely low-exposure dog — leash-walked, no off-leash parks, no interest in rodents or rolling in things — really is lower risk, and may not need deworming as often. But off-leash parks change the math. Those are exactly where coyotes roam, and where up to 60% of them can carry the parasite. Dr. Beth is a fan of off-leash time and would never tell you to skip it — she'd tell you to match your deworming plan to it. The real answer is a conversation with your own vet, who knows your dog, your area, and your routine better than any rule of thumb. Michael's takeaway:  You don't need to panic. You need a poop bag, clean hands, a deworming plan that fits your dog's life, and a vet who can help you build that exact plan. Key Takeaways It's rare, and it's highly preventable. The goal of this episode isn't alarm — it's a plan. A few simple habits keep the risk very low. The parasite is microscopic. Unlike the rice-grain tapeworm segments you might spot near a cat's tail, these are only a few millimetres long and effectively invisible. You'll never see them. Coyotes and foxes are the natural hosts; rodents are the middle step. The adult worm lives harmlessly in wild canids, which shed eggs in their feces. Mice and voles eat the eggs, and the larval form sets up in the rodent's liver — where a coyote eats it and the cycle repeats. The problem is the wrong host. Dogs can pick it up, people can too, and it settles in the liver as a slow-growing, tumour-like mass. Cats appear to be spared — reassuring news for cat owners. In people it's a slow build — five to fifteen years. By the time it's found (often incidentally, on a scan for something else), it can require lifelong daily medication and sometimes repeated surgery. Serious, but slow, and avoidable. Alberta is now a hotspot. A more aggressive European strain has established here. On air, Dr. Beth noted more than 20 human cases in Alberta since 2013 and more than 30 dog cases since 2009 — a sharp change from the decades when North American cases were 50 years apart. Deworming is the core defence — but only praziquantel works. The clinic uses Interceptor Plus, which contains it. Pet-store dewormers without praziquantel won't kill this parasite, and neither will garlic or cayenne. Match the schedule to the dog. Acreage dogs, off-leash-park regulars, poop-rollers, and mouse-eaters are the monthly candidates. Genuinely low-exposure city dogs may not need it as often — decide with your vet. Hygiene does a lot of the work. Wash your hands, keep your dog clean, and pick up poop promptly with a bag or gloves so eggs never get a chance to travel from fur to hand to mouth. Set a reminder. Even Dr. Beth relies on the clinic's reminders — the same way she'd never get her snow tires off without one. Life gets away from us; a recurring calendar note is the ticket. Resources Mentioned Barrett Veterinary Practice — barrettvet.ca · 403.860.5763 · [email protected] · @barrettveterinarypractice Interceptor Plus — the prescription monthly dewormer Dr. Beth uses and now recommends for at-risk dogs; it contains praziquantel, the drug that kills this tapeworm. Ask your vet whether it's right for your dog. Parasite prevention in Alberta — links to provincial guidance on Echinococcus multilocularis and deworming are in the show notes. (Web links pending — see producer flags.) Connect with The Independent Vet Website: barrettvet.ca Instagram: @barrettveterinarypractice Email: [email protected] Phone: 403.860.5763 Got a question for Dr. Beth? Send it in — it might be featured in a future Ask Dr. Beth segment. Disclaimer This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Always consult your veterinarian for medical advice specific to your pet.