Call the Vet - an insider's guide to dog and cat health – Détails, épisodes et analyse

What happens when your beloved pet gets diagnosed with cancer? In this episode of the Call the Vet podcast, Dr. Alex sits down with board-certified veterinary oncologist Dr. Nicole Leibman for a candid, myth-busting conversation about cancer in our furry family members.

From the most common warning signs and why early detection matters, to breakthroughs in treatment (including cutting-edge immunotherapies!), Dr. Nicole shares insider expertise and heartwarming stories from her work in New York City.

Whether you’re worried about a lump on your pet, curious about chemotherapy side effects in animals (hint: it’s not like in humans!), or just want to understand how specialists and general vets work together, this episode is packed with practical insights and empathy.

Plus, you'll hear about a revolutionary in-home nursing service that's changing the way pet care is delivered.

If you love your pets and want the best for them—don’t miss this heartfelt and eye-opening chat!

Dive deeper into the topic over in the full show notes - https://ourpetshealth.com/info/pet-cancer

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😮 Just because we can do more tests or treatments for our pets, doesn’t mean we should—sometimes doing everything isn’t the best choice for their quality of life!

🐾 Recently, my own cat Molly faced a life-threatening illness, forcing me to ask the same tough questions I ask clients every day:

• Diagnose first! Without accurate diagnosis, you risk the wrong treatment and a poor prognosis.

• Ask if additional tests will really change your treatment plan—or simply add expense and stress. • Weigh every treatment option from “gold standard” to practical compromises, considering outcomes, costs, and the impact on daily life.

• Always balance the risks and benefits, including the stress of medications, procedures, and hospital visits.

• Remember: what’s right for one family or pet may not be right for another—your gut feeling matters, too!

💡 The real takeaway? Making decisions for your sick pet isn’t just about medicine—it’s about honestly weighing options, understanding what will improve (or hinder) their quality of life, and recognizing when doing less might actually be the kinder choice.

Check out the decision making toolkit here

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

😲 Are you concerned about the rising costs of vet care? You're not alone and this episode dives deep into the issues plaguing the pet health care space, affecting your pets, you, and those within the veterinary industry.

It's easy to vilify veterinary professionals as money grabbing (and many do) but the truth is very different - Did you know that in the last 12 months, 25% of veterinary staff in the UK received absolutely NO pay raise? The preconception that vets are "only in it for the money" couldn't be more misplaced!

📉 Yet this is on the back of record vet bill rises. We're facing serious global challenges in pet healthcare:

- Inflation is skyrocketing, yet vet pay isn't keeping up, making it tougher for veterinary professionals worldwide.

- Costs are on the rise, not just for pet owners but for the clinics too, due to increased prices for drugs and necessary medical equipment.

- There's a trend of corporatization where shareholder returns are driving business decisions and the staff in your clinic may have zero say in pricing and service provisions.

🧐 Importantly, we need to consider the advanced level of care provided today compared to decades ago. Practices now are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to offer the best care, which significantly drives up the costs.

But is this also part of the problem?

This episode covers so much more, and while I don't claim to have all the answers these topics are vital for you to be aware of so we can work towards a future that works for everyone.

Learn more over in the show notes at: https://ourpetshealth.com/podcast/broken-pet-healthcare

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

If your pet's unwell, then making the decision to run a certain diagnostic test, or have a procedure carried out can be really difficult. Especially if there is a chance that that could actually cause your pet harm.

That's the challenge faced in today's question because the last thing we want to do when we're trying to make a diagnosis is to actually kill our patient!

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Does your pet show signs of fear, anxiety, or stress when they visit their veterinarian?

If so, they are not alone!

The “Fear Free” movement seeks to put a stop to this and make your pet’s trip to the vet an experience to be enjoyed rather than feared! How then is a fear free certified veterinarian different, and should you consider changing vets?

Having recently become fear-free certified, I shared a live training in The Academy about the ways that a veterinary visit can be made as low stress as possible (members can watch the full training replay here).

Highlighting the difference between a fear-free veterinarian and a “normal” vet is an important question to answer, especially if your dog or cat hates their visits to the hospital.

Check out the full show notes.

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

When you bring a new puppy into your life, the last thing you want is for them to suffer from a horrible genetic condition that could have been predicted if you had known a test was available.

This is just one consideration when it comes to making sure your new puppy is as healthy as possible.

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

We all know how important vaccinations are in keeping our pets safe from preventable, deadly diseases. The last thing we want though is for our interventions to have the opposite effect and hurt our dogs and cats. The risk of side-effects is a reality, but if your dog develops a lump after vaccination is it something to be concerned about?

Check out the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Are you scared that whenever you leave your dog alone you are going to return to a scene of total destruction?

Have you been spending a lot of time with your new puppy during lockdown and started to worry about how they are going to cope when restrictions lift?

Separation anxiety is no laughing matter or minor inconvenience. In fact, if changes aren’t made then a dog can quickly go from feeling a bit anxious to destroying your house and doing themselves a serious injury trying to escape.

Fear not!

Help is at hand as Sara Ondrako, a canine behavioral consultant, talks with me about how to put a stop to separation anxiety, as well as how to prevent your pup from ever developing a separation-related problem in the first place.

Check out the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Having a blood test is a frequent next-step when a problem is being investigated. It is also a common recommendation to run bloods as a "routine" health screen in older dogs and cats. The results, however, can sometimes leave you with more questions than answers...

Download Pet Health Essentials - my free guide that will help optimize your pet's health so they are living as healthy, happy, and full a life as possible

In this episode I discuss that:

• "Normal" blood test parameters are based on a mathematical formula which means that a certain number of results are expected to fall slightly outside the normal reference range.
• Blood results can not be taken in isolation. It is important that they are interpreted based on an individual  patients history, symptoms, and physical examination
• For mild abnormalities in an otherwise healthy pet, the options to consider include further testing or monitoring  with repeat testing after a period of time to see if a problem is indeed developing.

Find out more in the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Physiotherapy and other physical therapies like hydrotherapy form an important part of any rehabilitation and recovery process after surgery or injury. It is though vital that any treatment is carried out properly - otherwise, there could be more harm done than good

Click here to download my free guide Pet Health Essentials, to optimizing your pet's health

When carried out by a trained practitioner, physiotherapy can improve chance of successful recovery + reduce the risk of side-effects, speed up recovery, reduce pain, and maintain muscle. Incorrect technique can lead to the exact opposite!

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review