ER VET

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Let's talk pets.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Welcome to ER Vet on Pet Life Radio.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I'm your host, Dr.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Justine Lee, and I'm an emergency critical care veterinary specialist and toxicologist.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Thanks for joining us.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Today, I'm gonna be talking about how to keep your four-legged friends out of the emergency room.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the reason why I'm talking about this is because I've practiced over 20 years in the field of emergency critical care.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And as you know from the past several years of ER Vet, I've been trying to educate you as a pet owner on what you can do to keep your pet as healthy and happy as possible.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Totally understand, I see emergencies all the time, and we know emergencies are always gonna happen, but there are definitely things that you can do.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So, we're gonna talk about this today, and I also wanted to talk about some key big announcements.

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Dr. Justine Lee: We'll be right back after these messages.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Welcome back to Er Vet on Pet Life Radio.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Today, we're gonna be talking about how to keep your four-legged friends out of the emergency room.

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Dr. Justine Lee: First of all, my big announcement.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I am going to be retiring from Pet Life Radio's Er Vet show.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Don't worry, I promise I'll still come and visit, maybe on other shows.

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Dr. Justine Lee: But I just wanted to thank all of you guys for being such loyal listeners, because I know you wanna do everything as a pet owner to keep your pet as healthy as possible.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It's been a huge honor working with Mark Winter on Pet Life Radio.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And again, my passion has always been educating pet owners.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So what I'm gonna summarize today are really the best ways to keep your dog or cat healthy, and hopefully out of the ER.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, obviously our pets aren't just animals.

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Dr. Justine Lee: There are four legged family members.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And there's a couple of key things when it comes to their health and safety that's a paramount importance.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Despite what we do, even as a veterinarian myself, accidents are gonna happen, diseases are gonna happen, and we never know when trauma is gonna happen or that poisoning is gonna happen.

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Dr. Justine Lee: But that said, I want you to keep your beloved furry friend out of the emergency room.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the first way of doing that is by preventive medicine.

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Dr. Justine Lee: What does that mean?

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Dr. Justine Lee: Preventive medicine is when we're doing everything that we can to keep our pets healthy.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And that includes regular visits to your veterinarian.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, I'm not your typical veterinarian in that I'm a specialist.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So I don't routinely do vaccines.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I don't do heartworm preventative.

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Dr. Justine Lee: But I actually go to a general practitioner in Minneapolis and bring my own pets there for routine care.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the main reason why I do that is because they're the experts in preventive medicine.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So we want to make sure your pet's well-being is taken care of.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the best way of doing that is making sure you get that annual examination, keeping up to date on vaccinations, and making sure that you're on the appropriate prevention.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So things like heartworm medication and flea and tick medication, these are really important as a first line of defense.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So key things that you need to know.

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Dr. Justine Lee: My general philosophy as a veterinarian is I always treat my pet the way I would treat them.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I always treat every patient that comes into the veterinary ER as my own pet.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And I do for them what I would do for my own dog or cat.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And guess what?

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Dr. Justine Lee: My own dog and cat go to the vet every single year.

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Dr. Justine Lee: They get a physical exam at least every six months.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now granted, I'm often doing this at home, but as a pet ages, so for a dog, this may be five to eight years of age, for a cat, this is gonna be about eight to 11 years of age.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You do truly wanna make sure that you're considering regular visits at least every six months to 12 months.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Why?

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Dr. Justine Lee: Because we as veterinarians wanna do that physical exam so we can pick up on a thyroid nodule or a heart murmur, or we can check your pet's body condition score.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So many things on physical exam that we can pick up as a veterinarian to be able to diagnose a problem earlier.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And remember, if we do diagnose a problem earlier, we can always treat it earlier, the prognosis is better, and it's gonna be less expensive.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So, one in doubt.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You always wanna have it on your Google calendar to make sure that your pet is going to the vet every single year, staying up to date on their vaccines.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, what do I do as my pets age?

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Dr. Justine Lee: I make sure that my puppies and kittens go through the entire puppy series.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And typically, this is gonna start at five to six weeks of age.

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Dr. Justine Lee: They need one vaccine around five to six weeks of age, and then they need a booster, puppies, now, every three to four weeks until they're about 12 to 14 weeks of age, depending on the breed of dog.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, with certain breeds that are more predisposed to parvovirus, a disease that causes perfused vomiting and diarrhea.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So dogs like pit bulls, sherman shepherds, rottweilers, doberman retrievers, I often will vaccinate them out to 14 weeks.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When we make sure that our pets have gone through the whole puppy series, I then make sure to do an annual vaccine once a year thereafter until they're middle aged.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And we want to make sure that they're going through their boosters to make sure that their immune system is stimulated to protect them.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I also want to make sure that they're up to date on the rabies vaccine.

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Dr. Justine Lee: This is the most important vaccine and is required by most states.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So as your pet ages, so once your dog is about three to four years of age, I actually bump my vaccines.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So especially the Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, a vaccine or what we commonly call the DHLPP vaccine to every three years.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That doesn't mean you're going to go to the vet every three years.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You're still going to do that annual exam, but you can talk to your vet and say, I want to change to the three-year protocol.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And that's really, really helpful too.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Again, it's that physical exam.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It's that communication with your veterinarian that's the most important.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I always say, if you're not sure what to do, do what your vet does for their own dog or cat.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I make sure my dog's on year-round heartworm preventative and my dog, granted, I live in Minnesota, where it's winter six months out of the year, I keep my dog on flea and tick medication either six or 12 months out of the year, depending on where you live.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So remember, those routine preventive appointments are your first line of defense to keep your pet healthy.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It also maintains a constant relationship with your veterinarian.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And this is really important, especially if you have one of those emergency room visits where it could have been treated at your family practitioner.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So when in doubt, make sure you are taking care of your pets with appropriate preventative medicine.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The next thing I wanted to talk about is what you can do to prevent your dog or cat from going into the ER is pet proofing the house.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, as a toxicologist, I'm a little biased, but if you have a Labrador Retriever or you have a young puppy in the house, you always want to make sure that they're appropriately crate trained and that they're trained not to jump on counters or tabletops where they can get into something poisonous.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Just a couple of tips when it comes to pet proofing.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I always say if every dog owner out there taught their dogs how to be appropriately crate trained, in other words, the dog loves their crate because they view it actually as their wolf den, then we would see a lot less poisoning situations.

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Dr. Justine Lee: If you appropriately crate train your dog, they actually want to go into the crate.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So appropriate crate training means doing it as a puppy, not using it as punishment, making sure that it's big enough for them to stand in and be comfortable in, but not big enough that they're going to urinate or defecate in the opposite corner.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That means that crate's too big.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Making sure to always leave the door open so they can go in and out as they want during the day.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Making sure to give all treats and meals and toys in the crate so they view it with positive association.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The second thing you can do to pet proof your house, making sure everyone in the household hangs up their backpack, their briefcase or their suitcase or their purse.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I can't tell you how many times I see accidental poisoning because someone threw the backpack or their purse in the corner.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Dogs can smell that weird content that might be in your purse or backpack.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That may be a snack size box of raisins, or it could be prescription medications.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It could be things like hand sanitizer.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It could be xylitol gum.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So many poisons there.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The third way of pet proofing.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When you have those weekly pill holders that have a ton of medication in them.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Well, you can't blame a dog.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Those things sound like plastic rattles.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So when in doubt, if you have a weekly pill holder for yourself, keep it out of your dog's reach.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That means not keeping it on the kitchen table or the kitchen counters where your dog can get into it.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You can't blame them.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Again, it sounds like a plastic rattle toy.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The last thing when it comes to pet proofing, making sure if you have guests that come into the house, that they don't bring in poisonous things.

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Dr. Justine Lee: This may be a bouquet of flowers that contain dangerous lilium or hemorrhagalus lilies that are super poisonous to cats, okay?

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Dr. Justine Lee: This is especially important around Easter time when people are bringing in Easter lilies.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Again, these are poisonous to cats, not dogs.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When people are visiting for the holidays, maybe you have family coming and they bring all their vitamins and their pills and they put them in a little ziplock plastic bag and they throw it in their suitcase.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Well, those medications have weird smells, and your dog or cat may go into the guest room and munch on those, resulting in an emergency when those people are visiting.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So again, that's another way of being able to pet proof your house.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The third thing you can do when it comes to keeping your pets out of the emergency room, is leashing and training your dog.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I'm a firm believer that if you are going to own a dog, you need to make sure they get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Yep, that's right.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That's usually two 15-minute walks a day.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You opening the back door, so they're just pooping in the fence and backyard is not exercise, okay?

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Dr. Justine Lee: We want exercise where they're chasing a ball, or exercising, or pacing, or jogging, or running, because that's what gets their energy out.

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Dr. Justine Lee: That said, we always want to make sure our dog is appropriate leash trained and on a leash.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I can't tell you how many scenarios that I see dogs hit by a car because they were running in the dog park and they ran across the street and got hit by a car.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I will also say that's why my second rule of dog ownership is making sure that your puppy or adult dog goes through at least two semesters of puppy obedience, even if you adopt an older dog.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Remember, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When it comes to obedience training, it's actually training you how to obedience train your dog.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And there's really only four to five commands that I really care about.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I don't care about shaking or rolling over.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Those are just like fun things that you might want to do.

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Dr. Justine Lee: But those are not life-saving commands.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Life-saving commands are sit, stay, down, off, heel, come.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Okay, so maybe it's six commands, but those are really, really important.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Because if your dog happens to be off leash and is chasing a squirrel or wildlife or deer, you need to be able to call him back immediately.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I used to have a dog, my first ever pit bull, who was so high level obedience trained.

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Dr. Justine Lee: If he was running through the woods, I could say down and he would lie down, even though he was in a full sprint.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So unless your dog will do that, or unless your dog will a hundred percent come when you call them, your dog should always be on a leash.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Which then leads me to the controversial cat.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now personally, as a veterinarian, I keep cats indoors because when they're outside, please know that they do kill a lot of birds and wildlife.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, the reason why this is important is I also see a lot of trauma related to outdoor cats.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Even if you think they're, oh, they're just going to stay by my house, they don't.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Not only are they defecating and urinating in your neighbor's yards, which they don't appreciate, they're probably eating the day lilies in your neighbor.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So they're at risk for poisoning.

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Dr. Justine Lee: They're killing wildlife.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And so I always say if you do let your cat outdoors, please don't have any bird feeders at your house, okay?

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the second thing is please consider leash training your cat.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Believe it or not, cats can be leash trained and taught to walk on a leash.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It's quite amazing.

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Dr. Justine Lee: It does take some dedication, but remember, cats can do it.

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Dr. Justine Lee: You can also consider things that keep your cat safe and enclosed, like catios.

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Dr. Justine Lee: These can reduce the exposure risk to cars and poisons and coyotes and things that can attack your cat.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So when in doubt, please consider this.

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Dr. Justine Lee: There's also a lot of stray cats out there that can spread deadly diseases like kitty aids or feline immunodeficiency virus or things like feline leukemia.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So again, we always want to make sure to keep our pets as healthy as possible.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now keep in mind, there are awesome ways to provide indoor environmental enrichment.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So this is going to include things like a separate area for each cat, a separate cat tree for each cat to climb, maybe a variety of different toys for your cat to play with, cat nips, scratching posts, making sure that you have their food separated from where their kitty litter is, making sure that you have the right number of litter boxes, and they're not near anything scary like the water heater or HEPA filters going off randomly.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So again, a lot of great information on how to keep your pets environmentally enriched.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And again, they can be just as happy indoors, again, these cats, versus keeping them outdoors.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When in doubt, you can always go to the Ohio State University website and just Google environmental enrichment for dogs and cats, and they have fantastic information about that.

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Dr. Justine Lee: We'll continue with this really important topic right after these messages.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Welcome back to ER Vet on Pet Life Radio.

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Dr. Justine Lee: We've been talking about what you can do to keep your dog and cat out of the Er Vet.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So we've talked about things like preventive medicine, keeping your dog on a leash, making sure they went through two levels of puppy obedience, leashing your cat, or using catios instead of letting them wander inside and outside.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Making sure we're providing appropriate environmental enrichment, including for indoor cats.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And then, when in doubt, the other thing I wanted to add is consider pet insurance.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, I will say, as soon as I rescued my second dog, he was surrendered by a breeder for parvovirus, I got pet insurance immediately.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And the reason why I did that is because veterinary medicine has gotten so cost prohibitive over the past few years.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And I will admit that care can be really expensive.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, please keep in mind that a lot of pet owners don't have pet insurance.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I think 20 years ago, only about 2 to 5 percent of pet owners had it.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And that is increasing over time.

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Dr. Justine Lee: The last statistic I heard was that approximately 5 to 10 percent of pet owners do have it.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Now, this varies by country.

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Dr. Justine Lee: I know the United Kingdom has a much higher rate of pet insurance.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And I always say, it's really impossible to predict when an emergency is going to occur.

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Dr. Justine Lee: So having a financial buffer that's going to relieve your stress and anxiety about your emergency veterinary care is really, really important.

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Dr. Justine Lee: Please keep in mind that pet insurance plans vary, but they can really provide peace of mind, letting you make the right decisions for your pets.

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Dr. Justine Lee: And again, it takes off that financial barrier.

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Dr. Justine Lee: However, I see a lot of mistakes when people are making that decision about pet insurance.

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Dr. Justine Lee: When it comes to pet insurance, please know that all the ones that I know of don't cover pre-existing disease.

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Dr. Justine Lee: They don't have Obamacare for pets, unfortunately.

00:17:57.972 --> 00:18:03.292
Dr. Justine Lee: So when it comes to pet insurance, you have to get it as early as possible.

00:18:03.292 --> 00:18:18.292
Dr. Justine Lee: Because if for some reason, your dog was already diagnosed with allergies or atopic dermatitis or flea allergy dermatitis or a urinary tract infection, that means future visits will never be covered when it comes to those diseases.

00:18:18.292 --> 00:18:28.172
Dr. Justine Lee: And I'll tell you, if you have a golden retriever who's got quote unquote hay fever, what we call atopic dermatitis, and those are seasonal allergies, that can be extremely expensive.

00:18:28.172 --> 00:18:39.212
Dr. Justine Lee: And over your pet's lifetime, that can cost like $10,000 on antibiotics, on topical medications, on dermatology appointments, on skin scrapes, all these skin tests.

00:18:39.212 --> 00:18:48.672
Dr. Justine Lee: So when in doubt, you really want to get pet insurance before your pet is diagnosed with any medical conditions, which means you have to get it as soon as you get your pet.

00:18:48.672 --> 00:18:54.692
Dr. Justine Lee: Now, please keep in mind, a lot of pet insurance won't cover your pet within the first 30 days, of signing up.

00:18:54.692 --> 00:18:57.032
Dr. Justine Lee: So you can't do it right before an emergency.

00:18:57.032 --> 00:19:02.832
Dr. Justine Lee: You can't do it right before you're about to take your pet into the vet clinic, because they won't be covered for at least 30 days.

00:19:02.832 --> 00:19:05.132
Dr. Justine Lee: So you really want to do your research on it.

00:19:05.132 --> 00:19:13.172
Dr. Justine Lee: And some will cover wellness, like they'll cover dental procedures, they'll cover vaccines, while some only cover emergency care.

00:19:13.172 --> 00:19:21.332
Dr. Justine Lee: Now, I will say, if you have a pet who's gotten into the garbage, and again, that emphasizes the importance of pet proofing, right?

00:19:21.572 --> 00:19:26.652
Dr. Justine Lee: So your dog gets into the garbage, he eats a corn cob, which is really dangerous.

00:19:26.652 --> 00:19:30.072
Dr. Justine Lee: That's about the right size to block the intestines.

00:19:30.072 --> 00:19:36.152
Dr. Justine Lee: That could be in an emergency surgery, and in the middle of the night, that could cost $5,000 to $10,000.

00:19:36.152 --> 00:19:40.992
Dr. Justine Lee: Again, that's one of the reasons why I really want to advocate for pet insurance.

00:19:40.992 --> 00:19:49.172
Dr. Justine Lee: Now, pet insurance is typically a third party insurer, which means you have to pay your vet upfront, including the deposit, but you get reimbursed later.

00:19:49.752 --> 00:19:55.032
Dr. Justine Lee: And the degree or percentage of reimbursment really varies with each pet insurance company.

00:19:55.032 --> 00:19:57.732
Dr. Justine Lee: So when in doubt, please do your research.

00:19:57.732 --> 00:20:11.892
Dr. Justine Lee: You want to make sure you're picking the right insurance plan and you want to pick whether or not you're just looking for basic coverage for emergencies and accidents, versus if you're picking a comprehensive plan that includes preventative care and chronic conditions.

00:20:11.892 --> 00:20:14.972
Dr. Justine Lee: So again, make sure to shop around, do your research.

00:20:14.972 --> 00:20:17.012
Dr. Justine Lee: There's a lot of great websites out there.

00:20:17.512 --> 00:20:38.292
Dr. Justine Lee: In summary, my goal over the past couple of years of having these episodes of Er Vet and doing things that I've done to help educate pet owners, like my great courses, Veterinary School for Everyone, Caring for Dogs and Cats, from my two books that I've authored, It's a Dog's Life, but It's Your Carpet, and It's a Cat's World, You Just Live in It.

00:20:38.292 --> 00:20:49.492
Dr. Justine Lee: My intention of doing all these educational pieces for pet owners is truly to keep your dog and cat as healthy as possible, out of the ER and living as long as possible.

00:20:49.492 --> 00:20:53.972
Dr. Justine Lee: A lot of people get stuck in some of the details of like, what should I feed my pet?

00:20:53.972 --> 00:21:06.032
Dr. Justine Lee: And I'm going to say, I have seen a lot of dogs who have been on the most expensive, best dog food, who unfortunately die at young ages of genetic diseases.

00:21:06.032 --> 00:21:14.752
Dr. Justine Lee: And I've also seen the situation where I've had dogs that lived to a very, very old age on pet foods that weren't quite as high-end, right?

00:21:14.752 --> 00:21:19.792
Dr. Justine Lee: Ultimately, when it comes to your pet, you always want to check with your veterinarian.

00:21:19.792 --> 00:21:48.632
Dr. Justine Lee: My general rules again are getting that exercise, keeping your pet in a good body condition score, not letting them get overweight or obese, which is highly associated with osteoarthritis and so many medical conditions like diabetes, and difficulty breathing, and cardiopulmonary problems, making sure that we're providing the right environmental enrichment for our dog and cat, making sure that we're ensuring that our pets have preventive medicine.

00:21:48.632 --> 00:21:50.332
Dr. Justine Lee: They're on that flea and tick medication.

00:21:50.332 --> 00:21:53.112
Dr. Justine Lee: They're on that heartworm preventative year round.

00:21:53.112 --> 00:21:56.992
Dr. Justine Lee: When in doubt, do what your vet does for their own pets.

00:21:56.992 --> 00:22:00.632
Dr. Justine Lee: And when in doubt, you can always ask them, what would you do in this situation?

00:22:00.632 --> 00:22:03.752
Dr. Justine Lee: Please know that I always want you to be an advocate for yourself.

00:22:03.752 --> 00:22:07.832
Dr. Justine Lee: If you do end up in the emergency room, please make sure to bring your pet.

00:22:07.832 --> 00:22:19.492
Dr. Justine Lee: And I know it's really stressful, but you want to bring your wallet, you want to make sure to bring any previous medical record, which I always believe in having a folder where you have copies of blood work and medical records and receipts.

00:22:19.492 --> 00:22:22.312
Dr. Justine Lee: So you can always grab that in case of emergency.

00:22:22.312 --> 00:22:28.792
Dr. Justine Lee: If you do do routine blood work at your veterinarian, always ask for a copy of it so you have it in your medical record.

00:22:28.792 --> 00:22:31.212
Dr. Justine Lee: Be an advocate for your dog and cat.

00:22:31.212 --> 00:22:35.592
Dr. Justine Lee: If you do end up in the ER, please know there's gonna be a several hour wait.

00:22:35.592 --> 00:22:45.452
Dr. Justine Lee: So I always say, you want to bring things for you and your loved ones who are with you a smartphone charger, a computer, a book, things where you can patiently wait in the ER.

00:22:45.452 --> 00:22:50.432
Dr. Justine Lee: Because just to prepare you, the wait in the ER can be long and it's based on triage.

00:22:50.432 --> 00:22:53.392
Dr. Justine Lee: The sickest pets are seen first, just like a human ER.

00:22:53.392 --> 00:23:02.232
Dr. Justine Lee: The other thing that I think is really important as a tip is when in doubt, you want to be proactive to reduce the likelihood that you have to go to the veterinary ER.

00:23:02.232 --> 00:23:07.172
Dr. Justine Lee: So if your dog is vomiting on day one, you want to call your vet and make an appointment.

00:23:07.692 --> 00:23:11.272
Dr. Justine Lee: Because often times, they may not be able to see you for a few days.

00:23:11.272 --> 00:23:13.992
Dr. Justine Lee: This is especially important as you're approaching the weekend.

00:23:13.992 --> 00:23:19.152
Dr. Justine Lee: If most vets are only open Monday through Friday, maybe a couple of hours or half day on Saturday.

00:23:19.152 --> 00:23:26.612
Dr. Justine Lee: So if your dog starts vomiting on Wednesday, and he's still vomiting on Thursday, you want to get to your family vet right away.

00:23:26.612 --> 00:23:28.252
Dr. Justine Lee: It's going to be less expensive.

00:23:28.252 --> 00:23:29.952
Dr. Justine Lee: In the least, make an appointment.

00:23:29.952 --> 00:23:35.132
Dr. Justine Lee: Make the earliest available appointment and call 24 hours before if your pet's miraculously better.

00:23:35.612 --> 00:23:45.412
Dr. Justine Lee: The reason why I like to have that appointment is because I want to make sure if my pet's not any better, that you can see your family practitioner instead of having to do it in the middle of the night.

00:23:45.412 --> 00:23:52.892
Dr. Justine Lee: Now, I will say in the middle of the night, things are more expensive because vet ERs have to be staffed 24-7.

00:23:52.892 --> 00:24:17.792
Dr. Justine Lee: So the costs of running the hospital 24-7, staffing at 24-7, having different types of tools that they need in an emergency room versus in general practice, like blood transfusions, blood work analysis that can run blood work right away, the ability to get x-ray reports and x-rays done right away, emergency surgery, diagnostic tests that general practitioners or family practitioners don't have to have.

00:24:17.792 --> 00:24:20.112
Dr. Justine Lee: So it's understandably more expensive.

00:24:20.112 --> 00:24:27.052
Dr. Justine Lee: But again, we really want to make sure we're doing everything that we can for your pet's longevity and quality of life.

00:24:27.052 --> 00:24:29.872
Dr. Justine Lee: When in doubt, there are furry family members.

00:24:30.012 --> 00:24:41.992
Dr. Justine Lee: And while they might not be able to thank us with their words, their joy and comfort that they bring us, their undying love really is a testament to our dedication as a responsible pet owner.

00:24:41.992 --> 00:24:50.212
Dr. Justine Lee: With that, I'm signing off from my last Er Vet Pet Life Radio episode, and it's been a joy to work with Mark Winter and with all of you.

00:24:50.212 --> 00:24:54.292
Dr. Justine Lee: Thanks for your loyalty and listening, and I hope to see you on a future episode.

00:24:54.292 --> 00:25:04.112
Dr. Justine Lee: When in doubt, you can find me at drjustinelie.com, on Facebook or Instagram at drjustinelie, or email me at drjustine at petliferadio.com.

00:25:04.112 --> 00:25:10.952
Dr. Justine Lee: It's been a joy being on Er Vet, and a huge shout out to Mark Winter, our producer, for making this show comfortable.

00:25:10.952 --> 00:25:14.792
Dr. Justine Lee: Thanks for all that you do, and don't forget to love up your four-legged family member.

00:25:15.652 --> 00:25:21.612
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