Dog Talk ® (and Kitties Too!)

#954A: Film director, screenwriter and author Cathryn Michon talks about the groundbreaking way she turned her book "I'm Still Here: a Dog's Purpose Forever" into an innovative film for the 10th Annual NY Dog Film Festival, which is why she'll be flying to NYC for the premiere October 26th — where her film will be the closing one in the program.

#954B: Dr. Lisa Radosta DVM, DACVB is a world-renowned board-certified veterinary behaviorist, who talks about when — and which drugs — might help peoples' pets with Separation Related Disorders adjust and cope better in stressful situations. 

#953A: Kathy Alexander’s film of that title in the upcoming 10th Annual NY Dog Film Festival is a charming spoof on the reality TV show of a similar name.

#953B: Brian Nolan “rescued” the Australian brand Darren & Philipp, and now has a cult following for the matching comfy clothes and throws for the whole mutli-species family.

#952A: Shannon Walker talks about founding and running Northwest Battle Buddies, where they train and pair service dogs specifically for veterans with PTSD — and winning the Purina Dog Chow Service Dog Salute prize with “Following Flame,” a film from the dog’s perspective about one such pairing.

#952B: Susan Groeneveld in Calgary, Alberta Canada founded https://www.sylvester.ai, with tech experts and feline veterinarians, a smartphone-enabled app that can detect pain on your cat’s face with proven “grimace scales” that you and your veterinarian can use to evaluate whether your cat is suffering and find a solution.

#951A: Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins discusses how the veterinary community is stuck in decades-old (since disproven) studies about the negative effect of protein in diets for cats with kidney disease — so Tracie recommends everybody buy two copies of Dr. Elizabeth’s book “YOUR CAT: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life.” One copy for themselves, one for their vet. 

#951B: Tracie salutes filmmaker Kim Best, who yet again has two films in this year’s NY Cat Film Festival (as she has in every one of the 8 years Dr. Elsey’s has been sponsoring the Festival). One film is about an amazing older lady in North Carolina who runs a cat rescue that has adopted out over 3,000 cats. 

#950A: Christopher Berry, the Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, celebrates a milestone victory on behalf of pet owners whose dog was killed — and for the first time the court recognized that dogs are family members, worth more to their people than the original cost.

#950B: Rob Downey’s memoir of a lifetime passion for sled dogs and the racing sport is filled with adventures and misadventures — reminiscent of the tales of the great explorers in history, who risked everything to fulfill their dream of conquering the wild.

#949A: Dr Elizabeth Hodgkins rejoins Tracie to set the record straight about the extreme harm of feeding carbohydrates to kitties, because an old [flawed] study of carb-heavy cat foods is being trotted out to promote and defend carbohydrate-based foods for obligate carnivores. Could the pet food industry finally be reacting to their years of advocacy against "kitty krack?"!

#949B: Emma Sloley “The Island of Last Things” a novel set in the dystopian future, centered on a friendship between two women at the Alcatraz Island zoo, the last zoo in the world, who have different ideas about managing the animals.

#948A: Helen St Pierre, co-author of “Old Dog, New Dog: Supporting Your Aging Best Friend and Welcoming a New One,” talks about her sanctuary Old Dogs Go to Helen and advice about making a senior dog’s life more comfortable with or without the addition of a puppy, and practical considerations about euthanasia.

#948B: Dr. Andy Roark, the “relentlessly optimistic” philosopher veterinarian (The Cone of Shame podcast and Dr. Andy Roark blog) talks about optimizing communication between pet owners and doctors for the best medical and personal outcomes. 

#947A: Andrew Rowan, whose Wellbeing International publication covers the world of animals globally, talks about the wildly exaggerated numbers of community cats and how collaboration between cat lovers and environmentalists is needed, instead of high emotions and misinformation.

#947B: Chas Worthy talks about how he and his brother founded the pet food company Birdie & Louie with the intention of bringing premium pet food that is affordable and accessible to “everyday people” like themselves — putting high quality ingredients inside top shelf design and packaging — to reach people who shop at big box stores and 7-11.

#946A: A story of triumph over tragedy. Jim Scott and his wife Janet sold Wellness pet foods (the very first truly holistic recipes) to look after their sons, who both had been in life-altering accidents — but then created an even more premium pet food — RAWZ — so they could give away 100% of their profits in gratitude for all they still had.

#946B: Dr Cynthia Otto [Director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and Professor of Working Dog Sciences & Sports Medicine] knows a thing or two about the dangers of heatstroke for dogs, particularly ones who are active outdoors as military or Search & Rescue working dogs. But for pets, when the ground and air outside are really hot for you, it’s too hot for dogs! No hiking! No jogging! Dogs can collapse (and die) from heatstroke. Dr. Otto did a study on the best way to cool down a dog in a heat emergency: Dunk their head!

#945A: Dr Evan Zhao talks about developing Pacagen with his wife, Dr. Siyang Han, who turned out to be allergic to their "pandemic pussy cat,” which inspired the two scientists to look for an effective anti-allergen — and they found it in the unique immune system of Alpacas!

#945B: Stella Hayward’s novel “The Good Boy” sets up the problem of how to put the genie back in the bottle if your wish for a boyfriend as great as your Golden Retriever comes true — and now you have a naked blonde man in your dog bed?!