Veterinarian Costs & CBD In Pet Care | SOP Ep. 75 – Dr. Jeff Powers

Speaking of Pets | Dr. Jeff Powers | CBD In Pet Care

 

Speaking of Pets welcomes back the esteemed veterinarian Dr. Jeff Powers. In this episode, we dive deep into the growing use of CBD in pet care, exploring its benefits, potential risks, and the critical differences between human and veterinary CBD products. Dr. Powers, a recognized authority on the subject, shares his insights on the current landscape of veterinary medicine, the rising costs of pet care, and how pet owners can navigate these challenges effectively.

Key topics include:

 

For more information, visit:

Jordan Valley Animal Clinic Doctors

Beaver Island Hemp

 

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All footage is owned by SLA Video Productions.

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Veterinarian Costs & CBD In Pet Care – Dr. Jeff Powers

Welcome to the show. I’m Dr. Alice Novotny Jeromin, a board-certified veterinary dermatologist.

I’m Janet Novotny King. I’m the doctor’s sister. I am not board medically certified or trained in anything but CPR on humans. I could probably do a pet. We are excited because we have a returning guest.

Public Use And Lack Of Knowledge About CBD In Pets

Our favorite veterinarian, and I want him to be my vet, is Dr. Jeff Powers. Even though he’s a Michiganer, we still love him. The reason I asked Dr. Jeff to be on is that we’ve had a lot of questions about CBD. We want to talk about the controversy going on about veterinary expenses. Dr. Powers, to me, is the authority on CBD. He was head of the committee for the AVMA when we were on the Biologics and Therapeutics Committee together to gather as much information as we could about CBD so they could come out with a statement. Welcome, Dr. Powers. It’s good to see you again.

Good to see you again, Alice and Janet. It’s an honor to be back with you again on the show.

It will get you everywhere.

We know Dr. Powers is in the middle of seeing patients, so we’re lucky that we have him for the time we do. Jeff, I wanted to mention a couple of facts that I was uncovering about CBD and get your comments. One paper mentioned 60% of pet owners are using CBD for their pets. To me, that’s a lot of people using a supplement that a lot of people don’t know much about. Can you comment on that?

That’s the case. CBD for people and pets was a big buzz a few years ago. There was a lot of publicity about it. There were a lot of discussions about it. What has happened is that use has quietly increased. The public awareness and knowledge of the facts around CBD have not increased that keep up with the use. It has become pretty much mainstream, as you say, because people are many times interested in trying more natural or more herbal treatments, or perhaps milder treatments that are less toxic to their pets’ organs. Unfortunately, many times, they are unaware of proper doses. They’re even unaware if CBD is in the products that they are giving.

People are often interested in trying more natural or herbal treatments, or perhaps milder options that are less toxic to their pets’ organs. Share on X

Dangers Of THC Toxicity From Human Products

There’s human CBD, and there’s veterinarian CBD. I’m going to call it pet CBD.

Sometimes, you can if you can base things on milligrams. The problem with that is that many times, the human products may have artificial sweeteners that could be potentially toxic to dogs. The other thing is the concern that people quite commonly have. It’s one thing if they’re getting CBD. A lot of people will go to dispensaries and get products that have CBD in them, but in many cases, have higher levels of THC in them.

They may think, “It’s got CBD in it. I can give it to my dog.” The thing is, dogs have a higher concentration of receptors for cannabinoids in the brain than people do by weight. They’re even more sensitive to the effects of THC than people are. The problem is that they can get overdosed on THC. They could also have blood sugar abnormalities if they were taking the wrong product. It is very important to try to stick with something that is for pets.

 

Speaking of Pets | Dr. Jeff Powers | CBD In Pet Care

 

Importance Of Third-Party Analysis For CBD Products

Where do I go? Do I go to my veterinarian? Where do I get that?

That’s a good source. An increasing number of veterinarians are more aware of CBD products that are available. Some may even carry them in their veterinary clinics. That’s one good source. You can also search out companies online that may have a presence. What’s important with this is that you look to see and make sure that you can go to the website of the company, and that they have what’s called a third-party certificate of analysis. What that will do is show you how much is in the product of CBD in the unit of a treat, a tincture, or something like that.

Be careful as a pet owner.

Buyer, beware. Jeff, does every company that puts out a CBD supplement have that guaranteed analysis? That seems to me like it would cost extra to do that, and that would be a better company then. Am I wrong?

It does cost extra to do that. Check in the system if companies will allow you to use their credit card processing system or will not allow you to use their system unless that’s one of the check marks that a certificate of analysis is clearly available to the customer. There needs to be more regulation in this area, but it is increasing that those products do have that on them. Many times, you have to look for it, but that’s one good way of telling.

Also, if a company is a member of the National Animal Supplement Council, like a lot of CBD companies are, they ensure some level of standards that help you know that what you’re getting is what is actually in the product. I run into this all the time, where people will bring in a product or they’ll tell me their pets are on CBD. Most of the time, they’re vastly underdosed. They’re giving a product that they bought that has almost no CBD.

I know people will say they bought their CBD on Amazon. In those products on Amazon, there are no CBD products available for oral use in pets. A lot of times, they’ll have what’s known as hemp seed oil. Hemp seed oil is nutritious. It provides some benefits that way, but it doesn’t have any of the cannabinoids, the active molecules of which CBD is the most beneficial for pets.

It looks like the public thinks that hemp seed oil and CBD are the same thing when they’re not.

You’ve got that triple paradigm almost. They’ll think, “There’s THC in there. That may be okay because it says it’s got CBD.” The opposite spectrum is it’s got hemp seed oil, which may help their coat shine a little bit, but that’s about it.

Therapeutic Uses Of CBD For Phobias And Pain

Even though I’m a dermatologist, I’ve had clients email me. We’ve had a lot of storms in Ohio, just like you have in Michigan. Janet, you’re getting it in Connecticut. They ask me, “Can I use CBD for thunderstorm phobia?” Would you comment on that?

I have a lot of people who give that. I give it to dogs myself. It does work very well in calming them. The problem is you have to anticipate things a little bit. If you know a big storm’s coming, you want to give it about an hour or two before the storm because pets sense the pressure changes, just like we can feel pressure changes. They’re even more acute to those changes, so it’s best to have that.

Say you know you’re going to have some stormy weather for a few days. Give a dose of about a milligram per pound. Give it twice a day. Give one of those doses an hour or two before the event. It works fine. If you wait to give it until right when the storm’s hitting, it’s like any other sedative. It sometimes gets overridden by fear.

Pets almost tell us.

You want to give it during fireworks, too.

That’s a good point.

When you’re in surgery, staying ahead of the pain.

Exactly. A couple of hours before fireworks is the same thing. A couple of hours before vet visits is the same thing. There are a lot of protocols called chill protocols, where you give dogs some mild sedatives to come in. We’ve added CBD to our chill protocol. It seems to work well in a lot of cases, as long as you give a higher dose. You have to give a higher dose a lot of times in these high-stress situations.

What are you giving patients? It’s vet visits and thunderstorms. What other medical reasons do pets take CBD?

There have been several research papers done that show its benefits in reducing inflammation and pain in osteoarthritis. You may have heard this. One of the ways it works is similar to a drug that’s given to dogs for arthritis now via injection. It can treat pain. CBD works in a little bit safer, but similar method to calming the nerves down.

I have some people who purchase our hemp products for rheumatoid arthritis as well because it’s very good at calming nerve neuropathic pain. That’s another area. There’s been research that shows that CBD will reduce seizure frequency by about 50%. Many of us are aware of Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s Web was a company that started the CBD boom because there are some rare seizure disorders in children where CBD is the only thing that can stop the seizures.

There was a good paper out in 2016 about consumers’ perceptions of the use of hemp in animals. The four most common reasons people were using it were seizures, cancer, anxiety, and arthritis. You hit on all four of those.

We have a dog with terminal cancer that we put on a high dose of CBD. Not that it’s curing the dog, but the dog’s quality of life seems good.

Jeff, there’s a written published report in the National Institutes of Health. It’s reported that among other benefits, CBD has been found to kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells. I was not aware of that report.

That’s an interesting report. I’ll have to take a look. I know there have been certain types of cancer cells that it has been proven in lab studies to be effective on cancer cells.

I worry about pet parents buying any CBD, because in this paper, they also said they looked at 75 products. Only 17% had in them what was on the label. Pet parents, you’ve got to stick with a reliable company. As Dr. Powers said, make sure there’s analytical data to support it.

That’s an area even the hemp industry is trying to work on because part of it may be marketing and sales. Part of it may be that even the labs aren’t standardized to the levels that they need to be. This is where Congress has asked the FDA to get more involved in regulating CBD. They seem to have every reason under the sun. They’re trying to pigeonhole it as a drug and an individual molecule. It’s just not that, because it’s more of one of nature’s best herbal supplements is what it’s like. I’ve been growing it for about 8 or 10 years for our hemp plants. We make our own product.

CBD is one of nature’s best herbal supplements. Share on X

That’s one reason why I got into it. It is to trust what we had. Every year, there’ll be little differences. Usually, the CBD levels will be similar. The minor cannabinoids like CBC, CBN, or CBG, which can all be beneficial but will often show little differences. Maybe that was caused by the weather. Maybe that’s caused by the levels of our organic fertilizer, but it’s a plant. It’s like your corn plants and tomato plants. They’re not identical every year. The same thing happens with hemp.

That’s Beaver Island Hemp, by the way, for all of our audience.

We make our chew. These chews are far and away our best seller.

CBD Interference With Medications And Liver Values

If my pet is on other medications, is there any interference?

There are some seizure medications that can interfere with CBD because CBD works on metabolism in the liver. That effect can sometimes be beneficial, especially if they’re on an anti-inflammatory medication. Sometimes, it will delay the breakdown of carprofen or some of the other anti-inflammatories, so you could potentially get by with a little lower dose.

We have a lot of clients who give their dog CBD pretty regularly, and occasionally, will give an anti-inflammatory. Versus relying on the anti-inflammatory alone all the time. It’s a good idea always to check your pet’s liver and kidney values anyway, if they’re getting these products because it can slightly raise some of the liver values, the alkaline phosphatase. Over time, it tends to self-regulate and modulate. It never seems to build to a toxic level. I’ve checked that out hundreds of times.

Have you ever had to take a patient off of CBD?

I’ve had some more for GI. I’ve had some that got diarrhea. That would be the biggest one. We were using a lot of tinctures before, so maybe it was even the oil vehicle. The diarrhea has seemed to reduce with the chews. I have seen a few cases. Maybe that’s not even the CBD. Maybe that’s an intolerance to something in the chew. I don’t know, but it’s pretty rare.

Alice, you’re a veterinary allergist and dermatologist. Say my pet has seasonal grass allergies. I’m making it up. Would they have any reaction to CBD?

Jeff, you probably know this. The one study that was done using CBD for allergies helped with the itch, but it didn’t help with the inflammation that goes along with it. As Jeff and I, both being veterinarians. I’ll take anything that’s not a drug that helps my patient. Also, the main side effect can be a little bit of sedation. That’s not too bad when you’re trying to sleep at night and the dog’s trying to sleep at night. They’re up at 2:00 AM licking. What about cats, Jeff? Do you have many cats on CBD?

We have some cats. The biggest problem with cats is getting them to take it.

Would it make my male cat like me because we have an issue?

There are some cats that will eat it. We’ve been experimenting with some flavors, but it’s tough. You can put it on their food, and they’ll reject the food. I’d say 90% to 95% of what we’re doing is dogs. I know there’s a movement now to do more with horses. I haven’t personally had experience with that.

That’d be a big dog.

Is it a bitter taste that you’re trying to disguise? What is the taste of it?

A couple of factors. When it’s the raw plant, the CBD is in the form called CBDA, which is an acidic form. The CBDA acidic form is good. It’s a stronger anti-inflammatory than CBD alone. However, the drawback with it is that it is acidic. It’s like taking a little bit of acid. It will make them reject it a little bit. We try to do a process where we heat the plant to a certain level, and it breaks down into CBD from CBDA. It’s more palatable. A pure CBD extract doesn’t have a lot of flavor to it. It may have a little earthy flavor, but that’s about it. On the one hand, it’s a little better. CBD is a little better for sedation and calming. It acts a slight bit differently than the CBDA. A blend, a lot of times, is what we shoot for, close to a 50/50.

That is so interesting. For arthritis, you could do more A and less of the sedative. I had no idea that there were so many specific differences there.

I have one lady on the East Coast. She buys our tinctures that are high in CBDA because she said that’s the only thing that controls rheumatoid arthritis.

Atticus Caticus, the cat, I’m thinking salmon.

We do have salmon-flavored oil. We do sell quite a lot of that. I didn’t know if you were going to ask about it, so I brought it.

CBD Dosing Guidelines And Accidental Marijuana Ingestion

I’m glad you did. Can you talk dosing, Jeff? Is the dose for arthritis different than the dose for seizures, for example? We understand we’re not giving doses here to people, but I’m just wondering. Is there a difference in the amount you would use for one disease compared to another?

We all know it depends on the patient, the size, etc.

Also, anything else they are on.

The research dose for arthritis was around 2 milligrams per kilogram, or let’s say a milligram per pound. Some studies show that it worked at a much lower level. That’s probably just the bioavailability. Everybody absorbs, and every pet absorbs, CBD differently. For seizures, usually, you’re given a little higher dose, maybe 2.5 or 1 milligram per kilogram. If you can remember that milligram per pound dose, that’s a good starting point. Especially on a little dog, I’ll recommend maybe starting a little low, even 0.5 milligram per pound. Every once in a while, as you talked about sedation, you’ll get a pet that gets sedated at a lower dose. That’s good in a way. They don’t need as much.

As a general practitioner, I know you see dogs that come in that have ingested marijuana that their owners bought for themselves. Would you comment on that and why that isn’t a good idea to do that for your dog?

It could be accidental.

It’s always accidental, and it’s always the roommate.

It’s never them. There’s no way they possibly have it, but they have it. It’s funny because people are now getting more forthright with that. It does make it a little easier. What happens is, as I said earlier, dogs have more THC receptors in the brain, cannabinoid receptors or CB1 receptors, technically, but then we do per pound. When they get ingested, then they can get very sedate. Usually, it causes a slow heart rate. Often, you’ll see them come in. They’re staggering around. They may be leaking urine a little bit.

Most cases I’ve seen have not been life-threatening in any way. The only time you’ll run into a potential life-threatening case is when I had one case years ago, where the dog was an old dog with a bad heart. It collapsed. Its heart had slowed down to the point I had to give it stimulants for several hours while we were getting the fluids with some lipids in it to try to get that out of its system.

Did he make it?

He made it. A veterinarian in Colorado told me once that he had a case where a little miniature poodle ate a vape cartridge. Those concentrates are where they can get a heavy dose easily. I’ve seen that also happen, where they’re not eating the gummies that the people were eating. People are making their own marijuana butter, and then they throw the leaves out in the yard. The dog thinks it’s butter. What dog isn’t going to eat a stick of butter? They get super toxic reactions.

With Jeff and me being veterinarians, this is commonplace. Janet, could you even imagine some of this stuff could happen?

Yes, because I’ve worked with the general public for a lot. I’ve had some people ask questions. There’s an ice cream shop on Nantucket. Every day, they put up a stupid question of the day. The stupid question of the day when we were there was, “Is the ice cream cold?” If there’s a stupid question, our family will go, “Is the ice cream cold?” I can imagine someone putting CBD in butter.

Brownies, but they’re not supposed to be giving the dog chocolate anyway.

That can happen a lot. They’ll get a chocolate toxicity plus a marijuana toxicity.

They don’t even each other out, the slow heart rate with the CBD and the high heart rate with the caffeine.

The last thing I’ll say about THC is that it’s not totally bad because low doses have been found to be very helpful in cancer pain in dogs. THC ounce for ounce is a stronger anti-inflammatory and analgesic than CBD, or even cortisone. It’s twenty times as strong as cortisone. There is a future when all this regulation gets sorted out for some products for pets that have slightly higher THC levels to help them more with pain.

THC isn’t entirely bad. At low doses, it can help manage cancer pain in dogs. Ounce for ounce, it’s a stronger anti-inflammatory and analgesic than CBD—even cortisone. Share on X

Corporate Influence And The Rise Of Veterinary Costs

Wouldn’t that be nice? Before we switch topics, I want to mention Beaver Island Hemp. I don’t want to embarrass Jeff, but I trust his product. I see how hard he works at it and his knowledge of it. Janet, you’re going to have to reel in Dr. Powers and me because we want to talk about veterinary costs and why they’ve gotten so high. Dr. Powers and I are both independent practice owners. We are not corporate. We see what’s going on. It’s very disheartening. Jeff, I’m going to let you take it away.

Your local pet office becomes VMA. I’m using that name because we have one here. All of a sudden, your doctor is part of this conglomerate. Everything changes.

AVMA has made a statement on this. Jeff and I know AVMA well. Sadly, in that statement, there aren’t many suggestions as to how we’re going to fix the problem.

The problem is the corporations, correct?

I think that’s one of the problems. Jeff, what do you think?

You’ve had a convergence of factors. The corporate influence came into veterinary medicine. It was always there in a lower level, but it’s taken the profession for many and clearly has the goal of pretty much taking it over. Private equity looked at the veterinary profession and said, “Here’s a business with a bunch of very caring people who are very good at taking care of pets and are very poor business people.” They chastised, made fun of veterinarians, came in, and took control of businesses. Now you have MBAs pulling the switches and the levers.

The problem is that the clients are left in the dust because now there are all these protocols, costs, and increased costs associated with how veterinary medicine is delivered. Janet, you talk about dealing with real people. A lot of people can’t afford that. For a while, it looked like the independent veterinarians were going to fade away. There is some hope now because a fair number of younger veterinarians are starting to look at independent practices more. As these corporate practices turn over and mature, they find that they’re not the panacea that they promised that they are.

A quarter of the USA’s 30,000 veterinary clinics are now owned by corporate and it’s 35% for specialty clinics. I get that about specialty clinics because they have MRIs and all these advanced technology things that it’s hard for an independent veterinarian to afford. Having said that, I love our increased technology. What I always think in the back of my mind is if I order this $5,000 or $10,000 test, is that going to make a difference in the outcome of this patient?

Only because I can do something doesn’t mean I should do it. It’s very frustrating. I know that at the practice I did an internship at, they were bought out by a corporate. Immediately, the prices went up. We had a fallout of clients who scrambled to search for other places to go. I will tell you that 2/3 of the veterinarians have left.

They’re finding there’s a lot of turnover at those practices, although they are still very successful at attracting the young graduates because they’ll often lure them with large signing bonuses that make it difficult for practicing independent veterinarians to keep up with the cost. As you said, the costs skyrocket. We went through this little period with COVID where people had a little more money, and they had a little less of other things to spend their money on.

That fueled the flames of this. Everyone thought, “We can keep raising prices. All the suppliers can raise prices.” I know there’s a lot of talk now on the national level about human medicine, about how drug prices are ridiculous in this country, but the same drugs you could buy in other countries for much lower. The same thing is true in veterinary medicine. The other thing that’s true is that a lot of these corporate clinics are buying these products 50%, 60%, or 70% less than the independent veterinarians can purchase them for.

Why is that? These drug companies know that they’re selling that product at a cheaper rate to these big conglomerates. You and I are independent practitioners. We get charged a higher fee.

I could see a 10% difference or even 20% difference. It’s easier for them to ship or to get paid from one company, but not 70%. The thing is, these don’t translate in many cases into any less expensive cost to the consumer. These corporate clinics are making huge margins on these products, which is going to feed their corporate clinic.

I’m reading a Gallup poll, “52% of pet owners skipped vet care due to cost.”

That’s increasing again. It started to reverse. It’s gotten to the point that it’s going back the other way again, which is sad.

It is so sad and so tragic. Dr. Bigge was an internal medicine specialist on the show. She is a friend of mine. Her dog had pancreatitis. She took it to one of the specialty hospitals here, $4,400 for 24 hours. It did get the new drug for pancreatitis, Jeff. It got two doses. That was $300 a dose. As soon as it stopped vomiting and felt better, she said to her son, “Go pick up that dog.”

She’s a veterinarian and can take care of that dog.

It breaks my heart because I know that these young vets, when they get out of school, want to help. They’re getting into a web that’s hard to crawl out of.

Most likely, they have debt.

That’s true.

That influences a lot of their decision where they work. You were talking about that situation. We talk a lot about the standard of care. Alice and I have had to provide standard of care for our entire career. We had people who wanted every last thing done for their pet and could afford it. We had people who barely have enough money to put food on the table, and their dog has the same disease. You come up with a way to treat the pet as effectively as you can at a lower cost.

You come up with a way to treat the pet as effectively as possible at a lower cost. Share on X

That’s a new phenomenon for a lot of younger veterinarians because they’re told if they don’t use the absolute best methods, practices, and protocols that are expensive. They’re going to be in trouble. Sadly, the pets cannot get euthanized because they can’t afford it. By the time they even get through the workup, they’ve already exceeded what the people can afford to keep the pet.

I agree. As a specialist, I was always held to a higher standard as far as malpractice insurance goes. My goal was to treat the pet without spending all of the owner’s money, to try to get it better with spending the least amount of money. Yet I could get sued for that.

I’m assuming, and I’ll ask the doctors. It’s a good practice for a pet owner to do those annual visits because you’re staying on top of the pet’s health rather than waiting until they get super sick, when your costs are going to be higher. Am I assuming the right thing?

Definitely. It’s best if they get examined every year. As they get older, sometimes, we’ll recommend blood panels and exams, even every six months or certainly if they’re on medication. It’s like your own health. If you can catch a problem early on, you’ll have a better outcome. You’ll also save costs because there won’t be quite as many drastic measures that’ll be needed.

Janet, I know that you enrolled in pet insurance for Libby. Pet insurance is a good idea. We had a pet insurance expert on. You have to read through those policies. Make sure they cover cancer. Make sure they cover accidents. You have to cross those T’s and dot those I’s because they can be very specific, where you’ve paid so much a month for all this pet insurance, and then you come to need it. “It didn’t cover that.”

I did so much research. It was insane to pick a pet insurance company.

I understand that because the overall costs of veterinary medicine have continued to be driven up, the cost of pet insurance is going up as well.

Janet, what was your policy? How much are you paying?

For Libby, it’s $113 a month.

You have no declared previous illnesses. That’s a biggie.

I did have to send vet records. I did research on what’s a fair amount. I forgot what the deductible is. It’s not $10,000 because that didn’t make sense to me. Our deductible was around $2,500 to $5,000. You could pick the deductible. It’s what we went through with one of our Goldens. Plus, every time I told the vet I had a Golden Retriever, they were like, “Testing for cancer.” That’s the reason we got it.

Probably cancer and being hit by a car might pay off to have insurance. What do you think, Jeff?

I would agree.

It’s funny because I ran into a friend who’s a dog person. They’ve had multiple rescues. She said, “We decided not to do pet insurance and to put that money aside in case we do have a big expense.” You calculate $120 a month times five years.

That’s $1,440 a year.

Times five years. What if I get a $10,000 vet bill? That’s still more. My business brain calculated it out. The worst-case scenario is if this happens.

Do you see much pet insurance, Jeff? Do you see many patients with pet insurance?

Not very much. Probably 5%. We’re in a lower-middle-class area, too.

As a specialist, I didn’t see many at all. Let’s say you have Golden Retrievers because they’re allergic, like Janet’s dog. I have two and they’re allergic. With my four-year-old dog, if I go to enroll in pet insurance and they see in that history that she was on Apoquel, prednisone, or something for allergies. They’re going to call that preexisting. Maybe it wasn’t for that. Maybe it was a bee sting or something. You’ve got to watch the previous history because they’ll shut you down as far as, “We’re not going to cover her. She’s allergic. Look at her younger days,” when that might not have been true.

It’s interesting. When I called my vet because I had to get the medical papers, they were like, “We have their email. We’ll send it right off at it.” It was commonplace to them.

Jeff, do you have any advice for people? It’s unconditional love. We all know that for their pet. They want the best care they can afford. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with these rising costs?

The one thing you could do is try to spend some time looking around. Finding a veterinarian that you can trust is probably one of the best things, whether they’re independent or corporate. That’s one of the fundamental things. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Get an understanding of what your pet’s medical needs are from your veterinarian and ask for their suggestion. We have a dog with a nasal problem that may have a fungal infection in the nose.

That client wants everything done and can afford that. We did X-rays. We can see some opacity. Hopefully, it’s not a tumor. We have others who can’t afford it. We’ll do the best we can in the situation as the situation allows. That’s probably the best. As Janet said, don’t skimp on the preventative care because that, a lot of times, will catch a problem earlier, like your allergy cases. I had a client. I sent you a picture.

When the dog is on Apoquel, there’s no problem but we ran out and forgot to give it. Two months later, we’ve got some serious secondary problems. You end up not only treating the allergy, but you treat all the other problems that are involved, which can get expensive. Especially if you get resistant infections and things like that. Anything you can do to stay on top of it will save you in the long run.

Dental Disease Prevention And Organ Health

It is like your dental cleanings twice a year. It’s preventative care for humans. As a pet owner, I feel better when I take Lib or the cats, and they check them out. “Everything’s good. They’re looking good.” You feel like everything’s good for another year.

It’s for peace of mind.

Dental disease in pets is a biggie as well. The earlier you can stay on top of that and keep it to a minimum, the better. If we have a pet in for any reason at all that needs surgery, we’ll always look at the teeth. Sometimes, it may be a younger dog that has a growth, a laceration, or something. We can get an early cleaning in. The earlier you do it, you get less gum loss, which leads to less bacteria and ends up saving the organs in the long run.

Jeff, that reminds me. In general practice, whenever we would have a pet under, we always check them out. We’d always do the nails so many times. I’ve had my dog at the specialty clinic for whatever. I’m like, “They’ll probably do her nails. I’m not going to mention it.” No, nobody does that anymore.

I always mentioned the nails because I don’t do that.

I know, but Janet, you never had to mention it before. That’s my point.

We do free nail trims for any surgery patients.

We, old vets, do that. You got them under. Let’s get our mileage out of it. Clean those ears while he’s under, too.

I got to share a customer service story. I had to go for a procedure. It was fasting. I got there at 7:20 because my appointment is at 7:30. The door is unlocked. I go in, and another lady comes in. It’s my husband and me. This lady comes in with her husband. There are four of us there. You can hear everyone in that human practice, radiology, in the back, talking about, “What’d you watch last night?” It’s coffee talk. It’s fine. It’s 7:37. They’re like, “There are patients out here.” I’m like, “If you have a freaking 7:30 appointment, what were you expecting?”

That’s human medicine. In veterinary medicine, they’d be pounding on our door, or the dogs would be going at each other in the waiting room.

They want you to get there fifteen minutes early anyway. I’m standing there, and she goes, “Are all of you patients?” I go, “We don’t know.”

Jeff, I have to tell you. Janet’s been having this chronic problem since she went to Italy. She was on this antibiotic. She had a drug reaction to it.

I thought I was going to die.

She said about medicine. I said, “Yes, human medicine. That would not happen in veterinary medicine.”

You know what they said? I had a fever and all this stuff going on for two weeks. I couldn’t get off the couch on this medicine.

You called the doctor twice.

Here’s what I got. “You had a virus.” I’m like, “No one’s going to blame it on the pharmaceutical.” Let me tell you. It was the pharmaceutical.

Her liver enzymes went up and everything. It’s a probiotic.

The only company I’ll buy from is Ortho Molecular because that’s where my chiropractor gets it. When I order it online, Amazon used to carry it. They no longer let Amazon represent it.

You should check ConsumerLab about that brand. We’re not talking microbiome, but I want to run this by Jeff real quick before we go. The thing about the microbiome is that it’s totally fascinating. I believe it. We just don’t know how to fix it.

Microbiome Health And The Use Of Probiotics

What’s microbiome?

You’re taking a probiotic to hopefully reset your microbiome. We don’t know how much of that you should take. It’s a great study, but we haven’t gotten to the point where we know how to fix it.

It helps a lot of pets. I know with diarrhea. We’ve been using a lot more probiotics and GI biome diets that are designed to help. It makes sense, especially if you’re on medications that we know are wiping out those essential and beneficial bacteria, to supplement and try to get those things going again, because your gut is so critical to your overall health.

Your gut is so critical to your overall health. Share on X

Janet, you’re a perfect example of that.

Lyme and Bartonella. When I went on the two major antibiotics, which overlap and don’t overlap. I had to send away for a special probiotic. That probiotic made a huge difference for me when I was on those.

Thank God.

I’ll do whatever you tell me.

Tick-Borne Illnesses And Difficult Diagnosis

Talk about Lyme’s disease. We had a dog come in, which was positive for Lymes, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis. I always thought Ehrlichia canis is a disease you’ll only get from brown dog ticks. I don’t think deer ticks will carry it. I talked to a client. She had anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis up North from a black-legged tick. I researched it. Apparently, there’s a strain of Ehrlichia that deer ticks carry as well. She was very ill, but she said once she got on the docks of cycling within a few days, she was way better.

She was lucky that they actually diagnosed it.

It took a while, she said, for them to figure it out.

The normal person goes to 5 to 7 doctors before they get diagnosed with a tick-borne illness.

I did.

Don’t get us started on that.

She said they’re all surprised that she hasn’t tested positive for Lyme’s. They’re retesting her for Lyme’s.

Depending on which test they’re using. Right, Janet?

That’s right.

I’m in Connecticut. The Northeast has a huge rise in Babesiosis. My very good friend got it. She was diagnosed. They put her on antimalarial and antibiotic.

It’s chloroquine.

She lost 10 pounds. She’s better now, but not great. She’s so tired.

I can’t imagine how many tick-borne illnesses are at the root of illnesses in people. It’s not diagnosed.

That’s way underdiagnosed.

They tested me for lupus and MS. You name it.

I know they wanted to put you on steroids. I remember you called me crying. I hear you.

The doctor was like, “You’re my only patient that won’t go on the steroids.” I went, “No.” Thank God I didn’t, because it would have only made the Lyme worse.

Does it relapse periodically? I’ve talked to people who say relapse is the severity.

I have not had a relapse of Lyme, but what happened with Lyme was that I have polymyalgia rheumatica or PMR. I had a flare-up of it, probably for about three weeks. I’m better now, but that will continue to flare up my whole life, because the Lyme brought it to the surface. There are studies now. They’re finding that flare-ups of PMR are related to the COVID vaccine.

Let me tell you what I read on one of the medical reports I get every day. The COVID vaccine activated metastatic breast cancer and lung cancer cells. They proved it in mice.

Dr. Powers, this is always a pleasure. It’s so informative and helpful. Thank you very much.

Janet, you’re good because Jeff and I would talk and talk and go on forever. I appreciate the good questions that you asked.

It was a pleasure to talk to you all again.

Jeff, it’s great seeing you. Tell Beth I said hi.

I will.

How’s your new Golden, by the way?

A little crazy, but she’s doing well.

Golden and crazy go together.

She has lots of energy.

Janet, let’s wrap it up. This is Dr. Alice Novotny Jeromin from Cleveland, Ohio.

This is Janet Novotny King from Cleveland, Ohio, saying thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget extra biscuits for your pets and extra love. Thanks for tuning in.

Don’t forget Beaver Island Hemp.

 

Important Links

 

About Dr. Jeff Powers

Speaking of Pets | Dr. Jeff Powers | CBD In Pet Care
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Dr. Jeffrey Powers is a Michigan-based veterinarian with more than four decades of clinical experience in mixed and companion animal practice. He is the founder of Beaver Island Veterinary Services and former owner of Jordan Valley Animal Clinic, and has served in leadership roles with the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Powers has been a national voice in the veterinary cannabinoid space, serving as Chair of the AVMA Working Group on Cannabis and currently President of the Veterinary Cannabis Society. He has lectured widely on the practical and responsible use of CBD and other cannabinoids in veterinary medicine and has consulted with multiple cannabinoid product companies on safety and clinical application.

In addition to clinical practice, he is also the founder of Beaver Island Hemp Company and has worked extensively on education around hemp-derived products for pets. His focus is helping veterinarians and pet owners make evidence-informed, safety-first decisions when considering CBD for animals.

He is currently the owner of Jordan Valley and Beaver Island Veterinary Clinic  https://www.veterinaryclinicsnorth.com/, two offices in Northern Michigan. Dr. Powers was president of the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association in 1997 and has served on numerous MVMA and AVMA Committees and Councils. Jeff recently Chaired the AVMA’s Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents and helped form the AVMA’s Veterinary Cannabis Working Group.  He also serves as a board member of the Veterinary Cannabis Society https://veterinarycannabissociety.org/about-us/committees/, consults for Green Gruff, Inc https://greengruff.com/, and owns Beaver Island Hemp Company ([http://]www.beaverislandhemp.com )  where he grows and produces CBD Hemp Products for human and animal use.  Dr Powers and his human and animal families live in Northern Michigan.

Link for his hemp products: https://beaverislandhemp.com/collections/cbd-products-for-animals 

https://veterinarycannabissociety.org/about-us/our-team/

 

 

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