Transcript
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Have you ever wondered what life would be like if your pet had special medical needs?
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Well, in today's episode, we're going to talk about just that with somebody who is living it every single day, from navigating medication schedules to embracing the moments of joy.
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We're going to uncover the challenges and the rewards of this unique journey.
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So stay tuned.
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You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets.
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We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare.
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My name is Amy Castro, and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for PetAge Magazine.
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I've rescued thousands of animals and helped people just like you find the right pet for their family.
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My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with and even have fun with their pets, so they can live their very best lives and their pets can too.
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Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk.
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I'm your host, amy Castro, and my guest today is Julie Marty Pearson.
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She's a proud fur mom, podcaster and coach who is passionate about helping women share their stories through podcasting.
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She started her first podcast which is how I found out about her called the Story of my Pet, to tell pet stories from around the world, and now focuses on advocating for animal rescue, fostering and adoption, podcast your Story.
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Now, julie's second podcast is focused on telling personal stories, sharing important discussions and inspiring women and tips for new and growing podcasters, which I know.
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As a new and hopefully growing podcaster, I will learn from that as well.
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But Julie's here today specifically because I want her to share her story, so I'm turning the tables on her a little bit.
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So, julie, thank you so much for being here.
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Thank you, Amy, for having me.
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I'm very excited to be here and talk about pets.
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That's right.
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And actually, julie and I met in person at PodFest Expo and that was my first.
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Was that your first podcast?
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You'd been to one before.
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That was my first in person.
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I've been to the one online before, but I'd never been in person and it was great, I loved getting to see everyone in person.
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It was awesome Like nothing.
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Like running into a bunch of other people who are podcasters if that's your passion, and then to find that one other person that I ran into that was a pet podcaster was pretty amazing.
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So we decided to get together and collaborate on a couple of episodes here.
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But in talking, obviously we could talk about so many different things, but I thought that when you mentioned your kitty cat and her diabetes, that talking about what it's like to live with an animal that has a special medical need would be something that people really needed to hear Kind of selfishly from my perspective as a rescue person, because people are very often looking to re-home an animal like that because they either can't afford it, they can't manage the schedule, whatever it might be, or just because it becomes overwhelming, I'm sure, when you have a medical issue with your pet.
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So could you start off just kind of by telling us a little bit about your kitty and the kitty's medical condition?
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Yeah, you know, I have one currently who has a medical condition, and I have had another one prior that had one that we had to manage, and so I've learned a lot about how to be flexible and all of that.
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But ultimately for me, you know, I'm not a human mom, I'm just a firm mom and those kids are my family, and even if I had human kids, they'd still be my family.
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That's just how I treat them.
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So I understand people can get in situations where it's really hard, but for me and my husband it's always been about giving our pets the best quality of life for as long as we can.
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And so our oldest cat currently we have three Our oldest cat, charlie.
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He was a rescue himself.
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He my sister found him in my parents backyard.
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He was probably only about two weeks old, he was barely had his eyes open, and so he was my first bottle baby.
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I had never done anything like that before.
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I learned on my own and almost got a divorce with my husband over bringing him home.
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We already had two at the time in an apartment, but it's as it happens he and my husband became best buds.
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He started following him around like a little duckling as a baby.
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So you know we're very bonded to him.
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Charlie's a great little cat but he's always had, you know, a little bit of phobia, as he gets startled very easily, doesn't like people.
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So, as you can imagine, taking him to the vet is an endeavor.
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Yeah, he definitely goes full feral when he sees the crate come out.
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So when he started having some issues, I want to say now, gosh, at least three or four years ago, maybe a little longer, we always know something's off with him when he starts going to the bathroom outside the litter box.
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That's kind of like his behavior, that he lets us know something's wrong.
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It's just everybody who's listening.
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That's what we always say.
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The first thing if you've got a cat and it's not using the litter box, always check the medical issue first.
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Absolutely, because I've learned through the now gosh six cats I've had in the last 20 years and I've also fostered a couple times that cats innately get what the litter box is and that's where they go, like that is not, that's pretty, you know they get it as kittens, they pick it up super fast and so when they're not using it and there hasn't been other some big life change because you know when you move and things like that, you know they're like oh, I'm going to get Cats needed time to adjust but nothing like that had happened.
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So we knew something was wrong, right, and so he becomes so feral that that first time we took him to the vet to start doing all the tests they actually had to sedate him because they couldn't get to him.
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He has a vicious bite and he will just lock on and not let go.
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So you know, we tried to make it as easy for him as possible.
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We even tried to give him some light sedation at home, like it is water, and he's too smart for that.
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As soon as he smelled that water he knew something was wrong.
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So that tells you a little bit about Charlie.
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He's very smart.
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And so we realized through tests, blood work and they also took urine, that he was diabetic and I'd never had that in an animal before.
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I've dealt with kidney disease.
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I've dealt with the epileptic dog as a kid, you know.
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So I knew things happened but I'd never dealt with that.
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I probably didn't know.
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But at that point that cats got diabetes and you know that was something that they could have and manage.
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So we started doing insulin.
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So that was a little weird for us because you, you know, with your cat at home you actually have to give them the shots yourself and their regular needles and you just grab their skin and give them a quick shot.
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So it was definitely an adjustment for us.
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And and with insulin you have to give it, you know, a certain time every day.
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He has to have it every 12 hours.
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So we had to kind of build that into our own schedule.
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Luckily for me, since the pandemic happened I've been working from home, so that made it a little bit easier.
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And you know I I do travel for work.
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I'm also a dog sitter sometime.
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So you know my husband really has taken over taking care of that.
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Charlie is his baby, for sure, so he's gonna do what he has to do.
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So Over the last three or four years with Charlie, we definitely keep an eye on him.
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You know, signs are if he's drinking a lot of water, okay, something's off, we might need to get his insulin checked again.
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Or if he starts not using the litter box, again, you know what's going on.
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So there have been times over those three or four years we have to take him in and they, you know, get draw urine and do blood work to see, and so a couple of them.
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So we've had to adjust the amount of insulin we're giving him.
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So it is definitely a maintenance thing where we have to keep on top of it.
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We have to notice the signs of his behavior is changing.
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But ultimately we made the decision that if that's all he needs is a couple shots every day and that will make his life be longer, then we're gonna keep doing it and it and luckily for us, you know he's been going on at least four years now of insulin and he's doing great.
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You know he is getting older, he's almost 15.
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So he's a little skinnier.
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You know sleeps a lot but that's not uncommon for cats his age.
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Yeah, you know he's kept his appetite and all the things.
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You know he's active.
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He loves to go outside in our backyard with my husband when he's gardening and lay in the sun.
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So he's a happy, mostly healthy cat and Insulin is what he needs to keep doing that.
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So we chose to keep giving him that and right.
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It's made us feel good, that it helps and it keeps him going and it's given us a lot more time with him.
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But I will say there have been some challenges.
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That's what I was gonna ask about, because I have to say you're, you know, I know you're an experienced pet mom, and so for people who are listening, who maybe aren't, and for my perspective it's like well, you make that sound super easy, like it's no big deal.
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It doesn't have any impact on your life.
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Just pop them with a couple of shots a couple times a day and all is golden, but I know it's more than that.
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So what's?
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What are the challenges of their hurdles and how has it impacted your life?
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Well, I would definitely say the first challenge was getting.
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I do make it sound easy, but giving a cat a shot is not that easy when they've never had it happen before and you know they might be a little triggered from having been at the vet and all of that.
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So yeah, it did take some time for Charlie to get used to us doing that and also for us.
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Like you know, it's hard the first few times to stick a needle into your pet.
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You're like am I?
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hurting you like this is a little scary, but you know it's.
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It's such a small amount Ultimately in the needle that it goes super fast and a lot of times we'll catch Charlie when he's sleeping.
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He doesn't even realize he'll pop his head up like what did you just?
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do so you know they had they adjust, we adjust.
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So that was definitely the first hurdle.
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I would say the next hurdle for us was cost.
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So many people hear about on the news and all over about how expensive insulin is, even for humans, and you know humans have insurance, but insurance people and Pharmaceutical companies still it costs a lot to get insulin and for people diabetes you need it and you have to have it.
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You know new every month and so that was an education for us to realize how expensive pet medication is.
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So the the bottle of insulin we get is three hundred dollars.
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Wow, that's a lot.
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Yeah, how often?
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How long does that last?
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Well, I mean with humans.
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They say you know you shouldn't use it beyond the 30 days.
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Our vet said that they've, you know, had people use it longer and it's been okay with pets.
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They've never seen any issues.
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So we've been able to use it as long as we can because you know he's getting a very small amount twice a day.
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So it does extend it for a few months for us.
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So that does help.
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That's good.
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Yeah, but it's still a lot.
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No, based on the animal too.
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Is that you know a bigger animal might need a bigger dose, or one that?
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Has more Severe symptoms might need more insulin.
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I know nothing about diabetes, thank goodness, I guess.
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But yes for sure.
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So with him, he did start off with like one milliliter and I think we're up to two and a half or three at this point, and you know that's over several years.
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As you know His, the diet, the disease has progressed with him and he's gotten older.
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He has needed a little bit more at different times, but you know it still does stretch out.
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But I will be very honest.
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You know I haven't been working full-time since the pandemic.
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I started my own business, I started a podcast.
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You know I do a lot of part-time jobs here and there.
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There have been times my husband's like what are we going to do?
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We got to get his insulin, and not only do you have to buy the insulin but you have to buy the needles.
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So you have to.
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You get a box of they're just normal needles you could use on a human, and so that's, you know, another 20 bucks a month to get the needles that we need.
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So and then there's, you know, every six months or so, to get him to the vet to check his levels to make sure everything is still going well.
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So it definitely is.
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You know, takes a dedication to do that and we have had to really, you know, work out budget-wise being able to continue to afford that.
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And so I do get it when people say you know, my, my pet's been diagnosed with this disease and I just can't afford the medication or the treatment.
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And I've worked and volunteered in a shelter myself, so I've seen those examples of pets being surrendered because of that.
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Or, unfortunately, where I live, people like to just leave their pets on the streets.
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And eventually they end up at the shelter.
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Yeah, I know California, texas are very common in the overcrowding in shelters and, unfortunately, animals being dumped.
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So I do know that happens.
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Yeah, I want to say something too along that lines of the dumping is a whole another ball of wax, but you know, when, when people call us for you know whether it's a behavior issue with an animal like you know my dog's biting my kids and all my family members.
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Or you know an animal with with diabetes that's 12 years old when it's diagnosed.
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You know, one of the questions people really should ask themselves is why would somebody else adopt this pet?
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Because that's the challenge that we run into whether we take a pet in and we find out it's got a special medical need, which it's just always.
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It's one other factor where it's like okay, I'm now eliminating 80% or 90% of the people that might have adopted the cat if it was healthy, and it makes it difficult for a rescue to be able to take in an animal like that.
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So I think to your point of figuring out a way to make it work, and I realize not everybody can, but don't be too quick to decide okay, I need to now give up my pet, because you know your pet may be worse off.
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You know there may be better options than giving up your pet.
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You just need to maybe get creative, or I don't know.
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it's a challenge, yeah, I think that people think well, it's a shelter, that's what they're for, it's like.
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Well, that's what shelters were not built for that.
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Shelters were kind of built to be that in between place that your dog gets lost and you find them.
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They weren't built to be in a shelter for who knows how long until they can find somewhere else to go Right and rescues.
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Like you, you have limited resources.
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You can only take on so many animals, so many pets and so many medical conditions.
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And I think what you said was important.
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It's like, well, if it's hard for you, for your pet that you've had for so long and taken care of, to be able to take care of this medical need, do you think someone's going to come in a shelter and see two cats and there's one with something that's going to cost them a lot of money to take care of and one that isn't?
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That automatically isn't going to be a good thing.
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And the other thing I've seen is when they surrender or you know an animal's been found on the street so they don't know the medical history.
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So they're coming into a shelter and they may not find out for a while that this animal has this need.
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So you're also putting the pet into a situation where their medical condition can worsen really quickly because they're not being taken care of at all.
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Yeah, you know, even no matter what the situation is, I've seen pets, especially dogs, because that's what's so overcrowded.
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I can say this so people understand a little better.
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In California, cats are considered free roaming, so they're not considered strays when they're on the street.
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That's because we have huge feral cat populations in a lot of areas where I live and LA all over.
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So you can't just walk into a shelter in California with a cat and say, here, I found this on the street.
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They're like sorry, we can't take it.
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Cats are free roaming the shelter.
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I know in my area we have two shelters, a city and a county, and they're both unfortunately, kill shelters because they have limited capacity, right, and so they can only take in a cat if it's hurt or injured, if it's injured or sick in some way.
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Or of course they take in kittens when they're underage and can't take care of themselves, right.
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So that does limit it in terms of cats.
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But I have seen in terms of dogs, I've seen so many owner surrenders and also found on the street where their dogs are much older you can tell just by looking at them that they're a senior dog and they I've even seen one through the dogs can't even walk and they bring them into a shelter and I think they sometimes people think, well, I'll take the shelter and they'll take care of it, but you don't realize the suffering that can happen in the shelter.
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First of all, they don't understand why they're there.
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Why am I in this place, why I'm in this loud, scary place.
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Shelters are crowded, are loud dog sparking all the noise.
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They're put into a cage.
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If they've been in a home, it's very different for them and it's very traumatic.
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And you know and I know, there are very specific cases where things happen.
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But you know I've seen animals suffering in shelters just because they don't understand, they don't know why they're there, they're scared, they're in the corner, they're afraid of every noise, and so it is hard.
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But I what I would say to people it's if you're facing a medical issue with a, with a pet, and you're not really sure what to do in terms of cost or how you're going to manage, it is, first of all, research, learn from other people who have had the same issue.
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You can find people oftentimes on social that have gone through it and you know, look at the rescues and nonprofit organizations for pets in your area.
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I know where I live.
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We have a pet food pantry where you can get donated pet food to help ease with that cost and there are some rescues and organizations that will help you pay for medical costs.
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I know someone who had.
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Yeah.
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I mean we will do that.
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We can't do it forever per se but, I mean that's such a good point.
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If you're getting your food from a pet food pantry, then that money that you would have spent on food you could put towards that medication, and it's Right.
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I think what happens with people sometimes is they don't.
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And I know I've run into this a lot because in my business I work with veterinarians in addition to working with lots of, you know, working with a vet, with our rescue is that people don't want to admit that they can't afford it and so they would, whether it's pride or embarrassment or a combination of both.
00:18:01.171 --> 00:18:05.271
And sometimes if you just say to your vet, you know, hey, I don't know how I'm going to make this happen.
00:18:05.271 --> 00:18:14.028
I mean, I don't expect my vet's going to give me a discount, right, but they might have some resources, they might have some suggestions, they might be able to do some things.
00:18:14.028 --> 00:18:27.097
I mean, we've even done some stuff in the rescue where it's like, okay, you know, sometimes you can stretch, like you said, the medication, maybe I can let it go past a certain date, or maybe I can give three quarters of a pill instead of a whole pill, and that would be better than nothing.
00:18:27.097 --> 00:18:34.369
And so you know, just be honest with your vet and ask for their guidance in that situation, rather than just what we do.
00:18:34.369 --> 00:18:38.181
Sometimes we nod, we smile and we walk out and say there's no way I can make this happen.
00:18:38.990 --> 00:18:45.032
Yeah, and you know, one thing that I learned is not only did our vet try to help us, but my pharmacy tried to help us.
00:18:45.032 --> 00:18:49.209
Oh wow, like she tried different coupons to see if it would work for a pet.
00:18:49.209 --> 00:18:54.060
You know they want you to get what you need to take care of yourself, but also your pet.
00:18:54.060 --> 00:19:07.384
And you know, recently I was going to say is because there have been changes to pharmaceuticals for diabetes medications because of laws put into place that the last time I bought insulin it was only $75.
00:19:07.384 --> 00:19:21.099
Well, when I heard about all of that in the news that you know they're going to lower the prices for people for insulin and you know they're not going to allow them to keep marketing it up, I thought, oh, that's so great, but I just assumed that wouldn't impact to me.
00:19:21.099 --> 00:19:25.809
So when I went to the pharmacy and she's like 75, I was like wait, is that right?
00:19:25.809 --> 00:19:27.114
That's a huge difference.
00:19:27.454 --> 00:19:29.280
That's a huge difference?
00:19:29.442 --> 00:19:30.967
Yeah, so you know.
00:19:30.967 --> 00:19:34.817
You never know what's going to happen and the thing is you won't know unless you ask.
00:19:34.817 --> 00:19:37.993
So I think what you said is so important Let your vet know.
00:19:37.993 --> 00:19:40.203
You're not sure how this is going to work.
00:19:40.203 --> 00:19:42.594
Are there any ways that you can adjust things?
00:19:42.594 --> 00:19:45.826
But also talk to pharmacies, call different pharmacies.
00:19:45.826 --> 00:19:51.730
I know sometimes like a Costco pharmacy is going to be a different price than a, you know, a CVS or something else.
00:19:51.730 --> 00:19:53.415
You just never know until you try.
00:19:53.415 --> 00:19:59.534
And I, you know the pharmacy themselves tried to look up different options and see if different things would work.
00:19:59.534 --> 00:20:01.679
So there are ways to do it.
00:20:02.560 --> 00:20:10.394
It's really just about trying to do what's best for the pet within your means and you know that's made look different for different people.
00:20:10.394 --> 00:20:11.940
I totally get it.
00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:14.971
I would have 10 more pets if my husband didn't say no to me.
00:20:14.971 --> 00:20:22.595
But he says no to me because he knows we already have extended ourselves to the limit we can in terms of taking care.
00:20:22.595 --> 00:20:26.105
We have three cats, one of whom is Charlie with diabetes.
00:20:26.105 --> 00:20:28.092
We also have two tortoises.
00:20:28.092 --> 00:20:36.595
My husband has a myriad of other things scorpions, tarantulas and such that that's his, that's his, he deals with that?
00:20:36.654 --> 00:20:37.056
I don't.
00:20:37.557 --> 00:20:41.210
Yeah, but you know you do have to know your limitations.
00:20:41.210 --> 00:20:53.753
And it's so hard for me doing the podcast, having worked in the shelter for a short time, and I volunteer and help send the all the all the things around social media, media, trying to get people to adopt that.
00:20:53.753 --> 00:20:57.762
You know we can only do so much ourselves as individuals and that's okay.
00:20:57.762 --> 00:21:06.278
But we, we must dedicate ourselves to the pets we do have so that we can give them the best life and we're able to do what they need.
00:21:06.278 --> 00:21:12.231
And sometimes it's hard, trust me, you know there have been times where we're like I don't know how we're going to buy insulin right now.
00:21:12.231 --> 00:21:14.858
But you know we make it work and we do what we have to do.
00:21:14.858 --> 00:21:32.215
And you know we know at some point Charlie we're not going to have them anymore and we won't have that expense and we're doing our best to keep him as long as we can, as long as he's happy and healthy and, you know, hasn't had any issues in addition to that, so right.
00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:40.806
You had mentioned when we talked before, because I thought I was the only one that didn't get to go on vacation with any other family members.
