Unleashed Veterinary Podcast

In this episode Dr. Francke and guest Dr. Katie Berlin discuss a topic that has absolutely transformed the practice of veterinary medicine for the better for you and your pet! Drs. Francke and Berlin are both Fear Free Certified Practitioners, having completed all additional education and testing to achieve this title. Recent advances in the understanding of animal behavior have led many hospitals to adopt techniques of animal handling to accomplish everything that needs to be done to care for the medical and surgical needs of your pet, while greatly reducing or even eliminating the fear, anxiety and stress of the visit. Most pets will even LOVE going to the veterinarian, when these techniques are employed! Drs. Francke and Berlin give a broad overview of what a fear free visit entails, including preparation for the visit, minimizing stress of transportation to the hospital, and use of high-value food treats, gentle handling, calming pheromones, anti-anxiety medications, and enrichment of the veterinary hospital environment to create the absolute best experience for your pet, while they receive the best veterinary care available.  Veterinary visits will never be the same when these techniques are employed and that’s a very, very good thing for your pet, you, and everyone that works on the veterinary team!!

This podcast is an update from Unleashed Veterinary Podcast Episode 13 on COVID-19. In this podcast from April 5, 2020, veterinarians Dr. Bruce Francke and Dr. Carrie Jurney discuss the VERY LATEST information available about COVID-19 and pets! Includes a special shout out and message of solidarity to our International listeners! Also covered in this podcast is information about precautions being taken in the veterinary industry to safeguard human health and some information on the new CDC guidelines on mask usage for humans! So, wash your hands, and sit 6-10 feet away from everybody else, and enjoy this COVID-19 edition of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast!

In this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast Dr. Francke is joined by Dr. Carrie Jurney, a boarded Veterinary Neurologist from San Francisco, California. They discuss the current Pandemic of Coronavirus and how it impacts you, your veterinary visits, and the teams that take care of your pets. This situation is very fluid and changing day by day! So, sit down, buckle up, put your headphones on, and join us for this wild and somewhat scary conversation!

In this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Bruce Francke interviews Dr. Jackie Parr. Dr. Parr is a Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionist, one of only 5 in Canada and 85 in North America! She is a very passionate and talented communicator on the topic of pet nutrition and a highly respected public speaker as well! The topic of discussion is homemade and raw diets for pets. This is great information for Pet Parents who would like to explore preparing their pets food at home. What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? How do I make sure my pet’s food is balanced? How do I make sure the diet is safe? How would I go about getting some guidance in making food for my pet? What is the relative cost versus commercial food? All of these questions, and more are answered in this conversation!  We hope you will enjoy this Episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast! Please leave us an rating and review in Apple iTunes, so others will be able to find the Podcast!

In this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Bruce Francke and Registered Veterinary Technician Jamie Holms discuss something that may just make your skin crawl, ticks! We discuss the life cycle of these blood-sucking parasites, as well as the diseases they carry and all the steps you must take to prevent them from harming you or your pet. Jamie Holms, RVT, CPT1, lives in Greenville, S.C. and recently attended Boehringer Ingelheim Tick Camp at Kansas State University, where she got “up close and personal” with a large number and variety of ticks! We think you will find this episode interesting and important to the health of your pets!

Is your cat frustrating you by urinating or defecating somewhere other than the litterbox? You are not alone! Litterbox issues are sadly one of the most common reason why cats are relinquished to shelters, and every situation is slightly different. Stress has been shown to be one of the most important factors in this problem. Luckily, there is help available! In this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Bruce Francke and Abby O’Hare, L.V.T. discuss this very frustrating, but unfortunately common behavioral issue in cats.  We will discuss that most common causes of feline house-soiling, the medical issues at play, and the many tools available to help you deal with the problem. We will tell you about managing your cat’s environment to decrease stress, what really happens inside your cat’s body that contributes to this problem, how many litterboxes you should have, where boxes and other resources should be placed, how to clean soiled areas most effectively, medical treatments that are available and much more.  We will attempt to give you the knowledge and tools you need to get your kitty back in the box and save your sanity!

In this episode Dr. Bruce Francke and Abby O'Hare, LVT will be coving how cats are different than dogs, setting up your home environment for success to have a happy cat. We will touch base on many things including interactive cat toys, safe hiding places, where to place food, water and litter boxes. The importance of socialization, play and interaction. How smell matters to your cat and resources to help you be a successful cat parent.  

In this podcast episode Dr. Bruce Francke welcomes guest Dr. Mary Gardner, co-founder of Lap of Love, the Nation’s largest provider of Veterinary Hospice, end of life care and consultations, and in-home euthanasia.  Lap of Love is a network of over 150 caring and compassionate veterinarians, operating from over 60 locations. Dr. Gardner is a highly regarded lecturer on the National and International veterinary circuit and is a prolific author on the care of senior and geriatric pets. Approximately 40% of pets in America are seniors.  Although these pets are in a stage of life where they would actually benefit from more veterinary care, sadly many are getting less.  We talk about some of the challenges that make that the case. In this conversation, we discuss the difference between “senior” and “geriatric” pets, what some of the special needs and challenges of this group of pets are, and some of the ways that we can make sure that your pet’s golden years are as pleasant as possible. Dr. Gardner is knowledgeable, and funny, and has a passion for senior pets which shines through in this conversation! I think you’re really going to enjoy it! As a reminder, if you like this podcast, please do us the favor of going on to Apple iTunes, or the Google Play Store and leaving us an honest rating and review.  This will greatly increase the reach of this podcast and allow us to help more pets and their families! Check out our website at bayanimalhospital.com and check out our Bay Animal Hospital Facebook page! You can also call us at 989-893-4549, if we can be of service to you.  Thanks for listening!

In this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast, Dr. Francke talks about some of the most common fall toxins that you should know about. Halloween candy, anti-freeze and liquid air-fresheners are among the few that he touches on. Each season presents its own set of common toxins, we will continue this series in the spring with an episode on spring toxins. Need to know what common things to keep away from your pets this fall? This podcast is for you!

This episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast is the third and final episode in the series on pet allergies. In this episode, Dr. Francke introduces Bay Animal Hospital's newest associate veterinarian, Dr. Kayla Wade, DVM. The two of them discuss flea allergy dermatitis, its diagnosis, treatment and some basics about flea control. 

Note:  It may be helpful to listen to podcast 3, on atopic allergies, for background information, before this episode. In the second episode of a three-part series on allergies in dogs and cats, Dr. Bruce Francke, from Bay Animal Hospital, discusses food allergies and grain-free diets. Dr. Francke discusses the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies.  Some of the questions discussed:  What are food allergies?  How are food allergies different from food sensitivities? How do we know if our pet’s allergies are caused by food or something else? What is the best diet to feed my pet for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of food allergy? What about homemade diets? Also discussed are grain-free diets.  These diets are very popular currently, but how common are grain allergies in pets?  Are these diets even safe for all pets? There are some important developments you need to know about. In the next podcast, we will conclude our discussion of allergies by talking about flea allergies.

Podcast #4 Special Report! Canine Influenza Virus (H3 N2): An emerging disease threat to dogs in Mid-Michigan! A recent outbreak of Canine Influenza Virus (CIV) in the Detroit, Michigan area is spreading quickly and not contained. As of late July, the disease is “knocking on our doorstep” in Mid-Michigan! CIV is EXTREMELY contagious, and presents a real threat to our local dogs, as they have no natural herd immunity to this virus. The virus causes respiratory disease, can last up to a month, and the worst cases can be fatal. Fortunately, a very effective and safe vaccine is available, but it takes a month to immunize dogs, so we need to get started! Listen as Dr. Bruce Francke, from Bay Animal Hospital, in Essexville, Michigan, has a conversation with Dr. Bob Esplin, of Sylvania Vet Hospital, in Sylvania, Ohio. Sylvania is a town in North Western Ohio, and a suburb of Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Esplin and his team faced a very similar threat from this virus three years ago. He will tell us how Sylvania Vet Hospital’s quick action in vaccinating as many dogs as possible, prevented the disease in most of his patients, when CIV invaded his community. His animal hospital was able to remain open and most of his canine patients remained healthy while hundreds of other dogs got sick, and many “animal related” businesses were forced to close for cleaning. We will need to take prompt action to build the immunity in our local dogs before this disease invades our community! We will need your help to spread the word, so please share this podcast with your dog loving friends and families! Check our popular Bay Animal Hospital Facebook page frequently for updates. Feel free to call us at Bay Animal Hospital for information on how to get your dog vaccinated! Our number is 989-893-4549. As Dr. Bob says, “Don’t procrastinate! Vaccinate!!”

Got an itchy god or cat? Are you frustrated that you can't seem to make your pet comfortable, no matter what you have tried? You will want to listen to this first of a three-part podcast series on pet allergies. So put your ear buds in and let's get started!! In this episode Drs. Bruce Francke, and Hilary Busch discuss ATOPIC ALLERGIES, otherwise known as Environmental Allergies. Later in the series, we will address Food Allergies and Flea Allergies as separate podcasts.  We will be discussing how to get proper diagnosis of allergies, treatment of the existing problem, and maybe most importantly, how to keep the allergies in-check for the long term. There have been exciting new advances in the science of treating allergies that we use everyday in practice! We will tell you how these advances have been transformational to our ability to effectively treat allergies! We will show you how an organized, logical, and systematic approach to skin allergies can finally help you return your dog or cat to the happy, healthy life it once had!  

On this episode of the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast Dr. Bruce Francke and Dr. Hilary Busch sit down and talk about heartworm disease with a focus on prevention for your pets. Listen as they discuss what heartworm disease is, how it can be prevented and which typed of medications, testing and follow-up protocol we recommend. 

Welcome to the Unleashed Veterinary Podcast! This is just a short introduction to the podcast and the host, Dr. Bruce W. Francke, DVM. We are so excited to get started in providing the information you need to take the best care of your four-footed family members.