Helping Anxious Dogs (and Cats) Through Vet Visits & Holiday Chaos

Holiday gatherings, noisy celebrations, and busy schedules can spike anxiety in dogs—and even cats. In this episode of The Marty and Laura Show, host Laura Reeves and veterinarian Dr. Marty Greer dig into the real-world challenges of anxiety, fear and stress-related behaviors in pets, especially during high-trigger seasons.

They cover what doesn’t work (spoiler: Benadryl and acepromazine aren’t true anxiety solutions) and explain what can help: structured training, “happy vet visits,” smart environmental choices, and medication plans that match the pet’s needs—whether the stress is occasional (holiday visitors, grooming, thunderstorms) or constant (dogs who live under a “black cloud”).

This is a must-listen for anyone dealing with separation anxiety, vet visit meltdowns, noise sensitivity, or a dog who simply isn’t comfortable in their own skin.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Kitty Litter Box 101: The Real Reason Cats “Miss” (and How to Fix It)

The Marty and Laura Show with Dr. Marty Greer + Laura Reeves

If you live with a cat, you already know the truth: litter boxes are not exactly glamorous. But as Marty Greer points out in this episode of The Marty and Laura Show, litter box issues are one of the most common reasons cats lose their homes — and that’s why this “un-fun” topic is actually incredibly important.

In today’s deep dive, Laura Reeves and veterinarian Marty Greer tackle what every cat owner needs to know about litter box success: the right litter, the right box, the right location… and when a “behavior problem” is actually a medical emergency.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Enjoying a Winter Wonderland with Your Pet

Marty and Laura share great ideas for enjoying a winter wonderland with your pet. From snow angels to snow mountains to skijoring, they walk you through all the fun activities with a few safety precautions.

Should your dog have outfits and boots for the cold weather? Marty and Laura have some pro tips and a few funny stories about outfit failures on their own dogs.

“There are some tricks and tips to this,” Marty says. “First of all, I think the most dangerous temperature for the dogs is right at that freezing slushy temperature. Because if it’s colder, they actually do better than if it’s slushy. Now, once it gets about 10 below zero, the dogs try to stand on two feet, and dogs cannot walk on two legs very well. So that gets a little tricky. The trips outside are pretty short, and a lot of dogs decide to use the indoor bathroom instead of the outdoor bathroom. So that becomes a a problem. 

“But the slushy temperatures are risky because if they lay in the snow or they spend too much time in the snow, their feet or their underparts, they tend to frostbite at that slushy temperature.”

“Speaking of ice,” Laura says, “there’s a couple things with ice and super cold temperatures in our dogs particularly, and that’s snowballs in their feet. The first time I encountered this and my dog just kind of like flopped down on the ground and wouldn’t walk. And I’m like, oh my God, what’s wrong with him?” 

Marty recommends trimming between the dog’s pads to help eliminate issues with snowballs. She also has recommendations for pet safe deicer, so be sure to listen in for that tip of the day.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Shout Out to Our Heroes: Responsible Pet Owners

Marty and Laura are giving thanks and a shout out to the heroes of the week, responsible pet owners. These are folks who make sure their pets are fed and trained and vetted even when times are tough.

This week’s giving thanks charity is No Pet Hungry America.

“Millions of families across the country face impossible choices every day between paying rent, buying groceries or feeding their pets. No Pet Hungry America is here to change that.

“We provide pet food, supplies, and resources to keep beloved pets with the people who love them, no matter the circumstances. Together, we can ensure that financial hardship never means losing a furry family member.”

“Responsible pet owners means feeding our pets, taking our pets and doing preventative (veterinary) work, training even if you’re doing trick. Our responsible pet owners are working with their pets every day some little bit, right? Maybe you’ve taught your pet to retrieve the slipper. Maybe you’ve taught your cat to retrieve a ball. Who knows?

“Our responsible pet owners are doing great work socializing their pets so that if they come visit you at the clinic, they’re not terrified because they’ve been other places and seen things and done stuff. You can teach them some basic skills. You can teach them to have their mouth looked at, you can teach them to have their ears touched and their toenails touched.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Giving Thanks: Science Helps Pets Live Longer, Healthier

Marty and Laura give thanks for recent science breakthroughs that help our pets live longer, healthier lives. From decoding the canine genome to Artificial Intelligence, our pets are benefitting from scientific research.

Organizations such as the AKC Canine Health Foundation support this research which benefits all dogs, purebred and mixed breed, as well as frequently providing information that expands knowledge for treating human diseases. During the month of giving, we’re suggesting groups to support our pets with your donations.

“The artificial intelligence that’s barreling at us is going to be fascinating to see where this takes us,” Marty said. “There’s so much that has the potential to happen here, and it may not all be good, but a lot of it really is.”

Canine genome sequencing gave us genetic testing which has helped dog breeders select for healthier animals in hundreds of diseases. The BOAS testing recently developed in the UK is enabling veterinarians to test brachycephalic dogs’ ability to breath, which again allows dog breeders to select for healthy dogs in their matings.

Tap in to catch up on more sciency conversation from Marty and Laura.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Giving Thanks for Our Veterinarians

Marty and Laura share their thanks for veterinarians and staff who sacrifice to care for our pets.

“We know you’re stressed,” Marty said of veterinarians and staff. “Your pet is sick. You were up all night cleaning up whatever it is that you had to clean up. And it’s really hard to be gracious and to be lovely on the phone or in person when you’re in that stressful situation. But I can’t even begin to emphasize how important that is.

“The hardest job that we have at the veterinary clinic is the CSR, the customer service representative, the person that answers the phone, because they’re in the squeeze. They’re in the squeeze between you as the client calling with a crisis and needing help and the veterinary staff that’s already booked full.

“It’s 10 pounds of you know what in a 5 pound bag. And it becomes really a challenge for that receptionist to try and balance the needs of the client versus what the rest of the staff needs are so that we can still provide the quality of care that you want. Because getting you through the door isn’t going to help you if the quality of care isn’t there.”

This week’s giving opportunity is Not One More Vet which supports veterinarians and staff struggling with mental health crises.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Fear Free Handling for Vets and Groomers

Marty and Laura talk about the concept of fear free handling of pets by veterinarians and groomers. A concept popularized by veterinarian Dr. Sophia Yin, the reality of working with pets to lower their stress in new situations isn’t all that new, Marty noted.

“I think fear free and low stress handling are important techniques. But this isn’t new. And that’s part of the frustration that I have with this, is we’ve always done things this way. It didn’t have a name back then, but we’ve always put peanut butter on cookies and we’ve always put cheese out and we’ve always gotten out the chicken baby food for the cats and the puppies. So to me, a lot of this isn’t as new or revolutionary as it would lead you to believe.

“(Yin) started teaching techniques for veterinary staff and veterinarians to handle pets that came to the office so that they would have an easier time accepting the care. The people that owned them would have an easier time seeing what was happening and the veterinarians and veterinary staff were safer. So I think those are all really important things to consider. Those are all real things. Cats like to bite and scratch veterinarians. Dogs get a little panicked sometimes.

“It’s important to veterinarians that we have our staff safe, that we’re safe, that the clients are safe. I think it’s really important that we look at the psychological effects of our staff because they don’t want to force pets to do anything. And we look at the psychology of the pet. And that’s where it really becomes important is that every time that the pet has a bad experience at a veterinary clinic, it can remind them the next time that they come in, then it’s unfavorable.

“What I don’t like about ‘fear free, low stress’ is that those sentences lead off with a negative term. And personally, that sort of rubs me the wrong way. And it’s not that I think the philosophy behind it is bad. I think the terminology is problematic for me because I don’t want anybody to say, well, what do you mean it’s fear free? Was there something they were supposed to be afraid of? It sets up the expectation that the veterinarian is a scary place and that shouldn’t be the expectation, right? And that’s my concern is that it leads with a negative.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Myth Busting for Our Pets: “Natural” Does NOT Equal Safe

Marty and Laura bust out on myths around “natural” products for our pets, whether they are useful, safe or actually hazardous.

“All the eucalyptus and citronella and lavender and whatever it is that you want to spray on your dog is not going to actually successfully prevent external parasites,” Laura asked.

“They may help a little bit,” Marty said, “but don’t forget just because it says natural doesn’t mean safe because there’s a lot of things that are natural that aren’t safe. Chocolate’s natural, it’s not safe for your dog. There are lots of things that we can put on our dogs or in our dogs that simply aren’t safe.

“Somewhere in the early ‘90s, ivermectin came to market as Heart Guard and it’s still on the market as Heart Guard and then there are some other newer ones that have come along that are in similar drug classes. Ivermectin was a mold found in the soil in Japan… So I think that’s pretty natural. It’s a mold from the soil. It’s not like somebody made this up in a laboratory. Now, of course they’ve synthesized it, but essentially that’s what it is. So, if you’re looking for something natural, ivermectin is great.

“The diseases that fleas carry, that ticks carry, heartworm, intestinal parasites, all of those are really bad diseases. If you’re looking at, well, you know, could I be OK if my dog got heartworm disease? Well, most dogs live through heartworm disease, but it’s thousands and thousands of dollars and it’s really hard in the dog.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Marty and Laura tackle the high cost of vet care, everything from WHY the cost is so high to pro tips on ways you can help keep costs manageable.

Laura said, “I ran across (an article) in a magazine called Money Wise, and it says that half of America’s 87,000,000 pet owners have decided against vet treatment. And it it continues that for many Americans, the cost of caring for their pets has become unbearable. A Gallup poll found 52% of US pet owners say that they’ve had to put off veterinary care because of the cost. A whopping 7 in 10 also say they forego pet care due to financial. Reasons. That’s scary.”

“There’s a few things that have played a role in this,” Marty said, “and certainly one is the corporatization of veterinary medicine. I think we should talk about the overall cost of pets. It’s not just veterinary care, but it’s also the overall cost. How much are you spending on your pet food? How much are you spending on your other stuff? Doggy daycare? Another thing that I thought was a really important thing for us to talk about, it was mentioned kind of briefly in this article, is that veterinarians can do more for pets today, but those machines and those processes and those tests cost more money.

“About half of the veterinary clinics now are corporate and that means the other half are still owned by your local small practice owner, your small business owner.

“You don’t have to go to a veterinary clinic that’s corporate owned. There are lots of them out there that are. And it doesn’t make them bad, it just makes them different. And it means your prices are probably going to be higher.

“They have protocols that they’re required to follow. So if your dog goes in with diarrhea, they have a specific protocol they’re supposed to follow instead of being able to craft the kind of medicine that is based on what your pet needs are what your needs are.

“In our practice, we have a guarantee, like our guarantee is that we will provide you a care plan that fits your needs and your pet’s and your resources. So we don’t have to go through an algorithm where we say these are the things we have to do. If you look at me and say I can’t do that, then we come up with Plan B and Plan C.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.