Heart Health and Your Pet's Longevity: A conversation with Dr. Erin Achilles, Specialist in Veterinary Cardiology

In this episode of Ask the Vet, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus is joined by her colleague Dr. Erin Achilles, Senior Veterinarian and Specialist in Cardiology at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. Together, they discuss how veterinary cardiologists play a critical role in helping pets live longer, healthier lives. 

Topics include:

• What veterinary cardiologists do and when your pet should see one
• Common types of acquired heart disease in dogs and cats
• How to monitor your pet’s resting respiratory rate and why it matters
• Types of congenital heart disease seen and treated at AMC
• Tips to maintain your pet’s heart health

Also on this month's show:

• Trending animal story about how an Austrian cow, Veronika, has dazzled cognitive biologists through multi-purpose tool use 
• Animal news, including research showing spider monkeys creating a complex social network to better find and gather food
• Pet Health Listener Q&A: How to know if your pet is experiencing hearing loss; understanding medication instruction labels; and whether one type of kitty litter is better than the rest

Do you have a pet question for Dr. Hohenhaus? Email askthevet@amcny.org to have your question answered on Ask the Vet's Listener Q&A.

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Transcript

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We want to remind our listeners that this program is for informational and educational purposes only, and not intended to substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis and treatment. The Animal Medical Center does not recommend or endorse any products or services advertised by Sirius XM. Welcome to Ask the Vet with doctor and House. This is the place to talk about your pets and get advice for the top veterinarian from the Animal Medical Center in NYC. Hear from the leading authorities on animals and ask your questions. Now here's your host, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. Hello everyone and welcome to Ask the Vet. It's the podcast for people who love their pets and want the latest in pet health and animal news. I'm your host. I'mDr. Ann Hohenhaus and senior veterinarian and director of pet health information at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, where we're coming to you today in recognition of American Heart Month. Today's conversation will focus on veterinary cardiology, a specialty dedicated to treating conditions of the heart and blood vessels from heart murmurs to complex cardiac conditions. Cardiology plays a critical role in helping pets live longer and healthier lives. Today, I'll be joined by my colleague, Doctor Erin Achilles, who's a senior veterinarian and specialist in cardiology at AMC. I'm really looking forward to our conversation on heart health. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center is the only level one veterinary trauma center in New York City, and we have 115 years of experience providing the very best care for your pet. Now, remember, if you're seeking advice on maintaining your pet's health, I'm here to help. Just send me your pet health questions to ask the vet. All. One word. Ask the vet at amcny.org and I'll answer your questions on next month's show. If you didn't have a pen and pencil to write down that address, don't worry, I'm going to give it again later in the show. So get your pen and paper. After the break. And now it's time for our trending animal of the month. It's time for the internet's most talked about animal. The animal this month is an Austrian cow named Veronica, and scientists have documented that she uses a deck brush as a tool to scratch herself, choosing which end of the brush to use depending on the itch and the part of the body that needs to be scratched. Scientists have been able to confirm that she isn't acting randomly. Instead, she consistently grafts and manipulates the brush in different ways, showing flexible and goal directed behavior. Veronica is the first recorded non primate mammal to use a multipurpose tool, suggesting that animals who haven't traditionally been studied for complex cognition might be capable of intentional and capable of using objects in their environment as tools. The study, led by cognitive biologists, prompts new questions about how widespread and under-recognized such advanced abilities might be across other animals that we live and work with. And now it's my pleasure to introduce today's guest, my colleague, Doctor Erin Achilles. Doctor Achilles earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009, and later pursued a master's degree in anthropology at Stony Brook. After graduate school, she became a veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a rotating internship here at AMC. And then she was trained as a specialist in cardiology. She also completed a one year specialty research internship, at the University of Pennsylvania. Welcome to ask the vet, Doctor Achilles. And thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. So I always like to start the conversation by asking my guests about their pets. What animals do you have at home? Or were there very special pets who influenced your decision to become a veterinarian? Yeah, I think I grew up with so many pets. My parents are both big animal people. Also, from the day I was born, we had beagles. Those were the dogs that I came home to from the hospital. We had cats. We had dogs, chinchillas, rabbits, hamsters, you name it. Fish. So I definitely grew up around animals, and my dad grew up on a farm, so, I think I come by it naturally. Right now I have two cats, that live with me here in New York. So that's kind of my my first personal pets that I've had. So your cats are the first two cats. You didn't have cats before when you were an undergraduate? I didn't my parents have always had, lots of cats, dogs, everything. But these cats are my first pets. Yeah, I didn't get. I didn't get my first personal pet until the year after I graduated from school. Because I was I was here, I was there. It just it didn't really work. I wasn't that I didn't want my own personal pet. But but that was a deal, beagles. What was it about beagles? We always had beagles at our house. Phew. Yeah, I don't know. My parents, they had two purebred beagles when I was little. And then we had a couple of beagle mixes when I was growing up. So they're, they're pretty cute, a little stinky, but, we always had beagles, and then we always had beagle puppies, too. And so, you know, sometimes there would be 7 or 8 beagles at our house because there would be mom and a litter of puppies. So the puppies are exceptional. Exceptional. Beagle puppies are really unique for our listeners because their ears are like little thick stumps when they're born. And then it's almost like someone took a rolling pin and rolled them out very thin, like pie crust to get those thin, floppy beagle ears. But they're not born that way with thin, floppy beagle ears. They're little thick stumps of furry skin. Yeah. You know, I love them. They're they're so cute. They're very cute. I wanted a more trainable dog as a child. I wanted a dog that would walk nicely on a leash. And these dogs were far from that. Yeah, probably not the best leash walkers. The beagles? No, no, no, not not good at leash walking at all. So you have a bit of an unusual, academic background. Most veterinarians like me, I have a degree in science. So how did you go from anthropology to veterinary medicine? Yeah, it was a bit of a journey. So I think if you ask my family, they'll say, when I was a kid, I always wanted to be a vet. And then at some point in high school, I decided that school was pretty boring and I didn't want to go to school for so many years. So when I went to, when I went to college, I was, you know, planning on just doing my bachelor's degree and kind of figuring out what I wanted to do. And I fell into anthropology. It was one of my first classes that I took. And I really liked it. So I ended up doing that as my major. I did, biological anthropology is specifically studying primates, so it is a little bit, a little bit adjacent, related to veterinary medicine. But by the end of undergrad, I had decided I liked school again. So I decided, you know, why not specialize in anthropology, go on and and get a degree and advanced degree in anthropology. So, I did, I enrolled originally in a PhD program at Stony Brook for, for primatology, essentially. I did some research on primates, lemurs in Madagascar. That was my my specialty. But I realized pretty quickly that the that life was not for me. I really wanted something where it was a little bit more tangible. My, my effect on the the animal population rather than just, focusing on research, which of course, is is amazing and was really fun and I learned a lot. But I wanted something a little bit more hands on. And then, you know, I decided to finish with a master's degree in anthropology. And then from there, kind of got into my head that maybe it was time to explore veterinary medicine. Finally. It did have to do, a post-baccalaureate program. So I had to retake all of my science classes. So I did that also at Stony Brook. And then fortunately was able to get into the University of Pennsylvania right after that, and start my, my journey to, to cardiology. So that's an important piece that you just kind of, like, went right over there. But I want to come back to it is so there. I mean, I know a number of people and I had classmates as well who had undergraduate degrees and then had to go back and do a post baccalaureate. So in case we have any listeners out there who are anthropologists that want to become veterinarians or, you know, like an English major that wants to become a veteran, what's that post back do for you? Yeah. So the The Post Bac program essentially prepares you for veterinary school in that you take all of your prerequisite classes. So your, your science courses like biology, chemistry, physics, the things that I didn't take when I was a major in anthropology during my undergrad career. So, basically you you take all of those courses, with a group of people that are kind of doing that same thing. So for me, it was people that were, going to medical school or going to veterinary school or going to dental school, just to get those prerequisites and prepare you for your further career as a veterinarian. Was it hard going back to school? It was, you know, it was very intimidating for me, you know, at that time to switch careers because I was, you know, in my late 20s, I think I had in my head that it was too late, that I couldn't, I couldn't start over and go back. But I'm so glad that I did. You know, for anybody else out there who's thinking about changing their careers, I think it's always harder when you you stress about it and you worry about it. But when you actually do it, you can and, Yeah, like I said, I'm so happy that I did because I, I love my career now. So speaking of your career, how did you get then from anthropology and primatology to vendor in medicine and then in the little cardiology niche? Yeah. I mean, I think the, the primatology kind of got me towards veterinary medicine because I did love working with animals, and I think I already knew that. But once I got to veterinary school, I remember early on we had a course, that was med Surge was the name of the course, and one of our first lectures was about, electrocardiogram, your EKGs and learning how to interpret, an ECG in a patient. And I loved it. I thought it was the most amazing lecture I'd ever been to. And after class, I met up with my classmates and I was like, oh, that was so fun. That was so interesting. And they were disgusted. They were like, oh, that's the most boring lecture I've ever seen in my life. So that was my my clue that maybe I did have a bit of an interest in cardiology. And from there I, I just loved working with the cardiology team at Penn. I think, my, my close relationship with them really helped to, to steer me towards cardiology and then as well, when it came to the AMC for my internship, working with the cardiology team here really solidified that. That was what I wanted to do. So talk a little bit about your one year research program. Was that in cardiology? Yeah, it was so, that was, as soon as I finished my rotating internship, I did the research internship at Penn. And it sort of works a little bit like a four year residency. So you do a research intern year, and then you go on to be a cardiology resident. And so the research year, it was actually so, so awesome. I worked with Doctor Marko Jama, primarily, he has a ton of different research interests and a lot of ongoing projects. And so my job was to basically coordinate all of those research studies, and enroll patients, as most of them were clinical. So talking with the owners, asking if they were interested in their pet participating in a study, you know, doing all of the the procedures that needed to be done for the study. So facilitating blood work echoes all of that stuff. So it was really an amazing year where I learned so much about clinical research, but also so much about cardiology. Just being able to, you know, observe the echocardiograms during that time, and learn about clinical cardiology and then also a bit about the research process. So mostly at AMC we take care of dogs and cats. But what are the most common types of heart disease that we see in the cat? Yeah. So I think cats, the most common type of heart disease we see is called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or HCM. But there are lots of other, similar types of heart disease that we see in cats. And AMC is is such a busy place, we see the whole spectrum. But it all kind of comes down to they have some sort of disease of their heart muscle. And in the case of HCM that causes thickening of the heart muscle, which can over time lead to different complications like heart failure, blood clot formation, arrhythmias, things that can be really scary. So I would say for cats, that's definitely the most common that we see. But of course we, we see it. Everything from benign heart murmurs to really complex congenital cases as well. So then is the dog different than the cat? It is. I think the dog is quite different from the cat. Cats are so unique. The most common thing that we see in dogs is typically, something called degenerative valve disease or mitral valve disease. And that is really a disease of, of aging. So as dogs age, their heart valve, usually the mitral valve becomes really thickened. And because of that, they develop a leak in that valve. And so for dogs, I would say especially small breed, older dogs, it's incredibly common. We see that every day. And so what does that leaky heart valve look like to the pet owner? Yeah. So it doesn't look like too much to the pet owner in the early stages. So the big thing that's going to help to identify if a dog has heart disease is their veterinarian hearing a heart murmur. So that leak of blood that goes through that abnormal valve, it's very turbulent. And when you listen with a stethoscope, you can hear that turbulent blood flow as a heart murmur. So it's it's so important to, you know, see, your primary care veterinarian and make sure that they're able to get a good listen of the heart. So if they do identify a heart murmur, then we can, either, you know, refer over to a cardiologist if it seems severe or if that primary care of that can also manage heart disease, in their clinic. So for owners, you know, sometimes in the early stages you're really not noticing symptoms. So it is important to make sure that you're getting those annual checkups. And then AMC has, a decent sized population of patients that we see that are not dogs and not cats. Do you guys ever echo those? We do. We do. So we have an amazing exotic service here at AMC, and they see everything from, you know, reptiles, birds, small mammals. And sometimes those animals also get significant heart disease. So, we often will consult. I think the, the most interesting one I've done so far was a snake. I wasn't quite sure where to find the heart along the body of the snake. But we. Yeah, we certainly do lots of really cool exotic pets. I don't know this on my own, trust me. But we interviewed someone on Ask the Vet who wrote a book on hearts. He's a biologist, and it was a very broad scope of the heart. And I thought his book said, like snakes have five chambered hearts or something crazy like that. Yeah, they have three chambered hearts so that are having two separate ventricles. They have sort of one joined ventricle that, you know, physiologically some of the blood flow still goes into two different ventricles. But, as an anatomically it's just one ventricle. And, and you can see that when you echo a snake that they just have one ventricle. Yeah. I think for the, the, reptiles, it can be quite hard, because they're so small to really image those fine grained details of the heart. But you can see that it does look very different from a mammal. And when you echoed the snake, what was wrong with it? And do snakes cough because their hearts bad? I don't I don't know if snakes can cough They can either. I honestly don't. I think the snake was normal. I think his heart was actually normal. Luckily for him, but they were. They were worried he might have some effusion. So. So. Oh, okay. Around his heart. So we we took a look and it looked. Looked okay. All right. To the listeners out there, I'm going to write down can snakes cough him and we'll discuss coughing snakes on next month's show? Because I don't have any idea of snakes. Can't cough. I know rabbits can't vomit. They're there, so I don't know why, but I just know that they can't vomit, so maybe snakes can't cough. Stay tuned. The exotic world is is such a different one, than what we live in here. So you talked about the fact that dogs with early heart disease might not have any clinical signs, and that the pet owner only knows because their veterinarian does a good examination. But say you have a dog that you know has leaky valves and a heart murmur, then what is the pet owner going to watch out for? And when do they know it's time to go to the E.R.? Yeah, it's a really good question. So we tell our owners of dogs that have heart disease, the most important thing that you can do is learn to monitor your your dog's resting respiratory rate. So you're basically counting how many breaths they take in a minute. And the reason we do that is because one of the most common outcomes of severe heart disease or mitral valve disease in dogs is developing congestive heart failure. And that manifests typically as difficulty breathing, because they get some accumulation of fluid in the lungs. So we we counsel all of our owners that have come to see us, that have dogs with heart disease, to learn how to count those resting respiratory rates. Usually we say less than 35 breaths per minute as normal. But I always tell owners every dog is an individual. So learn when you're when you know your dog does not have heart failure, you can learn what their normal resting respiratory rate is. And if you're noticing a trend in that so it's trending upwards. Becoming faster than that could be a very early sign potentially of heart failure. And at that point we definitely would recommend, you know, either if they're feeling okay, but you're just noticing a slight increase in their breathing, maybe see your primary care vet get some X-rays. And then, you know, if your pet is really in distress having trouble breathing, then that's the time to go to the E.R.. So just for the listeners, it's it's kind of hard to count respiratory rate in a dog or cat. And we as veterinarians, we say, oh, pets respiratory rate. And then forget that we have a lot of training a new drone. But, AMC has a video, two videos, one on how to count your dog's respiratory rate and one on how to count your cat's respiratory rate on our YouTube channel and also on AMC's web page. If you go on our homepage, which is amcny.org and click on a light blue box in the ribbon at the top that says Pet Health Information. And then scroll down and look for videos and you'll find how to count your pet's respiratory rate there. And these these are we've got timers and counting so that you can practice as many times as you need to until you feel comfortable that you're getting the right answer on the dog and cat in the video. And then you can move on to to measuring that respiratory rate in your dog or cat. I always tell people they should watch the respiratory rate while the pet is on the sofa next to them watching TV, and especially right now since everyone's home watching the Olympics. Probably there's lots of time, that you can practice counting your pet's respiratory rate. Now, you talked a little bit about heart muscle disease in the cat and said that some of the things that come with that heart disease are catastrophic. But again, I want to ask the same question of the cat. How does a pet owner, how does a cat owner know that their cat has heart disease? And then how do they know when to go to the emergency room? Yeah, I think cats are even harder than dogs in some cases, which is really tough. Kind of the same signs that you would look for in a dog in terms of difficulty breathing, are going to be potentially an indication of heart failure in a cat, but the reality is pretty pre heart failure. It is really hard to identify heart disease in a cat, even with a good physical exam by a vet. Because cats don't always have that indicative heart murmur the way that dogs do. So cats can have heart disease and not have a heart murmur at all. So most recently we have, you know, some blood tests that we can use to look at, markers of heart disease in cats. And I think the recommendation at least for, for me, because I'm a crazy cat owner, I usually check that blood marker. It's called a BMP with the yearly bloodwork. And if that number is elevated, then that's, that's an indication to go ahead and see a cardiologist and make sure that your cat doesn't have heart disease. But truly, it is really tough, to identify in cats, the American Animal Hospital Association, which oh, by the way, AMC just got credited this week. So hot and hot off the press. Newsflash. And the American Animal Hospital Association annual exam guidelines for, dogs and cats suggest an annual, BNP. So what you do for your cat is not crazy, but is what is recommended by American Animal Hospital Association. Yeah, well, my cats are only two, so it might be a little crazy for me, but my pet might be. But but that's okay. That's okay. Because they're. I'm sure they're very cute and very destructive. Where did they come from? Both of them were, like, rescued from the streets. So one of my cats was found under a park bench in Maryland with a, bite wound on his belly. And one of my friends rehabilitated him, and and I got him from from her. And then the other one was born in one of our techs garages at ten. Just a random stray cat in the garage. Yeah. Random stray cat in the garage. So were the kittens friendly or were they kind of, like, defensive? Because they were sort of kind of feral? Yeah, they were nervous, but they were they were pretty friendly. Surprisingly. So I think because the, the tech brought them in basically the day they were born, she found them right away. So they were a little nervous, but not feral, which was good. Yeah, I yeah, they both feral kittens are so tough. Completely tough. So earlier you talked about, sometimes at AMC, we see dogs with congenital abnormalities, which that's a word that a lot of pet owners don't understand, but it means a problem that's present at or short or discovered shortly after birth. So and back in the day, we might have called them birth defects. So what kind of of congenital abnormalities do we take care of at AMC? Yeah, I think the most common that we see are going to be something called a patent ductus arteriosus. So that's an abnormal connection between two of the great vessels of the heart, the aorta and the pulmonary artery. And it's something that's normal in in fetal animals. So when they're before they're born, it's a normal structure and it's supposed to close when they're born, but sometimes it doesn't. And so that is, is probably one of the most common that we see, that fortunately can be corrected surgically or with a procedure where we put a device in there. I think the most. So the next most common is something called pulmonic stenosis. And what that is, is one of the heart valves. The pulmonary valve, is really thickened and abnormal at birth. And because of that, blood doesn't flow very well out of the heart and into the lungs. And so luckily for us, that is also, a procedure we can do a procedure to help, correct that valve as well. And what is that procedure involved for? For the little I'm sure these pets are little tikes, tiny ones because it's found early usually. Yeah. So for the, the pulmonic stenosis, the procedure involves basically placing some catheters down into the heart and, placing a balloon in that abnormal valve. And what we do is we just blow up that balloon to help open up that synodic valve, take that balloon out, and then the dog is good to go there. Valve, is is open and not obstructive. And what about the PDAs? The PDAs? It depends on if they're really little guys. Which is the case, a lot of, a lot of the time, if they're very small, we'll send them to a surgeon. And the surgeon will just tie off that abnormal vessel and close it off with, some suture. If they're a little bit bigger than cardiology can do it, ourselves. And we place something called an AC audio device. It's just a small little plug that you put inside that vessel to block it up. So a very, very interesting and cool procedures and those procedures are cardiology does don't really involve like, surgery. Exactly. Right. Right. Yeah. So if we're able to do it, cardiology, it's called interventional. Essentially. And so we're just making a really, really small incision in over a vessel, and then using catheters to do the procedure. And so, they really only have to have a couple of a couple of stitches, if any, afterwards, which is really neat. So since this is heart month, what advice do you have for pet owners to keep their pets hearts healthy? Yeah, I think the, the most basic is you give your dogs their heartworm preventative. You know, we didn't really talk too much about heartworm disease, but that is something that, we see even here up in the North, you know, much more common down in the south. But, it can be certainly transmitted up in the northern climates as well. And we do see it frequently. So make sure you're giving your dog their monthly heartworm preventative. You know, I think that other things healthy diet, normal exercise, things like that, just to keep your, your dogs, heart healthy. And then like we talked about before, just make sure you're getting your checkups with your, your primary care vet, to identify these problems early. Do you recommend year round to heartworm preventative? I do, and I think that's somewhat of a misconception of the public. Because, you know, as we have global warming, the heartworms are spread by mosquitoes and then the mosquitoes are around more of the year. And so that puts your pet at risk more of the time. And then if it was me, I would say, oh, yeah, I need to start the heartburn medicine in April, say. And then it would be May before I would remember to do it. Exactly. That leaves your pet at risk. And the other thing that people do a lot in New York and I think extra because it's been under 32 degrees for ten consecutive days in New York City, is they go to Florida and Florida has I'm sure Florida has heartworms year round, right? I would think so, yeah. So so then you take your dog to Florida. Oops. And you forget to put it on the heartworm preventative. And then if it gets heartworms in Florida it's a problem. So there are a lot of really good reasons to have your pet on preventative year round. And also be sure that in that annual checkup that your pet gets its annual, blood test. To be sure, they didn't pick up heartworm somewhere because heartworm preventative is really good. But no medication is 100% effective. So I think that those are really good pieces of advice for us. So we're almost out of time with Doctor Achilles today, but do you have any last words of wisdom for our audience out there? Yeah, I mean, I think that, Cardiology, it's such a cool, it's such a cool thing that we have in veterinary medicine. You know, we didn't always have these this amazing technology where we can perform an echocardiogram, we can do these surgeries. So I would say, you know, don't forget about us. You know, if your pet does have a murmur, or needs to be seen, Cardiology at the AMC. We have such a big team. We have a bunch of cardiologists now, and we we really love meeting people in the community and getting to to get to know you and your pet. So, come see us if your pet has any issues. Oh, I think that's a great way to end our discussion. Thank you so much to Doctor Erin Achilles from AMC's cardiology department for joining me today. Yes. Thank you so much. I know keeping your pet healthy is very important to you. And with that said, I hope you'll reach out to me if you have questions about your pets health, and I'll respond to your question on next month's. As of that podcast, just email me at Asked the vet at AMC and y.org. We have a short break coming up, but stay tuned because there are lots of interesting animal news stories when we return. We're back with Doctor and Ho and House on Ask the Vet. Hi everyone and welcome back to Ask the Vet. It's time for the animal news. It's time for animal headlines. The biggest animal news from across the world. Our first story today is another one on animal cognition. A new study found that Geoffrey's spider monkeys living around Punto Laguna Lake on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula aren't just foraging at random. They're gathering and sharing both information and food. They share information about where the best food trees are, and then go to harvest the food from those trees. Scientists carefully watch the spider monkeys, noticing that they constantly joined and left and rejoined groups, creating complex social networks where they all exchanged information about food. While surprising, their behavior, makes sense. By operating as a collective, the group develops a much better understanding about where to find it necessary food stuffs. Then entering spider monkey could, on its own. And this one goes back to our guests alma mater. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine have been testing whether humans use sarcoma. An aggressive and almost fatal cancer in dogs has a signature scent. And this is really important work because it's very difficult sometimes to identify her manju sarcoma before this cancer has spread widely throughout the body. So Penn has a working dog center where they teach dogs to smell different things for detection. So we think of bomb sniffing dogs, but these are often detecting medical problems. So at Penn's Working Dog's Center, five bio detection dogs were recruited into this study, and they were allowed to sniff blood samples from dogs with juice or chroma blood samples from other dogs with other illnesses, and then healthy dogs and using only their noses. These five bio detection dogs were able to reliably single out the samples linked to her manju sarcoma. 70% of the time. And this finding suggests that, in fact, there is a distinct scent associated with this almost always fatal cancer. The hope of this research is that by understanding her use, her signature scent that we can develop screening tools, giving dogs a better chance of treatment before it's too late. And what they're doing with these samples, then, is they're running them through special, testing to try and figure out what the scent is that the dogs are detecting. And then they're developing what is like an artificial intelligence nose. So a machine that can pick out the scent that the dogs are detecting. And then that can be used as a diagnostic tool. So it's actually really cool, how this work is being expanded on. And our final article today, is about polar bears. We know we always talk about polar bears when we think about climate change, because their habitat is shrinking due to melting ice in the Arctic, and there are always concerns about polar bears future. Most scientists expected that polar bears would become thinner and struggle to maintain their weight. But a recent study of polar bears around Svalbard, Norway, found just the opposite that on average, the population of polar bears are gaining body fat, which seems counterintuitive, but researchers think this may be due to a change in the polar bear diet. They're more able now to catch land based food like reindeer and seals, which polar bears normally eat, maybe even easier to catch. As ice patches get smaller so scientists warn that polar bears gaining weight does not mean they're safe. It simply may indicate that the polar bears are having a diet change secondary to climate change, and that that may not be sustainable over time. So more to come, I'm sure, on the polar bears, but this is a really interesting story. And now it's time for questions from our listeners. Our first question comes from Deborah in Manhattan. Deborah asks, my 14 year old cat doesn't always respond when I come into the room or call her. How can I tell if she's just ignoring me or is losing her hearing what they're testing? Confirm it. And if she's losing her hearing, is there anything I should do to make sure she's okay? So first, bear testing does not involve a large furry mammal. Bear testing stands for brain stem auditory evoked response testing. And that's the test that veterinarians have to use to determine if a pet's losing its hearing. Because unlike us, you can't say, do you hear that? Beep? Raise your hand. Raise your hand. You you have to measure the brainwaves associated with hearing. So it's a little bit different, but it is a hearing test. So I think the first thing about a pet who seems not to be hearing would be to make sure that that pet doesn't have an ear infection, because ear infections can temporarily, inhibit a pet's ability to hear. And if the ears are good, then yes. A brainstem auditory evoked response test would likely answer the question. And that test is usually done by a neurologist specialist. It's something our neurologist at AMC can do. The other thing that I noticed in your question was that you say she doesn't always respond, which suggests sometimes she does. And so one thing to keep in mind is maybe she's ignoring you. That's possible. She is a cat, but it's also possible that she has hearing loss only in one ear. And so if the bad ear is turned towards you, maybe she just isn't hearing what you say and that if you talk to her other side, she would hear you. So pay a little bit of attention to when she seems to be not hearing you. And if it always is, because she's got her left side towards you, maybe she just has hearing loss in a single ear. So good luck with your kitty, and I hope that you can sort out what's going on with her. Our next question comes from Amy. See? And the question is, I'm confused by medication instructions that say with food or without food, does that mean a full meal or can it be a treat? And if it says without food, it's a pill pocket or a little cheese cell? Okay. Because that's the only way my dog will take it. So, Amy, this is a really common question, and it has to do with the fact that some medications are absorbed into the body better on an empty stomach and some are absorbed better with food. And that's why different medications say, with food, others say without food. So veterinarians understand that your dog will not take a pill if it's not in a pill pocket or in a little bit of cheese or butter or something. Liverwurst. And we understand that. And so just enough to wrap the pill up and convince your dog to eat it is fine and okay. But if it says feed your dog, it needs to be more than one little teeny tiny treat you want, you know, a handful of biscuits, a handful of dried dog food, a small meatball or two of canned food. But it needs to be more than just one little treat because you want that digestive process to start. Because that helps the medication to be absorbed. So I hope that answers your question, Amy. And, put your mind at ease that if you have to give a pill pocket, a little cheese, all will be well. And our last question today is from Linda L Linda asks. There are so many different kinds of kitty litter. Is one type better than the other? This was a question I got asked this morning in the clinic. And the owner changed the kitty litter and the cat started peeing outside the box. So what that tells you is that cats have litter preferences. Cats also have box preferences. And if your cat is using the litter and the litter is still available to purchase, I would say never change. The cat litter because that sometimes will cause the cat to decide they don't want to pee in the box anymore. Now if the litter goes off the market, okay then then you're going to have to change. What I would say is that not only do cats have preferences, but people have preferences too. So I happen to like clumping cat litter. But when I've got my little foster kittens who are just learning to use the litter box, they they will test it out and eat the cat litter. And I'm really, really worried that kittens who were eating cat litter, it might form a clump and cause an obstruction in their intestine. So for kittens, I would never use clumping litter because I don't want them eating it and developing a problem. So for kittens, I use, litter with bigger pieces like, the yesterday's news, which is recycled newspaper litter because they it's too big for them to eat. But I'll tell you that some cats don't like the feel of that litter on their feet, and they like litter that's digable more so than yesterday's news is. So you just have to kind of pay attention to your cat. Now, if you have a household that's focused on sustainability, then you might not use clay litter because clay litter is not biodegradable. It's going to sit in the landfill forever. And so if you're worried about biodegradability, then you might choose the recycled newspaper litter or a pine based litter. And I think there's some corn litter and tofu litter. There's a whole bunch of other biodegradable litter. So if sustainability is your thing, then clay is not the litter for your cat. And then always remember about cat boxes. Bigger is better. Who doesn't want a bigger bathroom? I've got like a teeny tiny New York City bathroom and I just die every time I see someone else's, like, really big bathroom. You also need a box per cat plus one. That means if you have one cat, you need two boxes. If you have two cats, you need three boxes. This is really hard in New York City. I know, but cats can become territorial about boxes. Cats might not want to use a box. It's been peed in and waiting for you to scoop the clumps out of there. So litter box cleanliness is also very important to cats, probably because cats think they're gods and godliness is next to cleanliness in their mind, and they don't want an icky box. So I hope that that answers your question in a very long way, Linda. But it's really important to make sure that your has a box that they like. And we're going to take another short break. And when we come back, we'll have important information from AMC's Usdan Institute. We're back with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back to our third segment of Ask the Vet, where we talk about important information from AMC's Usdan Institute for Animal Health education. When it comes to your pet's health, dental care is often overlooked. And in addition to being hurt, month February is National Pet Dental Health Month, a reminder of how important oral care is to your pet's overall well-being? Dental disease is common in both dogs and cats, and untreated can cause pain, tooth loss, and infection. Brushing your pet's teeth daily with a soft bristle toothbrush and a pet safe toothpaste is one of the best ways to protect their oral health. When choosing two toys, avoid hard items like bones or nylon toys, which can damage teeth. A good rule of thumb is if you can't dent the toy with your fingernail, then the toy is too hard. Regular veterinary dental exams, as part of what Doctor Achilles said earlier, was that your pet needs to see its primary care veterinarian once a year, and then that visit your veterinarian will probably look in the mouth and make an assessment as to whether or not there are dental issues that need to be addressed. Bad breath should not be ignored because it's a sign of dental and periodontal disease in pets. Look for products with the veterinary Oral Health Council's Seal of approval, which will be the v o h c seal to support your pet's dental health by choosing these particular approved products. If you want to learn more about dental health in dogs and cats, the Houston Institute is hosting a free webinar on signs, treatment and at home care for your pet, and that event will be Thursday, February 26th at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, held on zoom. The session will be led by Doctor Brad Cingolani, resident veterinarian and AMC’s Dentistry and Oral surgery service Dr. Cingolani will discuss common dental conditions in dogs and cats, review signs that indicate there's a problem, and explain what to expect from a dental exam, and he'll also share practical tips pet owners can take at home to promote healthier teeth and gums. The webinar, as always, is free, but you must register so we can send you the zoom link. If you want to register. Simply go to www.amcny.org/events. I want to take this minute to thank Doctor Erin Achilles from AMC's Cardiology Service for joining me today to help celebrate American Heart Month. Don't forget, if you want to know more about your pets well-being or looking for pet health advice, email me and I'll answer your question on next month after that show. The email is Ask the Vet at AMCNY .org. This podcast is available on the Sirius XM app across all major podcast platforms, and also on AMC's website. All of this thanks to AMC's long standing partnership with Sirius XM. Don't forget to follow us on social media on Facebook. It's the Animal Medical Center and on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. It's at @AMCNY. It'd be great if you could take a moment to give the Ask the Vet podcast a review. And don't forget to like and subscribe so you receive new episodes. And finally, I hope you'll all join me again next month for another episode of Ask the Vet. Thanks everyone and stay warm.