Today, I'm speaking with Dr. Lori Teller.

She's a clinical professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

And today she is going to set the record straight on some myths about pets.

Dr. Teller, thank you so much for being with us today.

I'm really happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

All right.

Let's get into these myths.

Okay.

Let's see what is true and what is false.

Dogs age seven years for every human year.

False.

So dogs age much more rapidly than we even thought we know at the end of their first year.

They're somewhere between an older teenager and a young adult.

And at the end of their second year, they're they're approaching early middle age.

And then after that, it slows down some and then it becomes dependent on the breed and the size of the dog.

So bigger dogs age much more quickly than our smaller breed dogs.

So the best thing to do is ask your veterinarian how old your dog would be in human years.

Dogs mouths are clean.

False.

Dogs mouths are gross.

We're talking about animals that will clean out a litter box for you that eat anything out of the yard.

Dogs mouths are full of bacteria, just like our mouths.

And it's a different population of bacteria.

So your dog can give you a big slurp on the cheek and you're going to be fine.

But they're not clean.

Adult cats are lactose intolerant.

True.

So we have that great image of the cats drinking out of the milk bowl.

But really about the time a cat turns six years of six months of age, it has lost the ability to digest lactose.

So good time to cut out any milk if you've been doing it.

There are a few cats that may tolerate it.

But that's a genetic thing.

Cats always land on their feet.

False.

So there's such a thing as high rise syndrome.

And so cats are amazing.

They have what's called a riding reflex.

And because they're so flexible, they can twist when they fall.

But from certain heights they can land on their sides or their backs and they can cause a lot of damage or even die.

So don't just trust that that cat to land on its feet all the time.

Dogs only eat grass when they're sick.

False.

So some dogs just like the taste of grass.

I have a dog like that.

I think she's a cow.

So if she goes out, eats in the yard.

But it sometimes could be a sign they need more fiber in their diet.

They may be missing some nutrients.

But some dogs just like it, if your dog is showing other signs of being ill, if you have concerns, certainly talk to your veterinarian and see what's going on.

So I hope this one is true because I talk to my dog all the time.

Dogs can understand a small amount of human language.

True.

So keep talking to your dog.

I agree.

They really kind of like the baby voice too.

Dogs can learn language up to about what a 14 month to two year old toddler could learn.

So they have a really good capacity for learning very simple language and understanding what you're saying to them.

You see stories about this sometimes in the news or on social media.

Dogs can sense medical emergencies before they happen.

True.

So dogs a lot of dogs can naturally sniff out or tell when somebody is going to have a seizure before the seizure happens.

And it's certainly something we can train and develop in those pets.

And it's really amazing.

We can get that person to safety.

They can take their medicine.

Also, diabetics can have a dog that can let them know when their glucose may be dropping so they can avert a crisis also.

Purring always means your cat is happy.

I wish, so false purring can mean your cat is happy, but it is also a self-soothing mechanism.

So cats that are in pain or anxious may purr to help soothe themselves.

Cats can be trained.

True.

I know that's hard to believe because they spend most of their time training us, but they are very trainable and we can use clickers with them, just like we can use with dogs.

They can learn tricks.

They're really a lot smarter than they want us to know.

All cats hate water falls.

So cats want to be in control of their exposure to water.

They love to play in a faucet.

They may like to drink out of a faucet.

Some people may notice when they get out of the shower or the bath that the cat jumps in the tub and wants to play with the water there.

They are less enthused about a bath, but they don't have control over that.

But in general, cats can can tolerate some level of exposure to water.

And I know cats pretty much clean themselves, but should you bathe your cat in general?

No.

If your cat has a medical condition, that requires it.

If your cat, maybe you have an outdoor cat and it comes home coated in motor oil, then yes, in those cases, yes.

Every dog can swim.

False So some dogs are natural swimmers.

Think about our water breeds, Labradors, poodles, things like that.

But other dogs will sink like a brick.

So our flat nosed breeds like Frenchies and English bulldogs and pugs dogs with a big barrel chest, they are not natural swimmers, and some of them can't even get their bodies in the right position.

So if you're going to have a dog like that around a pool or a lake, get a life jacket.

Old dogs can learn new tricks.

True.

And it's really a great thing because dogs can develop memory loss, dementia.

They can get bored.

And one of the ways to really keep them stimulated and help postpone the time is to work on them to teach them a new trick.

And it can be a fun trick.

Shake high five, whatever, or reinforce some of their old obedience that you may have let slack.

Dogs see in color.

True.

So that is a really old one that dogs could only see in black and white.

And lots of studies have shown they don't see as well as we do.

There are a lot like people who are red, green, colorblind.

So they see in the blue yellow spectrum and their vision is not as crisp as ours.

They do see better than us in the dark, and they're much better at us at picking out motion.

A dry nose always means that your dog is sick.

False.

That's another old wives tale.

And just not true.

Dogs do have glands and mucous in the wet nose does help them smell.

It helps them collect odors.

But as dogs age, their nose naturally becomes a little bit drier.

Dogs that may spend a lot of time, especially right now outside sunbathing or in the winter, sleeping next to a heat source.

Their nose can draw out from that as well.

Pet hair is not actually what humans are allergic to.

True.

So what we as humans are allergic to is typically saliva and stuff that gets in the dead skin cells that are sloughing off.

And so it's not really the fur on the pet that is triggering the allergy.

And there's really no truly hypoallergenic dog either.

That's interesting.

Yes.

You always hear about what we do with the doodles.

Yes, we do.

So there may be less skin sloughing there.

Firs, a little bit different, but ultimately it comes down to the proteins in the dog's saliva.

Okay.

And what about, you know, I feel like I hear more about people being allergic to cats.

Is there a reason because of that?

So it's again, the saliva for in the in from the cat.

And of course, they're grooming themselves all the time.

So you may have more exposure to that.

But again, it varies from cat to cat and person to person to.

Dogs and cats can sweat.

False.

So dogs really are terrible at cooling mechanisms.

We see so much heat stroke this time of the year.

The only place that dogs can sweat is from their paw pads.

So if you notice a little dampness after you've been outside with your dog, when it's walking on the floor, that is sweat from the pads.

But they do not sweat from anywhere else in their body.

So what is the best way for a dog to cool themselves So they pant a lot.

And that's not very efficient either.

So they don't have nearly as many ways of cooling themselves down as we do.

So we really just have to to be careful about how much time our dogs spend outside when it's this hot.

Cats cannot eat vegetarian diets.

True, cats are obligate carnivores, so they have to have some kind of meat in their diet.

They're very specific amino acids and other vitamins and minerals that come from a meat based diet.

And so they cannot live on veggies and plant material alone.

I don't know if dogs will agree or disagree with this, but dogs can eat table food.

True ish.

Okay, so there are definitely some table foods that dogs can eat.

They can eat some lean chicken without the bones or skin on it.

For example, pieces of fruit and vegetables avoid the sauces and the heavy seasonings.

I shared an apple with my own dog earlier today, but no grapes, no onions, no chocolate.

So there are definitely foods that we have to avoid sharing with our dogs.

But if there's a little treat, you want to give your dog some berries, cherry tomatoes, things like that.

And if you have concerns about the rest, talk to your veterinarian.

You mentioned the apple.

My dog loves carrots.

Yes.

She's also really a fan of cucumbers.

Okay.

Are these healthy alternatives to the kind of high calorie dog snacks that we see in pet stores and places?

Yes, they are great alternatives.

In fact, one of the things we recommend for dogs that may be a little bit chunky and need to go on a diet and the owner wants a treat is green beans.

Okay.

So just the stocks of green beans.

Most dogs love them.

Super low calorie and it works as a treat.

Raw, cooked, does it matter?

Either, doesn't matter.

Okay.

Yeah.

All pets hate going to the vet.

False.

So many dogs and cats actually really have a good time at the vet.

And for animals that are a little bit nervous.

The veterinary school our our clinic there is actually fear free and feline friendly.

So that means that we work on making sure that our pets have happy visits.

And we do have in cases that we need to medicines that we can give them to help cut the anxiety we have ways of handling that don't involve jerking them down or yanking them around.

So we really do our best and sometimes will encourage happy visits.

You could just bring your dog and come to the front desk and we'd give it a treat and somebody come out and give it a pet.

And then you go on your way and like, what could be better than going for a car ride, getting a treat and leaving?

So it's not always a traumatic event that brings them into the vet.

Dr. Laurie tell her.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Thanks for having me.

It's been great.