The Dog Longevity Framework, Step 2 — The BEST Veterinarian in YOUR Neighborhood

Hey, hey, you guys! Welcome back to The Longevity Vet. It's great to see you again. I'm Dr. Kevin Toman Toman, and today I'm going to tell you who the best veterinarian in your neighborhood is, or should be. And spoiler alert, the answer is you. Let me tell you about us veterinarians. We are great people. Heck, I've been one for 38 years. Fell in love with a couple of veterinarians back in the day, but I'll tell you that story some other time. But each of us veterinarians has to put food on our table, just like you do, and each of us veterinarians comes to work each day with a knowledge base centered around what we learned in veterinary school or through the school of hard knocks in veterinary practice. But here's the problem: sometimes what we veterinarians think we know differs dramatically or can even be polar opposite from what science has taught us about how to help your pet live their longest life. Let me give you a couple of examples. I believe that pets can be over-vaccinated and that that over-vaccination will shorten their lives. Let's get started. First, I'll use the example of a distemper parvo booster, which is typically recommended by veterinarians every 1 to 3 years. And yet, sti— science has shown us conclusively that adult dogs are protected by these vaccines for between 5 and 7 years. And that's something that you can test very easily for yourself with blood titers. Another potential example of over-vaccination is that veterinarians like me use kennel cough vaccines on a routine basis for every dog. Well, here's what we know about kennel cough vaccines. A, they're not very protective. They only protect against one out of between 5 and 6 different causes of this canine upper respiratory symptom that you and I loosely call kennel cough. Number 2, kennel cough vaccines only last at high levels for 3 months, and so unless your dog is actively on the show circuit, in boarding, or in grooming, there's a real question about why we would use kennel cough vaccines on an annual basis. The final potential vaccine overuse situation that I'll mention is with the canine flu vaccine, which has been widely promoted by its manufacturer, Merck. As of 2024, when I'm recording this video, there are only 6 to 8 metropolitan areas where canine flu is a big issue, and the rest of the United States has virtually no canine flu problem whatsoever. And so if you live in the 99.999% of the United States that does not have a flu problem, I wonder why we're vaccinating your pet against that disease. Another example, I believe that the unnecessary use of chemicals, i.e., flea and tick preventives and heartworm preventives in our pets, shorten their lives. So let's talk a little bit about that. First up, heartworm disease. To be clear, heartworm disease will kill pets. And so if you are in an area where mosquitoes are endemic 12 months out of the year, your pet should be on a heartworm preventive 12 months out of the year. The larger question would be, what happens when you live in the mountains like I did for a couple of decades, or if you live in the northern tier of states where mosquitoes are just simply a summertime issue? Most veterinarians would want you to be on a heartworm preventive 12 months out of the year, and yet to me, the burden of giving our dogs a chemical, either an oral or topical form, for a mosquito population that is non-existent during those fall, winter, and spring months Boggles my mind. When it comes to fleas and ticks, sure, there are pets that flea and tick infestations can create absolute misery for. I have seen dogs with flea allergies rip themselves to shreds, and yet many other pets are not bothered by these insects. And what if you could avoid those fleas and ticks by simply choosing judiciously where to walk or where to exercise your pet instead of using a chemical on them? Well, I think it would add months to years to their life. The final example would be spays and neuters. And to be clear, when I graduated back in 1986, listen, we were told every dog should be spayed, every dog should be neutered at a young age, and that this would help them live longer. Well, science now tells us that's not true at all. And in fact, there are many breeds that if they're spayed at too early an age, they're at a higher risk of developing orthopedic issues like cruciate ligament ruptures or even cancer. And there are a couple of breeds, like my pals, Golden Retrievers, where science shows we should not spay a female at all because of those same reasons. So these are just things for you to discuss with your veterinarian. Now, you, as a veterinarian and owner of your own dog, are not off the hook because you have two responsibilities. The first I would mention is dental disease. And if you own a dog or a cat, or if those dogs or cats own you, under 25 pounds, then your responsibility is to schedule an annual anesthetic dental for your pet. And that anesthetic dental has to include x-rays of every tooth. So non-anesthetic dentals don't work. Anesthetic dentals that don't take x-rays don't work, and you are jeopardizing your pet's lifespan to think otherwise. The final component of this would be your responsibility to have annual blood and urine tests done on your pets every year after they turn 5 years old. And if you have a large breed dog, I would suggest that you add additional blood tests for early cancer detection into that mix. Because here's the deal, you guys. If you and your veterinarian can catch diseases early in the game, your pet will live longer. Now listen, I know that I'm not the world's best at these videos, and I'm working like heck to improve, but the bottom line for me is this: if you have any questions about the correct veterinary care of your pet, please reach out to me. Email me at drkevin—no period, so it's just D-R-K-E-V-I-N, all small—at helpingpetslivelonger.com. We're all in this together, and I will respond. So until next week, you guys, spoil your pet, have a great week, and I'll talk to you soon.