My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog

A study landed on my desk a few weeks ago and I have not been able to stop thinking about it.
If you have a puppy, a young dog, or you know someone who does, this minisode is for you. It is about parvovirus, one of the scariest and most deadly diseases in young dogs, and a new study showing exactly what can be added to the standard of care to give puppies a better shot at survival, and at a fraction of the cost.
The study, a double blinded, placebo controlled trial out of Ohio State University, looked at fecal microbiota transplant, also called microbiome restoration therapy, added on top of standard hospitalization for parvo. Not instead of it. The results are hard to ignore, and so is the part of the story about cost, because for many families, cost is the difference between treating their dog and losing them.
I am sharing this now, before you ever need it, in the hope that you never do. But if you do, I want you to already know this exists.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ Parvovirus destroys the gut lining and wipes out the beneficial bacteria living there. That terrain, not just the virus itself, is largely why puppies crash so fast.
✨ Fecal microbiota transplant, FMT, works by reintroducing healthy, screened donor microbiome material into the sick puppy's gut to rebuild that destroyed terrain, rather than only fighting the virus directly.
✨ In the study, the treatment group received one rectal FMT infusion at admission plus two weeks of oral capsules, in addition to full standard hospital care. The placebo group received saline enemas and blended kibble capsules, also alongside full standard care.
✨ Puppies who received the real FMT recovered faster, had shorter hospital stays, and needed fewer medications. Shorter ICU stays alone can mean thousands of dollars in savings for a family.
✨ There were zero adverse events from the FMT treatment, even in puppies who were among the most immunocompromised patients a veterinarian will ever see.
✨ More than a third of the placebo group had to be pulled from the study early on ethical grounds because those puppies were deteriorating too quickly. None of the puppies receiving the real FMT were pulled from the study.
✨ FMT did not act as an antiviral. It did not reduce viral shedding or change the immune response to the virus directly. What it did was support the body's own ability to heal by restoring the gut terrain.
✨ The commercially available FMT material and oral capsules used in the study cost at most a few hundred dollars, a fraction of the cost of extended hospitalization, and is something any veterinarian can access today.
✨ The biggest barrier to wider adoption is not the science or the difficulty of the procedure. It is hesitancy around something newer to conventional practice, even with solid published data now behind it.
✨ Asking your vet whether they offer fecal transplant or microbiome medicine is one of the most powerful things a pet parent can do to help bring this option into more clinics.
✨ Building a strong, diverse gut microbiome before disease happens is the next layer of this conversation. Prevention and proactive gut health remain the long term goal.

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Dr. Lily Chen:
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LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVM, CVA

No Script. No Filter. Detox with Oprah's Vet, Dr. Barbara Royal.
This episode is different from anything we have done before. No interview, no host and guest dynamic. What you are about to hear is two integrative veterinarians sitting down together, rolling up their sleeves, and workshopping the single most overwhelming topic in pet health right now. Detox.
Dr. Barbara Royal has over 30 years of integrative veterinary experience, is the founder of The Royal Treatment Veterinary Center in Chicago, and treats planet Earth as her largest patient. She and Dr. Lily go organ by organ, liver, kidneys, gut, skin, lymphatics, lungs, and the nervous system, naming the specific herbs, supplements, and products they each reach for.
They get into the hard stuff too. What to do after vaccines, how to think about flea and tick preventives, why some detox protocols make pets worse before they get better, and why year round chemical use rarely makes sense outside high risk regions.
This conversation became the foundation for two detox guides for pet parents, linked in the show notes below.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ Detox starts before the supplement. Real food, filtered water, daily movement, and a lower toxin home matter more than any product added on top.
✨ The liver does roughly 80% of the body's toxin processing. Milk thistle, dandelion, and turmeric are foundational, and mushrooms support liver function too, despite the myth that mushrooms are hard on the liver.
✨ Kidneys actually need more high quality, digestible protein, not less. Good protein turns on dormant kidney tubules and helps filtration.
✨ Probiotics should be rotated, not used the same way every day. Alternating two multi-strain probiotics through the week builds more diversity than sticking with one.
✨ Fiber is not one size fits all. Pumpkin and sweet potato add sugar along with fiber. Rotating chia, psyllium, and flax works better than relying on the same fiber daily.
✨ Fecal microbiome transplant is one of the most transformative tools in both doctors' practices. Banking a pet's own stool before antibiotics allows that same healthy microbiome to be restored afterward.
✨ Over bathing strips the skin's natural oil and microbiome barrier, often making skin problems worse. Spot bathing the affected area is usually better than washing the entire body. ✨ Chickpeas carry some of the highest glyphosate residue of any conventionally farmed ingredient. Many pet treats use chickpeas as a base.
✨ There is no flea, tick, or heartworm preventive approved for human use because all have been deemed too toxic. When chemical prevention is genuinely needed, use it only during the active season for your region, not year round.
✨ Detox should never be aggressive in a sick or fragile patient. A worse reaction is a sign to slow down, not push through. Cancer patients can crash if detox is mobilized too quickly.
✨ A 3 minute daily massage routine, spinal circles, full body strokes, and limb strokes toward the heart, supports lymph movement and costs nothing.

RESOURCES:
Barbara Royal, DVM, CVA, CVNN, FACVBM
The Royal Treatment Veterinary Center: https://www.royaltreatmentveterinarycenter.com
College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies: https://www.civtedu.org
Animal Diet Formulator: https://www.animaldietformulator.com
Book: The Royal Treatment: A Natural Approach to Wildly Healthy Pets
Instagram: @royalvet

📥 Free Guide: The Royal Unicorn's Whole-Pet Detox Guide

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Dr. Lily Chen:
Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
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LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVM, CVA & The Unicorn Vet

Who Is Really Behind the Pet Health Advice You Are Getting
Every piece of pet health advice reaching you through media, whether it is a food recommendation, a sponsored post, a TV segment, or a YouTube video, somebody paid for it to get to you. The question worth asking is whether it was paid for by someone who wants your pet to be healthy or someone who wants your money.
Lara Shannon is a certified dog behaviourist, pet food nutritionist, and host of Pooches at Play, now in its tenth season on Channel 10 in Australia. She also created Animal SOS Australia, documenting the mental health crisis inside the veterinary profession. Here is what stopped me. In Australia, Lara funds her own TV show and pays the network to air it. For ten years she has walked a line between keeping sponsors happy and keeping the message honest.
We talk about a kibble company that claimed on national TV their product fixes the gut microbiome, why Australia has zero pet food regulations, what Dr. Lily found when she tested kibble diets for toxins, the anxiety epidemic in pets on both sides of the Pacific, and a shelter crisis where 90% of animals are no longer being adopted.
This one is going to make you think differently about where your information is coming from.
KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ Every pet health recommendation you receive has a funding source behind it. That does not automatically make it wrong, but it is worth asking who paid for it and what outcome they want.
✨ Australia has zero pet food regulations. Companies are self-regulated and can make almost any health claim without evidence to back it up.
✨ A kibble brand ran a national TV ad claiming their product improves the gut microbiome while raw feeding companies had to fight through endless approvals to get basic claims through.
✨ Dr. Lily tested kibble-fed pets and found consistently high levels of glyphosate and mold toxins. A major pet food company responded that levels were within the acceptable range for people. Pets are not people.
✨ Adding fresh food to the bowl can change everything. Lara's friend had a fussy anxious dog with skin issues who never touched his kibble. One change and he inhaled it. Dr. Lily had the same experience with her own dog.
✨ Anxiety in pets is rising on both sides of the Pacific. Pets mirror our stress and nervous system. When we are rushing and anxious, our animals go up a level.
✨ Itchy skin and gut issues are connected to behavior. If a pet is uncomfortable, it shows up as anxiety and reactivity. Rule out the physical before addressing the behavioral.
✨ In Australia, 90% of shelter animals are currently not being adopted while surrenders keep rising due to cost of living. Shelters are over capacity.
✨ The veterinary profession has one of the highest rates of burnout and suicide of any profession. Lara advocates from outside the profession because sometimes that outside voice carries differently.

RESOURCES:
Lara Shannon: https://www.larashannon.com
Pooches at Play: https://www.poochesatplay.com
Instagram: @larashannon @poochesatplay
Linktree: @larashannon @poochesatplay
Books: Eat, Play, Love Your Dog and World of Dogs available in the US

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Dr. Lily Chen:
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Threads: @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVM, CVA

What If Your Dog Could Live to 25 w/ Dr. Gary Richter

Your dog's cells are aging right now, and by the time you notice the stiffness, the slowing down, the gray around the muzzle, it has already been happening for years.
Dr. Gary Richter has spent over 25 years in integrative veterinary medicine asking what else is possible. He is the author of Longevity for Dogs and Longevity for Cats, founder of Ultimate Pet Nutrition, and right now he is building PetMetrics, a wearable biometric monitor for pets that works like an Apple Watch crossed with veterinary medicine.
This conversation goes places I did not expect. We start with the three things that matter more than any supplement or technology for your pet's longevity, and they are free. Then we get into what is available right now that most pet parents have never heard of: UC-II collagen, Adequan, plasmalogens, and peptides like BPC-157. And then Dr. Richter walks me through gene therapy research that can literally instruct aging cells to go backwards.
He said something that stuck with me. It is not at all out of the realm of possibility that pets living well over 20 is going to become the norm.
After this conversation, I believe him.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ The three most important things for your pet's longevity are diet, exercise, and lifestyle. They are free. No amount of stem cells, peptides, or gene therapy will overcome a body not getting the basics right.
✨ Most pets are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D even when eating a good diet. Test before supplementing, especially vitamin D as too much can cause kidney failure.
✨ UC-II collagen is significantly more effective than glucosamine and chondroitin for joint support, yet most pet parents and veterinarians have never heard of it.
✨ Adequan is one of the most underutilized tools in small animal medicine. Dr. Richter cannot keep it on the shelf. If your pet has arthritis, ask your vet about it.
✨ Plasmalogens are fatty acids that are an integral part of cell membranes and decline as pets age. Low levels are linked to organ failure, cognitive decline, and neuropathy.
✨ Peptides like BPC-157 are being used for gut support, tissue healing, muscle repair, and cognitive support. They are just beginning to enter mainstream veterinary medicine.
✨ PetMetrics is a wearable device in development that will monitor your pet's heart rate, respiration, sleep, and activity levels in real time, flagging problems before they become emergencies.
✨ Pets are hardwired to hide illness. By the time symptoms appear, a disease process has often been going on for far too long. Early detection changes everything.
✨ Yamanaka factors are a set of genes that can literally tell mature cells to go backwards in age. Researchers at Harvard are actively working on controlled applications for both animals and people.
✨ Aging is not magic. It is biology. If we can make it run faster through poor lifestyle choices, it stands to reason we can make it run slower through the right ones.
✨ Loyal's longevity drug targets insulin-like growth factor as a function of aging. Dr. Richter says if clinical trials show it is safe and effective, he will use it in his practice without hesitation.

📥 Download our free Longevity Guide with all the supplements and modalities mentioned in this episode.

RESOURCES:
Dr. Gary Richter:
Instagram @petvetexpert
Holistic Veterinary Care: https://www.holisticvetcare.com
Ultimate Pet Nutrition: https://www.ultimatepetnutrition.com
PetMetrics: https://www.petmetrics.com

Prodrome Sciences (plasmalogens): https://www.prodromesciences.com

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Dr. Lily Chen:
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LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVM, CVA

Why a Good Probiotic Is Not Enough and What Your Dog Actually Needs for Real Gut Health w/ Billy Hoekman

If you have ever told your vet your dog is already on a good probiotic, this episode is going to make you think differently about that.
Billy Hoekman is back. He is Vice President of Nutrition and Communication at Green Juju, and he has been in pet nutrition for 15 years. The last time he was on the podcast, the probiotic line was still in development. Now it is out, the clinical research is done, and the results are worth talking about.
We get into why microbial diversity matters far more than finding the right probiotic strain, why the Amish kids Billy works with on farms in Pennsylvania do not have allergies, and what that tells us about our pets living in our clean modern homes. He also shares why every single one of the longest-lived dogs in recorded history had one thing in common.
And then there is the clinical research. Two months, 47 dogs, and results that honestly surprised even the lab. Gut inflammation normalized in 98% of the dogs. The body's ability to detoxify improved by 57% on average. And the symptom improvements showed up exactly where you would expect them in real life.
If your dog has allergies, skin issues, anxiety, or gut problems, this one is worth your full attention.

KEY INSIGHTS:
✨ A good probiotic is not a category. It is a principle. Your dog needs microbial diversity from food, fermented products, the environment, and supplements that reflect what nature actually provides.
✨ The Amish kids Billy works with on farms in Pennsylvania do not have allergies. They are barefoot all summer, swimming in ponds, surrounded by animals and soil. Constant microbial exposure is not a coincidence.
✨ Every one of the longest-lived dogs in recorded history slept outside. Our sanitized modern homes have removed something important from their lives.
✨ True health is resilience. If your dog is fine only on the exact right diet and supplements but falls apart the moment something changes, that is managed health, not true health.
✨ Green Juju's probiotics are grown from whole fermented foods: kombucha, wild fermented vegetables, and raw milk from an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania. The soil probiotic contains 500 plus naturally occurring species.
✨ Beta-glucuronidase, which measures how well the body detoxifies, dropped by an average of 57% in two months across 47 dogs.
✨ Calprotectin, the marker for gut inflammation, normalized in 98% of the dogs. Nine started with high inflammation. At the end, 45 out of 47 were in normal range.
✨ Symptom improvements tracked by size. Large dogs: panting and lethargy. Medium dogs: gas and diarrhea. Small dogs: anxiety and excessive licking. If your small dog seems anxious and licks constantly, that may be a gut issue.
✨ 44% of dogs showed a reduced immune response to gluten. When the gut heals, immune overreaction to many things starts to come down.
✨ Dr. Lily rotates her fecal microbiome restoration patients through Green Juju's Soil, Farm, and Leaf probiotics as part of her standard post-protocol.
✨ You can run your own case study. Order a gut health test from Innovative Pet Labs, start a probiotic, and retest in two months.

RESOURCES:
Green Juju: https://www.greenjuju.com
Instagram: @greenjujukitchen
Facebook: facebook.com/greenjujukitchen
Clinical Research:
email info@greenjuju.com or william@greenjuju.com
Innovative Pet Lab: https://www.innovativepetlab.com

FOLLOW:
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Instagram: @integrativepet
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Dr. Lily Chen:
Instagram: @dr.lilychen @the.unicorn.vet
Threads: @the.unicorn.vet
LinkedIn: Lily Chen, DVA, CVA