Wonder what it’s like to be a modern veterinarian?

 

Are you curious about veterinary medicine? Want to know what’s great and what’s tough about being a vet in today’s world? Today’s interview is for you! We’ve been lucky enough to interview Dr. Renee Fleming and she’s ready to share SO MUCH GOOD STUFF!

Dr. Renee Fleming of the Guelph Animal Hospital will let you know what it’s like to be a vet, tells us a little about her own pets, and answers some interesting owner questions.

This week’s guest is Dr. Renee Fleming of Guelph Animal Hospital

Find them here –
Web: http://guelphvet.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuelphAnimalHospital
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guelphanimalhospital/ 

 

Now, let’s get to the interview!

 

 

Transcription:

Laura Wombwell: Hi there, it’s Laura from Laura Wombwell Photography and joining me today is Dr. Renee Fleming from the Guelph Animal Hospital. And if you are active in the Dogs of Guelph group, I am sure that you have seen her wonderful advice all over Facebook. Welcome, Dr. Fleming. I’m so excited to have you here today. 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Great. Thanks Laura, it’s nice to chat with you today. 

Laura Wombwell: So, I know you’ve been a veterinarian for quite some time. How did you get started in veterinary medicine? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: I graduated back in 2004. So, about 17 years in clinical practice. When I first started out in University, I actually thought I wanted to be a physician, so a medical doctor, and then I kind of just one day changed my mind a little bit. So I don’t have that typical, you know veterinarian dream where I’ve wanted to since I was a little kid. I think I was very open to doing anything in the medical field. I studied biomedical science at the University of Guelph and graduated and then went into vet school. So, I think looking back, I’m really glad I made the decision that I did. I love what I do and I know I’m really lucky to do it. 

Laura Wombwell: Perfect. So within veterinary medicine, do you have any particular areas that you’re really interested in? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: I do. So, I’ve been practicing in regular clinical practice, but also as an emergency veterinarian basically since graduation, so I do like emergency and Critical Care Medicine. My area of professional interest is pain management. So I do hold an advanced certificate in pain management in pets. So, both acute and chronic and perioperative pain in dogs and cats and small mammals and then mostly because of the pets that I own myself – my husband and I have always owned bulldogs. Definitely you know rolling with that, I became very familiar with the breed. So, I do see a lot of short faced dogs in my practice as well. 

Laura Wombwell: Nice, I notice your lovely bulldog necklace there. So what do you like best about being a vet? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: There’s so much. The profession certainly has its challenges. But what I really like is the diversity. So, you know from puppy and kitten visits, meeting owners and their families, helping them educate them about how to best care for their pets so that we can share a lifelong relationship. I do enjoy the critical cases and, you know, some of the tricky medicine that goes along with it and then surgery. You know, its so nice because with my profession you can do dentistry, you can do soft-tissue surgery, you can do orthopedic surgery. So, it’s really varied. So every week is different in my practice, every day is different even though we have a set schedule, things still can be a little bit unpredictable. I do quite enjoy that and I do work as well, not very often anymore now that I thought kids, but I do work in emergency medicine. So I love those shifts because it can be 12 or 14 hours of just sheer chaos that you have to juggle and it really keeps you on your toes and I think it keeps your skills high. 

Laura Wombwell: Oh wow, that sounds like a huge range of skills that you’d have to have. Are you required to do continuing education so that you’re always brushing up on new techniques? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: We are. It’s only been in the last few years that our licensing body has made it mandatory for yearly continuing education. Their requirements are still very low and most veterinarians do over and above that, and it certainly is not done because it’s mandatory for us it’s, you know, professional interest and so in my first few years of practice I focused on just general medicine and then now that I am in older and more experienced than it allows me to do continuing education in the areas that most interest me. So a few years ago, I did hundreds of hours of continuing education in pain management, and then I went down and sat an exam to get my certificate as a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner. So that was a really nice personal achievement for me and it gives me skills to handle chronic pain in my pets.

Laura Wombwell: Wow, so with your pain management is that for pets who have long-term ongoing pain, acute pain management or or both? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: A little bit of both, I would say for the most part, it can be so hard for pet owners. Even, you know, being a pet owner myself, it can be hard for owners to recognize very mild signs of discomfort in our dogs and cats and definitely in our small mammals. They just are wired to hide from us signs of illness or weakness. And so sometimes when owners seek pain management intervention, the patient actually has some degree of chronic management. So I would say that in the majority of my cases, even if  in an owner’s eyes things may be relatively acute, they actually might be more chronic than they think. I also really enjoy the acute pain management cases. I’m sure you’ve all heard of a dog that was playing at the park and then you know yelped and then tore ligaments in its knee unfortunately. And I really liked perioperative pain management. So if I’m planning a limb amputation, unfortunately or in a large tumor removal, I like to think ahead for that patient and try and tackle, you know, the pain on a different level so that when I send them home to their owners they are comfortable, you know, there’s definitely pain associated with procedures, but if we plan ahead and treat appropriately the animals don’t feel that that and then we get them home and on their feet quicker.

Laura Wombwell: Perfect. That sounds like a big responsibility, but it’s nice to have you guiding the owners through all of that process. What are some of the more difficult parts of being a vet? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: I mean, there’s definitely, there can be really challenging times when we have a pet who is injured or ill and there are some financial limitations of the ownership being able to treat. It can be very emotional for us, not just veterinarians, but everyone in the clinic, as well as the owners. And I think these days with how common social media posting is, so you know, your Instagram in your Facebook and whatnot, when your people are frustrated or irritated by their veterinarian they go online and they post about it. So, you know, they may have had a bad interaction with their veterinarian, things may have been recommended that were unaffordable and owners, you know, sometimes feel very strongly that we overcharge or you know, we’re just doing it for the money and then you see these things online about your practice or yourself or your peers then it’s just getting hard to shake that off these days. That’s quite challenging, for sure. And then, you know certainly, you know, it’s very hard helping owners say goodbye when the time comes, so when they’re aging or unwell, trying to be a coach for them. So both an advocate for the patient and the patient’s needs, but you’re also being respectful of the owner’s wishes and that’s another really challenging part of my job for sure. 

Laura Wombwell: So if there were one thing that the pet parent community could understand better about veterinary medicine or about the job of being a veterinarian, what do you think would help improve that relationship? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: I wish people really truly understood, and many do, but when we do make a recommendation for your pet it is coming because we care about your pet and we want them to have the best. I will always make recommendations for my patients based on what I think is appropriate for their needs. Also remembering that I’m a parent myself and I would never want you to short sell somebody the best quality of care. Also recognizing that when that’s not possible, so if there are financial limitations, we can work together to make something happen. So, you know if I recommend X treatment and it’s really outside your budget, let’s see if there’s a way we can work together. I think sometimes owners look at, you know, the bottom line of a treatment plan and just think oh gosh, all my vet cares about is making money yet. They’re trying to upsell me, trying to sell me this bag of food just for the money and it’s really not like that. Every patient of mine, I care about them, I care about their families. I want them to be healthy and I’m making recommendations because it’s what your pet needs. 

Laura Wombwell: Encouraging that ongoing communication is so important. 

Dr. Renee Fleming: For sure. I mean, I know you seen it on the Dogs of Guelph page, people posting because they’re upset, you know, they’re vet told them XYZ and they are looking for somewhere cheaper and there are always cheaper veterinary clinics out there and it really comes down to what is most important for you. I think you should have an open dialogue with your vet. And so, if you have a negative experience with your veterinarian, to me the first place you should be going back to you is that hospital, you know, call – ask to speak with the vet, ask to to speak with a hospital administrator. And see if you can work something out because I just know I think so often people get upset and maybe there just hasn’t been time for open communication because maybe on that day the veterinarian had lots of emergencies and they seem short and they seemed curt, but it’s not because they don’t care just the nature of the day. So, I’d much rather try and troubleshoot a situation with a client and knowing that there’s so many clinics out there. Guelph is amazing, We have so many amazing veterinarians and so if a client and I don’t, you know, we’re just on the same page of things. I think that we can find another hospital that is better suited for your needs. In relationships, not everybody gets along and it’s going to be the same way in a professional one too. So, I think you should always have trust in your veterinarian. If you don’t, have a chat and then you know, maybe there might be a clinic that might be a better fit for you. 

Laura Wombwell: That is fantastic advice, and speaking of fantastic advice, we have some questions from the group that they would love to ask. So, I’ll go ahead with these. Okay. So, one question that came up quite a bit was with the weather being so cold these days and pets not being able to have the, you know, normal long walks or outdoor stimulation that they would normally have, what are some ways that pets can get the exercise that they need inside where it’s warm.

Dr. Renee Fleming: It’s tricky for sure, because it’s very cold outside, the past couple of days have been really bad too. So for my guys when they don’t want to go for long walks, I have two English bulldogs, and they literally will put on the brakes if we get further than around the block. So we happen to have a stretch in my house in the hallway where I can toss the ball or toss them treats and just have them run back and forth. There are kind of mental stimulation games that you can get for pets. So there’s definitely tons of stuff on Amazon and in some local pet stores where there’s treat feeders where you kind of trick your pets and so it’s not exactly the same as this physical activity, but at least keep their mind moving. I know some people sell snuffle mat which is kind of cool because you can put treats in there and they can work away at that. But, you know, just trying to find something within your house, you don’t have to have a kilometer stretch for them to run if you can just kind of keep them running short distances and get their heart rate up a little bit can be helpful. 

Laura Wombwell: Excellent, somewhat on that note, we had one person who is wondering – Is there a good way to help your cat to lose weight? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: For sure, it’s really tricky, I know. I once had one heavier kitty and two slimmer kitties, and it was really hard to kind of keep their feeding separate. So exercise for cats is definitely tricky. Some cats are very play motivated. So whether you have like a feather on a string or a little ball or I know some people use tinfoil to toss, just something that the cat can go chase. If your cat is kind of lazy about that, I will throw treats down the stairs for them. So I’ll sit at the top and throw treats down, the cats can run down and get the treats, and then you can vice versa. There are little treat balls that you can put cat’s food in. So you can put their kibble in a little ball and pop them in a room and then they have to bat the ball around to get the kibble to come out – so that can be really helpful. In way of feeding, so if you happen to have a multi-cat household and you have one kitty that is on a special diet. So it works for things like a medical prescription diet or if you’re trying to restrict calories. You can actually get bowls now that will open and close based on your cat’s microchip. So you’ll say you have, you know, a chubby Kitty who’s on a prescription diet to help with weight loss, the bowl will only open for that pet. And if you have another pet, it won’t open for that cat. So, it can be nice and can make sure that your pet is only getting the calories that they need and not borrowing off the other cat from the household. 

Laura Wombwell: That is amazing! I had no idea that pet food technology had come so far! 

Dr. Renee Fleming: It’s neat, yeah.

Laura Wombwell: Tying in to, kind of, the strange year that we’ve had with a lot of folks bringing home new pets – do you have any tips for dealing with separation anxiety as people go back to work? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Yeah, I think we do worry that this is going to become a bigger issue as people do start going back whenever that may be. So, as people that brought her new puppies right now, I do understand, it is the perfect time for some families because you’re home and it’s easier for house training. We still encourage crating. I think crating is important whether you’re home or not. Crating can really help diminish anxiety in puppies. And if they’re already used to it as their young it’s not like you’re introducing it when they’re a year-and-a-half-old now that you’re going back to work. So, for example, my two dogs, my youngest is about a year. My oldest is about a year- and-a-half and they will quite happily sit in their crate for hours. Even if my entire family is home and moving about they’re very comfortable there. That’s their safe place. I think that can be really key. If you happen to have not started creating and you have a puppy that might be approaching a year old with this pandemic, certainly maybe ask your vet for some resources on how to safely introduce a crate. I certainly don’t want to recommend that you stuff your dog in it and just, you know, go because that’s going to produce some anxiety, but I think crating can really play a big role. And again, I tell my clients like if you’re at home working from the computer, pop your dog in the crate for a few hours they know you’re home, but it’ll get them used to that. And then when you do leave for work there, you know, they are happy and comfortable in their crate. 

Excellent, so also about new pets and I know this question is sometimes contentious on social media – we had a question about what is the best age to spay and neuter your pets? 

Yeah, it’s definitely an interesting topic right now in the veterinary world as well. We are a little bit split on our current recommendations and it’s not because we’re confused. It’s just there’s kind of a lot of new research coming through. So our Clinic recently contacted the University of Guelph, the Department of Theriogenology and Reproductive Medicine. They are saying still if you have a female, no matter the breed, so small to big, they do recommend spaying prior to the first heat. The risk there if we allow the dog to go through a heat cycle or multiple heat cycles their risk of breast cancer becomes much higher and breast cancer can be malignant in dogs. There are some studies suggesting that for male dogs, especially some of the larger breed dogs,  there may be some benefits to waiting until they are more full grown, so if possible we like to try to wait until eighteen months to two years for some. The smaller the dog, you know what they grow quicker so we can neuter them a little younger. But currently our recommendation for all breeds is before the first heat. We certainly work with owners. So, I have some owners of female large breed dogs who just really would feel more comfortable waiting until after their first heat and that’s okay, we can do that. We just always check as they grow. We make sure that if we see any lumps on the mammary chain that we take them off at that time so that there’s no problems moving forward.

Laura Wombwell: Wonderful.

Dr. Renee Fleming: I think at the end of the day there may be no distinct right or wrong answer. It’s just trying to use the information we have at the time to make the best decision for our pets. A few decades ago, a lot of vets were recommending waiting until after the first heat even though there’s an increased risk for your pets. So, if they’ve gone through the first heat cycle, the uterus has more blood supply, it’s more vascular and there are some risks during surgery, but it’s actually easier from a surgeon’s perspective to identify and take care of it. So there really wasn’t a whole lot of scientific basis back then for letting them go through a heat cycle. So, I’m still recommending it before the first heat cycle for females. 

Laura Wombwell: Excellent. Again, going back to all those new pets, folks are wondering what are your feelings about pet insurance? Is it worth the investment? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Yeah. That’s a good question and I like to hear people talking about insurance. And so I think in an ideal world, if you are very diligent and you can set aside a savings account for your pets and save then the money is yours in the event that you don’t need it. The downside I will say to that is that sometimes your pet needs care before you’ve been able to save up very much money. So one of my clients had a puppy that had a foreign body surgery and had some complications and I think her bill at the University was around $20,000 and so the pup was still quite young. I think you no matter how diligent you are saving, that’s a huge chunk of money. And I think, you know, the puppy is alive today because the owner had the foresight to get pet insurance. It’s something I educate my clients about. So, I am a practice owner so all of the care I provide for my own pets is taken care of in the hospital, but I insure all of my pets. I have two cats and two dogs and I do insure them. My guys have ended up at the University for different things and it gets very expensive quite quickly and I just want the peace of mind to know that I don’t have to make any decisions about their medical needs based on finances. So I do really think it’s important for most pet owners to consider Insurance. 

Laura Wombwell: Yeah, that’s wonderful advice and I think,you know, being able to make decisions about your pet palace without finance being the foremost issue that’s the deciding factor, really probably really takes some pressure off of people.

Dr. Renee Fleming:  I think so. Absolutely. Yeah, just knowing that you know, some of that money is going to come back to you can be really reassuring for families.

Laura Wombwell: So, we’ve walked a lot about what folks in the group would like to know, so let’s talk about you for a minute. So who are your current pets? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: So, I have two English Bulldogs. My bullies both came to me from breeders looking for good homes for them because they had some medical needs. So I’ll start with Hank – Hank is my just under two year old English bulldog. His full name is Hank Dinosaur Jr. He is a real sweetheart. He’s a big cuddler and Hank has a cleft lip. So when he was born, he had a failure of fusion right here. So, he has a little snaggletooth. Fortunately, he’s not had any medical issues with the cleft. He’s had to have a few of his teeth out, but he’s healthy, he’s happy, he eats kibbles, he’s a good boy. Sunny is my other English Bulldog and her full name Sunny Skywalker. She had a full cleft palate. So I raised Sunny from the time that she was just over a week old. Tube feeding every couple of hours and she’s been definitely a medical challenge. So she’s had to have a number of surgeries on the top of her mouth to repair that cleft so that she can eat kibble and drink water like other dogs. She’s a good girl. She’s very healthy outside of her cleft. So that’s Sunny. And then we have two cats Ernie and Gordie. Ernie is an American shorthair, so like a gray silver tabby and Gordie is a little black and white tuxedo cat that came to me through Ladybird Animal Sanctuary. He was a stray cat on the streets of Hamilton. He had been hit by a car and unfortunately we weren’t able to save his leg. So I had volunteered to do the surgery for them and I just fell in love with him because he’s such a sweetheart. So that’s Gordie.

Laura Wombwell: Oh nice, and the cats and the dogs get along alright?

Dr. Renee Fleming: Yes, yeah, they all get along very well. Sunny, my puppy, the youngest one that she sometimes will chase the cats a little bit, but they can get out of her way quite easily. The cats are quite fast. So sometimes I come home and I’ll see one of the cats rolled up in the dog bed with the dogs. so they do love each other very much. 

Laura Wombwell: Now, because you have a cat who has three legs does the cat need any special accommodations or does it keep up with all the other pets just just like normal?

Dr. Renee Fleming: He’s amazing. So there’s a saying in the veterinary community that dogs, most dogs and cats are born with three legs and a spare. Luckily for our patients when the need comes to do with an amputation most will do very well. Most people who see Gordie don’t don’t notice that he is three-legged because he walks so well, and in fact Gordie will be the first one up the Christmas tree when we put it up. Also has this really cute habit, he likes the kids’ mitts and gloves. And so at night you can hear him carrying mitts and gloves up the stairs and he chirps like he’s hunting until sometimes when my husband and I wake up in the morning there might be seven or eight, you know, miscellaneous gloves and hats at the top of the stairs that he’s carried up there. So certainly it doesn’t slow him down that he’s three-legged. As he ages, definitely, I want to make sure that he’s not developing osteoarthritis, especially with the, you know, the back leg bearing the majority of the weight and we try to keep him very lean, so that there’s no excess weight on the rest of his body. 

Laura Wombwell: Wonderful. What is your favorite thing to do with your pets here in Southwestern Ontario? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: My goodness, I think it’s hard right now because we’re not supposed to go anywhere. We really like to go hiking and having bulldogs, you have to be careful because you know, they are prone to overheating. So we like to go in areas where there’s lots of shade and there might be some, you know, water available for them. Actually living in Guelph, we’re so lucky because we have so many beautiful trails within the boundaries of the city. Admittedly, we tend to kind of stick to the Guelph Lake trails in the summertime. And, you know, we’ll take the doggos out there and let them, you know, swim at the river and that sort of thing. So, yeah, that’s what we like.

Laura Wombwell: Excellent, I have a couple of fun little quick questions for you. Do your best answer off the top of your head. So, cat or dog? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Dog 

Laura Wombwell: Favorite breed?

Dr. Renee Fleming: English Bulldog. 

Laura Wombwell: Obviously. What are your pet’s favorite treats? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: My dogs love Greenies – love love love and actually to be honest my cats love the Greenie treats too.

Laura Wombwell: Excellent are your pets full of beans, full of dreams or full of something entirely different? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Definitely full of beans. All of them are full of beans. Yeah, for bulldogs, these guys are pretty hyper.

Laura Wombwell: Which human actors would play your pets in a movie? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Oh my gosh. You know, I can’t even. That would take me a while to answer.

Laura Wombwell: No worries. And finally, if money were no object and you could go anywhere in the world with no restrictions, what’s one thing you would do to spoil your pets?

Dr. Renee Fleming: Oh wow. To spoil them? I mean, it would be so lovely to take them somewhere where there was just like big open spaces to roam and water for them to frolic around in. I can’t think of where I would take them. All I can think about right now is that you shouldn’t fly with English bulldogs. So I’m sticking somewhere local!

Laura Wombwell: So finally, I want to wrap up – you are always so generous with your information on social media. So, how is the best way for this local community to help support you and your practice? 

Dr. Renee Fleming: That’s a tricky question, I guess. I think what I do want people to be aware of, and I’m cognizant of this when I comment on posts of Dogs of Guelph, I really am posting or commenting because I want to help. I’m always happy to meet new people through my clinic but, you know, I’m fortunate that I can often help people online as well. So I think maybe less so about my business, but for veterinary businesses across, you know, just remembering that your vet should really be your first place where you do ask questions. So yeah, if you need something, you know, what you think about calling them first before reaching out on social media. I think that’s important. There’s a lot of well-meaning advice that gets shared on the internet but sometimes things are maybe not appropriate and it can be hard to sort through that. So you just remembering that always ask your vet clinic first and and they should be happy to help you 

Laura Wombwell: And remembering that vets love pets. 

Dr. Renee Fleming: Absolutely. Yes we do and I know it’s hard right now with the pandemic because you’re not in with us and you can’t see what’s going on. But I tell you, like, I’ll go out and get a pet and bring them in for an appointment or for surgery and they’ll beeline to the front desk because they want to greet the girls there and then they beeline to the treatment room because they want to see the technicians and the staff back there. I know there’s lots of discussion about, you know, anxious pets and that sort of thing but we really are trying to make it a real positive experience for the pets.  And from from my hospital team to everyone out there – we know sitting in a car in the cold parking lot is not what you want to be doing right now and were doing the best we can to muddle through and want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we all kind of, you know, travel through these really unique times. 

Laura Wombwell: Amazing. Well, thank you so much Dr. Fleming. It has been an absolute pleasure talking to you and I hope that you have wonderful continued success in your practice. Again, thank you for being so, so giving with all of your information. I’m sure everyone here in the community really, really appreciates. 

Dr. Renee Fleming: It is no trouble. Thank you. 

Laura Wombwell: Thanks so much for listening. I’m Laura with Laura Wombwell Photography with Dr. Renee Fleming from Guelph Animal Hospital and we both hope that you and your pets have an awesome day. Bye!

Dr. Renee Fleming: Bye!

 

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