Speaker 1: This is pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets. Welcome to
Covered in Pet Hair, a boozy show for pet lovers
on pet Life Radio. I'm your host Isabelle Albert Saranta,
and today I have the pleasure of having a drink
in a chat with a super dog mom, a dog
mom that would do anything for her pets. I will
tell you all about her and introduce you as soon
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Speaker 1: Welcome to Covered in Pet Hair. Everybody a boozy show
for pet lovers on pet Life Radio. I'm your host
Isabelle al Zerata, and today I have the pleasure of
having a drink in a chat with a fellowjog mom
that is all the things, that does all the things,
and she doesn't havel ass anything. This woman goes deep
into all the things she does for her pets, and
that's why she's my guest today, So let me do
a proper intro for her. She is a pet parent,
a photographer, a writer, a canine nutritionist. She's as soon
to be hospice practitioner. She's a craft beer guru, of foodie,
a nature lover, a wine drinker like me. She's a
coffee of ficionado. She is an adrenaline junkie and an
adventure seeker. She is an army brat that now lives
in DFW area of Texas. Another texanom and El Paso.
She is wife to Brian, dogmom to Naki l Luna,
who is unfortunately living with MCT, which I'm sure we
will discuss. She is cat mom Takira and Cora, whom
she made me laugh because she describes Cora as a
little neurotic and I bet we all have a petter
two that is neurotic. She is bron When Farley. She
is the founder of Dulcie's Legacy. Welcome bron When it's
so good to have you on the show.
Speaker 4: Thank you so very much.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited because I've talked to you online so
many times. You are so support of me and my
friend Jessica of the Pet Parenting Reset. You're always contributing
so much great stuff to our lives when we go
together on Mondays, and I'm finally like looking at you
and seeing you, and I'm really excited that you know,
we're finally getting to talk to each other. Somebody wants
to know when you moved to Texas, did I mess
up where you live? So actually I'm from the Devilla's
Fort Worth area, live in Vermont. Now, Okay, so she's
in Vermont, which makes a lot more sense because I've
seen your pictures of snow and I'm like, DFW Vermont
and that makes a whole lot more sense. So I
take it back. She grew up in DFW and she
lives in Vermont. Thank you Laurie for asking that she
is all the things says Lisa, And she is and
I want to dig into everything that you are in
the pet industry as a dog mom, as a cat mom.
But before I do that, I want to introduce our
drinking game. So if you're new to Covered in pet hair,
there is a drinking game. So anytime you audience, not me,
not Ron Wind, but the audience. Anytime you hear this
word the secret world, it is dulcy, take a drink
of whatever you're enjoying Ron when you can open your
eyes again. But please be over twenty one in the
US to partake in an alcoholic beverage. Never drink and drive,
and always drink responsibly. So I saw that you were
having a glass of veino today. Tell me about your wine.
Speaker 4: So I'm a little bit sad. As often I'm very
piggy with my wine, and usually I have friends that
send it to me. Because I finally fell in love
with a very specific wine from upstate New York. It's
from the Great Lakes area on the New York side.
It's so good. Oh my gosh, this is a sad
lowly red wine that I'm having to cope for before
because I'm out of mine.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I hate when that happens.
Speaker 4: It is a mixed proprietary blend. I guess it's just
a mixed red. I like my reds. It's a little
on the drier side. I prefer mine a little bit
on the suite, so it works. It works well.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a big wine lover or two, and I
find that the more I like wine, the more I
taste whine, the more picky I become about wine. So
I feel you. I feel you. It's like this wine
should have been fantastic. It's not hitting the spot, but
it's still wine. So you know you don't j white.
Speaker 4: You said, no, I'm not gonna let it go to waste.
Speaker 1: Oh, we never let it go to waste. I mean,
if not, if anything, we'd make us agrio with it.
But we can't let it go to waste right now.
So I'm actually having a drink in honor of your dulcy.
This is a cinnamon dulcy cocktail that I made with
Chila or Chila, I don't know how to pronounce the
name of the brand. But they have a cinnamon cream
kind of like an orchata or like a cordial And
my husband made this. I gave him the recipe. He
executed it's got whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Cheers.
Thank you for being my guest. You.
Speaker 4: Yes, No, it's actually pretty funny because so we moved
here in June and our first snow hit right before Halleen.
I think we've had two days that the snow went
completely away, like the grass came back and everything. Today
we got six inches on top of the four to
five inches that we already had. My biggest fear you
make that face, But my biggest fear is when it's
going to stop, Like I don't want it to stop.
Speaker 1: Oh no, no. I live in Olpaso, Texas. It's like
seventy five and like a bright blue sky, and that
is my That is perfect for me.
Speaker 4: So my new off is it's the very front room
and it's wall the wall, windows, and the very back
is the forest in the mountain and it's all covered
in snow and the trees and that's where my deer come.
And I just sit here and I watch them. Lisa
and all of them give me a hard time and
joke that I'm snow white. I'm the snow white of
the group because I will I'll be out there. I
play with my raccoons. They come up and they boop
on the window and the glass and they're named I
have Roscoe and Jeremiah. Roscoe's a big boy. There are
round and so is he. He's monast That would be me.
Speaker 1: That would be me if I lived in Vermont and
it was always snowing, because I would do nothing. I
would just drink wine and have like garlic bread all
day long. That would be what I lived off of.
So I would be Roscoe, the round raccoon.
Speaker 4: They come in and they visit me, and they wait
for me, and my deer come out. And I have
like six bird feeders, and I make sure that three
of the bird feeders have like the spicy bird seed
in it, so my squirrels and chipmunks don't get into it,
the birds have something to eat, and then the other
three have just regular nuts and dried fruit. And of course,
being a nutritionist, I make sure that my resource.
Speaker 1: You don't do anything half assed. I can tell right
now I know you enough to know that you are
just you're gonna do like this tasting menu for the
animals in the Vermont forests and the rest of us
are just gonna be sitting here like being like, I mean,
I hope the birds ate.
Speaker 4: So we went in to look at bird seed and
I was like, you know what, now I want some
bird feeders. And the guy was like, oh, yeah, this
one's a great one. I picked out one that looked
more healthier. Okay, and he goes, yeah, but that one's
really expensive, and my husband said, don't even try.
Speaker 1: And it blacked. I really do.
Speaker 4: I think that's the day. So we came home and
I have cameras in my house because I watched my
dogs and the cats. And we came home and Kira,
my black and white tupsiedo, is laying on the back
of the couch staring up at the curtain rod and
I couldn't figure out what she was obsessing over. She
had treed a mouse, a white footed deer mouse, and
so we put kere up. We put him in him
we thought it was a him. We put him in
a bag and put him out on the porch. Well
this was when you know, we have the wrap around
deck and the huge garden and everything else going and
my husband accidentally squirted him like three hours later with
the water hose and he's like, I think I really
heard it because he's limping, he's got one paw up
and his eyes clothes, he's got a little bit of
blood on his nose. Oh no, that was around August September.
So I did some research. Because he came home with us.
Speaker 1: He didn't worry. Of course, she did research, of course.
Speaker 4: So most people that have whitefooted deer mouse, they're extremely intelligent,
very friendly, Like I can put my hand in there
and she'll just live up to her. And most of
them get a twenty square foot or twenty square cubic
feet twenty cubic feet. Math is not my strong game.
Twenty cubic feet, it's very small. Take hers is forty nine,
and usually they put like fifteen of them in that twenty.
She just test the one and I changed it up
every three months. She gets a holy layout.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Yeah, Lisa was telling me to ask
you about her name is Henry?
Speaker 4: Well it was Henry, and then I realized that Henry
liked the hardware to be a Henry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good name. That's a good strong name
for a mouse. I think. So gives me. It's giving
me like, what is it American tale vibes? I'm dating
myself here, I'm aging with that one, but now that
I think about it, I gotta show them it is
a good one. Well, speaking of mommy, you mommy a
mouse and me mommy and kids who have not seen
the classics yet, I want to play a game with you.
I was introduced a show with a game just so
that we can get warmed up and get to know
each other. And this game is called dog mom Life.
And if you're keen, I just have a few questions
about your dog mom life. Are you ready to play? Sure? Okay?
First question, when did you officially become a dog mom?
Was there like a first pet you got, or a
moment that like said, okay, yeah, I'm definitely.
Speaker 4: A dog mom. I'm forty eight. I think I never
keep up with my age. When I my first adult dog,
you know how we have. Our first adult dog was
a tricolored Border Collie and name was Harley. I did
agility contest with her and she was just my entire world.
When I had my oldest son, that became her child.
That was no longer my child, that was her child.
She was just the smartest dog. You could ask her
to go get the sippy cup, Go get the bottle.
She would go into the refrigerator for you. She would
bring you the diaker bag, she would bring you the remote.
She's the pasted It was your first I will ever
even reporter Molly because of her. And I didn't know
about anxiety. I didn't know about creation. Like I could
go to down the very short driveway, might I add
you and go get the mail, and she'd like rip
stuff off the wall. It's like I was gone for
a minute, what is happening? But she was. She was
an awesome girl, very intelligent. She would sit there on
the floor and if the ball rolled and hit you,
she wouldn't go get it because she didn't want to
touch you. And she got that from making sure that
she didn't bump the kids.
Speaker 1: Oh you got a good dog.
Speaker 4: She's such a good girl, Like she was my baby.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, what a good dog. I had a
dog that was a little bit of a mom with
my first and we actually were very scared she was
gonna hurt him because she like herded him so much
when he was like crawling and moving that I had
to separate them. So not all dog moms are are
necessarily great dog mom. Socks was mediocre test. Okay, So,
speaking of dog moms, what is your dog mom named?
Do you refer to yourself as like, mom, mommy, mama, Mama,
me too, I'm mama too. Can you speak about yourself
mama and the third person when speaking to your dog,
like Mom's going to feed you now?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean who does it right? What is the
best part of being a dog mom in your mind? This?
Speaker 4: I have never been a little dog person. Yes, and
she like I never knew you could have two heart dogs.
And she definitely she's she's the baby.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 4: She is always velcro to me. You know, this is
my favorite part. When we come home, she is always
so very happy. She is nodded, an outdoorsy type of dog.
She refuses to pee and poop outside. She has a peapad.
We are no, no, and when we've gone, she growls
and she's telling you to come and we need this
cleaned up.
Speaker 1: Oh boy. Oh, she's a diva. She is a diva.
Speaker 4: That one he does. And if she's wonning in my laugh,
she'll dig at my arm and she'll go. She's very
very vocal. She can be quite the little witchy girl too.
Speaker 1: Oh oh oh, naughty, she's spicy. Okay, So what's the
worst part about being a dog mom Loss losing them?
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely loss. You know, I guess we all kind
of get into the role of it is what it is,
and we control our lives around them. I have three
highly reactive dogs. Wow, and so two of them get
muzzled and we do crate and rotate with this one
and Nokie. Now, yeah, it sucks. You don't want that.
You don't want that life. But we've been doing it
for three months and this is now. You know, it's
just kind of a thing. Huh. I think that's a
thing that we all don't talk about. You know, it's
okay to muzzle train. It's okay to have muzzles on.
It's okay to create train, it's okay to have them
and to create and create and rotate and things like that.
My favorite things is to talk about the stuff that
nobody talks about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well us as far as muzzling, I couldn't agree more.
I My only regret with my Socks, who was the
hurting babysitter, My biggest regret with her was not muzzling
her sooner, because like we didn't enjoy our walks because
she was unpredictable and for like ninety percent of the
time she was perfectly fine. But there was that one
time she'll lunch, she did bite somebody, minor bite, but
still a bite one and like that should have been
that's when I should have started muzzling her. Not after,
you know, my son came and after once the risk
was higher, then I finally muzzled her. But the risk
was always there. So I totally agree with you. I'm
a big fan of muzzle training, and I think so
many dogs benefit from that and the community at large
benefits from that. Who is easier to mom? Dogs are cats?
Speaker 4: Cats? Ooh? How so they don't.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess they could tear up your house with
their nails.
Speaker 4: Mine are very easy, Like I have one, and she
is she's neurotic and she only loves my husband. Fair
sh I know, I'm done to feeds you. No, she
lives downstairs. Her knucky don't vibe. I don't know when
that happened. It's been several years though, but she became
my bathroom cat when we were living on Long Island,
which in a very small square like six hundred square
foot apartment, my husband was not amused by having a
bathroom cat.
Speaker 1: As then she lived in the bathroom all the time.
Speaker 4: Time got shes them out and so but that's where
she learned how to use the toilet like she uses Yeah,
she doesn't use the little box. She uses the toilet.
She's a either a British short hair or just this
great Philiadelphia cat. Oh my god, that's neurotic. And she
screams at you when she wants things.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're describing me, but I'm not from Philadelphia.
I'm from Miami. But like basically, like that's basically me.
I'm impressed with the skills that your pets have, like
obviously doing something right. When your dog literally tells you
to pick up after them and your cat uses the
toilet like you really are snow white.
Speaker 4: My grandfather would be so proud.
Speaker 1: Okay, So last one, how many dogs go to the
bathroom with you as a dog, mom, one?
Speaker 4: Only one, well two of them, but like at a time, one.
Speaker 1: At a time because they're separated.
Speaker 4: Yeah, if knucki's out, Knucky goes with me. If this
one who's constantly like, look at it, it's resting, like
all the time. She judges constantly.
Speaker 1: Oh no, that's so funny. So I don't know about
Dulcie's legacy, and I apologized for Before I finally got
the actual pronunciation, I was saying it all Italian like dulce.
And now I actually wonder if when I order my
cinnamon Dulce lattes at Starbucks, I'm doing it wrong.
Speaker 4: No, you're saying it correctly. Okay, I have a really
inappropriate joke, but I'm not going to say. But yeah,
Dalson was not named by me because I don't have
the same I cue and it's not that person's fault.
Speaker 1: So no, Dulci.
Speaker 4: What was the question, Dulcie's Dulcy.
Speaker 1: Was your one of your heart dogs? Yes, and Dulcy
is so Dulcie's legacy is named for Dulci. So tell
us about Dulcie's legacy. When did you establish it and
what was the inspiration behind it.
Speaker 4: So I was already in school when I was in
Alamarada and the Keys, that's where we were living. I
was already starting to go to school. I was learning
about raw feeding. Dulcy had just been diagnosed with larpar
And for those that don't know what larpar means. It
stems from the initials gulp, larpar is. There's a little
flap in the back of the throat that sees is
shut where its ses is open, and we can aspirate,
but if it sees is shut, we are suffocating to death.
And he started having anywhere from five to six episodes
a week, and he would sit in my arms and
have a seizure and suffocate and you're an e and
deficating all over himself. And so I started learning about
food and inflammation and these type of things and learned
that raw feeding Miami was, you know, less than an
hour away, and so you know, it just became Hi,
can I help you. It just kind of, you know,
came about in my mentor was in the UK absolutely
lover and of course in the UK they call it college.
We go to college or it's college. And she was like, yeah,
I have a bachelor's from this, and I was like,
what the consummate education. Yes, I started my classes, Ellie,
this isn't going to work. Baby, I started, Oh my gosh,
she's so cute. I started my classes and started learning
about DIY and he went from because I did it wrong,
just like everybody else did. I had him on three
different kibbles I was doing. I never did the flea
and tich and I never did the vaccinations. But I
had him on two prescription kibbles and one specifically for
arthritis because he needed the extra glucosamine Condroidan called the
company asked him how much glucosamine is in this and
I was told that those are guestimates because there's no
true way to put that into a number. And I
was like, what, Like, this is why I'm buying the
ships And that just kind of sent me down the
rabbit hole of synthetics. It's one of my biggest pet peeves.
And so we went from five and six episodes to
one in six months, just from the whole food that
was it. So yeah, lart Par is one of those
that and you can have the tie back. I mean
a lot has changed since what in five years. I
don't even think that they do the tie back procedure anymore,
or they've altered it or something. I don't remember what
it was. One of my last clients said, but yeah,
that's why I didn't want to do the tie back
is because he was such a big swimmer and if
we do the tie back, he could swallow water aspiry
and that's hers is right, and which I mean at
that time. It when mattered. We moved back up to
New Jersey by November, and so it's like there's a
lot of swimming, you know, in that area, especially where
we work because we were right there on the border
of Pennsylvania. But no, we just you know, I to
tend to be comfortable, So I had no clue what
I was doing. I was using cannabis t eac for
him to keep him nice and comfortable, dropped his inflammation
through whole foods. That was that I was still going
to scold getting my degree. Had no clue what I
was up for.
Speaker 1: And what is Dulci's legacy today.
Speaker 4: I didn't think I was gonna get emotional. Dulcie's legacy is,
in my opinion, the voice for people who love their
animals and have no connection or no stability or nobody
to lean on during those moments. And that's what I
wanted because I didn't have any of that. I wanted
somebody to have a support system, whether it was two
o'clock in the morning or twelve o'clock in the afternoon.
I didn't care. Two o'clock in the morning is when
our voices get really, really loud. And you know, my
husband has always been there. I can talk to him
at the drop of a hat. He was working And
these are my feelings, these are my emotions, and it's
just me having that panic attack at two am. Tell
you how many phone calls I get at that time,
and I'm okay for it. We go in, we sit
and we cry it out in the bathroom, or we
drink some wine, have a couple of shots. Who knows,
that's what we do. I've got owners that message me
nine to one one I need help, and I call
them up and sometimes it's five minutes, sometimes it's three hours.
To my babies.
Speaker 1: And you work with pet parents that are dealing with
what kind of situations with their pet. If I can't
fix it, if it cannot be cured, that goes into
my unity program. I have currently one hundred and eighty
one currently one hundred and eighty two cancer dogs right now.
That does not include my neurological that does not include
my cardiac that does not include my liber and kiddeing disease. Wow,
just my cancer babies and.
Speaker 4: They are thirty. My entire world. Everybody who's always asking me,
everybody's always asking me why why it is I do
what I do? And I truly do think it was
penance for not knowing what I needed to know for him.
You know, I thought I was going into the vet's
office in New Jersey with an osteo arthritis dog, and
I didn't. I came out with a terminal dog and
we lost him within three weeks. Oh no, I didn't
even have time to acclimate. I didn't have time to
understand or read about osteo sarkama. His entire shoulder was
hollowed out and it fantasticized to the lungs. Oh no,
he is heavy tested boy, and so to remove that
plus PT. You know, I still don't know that I
would have made We always questioned, We always questioned, did
we do the riding? We know enough. I still didn't
think I made the wrong decision, even knowing what I
know now, for the simple fact that the physical therapy
would have been awful. Yes, you know, doing six months
if and we know that when this is a big
one for me too. If you guys get a a
cancer diagnosis and they give you a three to six
month mark or a two to four week mark, whatever
it is. Unless that is the very first veterinarian to
have a crystal ball and can see into the future,
you don't get to do that, and that is part
of my job is to give you your voice back. No,
because I cannot tell you how many of my terminal
dogs have gotten weeks have gotten years with me. Wow,
So huh, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: Do you work with both dogs and cats, or since
you're a canine nutritionists you focus mostly on ducts.
Speaker 4: Ellie, honey, elly climbs you. I'd work with cats. I
love cats, I do, but they are so difficult when
it comes to food change. I'm not as proficient in
cats as I am these guys. And she snorts to you,
by the way, sorry.
Speaker 1: Oh well, actually I will say that. Jessica on Instagram
a little while ago said that cats are tough.
Speaker 4: And I love them, but oh they are.
Speaker 1: They're very difficult, and they hide things, maybe a lot
better than dogs do, and it's probably harder to tell
if something's working with them. I would imagine.
Speaker 4: Diet is a platform of everything that you do right,
and a lot of people and don't understand that cats
imprint on their food when you're a kids. So if
you get a cat and it's an adult and we're
nine years in and now we have this cancer diagnosis,
it's hard for them to change to a whole food diet.
I mean it's doable for some, but I have seen
cats that want in my food. I mean they would
rather unlive themselves than change their diet. And so I'm
in control freak. I don't like losing.
Speaker 3: It.
Speaker 1: Sounds that we have a lot of people saying how
wonderful you are. Jenny Morena is saying that you are
all that and more being a support system. Song Ya
sends you a heart. There's a few people on Instagram
who are saying that you're just great, and I know
that you are, and I know that you're in the
process of becoming a hospice practitioner. We're going to take
a break right here, and when we come back, Bronwyn
and I are going to dig into the topic of
haliative and hospice care for pets, something that many pet
parents don't know enough about, but unfortunately all of us
will face. Don't go anywhere, We'll be right back.
Speaker 5: Oh sure, it's all fun and games until someone ends
up in a cone.
Speaker 4: That's right, we are animals, deal with it.
Speaker 1: Headline Radio, Let's Talk pets.
Speaker 3: Let's talk pats.
Speaker 1: Let's talk pets.
Speaker 5: Headline Radio, Petlight Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Covered in Pet Hair. I'm your host
Isabelle Alvarzerata, and today I'm speaking with Bronwyn Farley of
Dulcie's Legacy. She's an amazing dog mom with lots to
offer for dogs and well they're people. And that brings
me to kind of like the second part of the
show where I want to dig in more into paliative
care for pets and hospice care for pets, because I
think it's something we all deal with at some point,
but maybe we don't have a name for it, because
it's not something that has been until maybe now kind
of referred to in that sense unless you're in a
big city with a big practice that has a you know,
department for that. So, with your permission, I'd like to
invite you to play a second game called palliative versus Hospice,
and I'm going to give you one minute to very
very basically, very very elementary explain the difference between palliative
care and hospice care specifically for pets. Okay, do you
think you can do that in one minute?
Speaker 4: I can?
Speaker 1: All right, three, two, one go okay.
Speaker 4: So for me, my hospice is a little bit different
in the terminology. Everything I do is centered around bond
centered page of care, which means it's a connection that
I work off of you and your pat Hospice for
me is a feeling. I don't know what it is,
and I have yet to have been wrong. If I
say that that it's time to put you in hospice,
it means I know I'm going to lose you in
a week. I have yet to have been wrong in that.
Palliative care for me is palliative care. That means we
can have surgery. That means that you can have mass
cele tumor have it removed. Mas cell tumor is still
there in the body, it's just hasn't presented itself to
you yet. Again, that's paliative care. Paliative care means that
we will have a quality of life when we have
hospice that is no longer a quality of life.
Speaker 1: All right, that was fifty three seconds. Great work, Oh God,
nice job, and I know you said that you were
becoming a hospice practitioner. What does that mean? And is
there a certification for that somewhere? How does that work?
Speaker 4: It is in in fact Lisa, who was one of
my clients. In fact, I almost quit after losing one
of her girls. She could have been Dulcie's doppelginger. And
we just had her to your anniversary on Tuesday, same disease,
same cancer, same shoulder. I was angry. Let me tell
you what. We caught it early and we lost her
to a hamangio bleedout and so we just celebrated. We
didn't celebrate. We just had her two year. And understand
when I say celebrate, I look at death and passing
a lot different now than most people. Do. You know?
Death can be Yes, it's sad and it's heart wrenching,
but it can also be a you know, quite beautiful
thing too if you look at it that a way.
But today is also her second pops Kayla anniversary that
we lost at a year old. And this is my
screaming one.
Speaker 1: Oh Hi. I was like, it's that your cut or mine?
Because mine is locked out of my office.
Speaker 4: God is definitely mine. That that is my black and
white Texedo who is now screaming for dinner. So going
back to and I'm so I got distracted. What was
the question that I got on to Lisa that.
Speaker 1: You were telling us about you just not celebrated and
quotes the passing of her second.
Speaker 4: Up, What was the question before that?
Speaker 1: Because like, oh, sorry, the question is about the hospice
care certificate that you're earning or you're working.
Speaker 4: Pa found this and she's my co owner of the
Holistic Companion Care Network. She started as a client and
began doing what I do. I have been working with
hospice and cancer dogs for the past five years. Lisa
found a certification and put a name to it. I
never knew that there was a name for what I do.
I just knew that I loved doing it. I just
redid my website for Dulcie's Legacy and there was a
quote that I came across that hospice is not a job.
It is a way of life. It is something that
pulls you from here. And that's that's what hospice is
to me. That's what palliative care it all for me
lumps into one and so many of my clients. You
know that have conditions like Ginny in Finnic. They've been
with me for a couple of years and one day,
yes he will be in hospice, but it's not today,
and it won't be next week, and it won't be
next month. Right now, she's enjoying the moment and she
has system every day when she needs it. Why I
do what I do?
Speaker 1: And when it comes to polliative care, when does polyative
care start? Is it age? Is it diagnosis? Is it
a little bit what you're saying?
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, you know oftentimes and one of the big
things that what did I do wrong? What did I
do to make this happen? You guys? I have a
six year old tipletarier named Luna who has mass hell tumor.
She came to me at a year and a half old. Yes,
she was a wreck. She had heartworms, she had an
ace yellow injury, she had mestitis, and she was uberbread.
Gave her an over Ea spring spay, and I corrected
everything else, including the heartworms with herbs.
Speaker 1: Wow. Well, maybe because she came as such a wreck,
we'll assume that that's why the thumbs day. Because we
don't like sick dogs to come to at one and
a half years old.
Speaker 4: Poor thing. So she's lived with me and had herbs
and support and everything else. And last February we were
diagnosed with mass cele tumor. Now is that something I did?
Though it's not. She's one a Piple terrier, and two
she is a blue and light that genetic of blue,
but those are notorious for mass cell tumors genetically speaking,
so she didn't have one because she had three ticks.
She was a rescue she I have no clue what
happened to her that very first life or very first
year of life. She let's see, so the first year
she's an American Pible terrier and she's blue. I'm just
setting all sorts of balloons.
Speaker 1: You got balloons. I'm not really sure what the context
of the balloons is in this conversation, but we'll take them.
Speaker 4: We'll take the balloons.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what platform those are on to
be asked.
Speaker 4: I don't either, because I'll be talking with the girls
and I'll do like hey and like balloon or I
don't know, and I'll try to recreate it. It won't
do it.
Speaker 1: Well. Technology is showing off today. Wow, So Luna nothing
you could have done. Absolutely, she is then from the
day you got that diagnosis in palliative care.
Speaker 4: Yes, that is taliative care, and guys that look like
for her. So usually I do not have mass cele
tumor aspirated. That's a big no no in my opinion,
for the simple fact there's too much room for human air,
and there's a lot of human air, and if there
is human air, then it releases into the body where
we can't see it or we can't control it as much.
A lot of doctors want to go in and remove it.
I love doctor Judy Morgan's we do not poken piss
cancer off.
Speaker 1: Oh I love that. I haven't heard her say that,
but that sounds pretty good to me.
Speaker 4: And so I have mass cele tumors removed in very
specific locations in the armpit and the groin, on the elbow,
on the knees, or anywhere near the throat. But the
simple fact we know that mass cell tumor is a
collection of histamines. So really cool little trick about mass
cell tumors. You can go give it a couple of
little squeezes, some pinches, and I'll fluff up and get
mad at you. That's the histaman really says it'll go
back down. But if a dog has it and his
or her armpit, every time we stretch out and it
comes back, you're rubbing that. Histamines are activated. That's the
reason why if it gets bumped, if you pinch it,
if you thump it, if you rub it, massele tumors
are going to get angry and irritated and they'll swell.
So those are the reasons why I have those areas removed.
Doctor Ladden is our vet. She's absolutely amazing vet. She
lives on Long Island. She no longer works there. She's
doing other current things right now. But she had me
bring Luna in and we went ahead and decided to
remove it. We didn't poke and piss it off or
anything like that. Here's the other thing about mass cell tumor,
kind of like a weed. If you remove one, guarantee
you you're gonna have some more later on. Oh and
so that's the reason why I call it palliative care.
Luna did great for two months, five more chema oh no,
put her on missletoe therapy, put her on CBD, put
her on several different flushed her lymphatic system, and they
all went away, no surgery needed, they just all went away.
They're small. We caught them early, right, We've supported to
her immine system, we've de talked it, we've flushed the
lymphatic system. She's you know, got food therapy that was
specific to her body and her needs. And so yeah,
no tumors present anymore. Two weeks ago on her rib cage,
there's louly and a beauty fluff of hair that was
popping up, and she has another masshile tumor. It's about
the size of a grain of rice. Started her back
on her missiletoe therapy because I like to keep the
body guessing, and so started her back on her missiletoe
therapy and it's already almost got Wow.
Speaker 1: This is a lot missletoe therapy, because I have to
ask tell us about that.
Speaker 4: So a lot of my clients use doctor JA six
mistletoe therapy, and we can use this with humans too.
Mistletoe therapy is one of those that it go in
supports the immune system and it attacts cancer cells. A
lot of protocols want to and I use this terminology.
A lot is probably not polite or diplomatic. A lot
of an Ariyans like to throw the body up against
the wall like it's spaghetti and see what sticks. That's
not my method. I you know, yes there's a finish line.
Yes there's an end to all of this. We don't
have to rush to it. We can get there slowly
and gently, and so that's how I do all of
my clients. We will get there. Sometimes it's hard to
do nothing at all. A lot of clients have a
hard time with that, and I understand that we need
to move forward. We need to be doing something in
those times that we're not doing it anything, push pause
and be in their moment, because those are memories you
won't get back.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: Mistletoe therapy is just another and it is an injection
that you guys have to do. Okay, so understand that
that is something. There are several different books on Amazon.
Speaker 1: You mentioned something about tospice being a feeling. Tell me
or tell us about what that feels like, what it
is that you feel When you say I think we've met,
we've come to that point in this pet.
Speaker 4: Stourney, it sounds so woo though it's just this woo woo.
Speaker 1: I love woo woo. I am here for woo and
woo woo and woo woo woo.
Speaker 4: I am not like it because I can't put it
into words. I can't explain it. I can't touch it
and manipulate it. I told you a control freak, I
can't and so I'm very uncomfortable with it. But it's
never steered me wrong either. And so yeah, if I
tell and I tell them, you know, there will come
a time that I tell you that it's time for
us to have a different conversation. And yes, when I
say that, my clients get very upset and we talk
about it. And along the way, we've been doing stages.
You know, we have celebration photography sessions. We have celebrations,
you know that we do. And these are memories. And
I've preached until I'm blew in the face that it's
okay to stop time, shut out the world, put the
phone down unless you just form you know, if they're
sitting there next to you like this, she's got her
face tucked into my armpit and she's just crawled up,
and I don't know how she's comfortable. Love this. This
is me being in her moment, regardless of what is
happening in the rest of the world or around me.
This is my moment. I cannot explain what it means
to sit there and say that. Usually. I mean, if
we're going to sit there and speak logically about it,
our vitals are crashing, we can't keep food down, the
quality of life is diminished greatly. You know, if those
things and that gut feeling, it's okay to say goodbye.
Speaker 1: So it is okay to say goodbye? And what have
you learned helping people come to that decision? Because I'm
sure that they come to you. Your clients come to
you and say like, is it too soon? Or after
you know that Monday morning quarterbacking? Did I wait too long?
What do you say when they're filled with doubt, either
before saying goodbye or just after filled with guilt? What
do you tell them to That really comes not only
from your intellectual understanding, but also what you've learned, what
you've learned in this process.
Speaker 4: I had a bonded pair. And for those that you
don't know what bonded pair, look into it. Bonded pair
means that after one leaves us, the second one. If
there's a usually either the health condition pops up or
they're closely behind them. I had a bonded pair that
I knew I was going to lose within a week
of each other, and it did. She declined, he stopped walking,
she passed, he stopped eating, Like it was just systematic
when we don't have a quality of life. Dogs have
four major requirements in life. The first one is going
to be their job, their breed, what they do. The
second one is specs well, the majority of us have
removed that vale of the equation. Some of us that one,
but some of us have. The third one is going
to be their den, their home where they live. And
their fourth one is their food. That is a major
part of their life. It's the reason why I don't
molest their bowls with a bunch of powders and supplements.
Nobody wants to eat that I don't. I'd once held
somebody tell me dogs don't have taste buds. What so
I want them to love their food every single day
of whatever time that they have left. Dogs are very
prideful animals. They don't want to urinate on themselves. They
don't want to defecate on themselves. Plain and Michelle Allen
describes the wind in their ears perfectly and that every
since I listened to her talk in New Jersey at
Doctor Morgan's summit. The wind in their ears whatever for
that dog, the wind in their ears. For the dog
that she was speaking about, he couldn't get up and
walk anymore, but he loved to go down to the road,
and so she put him in a wagon, and that
was the wind in his ears. Regardless of what it is,
as long as we maybe it is sitting in the
car and the windows down and that is their joyful moment.
If it is being put into a wagon going on
the beach, those are all the wind in their ears.
They get to still enjoy it. If it is a
dog that can no longer walk and get up in play,
then do a snuffle, Matt. You know, there's still some things.
But when all of those things are gone, that's and
we're not regulating the way that my bonded pair. The
minute he couldn't regulate his own temperature, that's an issue.
So all of those, yeah, those are when you start
to feel that feeling and the look in their eyes
when they look at you, you know, and so that's
the feeling I get. I know it's not saying no,
I think it's.
Speaker 1: Really an empowering way of viewing it, because it's really
no right answer, right, It's a feeling. It's it's you
know your pet best, and in your case, you know
your client's pets, and you know your client and you
know their relationship and you can assess it as in
the love is still there, but the quality of life
isn't right, And the love will always be there, but
the suffering doesn't have to be. So it's really nice
to have somebody that you can actually count on to
help you through those decisions, like you.
Speaker 4: And you know, going back to the question that you
asked earlier, also about coming back after the fact, did
I make the right decision? You're always going to second
guess it. Here I am five years later, I still oh,
could I have done differently? What if I had hinged
his leg up? What if I had know I made
the right decision? And we will always it's human nature
to second guess that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. I'm a big believer that too soon is
always even better than too late. So sometimes I kick
myself because I think I could have kept tighten a
little bit longer. I never tried the wagon, I didn't
try wheels. I didn't do this. But my core, my soul,
my knowing of him, I knew he wouldn't want any
of those things. So I didn't need to spend five
hundred dollars on wheels for him to never ever want
to wear them. I kind of already knew he wasn't
open to that. And trusting yourself is hard in every
aspect of life, especially when it comes to these end
of life decisions where you feel so guilty about doing
something that really is a gift. But it's not always.
It doesn't always feel that way.
Speaker 4: No, and it doesn't, you know. And I also have
clients that ask me, you know, well, how will I
know if it's right? How will I know if it's
too soon or if it's too late? And I always
tell them, I promise you I will not let you
hold on too tight, because at that point I'll have
to become their advocate and not yours. Perfect. I love
that so much. That is such a huge gift. They
come to me and they're like, no, I think it's time.
I don't have that feeling yet. We're still doing swyz.
Let's take a deep breath and let's see what happens,
you know, And we get a couple more months.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's I mean invaluable. So tell us how can
my audience learn more about your services and what you
do if they're in need of somebody to hold their
hand through a diagnosis.
Speaker 4: You can find me, of course, on TikTok and I'm
awful at TikTok and Instagram at Dulcy's Legacy. I'm also
on Facebook and you can find me at dulcislegacy dot com.
I do want to mention too that I have a
group of fabulous girls that I have mentored the CCN
network and it's the Holistic Companion Care Network. They all
do consultations too. I have moved completely over to hospice
and pietive care. Those are my babies. But you can
find me over there and I'm happy to answer answer
questions in hospice and things like that as well.
Speaker 1: Wonderful, Well, I have so enjoyed getting to know you
and getting to know a part of your soul that
is really so beautiful. So I want to propose a
toast to you for being my guest. Thank you so much.
Here's to you. It was a blessed my pleasure. I
also want to propose a toast to my executive producer,
Mark Winter. Thank you Mark, he's my executive producer at
pet Life Radio, and all of you for joining us
for these awesome conversations. Here's to you, and here's to
a life Covered in Pet Hair because there's no better
way to live. Cheers.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, thank you for being.
Speaker 1: My guest, and all of you who want to tune
into more episodes of Covered in Pet Hair you can
find him on YouTube, on pet Life Radio, and all
your podcasting platforms. So please check out all of my
wonderful guests. I only bring you the best as is
evident by my guest today, So thank you all for
tuning in and I will see you next week. On
Thursday at three pm. I'm interviewing two fabulous people in
the pet industry. They have two separate businesses that are
all about raising funds for pets and you're gonna love it,
so don't miss it next week, three o'clock Mountain Standard time,
right here on Facebook, YouTube and hopefully Instagram if it
lets me bring it to you because it plays hard
if it does not play night. So thanks again everybody,
and thank you again, Bronwyn. I hope to see you
again in person at some point in the future. And
if you guys have any questions for Bronwyn, I'm sure
she'd be happy to stay for a minute and see
if anybody has questions. But we have Sonia Rothy who
has some links for us on Facebook, so if you
want to join the Companion Care Network group, the host
of Companion Care Network Group, she's shared that and then
she also has shared the Dulce's Legacy website on Facebook again,
so please follow up with Bronwyn, follow her on all
the social media platforms Dulci's Legacy and I will see.
Speaker 3: You next time.
Speaker 1: Thank you, guys, have a great afternoon.
Speaker 3: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com.