Dr. Lisa Lippman
Is their poop the right color? Do they need sunscreen? Is this the right way to clean a dog’s ears? Her Instagram account is a trusted resource for life-saving tips, science-backed tutorials, and PSAs. We asked Dr. Lippman about separation anxiety, CBD, and the advice she never tires of giving first-time pet parents.
You wrote to a vet tech school when you were 10 years old, asking for details on how to become a veterinarian. What do you attribute your lifelong passion for animals – and caring for them – to?
I was just born this way! I think it's genetic because I didn't even grow up with any pets. I did have neighbors who bred Shih Tzu puppies, and they were so cute. I actually escaped from home to be with them when I was barely two. My mom found me at the neighbor's house in the playpen with all the puppies and chocolate all over my face.
Did you eventually get a pet of your own?
I begged my parents. My mom said that in every picture I drew of myself in school I would always draw myself with a dog, even though we didn't have one. And so she finally felt so bad for me that when I was 10 I got my first dog, Lacey, a miniature poodle. And then I had guinea pigs and everything under the sun.
Your Instagram account is a rich source of educational content with an engaged audience. When and why did you decide to start sharing your knowledge over social media?
I went viral really early on with a patient whose name was Samson, [a Maine Coon] who was known as Catstradamus, the largest cat in New York. He’s since passed – rest in peace – but we did an article in The New York Post where they quoted me, and then every single news outlet got a hold of him and was just obsessed. Everybody wanted to know was he healthy? Why is he so big? And who better to answer those questions than me, so the owner was really happy to let me take the spotlight. We did everything from Good Housekeeping and TMZ to Inside Edition and Harry Connick Jr. You name it, he was on it. It was crazy! And from there I realized I really had an opportunity to get the word out. There's so much misinformation out there to combat and things that I've learned and gone, “Oh, wow, I wish I knew that sooner.” So I thought, “Let me share what I know – and I think other pet parents will want to know this information too.”
What's the most problematic misinformation you seek to debunk?
There's a lot of food misinformation. People get so incredibly emotional about what they feed their pets – and there’s a lot of fear out there. There's this myth that avocados are toxic to dogs. The truth is that the flesh of the avocado is not, but you do want to avoid the pit and the skin. I think avocados get a bad rap because they can be toxic to other species like cows and rabbits – but they’re not toxic to dogs.
Have you come across any really head-scratchy ones?
If a dog has a dry nose it doesn't mean that they’re sick. I can't tell you how often I hear that one. I have no idea how that got so ingrained!
For first-time pet parents, what is the advice you never tire of giving?
“Preventative care saves lives. It's so important to do your yearly or bi-yearly exams.”
I really believe preventative care saves lives. It's so important to do your yearly or bi-yearly exams.
And then I always go over training: Your quality of life with your pet is everything. You're going have them for a long time, and training can really help build a bond and help you understand your pet better. For example, if your pet has separation anxiety, you're never going to want to leave the house – and then you never leave the house, or they're miserable when you do and then you're miserable. It's just a terrible, vicious circle. So I think it's really important to do some basic training and reach out [to a trainer] when any issues arise.
I also can't stress enough the importance of having pet insurance. I have pet insurance for my own dog – you know, everything is not free for me. When she had cancer I easily spent $20,000 in medical bills, even with my salary discounts, but that was reimbursed to me [through my policy]. I really can't recommend pet insurance enough.
When it comes to training, do you recommend that people seek out a professional? What method have you found to be the most successful?
I always recommend that you seek out a certified professional who practices positive reinforcement only, no negative reinforcement – so no choke chains, no spray collars, no adverse measures like that. Do the basic puppy obedience classes and then, if you have a particular issue, work with a trainer on that. Sometimes even just one session can be so helpful. It's really worth that investment upfront.
If you’ve incorrectly trained a dog is it hard to course correct and get back to a good baseline?
It depends on the issue and how severe it is, but I do think that there's almost always things that we can do to ameliorate those kinds of situations. I'm the Director of Virtual Medicine for Bond Vet Clinic – I run the telehealth program for over 40 hospitals – and behavior is one of the most common things we see: separation anxiety, vet anxiety, travel anxiety, aggression. And we can make big strides with it; we can make the quality of life for both the pets and their people a lot better. So yes, in short, there are definitely things we can do. But of course it's always easier if you can avoid those things in the first place.
What tips do you have for addressing separation anxiety? With the huge spike in pet adoptions during the pandemic, this is a change many people are navigating as they return to the office after working remotely.
“Separation anxiety is very real. Leave your pet with a very delicious treat, and don't make a big deal out of hellos or goodbyes.”
I don't think there's a single pandemic puppy that I don't have on Prozac. Separation anxiety is very real and palpable. I'm always going to suggest working with a professional and talking to your veterinarian if you think you need to incorporate any medications. But very general tips are to leave them with a very high value, distractible, delicious treat. Don't make a big deal out of hellos or goodbyes – you don't want them to be very excitable when you leave or when you come home. Leave white noise or the TV on for them – there's something called Dog TV that I like, it’s actually made for them. Oh, and another thing! There was a study done that showed that dogs like classical music and reggae music – it’s actually calming for them.
What’s the best way to care for rescues with traumatic pasts – including ones who exhibit signs of anxiety or aggression?
I'm the Medical Director of Animal Lighthouse Rescue, so we deal with this a lot. I have dogs who have come from a suburban area, for example, and now they're in a city and they don't know how to pee on concrete – and that sort of thing usually requires training behavior modification and medications. But a multimodal approach to these things is always going to be best, meaning working with your vet, ruling out any behavioral causes for any trauma – injuries or anything else like that that we have to deal with – and then working with behavior modification medications and certified trainers or even board certified veterinary behaviorists, who are veterinarians with an extra three years of specialty training in behavior medicine.
Tell us more about Animal Lighthouse Rescue.
We mostly rescue satos, stray dogs from Puerto Rico, though we will take dogs that are in need locally as well – and cats. In Puerto Rico they have a 99% euthanasia rate once they [the animals] hit the shelters, which is very different compared to the States. And they are so incredibly adoptable. They tend to be really pretty well socialized, because they have to fend for themselves and they mingle with dogs and cats on the streets. So we bring them over here and we place them in a foster – we're a foster-based rescue, so we rely on our fosters to take care of them – and then work really hard to find them a home. I’m on call for anything they need. If they come over and the dogs are sick, they call me and we figure it out.
What advice do you have for parents of senior dogs?
The number one thing I would say is, again, preventative care. Make sure that your seniors are getting checked every six months, or however often your veterinarian recommends – for seniors I usually recommend every six months at a minimum. No complaint is too small. If you're concerned, always contact or see your vet because it's always worth looking into. What's that saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – something like that. And it's really, really true.
I've also co-created a senior dog course [Senior Dog Thrive] for pet parents answering all of their questions with Senior Dog Doc, a.k.a Dr. Monica Tarantino, who’s also a veterinarian. So I would say take my course! And make sure you have a vet who you love and trust and keep up with your pet’s preventative care.
We're sure you've been in the position of having to talk to pet parents through the really hard decision of ending their pet’s life. Could you talk a little bit about that?
I think it’s the price of admission we pay for loving them. It’s one of the hardest things we'll ever have to do – and the least selfish thing we can do. Sometimes we suffer so they don't have to, and it can be really, really hard.
There are lots of tools that I use to walk pet parents through that decision. Ohio State has a quality of life scale that helps you determine your pet's quality of life more objectively, because it can be so hard to determine on your own. I also co-founded a pet loss and grief community, and we deal a lot with anticipatory grief, which is when a pet is diagnosed with a terminal illness and you're already feeling guilt, loss and the grief of potentially losing them. Often that can almost be even harder. And people don't even know that there's a name for it. I think it's very validating, when people know there’s a name for what they’re feeling – and that they're not alone.
We offer group support with licensed clinical social workers and also one-on-one support. Pet loss is a disenfranchised grief, which people don't really understand, right? “Oh, it’s just a dog, get another one.” But often it can be more unbearable than losing a human.
“Ending a pet’s life is one of the hardest things we'll ever have to do – and the least selfish thing we can do. Sometimes we suffer so they don't have to, and it can be really, really hard.”
We have a few rapid-fire, ask-a-vet questions. First up: How do you actually brush your dog's teeth without them hating every second of it?
It’s about training! Teach them to make positive associations with having their teeth brushed. You always want to make sure that you use a pet toothpaste, never human toothpaste because it has too much fluoride in it and it'll be toxic for them to swallow. That means using yummy flavors like chicken, but it's also about getting them acclimated to the brushing – doing little bits at a time before they really get agitated. You stop, start again, and you stop, and start again.
What's the deal with supplements? Are there good ones for everyday well being?
It really depends on what they are and what company they're from. In general, if dogs and cats are on a fully balanced diet they do not need any additional vitamins or minerals – and it can be actually dangerous to add those to the diet. But there are a lot of supplements that I use in practice, fish oil or probiotics are two examples. But not all of them are created equal. There are definitely ways to tell if your supplement is safe: Do they have good manufacturing practices? Do they have the National Animal Supplement Council seal? Do they have certificates of analysis where they look for certain harmful ingredients? Do they have research behind them? Things like that.
What are your thoughts on CBD or tryptophan? Supplements designed to help dogs relax or mellow out?
CBD is up and coming. We don't have a ton of research on it right now. There was a study done at Cornell looking at CBD and its effect on osteoarthritis, and they found it to be helpful. So we have a dosage for that and can use it. It's in the process of being studied for behavior, and so we just don't have a lot of information on doses or how it interacts with other things. It's very promising, and we certainly need alternatives to a lot of the medications that we have, but there's also so much that we don't know.
Illustrations by Katie So for Kismet
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