Hidden Health Clues: How Iridology Can Save Your Pet's Life

[01:00:00:05 - 01:00:03:18]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Welcome to Healing Tales.

[01:00:04:19 - 01:00:16:04]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 I'm Dr. Ruth Roberts, here to help you become the best pet parent you can be with simple, natural care that works for real life, real budgets, and real pets.

[01:00:16:04 - 01:01:09:22]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Welcome to Healing Tales, the podcast where we uncover the secrets to helping our furry friends live their happiest, healthiest, and longest lives. I'm your host, Dr. Ruth Roberts, and today we're diving into a fascinating and potentially lifesaving topic, the hidden health clues that could make all the difference for your pet. Joining us today is Maggie Shellhammer, the founder of Intune Pets Health Coaching, with over two decades of experience working with dogs. Maggie is a certified dog trainer, groomer, holistic pet health coach, and canine feline iridologist. Her passion for brachycephalic breeds like her beloved Pugs has driven her to specialize in helping these pets thrive through holistic care and nutrition.

[01:01:11:02 - 01:01:48:06]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Maggie's journey into holistic pet health began when her own Pugged faced degenerative health challenges, opening her eyes to the transformative power of nutrition and alternative therapies. Since then, she's been on a mission to empower pet parents to take control of their pet's wellness. So today, we'll explore how to spot subtle signs of illness, the role of iridology in uncovering hidden health issues, and practical steps to get your pets healthy and happy. So grab a cup of tea, settle in, and let's get started. Maggie, welcome.

[01:01:49:20 - 01:01:56:21]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Thank you. I'm honored and delighted. I love chatting with you any chance I get, so happy to be here.

[01:01:58:00 - 01:02:06:15]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Super. So can you start by talking a little bit about the Pug that drove you to the dark side of alternative medicine?

[01:02:06:15 - 01:02:08:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 The light side.

[01:02:11:18 - 01:02:13:19]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So Juliette was her name.

[01:02:14:20 - 01:02:20:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 She and I were so close. We were kind of one unit, it seemed like sometimes.

[01:02:21:19 - 01:02:29:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And she was just a rehome situation. She just needed, she was in a not ideal home for a Pug.

[01:02:30:08 - 01:02:35:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Honestly, it was too much action for her and she needed a quiet place. So that was me.

[01:02:36:22 - 01:02:53:12]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So I had her through my 20s and she went through a lot with me. You learn a lot about yourself during that time and she was right by my side. So we really became in tune with each other. We had a really good communication.

[01:02:54:20 - 01:03:26:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And I also kind of consider myself a helicopter mom, which might not necessarily be a healthy relationship but it makes me hypersensitive to changes in my dogs. So Juliette was just happy, healthy and I did everything that my vet told me to and she was on the good food and up to date on everything that she needed to be. And then just eventually she was starting to get older.

[01:03:27:14 - 01:04:05:00]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And the first little glimpse of something being wrong was when she hesitated to come up the stairs. And I thought, well, that was weird. What are you doing? Come on up. And she did. She mustered up the strength and came up the stairs and then weeks passed and it happened again. Like, that was weird. What are you doing? Come on up. Just keep pushing her, whatever. And then there was one night where she had her outside and her belly was just fat, like beyond her rib cage. It was just puffed out. And I thought, oh my gosh, my dog has bloated.

[01:04:06:02 - 01:04:11:14]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I don't know what to do. So I took her to the emergency vet because that's what I thought was happening.

[01:04:13:13 - 01:04:37:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And he told me that she was bracing her spine by flexing her abdomen to alleviate the pain. It was a painful situation and she was just comforting herself. And like, well, I learned that in Pilates. You know, you flex your stomach to brace your spine. It all made sense.

[01:04:38:15 - 01:04:59:04]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And so good job, Juliet. She knew what she was doing. So we just got pain medication and instruction to go to our primary vet and get x-rays, see what's going on. So at that point, she was confirmed to have intraparterebral disease, IVDD.

[01:05:00:04 - 01:05:14:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And the prescription technically for her was pain meds and pain management, which meant carrying her up and down the stairs or setting her on the couch and helping her off the couch.

[01:05:15:08 - 01:05:18:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Nothing really beyond that. It was just, you know,

[01:05:19:14 - 01:05:22:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 monitor and keep her pain free.

[01:05:23:07 - 01:05:33:19]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And so we did that for a long time until she was having the runny poos. And that's when we had gone to the vet.

[01:05:35:05 - 01:05:56:16]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I had had some sleepless nights, went and got antibiotics, things cleared up for a couple weeks and then we were back with the same problem. Did antibiotics again until that wore off and we were back again. And I was up with her in the night. She was runny poos. We would wash in the middle of the night, things like that.

[01:05:57:23 - 01:06:05:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And somebody there just happened to be a substitute vet there one day and said, have you ever tried acupuncture?

[01:06:06:12 - 01:06:32:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I like, no. What does that mean? Do I do that for my dog? And there happened to be someone local who was doing that, a local vet. And so I started her on acupuncture treatments and the vet had diagnosed her with pancreatitis, which now I'm not so sure that's what it was. But there was a problem regardless of what title is naming it.

[01:06:34:01 - 01:06:39:23]

Maggie Shellhammer

 There was a problem and it wasn't going away with antibiotics, but it went away with acupuncture.

[01:06:41:13 - 01:07:02:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And we were kind of there to see if we could improve her mobility because she had been degenerating and losing mobility in her back legs. And so we were hoping that acupuncture would help that, but it actually cleared up the gastro problem that we were having. So that was my aha moment.

[01:07:03:13 - 01:07:03:16]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Oh,

[01:07:04:22 - 01:07:06:21]

Maggie Shellhammer

 the conventional vet gives medicine.

[01:07:07:22 - 01:07:12:11]

Maggie Shellhammer

 There are other vets who do other things and now I need to learn more.

[01:07:13:14 - 01:07:15:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And that just, that was my gateway.

[01:07:16:09 - 01:07:17:13]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Wow. Amazing.

[01:07:18:16 - 01:07:46:23]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And that's it. I mean, so that's my frustration with my colleagues, right? Is that, okay, here we can make Juliet feel better for the next few days until you get some other options. But the problem is, is that until part rarely enters the conversation and we end up creating problems, right? Because she was probably taking a non-steroidal drug, which has profound effects on the gastrointestinal system. Right.

[01:07:46:23 - 01:07:53:06]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And it's just, yeah. She also ended up with another medicine for incontinence.

[01:07:54:11 - 01:07:56:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Yeah. There was something for everything.

[01:07:57:13 - 01:07:58:08]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Always is.

[01:07:59:08 - 01:08:06:23]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So were you already working as a trainer at this point or a groomer or was this sort of your entry into pet world?

[01:08:06:23 - 01:08:15:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Yeah. At this point, I had earned certification as a dog trainer kind of straight out of high school. I knew that's what I wanted to do.

[01:08:16:09 - 01:09:11:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 The more fabulous version was I wanted to train dogs for TV and commercials and things like that. Let's just say that didn't pan out. I couldn't find work as a trainer without experience and I couldn't get the experience I needed without work. So I got a job at a boarding facility that offered training and grooming and it had a vet onsite. So I got this kind of wide lens view. Oh, and there was a retail space too that sold dog food. So I got this wide lens view of everything pet industry and saw what happens when dogs are boarded. And if a dog has stress diarrhea, there was a vet onsite who would prescribe the metronidazole and that's what we would do while the pet parent was happy on vacation. We would be handling all that onsite.

[01:09:14:11 - 01:09:47:14]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So I just kind of gained a lot of knowledge on that. We would have pet food reps come in and do demos on how their food compares to another food. So I was learning about dog food brands and everything. So then I had to move to a new city and I needed to get a job fast. And I knew what it was like to be a bather in a grooming salon. It's not an easy job. Most bathers don't last long because it kind of sucks.

[01:09:48:21 - 01:10:00:11]

Maggie Shellhammer

 But I knew I could do the job. I knew what it entailed and I needed hired right now. So I got that job and they held out as long as I could until they kind of pushed me into grooming.

[01:10:01:16 - 01:10:04:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 20 years later, I'm still a groomer.

[01:10:05:06 - 01:10:50:17]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Apparently that was the right thing to do. And it was just cool how training was what I wanted to do and it didn't work out. But it made me a better groomer because I learned things about dog behaviors and I could see that little flip switch or switch flip. If a dog was starting to get stressed or a dog was going to react, I could see it just one, like a half a second ahead of time and I could be prepared with my counter to that dog. And it made me really good as a groomer. And I didn't have those major problem dogs because I could communicate with them differently,

[01:10:51:17 - 01:11:21:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 not talk to them, but I understand you, you understand me, we were cool. So I really enjoyed it for a long time and it just, as I gained more experience, became better as a, you know, I want to call it an artist. I was a good groomer, but I was also in tune with them and catering to their needs. That sounds posh, but you know.

[01:11:21:07 - 01:11:48:07]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 No, no, I mean, and that totally makes sense because it's for many dogs, that's a really terrifying experience to get groomed. And if they just get pushed through the funnel, at some point they just end up hating it and becoming the dog that everyone dreads to see come through the door. Right. And it's because nobody took the time to say, oh, sorry, that just pushed you a little too much further than you could handle. Let's just back up and reset.

[01:11:49:11 - 01:12:05:05]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 But what I imagine too is that you're grooming dogs, you're seeing them come in young, middle aged and get older. And then were you starting to see health changes in these dogs that were like, wait a minute.

[01:12:06:09 - 01:12:39:03]

Maggie Shellhammer

 It didn't really, it didn't really phase me when I was younger and getting started. And I just saw different dogs with different health issues, different levels of skin problems. And I didn't think anything of it. It just, you were dealt this hand of cards and you're playing it. That's just the dog is the dog. And when people say, oh, they're just getting old. I'm like, yeah, they're just getting old, huh? You know, I just fell right into that with everyone else.

[01:12:40:13 - 01:12:59:14]

Maggie Shellhammer

 But as I started to learn more and hands on care for Juliet, as she was going through her issues, I started to dig deeper and learn that it isn't necessarily they're just getting older or they just have allergies or what does that even mean?

[01:13:00:16 - 01:13:03:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Everybody's kind of satisfied with the word allergies.

[01:13:05:03 - 01:13:05:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Okay.

[01:13:07:06 - 01:13:28:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So, I don't know. It was after that, once I kind of delved into the holistic care side of things, I started to learn that there was a reason for everything and everything was connected. And I did start to see it in my own grooming clients that had been with me for a decade.

[01:13:30:05 - 01:13:45:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I saw them going through things and would make suggestions like, have you talked to your vet about whatever's going on? And they say, no, it's just they're getting old. And so I started to try and pull those conversations, like make those conversations happen,

[01:13:46:21 - 01:13:51:15]

Maggie Shellhammer

 let people know that these things, it's not just a result of getting older.

[01:13:53:11 - 01:13:56:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 There's more that can be done if you're interested.

[01:13:57:20 - 01:13:58:02]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Right on.

[01:13:59:13 - 01:14:06:12]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And those are tough conversations, aren't they? Do you find a lot of resistance to that concept?

[01:14:06:12 - 01:14:06:20]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Yes, that's it.

[01:14:07:23 - 01:14:09:21]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And people get a little bit defensive,

[01:14:11:03 - 01:14:21:17]

Maggie Shellhammer

 understandably so, because they want to think that they're just not they want to think. Everyone is doing the best that they know how to do.

[01:14:22:18 - 01:14:32:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And nobody wants to be challenged on that, because if you don't know what you don't know, and there's nothing wrong with that, it just depends on if you want to learn more.

[01:14:33:14 - 01:14:55:02]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So that's what I try to do is I kind of try to get your ears to perk up a little bit to something new, a new idea. And if you want to follow through, I can help you with that. But if you don't, you know, do what feels right to you. But they do, they kind of get defensive a little bit. And I've been there, you know, don't tell me. I know what I'm doing.

[01:14:55:02 - 01:14:56:12]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 I know what I'm doing. I'm a professional.

[01:14:57:19 - 01:14:58:21]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 I've said that I'm guilty.

[01:15:00:03 - 01:15:01:22]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 We all do. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:15:03:04 - 01:15:17:06]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 I think, you know, where you're where you're operating now is to help people understand more about subtle changes in their dog's behavior. Not too many cats get groomed happily anyway,

[01:15:18:15 - 01:15:29:05]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 or appearance. So what do you think a lot of pet parents are missing when things are subtle before it becomes an allergy or whatever the diagnosis is?

[01:15:29:05 - 01:15:37:04]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Yeah. A lot of times there can just be behavior changes. That can be a big one.

[01:15:38:19 - 01:15:48:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 If you're aware of a behavior change, it can be restlessness or chewing, you know, chewing on the feet.

[01:15:49:05 - 01:15:59:20]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And I talked about this recently where chewing on the feet doesn't necessarily mean itchy, like scratching an itch. It can also mean alleviating pain.

[01:16:00:22 - 01:16:11:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So that's what I mean by these subtle, subtle signs can mean a couple of things or a few different things. And it's up to you to kind of dig deeper into it.

[01:16:13:00 - 01:16:22:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So that's what can be missed is, oh, this dog's feet itch like crazy. But meanwhile, there's a spinal issue that could be addressed or,

[01:16:23:15 - 01:16:29:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 you know, if you have access to chiropractic, you know, things can be fixed that way.

[01:16:31:00 - 01:16:39:14]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Allergies, that doesn't just come out of nowhere, which is what a lot of people think. All of a sudden, there's a hotspot.

[01:16:41:10 - 01:17:02:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 That didn't just happen. It can take four to six weeks for an imbalance inside the body to show outward signs on the skin or, you know, they're scooting their butt across the floor or whatever the case may be. It was brewing underneath the surface. And now there's a symptom that you can see.

[01:17:02:13 - 01:17:06:14]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So when in the course of your career as a groomer,

[01:17:08:08 - 01:17:17:00]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 what are some of the most common subtle signs that you're noticing? And you might mention to the pet parent, but they're like, yeah,

[01:17:18:02 - 01:17:18:14]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 no big deal.

[01:17:19:20 - 01:17:28:06]

Maggie Shellhammer

 A big one, of course, we talked about the skin, which rarely has anything to do with the skin if there's a problem on the surface.

[01:17:30:02 - 01:18:02:11]

Maggie Shellhammer

 But also dogs get this reverse sneeze that sounds like hyperventilating or sometimes they'll cough. And it happens a lot in the grooming salon because a dog is either really excited to see you, which you hope is the case that they're just so excited or they're anxious over the top. Just anxiety is taking them over and it'll throw them into this fit of reverse sneezing. And it sounds like they're hyperventilating and can't catch their breath.

[01:18:03:16 - 01:18:31:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So if it's just the reverse sneeze and they're trying to catch their breath, we can kind of calm them down and get them through that. But it could be a sign, especially in small breed dogs, of collapsing trachea, which is really common and it can be managed. There's medication that can help or there are other natural support options that can be really super helpful and keep it from getting worse.

[01:18:32:23 - 01:19:15:22]

Maggie Shellhammer

 If there's a cough, sometimes, in my non-medical opinion here, but it could be related to the heart. And I always encourage people or ask them when was the last time that you had lab work done? And if it's been more than a year, I say, "Go do that. Just rule it out. Just see. Ask your vet about heart conditions related to this cough. Is there any correlation?" I just kind of make those suggestions to people because it could be bigger and you don't want to miss that. And your dog's coughing right now. Let's go ahead and find out why. Don't wait until it gets worse.

[01:19:15:22 - 01:19:31:01]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And that's great. I mean, because the other thing that happens is if you live with the dog, "Ah, she's just doing her normal cough for the evening," instead of somebody saying to you, "You may want to look a little deeper at this."

[01:19:32:05 - 01:19:57:10]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So one of the things that you've just completed is becoming certified in iridology, which is really cool. So can you explain kind of what that is and how it can be used to really uncover hidden health issues that are not even at surface level sometimes where we can understand, "Oh, this may be related to that." Right.

[01:19:57:10 - 01:20:22:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 That's really cool. The eye can tell you so much, and I never knew until a couple of months ago, that there are marks that just appear in the eye when there's an imbalance inside the body. And that can be emotional. It can be any organ function. It can be digestion, lymphatics,

[01:20:23:16 - 01:20:44:14]

Maggie Shellhammer

 musculoskeletal, structural. The eyes can tell you that. There will be a mark that kind of cautions you to something going on in this part of the body. So we need to see those eyes as kind of a window inside. So you're reading patterns and marks on the iris, which is the colored part, usually brown,

[01:20:45:17 - 01:20:49:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 but also blue or half and half sometimes.

[01:20:50:16 - 01:22:04:16]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And what I learned becoming certified as a holistic pet health coach is that lab work, blood work, is a moment in time, but it also, things don't show up necessarily until 70% of that organ has been damaged or insulted in some way. So it takes time. You're so far down the road by the time the lab work is off. The eyes can mark before the labs and the eyes can also mark before a physical symptom shows. And it's so crazy because you never know what's just going to happen first because you can go for a wellness check at your vet and the lab work is crazy. And you're like, my dog's fine. Doesn't look, nothing's wrong with my dog. But the paper says, you know, all of this is wrong. So this is just another kind of complimentary source. It's not a diagnostic tool, but if you see something that suggests, you know, there's a mark on the bladder, has your dog been peeing more frequently than normal or without drinking water,

[01:22:05:22 - 01:22:13:16]

Maggie Shellhammer

 things like that, it can just alert you to pay closer attention. And if anything serious, you can go ask your vet about it.

[01:22:14:22 - 01:22:18:16]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And that's so cool, right? Because we all want that early warning system.

[01:22:20:12 - 01:22:37:02]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And it's hard to, there really are very few tools out there available. So this is why this type of process, erudology, can be such a huge boon to the pet parent that's working with someone that's trained in this field.

[01:22:38:03 - 01:22:52:12]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Because if you're like, that sounds not quite right, the erudologist can help point you to questions to ask your veterinarian and hopefully short circuit any massive health changes that are coming up.

[01:22:52:12 - 01:23:00:03]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Exactly. And it really helps you kind of cut to the chase. It's nice. Instead of try this, try this.

[01:23:01:08 - 01:23:10:22]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And that's great. I mean, that's what we all want is to be able to narrow the focus enough to get it right on the first or maybe the second time instead of the 10th time.

[01:23:12:01 - 01:23:20:12]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So have you had a case where you have just been blown away with what you've been able to do to help your clients, Pat?

[01:23:22:23 - 01:23:30:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So far, I haven't had any huge earth shattering information to share with anyone.

[01:23:31:22 - 01:23:33:20]

Maggie Shellhammer

 But my own dog Bugsy,

[01:23:35:01 - 01:25:35:22]

Maggie Shellhammer

 he, as a puppy, when I got him, I knew that he had an umbilical hernia. And it never got worse. It never needed surgically, tended to. And I never got him neutered. So then I was going to repair it then if it needed to be, but never happened. And he's been fine. But it turns out he's got some pain in his pelvic area, which I saw in his eyes. Bugsy is not going to tell you anything's wrong. And if something's wrong, something's really wrong because he's just the happiest, bounciest, loviest dog. So if any of those things are not happening, I know something's wrong. But the pelvic area showed all of these marks. Like, well, what's that? And then I realized that his hernia is there. And I did need Poppy's help with this because she's a little more experienced with the hands on. But the hernia was kind of causing, could be like muscle tears or scar tissue or something like that. And it just developed over time and he's dealt with it. But what also kind of shows up is structural alignment, is a little out of whack. So then we're asking, well, what came first? Is he bracing himself for pain kind of like Juliet was and he's just compensating. So now his alignment is out of whack because his belly hurts. Well, so what am I going to do about that? I can use herbs to help with tissue repair and help to kind of break down that scar tissue. We can do massage to keep circulation good in that area. We can do full spectrum hemp to address pain. And he also is kind of an anxious guy. He's so sensitive. And you know, if anything's wrong with me,

[01:25:37:16 - 01:25:44:00]

Maggie Shellhammer

 he's the first to come over and put his paws on me like Mama, something's wrong. I need you to think about this.

[01:25:45:04 - 01:26:10:17]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I'm here. But I can't tell you what's going on. He's so so sensitive. And I feel a little guilty because there's like emotional marks in those eyes to stress marks. And I think it's all emotional stress. It could be a little bit of pain stress too. But these are things that we can address with natural support. It's just kind of figuring out what works for him.

[01:26:11:19 - 01:26:17:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So that was really cool. Like, I know my dogs. I've had my dog for five years. I don't know everything.

[01:26:19:17 - 01:26:38:01]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And that's it. Yeah, more tools to help you figure out more options for these guys. So in your business in tune pets, health coaching, you are focusing on empowering pet parents. So how do you do that? How do you help them take control of their pets, health and wellness?

[01:26:38:01 - 01:27:44:02]

Maggie Shellhammer

Yeah, there is so much that we have control over that we don't even realize. And I see it with my grooming clients a lot where as I've been working more as a pet health coach, I try to help them ahead of time by saying, when you go to the vet, ask your vet if they'll do these tests. Or what's your annual visit like? What do you have done? And they'll tell me and I would say, ask your vet if you could skip this, but do this instead. You know, I've learned that there's more important things to do once a year, certain tests, like a year analysis. I never did a year analysis unless it was possible to contract infection. Now I know that it helps read kidney function, you know, so it's more information. I always want to get the most information in one stop, you know, as much as you can get. So I've tried to tell people that and they'll still, they'll still go and they'll leave confused.

[01:27:45:09 - 01:28:10:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And a lot of people have their dogs on five different medications. They're not sure why, what each one does. So that's where I try to tell them to, when you go to the vet, you don't necessarily have to make, unless it's an emergency, know the difference between an emergency, but you don't necessarily have to make a decision right then and there. And you're only with your vet for like 10 minutes.

[01:28:12:03 - 01:28:24:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

 It's hard to make a quick decision and know what's right and wrong. I even struggle with it when I'm there. I feel the pressure like, what do I do? What's right? What's wrong? What would Dr. Roberts say?

[01:28:26:16 - 01:29:22:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And so I tell them like, go if it's not, like I said, case by case, but go home, think about it. Call your pet's health coach and say, the vet said this, it was, the medicine was called something like this. And I think it was because of this. You know, I can be the one that helped you sort through those details. We can take 30 minutes to figure out what happened. Why did you even go to the vet? What did the doctor say? What did the lab work say? You know, let's take a little more time and figure out what makes sense for you. So I want people to not panic at the vet and do, you know, and then three months down the road, they find out that that medication that they said yes to wasn't doing the job. And now we're so much farther down the line.

[01:29:23:10 - 01:29:26:03]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So you have control over that when you're with your vet.

[01:29:27:03 - 01:30:11:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Also, you know, obviously feeding anything that you do at home is up to you. And I, you know, I challenge people. I don't, I'm not, I don't have kids. So I, you know, tread lightly. But when you had a kid, you probably did pretty well at feeding, feeding them and keeping them alive and not having strict instructions on what they need on a daily basis. You kind of just figure it out. And with dogs are a little bit different. You can't feed them the same things. But if you're doing real food, you're going to probably get there and, and be okay. And not your dog's butt's not going to fall off.

[01:30:13:01 - 01:30:14:15]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I still, I still got it.

[01:30:18:00 - 01:30:33:04]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So, and we talk about this all the time, but how is it that diet can play such a huge role in addressing or preventing some of the health issues that, that we see all the time?

[01:30:35:07 - 01:30:46:17]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Just simply getting the antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, all the things that are required to sustain life,

[01:30:47:18 - 01:30:48:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 feed that.

[01:30:49:14 - 01:31:22:23]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And it's going to help like, it's going to keep the body hydrated. It's going to keep the body nourished and adding in, you know, keeping it simple. Say you are feeding kibble. You can, you can get there with a kibble diet and supplements that maybe were created in a lab, but the body's not going to absorb everything it needs with just that. So at least we can try to supplement with whole foods. So mushrooms, berries, dark, leafy greens,

[01:31:24:00 - 01:31:55:10]

Maggie Shellhammer

 orange, yellow, red, vegetables. And by the way, you just fed the rainbow just with those. And that's what we're always told, right? That gives you all those things that are going to sustain life. They're in there. And then organ meats, fermented foods for probiotic, you know, it's all there and it's all accessible. It's not, you don't need a spreadsheet. If you like spreadsheets, get a spreadsheet, but you know, you don't need one, really.

[01:31:56:15 - 01:31:56:20]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Right on.

[01:31:57:21 - 01:32:20:08]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So this is where I think a lot of pet parents get confused. They know that what they're doing isn't quite working, but they're like, holy smokes, where do I even start? So what are some simple steps that you are frequently telling pet parents that they can take to start improving their pet's health, rate that meal?

[01:32:20:08 - 01:32:23:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So my favorite things have always been.

[01:32:24:09 - 01:32:32:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I kind of have five super food go-tos and those are berries, fermented foods.

[01:32:33:14 - 01:32:54:12]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I do like organ meats. I think those are good. I don't know if those are actually on my list usually, but organ meat and then, you know, all the dark vegetables, colorful vegetables that I said are good, but also something simple like sardines or other fish oil.

[01:32:55:20 - 01:33:07:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 I'm a little bit picky about the fish oil, but just getting it into the diet is so important. Omega-3s are often deficient in humans and animals.

[01:33:08:21 - 01:33:21:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 That's huge. And an iridology assessment can be really helpful to get you started, you know, giving a little extra love and support in the areas that need it the most.

[01:33:22:09 - 01:33:22:23]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Right on.

[01:33:24:01 - 01:33:33:20]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 So have you been successful working with veterinarians to help create comprehensive care plan for pets or have you gotten a lot of pushback or how's that been going?

[01:33:35:18 - 01:33:41:07]

Maggie Shellhammer

 This is another place that I tried lightly. I did have a vet who was super supportive.

[01:33:42:12 - 01:34:45:08]

Maggie Shellhammer

 So with anything that I chose to do that wasn't technically her advice, she was supportive, you know, go for it. This is not going to cause any harm. You know, I would do this, but if you want to do that first, we've got time. You know, she was really open to let's see what you got, you know, but that was with my own dogs. And she did once send me a client's information, a client of hers who had done a sensitivity test and didn't know what to do with it. But that person didn't really follow through either. So it's going to take time to get everybody on board, to get the veterinarian on board to refer their clients to you and for clients to be open to doing the thing. I hope that one day veterinarians will see the value in having a pet health coach on their team because what I can do is work one on one with them with regular check ins.

[01:34:46:10 - 01:35:06:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And then if a vet has prescribed a treatment, I will come up with natural support options that complement that treatment plan and maybe even improve the efficacy of that plan. I'm not going to change anything that the vet said to do, but we're all going to talk together.

[01:35:08:06 - 01:35:10:01]

Maggie Shellhammer

 And we should be on the same page.

[01:35:11:05 - 01:35:27:22]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 And I think that's part of what holds a lot of veterinarians back from working with holistic pet health coaches because they don't understand you're there to support everything that they're doing and amplify the benefit for that individual pet.

[01:35:28:23 - 01:35:36:15]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 All right. So where can our listeners learn more about you, your work and Intune Pets Health Coaching?

[01:35:38:16 - 01:36:03:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Right now I have a Facebook page that is my social media, Intune Pets Health Coaching. And I do have a website, which is informational. You can't really, you just have to email me, but all the contact information is there, IntunePetsHealthCoaching.com. Same with email is IntunePetsHealthCoaching at Gmail.com.

[01:36:04:13 - 01:36:05:13]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Try to keep it consistent.

[01:36:07:04 - 01:36:11:12]

Maggie Shellhammer

 But yeah, reaching out through email, direct message on Facebook.

[01:36:12:18 - 01:36:14:06]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Those are the best ways to reach me.

[01:36:14:06 - 01:36:15:10]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Awesome.

[01:36:16:18 - 01:36:26:07]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 All right. So here's the tough question. What is your vision for the future of pet health? And how do you see holistic care playing a role in that?

[01:36:26:07 - 01:36:49:04]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Well, holistic care, it involves looking at the body, the lifestyle, the emotional status of this dog. And one thing that I always bring up that you said to us, because you learned from your teachers too, and was it Dr. Shea who said, "The paper has no cheek."

[01:36:50:05 - 01:37:10:05]

Maggie Shellhammer

 That's it. You can have the lab work in black and white right in front of you, but also look at the dog. Let's not just assume that we have to do this protocol because the lab work says, "Let's take into consideration symptoms and how does the dog feel?" Do you ask the dog lately how it feels?

[01:37:11:15 - 01:38:12:09]

Maggie Shellhammer

So taking that all into account. And also having, we just need more options readily available to people. They don't know what's out there until they go looking for it. And so we're trying to present that. And that's why we need to work with our veterinarians and get them on board. Let them know that we can work together. And I kind of sometimes see pet health coaches as conductor of an orchestra where the veterinarian and any specialist that needs to come in based on the health issue, like oncologists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists, whoever it is, they all do their jobs beautifully. But we need that one person that pulls everyone to the table. And let's all talk. Who's saying what and make sure that we're not overlapping and that we're adding in natural support options. This is one of my favorite works, natural support options or phrases.

[01:38:13:14 - 01:38:40:02]

Maggie Shellhammer

 There's always something that the body needs that's in nature. So there's more to know than just what these specialists have to say. And we can all work together as one and make a cohesive plan that makes sense and also fits into the parent's lifestyle. We don't want you doing everything, changing everything all at once because then you just give up and you don't want to give up ever.

[01:38:41:22 - 01:38:49:17]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 That's really sad. And that's it. This is about finding the options that work for you, for your pet and where you are in life at the moment.

[01:38:50:22 - 01:39:29:14]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Maggie, I am really glad we had this time to have another talk and discussion. I mean, it's just amazing the things that the tools that you've added to your tool belt over the course of the year and what you're able to bring to the table, especially for the brachiocephalic breeds, because in conventional medicine, we tend to go to pretty heavy duty prescription meds to support some of their problems without really thinking through some of the natural support options. So thanks for all that you're doing and glad you were able to take some time today to talk a bit more.

[01:39:29:14 - 01:39:36:02]

Maggie Shellhammer

 Me too. This was wonderful. And I just, I'm here to help. So anybody who has questions, just ask them.

[01:39:37:16 - 01:39:57:23]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Right on. Cool. So that's it for this episode. We'll have more episodes of Healing Tales coming up with more amazing speakers that are here to kind of help you twist your perspective a little bit and think, hmm, maybe there is another way. Until next time, take good care. Give your puppies and your kitties a kiss for us.

[01:39:57:23 - 01:40:16:07]

Dr. Ruth Roberts 

 Thanks for listening to Healing Tales, where pet parents become healers, one tail wag at a time. Want more tools and support? Head to DrRuthRoberts.com. Until next time, trust your gut, question the noise, and keep showing up for your pet.