Helping Anxious Dogs (and Cats) Through Vet Visits & Holiday Chaos

Holiday gatherings, noisy celebrations, and busy schedules can spike anxiety in dogs—and even cats. In this episode of The Marty and Laura Show, host Laura Reeves and veterinarian Dr. Marty Greer dig into the real-world challenges of anxiety, fear and stress-related behaviors in pets, especially during high-trigger seasons.

They cover what doesn’t work (spoiler: Benadryl and acepromazine aren’t true anxiety solutions) and explain what can help: structured training, “happy vet visits,” smart environmental choices, and medication plans that match the pet’s needs—whethe...

Why Dogs Lick Their Feet (and What It Means)

If your dog is constantly licking, chewing, or biting their feet, it’s not “just a habit.” In this episode, Marty and Laura break down what foot licking really signals, why the red-colored staining happens, and how to sort out environmental allergies vs. food sensitivities.

You’ll learn why some dogs become “closet lickers,” why elimination diets must be strict for 12 full weeks and what modern prescription options may help itchy dogs feel better.

🐾 In This Episode, We Cover:

Kitty Litter Box 101: The Real Reason Cats “Miss” (and How to Fix It)

The Marty and Laura Show with Dr. Marty Greer + Laura Reeves

If you live with a cat, you already know the truth: litter boxes are not exactly glamorous. But as Marty Greer points out in this episode of The Marty and Laura Show, litter box issues are one of the most common reasons cats lose their homes — and that’s why this “un-fun” topic is actually incredibly important.

In today’s deep dive, Laura Reeves and veterinarian Marty Greer tackle what every cat...

Too LITTLE or Too MUCH: Addison’s vs. Cushing’s Disease in Dogs

In this episode, Marty and Laura dive into two often-confused but fundamentally opposite adrenal diseases in dogs: Addison’s disease (hypoadrenocorticism) and Cushing’s disease (hyperadrenocorticism). While both involve the adrenal glands, one is caused by too little hormone production and the other by too much.

Marty explains the anatomy and function of the adrenal glands, how these diseases present very differently in real life, and why they can be so challenging to diagnose and manage. The conversation also addresses common misconceptions around g...

Enjoying a Winter Wonderland with Your Pet

Marty and Laura share great ideas for enjoying a winter wonderland with your pet. From snow angels to snow mountains to skijoring, they walk you through all the fun activities with a few safety precautions.

Should your dog have outfits and boots for the cold weather? Marty and Laura have some pro tips and a few funny stories about outfit failures on their own dogs.

“There are some tricks and tips to this,” Marty says. “First of all, I think the most dangerous temperature for the dogs i...

STINKY! Holiday Grooming Prevents an Embarrassing Problem

Marty and Laura tackle a stinky problem for pet owners, explaining why holiday grooming can prevent an embarrassing situation.

Anal glands are the dog’s version of the scent glands on a skunk. They also express those glands when they are nervous or afraid. The glands can also become impacted or infected. Pet owners can avoid the embarrassment of their dog scooting his bottom across the carpet during holiday parties with a simple but effective treatment at the vet or groomer.

“They're little glands and they shou...

Five Tips for Fun, Safe Holidays with Pets

Marty and Laura offer up five pro tips for a fun and safe holiday with pets. Sidenote, keep your eyes peeled for Marty during the National Dog Show on NBC at noon Thanksgiving Day.

Tip 1… Canned pumpkin, which may well be not entirely pumpkin, is great for dogs and cats! Give them a tablespoon in their food *before* you make the pie.

Tip 2 … Making soup stock from the turkey carcass? Save the cooked veggies for the dog’s dinner so they can join the celebration.

T...

Shout Out to Our Heroes: Responsible Pet Owners

Marty and Laura are giving thanks and a shout out to the heroes of the week, responsible pet owners. These are folks who make sure their pets are fed and trained and vetted even when times are tough.

This week’s giving thanks charity is No Pet Hungry America.

“Millions of families across the country face impossible choices every day between paying rent, buying groceries or feeding their pets. No Pet Hungry America is here to change that.

“We provide pet food, supplies, and re...

Giving Thanks: Science Helps Pets Live Longer, Healthier

Marty and Laura give thanks for recent science breakthroughs that help our pets live longer, healthier lives. From decoding the canine genome to Artificial Intelligence, our pets are benefitting from scientific research.

Organizations such as the AKC Canine Health Foundation support this research which benefits all dogs, purebred and mixed breed, as well as frequently providing information that expands knowledge for treating human diseases. During the month of giving, we’re suggesting groups to support our pets with your donations.

“The artificial intelligence that's barreling at u...

Giving Thanks for Our Veterinarians

Marty and Laura share their thanks for veterinarians and staff who sacrifice to care for our pets.

“We know you're stressed,” Marty said of veterinarians and staff. “Your pet is sick. You were up all night cleaning up whatever it is that you had to clean up. And it's really hard to be gracious and to be lovely on the phone or in person when you're in that stressful situation. But I can't even begin to emphasize how important that is.

“The hardest job that we have at the vete...

Giving Thanks for the Pets in Our Lives

Marty and Laura kick off a month of giving thanks for the pets in our lives. Our animals brighten our days, bring us together with friends, provide companionship and comfort year round. So we decided to celebrate that special connection throughout November.

Since November is the month of giving, we’re also highlighting a different organization dedicated to animals and the people who love them each week. This week Marty shares information about her own non-profit, Pink Paw, which seeks to raise awareness of breast cancer in ou...

“Howloween”: Costumes and Doorbells and Chocolates, Oh MY!

Marty and Laura are joined by Glinda the Good Witch to talk about Halloween and the fun, as well as potential pitfalls, for our pets.

“Everybody wants to address their pet up in a cute little costume,” Marty noted. “And you know, some of them are fine and the pets are comfortable in them and they're not scary and they're really cute. And sometimes we're expecting just a little too much of our pets, depending on the pet and what they like.

“We have to respect ther...

Fear Free Handling for Vets and Groomers

Marty and Laura talk about the concept of fear free handling of pets by veterinarians and groomers. A concept popularized by veterinarian Dr. Sophia Yin, the reality of working with pets to lower their stress in new situations isn’t all that new, Marty noted.

“I think fear free and low stress handling are important techniques. But this isn't new. And that's part of the frustration that I have with this, is we've always done things this way. It didn't have a name back then, but we've always put...

Diabetes is Manageable with Early Detection

Marty and Laura discuss the challenges of diabetes in pets, how to prevent, diagnose and manage the disease.

"Dogs that develop multiple episodes of pancreatitis, which is inflammation of the pancreas, they will oftentimes then become diabetic because there's so much scarring of the pancreas from the pancreatitis," Marty said.

"If you have a dog that's diabetic, they're going on insulin or you're not going to be able to keep them going," Marty added. "So you have to make a hard decision in a day or two...

Heart Healthy Ideas for Pets

Marty and Laura share heart healthy ideas for our pets from weight management to fitness to genetics.

“We can't really talk about prevention without talking about genetics,” Marty said, “because from the very inception of a puppy, we can control their genetics to a certain extent. There are DNA tests. And there are phenotype tests that we can do for cardiac disease.

“I think it's really important if you're buying a dog from a breed that tends to have cardiac disease, that we start off with the foundation of do th...

ITCH! Ear Mites Cause Scratching and Permanent Damage

Marty and Laura tackle the big itch of ear mites, how to prevent, diagnose and treat them in your cats (and even dogs.)

“There are hundreds of mites in these cats ears, so it's no question that they are intensely itchy,” Marty said, while Laura opined the image was the stuff of nightmares.

“When we see an ear infection in a cat,” Marty said, “it's ear mites or somehow related to ear mites. And in a dog it may start as ear mites, especially if it's a you...

OUCH! Cruciate Ligament Rupture Prevention and Repair

Marty and Laura tackle the painful topic of cruciate ligament ruptures in dogs. They talk causes, prevention, treatment and new research that’s giving hope to eradicating the painful condition specifically in Labrador Retrievers.

“Statistically, five to 10% of Labradors will end up with a cruciate tear,” Marty said, “although there's a lot of variables in that. Certain breeds like greyhounds and corgis, they don't tear cruciates. Sometimes it's the age of spaying or neutering, sometimes there's definitely differences within the line of dogs. So there's a lot of variable...

Why is My Dog Peeing So Much? Critical Kidney Care Info

Marty and Laura tackle a huge subject with kidney diseases, symptoms and treatments. From diabetes to poison to communicable diseases, kidney health is critical to your pet.

“A lot of people take kidneys for granted,” Marty says, “because they heard you can donate a kidney, so you must not really need to have two kidneys. You really do need the reserve of an extra kidney in case something goes wrong with one or both. Just like almost all of our organs, they're duplicated, so we sho...

Myth Busting for Our Pets: “Natural” Does NOT Equal Safe

Marty and Laura bust out on myths around “natural” products for our pets, whether they are useful, safe or actually hazardous.

“All the eucalyptus and citronella and lavender and whatever it is that you want to spray on your dog is not going to actually successfully prevent external parasites,” Laura asked.

“They may help a little bit,” Marty said, “but don't forget just because it says natural doesn't mean safe because there's a lot of things that are natural that aren't safe. Chocolate’s natural, it's not...

ALLLLL the Best Toys for Your Pets + Cat Food

Marty and Laura drop their recs for all the best toys for your pets, from cat trees to “indestructible” dog chews. Plus, Marty delivers a round up on cat food and why cats eat what they do.

“There's some nuances to cat food that are different than dog food. Cats apparently like things that are pointy and sharp in their mouths. Apparently cats like to eat little mice that have little sharp body parts, and so they like these little sharp kind of kibbles, so a lot of...

Love for Brachycephalic Breeds

Marty and Laura share the love for brachycephalic breeds with information about feeding, managing their environment, health testing and more.

Managing Feeding and Environment for Brachycephalic Dog Owners:

What are brachycephalic dogs?

Brachycephalic dogs are dogs with a short, wide skull. These include French Bulldogs, Pugs, English Bulldogs, Olde English Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Shih tzus, Lhasa Apsos, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and the American Bully and American Bulldog breeds.

The very thing that makes us love them and makes them popular also puts them at...

Confessions: ALLLLLL the Ways Our Dogs Have Embarrassed Us

Marty and Laura share their most embarrassing stories with their dogs. From obedience exercises gone wrong to inappropriate public ejaculation, and many more incredibly awkward humiliations.

“Dogs don't process things the same way we do,” Laura said. “If it feels good, it's good and so whatever it is that makes them feel good, which might be eating all of your entire ham roast that you had for dinner.

“We have to just realize that dogs don't...

Bloat: Know the Early Warning Signs

Marty and Laura give you tips and tools to save your dog’s life in the case of bloat. Minutes count in this life-threatening condition, so knowing the early warning signs is critical.

Bloat, also known as gastric dilation and volvulus, is a condition that knows no boundaries. It occurs in large breed dogs primarily, but it can happen in smaller dogs as well. Gas becomes trapped in the stomach, causing it to “flip over,” cutting off blood supply to vital organs, all within just a few minutes.

o  E...

Examining the Power of the Human Animal Bond

Marty and Laura examine the powerful human animal bond and how we can help our pets be healthier while they help us be healthier.

The power of this ancient connection is documented at the Human Animal Bond Research Institute.

"The value that pets bring to our lives," Laura said, "is they impact whether we go out and exercise with them because we need them to lose weight. Whether it is the companionship, whether it is the social activity where we actually go into the public...

Pro Tips for Doggy Dieting

Marty and Laura take on the “weighty” conversation around doggy dieting. Research proves conclusively that dogs kept at a healthy weight live two years longer. How pet owners reduce or manage weight for their pets can be challenging and often requires some personal introspection as well. Our best pro tips for doggy dieting:

· Move more, eat less … There’s no such thing as doggy Ozempic

· Replace 50% of kibble with vegetables

· Measure the food, don’t just guess

· Feed two meals, don’t free feed

· Use kibbles f...

Marty and Laura tackle the high cost of vet care, everything from WHY the cost is so high to pro tips on ways you can help keep costs manageable.

Laura said, "I ran across (an article) in a magazine called Money Wise, and it says that half of America's 87,000,000 pet owners have decided against vet treatment. And it it continues that for many Americans, the cost of caring for their pets has become unbearable. A Gallup poll found 52% of US pet owners say that they've had to put off veterinary care because of the cost. A whopping 7...

Foxtails and Algae and Snakes and Alligators, Oh My!

Summer vacation with dog as co-pilot, as Marty and Laura discussed last month, is well under way. Today they bring important information to help keep your pet safe in the late summer at various locations around the country. Whether it's foxtails, blue green algae, poisonous snakes or alligators, your pet can encounter a variety of environmental challenges.

Skunks and porcupines also get rolled into this wide-ranging conversation about what to avoid and what to do if you can't avoid some of these dangers for your pet.<...

A Day in the Life: Answers to Your WTF Questions at the Vet

Marty and I talk a lot. Like we talk pretty much, maybe not daily, but we talk every week. And I interact with people on a daily basis who work in veterinary clinics. I think it's really hard, sometimes, for us as clients to appreciate what's going on in the veterinary clinic. 'The receptionist just snarked at me. I've been sitting here for 45 minutes, like, what the F?'

So I thought it would be really great if Marty would talk to...

Bombproofing Your Pet for the Big Booms

Marty and Laura tackle the big booms of summer, fireworks and thunderstorms, and how we can bombproof our pets ahead of time.

LR: You made a comment to me last week when we were together that I thought was so great. We were talking about our phobias, your fear of heights. My claustrophobia. And you're like, 'we don't know why we have these phobias. Dogs don't know why they have their phobias either.' And I just thought that was such a genius comment that I'd never really...

Blastomycosis and Other Fungal Infections

Marty and Laura discuss the dangers of blastomycosis and other fungal infections for our pets as well as their humans.

"Blasto tends to be the upper Midwest," Marty said. "It's frequently found in areas where wood chipping has taken place, so places that trees have been cut down or chipped or garden centers and you know, things along those lines.

"There are other parts of the country that have other kinds of fungal infections. So it's not like if you don't live in Wisconsin that you're safe from...

Osteoarthritis Diagnosis and Treatment

Marty and Laura tackle the topic of osteoarthritis in our pets, diagnosis, treatment and the differences between cats and dogs with this disease.

Oral Hygiene from Teeth to Gums to Beards

Marty and Laura discuss oral hygiene including teeth, gums and beards. Keeping your pet's teeth clean means brushing them. There are no magic cures.

Oral health impacts the pet's overall physical health directly, Marty said. She recommends visiting the Veterinary Oral Health Council's website to learn about approved and accepted products that can help reduce the severity of periodontal disease in our pets.

"It's not just about how they smell," Marty said, "because (tartar buildup) does have a bad odor to it. It's about their...

Geriatric Cats and Why They Lose Weight

Marty and Laura tackle the topic of skinny old cats, why they lose weight and how to prevent these geriatric diseases.

Cats are NOT, as Laura theorized, “fluffy house plants.”

“Lots of people know when they have a kitten that they need veterinary care,” Marty said. “They need vaccinations, they need deworming, they to be spayed or neutered, all the stuff. And then a lot of cats never see their veterinarian until they're 14, 15, 16 years old in some cases.

Summer Vacation with Dog as Co-Pilot

Marty and Laura drop useful tips and share hilarious stories about summer vacation with dogs.

Top tips from the Pros:

Spring Tune Up for Your Dog

Marty and Laura get you and your buddy off the couch and ready for the spring weather.

"The most important thing is to not overdo it because the tendency is it's finally spring, it's finally nice out. I'm going to go garden all day, I'm going to go on a long hike, I'm going to cut the grass, I'm going to clean the garage, I'm going to do all this stuff that turns out to not really be conducive to not being physically conditioned for it. And it could...

Encephalitis, Meningitis and More

Marty and Laura tackle a really tough topic today, talking about encephalitis and meningitis and other assorted brain and spinal cord inflammation.

“These are scary because the dogs get very sick and it's a very difficult diagnosis to make,” Marty said. “It usually requires some advanced imaging, some advanced testing. It's not an easy diagnosis to nail down and it's not an easy treatment to develop.

This category of illness is complicated due to the variety of causes, from bacterial infection to autoimmune mediated, and the vagueness of the sympto...

Do Stuff with Your Dog, Safely!

Marty and Laura are talking puppercise today with a great run down of the fun stuff to do with your dog and how to do it safely. They even throw in a little philosophy. Like, what is “hiking?” Are we climbing cliffs or strolling on a volksmarch. Hosts discuss.

Back on track, our intrepid hosts cover communicating with our dogs. How to hear what they’re trying to tell us, whether it’s that their feet are hot or they’re tired and need a rest period.

A discussi...

Managing Grief Over Pet Passing

Marty and Laura are joined by Lindsay Stanton, grief coach and author to discuss managing grief after losing a pet.

"At the end of the day, grief and trauma run down very parallel paths," Stanton noted. "And depending on the type of grief that you're experiencing, it can be extremely traumatic. And depending on the way the person or pet passed, it can be extremely traumatic."

"If you're really a dog person or really a cat person, you understand the gravity of that loss," Marty said. "And society...

Types, Causes and Treatment of Seizures

Marty and Laura take on the tough topic of seizures in our pets. They break down the types of seizures, what may cause them and treatment options based on the cause.

Sparked by a listener request to cover the topic when a client dog had a hypoglycemic seizure in a groom shop, this episode is for everyone who owns a dog. All dogs and cats can experience a seizure whether from low blood sugar, ingestion of toxin, various diseases and what is known as “idiopathic epilepsy” which literally means seiz...

Pros and Cons of Dog Parks and Doggy Day Care

Marty and Laura debate dog parks and doggy day care, weighing the risk versus the reward of each.

Dog parks and doggy daycare are convenient solutions to busy schedules. But they do have downsides. We're here to help walk you through some of the considerations.

"Some (doggy daycares) are run really well," Marty noted, "so I don't wanna say that they're all negatively associated. But there are some that have really done well and some that are really not done well.

"...

Home Alone

Marty and Laura tackle separation anxiety, a tough topic for folks trying to manage returning to office life while keeping their pooch entertained.

A lot of “pandemic dogs” that have never had 30 seconds of being by themselves, find a new way of life more challenging.

“So there are some things that you can do to help prepare them for being left alone,” Marty said, “whether it's to go to work or something more significant. And some of them are pharmaceutical and some are non-pharmaceutical. It’s okay to use pharmaceuticals if you need the...

How do We Give Our Dogs the Best Chance at a Long Life

Marty and Laura walk through best practices for giving our pets the best chance for a long life.

Our hosts share their experiences with losing dogs in old and young ages, while providing detailed recommendations to help our pets live long, productive lives.

“So preventive care is going to be probably the most important,” Marty said. “And that means routine blood work. That means routine dental cleanings, that means the right nutrition.

“There's some really important things that we can d...

The whole one year of human life is 7 years of dog life; some of that isn't right.

But it kind of gives us a feel for what we think of puppy, teenager, adult, elder. Marty and Laura walk through those life stages and some of the things that we can do to ease or utilize those times that we have with our dogs. Everyone says it's too short, and they're right. So we talk about some ways to look at it differently and to understand it better.

"Teenagers need to learn boundaries," Marty said. "Teenage...

Aquarium authority (and audio engineer extraordinaire) Lance Woodruff joins Laura while Marty is on a globe-trotting tour of meetings.

Lance walks us through Laura's "box of fish" and everything above and beyond in the colorful and spectacular world of home aquariums.

Filtration, salt or freshwater, fish friends (and frenemies!), tank size, and decorations—we cover the basics of Aquarium 101.

The Eclipse filter – everything in one top for the aquarium:

https://www.marineland.com/products/aquariums/bio-wheel-aquarium-kit.aspx

More beginner information on Marineland filters:

https://www.marineland.com/info...

Marty takes Laura and listeners through the entire pantheon of cat life! 

“Cats are not small dogs and dogs are not big cats,” Marty says. “So cats are a species unto themselves, and they have their own special wants, needs, desires, techniques, food, everything. It's a little different with the cat.

“This is why a spay or neuter in a cat at six or eight months is very appropriate. Now, I don't like to see them spayed or neutered when they're itty-bitty babies. I still think that there's some risk that goes with that. You know, tho...

Marty and Laura take a deep dive into what does and does NOT constitute an emergency for your pet.

"Your dog scratching at his ears, not an emergency. You can wait. Cat can't urinate. That is an emergency," Marty says.

With the nationwide difficulty finding and accessing emergency services for our pets, a little bit of knowledge can save you an enormous amount of time, grief and frustration.

From bloat to dog fight to bloody stools, we take you through the details of what can and can't be managed at home.

...

Marty takes us to school on understanding blocked cats.

“Cats have a very serious medical condition when they cannot urinate. And you can only imagine how A, painful, and B, dangerous, that is, for cats, and it's almost always male cats. I can tell you, I can count on one hand the number of female cats I've seen obstructed, but male cats, pretty commonly. It accounts for about 3 % of all veterinary hospital admissions, so it is a common disorder.

“If you have a cat that's urinating inappropriately, male or female, blood in the urine, not in t...

Marty and Laura tackle some tough topics around when and whether to spay or neuter our pets.

Research has shown that early spay/neuter in dogs causes an increased incidence of several cancers as well as cruciate ligament tears and increased odds of both problematic and nuisance behaviors.

“They don't routinely spay and neuter dogs in the European countries and they don't have a pet overpopulation problem. They don't have a mixed breed overpopulation problem. So when I've traveled in Europe and you go places on the train or go to a restaurant or a ca...

Marty and Laura get waaaaaay into the creepy, the crawly, and the one-celled organisms… All of your pets’ potential parasites in one itchy episode.

Learn about a “tick quest,” “tick nests” that could be under your bed, the potential role of ticks as vectors for diseases up to and including cancer, and more parasitology than you even knew was out there.

Catch up on the life cycle of fleas, the scourge of heartworm and mosquitoes, even “Kissing Bugs.” Then venture into the “bowels” of veterinary medicine with updates on one-celled organisms and actual worms that attack our pets.

Marty and Laura work through what vaccines to give, when, and to which pets. We have science-grounded, fact-based, experience-tested knowledge for everyone.

Marty’s observations:

I think there's a lot of misunderstandings about vaccines, and I hope we can help clarify some of that information. I'm going to start off by saying that I don't want to come off sounding like I'm pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine.

When Jean Dodds and Ron Schultz started talking about vaccinations being given more frequently than they needed to be, I was one of the first people that got on...

Marty and Laura discuss recent concerns and listener questions regarding "bird flu" and the potential harmful impacts on pets and humans. 

Bird flu (H5N1) has caused the death of pet cats, wild cats at a sanctuary, and at least one person in the US. Marty’s recommendation is to feed a prepared diet. If pet owners insist on feeding non-commercial food, they should be sure it is properly cooked to kill potential pathogens.

From the CDC (Centers for Disease Control):

Preparing food:

For poultry: Cooking poultry and eggs to an int...

Puppies under six weeks of age need four meals a day. Most people don't get their puppies until they're at least seven to 10 weeks old. By seven to 10 weeks, three meals a day is appropriate. They should be fed three meals a day until they're six months old. At six months, you can drop to two feedings a day. Two meals a day are appropriate after six months of age for the rest of their lives.

Until then, feed three meals a day because their stomachs, colons, and intestinal tracts are small. The rule of thumb is...

Easy Fix for Top Reason People Rehome Pets

Hot Take #1: Crate training is a good thing. It's an amazing thing. It's a great tool. 

And Hot Take #2: Housebreaking is really simple when you crate train your dog.

“It’s not easy, but it’s simple and it’s absolutely essential, because the number two reason people don’t keep their dogs is housebreaking issues. Number one is biting, and number two is housebreaking. In the cat world, it’s the other way around. Cats that don’t use the litter box—that’s the number one issu...

We have advice for both dogs and cats and maybe even some small critters. Cats do better when they are brought into the home at the same time and age.

Dogs, cats, and even rats are on the topic list for Marty and Laura today as they discuss how to choose the best pet to fit your home and family.

They’ll guide you through the process of finding the perfect companion for your lifestyle, making sure your new pet is a good match for your home and everyone in it.

"Home is where someone runs to greet you when you walk in the door." Let’s make sure that someone is the right fit! Marty blows up Laura’s brain with news about cat collar...

Get the inside scoop on Marty and Laura’s backgrounds, including a fun twist where Marty interviews Laura!