Improving Quality of Life for You and Your Cherished Pets with Dr. Randy Aronson

Join me as we delve into the fascinating world of pet wellness and longevity with the renowned Dr. Randy Aronson. Dr. Aronson's groundbreaking approach combines traditional Western medicine with holistic practices, setting him apart as a true trailblazer in the field. Get ready to uncover actionable tips that will not only enhance your life but also uplift the well-being of your beloved pets. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that promises to inspire and empower both you and your furry companions.

Featured Guest: Randy Aronson, VMD, CCRT, CVA

www.drrandypetvet.com

email: andy@drrandypetvet.com

520-666-7714

P.AW.S. Veterinary Center, 300 E. River Rd, 

Tucson, AZ 85704

520-888-7297

Transcript

Theresa Cesare: 0:06

Hey guys. Welcome to Heart to Talk the podcast. I am the host and creator Theresa Cesare My intention for this podcast is to deliver to you wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Through solo episodes and conversations amongst insightful people. It is my greatest honor to bring to you talks that come from the.

0:32

Amazing listeners. Welcome to another powerful episode of heart to talk. If you are a pet owner and enthusiast, you're going to love this episode and today's guest. I have the honor and privilege of hosting a groundbreaking figure and true visionary in veterinary medicine. Dr. Randy Aronson. Dr. Aronson's innovative approach seamlessly blends Western medical practices with holistic modalities, making him a true pioneer in the field. For this episode, we will be discussing pet wellness and longevity, learning how we can enhance the quality of life of our cherished pets and pet parents. Get ready to be inspired with the amazing. Dr. Randy Aronson, Thanks, Teresa. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. And it's always wonderful to talk, especially to listeners like yours, because they're so motivated to improve their life. And, we do that through improving the health of pets. And it's an amazing, symbiosis because our pets, you know, are our family and, this is really evolved into a, such an exciting area for me, a real passion. Can you introduce the audience, like what it means to be an integrative vet? And what sets you apart from a traditional vet? Sure. So let me tell this with a side story if I could. I graduated from, a very prestigious veterinary school back East University, Pennsylvania, spent a year doing an internship, which is a lot of veterinarians don't do. Went to a place called the animal medical center, which is the largest veterinary hospital in the world. Spent a year there and then came to Tucson and, I started my practice. And I found through practice that I was doing really well and I had all the Western knowledge, but you know, there was something missing Teresa. And it really came to me about 10 years into practice. It took that long. Some people, you know, have to get hit over the head a few times. And what I found was that I wasn't really achieving wellness. I was putting out fires all the time, medicine, You know, surgery and don't get me wrong. I was doing a really good job with it, but it just wasn't what I really expected my life to be. And so along comes Dr. Andrew Weil, who is a pioneer in human integrative medicine in Tucson. And I start reading his books, start finding out a lot about his background, which is very similar to mine. He came from Philadelphia and blah, blah, blah. Anyway. Uh, I decided I was going to add Chinese herbs into my practice. So I went to Albuquerque, which was the, there were no veterinary programs at all. So this was a human program. And I found out when I got there that I couldn't just add herbs. I had to add the paradigm of Chinese medicine, which is completely different than Western medicine. So what integrative medicine basically is, is the best of all of Western medicine. So we, we do x rays, we do ultrasound, we do surgery, we do all kinds of advanced things, but then adding, uh, many complementary therapies. So I do acupuncture, Chinese herbology, rehabilitation medicine. We have a full rehab set up where our pets can walk in water without the weight of their joints. Laser, pulsed electric magnetic therapy. ozone therapy, prolozone, and it just goes on and on. But Teresa, what it has done is just expanded what I can offer my pet parents, but even better improving the lives of the pets and then improving the parents lives at the same time. Wow. That is so inspiring. And thank you for sharing that backstory. So when you initially went into veterinary medicine, you weren't thinking you were going to go this path. But along the way, the path found you and that's just so incredible. Thank you for sharing that. Sure. Can you tell us what your mission is? So my mission, after 43 years of being a veterinarian is to educate the public to understand that the body has an incredible ability to heal itself You just have to give it the right tools and that doesn't always mean a medicine after a medicine or Surgery or all of the other western modalities. Don't get me wrong We don't we don't throw the baby out with the bath water. So to speak. I mean we use a lot of western medicine but the body It just has occurred to me and it has evolved on a day to day basis. Every day I'm learning. And, you know, even at, at my age, I'm still so jazzed and excited about what I'm doing and helping animals. But the mission is really to educate the public. Because veterinarians are very slow to grab this and as you mentioned, when I was in vet school, when I was in practice, there were no integrative programs. There still are very few, there may be a club at a veterinary school and I've spoken to a number of the veterinary schools, but there really still is no program. And so, what integrative veterinarians have been doing is really getting the word out so people can understand they can The dog and cat's lives and really make a positive change. That is so incredible. Let's talk more about the pet wellness and how you help improve their quality of life. And that in turn helps the pet parents, right? It goes hand in hand. Tell us about that. So, I have a mnemonic that I use in my talks and on my website. And it's called P. E. T. S. Very, very applicable. P. E. T. S. P. E. T. S. stands for Proper Nutrition and Microbiome, Exercise, Training and Socialization, and Stress Reduction. And so these four monikers are basically the way that I can improve, a client's, a pet parent, a pet's life by just using these things and really working on, number one is really what we call foundational medicine. I get so many cases, Teresa, that come to me that are second and third opinions. They've done everything, and you know, you know the definition of insanity. It's trying, you know, the same thing and expecting a different result. And it doesn't happen. And then all of a sudden, we talk about, Oh, let's look at your pet's diet. You know, you're feeding too many carbohydrates in that diet. You're using all of this processed food. Just as a sidebar, People eat about 54 percent of their diet is processed food. Pets, it's at 89%. Because these kibbles are highly heat processed and air processed, and they really cause a lot of problems. So getting to the bottom line of that Pets moniker, I can really start to improve an animal's health just by working on what we call foundations. I love that. And you think about listeners out there that you think it's January 1, everyone's on this diet. Well, think about bringing your pet along on the journey of a path to wellness. And it seems like that's what you offer. And I don't think a lot of people think of it that way. I mean, I think people are now waking up to that, that, wow, my diet is affecting my health. And I can't tell you, I feel like nine times out of 10. Everyone I talk to their pet has some sort of form of like cancer or overweight. It's just interesting. I do see that rising Oh my god. Yeah, I mean, the the crude fact again that I use a lot of my seminars and keynotes is that pets are living About two thirds of their normal lifespan. That's what we're seeing For example, the golden retriever, you know a very popular breed. I love these dogs And, their average lifespan when I first started was about 12 years, and now it's at seven. And because they're so prone to cancer, and they're so prone to the genetics of what they're getting. But, um, as you mentioned, we affect this through what we call epigenetics. And what that means, very fancy word, but all it means is that what you eat, what you do as far as exercise, what you do as far as stress reduction, uh, all affects your genes. And it can definitely improve their life. And in fact, one study, there's called the Dog Aging Project, which I love. And they looked at 50, 000 dogs. And they found that if they calorie restrict these dogs, and that doesn't mean starving them, it just means go looking at the simple carbs that these dogs are eating. Look at, at the junky commercial pet foods that they're eating. They can improve their lives and get an average of two plus years longevity just by doing that. Wow. That is so incredible. What are three simple tips or action steps that listeners can do today to improve the quality of life of their pets and support longevity yeah. So food is number one. absolutely. Number one, if they look at this very closely, there's a food hierarchy. Fresh whole food is the top. Second down is basically raw. I use a lot of freeze dried raw because I'm a little concerned about some raw products. And then the third down is complex carb dry foods. and then that doesn't mention any of the regular over the counter type diets. So, um, food is number one. I would mention, A great book that's out there called The Forever Dog, written by another integrative veterinarian who I love, Dr. Karen Becker. And it talks about the science of just what I'm telling you. And that is the proper ways of feeding and lowering carb loads and making sure that we're getting quality protein in our dogs. Exercise. So many animals, especially dogs and cats. People don't understand this. Your cat just shouldn't lay around all day in your house. There are laser pointers. There are cat toys. There are catnip things. There are things to keep your cat exercise. Spending 30 minutes exercising, your cat would be. Phenomenal. And in dogs, you know, a lot of our dogs get a walk a day or maybe two walks a day. Some big dogs require up to eight miles of exercise a day. And so we're seeing all of these behavioral problems in dogs because, they're basically bored. they want to have a job. They want to get some exercise. And so, exercise and then stress reduction. What I mentioned in there is. Really look at your surroundings. I mean, air fresheners, carpeting has formaldehyde in it. our dogs are showing 30 times the amount of roundup in their bodies at post mortem at veterinary schools because everybody sprays for weeds. The dogs go out and walk, they lick their paws and boom, they've got roundup in their system by phosphate. So those are three things. Immediately you could do to change. Wow. Thank you so much for those. Sure. So how can we find you? We can of course, connect with you, become a patient, bring our dog or our dogs can be a patient, I should say. But yes, how can this audience get in touch with you? Yeah. My, real passion around this, as you know, is we've just built a brand new website and it's, drrandy drrandypetvet. com. And now we are doing our own podcasts, which has been, as you know, is a real challenge to getting into that world. And we're doing video and audio at the same time, which then makes it even more difficult sometimes. so, Definitely that website, my phone number's on there. I welcome questions, people that listen to the show. If they have specific questions, I can't always answer all of them, but I try to get to them as much as possible. And then I get a hundred emails a day. So it's, it gets a little bit overbearing and I'm still working, you know, which I really love because I'm still practicing my craft and. Learning every day more and more about what we're talking about and how to improve these lives. So the drrandypetvet. com is definitely the best place. There's a phone number in there also. and, and I'd welcome any, any feedback through your site or anything else. I'd be more than happy. You know, I'm really looking to get out and speak. For example, Raytheon has had me to speak to their, some of their executives. And the reason why they did that is because I'm not a missile maker, but they want to know for their lifestyle, their worker's lifestyle and their employee's lifestyle, how can we improve that? And then this is the topic that really kind of hits home. So that's, that's kind of what I'm looking to do. And that's the easiest way to reach me. That is so inspiring. I will drop all your information listeners. It'll be all in the show notes. It so powerful in the office practicing, but to be able to expand your message and the awareness by the lectures and your podcast as well, would you like to talk a little bit more about when someone tunes in or follow subscribes, what can they expect to hear? So the first episode is obviously what is integrative medicine, just like you and I discussed, but it expanded that version of it. I had Dr. Brian Cabin on, who is an integrative MD. And we talked about the similarities between veterinary medicine and human medicine. In fact, we often go out and talk together because we're doing the same things. You know, our companion animals live with us. They pick up our emotional problems. They pick up our stress. And you know, people like you are so helpful because you're working on the spirit and, and, and basically positive affirmations. These also transfer to our dogs and cats, you know, people don't realize, but it, Definitely works. So, those are really important things. I've had, a world famous dog trainer on, I've had, Dr. Andrew Wiles is going to be on shortly. I have coming up next week, Dr. Gary Richter, another integrated veterinarian. He's in California. Groundbreaking has a couple of wonderful books. I don't know about you, but. I've been always told I really need to write and I'm not a great writer. I'm definitely a, a vocal person. I'm auditory. And so, looking at that a little bit, but, he's going to be great. So those kinds of things are kind of what people can see and then get holding me through there because I do do telemedicine cases where I'll do conferences, I just conferred with a lady in Caracas, Venezuela. it's really exciting to be able to share these things. even if it has to be over the phone, I love that you're so accessible. and so many levels with the podcast, you're willing to go out and lecture. You're a dynamic speaker. I mean, just coming on, being a guest, you're just so natural and in flow. What a talent, what a gift to this world. And to our pets, who we all love so much. So before we pivot to those ending questions that I am so excited to ask you, are there any other important mentions that we want to like, let this audience know or that you feel should be, shared? I just want to reiterate the fact that we can affect the quality of our pets life and by doing so we can live happier, healthier lives, too. And it's really a doable thing. I used to think that this was not approachable, that this was not something we could accomplish. We can do this. that's what I want to leave your listeners with is we can really affect the change. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't, you walk into a veterinary practice and you know, veterinarians like MDs a lot of times they're numbers driven, they're, double blind study driven but our bodies and our animals bodies don't listen to those numbers, we've beat the odds in so many different situations. So I want them to be very optimistic, even what the prognosis or the treatments are kind of bleak. Don't let that affect you. I love that. And it's so true. I think we forget that they feel us, the vibration of us, our energies. And just like when I make a change, do something impactful, powerful, whether it's my diet mindset, it does. And it influences you become an influencer. In just your immediate surroundings, your family, your workplace. You notice that a lot of times the pets reflect the owner, is that kind of a thing? Oh my God. So much to, even to the point where I see dogs or cats coming in with skin conditions that the owner has. You know, for GI conditions, I mean, so many GI imbalances, there's so much, inflammatory bowel disease in people. This is what we call dysbiosis. All of these things that lead to like Crohn's disease and bowel cancer. I see pets, they have the same thing and their owners come in and they're like, The hardest part, Teresa, like you're mentioning, is speaking to an owner who is overweight and talking about obesity in their pet because that's a real thing for us. We see probably almost 60 percent of our dogs are overweight and our cats probably approaching 40 percent of that. Listeners share this episode with anyone, you know, that loves their pet. You know, sometimes it's going to take that for the. Individual to maybe change and if that's going to get, if that's going to get you there, great. Oh no, whatever it takes as far as I'm concerned, whatever it takes. Oh, that's just so you're amazing. I love it. All right. We're going to pivot into those ending questions, Dr. Aronson. So the first one, do you have a favorite affirmation or mantra that you use to stay motivated, empowered in all that you do? Yes, definitely. So I would say that this actually came off of your list, believe it or not. So I love that. There are a lot of things that I kind of use, but, this one really struck home to me today. And that is I am committed to my goals and that is why I am unstoppable. so many people told me that I can't do this, that, it's going to be too expensive to have a website or to go out and, to get hired and start to be a speaker, you really have to get known and really have to have a lot of content. Well, you know, there's only one way of doing that. That's starting it. So yeah, I love that affirmation. And my mantra, I've been doing transcendental meditation for almost 50 years. So I have a mantra through that. And I use that a lot. That that's how I focus on mantra because that's what I do in my meditation. Well, whatever you're doing is working because you like, don't age. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I was like, you're like amazing. I'm like, like Benjamin button aging and reverse. So yeah, you know what you're talking about? You practice what you preach. That's for sure. And I think that is what sets you apart as well. Like you're out there, but you're. You're the living example of what you are. Well, and it's, but you know, and I have to tell you, it's people like you that help that. I mean, when just us knowing each other and, and the interaction and whatnot, we don't specifically have to mention how that happened, but, we can, we can, our kids are going out together. It's really exciting to see the energy there and, the respect that both are our son and daughter have for each other. I just honor this connection so much. I love it. And I love the affirmation you pick cause that's one of my favorites So the next one. What is your favorite quote? You're going to love this. This is probably one that you probably haven't heard somebody say before, but, I like, this quote. It is, it is better to burn out than to fade away. And that was from Neil Young. He also says in that song, it is better to burn out than rust. And, you know, rusting takes a very long time for oxidation and whatnot. And so, that's why I like to move full tilt, I don't really want to stop. I'm 71 years old. I'm happy that I am. I feel 50 quite honestly. And, you know, people like yourself and my kids, my wife, keep me young. And, passion, this passion, really keeps me going because, it just drives me every day. Passion does bring a glow. Yeah, for sure. I love that quote. All right. And what is your favorite book? So, I don't get a chance to do a lot of. reading for myself, because I'm always reading, new things that come out in veterinary medicine, especially, all the integrative stuff. I'm reading all of the integrative stuff that's in human medicine, because in some aspects, human medicine's very much ahead of us. And a lot of aspects, veterinary medicine's actually ahead of human medicine. So my favorite book that just came out, honestly, is, the book that I really refer to, and I show my clients this, is I mentioned Dr. Karen Becker, there's a book called The Forever Dog. And if people want the science behind what you and I have been talking about, this Forever Dog book really sums it up very, very nicely. I Mentioned that book because I think that's a great read for your listeners and very easy and, it's impressive. Wow. Thanks for that. And last question, What do you want to be known for? I would like to be known that I affected a change in people's lives by educating pet parents on how to improve the longevity and quality of their pet's lives. And by doing so, then they live happier, healthier lives. And, then we are all in symbiosis at that point. We're all together.

Theresa Cesare: 20:41

thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Please download, rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. Also, be sure to visit my theresacesare.com to check out my inspirational merch, connect to my social accounts, and much more may you continue to be filled with wisdom, inspiration, and consciousness. Otherwise, friends, I will be back in two weeks for another episode of Heart to.