My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog

Dr. Jeff Feinman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as Penn's first veterinary dual degree scholar, holding both a molecular biology degree and a veterinary degree. He trained at Angell Memorial in Boston in the 1980s when 11 interns ran the entire hospital 120 hours a week. He was on track to become a veterinary internist, and then his journey took a turn he didn't expect.

Not away from science. Deeper into it.

For the past 40 years, Dr. Jeff has built a practice and philosophy around what he calls vitality and balance. The idea that health isn't...

Dr. Janet Roark is back for part two, and this is the episode pet parents have been waiting for. The practical one. The one where you actually learn what to do.

Dr. Janet has been practicing veterinary medicine for nearly two decades with essential oils as a cornerstone of her work. In this episode, she gets specific. Which oils to avoid and why, how to dilute properly, how to let your pet tell you which oils they actually want, and how to find oils you can actually trust.

She also talks about something that stuck...

Everything You've Been Told About Essential Oils and Pets Is Wrong.

If you've ever Googled essential oils and pets, you've been told to stay away. Don't diffuse. Don't apply. And especially not around cats. Dr. Lily was skeptical too, until she took Dr. Janet's course and understood the science.

Dr. Janet Roark is known worldwide as the Essential Oil Vet. She is the author of The Essential Oils for Pets guidebook, creator of the Animal Aromatherapy Specialist Certification Program, and has built a global community of pet owners and veterinarians learning to use essential oils...

There is a moment almost every pet parent will face and almost nobody is prepared for it. You are sitting with your dog and it hits you. We are getting closer to the end. And then comes the flood. The emotions. The questions you did not know how to ask. The guilt you did not see coming. The decisions that feel impossible because you are making them for someone who cannot tell you what they want.

Dr. Jenn Roedig is a licensed veterinarian and the founder of Sage Paws, a virtual practice built entirely...

Your Dog's Tongue Is Trying to Tell You Something w/ Carol Bramson

The next time your dog is lying next to you totally relaxed, look at their tongue. Is it pale pink or a deep angry red? Dry or moist? Purple around the edges? To most of us that is just a tongue. But in a tradition practiced for thousands of years it is your dog communicating with you about what is happening inside their body.

Carol Bramson is the founder of Side by Side Pet, a whole food pet nutrition company built on...

This one is for every veterinarian who has ever felt like an island.

But it is also for every pet parent who has ever wondered what it actually takes for a vet to practice medicine on their own terms, and why so many of the best ones end up building something from scratch.

Dr. Judy Jasek never wanted to own a business. She became an entrepreneur because it was the only way she could practice the medicine she believed in. She bought a conventional practice, stopped doing as many vaccines because she believed they were...

Your Pet Is Not Worried About Dying. You Are.

What if the tumor is not the disease? What if it is the body's way of telling us something went wrong a long time ago, and the real work is figuring out what that was?

Dr. Judy Jasek graduated from Colorado State University in 1988 and spent years in conventional practice before something shifted. Her own horse developed a behavioral problem that no conventional approach could touch. An energetic chiropractor turned the animal around completely, and once Dr. Judy started looking at medicine differently, she could not...

This one started as a continuation after the main episode wrapped up.

Heather Gibson and Dr. Lily just kept talking, and what came next was more honest and more direct than anything in the main episode. They got into the coefficient of inbreeding, a term becoming a bigger deal in the breeding world that Dr. Lily had never heard before, and why Heather made the controversial decision to move from purebred to mixed breeding for the sake of dog health.

Then Heather asked Dr. Lily about microbiome testing, fecal transplants, and why...

Before that puppy ever comes home to you, before the first walk, the first vet visit, the first time they fall asleep in your lap, there are six to eight weeks happening behind the scenes that will shape their health, their temperament, and their resilience for the rest of their life.

Most pet parents have zero control over what happens during that window. And most never think to ask.

Heather Gibson is the founder of Big Hearted Breeders, a certified pet nutrition coach who has spent over 12 years raising dogs and cats with a holistic...

Episode 100.

I almost cannot believe it. When this podcast started, I did not know if anyone would listen. I only knew there were options out there, real and powerful ones, that too many pet parents never get told about. So I made a place for those conversations.

Tonight was different. No guest, no script. Just a live recording with a room full of pet parents who have been on this journey with me, asking the real questions, sharing what they have lived through, and reminding me exactly why this exists.

We talked about...

A study landed on my desk a few weeks ago and I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

If you have a puppy, a young dog, or you know someone who does, this minisode is for you. It is about parvovirus, one of the scariest and most deadly diseases in young dogs, and a new study showing exactly what can be added to the standard of care to give puppies a better shot at survival, and at a fraction of the cost.

The study, a double blinded, placebo controlled trial out of...

Who Is Really Behind the Pet Health Advice You Are Getting

Every piece of pet health advice reaching you through media, whether it is a food recommendation, a sponsored post, a TV segment, or a YouTube video, somebody paid for it to get to you. The question worth asking is whether it was paid for by someone who wants your pet to be healthy or someone who wants your money.

Lara Shannon is a certified dog behaviourist, pet food nutritionist, and host of Pooches at Play, now in its tenth season on Channel 10 in Australia...

What If Your Dog Could Live to 25 w/ Dr. Gary Richter

Your dog's cells are aging right now, and by the time you notice the stiffness, the slowing down, the gray around the muzzle, it has already been happening for years.

Dr. Gary Richter has spent over 25 years in integrative veterinary medicine asking what else is possible. He is the author of Longevity for Dogs and Longevity for Cats, founder of Ultimate Pet Nutrition, and right now he is building PetMetrics, a wearable biometric monitor for pets that works like an Apple...

Why a Good Probiotic Is Not Enough and What Your Dog Actually Needs for Real Gut Health w/ Billy Hoekman

If you have ever told your vet your dog is already on a good probiotic, this episode is going to make you think differently about that.

Billy Hoekman is back. He is Vice President of Nutrition and Communication at Green Juju, and he has been in pet nutrition for 15 years. The last time he was on the podcast, the probiotic line was still in development. Now it is out, the clinical research...

Charlotte Speller spent 15 years as a dog behavior trainer before becoming a veterinary physiotherapist. And the thing that changed her path was something she kept seeing that nobody was talking about.

Dogs labeled as difficult, grumpy, or reactive who were actually in pain. Not a behavior problem. A body problem. Nobody had caught it yet.

That observation sent her into physiotherapy, where she now combines her understanding of animal behavior with hands-on physical rehabilitation. She works with post-surgical recovery, chronic arthritis, and dogs who have been told there is nothing more that can be done.<...

Three big stories on my mind right now that I think every pet parent should know about.

Story one: Chewy just acquired Modern Animal, a tech-forward veterinary chain with 29 clinics. That means the same company selling your dog's food, supplements, and medications now also owns the vet clinics seeing your dog. Is that great news or scary news? Honestly, both.

Story two: Loyal is developing a longevity drug for senior dogs that promises to extend healthy life by about a year. The FDA cleared a major safety hurdle in January 2026. But here's the thing: we...

A cardiologist told Weylie her dog had only six to nine months to live. That was over 15 months ago. Her dog's heart disease has actually reversed. And her cardiologist doesn't have a great explanation for it.

Weylie Hoang is not a vet. She's not a doctor or a researcher. But she is an expert on her pet. She grew up with zero experience with animals, trusted everything her vet said, fed kibble because that's just what you do. Never questioned it until the day her dog was put on steroids after a dental procedure and nobody told...

For 50 years, we thought we knew what caused cancer. Billions of dollars in research, the entire human genome sequenced, all of it built on one assumption: cancer is a genetic disease.

And then the data came back. And the data said we got it wrong.

Dr. Loren Nations is a board-certified veterinary practitioner with almost 35 years in internal medicine, oncology, and cardiology. He's pioneered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ketogenic nutrition, mistletoe therapy, and microbiome medicine in veterinary care.

But what makes his story powerful isn't the credentials. It's the moment that changed everything. After...

Sanjit Basak-Smith has been doing veterinary work since he was five years old when his father opened their family practice in 1997. He started with kennel work, moved to answering phones, and eventually became a veterinary technician working alongside his dad for years.

About 10 years ago, Sanjit started specializing in integrated modalities like stem cell therapy, PRP, photobiomodulation, and microbiome medicine. And through that work, he helped transform his family's traditional Western practice into a local leader in integrative care.

But here's where it gets really interesting. When Sanjit was about 12 years old, a doctor wanted...

I sat down with Claire Forsyth, a specialist animal kinesiologist with over 25 years of experience, knowing almost nothing about her work. What I got was one of the most fascinating conversations I've had on this show.

Claire started in animal behavior, running dog training classes. And she kept noticing something she couldn't explain with training alone. Dogs and their people were walking the same way. Anxious about the same things. Even learning at the same pace.

That led her to kinesiology, a practice that uses muscle testing to access the body's energy systems. Through precise...

Dr. Ruth Roberts has been practicing integrative veterinary medicine for over 30 years. She's the creator of The Original CrockPet Diet, which has helped thousands of pets with everything from kidney disease to cancer to chronic allergies. And she's the founder of the Holistic Pet Health Coach Certification Program, training a whole new generation of people to fill the massive gap in how our animals get care.

But this conversation isn't just about what she's built. It's about what's broken in veterinary medicine and how we fix it.

We talk about why your vet appointment feels...

This is a quick conversation I had with Esa after we finished our rescue episode. She asked me the questions I think a lot of you might be wondering but maybe don't know how to ask.

What am I most excited about in holistic medicine? What new modalities are coming to the practice? How did Integrative Pet Wellness Center even start, and why does it feel so different from a traditional vet hospital?

I pull back the curtain a little bit. I talk about the bioresonance scans I'm obsessed with right now, the hyperbaric oxygen...

Most of us can't imagine doing rescue work the way Esa Van Dusen does. This isn't about fostering a dog here and there. This is about finding a pit bull chained to a tree with no access to water. Getting a video of a terrified dog living in spray paint cans and bushes. Driving straight into a hurricane to pull animals out of abandoned boarding kennels.

Esa has been rescuing animals for 15 years in Austin and LA. She's a digital writer, advertiser, energy healer, and someone who shows up for animals in ways most people never will...

What if the most powerful medicine for your pet isn't a supplement or a drug, but something as simple as light?

Jackie Jolie, founder of AnimaSol, believes light is the foundation of health. Every cell in every mammal's body has a light sensor called a melanopsin, waiting to receive information from photons. And yet, we and our pets are spending 98% of our lives indoors, cut off from the very thing our DNA was built to run on.

Jackie spent 15 years as an equine and canine bodyworker. But in 2018, after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, she...

In Part 1, we talked about the cases that changed us. In Part 2, we're talking about what needs to change in veterinary medicine.

Dr. Judy Morgan doesn't hold back. We go deep into the drugs that concern us most, why prescription diets were only supposed to be temporary fixes, and how corporate medicine is reshaping the profession in ways that aren't always serving pets or their parents.

We also talk about something I wasn't expecting to discuss: the system itself. Emergency hospitals diverting patients because they're too full. Specialists who only work eight to four, Monday...

What happens when one of the most influential voices in holistic veterinary medicine walks into the biggest conventional veterinary conference in the world?

I spotted Dr. Judy Morgan at VMX in Orlando, and honestly, I had to do a double take. Here was a woman who has dedicated nearly 40 years to transforming pet wellness, walking confidently into rooms full of conventional practitioners, educating veterinary students who are hungry for a different approach, and bridging the gap between traditional and holistic care.

This conversation is about the turning points. The German Shepherd who couldn't walk and...

Picture this: 35 dogs running free in a 175-acre forest. No leashes. No commands. No chaos. Just one guy leading the pack, and every single dog follows him.

How is that even possible?

In this episode, I sit down with Sam Amalsadvala, a former merchant navy chef who accidentally became one of the most insightful natural dog trainers I've ever met. Sam doesn't train dogs — he listens to them. And what he's learned will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about "training" your dog.

Coming from India where dogs roamed freely and le...

What if the key to a faster, easier surgical recovery wasn't more drugs — but better preparation?

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Dr. Lindsey Wendt, and we're going somewhere deeper. We're talking about the future of veterinary medicine, the power of pre-op integrative care, and what happens when conventional and integrative doctors actually work together instead of staying in silos.

Dr. Lindsey shares the story of her foster dog Pineapple, who had bilateral knee surgery and was walking without limping just days later — not because of luck, but because of intentional preparation. We also...

You probably stood in a pet store aisle staring at rows and rows of colorful bags, all promising to be natural, holistic, or premium. You probably grabbed one, read the ingredient list, thought it looked pretty good, and tossed it in your cart.

Here's what you didn't know.

Less than 10% of pet treat companies actually test to see if their product is still good before the best-by date on the back — which means your dog could be eating oxidized, rancid oils that trigger massive inflammation in their body, and you'd never know.

In th...

In this episode, I continue my conversation with Dr. David Haworth, and we're going somewhere deeper—into the human-animal bond that saves lives. Not metaphorically. Literally.

We explore what enrichment actually looks like for your individual dog (hint: it's not one-size-fits-all), the real stories of heart dogs and the lessons they teach us, what the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study revealed about cancer and the microbiome, why guilt and anxiety are part of loving deeply, and how to honor the end of life with grace.

If you've ever felt like yo...

We've made being a dog safer than ever before. But is safer actually better?

Think about it: We leave our dogs alone for 8-10 hours a day. We live in apartments where they can't run free. We keep them away from other dogs until they're 16 weeks old. And then we create an entire industry—TVs for dogs, automatic ball launchers, anxiety medications—to manage the fallout of a lifestyle that, let's be honest, we created.

So here's the uncomfortable question: Are we solving real problems, or are we just trying to make ourselves feel...

I know what you're thinking. Wait, isn't this podcast about dogs? Yes. Yes it is. But today, we're doing something different because sometimes there's information so important, so lifesaving, that it doesn't matter if you're a dog person, a cat person, or both.

If you're listening to this episode, there's a good chance your heart is heavy. Maybe you just heard the words "FIP" from your vet. Maybe you're watching your kitten fade and you feel helpless. Maybe you've been told there's nothing that can be done.

I need you to hear this: FIP is...

Have you ever noticed that when you're anxious, your dog seems anxious too? Or that you and your pet struggle with the same health issues — digestive problems, autoimmune diseases, even the same kind of anxiety? You're not imagining it.

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Lily sits down with Dr. Lisa Fiorenza, an integrative veterinarian who sees this pattern every single day in her practice. Together, they explore the fascinating connection between pet and human health, the gut-brain axis, microbiome restoration therapy, and why our animals are often mirrors of our own emotional and physical state.

Th...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Bharat Kumar, once an emergency vet, now a holistic house call vet, to explore a part of pet health that's often overlooked: the emotional, energetic, and spiritual lives of our animals.

Dr. Kumar blends Ayurveda, psychology, meditation, Reiki, acupressure, and holistic medicine to better understand the rich emotional and mental landscape our pets navigate.

We talk about why dogs in India seem to face different health challenges than dogs in the U.S., why our animals often carry the emotions they...

In this personal minisode, Dr. Lily Chen opens up about her word for 2026, a surprising case that's changing how she practices medicine, and an important study every pet parent (and human) taking gabapentin should know about.

This isn't a typical episode with a guest expert or clinical protocols. This is Dr. Lily, fresh back from Taiwan and about to head to VMX, sitting with you and sharing what's on her mind—trust, bioresonance breakthroughs, chronic pain management, and why asking better questions matters now more than ever.

If your pe...

KEY INSIGHTS:

What if the real missing piece in your dog’s diet isn’t more plant fiber (like pumpkin or sweet potato)… but the animal fiber (cartilage, ligaments, skin) their body was truly built to thrive on?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Conor Brady, a dedicated PhD researcher, writer, and founder of Dogs First and DCV Holistic, to uncover one of the most overlooked topics in pet nutrition: fiber.

We dive into fascinating studies, from one showing that more plant fiber in the human diet can actually worsen constipation, to res...

Happy 2026! We're kicking off the new year with something special: your questions answered.

In this episode, I answer the most thoughtful questions you sent in about everything from helping a 9-year-old Pomeranian with hair loss navigate Cushing's vs. Alopecia X, to understanding how your own stress directly impacts your pet's health, to breaking down PEMF therapy and infrared heat for pain relief.

We also dive into why rotating your pet's food matters more than finding one "perfect" kibble, how to spot early arthritis before your pet starts limping, where to find integrative vets...

What if the way you've been feeding your dog, talking about money at the vet, or processing grief has been making everything harder than it needs to be?

In this vulnerable year-end reflection, I'm switching seats as my practice manager Dianne interviews me about the three conversations that didn't just change my veterinary practice: they changed me.

From discovering the hidden truth about pet food labels with advocate Susan Thixton, to processing loss and burnout with Rodney Habib, to finally cracking the code on compassionate money conversations with experts...

In this deeply personal minisode, Dr. Lily Chen opens her heart as we close out 2025.

This isn't a typical episode with a guest expert or clinical protocols. This is Dr. Lily, sitting with you, reflecting on the year—the pets we've lost, the lessons they've taught us, and the reminder to be present in the moments we have.

If you've lost a pet this year, if you're grieving, if you're feeling the weight of 2025, or if you simply need permission to slow down and be still—this episode is for you.

WH...

In this episode, I sit down with Lisa and Scot—the powerhouse husband-and-wife duo behind Woof Creek Pet Wellness—for part two of our conversation, going beyond food and supplements into what really sustains healing: partnership with your vet, and caring for yourself while you care for your animal.

We talk about how to ask better questions at the clinic (even if you’re nervous), what a collaborative vet relationship actually looks like, simple ways to stay grounded when your pet is struggling, and why your energy at home is part of your pet’s medici...