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In this episode of The Climate Dad Podcast, host Mike Smith is joined by his sister, Dr. Katherine Smith. Together, they discuss the intersection of veterinary medicine and climate change. The conversation covers the evolving challenges posed by climate change, such as the rising prevalence of heartworm, the spread of valley fever, and the growing threat of tick-borne diseases. Dr. Smith emphasizes the importance of adapting pet care practices to address these challenges, offering practical advice for pet owners. The conversation also highlights the joy and comfort that pet ownership brings, even as we navigate a changing climate.
00:00 Introduction to Climate Dad Podcast
04:25 Climate News Highlights
06:06 Interview on Climate and Pets
Mike Smith (00:17)
All right, welcome everybody to episode 19 of The Climate Dad, the environmental podcast where we talk about and explain the news and science of climate change. I'm your host Mike Smith. I'm the father of two great kids and I'm the founder of Aclymate, the net zero climate solution for businesses without sustainability teams. Today I have a really interesting interview for you. We're going to be interviewing the smartest veterinarian and maybe the smartest person I know about the unexpected climate impacts upon your pet's health. But first, here's your climate minute.
Let's start with some good climate news. A startup in nuclear technology named Oklo has agreed to supply up to 12 gigawatts of electricity to a company named Switch. Switch is a data center operator and they, like other data center providers, are a big part of why the U.S. electricity demand grew in 2024 as power hungry artificial intelligence has boosted consumption and restarted some demand for fossil fuel plants.
The partnership with Oklo is one of a trend of data centers looking to power themselves with nuclear energy. And Oklo is expected to deliver power at about $100 per megawatt hour through the building and running of small modular reactors, or SMRs, which are part of a new wave of safer, more predictable nuclear energy. Now, on to something a little less awesome for lovers of hot sauce, and of course, those that also love the YouTube sensation, Hot Ones Climate change is making chili peppers less hot.
Reporting from Bloomberg talks about the conditions that produce spice and chilies requires a relatively stable climate. But as global weirding has taken over, major chili producing areas of the globe are seeing high variability in their weather. That's probably good news for my kids and their avoidance of spicy foods for the time being.
Unfortunately, restaurants are having to order more chilies to meet customer expectations, and hot sauce providers are cutting capacity due to lack of supply. If you're not a fan of spicy food, well, the article goes on to mention that it's also affecting other food stuff, too, including the supply of the cabbage used in kimchi. Coconuts themselves are getting more bland, and coffee, my beloved coffee, is getting more bitter. It's kind of a bummer.
A separate story coming from China's official government news outlet, the Xinhua News Agency, is reporting that the country is pressing forward on the building of the world's largest hydroelectric dam, requiring the equivalent of $137 billion US dollars in investment. It is expected to be built upon the lower Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, and it is expected to take a decade to build.
The dam is a sensitive subject in very many ways. Politically, it's being built in the occupied region of Tibet and the river runs through an area contested by India that is also known as Arunachal Pradesh. The area suffered from border clashes in the past few years with fatalities on both sides and the river is a key part of India's water supply. Ecologically, it's being built in the world's largest and deepest canyon, the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.
and is occasionally referred to as a biodiversity hotspot. It's an interesting position from both a security and an environmental standpoint. Finally, as of this recording, a couple of days ago, a hero of mine and of the climate has died, former US President Jimmy Carter. I love him for a lot of things, but on climate, President Carter was famous for installing solar panels on the roof of the White House and the promotion of energy efficiency. His focus, his famous, excuse me, sweater speech,
is a model for dads everywhere, where he encouraged Americans to turn down the winter thermostat and put a sweater on. You gotta love it. I'll be doing a show about Carter's legacy next week. In any event, Carter passed away after nearly two years in hospice care at the age of 100, and was preceded in death last year by his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn. God rest both their souls, and thank you, Mr. Carter, wherever you are. And on that somber note, there's your climate minute.
All right, I'm going to spend a few seconds talking about Aclymate before your Climate Dad joke of the week. If you're thinking about the ways to improve your impact on the planet, or maybe your company is being required to report its footprint, we'd love to help you over here at Aclymate. We have the easiest, the most intuitive climate solution for your business. We're to get you a baseline environmental assessment with our software, show you ways to reduce your carbon footprint, and we're going to get you on the path to net zero. We're going to help you with your environmental branding to win the
the new customers you want and keep your most valuable ones. We're going to help you to attract and retain the talent you need from the climate generation in our green business certification program. It's going to help you to complete a sustainability audit. Maybe you're looking to improve those eco-Veda scores or win certifications with companies like CDP, B Corp, or the green business benchmark. Maybe you're looking to purchase carbon offsets but need a reliable carbon credit broker. Well at Aclymate, we've got you covered with both a friendly climate accounting solution.
and also the best carbon offset programs and leading selection of sustainable projects on the web.
Now are you ready for your Climate Dad joke of the week?
Why do dogs make great climate activists? They're howling for change. Okay, today's interview. The guest is a little different for us in a few ways. First, she approached me about a climate subject that I hadn't really heard others speak about, climate and your pets. Second, we were able to record together, this is the first for The Climate Dad, in person. And third,
and probably most importantly, but I hid it to last. It's my sister, who was visiting for the holidays and I always love seeing and speaking with. You will too.
Guest: Dr. Katherine F. Smith (06:21)
All right, I'm joined today on this Climate Dad episode by a very special guest to me. It's my dear sister. Dear dear dear sister, Katie, also known as Dr. Katherine Smith, DVM, DACVECC. For those of you that are confused by what I just said, she's a veterinarian extraordinaire. We're going to talk today about animals and climate, but let's get started. Katie, my sister. What does DACVECC mean?
Veterinary Extraordinary, tell me about it. Thank you. So DACVECC stands for a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. And what that basically means is that, so when you go to vet school, you would have had to do four years of undergrad, and then it's a four year veterinary program. And then after vet school, most people go straight into private practice as the around the corner veterinarian that we all know that does spays neuters and vaccines.
I did an additional four years of training beyond that to learn to do what I do. That kind of the human equivalent, I think, is best as a mix of hospitalists and intensivists. And so the best way that I usually explain it to people is that if your dog were to get hit by a car and need emergency stabilization, that I'm the person who does that.
In fact, my college is the one who teaches people how to, if your dog needs a ventilator or dialysis, that we can do that as well. So pretty specialized kind of stuff that I do. Yeah, it's, I've always been so proud of you. And then when I explain about what you do, I think you sell yourself a little short when you talk about hospitalists and intensivists, because you're also kind of a general surgeon and an anesthesiologist and, and, and, like you do a lot of human doctor functions.
you do all of them and by the way you do it on more than one species. That's correct. you're right is that like I do do surgery I do I'm getting called into the OR from time to time to help with certain cases that are under anesthesia that need additional assistance
Okay, got it. So if I'm looking for an expert veterinary opinion, you're a strong candidate. Well, thank you. Very well recommended. Let's be honest, I'm just here to razz on you. That's why I'm doing this. Okay, we'll see. So going into that, though, let's talk a little bit. Most people don't assume that they are, and don't intuitively think that there's a veterinary issue associated with climate. Yeah. So I'm a lover of animals. I've had dogs and cats my entire life.
That's who you take care of.
Why do I need to be thinking about this? Does it have to do with the fact that it's just warming up generally? I mean, that's definitely a certain part of it, that dogs can get heat stroke just like humans can. And that just like in humans, it can be deadly. We do know that there are certain risk factors that increase risk for getting heat-related illness in dogs. If they're not used to high temperatures, if it's really humid out.
if it's really hot out. And then brachycephalic. So those squishy faced dogs like pugs, like bulldogs, French bulldogs, that the way a dog cools themselves is by moving air over their tongue. And with that, then it encourages heat to be released in the form of evaporative cooling.
that the spit literally evaporates and that pulls a lot of energy with it. And so brachycephalics, they can't move air as well over their tongues and so they're more prone for getting heat stroke. Got it. So we've talked about it before and you clearly love dogs, but dogs will push themselves past their limits just because they're having fun or because they want to be around people. Yeah. And so
What I'm hearing is that in a warming world, dogs are going to be more susceptible than humans to heat stress. One, based upon their temperament, but two, just based on the fact that they can't sweat across their entire body like we do as humans. And so in previous episodes, I've talked about things like the introduction of fatal heat. There's these combinations of heat and humidity where human beings, even the healthiest ones can adapt to that heat.
It sounds like it's even more extreme for dogs and even more extreme for those smushy-faced Frenchies. Talk to me about how a dog can adapt to that heat and about where they interact in the world. Well, first I just want to say that you're absolutely right. Those dogs are, I mean, God bless them. We love them. They literally would chase the frisbee.
to death. And so that's where it can be a little bit more challenging is that we really want to go out and have fun and play with our dogs. But when it gets really hot and humid out, they just can't do it. We are also selecting as humans for smooshy-faced dogs that the number one breed, AKC registered breed in the US right now is a French bulldog. And that unfortunately their average life expectancy is
much lower than your average dog because of that being part of their problem. This is the breeding issue. And so I think that we're gonna be seeing this more commonly. There were two sets of studies that came out of the UK, which we typically think were pretty...
damp, cold, gray sort of location.
But when we're looking at the prevalence of them having heat strokes in 2016 for that ER facility, they had a prevalence of 0.04%. And then in 2022, which was a particularly hot summer, the prevalence went up to 0.23%.
And so that is a significant change in the frequency that we were seeing heat strokes in the UK. Even worse is the fatality rate of those dogs that presented for heat related illness in 2016. It was a 14 % fatality rate. And then in 2022, it was 27%. So you can see that that is
What is that nearly double basically as far as it's like of those dogs, how many of them died. And now we're looking at one in four of the dogs that presented for heat stroke passed away. Now, you- In the UK. the UK. Rainy. rainy UK. Now mind you, there's other factors that go into that. I'm sure French Bulldogs are just as popular there as they are here. So that might be a contributing factor. But like they're-
Those dogs aren't used to heat. They aren't used to the humidity and they had a particularly brutal summer. they saw an increase in the cases that they saw in deaths. That's mind blowing. So the rate of which the dog showing up had heat stress went up by something like four to six fold, math in public. And then not only that they were showing up more when they did show up, they also were dying more.
catastrophic as a pet owner. That's really got to be concerning. And in veterinary medicine, there's also the component, unfortunately, as far as finances and euthanasia take a role in this, is that heat strokes are incredibly expensive. This is that because you have catastrophic failure in multiple organ systems, it can be incredibly challenging.
to treat which can be beyond a lot of people's budgets, beyond my budget honestly is what I can afford. Like they're very expensive. In addition, some people make the decision that they don't want to see their dog suffer and go through the ordeal of being in the hospital for something as bad as that and so they may choose euthanasia. That's crazy. I mean it's part of being a responsible pet owner in so many ways.
you know, starting at the end first, which is like, you know, making those life or death decisions. But obviously you want to get before that and like not expose them to those heat risks. And even before that, you may be even thinking about selecting the right breed for your climate, recognizing that that good old English bulldog may not be the right dog in England anymore. I mean, that's what's really crazy is that, you know, where is that English bulldog going to live except entirely in the air conditioning? Like that's kind of where we're at, unfortunately, especially with
those breeds of dogs. That's crazy. All right. Now, again, being your brother, I've heard you talk about this many times before, but cats are funny little desert animals that seem to be doing all right. I know my own cat. They're going to outlive all of us. That's right. They're going to outlive all of us. that cockroaches and cats are going to inherit the earth. Like it really is that they're much smarter than dogs. Like, like I said before, that the dogs will literally chase a Frisbee to death because like that's just who they are. They love it.
and they have zero self-preservation when it comes to something fun or something their owner wants them to do, whatever. Cats, different story. They're going to find a cool place. They're going to find a place in the shade. They're going to lie down. They're going to fly, you know, cool dirt to lay in. They're going to ask you to let them back inside and they see that heat stroke in cats is incredibly, incredibly rare. Yeah. Well, that's, I guess a little bit of good news there for cat people. Yeah. I'm one of them. no,
For the listeners at home that may not know you are an Arizona. Yes. You live in Arizona in the valley of the sun there in Phoenix. and, so totally different base that because the sun there is so brilliant that thankfully this is pretty rare at this point, but that we will see dogs that their owners either aren't from the area or they don't know that they can, burn their feet on the pavement. If they're just like,
walking around and so that if you are taking your dog out and it's not first thing in the morning or frankly late at night like you have to put little booties on your dogs. And then the sun also is so brilliant that we'll get dogs that are black hooded dogs that the sun is so intense and it gets so hot on their backs that they will get third degree thermal burns from the sun itself.
So yeah, it's and that that probably is going to be spreading as climate change is that we're going to see that level of intensity Moving up maybe even a colorado. Yeah, one of the things that there was a study a few years ago that came out about like Cities that are representative of your future climate and so they called city pairs, and denver's was albuquerque so if you're moving to Denver in the near future then
it's going to be, you should be thinking about what the climate of Albuquerque is going to be like, because that's going to be the climate of Denver. A similar way for Phoenix, I think it was... to the surface of the sun? Somewhere in Saudi Arabia. So apparently it gets a little hotter. But one of the things that was interesting to me in a conversation we had before about pets was like, we almost need to learn from the Phoenicians about how to care for a pet, because you actually have lower incidences of heat stroke.
in Phoenix than in some other places because so many people are personally adapted to that, that they need to get out of the heat. Yeah. And so I found that very interesting. I don't think we can say like there's no doubt to say that we have lower incidences, that given the level of heat that you would that we have, you would expect to have a higher incidence than we when we do. But that, you know, some of it is that we're used to the heat. Some of it is we are
Like if we're inside, bringing our pets inside and that we just know about that.
Guest: Dr. Katherine F. Smith (18:41)
Okay, so what else can we learn from the Phoenicians or some of the experiences that they've had? I like saying the Phoenicians, it's fun. For those that listen at home, a Phoenician is somebody from Phoenix, not just an ancient civilization. But for those that... But the thing that I want to talk about here from Phoenix though is that it is like the Valley of the Sun. And you were also talking to me the other day about...
about valley fever. It was named because of Phoenix. Tell me about how that's expected. Yeah, so it's Phoenix Valley is where it's coming from, Tucson Valley. So it's Sonora Desert. And it is a fungal organism called coccidio mycosis. Don't worry, I'm not going to quiz you on that. But it lives only in the desert and it prefers really dry soils.
and humans can get it as well. It can be aerosolized and we can just breathe it in. We do know things like people who work in the dirt, archaeologists, that kind of stuff increases the risk of getting in on the human side of things, but that dogs are particularly prone because their noses are always in the dirt. They're always digging it in the dirt. In fact, it's an older study, it's early 2000s. There was a really good cohort study where they looked at dogs when they're
puppies and they followed them out until one to two years of age. And by the time they were two years old, something like 27 % of them ended up showing that they were having antibodies against this fungal organism. Didn't necessarily mean that they were ill from it, but that it is a very, very common illness that we see in Phoenix.
And that one of the things that we can see in dogs is that it can cause enlarged lymph nodes in the chest, coughing, lethargy, fevers, that sort of stuff. But depending on where it goes, that can cause a whole host of other issues, because it can go anywhere. So for example, if it goes to the brain, it can cause seizures.
If it goes to the bone, it can cause bone lesions that are very painful. If it goes to one of the other places it likes to go is to the pericardium, which is the sac around the heart, which you can imagine is a really, really bad place to get an infection. And because it's fungal that you're on antifungals for months and months and months, sometimes years, sometimes even life long, and that the antifungal itself can have its own
side effects and issues associated with it. So it's not something we really want to see. It's treatable most of the time, but it's not something we really want to see dogs getting frequently. Yeah, the animal's going to suffer. It's expensive. You don't... Valley fever sucks. You don't want it. Correct. Nor does your dog. Dogs, cats can get it too. They're much less common because they're not as much into the dirt like dogs are. But yeah. And unfortunately with the desertification and more aridness that we're seeing
spread associated with it. Now, mind you, it's hard to tease out exactly how much of that is climate change versus human activities, moving dirt around. But there is a really good study out of California, it human study, but they showed that after a prolonged drought, which caused the fungus to be aerosolized to go into the air and be able to be spread,
When it was followed with a more normal winter that caused the fungus to now be able to grow appropriately and grow better in the soil, they saw a huge uptick in the human cases in Southern California. And so one could assume that as we are seeing more of those sorts of cycles just across the country that we're gonna be seeing more and more of that. That's interesting. So...
cycles themselves might even be a problem there. So don't just assume that it's because if you have rain some of the year, that it's going to be better. I guess it kind of makes sense. Well, if you look at the fungal organism itself, it has a hard time outcompeting other funguses in the soil under normal circumstances. But where it really does a good job is in the extreme condition.
And so as we're seeing more of those extreme conditions that are tamping down its competition, we're going to be seeing more of that valley fever fungus. How interesting is that? Know, right? Now, where has valley fever expanded to? It's not in Arizona, just in Arizona any longer. Yeah, no, that, that, and once again, we don't know how much of it is just human movement versus are we seeing more dust in the air? So it's carrying it further. But we have seen it as far north as Washington state.
and as far east as Missouri.
That's a fun scary infectious disease vector that we're having to think about there. Normally when I think of infectious diseases, I think of insects though. Yeah So do we have to be worried about ticks? Yes very much so that I think we all have heard of Lyme Lyme comes from Lyme, Connecticut because that is where it was first discovered decades ago and there used to be a hot spot associated with Lyme in the
Northeast, a little bit around the Great Lakes, and a little bit around California. But we're seeing that range expand greatly. That is basically nationwide, almost at this point, because we are seeing an expansion in the tick population. Also, we're also seeing expansion as far as when that transmission time is going to be, because we're not having these really hard winters that are killing back the ticks that we are seeing that
in New England when you would have a break during the winter, you're not getting that break as much anymore. So we are seeing a pretty big expansion with Lyme disease. Across the country, where else? I mean, like if I live in Colorado, do I have to be worried about that? Probably not as much, but there are other tick diseases that you do have to be worried about. Ehrlichia is a tick-borne disease that
Humans can get it pretty uncommon. It's usually immunosuppressed as far as I understand. But that tick that's associated with that is the Lone Star tick. Guess where that's from? Yeah, not Colorado. Yeah, you guessed it. And so we are seeing expansion of that tick into areas. And so we are seeing more Ehrlichia, you know, even in Colorado. And so as far as like, you what does that do in dogs is that
I think we're all familiar with Lyme in humans. It's very, very different in dogs. Something like 90 % of humans when they are exposed to Lyme are gonna get some sort of consequence or illness associated with it. Only 10 % of dogs. When they do get it, the vast majority of them get a pretty treatable form of it where they get...
lameness, swelling in their joints, fever, they're not going to feel good, they're probably not going to want to eat, they're really painful joints.
that it is a really treatable condition at that point. But of the dogs that do get an active form and get ill from Lyme, about one to 5 % of them get a condition where it attacks their kidneys. And as you can imagine that that
pretty poor prognosis and most of these dogs are super young healthy dogs otherwise so it's really sad when that happens. Yeah you kind of need your kidneys even if you're a dog and I would imagine those active dogs that are out there like getting out in the brush where they're going to get that exposure or at the most risk yeah what a tragedy that that would be if you're a dog owner. Okay so that's ticks.
But again, when people think about bloodborne diseases, mostly they think about mosquitoes. Yeah. And the one that I know of there is heartworm. You know, or
The third sibling, our sister, has a great dog named Ripken, after Cal Ripken, all of our favorite baseball players, lifelong Orioles fans here. And he's a great dog. Colorado's a net importer of dogs because there's so many big-hearted animal lovers in this state. And so when Ripken first came to our sister, he was very sick. had heartworm. And this big, lanky fellow, like a 90-pound dog, spent six months in a crate.
because it was too dangerous for him while he was being treated for heartworm to move around.
Guest: Dr. Katherine F. Smith (27:25)
Yeah, so Ripken was really sick for a reason. This is that
A heartworm probably should have been named pulmonary artery worm, but it doesn't have the same ring, but that's where they live, which is in the lungs next to the heart. Those worms can cause a whole host of damage. The biggest thing is that it can cause a lot of scarring and hardening of the arteries there. And that damage can be permanent. In more extreme cases, they can actually get something called cable syndrome, where there's so many worms there.
that it is literally blocking blood flow and that it will cause red blood cells to lyse and fracture, that they are unable to get blood flow to move appropriately, so they're super weak, they'll get bellies full of fluid, and that it's kind of gross but kind of cool. Those cases are that we have to go in and literally extract worms by going into their vessels and physically pulling them out.
Gross, that sounds like the worst version of operation. Mean, yes, it's also awful for the dog because like a lot of them don't survive it. They are that sick and now they have to undergo a pretty invasive procedure and anesthesia to do it. And so we don't want that to happen to dogs. Okay, so yeah, heartworm, bad, don't want it. But why Ripken was stuck for six months is that when we're killing it, that pieces of those worms
have to go someplace and they basically lodge into parts into the lungs. And so we don't want that to happen too quickly because they could have a massive blockage of those arteries if it's done too quickly. And so we need to keep them really rested so that we don't get their heart rates up and their blood flow moving too quickly as those worms slowly die and are removed by the body. Man, that sucks. I definitely don't want that. No, no.
Okay, well, so there's a climate component to this. Like, like Ripken came from the Southeast. Now, heartworm is more prevalent there. People in the Southeast have a different relationship with animals than people in Colorado do. So we imported Ripken into Colorado, but my dog, Lucy, who has lived her entire life in Colorado, I have to get her heartworm medication too. What's that about?
So the heartworm medication that you're talking about is a preventative and they're 100 % effective. And so to answer your question is like, what role does climate have? And this is, we don't know. It is such a complex system associated with it. We have really good data on prevalence though there's something called the American Heartworm Society and they look at prevalence every three years. So they do this huge nationwide survey.
And because of all those factors, we are seeing, unfortunately, significant increases year after year. So every time they do that survey, it goes up by about 50,000 cases, which is not an insignificant number. The numbers here that I have is in 2001, we had 800,000 cases. In 2022, it was 1.2 million. Like that's a lot of dogs that we're talking about with really awful diseases that are really expensive.
to treat. And so there's definitely the factor that there is kind of this mass exportation from the southeast where the highest prevalence is the highest numbers are. And you're right that they have a different relationship with their animals down there. And so they are not across the board, but in general are less likely to keep them on preventatives, even when they are the most at risk. And so
Those animals are then exported, especially the ones that are probably not getting the veterinary care that they should. Exactly. Those are the ones that are at higher risk of getting that. And then also the highest risk of needing a new home. And so those are being exported across the United States. But we're also seeing an increased amount in mosquitoes, that there's just more of them. And we're seeing longer seasons when the mosquitoes are out.
This is particularly true for the heat bubbles of metropolitan areas because it's warm enough in a lot of those metropolitan areas that we're seeing more year-round transmission because of that. And so because of all these numerous factors, that is playing into why we're seeing an increased number of this pre-devastating disease and very expensive to treat. So the disease that used to be pretty located in the Southeast is now where in the US? Nationwide.
Everywhere. Everywhere nationwide. That, you know, we used to even in Arizona that, you know, we would, it's desert. Why would you, there's barely any mosquitoes. We have enough now. and it's warm enough and there are enough golf courses there that my dogs are on your year round production for a pet. That's a little crazy. It's worth a little plug here as a brother of a veterinarian, which is, that like when your veterinarian is prescribing this.
They're not doing it because they want to rack up the bill. Again, I know and love a veterinarian and that's not the kind of people that go into veterinary medicine. They're doing it because they care about your animal. And so even if you live in Minnesota and you're like, why do I need to do heartworm medication? Here's why, climate change is part of it. Yeah, and ultimately, like I always say that it's between you and your veterinarian that these heartworm preventatives are incredibly safe.
that there's many different versions of them now out there and that each has their pros and cons. So have that discussion with your veterinarian, which one would be best for my dog. Then also talk about the finances of it, like which one is going to work best with your pocketbook. But I can tell you that heartworm prevention is a smidgen, a fraction of the cost of heartworm treatment. And this is...
This is a disease that will shorten the life of your dog. In a massive way. Even if they survive it, their quality of life too. All right. Let's switch gears a little bit. I know you, I love you. Let's talk about how you got into animals and climate. Are you going to ask about the beaver in the bathtub?
You're darn right. So my adoring and loving parents, after I'd gone away for college, my sister was working in wildlife rehabilitation and they needed somebody to take care of a baby beaver. Ruby. Ruby the beaver. And they gave up the downstairs bathroom so Ruby could have a little pond to go swimming in and live. Talk about that story.
for second. we, I was working at the time with a group of rehabbers. And so it with a licensed rehabber I was working very closely with to be able to help her, but they just had a large number of animals that came in. And so they were looking for extra help. And beavers actually need quite a bit of assistance and affection and
You know, special diets and that sort of stuff. So that it was not an insignificant amount of work. It was a lot of fun. And it really helped shape me about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be. And so, yeah, that's how I really, I've always loved animals. We've always had dogs and cats and we had a bird, we've had a rat, we've had fish, we've had all sorts of. A ferret. A ferret, yes, a cookie. We've had all sorts of animals growing up, but.
After Ruby, that was the thing that really made me want to do this as a living, be a veterinarian. And then there's a wildlife component to that too. Like you really enjoy animals in the wild as well. I know you originally considered being like a wildlife veterinarian. You decided to go this path, but talk to me about why you care about climate and sustainability more broadly. Yeah, no, so that, you know, it's because I don't have kids.
But I still feel that it's really important to pass off to the next generation like a livable planet. You know, that I've never seen a polar bear, but the fact that they exist and that I want them to do well and the fact that I'm seeing them really struggle and starve to death, like that's a horrible way to die. That's...
That's really disheartening. Like I'm about to cry just thinking about it. Like that's horrible to think of an animal going through that. And I want to pass off polar bears to the next generation. I want them to be able to see polar bears for them to be around for them. Yeah, a hundred percent. It reminds me of another story of climate induced tick migrations causing moose in Minnesota to die because they were just being bled to death because they didn't have enough.
Like literally exsanguinated because of ticks. That's bonkers. Again, an awful way to die. And so, yeah, there's an interaction here between animals, the environment, your love of both, and about why we need to be doing things around climate. You know, just briefly, what are some of the things that you've done on climate? One of them, like for example, is like I know you had to...
work with historical society and you were part of Phoenix there in order to get permission to put solar panels on your roof, right? But what I found most interesting about that story was that you actually became a little bit of a path breaker associated with that because having like other people within your area started putting up solar panels as a result. Yeah, yeah. Now it's not that big of a deal that it's just like somebody has to take the first step. And it's like
I live in Phoenix, it's crazy not to have solar panels. Like my AC bill's really expensive during the summer and now it's not. So it just makes sense. But yeah, so other things that I do are just like Aclymate. I'm one of your first clients for that and helped them along the way, designed it for things that would make sense for me and my business. Because, you know, one of the things that I do is that I...
travel a lot for work and then I do fly quite a bit for my job to be able to go to other places that are needing extra help for a variety of reasons. But I think that it's important that, you know, that's a business expense. That is something that is built into my budget is to pay for the offset of the carbon that I'm doing for all the flying for the work that I do.
And that I think that that's really important for us to take on the responsibility of what we are putting into our environment. And so that's one thing. The one thing I do really want to caution people about is please don't make your animal vegan. Like I understand that yes, that you know, beef production and poultry production is contributing to the climate crisis. But cats are obligate carnivores. It is incredibly
difficult to have them on a non-animal protein diet. It's probably something that has to be by prescription, which is going to be very correct. There are prescription diets that are out there. It is not for the purposes of veganism. It is for pretty specific and profound health things. For example, I have a cat, Larry, who had a congenital liver abnormality.
And for a time, because of that, he can't process foods appropriately and that animal source proteins would increase his risk of having toxic buildup in his brain. And so he was on a soy based diet, but that was because of his liver condition. It was incredibly expensive. It is veterinary only. And as you can imagine, like treating a very specific health condition.
And so that that is not for every single animal out there that if your cat has other health conditions that diet may actually kill them. It's not something that is typically recommended. So in other words, don't do this at home. Talk to your veterinarian. If this is something that is that important to you, one I would caution you is that like,
There are other ways that are more appropriate to decrease your carbon. And also like, it's a cat, they're supposed to eat meat, like that's who they are. Like let's try not making them into something that they're not. But don't do it unless you have a veterinarian, probably even a veterinary nutritionist specifically. So that's a specialist like me, but that they did extra work for nutrition.
to be able to help guide you to do that. Yeah, 100%.
Well, one last thing I want to close out, one last thing is that, you know, there's
We can't go crazy when it comes to like changing what we do for climate that the amount of joy that I get out of my animals that the amount of joy that I get out of my animals is just profound and that it's okay to have a minor impact on the climate in order to have some joy in your life. And so that's, that's the only other thing I wanted to point out.
100%. And I agree with that. Like working on climate should actually improve your life. Driving an EV is more fun to me than... I can 100 % say yes on that one. It's fast. Yeah. You know, putting solar panels on your roof helps to cut your expenses associated with electric bills as you attested to. Don't take the fun out of your life in order to do this. And animals for a lot of us are important. That's why I've always been a pet owner. I will always be a pet owner.
and I couldn't agree with you more. Well, sis, it's been great to have you. I know where Katie is, but the rest of you can talk to call her Dr. Katherine Smith, DVM, DACVECC, a whole bunch of letters after her name because she did a whole bunch of work. Love you, sis. Love you. Thanks for having
Mike Smith (42:20)
You can certainly tell who has the brains of the family, right? Okay, here's your three big takeaways for today's interview. One, climate is going to affect your pets and they have no way of knowing about it. So you are going to have to take responsibility for modifying their behavior and their medical care accordingly. Two, pet related diseases are on the march across the United States and elsewhere due to a change in climate.
So make sure to consult with your veterinarian about what preventative measures you should be taking. And three, for lovers of Frenchies and other stub-nosed dogs, they're probably not going to do well in a warmer world. So consider breeds that will do better in a changing climate. And as always, keep your cats inside.
Okay, do you have a question or comment for the show? Go to Aclymate.com or send an email to theclimatedad at Aclymate.com to submit a question for us or the show. Again, Aclymate is spelled A-C-L-Y-M-A-T-E. If your business needs help measuring, reducing, reporting, or offsetting your company's climate footprint, please reach out to my team at Aclymate and we're gonna get you set up with the best, the most affordable, the easiest climate solution out there. You're gonna love our service, both the software and the really human touch we provide.
Thank you all for listening. Make sure to subscribe to The Climate Dad, where you get your podcasts and to share, like, and comment on social media. God bless you, Jimmy Carter.
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