How to Connect to Your Pets From Your Heart with Acclaimed Vet and Author Amy Attas [Episode #939]

 

 

This week’s topic: How to Connect to Your Pets From Your Heart with Acclaimed Vet and Author Amy Attas

I am so excited for our very special guest today. We’ve been talking so much about the heart and human relationships and today we’re going to be talking about our relationships with our special animal friends and pets. Today we have Dr. Amy Addis who is an award-winning vet and founder of City Pets which for more than three decades has been the premier veterinary medical house call practice for dogs and cats in Manhattan. She is the author of the new book, Pets in the City, which is entertaining and so informative. And I have to say, Dr. Amy, I absolutely loved your chapter titles. I love the stories in the book. And today we’re going to be talking about connecting with pets, all things pet friendly for all you animal lovers out there.

 

About Dr. Amy Attas

Dr. Amy Attas is an award-winning veterinarian and the founder of City Pets, which for more than three decades has been the premier veterinary medical house call practice for dogs and cats living, working in, or visiting Manhattan.  Her new book, PETS AND THE CITY: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Veterinarian, is available now.  She shares a home with her husband, Stephen Shapiro, in New York City.

 

Guest Resources

Amy Attas Website: https://www.citypetsvets.com/

Amy Attas Book: Pets and the City: True Tales of a Manhattan House Call Veterinarian

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Connection with Pets
02:46 Dr. Amy’s Journey to Veterinary Medicine
05:54 The Evolution of Veterinary Medicine and Gender Dynamics
09:14 Understanding Animal Communication and Emotional Support
11:54 The Role of Intuition in Veterinary Care
15:01 Respecting Pets and Building Relationships
18:02 Understanding Animal Personalities and Breed Characteristics
25:34 Understanding Pet Preferences: Dogs vs. Cats
27:49 The Unique Perspective of a House Call Veterinarian
29:14 Advocating for Pets: Lessons from Experience
31:17 The Intuitive Connection with Animals
34:08 The Importance of Human Connection in Veterinary Care
40:34 The Case for Rescue Animals
43:34 The Healing Power of Love Between Pets and Owners
45:19 Inspiration Through Personal Journey
48:19 Connecting with Dr. Amy: Resources and Services

 

Episode Sponsors

LMNT

Right now, for my listeners LMNT is offering a free sample pack with any LMNT drink mix purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/FEELGOOD. That’s 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT any LMNT drink mix purchase.\This deal is only available through my link so.you must go to DrinkLMNT.com/FEELGOOD Also check out the new LMNT Sparkling — a bold, 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water.

USE LINK: DrinkLMNT.com/FEELGOOD. 

PIQUE

Get up to 15% off plus a rechargeable frother and cup when you shop my link when you purchase exclusively at piquelife.com/kimberlys

USE LINK: piquelife.com/kimberlys  Get up to 15% off plus a rechargeable frother and cup when you shop my link

 

[RESOURCES / INFORMATION]

SOLLUNA PRODUCT LINKS

• Glowing Greens Powder™
• Feel Good SBO Probiotics
• Feel Good Detoxy
• Feel Good Digestive Enzymes
• Feel Good Starter Kit
• Feel Good Skincare

KIMBERLY’S BOOKS

• Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur Journey to the Heart
• The Beauty Detox Solution
• Beauty Detox Foods
• Beauty Detox Power
• Radical Beauty
• Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life
• You Are More Than You Think You Are 

OTHER PODCASTS YOU MAY ENJOY!

• Wellness Insights: How to Listen to Your Body for Nutritional Guidance [Episode 878]
• How the Power Foods Diet helps with Weight Loss with Dr. Neal Barnard EP. 877
• How Not to Age with New York Times best-selling author Dr. Michael Greger [Episode #873]
• How to eat to reduce anxiety with Harvard nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo [Episode #867]

 

Powered and Distributed by: PodcastOne

Transcript:

Kimberly Snyder (00:00.14)
Welcome back everyone to our Monday interview show. I am so excited for our very special guest today. We’ve been talking so much about the heart and human relationships and today we’re going to be talking about our relationships with our special animal friends and pets. Today we have Dr. Amy Addis who is an award-winning vet and founder of City Pets which for more than three decades has been the premier veterinary medical house call practice for dogs and cats in Manhattan. She is the author of the new book, Pets in the City, which is entertaining and so informative. And I have to say, Dr. Amy, I absolutely loved your chapter titles. I love the stories in the book. And today we’re going to be talking about connecting with pets, all things pet friendly for all you animal lovers out there.

So Dr. Amy, thank you so much for being here with us today and congratulations on your new book.

Amy Attas (01:04.824)
Thank you very much. really delighted to be here and speak with you about pets, about relationships, and about my book.

Kimberly Snyder (01:12.286)
As I mentioned, Dr. Amy, we’ve been talking a lot about the heart and connection. I have a new book as well about the heart and we’ve been delving so much into connecting with self, connecting with other humans particularly. And I’m really interested in talking about our connection with animals because so many of us have pets. It’s such an important part. It’s a way that we can really boost our

resilience, our stress management. know there’s a lot of research out there and I want to get into all of that today. But first, tell us a little bit about how you got drawn to this path. Your life work is primarily working with animals. And sometimes I have to say that I am a mother of children babies. I have friends who have doggie babies, cat babies. They don’t want to have human babies. I have friends who have both.

So can you also tell us a little bit about your own personal children and pets and situation?

Amy Attas (02:18.226)
It’ll be my pleasure to do that. So I had a calling from the earliest memory I have when people said, what do want to be when you grow up? I wanted to be a veterinarian. I probably said animal doctor because veterinarian was too long a word for a five-year-old to say. When my friends were playing with dolls and they were making believe they were teachers or nurses, I was playing with stuffed animals and making believe I was a veterinarian. The truth is everybody in the neighborhood knew Amy was going to be a vet.

Kimberly Snyder (02:28.193)
Really?

Kimberly Snyder (02:42.304)
Wow.

Amy Attas (02:46.828)
and even the family pediatrician, he would give me used hypodermic syringes. It was a different world then. And I figured out as a very smart little kid that if I put straight pins in them and filled them with water, I could give an extremely convincing injection to my stuffed animals. So I went to bed every night with very soggy plush toys, but I was fulfilling as a child, my fantasy of being a veterinarian. So it wasn’t like I thought about, this is a possible great career.

It was a calling. I absolutely had to do that. So my whole life’s journey was around the desire to work with animals. In addition, I really do love medicine. And I love the fact that as a veterinarian, you do all aspects of medicine. You know, since I’ve been a vet, which has been over three decades, that’s changed very much. When, when I graduated from veterinary school, you were finished. You could hang up a shingle and you could

Kimberly Snyder (03:16.908)
Bye.

Amy Attas (03:45.046)
Start your own practice and you could take care of skin diseases, give vaccines, do surgery, et cetera. As we’ve gotten so much more advanced in veterinary medicine, many vets go on for advanced training and become board specialized in different areas. And then there are people like me who are still the general practitioners, but at this stage in my career, I take care of the whole animal. But if it has a particular eye problem, I would send it to the ophthalmologist.

Kimberly Snyder (03:51.05)
Mmm.

Amy Attas (04:13.486)
and then coordinate all of its care along with perhaps it might have diabetes or a heart issue. So specialists deal with only their issue and then it would come back to a vet like me to oversee the entire patient. An amazingly satisfying thing to do. you know, my path through my education was to toward being a veterinarian, all of my extracurricular activities were gaining experience.

Kimberly Snyder (04:27.828)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (04:42.742)
Wow.

Amy Attas (04:42.988)
because getting into veterinary school is an incredibly difficult thing to do. There weren’t that many veterinary schools in the country and the competition to enter these schools was the same as, you you took all the same courses as everybody who wanted to go to medical school or dental school. So super high achieving students. And of course you needed to have the best grades, the best test scores. And in for veterinary medicine, you needed to have the practical experience.

So that was my path toward this career.

Kimberly Snyder (05:17.005)
Did you grow up with a lot of animals too, Dr. Amy? No.

Amy Attas (05:20.687)
And you know, I’ve thought a lot about this. I didn’t have a pet until I was five years old, but I already knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. I don’t come from a family of veterinarians. I don’t even come from a family of doctors. But interestingly, my brother as a child knew that he wanted to be a physician. So we joke about what were mom and dad saying to us when we were sleeping? What kind of subliminal insiders were they giving us? But you know,

Kimberly Snyder (05:23.116)
Mmm.

Amy Attas (05:48.426)
It’s funny, he is a human doctor, or a doctor for people, I should say, and he’s a practicing oncologist. So his patients have cancer. And he says to me, you know, I could never do what you do. It’s so sad when animals get sick. So he’s a very empathetic oncologist, but I guess we all have a special spot for animals.

Kimberly Snyder (05:54.208)
Great.

Kimberly Snyder (06:10.216)
Yes. Yes. That’s so interesting. And also Dr. Amy, when you were going to veterinary school, were there a lot of other women in your class, in your school? Did you?

Amy Attas (06:22.454)
What a wonderful question because the field of veterinary medicine has changed very much. So when I was applying to veterinary school, so this is back in the 1980s, I remember sitting in the lobby of a veterinary school waiting for my turn for my interview. And on the wall of that school was the plaque with the name of the person who graduated number one in the class every single year that school had been in existence. And when you looked around at the names of the plaques,

every one of them was a woman. But when you ask the history, veterinary medicine really didn’t accept women until around the 70s, early 80s. There would only be a few women in each class, but the women who got in were so brilliant that they graduated number one or number two in the class. And it was a very old fashioned thought process. women are small, they’re not strong, they can’t handle large animals.

Kimberly Snyder (06:54.111)
Really?

Kimberly Snyder (07:04.159)
Really?

Kimberly Snyder (07:14.028)
Incredible.

Amy Attas (07:22.03)
I don’t care if you’re small like me or you’re a 180 pound man, you can’t handle a 2000 pound animal, right? We need to have chemical restraint. We need to have other ways of handling them. So, know, a bunch of things happened at the same time. Small animal medicine became much more the focus of a lot of people entering veterinary medicine. And finally, there was an understanding that men don’t have an advantage over women.

Kimberly Snyder (07:29.238)
Correct.

Amy Attas (07:48.962)
there’s a little bit of a negative reason why this happened as well. And that is that the salaries of veterinarians did not keep pace with the salaries of other medical professions. And, you know, in the older times when the primary breadwinner of the family might have been a man, it was less attractive for men to enter veterinary medicine if they could make twice as much being a human doctor. So I think the understanding that women can do this job

just as well or better than men. And the salary wasn’t as much as some people might want. I think we started to see the balance. Then the pendulum swung and now salaries are much more competitive and my profession is much more female dominated. So you look at veterinary school classes and it’s the men who are the minority now.

Kimberly Snyder (08:28.812)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (08:38.866)
Interesting.

Kimberly Snyder (08:45.824)
Wow, wow, what an interesting transition over these decades. And would you say, so going straight to connecting with animals, obviously they’re not speaking in human tongues. We’ve always heard that, you know, most communication is nonverbal, right? And we know about energy, disposition. Would you say, Dr. Amy, the way that

I have to confess, I don’t have a dog. I grew up with a dog. My husband had a dog he was very close to when we got married, who passed away, who he talks about all the time. He misses his dog so much. And so with animals, are they like humans where they really do have a personality, they have a disposition and it’s pretty steady. They’re not moody as much or as I should say as much as humans. So when people are attracted to a certain animal,

they get connected to that steadiness and that gives them a lot of emotional support that is nonverbal.

Amy Attas (09:51.758)
So I think there are so many things that you had in that question that I’d like to tease them apart because they’re so incredibly important. So remember that all the animals that I treat are going to be animals that belong to humans. It’s not like I treat animals in a zoo or in a shelter, mine are family members. And when we say that animals, people will sometimes naively say, and that’s not what you said, that animals can communicate. Of course they can communicate.

Kimberly Snyder (09:55.052)
Assumptions, questions. Yes.

Amy Attas (10:20.546)
So when they’re in a family setting, that family knows so much about that animal. They are connected. They are bonded both ways. Animals give so much to people. I can cite so many scientific examples where we know that animals bring down the blood pressure of people. Petting an animal can bring down your blood pressure. Even looking at a photograph of an animal can bring down your blood pressure. They reduce your cortisol levels.

Kimberly Snyder (10:39.136)
Mmm.

Amy Attas (10:49.842)
Oftentimes people can communicate through an animal in a way that is much more difficult for them to do person to person. So they provide so much benefit for our wellbeing if you are a pet person, right? So when you have that connection with a pet, someone will call me and say, you know, my pet doesn’t feel well, right? So they don’t quite know what’s wrong.

Kimberly Snyder (10:58.518)
Wow.

Amy Attas (11:18.318)
but they know that their pet isn’t the same as it was on a normal day. And then the communication comes between me and that human. so often 90 % of my diagnosis is made in the conversation I have with that person. So even though their pet doesn’t say, mama, I have a headache. I have a sore throat. My elbow hurts. They, they see things. And if you ask the right questions, you can elicit from the people what the problem is.

We talk about appetite. We talk about what they eat. We talk about sleep habits, exercise habits. And I often think when I’m talking to my client, I wish a physician spent as much time talking to people about everything else in their life, other than what hurts you today. So it’s a much more holistic approach to health, right? And so…

Kimberly Snyder (11:54.634)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (12:07.666)
Great.

Kimberly Snyder (12:14.262)
Mmm.

Amy Attas (12:15.468)
You know, and again, with our patients, like I’ll ask people, you know, can you measure the amount of food that you’re giving? Because if you give the same amount each day and Fluffy eats that same amount, and then one day you notice Fluffy’s eating less and Fluffy’s eating less the next day, or you measure the amount of water and you have to fill that bowl more often, these are subtle changes in animal health that a really good observer will be able to report to me. As a veterinarian, that makes my job so much easier.

Kimberly Snyder (12:41.996)
Thank you.

Amy Attas (12:45.346)
because I’m going to know about a medical problem before that medical problem has tons of symptoms. And from a family member’s point of view, the fact that they are so participating in their pet’s health, they feel like they’re doing their job in a much, much better way. And this is all about communication. When I ask a question, it’s open-ended so the person can give me as much information as they want. And that helps me provide

better medical care for their pets.

Kimberly Snyder (13:18.292)
It also sounds like Dr. Amy, because these animals are communicating, but non-verbally, there is a big part of your job that is also intuitive. Would you say that’s right?

Amy Attas (13:30.778)
I think so. You know, again, as a pet owner, well, I’m going to tell you a little bit of a sad story. I’ve always had pets and because I’m very smart about these things, I also understand that they have a lifespan. So what I’ve done my whole life is as my pet is getting older, I’m open to rescuing another pet, bringing another pet into my home who’s younger.

Kimberly Snyder (13:34.676)
Yes, you dogs, cats.

Kimberly Snyder (13:51.254)
Mm.

Amy Attas (14:00.226)
So I can continue that cycle of life because as many of your listeners will know, when a pet passes, it takes that little piece of your heart away. And the only thing that helps you to heal if you’re a pet person is having another one to snuggle and cry with, et cetera. I had two dogs, Cleopatra, and she was a little black pug, and her older brother, Winston.

Kimberly Snyder (14:19.034)
Amy Attas (14:27.958)
Winston got sick. developed cancer. He had emergency surgery. I treated him with chemotherapy. He lived six more quality months. And the promise that I made to him and every one of my pets is this is not about quality. It’s about, excuse me, it’s not about quantity. It’s about quality. And as long as you’re feeling well with everything I’m doing and you go to the park and you run around and you eat and you feel good, we’re going to continue doing this.

but when you don’t feel that way any longer, then we’re gonna help you to pass easily, comfortably at home. The way that I help my patients all the time, because we have the ability to allow them to have a good quality of life, and we have the ability to give them a good quality passing, and that’s a blessing that I’m able to offer to my clients and their pets. And so, sadly, it was time for Winston to pass.

Kimberly Snyder (15:01.609)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (15:15.839)
Yes.

Amy Attas (15:25.384)
And we were devastated, my husband and I were devastated. But the biggest problem was that our Cleopatra, our dog, she was really, really unhappy. Her tail didn’t come up. It didn’t curl. It didn’t wag. She didn’t want to eat. She didn’t want to go to the park. And we looked at each other and said, this is not about us. This is about her. She wants a companion. We’re going to get her one. And I do, as I mentioned, love pug dogs. And I put the word out, if there is a pug out there,

Kimberly Snyder (15:28.436)
Hmm.

Kimberly Snyder (15:38.837)
No.

Amy Attas (15:54.456)
that needs to be rescued because it has a medical or physical problem. I will take it, I will fix it, and I will give it a forever home. And I got this precious little dog who sadly had been abused. And when I fixed all of the problems that she had, she was intimidated by life. She would sort of hide under a dog bed. And when she wanted to get a drink, she would walk with the dog bed on top of her and she would get a drink and then she’d dive under another dog bed.

and she would do the same when she wanted to eat. So we thought she was like a hermit crab. So we named her Ermeet. And over time, with love and respect and taking care of all of her needs, she began to trust us. And then with a little bit more time, she became the boss of the house. So she rapidly went from being called Ermeet to being Meatball, because she was a meatball. She was just so entertaining. And she and Cleopatra were the best of friends.

Cleopatra passed away at 16 on January 1st. It was a wonderful greeting of a new year. But it was okay. She was at home. was her time. She lived a long and beautiful life. What we didn’t anticipate was that Meatball would get sick shortly thereafter. And she got sick with a disease that I treat all the time, but she didn’t respond to treatment. So I said, you know what? I don’t need to be your vet. I’m your mom. And I called colleagues in. I called colleagues in from

Kimberly Snyder (17:08.5)
Amy Attas (17:19.79)
Cornell from University of Pennsylvania, the Animal Medical Center, specialists who all said, we’re doing all the same things you did. She didn’t respond. Three months to the day after Cleopatra passed away on April 1st, my meatball passed away. And we know that another dog is going to come into our life. You with the exception of Meatball, who I solicited for her sister, it’ll happen organically. Someone will say, I have this dog. It needs your help.

Kimberly Snyder (17:34.567)
sorry.

Amy Attas (17:48.952)
Can you fix it? And I’ll fix it. And it will just tug at my heartstrings and I’ll keep it. But sadly, the long answer to your question is I don’t currently have a dog, but I have thousands of dogs and cats that I love who I care for every day in my practice.

Kimberly Snyder (18:02.664)
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. I believe in that too. You know, your heart is so open, Dr. Amy, and the right pet soul will find its way to you. Right. Let me ask you. Yes.

Amy Attas (18:15.118)
like the right people do too. And by the way, I was just going to say that my husband, my soulmate, he came into my life when I worked in an animal hospital and he was the next client and I met him and he had a sick dog and I was his veterinarian and that’s how our lives came together.

Kimberly Snyder (18:38.88)
Wow. Without pushing, forcing, looking, it just organically came in.

Amy Attas (18:46.86)
Well, that was the introduction. There was some pushing and forcing on my part later on. know, listen, exactly. Anything you really want in life, you need to fight to go get, right? So he was one of those things.

Kimberly Snyder (18:49.932)
Okay. But it’s still, yeah, the introduction was organic.

Kimberly Snyder (19:02.822)
Dr. Amy, when you were telling your story, you said something that caught my ear, which was about respecting the animals. With children, there’s a whole movement about, you know, respecting even infants, looking at them, letting them know you’re going to change their diaper, really having this active participation with the child, even at an early age. Can you tell us what it would be to truly respect your pet?

which sounds like it would bring up their dignity and they would respond to that and they want to be respected.

Amy Attas (19:35.694)
So I love to start this process if I’m lucky enough to be called in when the animal first comes into a family’s home. And I like to have everybody be part of this process. So it starts with a touching and a looking and a feeling and a smelling. And I have everyone in the family to go through the same motions because these are things that the mother dog or mother cat would do for their kitten or puppy.

So we just clean anything that’s from the eyes and we look at the ears and we touch the teeth and we brush and we touch toenails. And that’s a bonding that occurs between the people and the animals. Sometimes when you do these things, the animals think this is a little bit awkward and they don’t like it, but getting them comfortable with it establishes their role in the family. Like I’m going to care for you.

And I sort of explained to them how to make the animal most comfortable. And I like to include children in that because, you know, a lot of animals like to know where they are in the family dynamic. And, you know, if you have a strong, deep voice, they have more respect for you. The higher pitched and maybe less commanding your voice is, they might feel like, my place is above the toddler or the child. So, you know, we want

Kimberly Snyder (20:34.251)
Hmm.

Kimberly Snyder (20:57.411)
Amy Attas (20:59.06)
the children to be involved as well. Now having said that, I also respect children and I always want people to understand that these are animals and everybody thinks that you know, my pet will never bite. All animals do bite if provoked in a certain way or maybe they’re having a bad day or they don’t feel well. So I always ask for there to be respect for the animal to give them their space to watch their body language.

to see if they don’t like what’s going on, to maybe back off a little bit so that everybody’s comfortable all living together.

Kimberly Snyder (21:35.988)
Yes, and that sounds very intuitive too. You’re feeling the animal’s energy and then helping to teach the humans how to adjust.

Amy Attas (21:41.431)
and

And the thing is too, when you’re you’re assessing the animal’s energy, they give you body language. So the more observant you are, the more you know what normal is. And then you can say, boy, this doesn’t look normal anymore. Why do my cat’s eyes look different? Why do the ears look different? They’re trying to tell you something and you should be in tune with that. So again, it goes back to what I was talking about. Look, touch, smell, know every part of your pet.

Kimberly Snyder (21:54.699)
Yes.

Amy Attas (22:12.67)
Know what normal is and then know what abnormal is. Know what’s abnormal in the medical world. Like do the eyes look red? Do the ears smell a little bit? Those are things that you want to alert your veterinarian about. Know what’s normal in the behavior world. If you know you’re hearing a sound from your dog that may be a subtle growl, maybe that’s a warning sign and maybe something’s happening that they don’t like, it’s time to back.

Kimberly Snyder (22:29.473)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (22:41.142)
Wow. Dr. Amy, I want to ask you a two-part question. The first part is as humans, we all have different personalities, different energies. Sometimes you hear that a breed has a certain disposition. And so the first part of my question is, is that true? You can sort of say Collies are like this and German Shepherds are like this versus the individual animal.

And in a similar vein, how we hear sometimes people are cat people and dog people. And in your book, you tell many different stories of your clients through the city. Do you feel that there are certain characteristics that if there’s truth in that of dog people and cat people? So two part question.

Amy Attas (23:29.23)
Okay, so I’ll start with the first part. You can make generalizations about breeds. The reason we have breeds is that over hundreds of years, we have selected certain characteristics, whether they are physical characteristics, behavioral characteristics, and that’s what makes up a dog breed. So for example, you have hunting dogs. These are dogs who are easily trained because they have the genetic

Kimberly Snyder (23:57.046)
Mm.

Amy Attas (23:59.31)
predisposition to do certain behaviors. So these are dogs who are highly athletic, who want to do a job. This is not a dog that wants to stay on a couch in an apartment. And if they’re forced to do that, you’re going to start to see behaviors that are probably unwanted. But if this dog is out in the country doing what it’s supposed to do, like a retriever, they’re very happy, even if you throw a ball to them, to run, get that ball in its mouth.

Kimberly Snyder (24:16.96)
Got it.

Kimberly Snyder (24:26.631)
I see.

Amy Attas (24:28.544)
and they’ll bring that ball back to you without causing any damage because part of their genetic makeup is to have a very soft mouth. Now these dogs make wonderful dogs around children because they tend not to be biting dogs, but they need a lot of exercise. So everything has a trade-off. Those are generalizations that we can make about breeds. There are always exceptions. You know, even the breeds that are known to be

the sweetest and nicest, you can have an individual that has a bit of a personality disorder. And then there are some breeds that don’t really have any behavioral components there. Just for example, the toy breeds, they were just bred to be companions for people. So yes, we can make generalizations about temperament, need for exercise, et cetera, based on what they look like. But

they’re never 100 % following because each individual has its own personality. The second part of your question, dog people, cat people, for sure people declare themselves as dog people and cat people. And sometimes when I delve a little bit further, I’ll find out that a person who says, I’m definitely a dog person. They’ve never known a cat. They’ve never lived with a cat. So they are preconceived notions make them think, I I don’t like cats.

Kimberly Snyder (25:30.751)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (25:34.889)
Haha

Amy Attas (25:55.252)
Sometimes people will tell me, I’m afraid of dogs. I’m a cat person because they had a bad experience. I believe that if you like animals, you’re probably a dog and a cat person. You just haven’t had that experience. Cats are not little dogs, but sometimes they’re a better pet for a family that doesn’t have a lot of time to do exercise or isn’t home as much because cats do much better.

Kimberly Snyder (26:01.589)
Right?

Amy Attas (26:25.19)
spending time by themselves. Dogs are really a pack animal and they like to have more companionship. So I say to everyone have an open mind. If you’ve never lived with a cat, meet a cat, you might like them and same with dogs.

Kimberly Snyder (26:31.446)
Right.

Kimberly Snyder (26:40.264)
You know, in your book, Dr. Amy, there’s so many stories. You have such a unique perspective in your type of work, I think, making house calls, because you see people with their pets in their home environment. Sort of like when I had clients, primarily as my main career before I had kids, and I would live with them. Sometimes for four months while they were getting ready for a film, it was very different experience than…

You know, the clients you just see in an office a couple of times a week versus that actual living experience. I thought some of the names of your chapters were so funny. Humans behaving badly, I’m beautiful, so my pets must be too. The Uber rich really are different. What are some of the messages in your book? Because there’s a lot of humor, you tell a lot of stories, but for someone who doesn’t live in Manhattan.

Right? And someone who isn’t, you know, in these stories, what are some of the main themes that you really want people to know about animals, about respecting animals, about being a pet owner in your book?

Amy Attas (27:49.144)
So my experience like yours is that I get to know people much more intimately because I’m in their homes. Nobody came to an animal hospital with their pet in their pajamas, but sometimes I do show up and that’s the way they’re dressed. I see what they’ve eaten for breakfast because the dishes are still in the sink. Also, I see their families, right? So we’re all together. And when you do this for as many decades as I have, I see the children grow up.

Kimberly Snyder (27:56.192)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (28:00.287)
You

Kimberly Snyder (28:10.954)
Yes.

Amy Attas (28:16.706)
They go off on their own, they get married, they get pets of their own. So I see that cycle of life in the humans and I see the cycle of life from the animals. Most of my experiences are wonderful, but things I’ve learned through the years, like clients behaving badly, I had a situation where in a client’s home, I saw a potential danger right before my eyes. And when I explained to my client who lived in a triple X penthouse above Central Park West,

Kimberly Snyder (28:40.62)
Mm.

Amy Attas (28:46.826)
that the open doors to their terrace were an enormous danger. The cats were running around outside. And I said, you know, as a veterinarian, have seen where cats are playing and they misstep and they can fall. And the client just didn’t want to listen to me. know, Dr. Amy, I’ve had cats my whole life. We’ve always had the windows open. We’ve always had the doors open. Well, I learned from that experience because I didn’t want to argue with a client.

Kimberly Snyder (28:51.157)
Ugh.

Amy Attas (29:14.432)
And I said, well, this is my recommendation, but do do what you feel is the right thing to do. And ultimately it led to that cat falling from the terrace. So I learned from that situation that I am the advocate for the pet and I don’t care if I argue with a client. I don’t care if I lose a client. I must stand my ground that if I know that you’re doing something that could potentially endanger the life of a patient of mine.

Kimberly Snyder (29:23.754)
No.

Amy Attas (29:43.992)
then I have to stand my ground. And it changed the way I behaved for the rest of my career. I will not take, I’ve done this my whole life. I will tell them stories of every instance where someone said that that had a negative outcome. I don’t want clients behaving badly. I want clients to learn and behave better because we’re all, they loved that cat and they were devastated when he died. I could have prevented that from happening.

Kimberly Snyder (29:48.053)
Wow.

Amy Attas (30:13.482)
if I stood my ground and it changed how I am going forward. I will never permit a client to put their pet’s life in danger. So that’s.

Kimberly Snyder (30:23.838)
It’s so powerful when you say that Dr. Amy, your perspective is so clear, not wishy washy. I’m advocating for the animals, I will educate. And I think when we have that type of clarity running through us into how we communicate, into our work, people respond because there’s no wishy washy-ness in your perspective at all.

Amy Attas (30:47.01)
Well, it came with maturity and part of that maturity was this instance that had a tragic end and having that as ammunition to explain to people, this is a situation where I know better than you. I don’t know what you do for a living, but I know that you know that better than I do. I have these experiences and I need you to listen to me. So I grew up after that experience and I need to share the wisdom that I have.

Kimberly Snyder (30:49.087)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (31:04.63)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (31:09.441)
Mm.

Amy Attas (31:17.014)
So I never have a client behaving badly in that way again.

Kimberly Snyder (31:21.836)
Do you ever feel, Dr. Amy, when you’re with these animals, again, going back to the intuition, it’s just so fascinating to me to have such a deep relationship with these incredible beings that aren’t speaking in tongues, but they’re communicating all the time. Sort of like how our heart can speak to us. For some people, it sounds like messages or it’s just a knowingness. Because you have so much experience with animals, how do they communicate?

with you? you feel like, you know, like they’re telling you something or is it a knowing that rises up in you? Like how does it really work inside of your body?

Amy Attas (32:00.566)
I can give you a perfect example. They know that I’m there to help them. Okay. Again, it doesn’t mean they like me because I do a lot of things with needles, right? And nobody likes the person who sticks them with needles. So I ring the doorbell. Dogs come barking. The door opens. They see who it is. Tail goes down. They go in the opposite direction. When they’re sick and I ring the doorbell, they stay.

Kimberly Snyder (32:06.294)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (32:22.678)
Ha ha!

Amy Attas (32:29.848)
They come to me. They know I’m there to help them. I do think there’s a communication. mean, I feel like I’m giving them the energy when I work with them. Like, I know that you don’t like what I’m doing, but I promise you I’m doing this for your own good. And I have so many examples that they understand that, that they come to me when they don’t feel well. And, you know, we joke about it on the street.

Kimberly Snyder (32:36.01)
Yo.

Amy Attas (32:59.074)
I’ll be walking along, I’ll make eye contact with a dog who’s walking with an owner going in the opposite direction. And then as I’m going, I’ll hear the owner say, no, come. And I look and that dog is still trying to make eye contact with me. Like there is definitely a connection as I go by them. I think they sense how much I care about.

Kimberly Snyder (33:22.125)
well, I you know, everything is energy, essentially, and communication and how we what we embody when we show up. And I think because you’re so clear, and you are really authentically loving the animals and they’re for them. Like, how could they not feel it?

Amy Attas (33:39.832)
I want to add one thing to this. When I talk to young people who want to be veterinarians, they’ll say to me, I want to be a veterinarian because I love animals. And I have to add to that. You have to love people too, right? You, this is not a field you go into because you don’t want to deal with people. In fact, I often deal with people on their very worst days, right? Their pets are sick or they’re saying goodbye to pets. You need to be able to use some of your energy to help the people heal as well.

Kimberly Snyder (33:50.897)
Mmmmm

Kimberly Snyder (33:59.115)
Yes.

Amy Attas (34:08.782)
And it’s draining and demanding because again, I’ve been through that experience and these emotions come right from my heart when I’m dealing with these people who are going through what I recently went through. But I think that makes it a very natural way to share. so I just, I like to stress to people, this is a people profession that although we’re making the animals better,

you really need to be able to communicate with the people.

Kimberly Snyder (34:41.686)
Well, that’s a huge point because to your statement, I think a lot of people think, it’s just about the animals, but these are pet owners, animal owners. So you are going to have to have that aspect as well in your dealings all the time.

Amy Attas (34:58.518)
And you know what, most of the people I deal with, don’t think of themselves as pet owners. They think of themselves as pet parents, right? These are family members who really, they mean so much. So sometimes it’s a full family unit, mom, dad, kids, and pet. Sometimes it’s a senior citizen who lives alone with a pet. I mean, I’ve had…

Kimberly Snyder (35:05.962)
Right?

Amy Attas (35:27.758)
clients, one woman I’m thinking about in particular, who said to me she was in her 90s, her dog was in its teens, and she said she stayed alive in order to care for her dog. That is a very big part of her life. In fact, her older dog passed away. And because I had done house calls to her for years,

Kimberly Snyder (35:44.426)
Wow.

Amy Attas (35:53.542)
After that dog passed away, I couldn’t just say I have nothing to do with her anymore. I began to show up at her home just to see how she was. And she came to the door in her nightgown. She didn’t have her teeth in. She didn’t have her hair brushed. I mean, I don’t think she had eaten. And I thought to myself, she meant it when she said she stayed alive to take care of her dog. And I knew immediately that I had to get her another dog. I also knew she would say no. So I didn’t ask her.

Kimberly Snyder (36:02.214)
Kimberly Snyder (36:19.102)
Okay.

Amy Attas (36:22.828)
I put the word out. I got a toy poodle who weighed about six pounds. He was about 11 or 12 years of age. I wouldn’t want to give her a puppy. I mean, she was in her nineties. He had a beautiful disposition. He was house trained and literally pulled in every favor to get this dog from the rescue organization. And I showed up at her house with him. His name was Pierre. And she looked at me, she said, what are you doing? I don’t want a dog.

Kimberly Snyder (36:22.956)
You’re a dog.

Kimberly Snyder (36:34.795)
Sure.

Amy Attas (36:52.108)
I said, no, no, the dog is not for you. I just have no place for this dog to stay tonight. And I don’t want to put him in a shelter because maybe he’ll get put to sleep. Can he just stay here tonight and I’ll come and get him tomorrow? And she said, okay, one night when I went back the next afternoon to pick him up, she was dressed. Her hair was brushed. Her teeth were in. Pierre was in her arms licking her face. He was perfectly.

Kimberly Snyder (37:05.516)
Aww.

Kimberly Snyder (37:19.101)
my-

Amy Attas (37:21.294)
planned for her and he was her companion for two years. She pre-deceased him, but I don’t think she would have lived two days if he wasn’t in her life. She had a reason to live. So when we talk about the significance of animals in people’s lives, sometimes it’s a lifeline. And I just, you know, to be part of that relationship and help the person live a healthier and longer life.

is such a joy for me. Being a vet is more than just caring for the animals.

Kimberly Snyder (37:55.432)
Incredible. Wow. What a beautiful story. My goodness, Dr. Amy, what I mean, it’s just, you know, we think about how important connection is. And for many people at certain points, you can get something from that unconditional steady.

love, especially for people that may have trouble relating to other humans, or there’s complications. There’s a steadiness in animals that, again, would be that emotional resilience, that comfort. When you’re talking about lowering blood pressure, stress management, all these different aspects.

Amy Attas (38:37.006)
So, you I’ve also witnessed something very unusual in a home where I overheard the dad say to the dog, and I don’t remember the dog’s name, but it was like, Fluffy, have we told the little girl how much we love her today? This person had difficulty expressing love for his child and he did it through his dog. Now it would be better if he did it directly to her.

Kimberly Snyder (38:55.457)
No.

Kimberly Snyder (39:03.635)
my god.

Amy Attas (39:07.032)
But the fact that the dog provided him a method for saying what he wanted to say was really amazingly wonderful to witness.

Kimberly Snyder (39:18.488)
Have you seen Dr. Amy on the other side, people rely so much on their animals. They’re not healing maybe some of their emotional trauma, they can just really separate from humans. Like on the extreme side, because they have their animals. Have you seen that in your work too?

Amy Attas (39:36.568)
I have. I’ve seen people who give up many aspects of a social life because they feel that they have to come home for their pets. And I usually say to people, know, it’s a good idea to leave your pet alone for a few hours each day and go out because when you do need to leave the house, you don’t want them to be anxious since they, you know, they’re used to having you around all the time. I think that sometimes for some people who have issues,

Kimberly Snyder (40:00.171)
way.

Amy Attas (40:05.226)
animals can be a crutch, but if they didn’t have them, I think their issues might be exacerbated. So they provide a healing role, but we have to be careful that it doesn’t exclude them from having human contact. So.

Kimberly Snyder (40:11.873)
right.

Kimberly Snyder (40:20.396)
Exactly. And now it sounds like you’re a big advocate for rescue animals. That was my dog growing up was a rescue animal as well. Can you share a little bit about your passion for rescue pets?

Amy Attas (40:34.827)
We are a society that loves our pets, yet we discard a lot of them who are perfectly wonderful pets. I think part of the problem is that we have this concept of, you know, puppy mills, which I prefer to call factory farming. These are farms that breed dogs in enormous quantities. They select out the best of them. They get rid of the worst of them. They are not in the dog’s best interest. So they will

select a breed that’s particularly popular right now and they will breed thousands of them to make a lot of money. So we see animals with behavioral problems or medical problems. Some of these dogs wind up in shelters. That’s not to say they’re not great dogs because oftentimes the shelters will do whatever needs to be done to decrease those problems. Every one of my pets has been an animal that somebody else didn’t want and I could not think of a

Kimberly Snyder (41:29.12)
We are…

Amy Attas (41:30.764)
of a better way to get an animal. If people are interested in a particular breed, they can go online to breed rescue, whatever breed it is, you just type in that breed at dot org and you can find local breed rescues. Sometimes it’s puppies, not everybody needs to have a puppy. Puppies are a pain in the neck. They make a mess. They chew up your shoes. mean, not everybody actually wants a puppy, but you can get puppies, young adults, middle adults, and sometimes older wonderful animals.

Kimberly Snyder (41:50.543)
Ha

Amy Attas (42:00.578)
which I love to place with older individuals because oftentimes an older person doesn’t have the patience for the rambunctiousness of a younger animal and we want to have age appropriate animals. So rescues are fabulous. If you do choose to purchase a pet, then go to a reputable breeder. Don’t go to a pet store. Don’t encourage the factory farming of dogs. Visit your local animal shelter.

Kimberly Snyder (42:07.817)
Right.

Kimberly Snyder (42:25.408)
Hmm. Orcettes, right?

Amy Attas (42:29.182)
or cats, absolutely. But you know, we just, so many wonderful pets are out there looking for their forever homes. They know they’ve been rescued. They are so grateful and they will make, as you and I both know, the greatest pets. I mean, the story I told about my own dog, she had been abused before she came to us and she was frightened, but with love and support, she turned out to be the most fantastic dog.

Kimberly Snyder (42:46.686)
yeah.

Amy Attas (42:58.454)
And it took maybe three or four months and that was it. She got her personality and her confidence with love.

Kimberly Snyder (43:08.012)
To me, hearing these stories, Dr. Amy, for the human owner to really witness the power of love, the healing and empowerment. I love this animal so much and they’ve come back to healthy behavior. It’s just so life-changing to see that in front of you and confidence boosting in the real way based in love.

Amy Attas (43:34.296)
When you talk about that love, people will say to me, they come home after an incredibly stressful day and they open the door and who comes running? Their pets. They’re so happy to see them. Tails are wagging, cats are purring. That is love. And you know, as much as everybody in our family, we all love each other. Sometimes people are distracted by other things.

Our pets are really focused on us and that’s a wonderful way to really feel that energy.

Kimberly Snyder (44:08.79)
So beautiful, Dr. Amy. just, your heart’s passion is so authentic. It’s so apparent. Your book is so well written. I love all the stories. I also want to stress that this book is great for pet owners and non-pet owners such as myself, because as our heart awakens, especially, we start to feel that attunement, that connection to humans, to animals and stories about all these incredible living beings.

Whether they walk on two legs or four. Is there anything else in the book that you’d like to share that really, you know, feel like needs to be shared or really resonated with your heart? Anything at all here? I mean, there’s a lot of things, but one thing.

Amy Attas (44:54.542)
So one of the things I’d like to share was my journey because I knew what I wanted from life and I didn’t know how that road to take me there would go. And there were so many obstacles, but because I was so passionate about what I wanted, I gave 100 % of my energy to get where I am.

And when I wrote this book, I thought people would say, I love the chapter about celebrities. I’m so excited, you know, to read about Paul McCartney’s dog or Billy Joel’s dog. But what I have found from people who’ve read the book that their comments were they loved my life story. They found it inspirational that I knew what I wanted and I just did whatever I could to get there. And so, you know, when you were saying like, yes, of course, I think that animal lovers will enjoy the book.

Kimberly Snyder (45:34.837)
Yes.

Amy Attas (45:48.174)
But I hope people who’ve maybe had some obstacles in their life can see what I went through and say like, you know what, I can do it too. If you really want something, you give it 100 % and you make it happen.

Kimberly Snyder (46:00.108)
You know what, Dr. Amy, I’m getting goosebumps. What I also find very inspiring about your story is that many times we hear, make it happen. And sometimes it sort of conjures up this image of being really hardened, harsh, cold, overly masculine, right? Like I’m just gonna have this happen. And you’ve retained such warmth and this lovingness.

And so you’ve been able to be focused, to follow through and to stay so connected to love. And I feel like that really is a superpower. It wasn’t stripped away, trying to hustle into veterinarian school or to be competitive in your field or to get more clients or to get more, you know, people in a day or animals in a day or whatever it was, you’ve really stayed heart led. And I think it’s, you know, so beautiful Dr. Amy, and that is the really inspiring piece.

Success with heart.

Amy Attas (47:01.11)
Thank you very much. That’s a really lovely thing to say and I thank you.

Kimberly Snyder (47:06.872)
as we came on and we connected. You know, I’m pretty attuned to energy now and you can just feel it. It’s like one of those things that you can’t manufacture. So thank you so much, Dr. Amy, for sharing your incredible wisdom, your incredible heart. Your story is amazing. I love how you shared as well the arc of women coming into this field and how you’ve known about this since you were a child.

and there was nothing forced about it, but it was just one step ahead of the next. Tell us where we can, of course, get your wonderful book, Pets in the City, True Tales of a Manhattan House Called Veterinarian, and more about you and your work.

Amy Attas (47:49.486)
So first of all, you can get the book at your local bookstore and I encourage you to go to your local bookstore and if they don’t have it, demand that they get it and then tell them not to put it in the pet section, right? This is not a book about how to brush your dog’s teeth. This is a book about stories of animals and people. It belongs more in the people section. and if for some reason you can’t get it at your local bookstore, of course you can get it at Amazon, but I just…

Kimberly Snyder (47:57.408)
Ha ha!

Kimberly Snyder (48:01.578)
Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (48:11.628)
Beautiful.

Amy Attas (48:19.319)
I really want us to support our local bookstores. They’re getting fewer and fewer of them and we can help keep them around.

Kimberly Snyder (48:29.748)
And if someone lives in Manhattan, Dr. Amy, and they want to have you take care of their pet or they’re interested in getting your advice, are you still taking clients?

Amy Attas (48:39.054)
Sure, I am. So my practice is called City Pets. We are exclusively a house call practice. We go to our clients’ homes. We don’t pull up in a van and then the pet comes to the van. We come into your apartment. again, you know, we’d like, initially we meet the family, but there are times when a pet gets sick and the people have a really important business meeting and they can’t be home, as long as they are in our system and we know them and we know their pets.

and there’s mutual trust, we come in and take care of the pets in the absence of the client being home. Or I know lots of nannies and housekeepers, et cetera. It makes life easier for the owner. It makes life easier for the pet as well. So yes, we are still taking new clients with lovely pets.

Kimberly Snyder (49:16.332)
Ngh.

Kimberly Snyder (49:27.67)
Well, thank you again so much, Dr. Amy, for everything. We will put all these links directly in our show notes at mysaluna.com, as well as where you can access information on Dr. Amy, upcoming shows that and past shows that we think that you would be interested in. I will be back here Thursday, as always, for our next Q &A show. Look forward to connecting with you more. Thank you so much, Dr. Amy, and thank you, everyone, tuning in.