Learn Unconditional Love From Pets with Dr. Christiane Orsini | S1E009

Linda Orsini: 00:00:08

Hello and welcome to a call for love. I believe the most powerful gift you can offer yourself is to give and receive love more freely. I'm your host Linda Rossini meditation guidance spiritual coach. Everyone has the desire to be seen, heard, respected and loved. The journey to becoming more connected to your greater purpose lies within the ability to live from the deep source of love within you. Let's begin. Welcome, Christiane. I'm so happy to have you. I'd like everybody to meet Dr. Christiane Orsini, who has felt a deep sense of connection with animals ever since she was a young age and decided to commit her life to helping them by pursuing veterinary medicine. As a small animal veterinarian. She works mainly with dogs and cats, and yet is so passionate about all wildlife, having done work with endemic animals in Australia and East Africa. As you can guess from her last name, we are related and in fact, she is my niece, and I love her professional model. educate clients advocate for pets. So Christiane, this is a call for love podcast, and it's all about how we can be source of love for ourselves and others. And I really feel that people truly began to value and seek and the animal love during COVID. How do you feel this is turning out?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:01:38

That's a great question when Ben, thanks again for having me on this wonderful podcast. It's a pleasure to be here honestly, and to chat about what else can do to help support people, especially with the with recent pandemic that everyone suffered from whether it mental illness or physical ailments, isolation, loneliness, there's so many aspects in which it's which pets were paramount in helping people through the pandemic and heal from it as well. So we do know that there was lots of increase in pet ownership during this time, puppy and kitten pandemic pets we call them. And it's been absolutely wonderful to see the connections that people have had with the pets. There's been a lot of new pet owners during this time as well. And so people have discovered what pets can do for them. We do know that research has shown that pets decrease blood pressure can decrease triglyceride level, they decrease heart rate and help people recover from periods of depression and PTSD as well. And even the power of a cat is so powerful in just calming people's blood pressure. So it's really neat to what pets can do.

Linda Orsini: 00:02:54

Kathy has such an unconditional love.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:02:57

Absolutely. It's I don't know any other person that when I walk in the door will greet me with this, like giant hug and run from the other side of the room just to see me again. It's just the love that they have so confident, so pure and so unconditional.

Linda Orsini: 00:03:15

I love this joke that if you were to lock your partner in the garage or a cage and come home, would they be as happy to see you as your pets?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:03:26

It's very true, it'd be quite the opposite, I would think. Yes, I think pets are so powerful in the way that they love us. Like they don't judge us. They love us purely. They love us. You know, without makeup. They love us right? When we wake up, they love us when they're grumpy when we're tired, they're always willing to give us a lick on their hand or cuddle with us very non judgmental, and it's something that humans, even the most beautiful of people can't offer because humans are always struggling with trying to take care of themselves and others and pets just receive love and give love very, very genuinely.

Linda Orsini: 00:04:06

Yeah, the love of an animal. If you haven't had that experience, it's a very powerful experience. So we know that animals love us, but how can we take care of our animals?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:04:17

As an awesome question, Linda, as a small animal veterinarian, I've always been passionate about guiding pet parents into how they can love their pets better. And we do know there's lots of ways obviously wellness care visits at your vet clinic with Your Family Pet. Make sure that they're well nourished with proper food, get appropriate exercise, and just environmental enrichment. So most cats live indoors and you want to make sure they have enough toys, scratch pads and other engagements like windows and just other playful toys. But I think the most important part is actually spending the time with your pet and bonding with them. So we do know that peds are our kind of eternal toddlers. And they're always energetic and they're always ready to play. And they're just Energizer batteries. So we do know that taking the time away from your phone away from your computer or away from your tablet. And just being with them one on one goes a really long way. It helps them maintain more behavioral wellness. And it also helps them from prevent it, it prevents them from causing a lot of damage in your house, whether destructive behaviors, anxiety related illnesses, etc. So that's something we have love them more.

Linda Orsini: 00:05:36

Because you know, even though they are a little bit of work, let's face it, they give back so much. So we have to expect that, you know, we're going to take the good with the more responsible actions that are required to take care of our pets. And I know we have a little dog and we can't leave him for extended periods of time, or else he gets really upset. So if parent if families are really busy, and they don't have time for a pet that really requires a lot of attention, because we know that especially dogs require walks and a lot of attention. What animals would you suggest that families could get?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:06:17

That's a great question. There's lots of small mammals and pocket pets we call them ones that we don't necessarily have to take on long hikes and walks like for dogs and ones that can be left alone for longer periods of time without feeling sort of emotionally disconnected. And I do know that I recently invested in Guinea pigs and I found that it's been an extraordinary experience. I only grew up with dogs but I have a cat dog and two guinea pigs now and just just the it just amazes me how these little rodents can be so loving and so sweet. So talkative, so playful. So there's, you know, a hamsters, gerbils. Even pet rats are very social and outgoing. We do know people enjoy reptiles as well, and fish. So it's just depends on the person's interest, the person's dedication and awareness of what that pet needs, what that species needs, and their willingness to take care of it. But there are a lot of options out there. So I would highly recommend encouraging people to look for those. A side note for birds, they are wonderful animals, but they do require a lot of attention. And they do live very long live. So it is a very long commitment versus the pocket pets. Yeah, that's

Linda Orsini: 00:07:32

a good point, the longevity of your pet. You know how much time you want to invest in longevity of of having that animal. But I have to tell you that as a teacher, I was the teacher librarian for many years, and I thought I would get a pet for our library. And of course, because of allergies, I couldn't get a free pet. So I decided to get a beta fish. And I put it in the fishbowl. And we had a naming contest, and we actually named it bubbles to be more mindful and calm in the library. But you think it was a shark? I mean, how much attention that little beta fish got. It was like the kids who come into the library and gravitate to this. So I think for especially young children, animals and pets are pivotal in their life. Like they just love watching them and being with them. Can you suggest any ways that? You know, I think that parents are sometimes leery of getting a pet because they feel all? All the responsibility will be on them. But how can a child rise to the occasion of taking care of their pet?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:08:42

That's a wonderful insight. Linda, I do know that for me personally, I was one of the pet growing up. And just like everyone else, my parents were like, Well, I hope you walk your dog, I hope you feed them hope you take care of them. But for the most part, it's just that passion. If that if that child shows like dedicated interest and passion, and they actually spend time to bond with their pet, they will innately be drawn to taking care of it, they will be so I feel like there's an innate fascination with nature with animals, for all people, whether they're very younger or older, and just to have that ability to take care of them. So my my three year old son is really excited about taking care of the guinea pigs. So he likes to give them their pellets of food, their hay, the fresh lettuce every day, the vitamin C supplement tablets and to help clean the cage. It's more of my job, but at least whatever they're able to do at their stage and wherever they're willing to do just make it exciting for them just making, you know, comment on how they're helping their own pet to grow and to stay healthy, I think is important. Yeah,

Linda Orsini: 00:09:54

they just love pets. I know as a school teacher as well. If I wanted to get my students to do create Writing, I would say write about your pet. And they would write pages and pages. And you know, of course, they're not every child had a pet. And I would say, Well, if you had a pet, a favorite pet, what would you name it? What would you do, and then they would write and write. So I think it is a really huge benefit to the social emotional growth of young children.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:10:23

Absolutely. And I do have experienced volunteer volunteering for guide dogs in Canada. I mean, you know that there's so many emotional support pets that help our young ones. There's obviously ones for medical assistance for blindness, procedure, activity, PTSD, etc. But there's so many more distant daily kids who struggle with autism, etc. It really gets even introverts sort of out of that state of that quiet aloneness. And that helps them connect, some kids are only really able to connect with an animal versus a person because they just feel so overwhelmed, like you're with a person. And that's that sort of gateway to, to like a social connection. I feel pets really represent that.

Linda Orsini: 00:11:08

Yeah, that's really I love this because it's a call to love. Because when you have a pet, especially if you're not articulate, or you don't even know the emotions you're going through, you don't have to be on the line, you don't have to really worry about what you're saying, or thinking you can just pat your animal and then just in your heart, communicate with them and feel the sense of love and joy.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:11:35

Yeah, I think it's pretty, pretty amazing and even somewhat spiritual, the connection that we have with our pets and the ability to love them. We obviously have to learn to love ourselves first take care of anything, even a pet. But once that's established, the love is just just grows and grows and grows. It's just a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Linda Orsini: 00:11:57

Yeah, and you know, not everyone is a pet person. Like, you know, I often hear people say, Oh, I'm a cat person. I'm not a dog person. I'm a dog person. I'm not a cat person. But I think there's room for all animals.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:12:12

I totally agree or even just to be mindful of animals, you know, the birds that are outside when you're on your hikes. There's definitely people that are unable, for whatever reason to take care of a pet or don't want that responsibility. But they do appreciate nature for sure. Yeah, actually,

Linda Orsini: 00:12:27

I was just walking yesterday, and I saw a gentleman with a big camera birdwatching are taking that that isn't that's just so wonderful, right? Just connecting with nature and being outside. And I know I see so many other people walking their pets. I once said to Gord, my husband, he said hi to this lady. And I said, Who's the lady? And he says, Well, that's Riley's mum. So he didn't know the lady's name, but he knew the dog. So I think also, if we don't have a pet, and we go walking, we are going to run into animals. Can you give us any advice on how to be more compassionate and kind to those people with animals?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:13:08

Yeah, that's a that's a good point. And I know in a clinic setting that we always remember the pets, and we forget the pet owners names all the time. And we had to look at the chart to remember it's quite funny. I do know that whenever I walk my dog, yeah, whether people have pets or not, they're just so drawn to my dog, they pretty much ignore me at first. And then that's, again, that's the initial connection. And then they look at me and like, Oh, where do you get your dog? How old is she? What's your name, that kind of thing. So just establishing a connection with the pet first, and makes the pet owner kind of feel really honored. They're really proud of their pet. I know that from experience. And I know that from a lot of other pet owners as well. So it's just like, if you see someone having their toddler on the sidewalk, or strolling with their baby, you know, connecting with that their special sort of source of pride and joy first, and then connecting with them goes a long way. And we can definitely just be kind to the animals. If we see that they're very distant and sort of scared, then don't approach them obviously ask for permission, especially for younger kids, because a lot of dogs can be unpredictable. Oh,

Linda Orsini: 00:14:17

for sure. I know, there's some children by our place up north that are a little worried about our dog, even though he's little. And we have to be really respectful. Like we keep them on the leash. And that's part of our responsibility of having a dog.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:14:31

Yeah, absolutely. And there's a lot of people who have also been traumatized when they're younger from pets, or just scared of pets for whatever reason. And we do have to just acknowledge that and be aware of it. And we have to respect it. If they don't want to pet your dog don't, you know, encourage them to just give them that space and time and those people are still lovely people and they just they know their boundaries and that's healthy for them. So we have to be aware of that.

Linda Orsini: 00:14:57

Yeah, I really love it. I am so grateful that we have our little dog because he adds so much life and joy to our home. I just, it was really hard when we lost our other dog, can you give it advice? Actually, this was is something I've always wondered, how's the best way to mourn the loss of an animal?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:15:23

Wow, that's a really good point you brought up there. And then I know for myself, I lost two childhood pets. They live to 14 years old, two dogs, and it is a huge grieving process, a lot of people get so connected to their pets and their pets lives such a, just a fragment of the of the timeline of their own life. And it really, it, it causes a lot of pain and a lot of grieving. I know a lot of clients who lose pets, and they refuse to get another one because they don't want to enter that pain again, just because they're very emotionally connected to that pet. So I think it's important to be aware that most people these days, consider pets as family members. And I know I do personally. And again, for people who don't own pets, that's sometimes difficult to understand. But when people have a really strong bond with their pet, that connection is really beautiful. And I know when I lost my first dog, I second dog as I was breathing, my second dog was like licking the tears that fell from my eyes, it was a really profound experience and, and then ended up losing that dog, it was just hard, especially if you lose pets, and then you have no pet to go home to. We do know that there are services that are offered free of charge and 24/7 pet loss support hotlines, all throughout North America, the Ontario vet college does offer some assistance as well as the SPCA in your region. So make sure you look at the resources online for those and there are lots of books on pet loss. And important point is to help children through pet loss, definitely don't tell them that the pet ran away, or the pet went to sleep. Because if they ever run away or go to sleep, they might be scared, they don't wake up. So you have to be very cautious and gentle about the word choices we use children deserve to know what happened to their pet, and that their pets not coming back. And they have to have space and time to agree that and we have to support them through it. So I think it's very important to not consider like, Oh, it's just the pet, just get over it. It's no, it's a profound loss in someone's life. And we have to get the support you need for that. And in terms of OSHA just substitute with a new pet. That's a delicate scenario, I think you really should grieve your first pet, even if it's for a short time, but really focused on that healing before you invest in another pet.

Linda Orsini: 00:17:55

You know, this, this really is very interesting, because as a parent of young child, well, my children are old now. But I really felt like it was my duty to help my children move through different experiences. And let's face it, we're going to experience loss. So this is a great learning tool or life, life moment, teachable moment to help our children moves through Greece, and even ourselves because we are going to lose people who are really profound and mean a lot to us. So that is something that I never really thought about, but I can think more about.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:18:34

Yeah, and, and just be aware of most people and for me, especially like I used by pests to come hurt my self when I had other losses. When you lose that loss of extra comfort and unconditional love. It just strikes a chord that might be even deeper and more painful and in a very unique way. So just to be aware of that with your children. But yeah, pet loss is something that people don't really consider being important, you know, and they just try to get over it because they think oh, it's not a human so I shouldn't feel this affected. I shouldn't feel this way but just to be very gentle and kind with yourself. And again, that call to love yourself through that grief and through those emotions and just to let yourself feel them was very important.

Linda Orsini: 00:19:21

Yeah, that's, that's a really beautiful sentiment. I'm really glad we had that conversation. I also want to say that, you know, when we are having a heated discussion in my family, our dog literally goes to set on one of our feet. What is that? Are they trying to protect us?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:19:41

Oh, that's a good that's a good point. A lot of pets are trying to protect or trying to defuse the situation. For me, Petra, like little angels, right? And they just they just stare at you. And they it's like they're that little angel on your shoulder judging you or like trying to guide you. I know that when I I used to wrestle with my siblings when I was very young, my dog accidentally was like, kind of playfully attacking the one that was being taxed, like playfully, so that one didn't work out so well. But in most of the time, they are protecting you. And again, it's just sort of being mindful. I mean, even noticing your dog at your foot, if you've been mindful of the situation. And pets are so intuitive, they're so aware of people's emotions, and they're kind of like sponges, so they are deeply affected by people's emotions in the in the household

Linda Orsini: 00:20:35

is so true. I think they have such an intuitive, emotional sense, because I play crystal singing bowls. And I just gonna tell you this really sweet story. I had this, I was in a magazine and the journalist came over to interview me. So I had him lie down in front of the crystal singing bowls. And I placed a little pillow under his head. And I played the bowls, because they're very soothing, you know, the crystal singing bowls, and my dog lie down beside him. And then he looked at him, and he ran upstairs, and he came down with his squeaky toy. And I was like, Oh, my goodness, I hope he doesn't squeak this toy. Well, I'm playing this crystal singing sound bad. And he put the little toy right beside Chris, the journalist, and put his head on it to mimic the gentleman who was listening. And I was like, and they both live there and listened to the crystal singing bowls.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:21:34

Oh, that's a gorgeous story. Thanks for sharing that sometimes she really is. And when he was speaking about that, I was thinking of pet owners that I've talked to, you know, that over the last nine years, and they were just saying, you know, when my one pet is sick, my other pets act differently around that one. So sometimes they either get really, really affectionate with the ill pet, or really, really distant. And it depends on the pets behavior, which one they're going to choose. But those are definitely indications you know that something's wrong. So yeah, again, the intuition of pets is quite a wonderful thing.

Linda Orsini: 00:22:11

I guess we can learn so much from animals.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:22:14

Absolutely. I know I do day in day out with my own pets, and obviously, all of my patients as well.

Linda Orsini: 00:22:22

Yeah, they're very, they just add so much to our lives. Yeah, it's

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:22:27

very exciting, and stressful, and exhilarating and adventurous. This is just, it's a full basket, for sure. But I definitely call them low bundles of joy.

Linda Orsini: 00:22:40

That's so sweet. So if you do have a pet, or if you're thinking of getting a pet, but you think it's a lot of responsibility, and even taking physical care of your pet, in terms of doctor visits and health care, what can you advise to pet owners?

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:22:57

Yeah, so pet insurance is available for everyone. There's different sorts of monthly price ranges. So just talk to the different sources of pet insurance companies that are out there. There's numerous ones. So I won't get into that now. But you can just Google that whatever works for you and your family situation. We I use the analogy of, you know, I have a car and I have car insurance, right? So why would I not have pet insurance if I have a pet and my pet is a living being and my car is not right. So I think it's even more important to pick dogs, I think it's even more important to have pet insurance. Because of that we don't have all hip coverage, right. So we do fall into those scenarios where a pet suddenly gets injured or suddenly gets ill from unexpected causes. And if we don't have money saved up for that source, then we're going to be in a really distressed situation with a very sick pet. And that can be really, really detrimental for the human animal bond because there's so many people that want to help their pets and they really can't financially and it's the most difficult part of veterinary medicine. And if we could do anything to mitigate that, I would encourage that so pet insurances is definitely a good thing. Or if you're not interested in that, then try to save monthly in a different bank account that you have just to try reserve in case there's that urgent need for sure, as a telemedicine that I do have that wonderful opportunity to help people with their pets at home. There's a lot of people in remote areas don't have access to transportation, or new mothers or very elderly or very injured or ill or recovering from surgery themselves and they can't get out to a vet clinic. Other pets are very large like large dogs with really bad arthritis can't move and if people can't get them in the car because they don't have help. There's just numerous situations where even cats are very fractious and frightful that visits numerous occasions where people can't get to a pet readily or in a timely manner. And telemedicine definitely fills that gap and bridges that pet care from at home until they can get to the vet clinic, we still encourage pet parents to get their pet to the vet. We do know there are limitations for veterinary telemedicine, or you guide owners for a hands on exam for the pet. So I walk them through what I want to look for. But again, I can't use my expertise to actually do the physical exam. So there's a lot of things that can be missed. But overall, we can find really good indications of what might be going on and how we can help them. And you have the privilege to also offer prescription medication for pets who need it, basically, immediately, which is awesome, whether through their family pet or through the local human pharmacy. And so what we can do is get pets the care they need, immediately, whether pain medicine or antibiotics, and then sort of guide the pet parents to how to care for their pet until they can access a vet clinic. Because of the pandemic, there is a huge overflow of patients and really long weightless, especially in northern Ontario, and other parts of the world. Of course, it's very, it's ubiquitous in that community right now, because people did get a lot of pets for comfort during COVID. So there are a lot of pets in need, and to be able to help them until they can get that in person care is very much a privilege that I have. And I'm very grateful to be able to assist pet parents. And also even as important is to assist the vet community because a lot of vet clinics are closing down from compassion, fatigue, burnout, even increased rates of suicide. So are people retiring? So it's very important to support the people that are taking care of your pets?

Linda Orsini: 00:26:58

Yeah, I know up north I can't even get a veterinarian doctor. Up north, there are none available or not taking any more patients.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:27:09

Yeah, again, a long wait list because the that's are just very, very, in small amounts these days. And it's not that we're we're not working hard. We're working the hardest we've ever worked. We're all overworked, we're all fatigued. We all feel so guilty, because along weightless and we all want to do more to help. And usually that that comes as a huge sacrifice because usually we sacrifice vacations, weekend nights to help these pets. So just be aware that the vet community is doing everything we can to make sure all of our pets are cared for. But that's where telemedicine has been a huge relief the entire that community the past few years, because we know that you know, we are only one individual, we can't see all the pets. And when people move, which is very common. A lot of people have been moving to the northern areas due to finances, etc. And then now there's the same amount of vets in that area and more people are more pets. So we do have a bottleneck effect there. Yeah,

Linda Orsini: 00:28:17

I just think that this is a really important conversation. Because when I think of a call for love, we always think of self love. And we always think of loving other people. But we really want to consider the love of nature, the love of our animals, the love of all living things. And so this opens up a new awareness and maybe a new invitation to look at animals with a kind of respect.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:28:44

Absolutely, I think that's a beautiful sentiment. Honestly, I know that I've received so much love and care for my own pets throughout my life and I even connect even on a virtual video call with my patients. You know, I do a whistle for the dogs and they they tilt their head and get so excited and it's just it's so cool how I can have such a fantastic experience just from through the computer because pets are that powerful. There's that wonderful to me for sure.

Linda Orsini: 00:29:17

Well all your pet clients are very lucky to have you and we were very lucky to have you share with us all your expertise on pet health care pet the benefits of pets, and just your love of animals. It really shines through Christiane.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:29:34

Oh, thank you, Linda. I definitely got into this profession for my passion for animals and I decided when I was eight years old that I want to be a vet and I'm very grateful that I chose this road. Oh great.

Linda Orsini: 00:29:47

I'm so happy you joined us really from our heart to yours. Namaste. Thank you for being present here and sharing all your love of animals.

Dr. Christiane Orsini: 00:29:56

Thank you so much and continue to spread the love and the light Write that you are a Thank you, Linda.