Chirrups and Chatter

08/30/2026

We’ve all been there: You’re working with a client, you spot something concerning that needs a vet’s eye, but you aren’t sure how to bridge that communication gap without potentially feeling dismissed or ignored.

I recently joined Ryan Cartlidge on the Animal Training Academy podcast to talk about a vital, and sometimes challenging, part of our work: advocacy and collaboration across animal care professions.

We get into:

🐾 Moving past the “us vs. them” mentality
🐾 Communicating concerns with objective observations and data
🐾 Advocacy mapping and understanding the whole care team
🐾 Navigating disagreements and communication barriers
🐾 Building relationships that lead to better care

These are also skills we’ll dive much deeper into in my Better Together: Advocating for Dogs and Cats at the Vet mentorship through Small-Paws Education

Because advocacy isn’t just speaking up. It’s learning how to communicate in a way that builds trust and moves care forward.

🎧 Listen to the episode

🐾 Better Together begins September 22.
🔗 Links in comments

08/26/2026

Join Tabitha Kucera & Meowtel

08/21/2026

A reminder that we don’t have to amplify harmful training or handling to speak out against it.

Some of this content is intentionally provocative because fear, conflict, and outrage get views, comments, shares, and followers. And yeah, I think that’s pretty messed up.

But stitching it, reposting it, or sending thousands of angry people to someone’s page still gives that content exactly what it needs to keep spreading.

And shaming isn’t the same thing as accountability.

We can hold people accountable. We can say clearly that something is harmful. We can challenge outdated training and handling practices.

But I’m also going to practice what I teach.

Focus on the behavior I want to see more of. Set learners up for success. Reinforce better choices.

So I’m going to keep showing animals being listened to, supportive training and handling, body language, myths vs. facts, and what we can do differently.

I can’t control what other people create.

I can choose what I help amplify. 🐾

You’re in the right place if you want to see positive change for animals and people. Follow me, create the content you want to see more of, uplift others doing good work, and let’s make THAT louder.

08/20/2026

Could the way you touch an animal be increasing their stress?

Let’s explore the second component of using a touch gradient: acclimating to touch intensity.

This involves gradually increasing the intensity of touch while continuously monitoring the animal’s comfort and acceptance through their body language.

By slowly introducing higher levels of touch, we can reduce fear, anxiety, and stress while adapting and tailoring our handling to the individual animal in front of us.

But throughout that progression, I’m watching the patient.

Did tension increase in the shoulder as I touched it? Did they freeze? Turn toward my hand? Shift away?

Their response is information.

This doesn’t mean unnecessarily prolonging the procedure. Instead, it improves efficiency by helping us adjust our handling based on the animal’s comfort level before they become increasingly fearful or stressed.

It can also give us valuable diagnostic information.

If we notice a change in body language as we glide our hand toward or gently palpate a particular area, that may indicate discomfort before we ever give the injection or draw blood.

We may decide to slow down, adjust our approach, or choose a different location to draw blood.

Touch. Assess. Adjust.

Using a touch gradient allows us to make handling more considerate, individualized, and responsive to what the patient is communicating.

Because behavior is information, and the earlier we listen, the less our patients have to communicate louder.

08/20/2026

Could the way you touch an animal be increasing their stress?

A hand suddenly reaching for a paw.
Then an ear.
Then a leg.

To us, these may feel like small movements during an exam. To a cat or dog who is already uncertain or uncomfortable, the way we touch matters.

One way we can make handling less stressful is by using a touch gradient.

Instead of repeatedly removing our hands and suddenly touching a new body part, we maintain gentle contact when appropriate and glide from one area to the next.

Start with an area the individual animal finds less sensitive before gradually moving toward the area we need to examine or handle.

And that last part is important: the individual animal.
Paws, ears, faces and tails are commonly sensitive areas, but pain, previous experiences, and the reason for the visit can completely change that picture.

Using a touch gradient can help reduce startling, give the patient more information about what’s coming next, and help us gather better information from their response.

Small changes in how we handle patients can make a meaningful difference.

Share this with the person on your team who’s always looking for ways to improve patient handling.

08/18/2026

08/14/2026

I loved this conversation because it brings together so many things I care deeply about: behavior, pain, enrichment, caregiver support, and the way we think about recovery.

“Keep them quiet” sounds simple. In reality, recovery happens at home, where caregivers are trying to balance healing, comfort, safety, movement restrictions, and an animal who still has physical and emotional needs.

In this episode of The Cone of Shame Podcast, I talk to Dr. Andy Roark about what post-op support can actually look like for dogs and cats, including pain management, activity management, environment, routines, and enrichment.

When we normalize enrichment as part of recovery, we can shift the conversation from restricting behavior to asking, “How can we safely meet this animal’s needs while they heal?”

I’m always excited for conversations that encourage us to look at the whole animal and give caregivers and colleagues practical tools they can actually use.

Andy, Thanks for having me!

08/13/2026

NEW EPISODE JUST DROPPED: “Post-Op Pain and Enrichment: Are We Sedating Instead of Treating?”

Tabitha Kucera (Chirrups and Chatter), a VTS in Behavior, joins me today to tackle a common post-op problem: pain management vs. activity management and what that looks like at home. We talk about the one-year-old Beagle who just had a major abdominal surgery, the older overweight Lab coming out of a TPLO, and the five-year-old cat recovering from a PU. What does “keep them quiet” even mean? What can pet owners do at home to encourage healing and comfort in regard to environment, routines, and enrichment? We cover it all in today’s episode in the hopes of improving both client relationships and surgical outcomes!

The Cone of Shame Podcast Ep 413 is now streaming on all major platforms and available on my blog and YouTube channel.

08/12/2026

Kinda chic to care, advocate, question, and grow.

For animals. For people. For animal welfare. For veterinary medicine.

08/05/2026

Today, Chip came home. ❤️

A bittersweet moment filled with heartbreak, gratitude, and so much love.

Learning to carry his love in a different way.