Anne Angelo Webb: Our guest tonight has made her career about offering hope to pet parents. That’s something that makes her the perfect person to be here on The Animal Intuitive Channel because that is always what we set out to do, as well. Join us for a game-changing discussion with a trailblazer in pet wellness who will be uncovering the surprising truths about some myths and little known information that is essential to the well-being of our beloved pets. 

If you’re new here, I’m Anne Angelo Webb, owner of Animal Intuitive Academy and Intuitive Touch Animal Care. For over twenty years, I’ve worn two hats: passionate animal communicator, massage and acupressure practitioner, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Here, we learn how to connect with animals on a deeper level, explore holistic care options, support pet parents through their journey, and interview experts in animal care and advocacy. Hope is what we want to strive for here. 

Dr. Christine Colamonico has an extensive education from prestigious institutions including Toulouse Veterinary School, Cornell, and Melbourne University. Her dedication to empowering pet owners with valuable insights and informed decisions makes her an invaluable resource in keeping our pets active. 

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: [00:00:00] I’m super excited and it is an honor to be here with you. So my journey actually started probably in a similar fashion as yours, from what I recall, meaning it is rooted in personal experience. So it started with my dog, Pepsi, who suffered from muscular arthritis, and I wanted to find a way to help him feel better.

And add to his treatment that wasn’t just NSAIDs or more traditional, medical, basically tools. And so that led me into the world of, alternative therapies such as massages, physiotherapy, and also the world of supplements, which I was very surprised to learn is actually not regulated. And although there are multiple products out there, sometime it feels like it’s very hard even as a veterinarian to navigate that world.

And so through my learnings with Pepsi and discovering ingredients that outperformed [00:01:00] others, I just felt that as a veterinarian who’s passionate about helping animals, that I wanted to really create. Products that people knew they could trust that was rooted in science and it started with my dog Pepsi So what I am creating today with Jope, which stands for joy of pets Is really a tribute to Pepsi who’s no longer with me But who I think about every day and so through helping other dogs, I help Pepsi’s memory And so that’s why I’m very happy to be here today and it means the world to me to be able to talk about Jope.

Anne Angelo Webb: And I’m sure that many people can, you know, have shared a similar journey and gone through these things. So thank you for sharing your story. We would have loved to have seen Pepsi. Pepsi was a boy?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Yes, he was a boy.

And I did want to call my company Pepsi for a while there, but then I figured I might have some trademarking issues.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, maybe just a few. Well, thank you so much, because [00:02:00] so many people struggle with this with their pets. let’s just dive into it. Let’s talk about some myths. Can you share with us some insights into common misconceptions about osteoarthritis and just joint health in dogs?

And I know we’re kind of talking about dogs as the focus, but This kind of also applies to cats too, right?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM I think so too. You know, cats are obviously different from dogs, but overall I think the different points we will be talking about tonight can be relatable for cat parents or dog parents. the overall take away between the difference with cats and dogs is that cats are just even better than our dogs at hiding, anything going on with them.

So whenever I will be referring to subtle signs, you can just kind of imagine your cats, being even more discreet and displaying any signs or symptoms that [00:03:00] something isn’t doing, isn’t going well for them or that they’re not getting great.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, they do. They hide stuff.

I also see I’m kind of going, I don’t know, my camera’s like adjusting and I’m getting kind of like a little blurry and then not, I, I don’t know what’s going on. There’s always a demon of, of YouTube on my channel. So, Okay, so I also want to say hello to, to everybody in the chat. Thank you for letting me know about that issue and, and Oh, yeah, so you have a kitty who’s 14 and your dog, Joe, is 9.

Okay, so yeah, I have a 14 year old cat myself and a dog who is 9 as well. So these are big concerns for pet parents as our pets get older. But we do have this issue that we want to talk about tonight, that this, these issues aren’t just affecting older pets, right?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Yes. So one of the myth, you know, you were asking earlier, one of the myth I think is truly that arthritis or joint [00:04:00] disease is something that affects senior dogs and that is also normal.

So there’s a tendency to believe or to expect that when our dogs or cat get older, they will slow down, they will be achy, and they won’t be able to be as mobile. But that is actually not the case. They should be able to age and feel well and still be able to get around potentially a bit slower, but there’s no reason for them to have to suffer.

Joints can remain healthy. And so it’s not something that just comes with old age and we shouldn’t give up and just accept it. There’s a lot of ways that we can help them feel better. So I think that would be, you know, myth number one. Is that if you’re getting old, your mobility is going to be less, good than it was when you were young.

And that is not true for cats, dogs, and for us humans too. And the other one I would say is also that most people believe that osteoarthritis is disease of the senior dog or at least older dogs [00:05:00] and cats, but there’s actually a lot of dogs, young dogs that can have joint issues and osteoarthritis.

So there’s actually data showing that two out of 10 dogs, over one year of age will have or have osteoarthritis. And then that number does jump to 80 percent for dogs over seven years of age. The data for cats specifically is a bit harder to find, but I would expect to have similar numbers.

Again, cats are just, very good at hiding that they suffer. And so it’s even harder for us veterinarians or pet parents to pick up on their discomfort.

Anne Angelo Webb: Wow, those are some pretty high numbers. So how does early intervention and just being proactive about joint health help? What can be done?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So number one is, starting to think very early on about what you’re feeding your dog and your cat.

So healthy diet, healthy balance, [00:06:00] meals, working with, Ideally, a veterinary nutritionist, but at least talking to your veterinarian and trying to adapt, the feedings and the food you’re giving to your dog or cat based on their activity, their breed, their size, and also if they are prone to any diseases potentially.

There’s also activities, so keeping your dog active throughout their life, whether they’re very young and they have a ton of energy. Or there’s more senior, like maybe your pup, who I saw go by a bit earlier. So you know, around nine, they might not be able to be as active as they were before, but they still should be going around and exercising to keep the joints healthy.

And then, you know, some other things that you can do is also be mindful of the environment your animal is living in. So for example, puppies, if they’re, smaller breed dogs, maybe try avoiding having them jump up and down, like couches, or cars. So you can help them up [00:07:00] because when they’re young, although they have a lot of energy, their, growth plates are still not necessarily fully.

closed and they can be very fragile. And as they get older, you can also, for example, if you have a senior dog that is struggling to get up, one thing you can do is, put some gripping material. So whether that’s, you know, a rug or something that they can really, grab onto to get up, so that will help them feel more comfortable, throughout the day.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, we had to do that. We had to get some, like, runners. We have hardwood floors in here, and we had to, yeah, put those everywhere.

You didn’t put their names first. So, Oreo Slippers and Knucklehead. Okay. Those are great names. Oh, and here we have sort of a question. Like Dachshunds have, I’ve always heard hip and spinal issues, so breed specific, like their [00:08:00] structure. Do, so you kind of touched on that, but what, what can, you know, if people start young, you know, what can sort of be offset?

Like what do you see for people who are doing things when animals are younger versus sort of not doing anything, not intervening when they’re young?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So, you know, it’s, I guess one of the challenges with arthritis is actually that, if your dog is meant to have it at some point in their life, you’re not going to be able to prevent osteoarthritis from settling in, but we can delay the time, where the symptoms will start appearing or where our dogs are going to feel less comfortable.

So we can actually delay the time where symptoms are going to appear. And you can slow down the progression if your dog is diagnosed with osteoarthritis, for example. This is where supplements can be, a great thing to add to your dog’s diet because they’re safe, and when chosen [00:09:00] carefully, they can be effective.

more studies are being done on supplements too, which is where we really started. since, The past 20 years, there’s an interest in supplements, whether in the human world or veterinary medicine world. So there are studies supporting a PICUS (?) and by having a healthy diet, exercise, adding supplements, you can help delay the time or your dog will have symptoms or you can also slow down the progress if your dog is already diagnosed.

And same thing for cats.

Anne Angelo Webb: Okay. And what kind of diet do you recommend? For

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So that is something I think is tricky. You know, when it comes to diet, I am personally not a fan of a one size fits all approach. So I wouldn’t want to say this is the diet you must consider. I think it depends. First of all, what can you do as a pet parent?

How much time do you have? You know, sometimes a home cooked meal can be great if it’s balanced But you might be working all [00:10:00] day and simply not have the time. So I prefer to say that diet should be something you need to think about what makes sense for you in your daily routine. And what are the needs of your dog as well.

I know raw is popular, you know, home cooked meal is gaining in popularity too. Kibble, some people still use kibbles. So I do think if you, you know, thinking about just feeding your dog, it has to work for you. And the most important is to have a balanced meal and balanced diet.

And I think consulting with your veterinarian to see where your dog is in their life. So puppy adulthood or senior dogs might have different requirements. And I just think, staying educated, speaking to veterinary professionals will be the best way to care for your dog when it comes to nutrition.

And nutrition is hard. It’s not something very easy. I don’t know what you recommend, Ann, but I just feel like it’s, it’s a [00:11:00] tricky one. And people have a lot of opinions too.

Anne: Yeah, it does get kind of crazy out there. I mean, you know, like you mentioned, I’m a fan of, whole foods as much as possible.

And I understand too that, you know, people sometimes struggle to, to really be able to feed their animals the best, you know, organic grass fed, you know, the whole foods, it can be hard. And I’m not trying to dismiss that or judge anyone for that. I think if you can do that, it’s great. I feed my dogs raw at the same time I also add, warm water to it just from a Chinese medicine perspective because that’s kind of what I, as far as nutrition goes, that’s what I’ve studied it from and sometimes depending on the animal, it’s not so good to give them like cold raw food, especially at certain times of the year.

So I like, I do buy a store brand. I don’t have the size kitchen and the things you need to really do [00:12:00] that well. We did try making the cats. Yeah. Yeah. And the time I, I’m not the best cook to begin with. they might rebel if I made them their food, but, we did have, we were trying the crock pot with the cats and.

It’s funny with cats, cause like, that’s a lot of work that you put in. And like one of them kind of liked it for a while. And then, you know, cats are so picky and then they got turned off of it and we’re just going around and around. I’ve been using, I did try a brand called Viva Raw with them and for a while they loved it.

And then they get turned off. And so, and then they were having some, Tommy hairball issues and we’re trying to get that in a dragon so then we had to go back to the can and cats are to me like when it comes to food. Dogs are for me great. I have no problems with my dogs excepting, I can give them anything but the cats, that’s another story.

It gets kind of challenging. But oh so you switch Joe to grain free. [00:13:00] Oh and he lost quickly. Yeah. Yeah, my, the stuff I give is grain free too. And you know what I realized, just to kind of backtrack a little bit, you know, maybe not everybody totally understands what is osteoarthritis, and what are we talking about?

We’re talking about joint health.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: It’s a type of a joint disease where there’s inflammation in the joint and destruction of the cartilage. the cartilage is like this cushiony structure in between two bones. And when we move, the bones do not touch, thanks to this structure. But when there’s arthritis, the cartilage breaks down.

And there can be, over time, bone to bone interaction, leading to pain. that’s what it means. Osteoarthritis is the destruction of the cartilage within a joint. And that can happen because of a lot of different causes. So there’s not one cause for osteoarthritis.

But there’s many different reasons that it can [00:14:00] happen. Certain dogs and cats, will be more prone to osteoarthritis. If they had, for example, a joint, issue, a fracture, if they’re very active or have a breed with predispositions such as German Shepherds, Dash Hounds, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Corgis or Frenchies.

So just a lot of different breeds and probably more than we would expect.

Anne Angelo Webb: It’s so interesting like what is it that goes on there I’m a German Shepherd lover. I have a German Shepherd and I know they’ve been trying to stop some of the breeding if anybody has questions, feel free to post them.

And I’m so glad that you do listen here all the time, Pointer Lover. Thank you. I think I’ve seen you in here before, so thank you though for being here. And everybody who’s watching, I know not everybody wants to post a question or post in the chat, but we love to have you here. And if you, are watching this on the replay, please feel free [00:15:00] to comment.

Let us know, just what’s going on in your pet life, your pet’s life, if this is helpful. we like to hear from you. So post, share, like, subscribe, all those good things. We appreciate them all greatly. if you could tell us a little bit about what you’ve been working on, it seems like you’ve really kind of gone in a direction of This has been your focus and that led to Jope, so maybe tell us a little bit about that and what’s Jope?

Joy of Pets.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So, yes, Jope stands for Joy of Pets. What we want as, all pet parents probably want for their dogs is really help them out. live a longer life, but not just longer, also healthier, because quality of life matters. recent studies, are showing that supplement can be beneficial for long term health, especially in the area of mobility.

There [00:16:00] UC2 collagen, With robust data and studies behind them supporting benefits in the case of UC2 for senior dogs with OA. OA stands for osteoarthritis, but also younger healthy dogs who are very active and might have inflammation due to normal daily activity. the reason we wanted to really focus on mobility is because if you cannot move properly, many other health issues might occur.

So we felt that By starting somewhere that was precise, but also helped overall maintain a healthier lifestyle, it would be a good place to start. And so that’s why we went in the mobility category with a joint supplement to start, although it is a very crowded market.

However, we did not Stayed cleared from glucosamine and chondroitin because studies are showing that these ingredients are no more beneficial than a placebo unfortunately and we decided to select three ingredients with [00:17:00] Scientific data to support efficacy and we actually launched a double blinded placebo control trial with a very well known Animal hospital in the u.

That will include 60 dogs and we are comparing it to placebo And we’re also using ground force plate to make sure we have an objective measure of the improvements our supplement can bring to dogs that are in the study.

Anne Angelo Webb: Now what is that ground force plate? Yes,

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: it’s a device that is used in studies and also in rehabilitation center.

It kind of looks like a long yoga mat and dogs walk on the mat and there’s electrodes that are measuring the pressure applied to the limbs. If a dog is painful, they cannot apply as much pressure on their paw, for example. So the captor will show a difference of pressure and that, that’s something we measure and you measure it at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study.[00:18:00]

The benefit to using a device is that there is no, bias because a computer cannot, make an error. Basically, there’s math behind it and a calculation which leads to conclusions that are objective. And that is something when you’re looking at studies for supplements, that is really interesting to look at.

If you’re able to find studies with a device instead of human, measure points, it gives you more confidence in the conclusion that you’re able to see.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: UC2 has a ground force plate study with positive conclusion, and omega 3 is 2, so those are two ingredients we decided to include because of it.

Anne Angelo Webb: Okay. so glucosamine, this is something that everybody just kind of says, Oh, I give my dog glucosamine. I give my cat glucosamine. The vet says to give him glucosamine and it’s in all these joint health supplements. So [00:19:00] let’s just go back to that.

You said that there’s really no evidence showing that that’s effective. Wow.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: No more effective than a placebo.

Anne Angelo Webb: Oh yes…

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: no more effective than a placebo and that is a difference people don’t realize that placebo effect exists in dog When you look at studies on glucosamine There’s a review that was done in two thousand and twenty two that actually looked at all the studies done in the nutraceutical space they compared the different ingredients and looked at the different studies their conclusion on glucosamine and chondroitin is that there was strong evidence of non efficacy.

So that is something important. And you know, it’s interesting that you mentioned how popular glucosamine is in the veterinary space. It is true. However, people are actually moving away from it. More and more veterinarians, whether specialists or general practitioners are starting to recommend newer ingredients.

In human medicine, glucosamine and chondroitin isn’t [00:20:00] really used anymore either. It’s mostly collagen, for example, omega threes. And so I think that trend is also, something we will see more frequently in veterinary medicine. And we’re, you know, on a mission to make people aware that other ingredients newer with more robust data and scientific backing are available.

Because if you’re going to buy something, might as well buy something with studies to support the benefits. And if those studies can be objective, it’s even better.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, instead of just throwing your money away and then your animal’s not doing any better and that’s Absolutely, not what we want. So you have a

14 year old German short haired pointer, pointer lover. He’s still doing pretty good, a bit stiff getting up sometimes, but it still goes to the park every other day. Well, that’s great. I’m sure he loves going to the park.

Yeah. So, you know, I actually have a little bit of a story because we, Dr. Christine and I somehow, met [00:21:00] through some site and, I had an opportunity to start trying out Joe and, you know, I don’t have a ground force plate, but I can observe and kind of feel my pets out and know them very well.

And I have a little video, unfortunately I don’t have a before and after. I didn’t have time to go back and back and try to find a picture. I’m not sure I would have, I mean, a video of my dog. Going from lying down to standing. I probably do somewhere, but, my files are a mess.

So, I was able to see a change in my dog, Cheyenne. I’m just going to, I’m going to play you guys a little picture of her. Well, let’s go backward because that goes by pretty quick. So she starts down on the ground and then this is her just kind of like popping up.

Now she didn’t use, she was starting to do this thing where she would be lying [00:22:00] on the ground and then when she got up, she could get up, but I just, I could see like this little bit of like stiffness. She’s ten. She’s going to be eleven.

I’m totally like, fantasy land. She’s five.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: She was born yesterday. Yes, exactly. She’s a baby. She’s a baby.

Anne Angelo Webb: I call her a baby all the time. But I can just say from my observation that I did notice a difference in her. So for what that’s worth, I want to just say that by giving her that I think it I Have been giving it to her now for about three months and I definitely I’m not sure when the switch happened But I think that I checked back in with you.

I Don’t know. Would you say a month a month and a half? Yeah And by then, I had definitely noticed a difference. It was probably a little bit before that. So, yeah, and we all do. Just make up [00:23:00] anything. So, we did want to mention, are there any questions that I’ve missed? I just want to take a look here.

So yeah, it is, it’s so painful to learn, to lose animals, it is. That’s what we’re, it’s so painful. That’s what we’re here for. We’re trying to come up with, anything we can do here on this channel to, extend their lives or help, make their lives better. That’s what we want to aim for.

So, and make our relationships better with them. And when they’re feeling better, I think, you know, all in all, it helps with our relationships because we can just bond better with them. We can take them out more. We can play with them more, do more with them.

So what supplement is she on? So that’s what I was about to get to. So this is what we’re talking about is the supplement Joop, which has these ingredients. This is the website for Joop. Joy of Pets is Dr. Christine’s company that she co founded with. Dr. Jeremy, another

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: veterinarian too.

Anne Angelo Webb: [00:24:00] Hi, Dr. Jeremy! We have a nice $10 off code if you’d like to try Jope. You have the link here. I think Mel Mac is going to put it in the chat too. You can either go to PetJope.com and put the coupon code “Anne29”. There’s also a full link that will take you straight there. It’s an affiliate, so I do get a little bit of a benefit from that. But I would be talking about it anyway, because I did see a difference. if I talk about any product on here, or a method, I’m not gonna say that it’s beneficial if I haven’t tried it myself.

So please go there, try out Jope. And, you know, I’m wondering, is there anything else that we, I’m really fascinated that there’s been this switch knowing these ingredients that you’ve talked about, the UC2 collagen, the omegas.

And also I will say that they love the taste of it. They, I think it’s chicken flavored, it says.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So it’s, it [00:25:00] is vegan actually, chicken flavor, so there’s no meat in her chews. And we did make this so every animal, whether allergic to a specific type of meat, would be able to benefit from her supplement.

Anne Angelo Webb: Oh, I didn’t realize that. Okay. That’s

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: wonderful.

Anne Angelo Webb: So

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: the, the chicken flavor is vegan.

Anne Angelo Webb: Okay. Wonderful. That’s great. And, you know, my, my pets love it. They get excited about it. so that’s in the chat, the coupon code and the link, and I have it in the description for the show too, if you want to check it out.

And let us know, we’d love to hear from people, like how it’s gone for you if you try it. So is there anything that you think that we haven’t touched on that you think, we need to talk about more when it comes to pet health and pet joint health and all this good stuff?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Well, you know, I think it is important to do your own research.

Obviously, I’m mostly going to focus on like joint health and the joint, supplement category, because that’s what I’ve been doing for the past three years. And I am truly passionate [00:26:00] about it. So, you know, doing your research, I think there are so many products out there on the market. It is sometime hard to wrap your head around it.

So if you’re currently using a supplement and you want to know if It’s the right supplement for your dog. I think there’s ways to do that and you should identify what matters to you, but also I would highly recommend trying to identify which are the active ingredients and do some research to see if the active ingredients have studies supporting efficacy.

Unfortunately, probably 95 percent of the products out there have glucosamine and chondroitin. Which, honestly is not something I would recommend. And I think there’s other, just other ingredients, other supplements out there with studies that show it can help your dog. So why, you know, buy something that has been shown not to be as effective?

When it comes to choosing the right ingredients, we selected a combination that had a complementary mode of action. So we have three active ingredients. They [00:27:00] work in a complimentary way to support joint health and their benefits. There’s two benefits to the combination we have. Number one, it helps support cartilage production.

And number two, it also helps with. redirecting the immune system to support a healthy inflammatory response. So, you know, one of the analogy I like to use, and I think is easy for everybody to understand, is that when it comes to joint health, and especially in the case of osteoarthritis, where the joint is affected, it’s kind of like if you have a house, which is the joint, that is on fire, and the fire represents the inflammation in the joint.

So when you’re thinking about how ingredients work to help the burning house or the burning joint, there’s really a way to think about it is like if you want the house to remain and to stay present and as healthy as possible, you want to stop the fire. In the case of glucosamine and chondroitin, the thought is it brings building blocks to rebuild the [00:28:00] house.

So imagine you’re burning house and you’re bringing bricks to help rebuild it. If you haven’t stopped the fire, that won’t be a good approach. With our ingredients, they actually act to redirect the immune system and inflammation. So instead of having a burning fire, you’re decreasing that fire. So that you can then bring the building blocks to help repair the house.

So that is like a very simplified analogy, but I hope it does help. That is why glucosamine and chondroitin is they’re, they’re not as effective, as other ingredients. For example, omega 3s, EPA, DHA, UC2, green lip muscle, so those are ingredients I would recommend selecting. And then if you’re curious about the quality of the supplements you’re getting as well, you should be able to email the company and ask them, for example, do they do third party lab testing for their active ingredients?

So for example, we test every single one of our batches by a third party lab, and [00:29:00] To make sure that what we have on our label. So the 20 milligram of UC2, 50 milligram of Curcumin 3s are present in our chew. So that’s the minimum guaranteed amount we have. And if a batch doesn’t pass that test, we do not sell it.

So we go back to the manufacturing plants and we do a new batch. We are able to provide that certificate upon request. So that’s something, you know, a company you’re currently buying a supplement for does not have. I would ask why, for example, as a consumer, you’re entitled to know.

I would also look for products made in the U. S. just because the manufacturing standards are higher here. And again, I wouldn’t be afraid to ask if it’s not available on the website, you know, where it’s being produced. And obviously talking to people, reading reviews, just, asking questions, contacting the customer care team.

Just making sure that, you know, if you’re going to spend money, you have the right to know what you’re spending your money on.

Anne Angelo Webb: Absolutely. We have to really dig and [00:30:00] look at these labels before we give this stuff to our animals. Somebody, Oh, we have a question here: “What do you think of the Librela shots?”

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So, Interesting, so Librela, actually, so I’m a French veterinarian and in France we had Librela for longer than it’s been available in the U. S. My feeling with Librela is that you should tread carefully and choose the right cases to use it.

So what Librela does is that it’s actually, monoclonal antibody which binds to, basically a molecule. responsible for making us feel pain. So basically when you give the Librela shot, it binds to that molecule and it prevents your dog from feeling pain. So in certain cases, it can be very effective in managing quality of life if your dog is really painful.

And for example, a non steroidal medication isn’t helping, supplements aren’t helping, massages aren’t helping. So Librela is a great [00:31:00] tool in certain cases to improve quality of life linked to pain. What it doesn’t do is that it doesn’t prevent inflammation. So that burning house we were talking about, it is still burning.

But what happens is that Your dog isn’t feeling that burn and is not feeling the pain. So if you’re giving Librela, you should also try to address the burning house or the joint, that is inflamed. Because otherwise, you’re really kind of just covering, the bigger issue. So I think Librela is great when it comes to improving quality of life, but I do not advocate for using it as an end all, be all.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: And I think it’s important to also, just double check with your veterinarians. The reports I believe that you’re referring to with the bad side effects especially occur if there’s [00:32:00] neurological symptoms involved. So, in certain cases, like senior dogs, it can be challenging to differentiate it.

Mobility issues due to orthopedic conditions versus neurological diseases. And when you, prescribe Librela without making that distinction, and without evaluating your patient properly, that is where you can have serious side effects. So, I think it’s, you know, if your dog is highly painful, and your veterinarian recommends Librela, it is worth considering.

After doing orthopedic exam, neurological examination, too. And you do have to, you know, weigh the benefits versus the potential risk. But if your dog, like, at some point, Pepsi, when I was trying to help him, he could barely stand up. And he could barely walk. So, if I hadn’t been able to help him, through other means, That would have been a case I would have considered it because the alternative [00:33:00] was, you know, helping him or having to maybe make a very difficult decision.

And you’re not always ready to do that.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yes.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So I hope that answers.

Anne Angelo Webb: It’s very helpful. It doesn’t, it warrants a long response cause it, yeah. And it’s, that’s what you’re saying. So it’s like a band aid for a bigger problem. Okay. And

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: they do not give Librela to humans.

I love these questions. So actually that’s very interesting. There was a study done in human, but with Librela in humans. So it wasn’t called Librela, but it was a similar type of molecule. And when they gave it to humans, they saw really bad, side effects, which were not conducive to bringing to market this product.

And so I would say that raises for me some reservation and that’s again why I would personally as a veterinarian, use Librela when applicable and when the [00:34:00] benefit would outweigh the potential risk.

Anne Angelo Webb: Got it. I’m interested too just in the fact that In using these ingredients, like you have talked about in Job and inflammation, it seems like not just for joint health that would be beneficial, but for other systems of the body.

And, do you find that there’s, I don’t know. I mean, maybe you just kind of want to stick to what you’re doing. it’s marketed for, but inflammation is such a big issue, like it seems to be at the underlying cause of so many things, that go wrong.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: So the studies that we use and that, we can quote are specifically Focused on mobility.

So I wouldn’t be able to say, you know, studies show that you see two was able to have improved Comfort in dogs with other inflammatory disease disorders or diseases we do have anecdotal reports, great coat great bowel movements other like pleasant side effects [00:35:00] Whether I feel comfortable marketing it that way I think not But basically, the nice part is that, yes, because we have this fish oil, because we have this collagen, because we have the Curcumin, I am not surprised that some of those side effects are actually positive versus, unwanted.

Yeah. So that’s nice.

Anne Angelo Webb: Absolutely. I mean, I’m making all these connections in my mind, but I won’t go there. Just inflammation is such a thing with so many things. So it seems like it would be having some other effects, but do you think you’re going to be looking, doing some studies to see if it helps in other areas or?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: We actually are trying to do a little pilot study with a dermatologist. because we had enough people tell us that it seemed to improve like their dogs over coat health, skin health, less itching. So we were curious to see if on, you know, a moderately itchy dog [00:36:00] our chews could help. So far, I don’t believe we’ve been able to enroll a patient, but we would love to have some data.

Anne Angelo Webb: That’s really interesting. You know why? Because In the spring itchiness becomes an issue with my dogs. And I will say that last year I started giving them colostrum and it did seem to help, but it wasn’t like a hundred percent. I mean, it, it definitely helped, but this year I didn’t really even think about this.

They haven’t had any itchiness at all! Not any. There’s been no signs of it. So that’s really, yeah, that’s really interesting. I never thought about it. I didn’t make the connection. But, I mean, what else? I don’t want to say too much

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: because, you know, it’s like, I’m obviously thrilled to hear it. And I do, like, again, you’re not the only one, so I feel like it’s a, it’s a and it’s definitely a potential, like, nice side effect.

So maybe [00:37:00] keep an eye out, Anne, and let us know. Yeah,

Anne Angel Webb: absolutely. And I mean, and I actually, I would have posted a picture of my dog, Kane, but I didn’t think it was fair to post him because he, he has a chronic, so he, before we got him, he was, there was a neglect situation where his, he got caught in a fence and his shoulder and elbow got dislocated and they didn’t fix it.

And then it led to them having to do this big surgery on it and fuse it. So he kind of has this permanent limp that gets better and worse just depending on, he could go out and like the winter on some ice and it might get a little bit worse, so I just give this to him because We want to do everything we can for him.

I do laser on him and massage and acupressure, but, You know there was it would be difficult for me to have shown it before and after of him He’s starting to make yeah, you He’s talking. He knows we’re talking. Yeah he’s like I wanted my video up there, But I think it’s just good to [00:38:00] know that he’s he’s getting I don’t know if people can hear him because i’ve ear Earphones in but he’s we can hear him making noise.

Okay. Yeah, we’re talking about you buddy. So But I like just knowing that he’s you know you At least it’s potentially helping to, to help with the progression of the consequences of this whole situation.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Yes. And, and actually that’s what I was referring earlier. Like, you know, even if he, it’s kind of hard to know, but the reason we really like UC2 collagen again, is that there’s also studies in dogs and in humans showing the benefit, even for.

healthy patients or, or canine patients. And so, you know, I, I do like it. And basically two studies in dogs showed that it helped improve inflammatory market associated to normal daily exercise and it improved recovery and performance as well. And so, You know, if you’re not sure if it’s helping, I mean, there are, you know, obviously it can be hard, but if you feel [00:39:00] like it’s better to be proactive I do like UC2 because of kind of that extensive coverage we get where it’s helping, it seems to be helping, according to studies, young dogs that are healthy.

but might just be a bit more achy after a very intense day of activity. And then also our more senior dogs that actually have already established joint disease and osteoarthritis, and they’re able to be more comfortable. And that is reflected like on our website. If you go and read the reviews, you’ll see there’s people really from like every coming at it from every angle, either prevention or curative and helping improve quality of life.

And by curative, I really mean that. The disease is already there, but they’re trying to address it and adding joke to the treatment plan. And obviously, we’re not curing osteoarthritis, or I’d be a very rich veterinarian right now. And that would be great.

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, well, hey, you never know. But, I think it’s coming.

But what about kitty cats?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Yeah, can they [00:40:00] take this. So cats are, you know, I love cats, but it is always very hard to talk in using scientific evidence or data because there’s so few studies done in cats. So UC2, there’s no studies in cats.

I do want to give this as a disclaimer, however, anecdotal data show it benefits cats. cat. And the reason I think that is accurate is because UC2 has actually been shown to be effective in human, dogs, and horses. And it has basically type two collagen, which is a collagen present in any animal that has cartilage.

And so in theory, it should help any animal that has cartilage and that includes our cats. So we have veterinarians actually using it in their cats. And they give them one droop, chew a day. I will say palatability was meant for dogs. So if your cat doesn’t want to eat, Or choose, I wouldn’t be surprised, but you can mix it with the food [00:41:00] and give it to your cat that way, like in wet food some cats will eat it if, you know, you just break it up a little bit because there is fish oil in there, so they might take the smell, but I just, I, I would encourage if you want to try it to certainly it is safe but I do not guarantee that your cat will eat it.

Just because of the the vegan chicken flavor we were talking about right currently it’s not not our cat’s favorite

Anne Angelo Webb: Yeah, I tried it with one of my cats. I need to try it with the other one She’s four but she’s a big girl. So she probably should be on something The first one I gave it to her not in her food I should try it in her food because you just can’t get anything by her.

She’s tricky. Yeah, she’s tricky. That’s very hard. Yeah. Even things she likes, she doesn’t want to acknowledge liking. Cats. But, and so, People can get, where can they [00:42:00] get Jope? We did show the website, but is that the primary place?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Well, on our website, using your code is probably a great way to do it.

They thank you for, you know, making them aware of Jobe. And we also have a special discount as well, so, you know, that is nice. And we have a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. So that means if you tried to open, you’re not satisfied for any reason, we basically don’t think you should pay for something you’re not happy with, especially because we’re in the business of helping animals and not just keeping your money.

So if you’re not happy, you email us and you get a refund. If the bag is open, we asked to donate it to a local shelter or another dog in need. And if it’s not open, we can ask you to send the bag back. And then we are also available in select veterinary practices. So we are partnered right now with 50 animal hospitals hoping to grow this year.

So if your, your veterinarian does not know about Jope, they can email me. Okay. If your veteran does already carry Jope, you can get it from them. And then we are [00:43:00] on Amazon but we are the only reseller on Amazon. So I would prefer if you went on our website Amazon is just a bit trickier for us.

But if you really prefer Amazon, we are on Amazon and same quality product and, and everything. So those are really the, the two, the three places I guess where you can get Jope. Okay.

Anne Angelo Webb: Okay. And. I’m sure she is Oreo. There’s a queen in the house. Very cute. I love the name

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Oreo.

Anne Angelo Webb: That’s cute. And is there anything that we didn’t touch on?

That you feel like is important? That I might have missed?

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: No, I think, Anne, you’ve done a great job covering everything and remembering. Thank you. Well, it’s written down. That’s the key. Yeah, I mean, have to stay organized. No, unless there’s other questions, I think, you know, we’ve covered everything. If there’s anything else that somebody wants to inquire about, more than happy to answer.

And I’m happy to keep the subject or the question very [00:44:00] broad. It can be on any, anything I could help out with tonight, I’d be happy to. It doesn’t have to be just supplements or joint health.

Anne Angelo Webb: Okay, yeah, if anybody, if anyone else is in there and they just have a question about their pet, I know there’s people watching who don’t always they’re not brave enough to be in the chat, but.

It’s okay.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: Next, if they watch and replay or if they want to email us too, like any email on our website, it’s contact@petjope. com. And if you want to address it to me, Dr. Christine, our team members will forward it my way and I’m more than happy to answer.

Anne Angelo Webb: Oh, thank you. That’s wonderful. I appreciate that.

That’s

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: helpful.

Anne Angelo Webb: Thank you. All right. Well I’m not seeing any additional questions because I think you really covered a lot of information here that was really important. you know, I think the takeaway is start young, like start paying attention to this much maybe earlier than one would think.

Dr. Christine Colamonico, DVM: You can actually start, I guess that is a great point. I think you should start caring about joint health as soon as you get a dog or a cat. [00:45:00] And joints are something to really be cherished and protected because once that cartilage is, is gone, there’s no bringing it back. So even for us, I think it’s very important to just be mindful of our joints and take good care of them.

Anne Angelo Webb: Absolutely. Great advice. Thank you so much, everybody. Absolutely. And you know, we. Always appreciate your comments. So if you know if there’s anything you want to mention, we’d love to know your experiences and More about your pets and Dr. Christine, please stick around before when we go off And if you’d like more information about any of my classes or services I do have in the outro a little QR code that’ll take you to my website.

There’s a free class on there too for animal communication if you want to get started with that. that all being said, everybody thank you so much I really do appreciate you and and God bled