You're listening to Pet Candy. This show is brought to you by Zawettus. Welcome to Cat Daddy. The show where every day is Caturday. I'm Caitlin Palmer. And I'm Clay. Well, what do you get when you mix a whisk, a stethoscope, and a whole lot of cat hair? Well, Cat lovers, you're in for a treat today, both literally and figuratively. We're excited to welcome the incredible Michelle Bedot to the show. Michelle brings serious feline, no howl to the table, with a bachelor's degree in animal science from LSU, a vet tech degree from Baton Rouge Community College, HBOT certification, and she's currently working towards her VTS and dentistry. But yes, Cat Teeth matter. Michelle is also the dentistry and oral surgery supervisor at South Paws Veterinary Surgical Specialist, where she helps keep kiddies and their smiles, healthy and happy every day. And just when you thought she couldn't get any cooler, Michelle also owns Bedot Bakes, where she whips up the most perfect macarons you've ever tasted. Smart, talented, and passionate about cats. Let's jump into amazing conversation with Michelle. Michelle, welcome to the show. Thank you for being with us today. I don't think you'll be having me. That was the best intro that I've ever had for anyone. It was perfect. It normally doesn't take us so many takes. Not normally. And we need to throw in here. LSU is Louisiana State University, and Baton is spelled B-A-D-E-A-G-X, the Louisiana Way. The Louisiana Way. Yeah. So tell us, so you're on a show called Cat Daddy, but you don't currently have cats, which we're going to work on. But you do have the sweetest dog. I'm a little biased, because I think she's the best this little tripod there is. So tell us of dentistry, why dentistry specifically? Before I even went into specialty, I've always been interested in dentistry. So even when I worked in GP, I would always go to the dentistry, see ease, I've were around. I don't know. She's not always really liked and I always loved doing a dental cleans. And then I didn't even know that dentistry as a specialty was a thing. And so about five years ago. So when they approached me about running the department, I was like, very serious. Me? Okay. I'm like, yeah. You like little me? Yeah. And then it's kind of just been a whirlwind ever since. And I love it. And I'm really nerdy about my job. I think it's really cool. And it has definitely opened a lot of doors for me more than I ever thought. So yeah, I'm very, very happy that they asked me to join the team for five years ago when we opened the department. I've been at South Bugs for eight years now. And then we just had a department looking about five years ago. That's awesome. And the veterinary in there is a board certified veterinary dentist. And you're her right hand lady. I try to be. But yes, she is one of three in the state. That's amazing. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I bet she says busy, very busy between working at South Clause and LSU. She is constantly on the drain where local nets about cases. So she said it a little bit. Well, before we dive into the questions, let's take a quick break. And when we come back, it's all cat trivia all the time. We'll be right back with more pet candy. It's considered normal for your cat is interesting. You know your cat's normal behavior better than anyone, quarks and all. But if your cat is acting differently, it may be time to talk to your vet about Selencia for an event-maven injection. Changes in your cat's everyday behavior could mean they need help getting back to their quirky self. Ask your vet about how you could help your cat get back to their normal, whatever that means for them. Visit Selencia.com to learn more. And Kymich, how does it get to them horribly wrong in all these questions? Yeah, lock in. Yeah, you have to lock in. Just be confident. Well, segment one, factor fiction, multiple choice addition, question one. What's the average number of hours a cat sleeps per day? A, 10 hours, B, 16 hours, or C, 22 hours. We're trying to do a lot. I'm gonna say B, 16. B is correct. Cats are champion nappers. Mostly between 13 and 16 hours a day. Since then kittens and seniors can clock in even more. Identifies a senior cat. Yeah, sure. Question two, which sense is most developed in cats? A, smell, B, hearing, or C, taste? I'm gonna go with smell. The answer is actually B, hearing. Cats can hear ultrasonic sounds up to 64 kilohertz perfect for hunting squeaky prey. That was actually hard because they're pretty good at all through this thing. They really are. Yeah, some of these are tricky. Some of these are tricky. Question three, why do cats need their paws? A, to annoy you. B, leftover kitten behavior, or C, to sharpen their claws. I want to have the kitten behavior. That's correct. Meeting is comforting and reminds them of nursing from their mother. It's basically cat nostalgia. Question four, which body part do cats use to talk to other cats the most? A, the tail. B, whiskers. Or C, the eyes. What's that a tail? Tail is correct. The tail position and motion speak volumes like, I'm chill or back off or I'm about to climb the curtains. And they do love climbing on curtains. Question number five, what's true about cats and whiskers? A, they're just for show. B, they help with balance. Or C, they're sensory tools. Sensory tools. C is correct, they're sensory tools. Whiskers help cats navigate their world, detect changes in air currents, and judge if they can fit through a space. Yeah, I've heard stories of people like cutting their cats whiskers and it's not going over super well. All right, segment two, this or that, pick your personality. There's no right or wrong answer. This is just a lighting round. This or that. Morning Zoomies or midnight madness. Morning Zoomies. Cats on TikTok or cats in memes. TikTok. Spicy cats or clingy cats. C clingy. Cat cafe or kitten yoga. Cat cafe. Cats and dogs or cats only forever. Cats and dogs. I'll accept that. Notice how both answered had cats. Well, yeah, everything should have cats. All right, segment three, true cat history. Believe it or not, are you ready to go on with some more multiple choice questions? I will try my best. I believe in you. Question 11, who worships cats as a sacred animal? A, Romans. B, Egyptians. Or C, Vikings. Egyptians. Egyptians is correct. Cats were considered divine protectors in ancient Egypt. And harming one could get you in serious trouble. And it should still. Question 12, which famous scientist was a cat lover? A, Isaac Newton. B, Albert Einstein. Or C, Charles Darwin. I'm going to go with Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton is correct. He's even credited with inventing the cat door, genius in physics and feline access. That did not know. That's kind of cool. That's a little unfair because I think Albert Einstein also famous for love cats. He did also love cats. C, I almost said him. Yeah, I would have advocated for you to still get a point for that one. Maybe Isaac Newton's just the more famous cat lover because he invented the cat door. And you know the first cat door, it was because he was trying to study. And the cat kept wanting it. And then he would get up with the cat it. And then you'd have to get up and let the cat out. So he ended up, it was just a hole, you know, with a wall. But it was the first cat door. Question 13, in what country is there a train station master who was a cat? A, Japan, B, Italy, or C, Brazil. That definitely sounds like Japan. Japan is correct. Tom of the cat was the official station master at the Keishi station in Japan. And were a tiny hat, a true icon. Oh my god. Question 14, what's the average top speed of a house cat? A, 15 miles per hour, B, 20 miles per hour, or C, 30 miles per hour. That's like 30. C is correct, 30 miles per hour. We answer that. Your couch potato can actually outrun you saying bolt, at least for a few seconds. Question 15, when was the first cat video uploaded on YouTube? A, 2003, B, 2005, or C, 2007. I'm gonna say, 2005, because I'd like 2007 would be too late in the game. That's correct. The first cat video featuring pajamas and nick Drake dropped just a month after YouTube's launch. I'm surprised it took a whole month. After some reason, I thought the first cat on YouTube is a piano cat. Keyboard cat, or... Oh, I think that was like the first cat meme. Maybe the first cat meme. He's a veteran for sure. Oh, definitely. He's up there. Segment 4, famous cats in pop culture. Question 16, what cat voiced by Mike Myers wore a striped hat? A, the cat in the hat, B, Dr. Furball, or C, Meow Mix Max. A, cat in the hat. From the classic Dr. Sue story and later the film with Mike Myers, this cat is a pure chaos in a chepo. Question 17, what's the name of Sabrina's talking cat? That's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. A, Shadow, B, Salem, or C, Spike, Salem. Salem is correct. Salem Saberhagen was a sassy magical sidekick with endless one liners in Sabrina the Teenage Witch. And there's also about a billion cats named Salem now. Yeah. All right, question 18, which viral cat got famous for singing opera? A, Bella the Diva, B, Owo cat, or C, Wilford Warrior. I'm just going to go with Bella the Diva because it sounds like an opera singer. A is correct. Bella's over the top vocalization turned her into an opera singing meme legend. With the name like Bella the Diva, you have to sing opera. Question 19, what movie cat had a Cheshire grin? A, the Gira, B, the Cheshire cat, or C, Luna. B, the Cheshire cat. Yes, from Allison Wonderland, this cat was all about mystery riddles and a killer smile. Now, see, imagine if you had to read that same question, but you were like, what movie cat had a Cheshire grin? A, the Cheshire cat. I just... Question 20, who is known as the original Nine Lives Advertising mascot? A, Morris, B, Pussen Boots, or C, Meowth. A, the Morris. A is correct. Morris was the finicky star of the Nine Lives cat food commercials and he ruled the 70s and 80s. Can I just say how excited I am that Meowth was an option? Meowth the Pokemon? Thank you, I love Meowth. Well, you did pretty good and by that I mean you only missed one. One out of 20, that's a 95. I'll take that. That's good. A plus, Michelle. Oh, thanks. I did say that I thought. I feel very comfortable letting you care for our cat. Oh, thanks. Right, you know, this was the test actually. This was the test. So what's the coolest cat you've ever worked on? Coolest cat that I have worked on would have to be a Malayan tiger. A Malayan tiger. Where at? At a local zoo. I thought that was you. Oh, wow. How big were those teeth? Yeah. Those are three to teeth. They were doing his annual on hand. So kind of doing everything in one-fail swoop examinations, ultrasounds, x-rays, four-leads-am and everything. And I believe we didn't have to wind up can allying this tooth, but we did have to do a cleaning and a slight crown reduction and then like restorations on wireless canines. That's sick. Yeah, he had chewed on something and broke it. But we have done root canals on two jaguars. Oh, I also with zoos. One jaguar at that mursu and another at audibon zoo and no arms. Oh, we saw the one at audibon zoo. Is that the one that came up to the glass to me? I think so. I can't wait if that was at that zoo or another one. Wasn't a jaguar or a panther? Aren't they the same? Yeah, panthers are just melanistic jaguars. Right. Yeah. So I think it was a panther. But I was sitting at the corner of the glass and he walked up and sat right, like leaned up against the glass right next to me. It was so cool. I was so jealous. It was so jealous. Now what about? Okay. So I know you said you work at LSU also. Have you gotten to play with Mike the Tiger? I have not gotten to play with Mike the Tiger yet. Not to say that I wouldn't if he would ever need like an advanced procedure. Just because I am more so like a PR and nurse at LSU. So I'm only there one day a week. So they do have a, um, doesn't need technician there. That's their full time. So when they went in for his annual cleaning, she went in and helped with Dr. Balsow's just to do the cleaning. But if he ever needs like a root canal or a vital pulp or anything like that, then I would go in and assist with that. That's so cool. And we're going to know LSU. We've been able to do the big cats and some other exotics. So it's been a very interesting. And like I said, ministry has opened up avenues that I never thought that I would work on. That's a really cool. Yeah. But the tag wires and the Tiger have been really, really cool. That's so cool. Yeah. Just being like a general vet, you probably would have never had the opportunity to deal with those. No. I mean, I worked at all to the zoo for about a year when I was at the end of the RVT school. So I did do a lot of stuff there, but I didn't get anything really work on any of the big cats because they weren't due for any of their things while I was there. But with dentistry, they, especially when they, you know, anesthetize them for an even they check their teeth if they notice that they have anything that's broken. That's when they give us a call, give Dr. Bosavitch call to see about having her come in to fix and restore things that way. Sure. Because we never want to extract if we can. Especially with big guys. We want to make sure they can keep their tea. So that's why we will always try to do a root canal over the bottle. But it's needed. And it was really cool at Ben Rouge's zoo. They actually gave me a paw print of the million Tiger. So it's like a purple and yellow operant of his, that was tough. That's so cool. It's cool. Could I got to make a lion popper? Yeah. A lion came into my job and I made a popper. That's cool. It was pretty large. He wasn't a full grown lion. He was like a young adult. It's kind of unfortunate. But like in his case, he had to be euthanized because back in the day, they were doing the whole like cub petting stuff where you could pay a bunch of money, go and pet some cubs. Well, that generated a lot of like need for more cobs. Need for more cobs. So you had a whole bunch of these and they were all getting mixed and matched and zoos were picking them up for cheap because they were more or less being discarded. And no one was keeping track of family lineage super well. So there was a lot of inbreeding that happened. And that's what happened to this guy. He had some neurological issues that were only going to get more severe. And he was euthanized, but they were able to send off his brain up north. I think to Auburn to study to try to reverse to build a family tree and reverse to make it to where at least no more inbreeding happens, right? So they document who's from who that way they don't end up putting brothers and sisters together or anything like that and keep them kind of separated. So some of shall do cats really need to get their teeth cleaned sedated and all. Yeah, just like your eye. I mean, we get our teeth cleaned and also just depends on genetics. You know, do you get your teeth cleaned? Your teeth cleaned were blunt clear. Do you get your teeth cleaned every six months, things like that. But yeah, I mean, every and I know a lot of people don't bring their cats in for every year annuals as they showed, but they definitely need to be seen annually. And they definitely have an oil exam every year, just to make sure that we're noting any changes being gingivitis, the gurses. If we notice any tooth resorption, making sure there's no oil tumors because we do see a lot of oil tumors in the dentistry department. So the sooner we can diagnose those if that happens to be there, the quicker we can do something to fix that or to help guide the owner on what needs to be done. So having a yearly oil exam is very important for your cat's life. Just make sure that you're noting any changes. And just like your eye, they're going to be prone to perial disease and they're going to get stuck on their teeth because we brush our teeth. You know, every day, hopefully everyone brushes their teeth every day. But you know, cats and dogs don't brush their teeth every day. So stuff's going to get accumulated on those teeth and need to come off. And unfortunately, we can't have them lay down on their back and ask them to open their mouth and keep it open while we're cleaning. So we do have to do anesthetized cleanings and anesthetized oil and sams. I we strongly against anesthesia free dental cleanings. That is not I know none of ours would sit still for that. I've never heard of that being done. It's a thing. It is a thing. But when they are doing an anesthetized dental cleaning, their airway is protected. And also they won't bite on the dental x-ray plate, which I like to tell people that that is the most extensive piece of equipment in our radiology unit. So if your patient was to bite that on that and break that, that dental clean has now become a $10,000 dental clean. So tell us, okay, so you're a baker and you can I understand you can ship your goodies. I do. I offer nationwide shipping on select items. Most of them I could ship it just depends on the item that's being shipped. That's just being cakes, macarons, cookies. So where can we go to to buy these tasty treats? Sure. So I am on all social outlets, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. I also have a website. So if you go to any of the social media accounts, there will be there's a link in the bio that will bring you straight to my website and have all of the ordering options on there. Excellent. What's the handle? That obakes so on Facebook it's that obakes and then Instagram it's Instagram dot com slash that obakes. That's B-E wait, that's B-A-D-E-A-U-X B-A-K-E-S. Go order some treats. Just for people though. Don't share the treats with your cats. Probably not. I have made dog treats but I haven't made that. Well, now you have something you have to do. That's right. That's right. Nothing that's the menu. Well Michelle, you nailed it. Vettec by day, trivia queen by night. Thanks for joining us and making this the tastiest cat daddy episode yet. Thank you all so much for having me. It was a blast. I think now I want to make some cat-shaped cookies. Same. And to our listeners, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share. Next week's episode, we're answering the age old question. Do cats judge your music taste? In spoiler alert, they definitely do. Catch you next time on Cat Daddy. It's pet candy. Pet candy. It's pet candy radio. You
