Why is my company called Life 4s?

 

Your pet’s Posture, Facial expression, Alertness and Energy are the first 4 things I note when I see a patient in the exam room (or walking down the sidewalk!). I teach my students to look for those same things. It is surprisingly difficult for people to do. The tendency is for us to reach for the pet, rub the ears, coo, all that stuff, and so we miss vital information, by thinking that touching is what we “should” do. Plus, who doesn’t LOVE a nice furry face?

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Those 4 things – Posture, Facial expression, Alertness and Energy are what I call evidence of the pet’s “Life Force”. They tell you a lot about how the pet is feeling, and are also signals about how you should interact with that pet*.  A pet with low Life Force is possibly feeling negative emotions, pain, confusion or has hidden illness, and so looking is the first step in deciphering their health situation.

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In my role as an anesthesiologist I also use Life Force as a way to communicate with the anesthesia technician who is evaluating that pet’s status – so we know how much anesthesia to use and how to advise the team to care for that pet. All of the incredible, high performing anesthesia technicians I have had the good fortune to work with learn to evaluate Life Force, before they listen to the heart and lungs, and so on. 

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SO – I created Life 4s. My goals are to evaluate not just how the pet walks or does stairs, and gets up and down, but to work on elevating their overall Life Force.  And when we can no longer help the pet and their Life Force is so bad, we may understand that this is a time when we can help them best with a good ending.

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*I don’t particularly like to have my doctor reaching to give me a hug or a pet or to touch m a all when I enter the exam room, until we kind of get to know each other.  How about you?  So, why is it we always feel the need to touch dogs (or cats) when we meet them, in the street or in the office?