Elderly Animal Welfare: A Deep Dive with Debra Marrin [Ep. 212]

It's undeniable that caring for aging animals is a complex task. The unique needs of older animals can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and even a bit helpless. It's a journey filled with emotions and challenges.

Enter our guide for this episode, Debbie Marrin. With over 48 years of professional animal training and management experience, Debbie is the Director of Training and Behavioral Husbandry at the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens. She's been at the forefront of husbandry training since 1985 and has a special passion for the care and training of geriatric animals. Debbie has co-authored multiple papers, a book chapter, and has presented at several conferences dedicated to geriatric animal welfare.

In this episode, Debbie shares her top 5 strategies to help you navigate the challenges of aging animal care:

1. Be a Good Observer: Recognize both in and out of training behaviours that might be red flags for health issues.
2. Have a Whole Life Plan: Teach foundation behaviours early on to make future training for specific issues easier.
3. Educate Yourself: Learn about common issues that aging animals face, from pain and cognitive decline to kidney disease and arthritis.
4. Take a Wholistic Approach: Consider every component of care, from medications and environmental conditions to nutrition and daily husbandry.
5. Be Compassionate and Flexible: Understand what the animal is experiencing and modify your training expectations accordingly.

Don't let the challenges of caring for aging animals lead to stress, overwhelm, or burnout. By listening to this episode, you'll be better equipped to build resilience to setbacks, get more organized, and grow your training skills and knowledge. Enjoy confidence in yourself as a trainer and lead a fulfilling life, positively impacting the lives of the animal and human learners you work with.

Listen to the podcast episode now and transform your approach to aging animal care.

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Debbie Marrin's email >>> debbiem@sfzoo.org

Links

• Doc; The benefits of training for aging animals [talked about in the episode]
• Geriatric animal observation log