Dr. Chris Byers is a friend and colleague right here in Omaha Nebraska. He is a specialist in emergency and critical care AND a specialist in internal medicine! I appreciate his help on the difficult cases (including our own Luna Lovegood) and his overall expertise and knowledge. Thank you for your post Doctor! I know readers will love it as much as I do!
Guest post from Dr. Chris Byers...
I’m often asked what I’d do if I wasn’t a veterinarian. That’s a hard question to answer given I’ve wanted to be a pet doctor since age 5. My first aspiration was to be a dinosaur veterinarian. Yet not just any dinosaur! I only wanted to work with stegosaurus.
When I finally grasped the concept of extinction, my passion turned skyward. I wanted to be the first veterinarian in space. To my dismay, one of my undergraduate professors at Colorado State University, Dr. Martin Fettman, a board-certified veterinary pathologist, beat me to the punch when he served as Payload Specialist on NASA Space Shuttle Mission STS-58 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1993.
Nevertheless, the “what if” question has always intrigued me. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d work in veterinary or human medicine. I’d work in the music industry. Music has always been a way to calm my soul. As one who was bullied as a child, I frequently found solace in song. I would listen to poignant lyrics, and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the words were written just for me. As the saying goes, music is my connection to what the world doesn’t know about me.
What if I could bring my two passions together? Could veterinary medicine and music collide for the greater good of improving animal health? It seems the answer to this unique question may be yes! Veterinarians and researchers are beginning to investigate the effects of music on stress in various animals, including our furry companions. In humans, music therapy reduces pain and anxiety levels. Patients with traumatic brain injuries and those requiring mechanical ventilation may improve more rapidly. Music stimulates the body to change brain activity, immune responses, and hormone systems.
Investigations regarding the benefits of veterinary music therapy are in their infancy. Only a few studies have been performed to date, and results have been relatively mixed. One study demonstrated classical music initially reduced stress in kenneled dogs based on behavioral changes, cortisol levels, and heart rate variability; however, the dogs became accustomed to the music after a day, nullifying the initial positive effects. A subsequent study by the same group of researchers suggested varying musical genres reduced this habituation effect.
Jimi Hendrix once said, “Music is a safe kind of high.” I, for one, am excited to see what the future holds for music therapy in companion animals. Perhaps we will learn song is an essential therapy - a new drug per se - in the care of our furry friends.
Dr. Christopher G. Byers is a practicing small animal specialist who is board-certified in both emergency/critical care and internal medicine. He is also a Certified Veterinary Journalist who publishes a weekly blog for pet owners - CriticalCareDVM.com - with the sole purpose of educating pet parents about the benefits of partnering with board-certified veterinary specialists. He may be found on all major social media at CriticalCareDVM.
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Post from one year ago today...
March 16, 2016
