Pet Parent Anxiety: Stop Googling, Worrying & Second-Guessing Yourself

THE PET PARENT HOTLINE

Pet Parent Anxiety: Stop Googling, Worrying & Second-Guessing Yourself

Host: Amy Castro  |  Guest: Dr. Alicia del Prado

Guest website: https://www.drdelprado.com/

Chapters

00:00   When Caring Turns Into Pet Parent Anxiety

02:31   Three Signs Worry Is Becoming Anxiety

04:01   Can Your Anxiety Affect Your Pet?

07:19   When Googling Pet Problems Makes Things Worse

10:40   Why Anxiety Keeps Us Searching for Answers

12:07   When a Bad Outcome Doesn’t Mean a Bad Decision

14:08   Self-Forgiveness and Learning From Mistakes

15:39   How to Stop an Anxiety Spiral

19:35   Breaking the Cycle of Second-Guessing

21:59   The Difference With Irreversible Decisions

23:06   How Past Experiences Shape Our Fears

24:53   Finding Support for Pet Parent Anxiety

26:44   Professional Help and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

00:00  |  When Caring Turns Into Pet Parent Anxiety

Amy Castro  [00:00]

Have you ever started Googling something about your pet, only to find yourself an hour later completely convinced that something's terribly wrong with them? Or maybe you made a decision about your pet's care and then spent days wondering if you made the right one? We tell ourselves we're just being responsible pet parents. But at what point does caring turn into an anxiety that makes our lives harder than it needs to be? Today, psychologist Dr. Alicia Del Prado joins me to talk about why we can get caught up in these worry spirals, how to recognize when they're becoming a problem, and some surprisingly simple ways to stop second-guessing ourselves and start trusting our decisions. You reach the pet parent hotline. I'm Amy Castro. And one of the things I hear from pet parents all the time is how much pressure they feel to get everything right. Whether it's choosing the right food, deciding on medical treatment, dealing with behavior issues, or making one of those really difficult end-of-life decisions. There's always that nagging question, am I doing the right thing for my pet? And with unlimited information and opinions at our fingertips, you'd think that making these decisions would be easier, but I find that sometimes all that information just gives us a lot more to worry about. My guest today is Dr. Alicia Del Prado, a psychologist with 25 years of clinical experience and the founder of Del Prado Counseling and Consulting in California. She specializes in helping people manage anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, and she's also a published author and former tenured professor of psychology. And earlier today, we had a really interesting

Amy Castro  [01:36]

conversation about the fine line between caring and worrying, why uncertainty makes us keep searching for answers, and what we can do when our anxiety starts getting in the way of making good decisions for ourselves and our pets. So let's get into it. Dr. Del Prado, thank you for being on the show today.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [01:36]

Thank you so much for having me, Amy.

Amy Castro  [01:36]

Well, I appreciate it because I think our worlds are stressful enough. And when it comes to pet parents, you know, people take their responsibility for their pets super seriously. And so it just is another level of anxiety, I think, that gets added on to everybody's already stressful life. So um what I wanted to talk about today is when that anxiety starts kind of crossing a line, knowing the difference between is this just normal pet parenting concern,

Amy Castro  [02:25]

or have I crossed over into a level of anxiety that I need to look at?

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [02:25]

Mm-hmm.

02:31  |  Three Signs Worry Is Becoming Anxiety

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [02:31]

Mm-hmm. Totally right. Because often anxiety is a close cousin of caring. And we care about our animals, we care about our pets. And so I totally hear you that that kind of dotted line between when is this being responsible versus when is this anxiety hindering my health and probably not helping my pet either is a tricky one. Um, I'll start with, you know, just doing kind of a gentle self-inventory, like, is it impacting my sleep? Is it impacting my appetite? Is it preventing me from focusing on other things that I care about too? Those are kind of three areas where we can just check in with ourselves. Like if I'm up at night, tossing and turning, or can't sleep, or I'm researching on my phone how to solve this when really it's time for me to go to bed, then it might be going into the anxiety category. And then same thing with the eating. Am I kind of snacking a lot, um, more than usual because I'm feeling nervous and worried, or I can't eat because I'm so worried about a decision I have to make or things my pet is doing. And then third, again, while we really care about our pets, we have other responsibilities typically, whether that's work or caregiving for children or elders or whatever it is we spend our time on, or just even our own self-care. And when those things are excessively compromised, you know, not a one-off, but all the time, then it might be more anxiety.

04:01  |  Can Your Anxiety Affect Your Pet?

Amy Castro  [04:01]

Yeah. A couple of things that you said that really jumped out at me was the idea of caring. There is that gray area of caring that I think, well, I'm just being a good pet parent, being up Googling six hours a night over, you know, what is this sore on my dog's foot? Could it be cancer? I mean, and just kind of spinning and spinning and spinning on the same thing. The other thing that you said I think is interesting too, you said something about your level of anxiety and how it impacts your pets. And I actually at one point wanted to have a vet on and maybe a vet and a psychologist and talk about kind of the chicken and the egg of anxiety, because there are people that I know in my life who have maybe a higher level of anxiety, and lo and behold, they've got anxious pets. So you think that you're caring, but that care now crosses a line into not only potentially hurting you, but also causing problems for your pet as well. So it's that idea that you mentioned of it's time to stop and reflect and analyze it. I know I have to do that for myself because I think we can talk ourselves into feeling a certain way, and we can also sometimes talk ourselves, you know, I always say I talk myself off the ledge before I got too worried about it. Um but, you know, but that's a somewhat of a trained skill, right?

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [05:14]

Totally. Well, and I think it's fascinating this idea, and it is a big question mark, what comes first, the, you know, the chicken or the egg kind of thing, because often animals, um, you know, I'm thinking about a dog in particular because it's probably because I have a dog and I have clients that have emotional assistance animals, um, as well as service animals. And, you know, the dog in the emotional assistance animal example really can help with the client's anxiety, whether it's through the tactile touching of the animal and um, you know, just the companionship and also the way that some animals just really can read when we need them and come up to us. And then at the same time, though, yeah, in cases too where it's not an emotional assistance animal and we're worried and we're hovering, I'll share that there was a time period where my dog seemed to be just like acting a little bit snippy, and I was very concerned. And um, you know, I was getting the feedback. Your worry is probably worrying him. And it definitely wasn't helping, but there was also just something temperament-wise from the dog that I was like, no, I can be calm as a cucumber, and he's just getting triggered by something else. So it's like all of those things, it's really hard to assess what's happening. And so I think getting support from knowledgeable people that know about animals and know about anxiety for humans and animals is really valuable. Regardless, though, you cannot troubleshoot if you're overly anxious. A little bit of anxiety is healthy, right? The classic example is, you know, if you go into a test and you have no anxiety at all, you're probably not gonna do that well, right? You can't. Yeah, you get a little too overconfident.

Amy Castro  [06:56]

Yeah.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [06:56]

Um, but then, you know, you go overboard and then that curve,

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [07:00]

it's like it's debilitating, and your ability to do analytical thinking really zones in. So it needs to be not overboard where we're in crisis or panic mode, because then we misread our animals and we misread their cues because we are so activated. Yeah.

07:19  |  When Googling Pet Problems Makes Things Worse

Amy Castro  [07:19]

Yeah. So you had mentioned the idea of disruption in our sleep, and then that's a sign to pay attention to. And one of the foundational elements of this show is back to, you know, if you're up at two in the morning Googling, don't do that. Listen to this show because the amount of information and the amount of incredibly bad information, I mean, there's a lot of great information, but there's also a lot of really bad and scare tactics and things like that that people tend to come across. You know, what do you what are you seeing in, and I know that you don't work specifically in like people who are anxious about their pets, but as a psychologist with human beings out there googling the answers to their problems, is it helping or hurting all the Googling? And I won't just blame Google, just the internet searching.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [08:08]

Totally. Well, it's I think it's hurting when we go down the tunnel and the spiral. And so I encourage folks, if you're gonna start researching online, look at your clock, see what time it is, set that timer so that you're like, okay, I'm gonna look into this for a limited amount of time. Doesn't mean you can't do it again later, but I think you gotta put those guardrails on because otherwise it just feeds rumination and it feeds that kind of cognitive worry that then impacts emotional worry and also physiological manifestations of worry. So in general, it's like, yes, information's helpful, however, it's a whole nother beast when we just keep going down the rabbit hole of searching. And and, you know, there's an unlimited amount of information as you suggested. And then sometimes because we want to finish and solve, we might purchase things. And maybe those purchases are helpful. However, sometimes the purchases are just spending money that aren't gonna solve the problem. So I think it's like not wanting to do this in a vacuum only, but yeah, relying on people you trust to kind of run by what you're thinking to get the guardrails in place too.

Amy Castro  [09:38]

Yeah.

Amy Castro  [09:38]

Well, and that's something that I mean, I I did an episode about, you know, being cautious about doing searching, you know, searching for answers answers on the internet because, you know, that person may know less than you know about the subject. And so, yeah, if you're gonna do the research, then you know, identify a couple of sources, not a hundred, but a couple of sources, because you're right. This, I mean, not only does the spiral kind of keep going on and on, but I think because you can just go forever and keep, you know, looking up that question and looking for an answer, but I think we also sometimes get into this trap of maybe that's not the answer one I want that I wanted to hear, so I'm gonna keep looking, good or bad, you know, either for it for the positive or the negative. Um, or we just keep looking because it's like, well, if I keep looking, I'm gonna find the right decision. Why do we do that to ourselves? Like, why can't we be satisfied? Like, I talked to two people and I got two qualified opinions, and then I just stopped and made a decision. What's why do we have to keep going like that?

10:40  |  Why Anxiety Keeps Us Searching for Answers

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [10:40]

Right. I think it's the uncertainty. The uncertainty stokes the fear. Anxiety does not like uncertainty. And so I think that combination is what makes us want to keep looking for the right answer. And going back to what we were talking about, that the relationship with caring, we care about our pets.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [11:00]

And so we don't want to make what's might be considered a wrong decision. And I think that um, you know, I really encourage folks as much as possible to stay away from that black or white thinking, that all or nothing thinking, um, which is a really common thought trap that happens, especially with anxiety and actually depression too. And um, I think when we're caretakers of animals, of people too, we we want to do a good job. There's a lot at stake. Um, but the reality is there's risk when we're having this role of responsibility. And so I think getting comfortable with, you know, even with something that's highly recommended, there's always risk. And getting more comfortable that I'm making the best decision that I can, I'm doing it in good faith, and giving ourselves that affirmation that I love my pet. I'm doing the best I can. And then having that faith that, okay, let's do it. Um, because if you wait too long too, and you just kind of stuck

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [12:00]

and get in the research loop, even that can be a risk because you're pausing and you're not making a decision.

12:07  |  When a Bad Outcome Doesn’t Mean a Bad Decision

Amy Castro  [12:07]

Yeah, you might be prolonging care for your pet or prolonging behavioral intervention or whatever it might be. Um if people do that and they've gone through a process and they've made a decision, and um, one recent one, it was a person that made a decision for their pet to have surgery and the pet passed in the surgery. And so now it's like, oh, that was a terrible decision. How do you say to yourself, well, I still did the best I could with it? Or, you know, so I'm not afraid to make a decision next time because that's what happens. It's like people beat themselves up over it because that it was a bad decision. It's like it might have still been the best decision. There's no guarantee on the outcome. But how do you get people there? Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [12:51]

I mean, and just acknowledge, I mean, your pet when they don't have the voice for themselves, that is so much pressure and responsibility that we have as humans. And so it's brutal. It's brutal, especially if it's not the outcome that we'd hoped. And so I think that having that self-compassion for ourselves as pet parents is really important. And the reality is we can't be perfect and we can't get it right all the time. And I think that's hard for us to accept. And a lot of times people can do it for someone else. The example you gave, I bet nobody in that person's life blames that person for their animal dying through the surgery. But then what do we do? The person that made the decision blames ourselves. But if it was reversed, if our friend made that decision, if our partner made that decision, we probably most often aren't blaming them. We we get it's a

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [13:45]

complex decision with no certainty. So I think it's like, and this is way easier said than done, but it's like giving self-compassion to ourselves, being able to see this was a hard decision. And um, like you said, the outcome doesn't mean it was a bad decision. It might have been a result, no matter the choice. Right.

14:08  |  Self-Forgiveness and Learning From Mistakes

Amy Castro  [14:08]

Well, and even in situations, or you tell me, because one of the things that I struggle with sometimes is when people like I've got a video on YouTube, it's an episode we did on making the decision about euthanizing a pet. And there are people that will tell the story of their pet and have made some mistakes that have caused them to be injured or in a couple of situations to die. Um there was no malice in it, but you can only do what you know to do at the time. And so is it okay to be like, hey, I did the best I could, but what did I learn from this? Because I always worry that people might make the same mistake again if they don't at least acknowledge that yes, there were some mistakes, and what did I learn from those so that I don't do that again with the next pet.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [14:49]

Yeah, so I think to answer your question, yes, I think that is something to say to ourselves. Uh, the only tweak I'd make actually is that you had kind of said um the word but, like, you know, understanding and then but what did I learn? I would just change that to and, like, you know, it because it's sometimes the but kind of negates the first part. And you don't want to negate that kind of like compassion and understanding. Self-forgiveness is one of the hardest types. And so you want to be able to do this and like you said, learn from it, not put our head in a bubble, not hide or avoid the decision that we wish we hadn't made, because yeah, we won't learn from it. So I would say yes, that do that, and then just to kind of put an and instead of a but.

Amy Castro  [14:49]

That's such a good point. Yeah.

15:39  |  How to Stop an Anxiety Spiral

Amy Castro  [15:39]

So when somebody is in the moment, are there any techniques or any things that they can do? Like I know what I do, but I

Amy Castro  [15:45]

don't know that that's you know psychologically sound, but to kind of stop the spiral. Like, how can I stop myself if there's nobody else there to be like, hey, time out, you're you're going down a rabbit hole.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [15:55]

Yeah, yeah, totally. Okay, well, the two things that I do the most with my clients these days is first the power of pause. So really letting yourself pause before reacting. And by inviting a pause, you can respond rather than react. Because often when we react, we're coming from more of that fight or flee kind of period. And we want to be able to make these important decisions about our pets from a more calm place. But if we don't pause, we often can't even check in with ourselves if we're in the space to be able to make these hard decisions. So power of pause is huge. Um, and uh in general, I think it's hard for folks to do because we live in this vast world typically. But once folks do it, I really I, you know, I uh I think it's life-changing and it really can help so much. Um, the other is probably not surprising, but the power of the deep breathing and diaphragmatic breathing. Um, I will do this with clients in session. I'll be like, let's just stop together because what's happening is it's this fast-paced thinking, and then they're thinking individually, but then guess what happens when you're all hyped up? You start then doing that to the family member. And usually more stress comes after that rather than clarity and you know, peace for good decision making. So the power of just really inhaling in a deep diaphragmatic breath of, and you know, one of the things I was I was taught by one of my supervisors really early on was pick a grounding word. Maybe it's calm, maybe it's peace, maybe it's tranquility or serenity. And you imagine inhaling in that word, pausing, and then guess what you imagine exhaling? The anxiety, exhale it all out. You get in touch with where in your body is that anxiety, and that can be really telling too. Is it in your stomach? Is it in your heart? Where is it coming from? But imagine exhaling that out and those two things together the power of pausing, and sometimes I do get the question well, what do I do when I pause? Breathe. So those two can go together and really can shift the amount of anxiety that is coursing through our brain and our blood, so to speak.

Amy Castro  [18:30]

Yeah, it's such a simple technique, but such a powerful technique because a lot of times people will say, Oh, such a heavy sigh. It's because I've been sitting there not breathing. I feel like I hold my breath a lot. I feel like I breathe in a really shallow way. And um, if I'm upset about something and I start going 100 miles an hour, I feel like the more I'm talking about it and continuing, I'm adding gasoline to a fire. It's just firing me up. And I think we do the same thing in our heads. So that that technique has helped me really just stop talking and take, yeah, take focus on the breathing, let it out, and then everything becomes clearer afterwards, I think.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [19:06]

Totally. And I love what you said about the like sigh. I mean, sometimes people get worried when they hear sighs. Like I celebrate them because it means you know, you are taking a deep exhale. And and the good news is that our bodies tend to do that for ourselves when they need it. But this is just bringing it in sooner, so you're not having to wait till the body is doing

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [19:30]

it. Um, but yeah, inviting the sigh because letting letting it out. We need it.

19:35  |  Breaking the Cycle of Second-Guessing

Amy Castro  [19:35]

Yeah. Um, and then so once we have made a decision about something, whatever it might be, how do you stop yourself from second guessing it? Now I'm gonna go open the computer again or I'm gonna talk to that one other vet.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [19:50]

Yeah, another thing that I really rely on is the concept of, okay, this is a pilot or this is an experiment. And I think it really helps remind us this does not have to be permanent. If I see something that's off, I can revisit and reassess then. I don't have to second guess and self-doubt now. It's like give it that trial period. And so it might be, you know what, let me see how the rest of the day goes. Let me see how the next three days go. Let me see how the week goes. So, like just coming up with a time frame that gives you permission to let it go, see how it plays out, and then know this isn't forever. And so I think that can be helpful because it's it goes back to the responsible thing. You're still being responsible, you're still gonna check back in to see how your animal's doing. Um, you're just not gonna hover, right? They're not gonna do the helicopter parenting that then unfortunately might misinterpret things that are just part of life because we're paying extra close attention. That's what's really interesting too. Things happen all the time that we don't notice. But when we're overfocusing on it, it's like, oh, I never noticed that before. And it's like been happening all along, but then we're like alarmed by it. So I think that that, like, you know, using language like, okay, we're gonna do a trial period, we're gonna do a pilot study, we're gonna do an experiment. I think that can be really helpful for not undoing all the work we did to make that decision. Um, and the other thing I think that can be really helpful is anchoring ourselves in curiosity. So, why curiosity? It's a way to stay engaged, but in a way that is hopefully not as alarming. And also it allows us to like put our thinking hat on that's

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [21:45]

gonna help us catch things that are off, but not in a judging way. Cause often when there's too much judgment of ourselves or the situation, if we get judgmental, that often also skews our judgment.

21:59  |  The Difference With Irreversible Decisions

Amy Castro  [21:59]

I like that idea. Of giving it a timeline, because I think that could be applied to anything, even the euthanasia. You know, obviously not if it's a point where your pet is truly suffering, but when you're in the process of making a decision. So, you know, something that is much more profound in the decision, because that once you do make it and you've done it, it is irreversible. That's kind of the only one, right? But the process of leading up to it. And I think that's why, you know, we've stressed on the show about these different assessments that you can do. So you can look kind of 360 at your pet and not hone in on one thing all of a sudden just because I'm looking for it, like you said. So I mean, even that can be done like let's give it two days and see how many of these things do they get better, do they get worse? Let's give it a week. And does it get better? Does it get does it get worse? Um, so there is time to do that. And I think catching things early, like even catching the anxiety starting allows you to do that before it gets harder. Because I think it can, you tell me, but I would say I would think the the deeper you get into it, the harder it is to back out of that hole.

23:06  |  How Past Experiences Shape Our Fears

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [23:06]

Right, yes. And well, and if you think about the screen part of it, if you're doing the researching, you know,

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [23:13]

screen addiction is really problematic these days. And so you have that as another factor. And I think one thing I haven't mentioned much yet is just the introspection part of it. So, like, like with the food, for example, but with death as well. It's like being able to kind of connect with ourselves. Like, what are my fears about death and dying? What are my fears about not having enough to eat or malnutrition? And if we're kind of in touch with like what our personal experiences are or our family experiences are, or things that maybe happened for those that are listening that maybe had like childhood pets, like what happened with them, that can kind of inform how we're approaching the current situation. And so really being in touch with things that are maybe part of why we're doing what we're doing, but actually aren't reflective of what this situation needs is I think an important thing that we need to do. And not easy and takes a lot of work, but I think it's relevant to think about, journal about, or talk about with a trusted friend so that again, we're not hurting ourselves and the quality of our pet's life or not over, you know, maybe um overcompensating even because of these other things that did happen in the past but actually aren't about this current animal.

Amy Castro  [24:35]

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's wise words. Very true. Very, very true, because we do bring all of that with us. And actually, in and that can go positively or negatively. I know we're we're coming up on your time here. Um, is there anything else that we didn't cover that you wanted to bring up?

24:53  |  Finding Support for Pet Parent Anxiety

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [24:53]

I would want your listeners to know, like if they like to not be embarrassed about having these strong, or

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [25:00]

if they do, if they do feel embarrassment about having all of these worries about their pet, like to know they're not alone. And they might already know that because they're listening to your, you know, your hotline. But but I guess I would just want to further acknowledge that. And if people don't get it, that doesn't mean it's not important. And then also that, you know, sometimes, yeah, like like just just to, I guess that's what I would acknowledge is just like people do talk about their grief, their worry, their affection to their pets in therapy. And um, sometimes it's a side thing, but sometimes it's a central issue. So yeah.

Amy Castro  [25:36]

Well, and I think that's luckily is something that has changed. Um, I think over the years, and it's become a more I mean, even employers are acknowledging a pet death, not all, but some, you know, well, you know, it's bereavement. You get bereavement time off or whatever it might be. Um and so the world I think is definitely changing, but sometimes you do have to look for it because depending, it's like anything else, you know, you don't want to turn to the wrong person for advice, and you certainly don't want to turn to the wrong person for empathy and understanding. And, you know, I I think oftentimes, especially when it comes to people in our personal lives, we already know. You know, it's like we already know it's a mistake to open my mouth to this person because their past behavior about my pet or comments about my pet haven't been helpful. So don't expect that they're necessarily gonna change. You know, look to it maybe a different kind of person. Or that would be the time to look for a support group or something online because there are a lot of pet bereavement groups. Can you tell people a little bit more about you, your practice, and how they might be able to get a hold of you if they needed some help with anxiety or something else?

26:44  |  Professional Help and Closing Thoughts

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [26:44]

Yeah, definitely. So I am based and licensed in California and so help people virtually through

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [26:51]

health appointments, but as well, if you happen to be in the Bay Area, then can provide in-person services as well. Um, I have a group practice with myself, and I also have a few amazing therapists on my team, and we really do focus on helping folks with anxiety. And I think that with anxiety, I would kind of say in general, there's two ways of getting alleviation from that overwhelming anxiety. And one is having a supportive space where you can talk in an unedited way and you don't have to worry that it's gonna go anywhere, and you really can just let it out unfiltered. And for a lot of folks, having that catharsis is enough for feeling better, having clarity, and getting to their own solutions. So, even with some of the decisions that we've talked about that are really hard about our animals, oftentimes people know what they want to do, they just haven't had the time or space and attentive listening ear to get to what it is they want to do. So that is one bulk of the therapy. Another piece, though, is sometimes people talk about it and they still feel very lost and very anxious. And that's okay. We will also help with that. And that's often when the tools, the evidence-based research tools that show this works, this works, will bring those in. Um, we have a lot of different paradigms that do that, including cognitive behavioral therapy and other modes. But then it's like, you know, I had definitely have clients that are like, okay, I'm not here actually just to like talk to you. I have people in my life I want I can talk to. I want to know how to change this. And then that's when we'll get a little bit more hands-on, solution focused. So um both are what we do, and um, it's it's really an honor to help people with their worries about their pets and/or other things because usually it's more than one thing.

Amy Castro  [28:45]

Oh yes, pets can cause they cause a whole ripple effect. But yeah, there might be a lot going on, and that might be what pushes a person to a level of anxiety

Amy Castro  [28:54]

where they need some assistance with it. I really appreciate you, Dr. Del Prado, for being on the show and and talking with us about this subject because it's been something that's been on my mind with just a lot of the feedback that I've been getting from listeners and wanted to be able to at least provide a starting point for understanding and maybe coming to some solutions. So thank you so much for making the time today.

Dr. Alicia del Prado  [29:16]

Oh, you're so welcome. I mean, pets give so much joy to us, and so I feel like if we can help the people that are taking care of the pets, then I I'm all for that. So thank you so much.

Amy Castro  [29:26]

Exactly. I'm all for that too. So I hope today's conversation helped you recognize that being a good pet parent doesn't mean making perfect decisions or worrying about every possible thing that could go wrong. One of my favorite takeaways from Dr. Del Prado was the idea that we can have compassion for ourselves and also learn from our mistakes, which is a big thing for me. And I think those things don't have to be at odds. If you find yourself constantly Googling, worrying, or second guessing decisions about your pets, I hope you'll try some of the techniques we talked about today. And if that anxiety is really interfering with your life, there's nothing wrong with getting some professional support. You'll find more information about Dr. Del Prado and her practice in our show notes, and I'll talk with you next time. Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, text a friend right now and tell them I've got a show that you need to hear. And remember, your pet's best life starts with you living yours. So take good care of yourself this week and your pets.