"Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER" is as exciting and full of exotic pets as it sounds. Sorry to dash any hopes, but the vet staff is human (no lemur doctors and nurse macaws), but if you love animals, you get your fill of exotic (and sometimes shocking) pets. Ever wonder how you give a fish an X-ray or anesthesia? How about diseases and ailments common to animals like sugar gliders, ferrets and goats? And what is the proper way to care for animals like turtles, swans and monster-sized snakes?
Dr. Susan Kelleher is a veterinarian that handles it all. In 1999, she started Broward Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital, which is now featured on Nat Geo Wild and is filming its third season. With episodes cleverly named "H2O NO!" and "Let Me Clear My Goat," we can't wait to see what the new season will bring.
Originally from south Buffalo, N.Y.'s steel belt, Kelleher found her true love early: animals.
"I've had pets my entire life, and fortunately had very, very tolerant parents, because as a kid growing up in the suburbs, I had everything from rabbits to ducks, chickens, snakes, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, you name it," Kelleher said with a laugh. "I literally can't remember wanting to do anything else."
Other great opportunities, Kelleher said, came from the "terrific people" at the Buffalo Zoo. "I got to work one-on-one with the keepers and I was given a lot of responsibility for my age back then because I showed them that I was responsible, and I would show up and I would do whatever they told me to do," she told Headlines and Global News in an exclusive interview while taping the second half of season two in November. "I had started when I was 17 or 18, and they had me just, like, cleaning bird poop off the leaves in the Southeast Asia Exhibit with a sponge and a bucket, and I did it! And after a while, they saw that I would come back no matter what and they'd give me more and more responsibilities and it was just an incredible experience."
After graduating from University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and volunteering at Clinch River Raptor Center, Kelleher headed south to take care of her two priorities: exotic animals and living somewhere warm.
She started in practices in Miami and Hollywood, Fla. before Kelleher decided to "take the plunge" and open up her own practice catering to exotic pets after seeing some of the special needs they have. "The patients were terrified waiting in the waiting room with dogs and cats," Kelleher said about vet practices she has worked in. "Like, they're already there because they're sick and they're not well, and then to add predators in the waiting room on top of that was overwhelming. So I decided to open my own practice..."
Now, in a 4,000-square-foot building with a second doctor in her employ and Dr. Lauren Thielen flying in from New York for her internship, Kelleher has been fixing up exotics and educating humans on exotics for 20 years. "...I absolutely love my job," Kelleher told HNGN. "It's never the same on any two days, and on any given day I see at least five to 12 different species of animals. And the pet owners that come in with their exotics are very compassionate, caring and they just amaze me on a daily basis."
How did the idea for the show begin?
Nat Geo Wild has a strong emphasis on caring for animals, obviously, so they were interested in doing a show about exotic animals in the veterinary setting. ... They found our website and they Skype interviewed us. They were very interested. And then they sent out a film crew from England and they filmed what's called a sizzle reel. But initially, the executives didn't like it. It wasn't what they wanted. So I was like, "OK, well, that's it. It was interesting to be considered."
But then less than two weeks later, I got a call from a different producer in Tampa, and he said, "OK, this never happens, but Nat Geo Wild liked the characters, the people at the practice and the animals and the stories so much that they want another shot and they're sending us out to do a new sizzler." So they came out and then they made a sizzler that the executives loved and away we went! I think the difference was that English people like a very documentary style whereas Americans like more of a story. It's a different style of filming. So then the first year, 2014, they filmed like January to May, I want to say. And then they just started back up again this year [2015] in February and filmed through June.
And they liked the first eight episodes for season two and then they said, "Oh, we want eight more for season two." ... I found it's just really an honor to have a platform where I can kind of get the word out about the care that's needed and available for exotic pets.
For the purposes of your practice, you say "no" dogs and cats so they don't freak out the other animals in your waiting room, right?
Exactly. And to be honest with you, it's just not my forte. I really like to just do the exotics.
More of a challenge?
It is. It's very challenging. It's very interesting and I enjoy it, I really do. Under duress, I see my father's dog. (laughs)
I'm assuming, then, Florida's laws allow for exotic pets because people come in with lemurs and chickens and -
(sighs) Very good point. Honestly Kim, it can be a little frustrating because the laws, quite honestly in my opinion, are very lax in Florida and people can literally just go into a store with $3,000, no training, no background and walk out with a lemur, literally. And then they get permits after the fact. So that can be a little frustrating. ... I literally had to have a little come to Jesus with myself a while ago, because I'm like, "Oh gosh, I'm seeing animals that shouldn't even be in captivity. I don't know." And I'm like, "OK, this is the way it is."
They're here; they care; they need an advocate; this is what my job is, period. And to be honest with you, my clients really, really are extremely conscientious. Sometimes they'll come in and won't have the husbandry or the diet right but they're trying and they're willing to change and they're willing to take suggestions. So I have to rejoice in that and make the best that we can for every animal that's kept in captivity.
What kind of advice would you give for someone who's thinking about an exotic vs. a dog or a cat?
Honestly, I want them to do their homework ahead of time. That's the No. 1 piece of advice. Look into it ahead of time. If you're interested in a sugar glider, be aware. They're nocturnal. They eat insects. You know, be aware that rabbits are not low maintenance pets. Birds can be loud. Different species are louder than others. Definitely, definitely do your homework.
Is there anything that I didn't ask that you think maybe I should have or something people should know?
The biggest thing that I would want to get across to people is to do their homework. It's fine to have exotic pets; I also used to have them myself and I support that. I just want to make sure that people do their homework and then find the best - would this animal have to eat; what's the proper diet? How should they properly be caged? How do I keep them safe? How do I know if they're sick? That's a huge thing with exotics. So I think that might be the only thing we didn't cover is how do you know when it's sick? Because when you think about it, a lot of times I'm dealing with species that hide their symptoms of illness.
They're naturally prey animals, so they hide their symptoms of illness often until they're catastrophically ill. So it's extremely important that the owners of exotic pets know normal versus abnormal behavior so if that if their animal is exhibiting abnormal behavior, they know to seek veterinary care as soon as possible. I can't even emphasize that enough.
Is that just species to species? Is that species specific?
It's different for each species, absolutely, positively. It's very different for different species.
OK. Unless the animal comes to the person sick, would just kind of getting a baseline reading of your animal's behavior be helpful?
That's huge to be familiar with your animal's behavior. And we strongly recommend wellness exams. Like now, that they've changed the feed protocols in dog and cat medicine, my colleagues are trying to figure out how to get the patient in over a year just to catch when they don't necessarily need a vaccine every year. And my clients are kind of used to wellness exams because I've been using that concept for two decades. They'll come in for a wellness exam because as a veterinarian on a routine wellness exam I've picked up such serious things as a large bladder stone in a rabbit, or a heart murmur, or something that you wouldn't see on the outside but was catastrophically wrong on the inside.
And by doing preventive healthcare and getting them in and having a good wellness checkup, we can nip things in the bud, be aware of that before they're catastrophic or even cause death. It's very common for people to say my bird was alive one day and dead the next. That's frightfully common. They hide the symptoms of their illness so well that you don't know often just how sick they are.
Season three of "Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER" premieres on Saturday, May 21 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT with a new episode "Sumo Dragon" on Nat Geo Wild. Check out the show's webpage to meet the staff, get caught up and see updates on exotic animals Dr. K treated in seasons one and two.
This interview has been edited for length.
